Archives for November 2003

LIVERPOOL VENTURE LINKS LIBRARY TO ONE STOP SHOP

Headlines, PublicNet: 25 November, 2003

People living in the Garston area of Liverpool can now get council tax advice, computer courses, books and benefits all under one roof following the official opening last night of the city’s second joint Library and ‘One Stop Shop’ for council services. The building is the ninth new or refurbished library opened in the city in the last four years, and the eighth ‘One Stop Shop’.The centre means local residents have the latest in library services, from book borrowing to free access to e-mail and the Internet. They can also sign up for free computer courses. At the same time they can get information and advice on range of council services from staff who can use new technology to cut waiting times and improve customer service.

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PUBLIC SECTOR GETS LEGAL GUIDANCE ON SHARING DATA

Headlines, PublicNet: 25 November, 2003

New guidance clarifying the existing legal powers available to public authorities to share personal data has been published by the government. It is designed to act as a route-map through the law to assist public authorities with data sharing issues and concerns.The guidance has been drawn up by lawyers at the Department for Constitutional Affairs with significant input from legal advisers and other officials across government and in consultation with the Information Commissioner and the Local Government Association. It covers those areas of the law – administrative, human rights, common law duty of confidentiality and data protection – that have an impact on whether and how the public sector can share personal data for legitimate and appropriate purposes.

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DEVELOPING FREEDOMS AND FLEXIBILITIES FOR LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Book News, PublicNet: 24 November, 2003

This report summarises the outcome of a New Local Government Network Policy Summit. It contains many seeds of ideas and proposals which offer the beginnings of a coherent view about the future role of local government and its partners. The reality is that a world of true Freedoms and Flexibilities raises enormous challenges to the local government community that it must face up to. Local government has to do more to convince the centre – and the public – that it recognises the challenges that a new localism involves and is up to meeting them. They include issues of risk management, of how to move into new areas without losing focus on the core, how to create the new skills and capacity which are necessary, about the need to shoulder true blame and take responsibility for decisions in a way that has been avoided by the centralised system.The Network believes that there are clear wins to be had if a more dynamic local governance can be kick-started. It also expresses confidence that there are enormous gains to be made as a consequence of joint-working across different public sector bodies at the local level. Some of the biggest blockages to joint working stem more from the inability of local bodies – Police, hospitals and Primary Care Trusts, Learning and Skills Councils etc.- to deliver commitment to real joined-up working and carry it through in the face of their command and control hierarchies, than it is to the limitations of local government.

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WEEK OF EVENTS SET TO BOOST USE OF NHS e-LIBRARY

Headlines, PublicNet: 24 November, 2003

The record-breaking level of use of the National Health Service e-Library seems certain to rise even further with the start today of the library’s second annual awareness week. The event coincides with the library’s third anniversary.Latest figures show a record number of people are finding help in making decisions about healthcare by consulting the e-library. Visits to the site rose by more than a third in October, reaching more than 200,000 compared with 150,000 in September.

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DEALING WITH PUBLIC ENQUIRIES ONLINE

Features, PublicNet: 21 November, 2003

By David Eccles Responding to online enquiries has become a key issue for public services and a recent survey revealed much scope for improvement. David Eccles, who played a key role in developing a successful website for the DfES, sets out some guiding principles and practical advice for achieving user friendliness.

SURVEY SHOWS STAFF RETENTION PROBLEMS FOR VOLUNTARY SECTOR

Headlines, PublicNet: 21 November, 2003

Voluntary organisations are facing fewer recruitment problems according to the latest annual voluntary sector salary survey by Remuneration Economics – but it shows that holding on to staff is a growing problem.The survey reveals that the percentage of respondent organisations that have faced staff recruitment problems in the last year has fallen by more than six per cent to just below 60 per cent. It also shows that salaries have increased by an
average rate of just over six per cent. That represents a return to the rate of increase in salaries recorded in 2001, after a drop to 4.7% last year.

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NEW FREEDOMS FOR DISTRICTS DISAPPOINT AUTHORITIES

Headlines, PublicNet: 21 November, 2003

A government announcement of measures designed to provide more freedom to district councils has been criticised as a missed opportunity by the Local Government Association. The changes extend to district authorities the freedoms and flexibilities announced last year for county and unitary councils and the London and metropolitan boroughs.But LGA leaders said they were disappointed ministers had not considered and appreciated the potential contribution district councils could make in helping to deliver the improvements in public services to which both central and local government were committed.

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FIRST FOR FALMOUTH AS PROJECT TAKES COMMUNITY AWARD

Headlines, PublicNet: 20 November, 2003

A community regeneration project in Falmouth has become the first scheme to win the Deputy Prime Minister’s Award for Sustainable Communities. The Beacon Community Partnership, which is led by local residents has transformed a once run-down estates in the area and according to the judges has made a real difference to people’s quality of life.The award was introduced to recognise schemes that help to deliver successful, thriving and sustainable communities across the country. The winning partnership, a multi-agency group, was set up in one of the UK’s most deprived areas, suffering from poverty, high levels of teenage pregnancy, anti-social behaviour, crime and poor health. It has been supported by 1.2 million pounds from the Capital Challenge Fund and a further million from Carrick Council.

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DISTRICTS ‘SHORT CHANGED’ IN GRANT SETTLEMENT

Headlines, PublicNet: 20 November, 2003

English local authorities are to receive an average increase of six and a half per cent in the grant they get from the Government, which is also promising councils more freedom to decide how they spend their money. The announcement received a mixed reaction from the Local Government Association. It said that while the extra funds would go half way to easing the council tax dilemma for many authorities, district councils were being short changed.Local Government Minister Nick Raynsford said the total grant for next year would rise to 54.1 billion pounds. This, he said, meant funding had risen by 29 per cent in real terms over the past seven years. Of the overall grant, 750 million pounds will be removed from ‘ring-fencing’, giving authorities more flexibility in their spending decisions. An extra 300 million is being made available to ease funding pressures on non-schools services and the local government general grant will rise by 4.7 per cent to 45.8 billion.

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BIG SUCCESS BY SMALL COUNCILS

Abstracts, PublicNet: 20 November, 2003

This report from the Society of IT Management analyses the achievements of smaller councils, employing less than 25 IT staff, in taking important steps in the journey to full implementation of local e-government targets. It concludes that the smaller organisation is agile, and can respond quickly on a relatively broad front to make things happen. Communication plays a part in that the chain of command from the chief executive to the front line service is relatively short. There is less scope for the message to be confused or diluted.The report is significant because it challenges the often expressed concerns about the lack of capacity in the smaller councils to take on the challenges of modernisation. The evidence put forward directly contests the assertion in a recent report from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister on Capacity Building in Local Government that ‘District councils have little flexibility within budgets devoted overwhelmingly to front-line services and lack the corporate capacity to take forward modernisation.’

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