By Ken Blanchard, John P. Carlos and Alan Randolph.The need to instill responsibility throughout organizations and to involve people in using their talents to make the organization more effective has become pervasive. Empowerment Takes More Than a Minute is the book that finally goes beyond the empowerment rhetoric to show managers how to achieve true, lasting results in their organizations.

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Schools and local education authorities in Wales are to get more than 57 million pounds to support improvement in a number of areas – including the professional development of teachers. The focus of the funding, announced by Jane Davidson, the Education and Lifelong Learning Minister in the Welsh Assembly, will be on reducing social disadvantage.More than 10 million pounds is being made available this year for work in that field and schools which are furthest from achieving the national targets for Wales will continue to be targeted for further help. Ms Davidson said the Assembly would continue to work closely with local authorities to take forward its plans for improving standards.

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The transfer of council housing stocks from local authorities to registered social landlords has largely delivered the expected benefits to tenants according to Sir John Bourn, head of the National Audit Office. In a report to Parliament he highlights improvements in the condition of transferred housing and the quality of services to tenants but also points to ways in which the transfer programme could be improved.The report says that around 72 per cent of homes transferred to registered social landlords (RSLs) have been improved. Almost all repairs had been made on time, and promises on housing services have been met. Most of the new landlords have kept rent increases within guideline figures as well as meeting their commitments to tenant participation.

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