Local councils are being asked for their views on the new Planning Advisory Service, due to be in operation from the autumn after being launched by English Partnerships and the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister. The aim of the service, to be run by the IdeA, is to provide support and advice for English local authorities. It will work in partnership with other agencies and support the government’s sustainable communities plan.As a pilot of the main advisory service, English Partnerships, the national regeneration agency, has been asked to set up an advisory panel on large applications. That panel will give direct support to authorities to deliver important objectives, such as large-scale housing developments or regeneration projects.

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A study published today shows that young people’s well-being drops drastically at secondary school, with significant effects on their personal development. The research was carried out by the think tank The New Economics Foundation in partnership with Nottingham City Council, which has been praised for its part in the survey.The study looked at two measures of well being in over 1,000 youngsters, life satisfaction and personal development. Previous studies have focused only on life satisfaction, but the report’s author, Nic Marks, believes personal development, which is related to being curious and engaging in challenging and absorbing activities, is important for people’s overall ability to cope well with the challenges of life and is directly related to physical health in later life.

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By Annette Davies and Robyn Thomas.This paper presents empirical and theoretical analysis of the enactment of New Public Management (NPM) within the UK police service. It draws on material gathered in a two-year study and challenges traditional understandings of policing organization and identities. The paper examines the implications of this for policies that promote community orientated policing (COP) and increased inter-agency partnership. The paper argues that the promotion of a more progressive form of policing, based on community orientation and equality principles, may struggle to gain legitimacy within the current performance regime that legitimizes a competitive masculine subjectivity, with its emphasis on crime fighting.

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