By Debbe KennedyThe author focuses on how-to develop support for change in organizations, including leadership, sponsorship, manager conviction and buy-in from everyone involved. It includes action strategies, stories, insights and ideas for what and how to gain acceptance of the need for change and understanding of its implications in seven key areas that influence organizational effectiveness.
The 5000 offenders who commit about 10% of crimes in the UK are to be targeted in a new cross-Government initiative. The cost to communities is hard to calculate because the offences involve the pensioner scared to leave home after dark and the mother unable to take her children to the playground because it has become the haunt of the local gang.Each of the 376 crime and disorder reduction partnerships are being asked to target the top 15-20 prolific offenders that are causing most harm to communities. The exact criteria used to select individuals to be targeted will be drawn up in consultation with the 42 Local Criminal Justice Boards, which are made up of local chief officers of all the criminal justice agencies. At present, a persistent offender is defined as someone who has been convicted of six or more offences in the last year. The new strategy will take more account of the particular concerns of individual communities and look at the nature and volume of crime which offenders are committing; other harm they are causing and the impact their behaviour is having on their local community.
A new local government leadership center, due to be opened later in the year, is at the core of the leadership strategy launched by the Leadership Development Commission. Other elements of the strategy, which provides a framework to stimulate leadership development at the individual, team, local authority and national levels, seeks to secure the contributions of other stakeholders, including political parties. The Commission was set up in 2002 to ‘review the current situation in leadership and leadership development’. It is made up from elected members and senior managers in local government, central government, employer’s organizations, leadership development practitioners and academics.The Leadership Centre is a joint venture between the Office of Public Sector Reform, The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, the LGA, the IDeA, the Employers Organisation and SOLACE. It was conceived to address the gap in leadership development that is increasingly apparent in the public sector in general, with a particular emphasis on local government. The centre will build on the work of the Commission and will have a remit for sharing and disseminating best practice in leadership and leadership development across the sector, as well as creating or ‘badging’ targeted leadership development programmes reflecting the specific needs of senior officers and elected members.
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A MORI poll found that 92% of people trust doctors to tell the truth, teachers came in second with 89%. Only 20% of people trust journalists to tell the truth and 72% believe they actively lie. Politicians were slightly higher up the table with 22% believing that they tell the truth.The reaction of respondents to questions about trust were also reflected in their answers about satisfaction with the way certain professions do their job. The majority (55%) of people choosing ‘very satisfied’ picked nurses, followed by doctors (39%) and teachers (34%). Dissatisfaction was generally reserved for politicians and government ministers, however, a certain amount of finger-pointing was directed at judges, lawyers and the police although nowhere near the level of politicians.
The role of the Teacher Training Agency has been extended to include the professional development of teachers and the training of school support staff including teaching assistants. The Agency will become the key organisation which will coordinate efforts of all those involved in providing professional development for teachers. It will support a national network that will help every teacher to improve their classroom practice, become an expert in their chosen specialism and have the opportunity to continually learn on the job.The remit of the Agency is also being widened to cover teaching assistants and support staff so that the skills of the whole teaching workforce will be maximised. School Standards Minister David Miliband said: “The potential gains from up-skilling the school support staff sector are huge. School support staff play a vital role in complementing the work of teachers and they have a crucial role to play in raising standards and enabling every child to reach their potential. I look forward to seeing bursars, caretakers, learning mentors, teaching assistants and all school support staff benefit.”
The Commission for Health Improvement reports that hospital care has significantly improved over the last four years and is now more focused on the needs of patients. It notes progress in reducing waiting times in A&E and for outpatients appointments. But the Commission is concerned that there is still too much variation in the care provided within hospitals and across hospitals depending on where a patient gets treated. There are more trusts with a three star rating, but the number of trusts with zero stars has increased.Progress on areas that really matter to patients, such as being treated in safe and clean environments, having privacy and dignity and having a good experience of care prior to diagnosis and continuing through discharge from hospital, is still variable. Some services are of an unacceptable quality. There is also a lack of clinical leadership. While performance targets have driven improvements to care, they should not replace local response to patients’ needs. The Commission urges trusts to concentrate on redesigning services with quality in mind.
By Theo Theobold and Cary CooperThe book tackles the nuts and bolts of communication at work with startling honesty and an avalanche of practical tips. The author’s views are supported by comment from an impressive line-up of experts, whose communication strategies drive a range of successful organizations. It has something for all those who face the difficult challenge of making themselves heard in a multi-delivery-channel world – whether trying to negotiate a pay rise or struggling to put the WOW factor into a presentation.
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Strategic Health Authorities across England are being urged to implement the new hospital consultant contract by the end of April. The encouragement comes in a letter to be received by SHA chief executives from the Department of Health and the Consultants’ Committee of the British Medical Association, which is upset over delays.Trusts that do not meet the proposed deadline will be able to make use of joint BMA/DoH implementation teams to help resolve local problems. The joint letter advises Trusts, consultants and clinical managers to work in partnership to complete the job planning process by the end of April.
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Almost 200 million pounds is being made available for three Housing Market Renewal Pathfinder projects in the north of England. The funding has been announced by the Deputy Prime Minister who said it would help to reverse decades of decline in communities affected by low housing demand and abandonment. There will also be more money for former mining districts.The pathfinder districts are South Yorkshire, East Lancashire and the Oldham and Rochdale area. All three take in some of the areas worst affected by collapsing house prices and problems like abandoned homes, poverty, poor health and anti-social behaviour. Mr. Prescott also announced 25 million pounds for the regeneration of former coalfield areas.
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By James W Bryant Reproduced by permission of the Public Management and Policy Association. Managing change is difficult at any time. When the change involves partner organizations with a range of cultures and varying agendas the difficulties become more acute. The author sets out an approach for dealing with collaborative change and describes how it was put into effect with a community safety partnership.
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