The need to train numbers of people at different locations following changes in legislation is a common problem across the public services. This article describes how the Crown Prosecution Service used e-learning as a key component to meet the challenge of training lawyers and case workers in preparation for new legislation about the treatment of vulnerable or intimidated witnesses.

The Government has begun seeking people’s views on a new charter which would set out what people can expect from public bodies handling personal information and what safeguards should be in place for dealing with such data in the public sector. It is to run a series of consultations to test attitudes on safeguards and standards of service.The Lord Chancellor’s Department says that to deliver improved services the public sector needs to ensure it is making effective use of personal information but that the public is also entitled to proper reassurance that effective safeguards are in place which respect people’s confidentiality and ensure that information is handled fairly and securely.

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The Local Government Association is warning that while some action is needed to stabilise the regime of inspection of local councils, this must not be allowed to condemn authorities to poor performance ratings which fail to reflect and reward improvement. The Association was responding to the Audit Commission’s new proposals for assessing the performance of each of the 150 largest councils in England.At the end of last year in the CPA process the authorities were rated in five categories ranging from poor to excellent. In its report the Commission says councils with strengths in people management, procurement and understanding of diversity, are more likely to deliver high quality services.

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