The National Council for Voluntary Organisations has launched a three-year programme to improve recruitment and retention of staff in the voluntary sector. It is aimed at voluntary and community sector human resource professionals and is supported by the Community Fund.The Workforce Project includes a targeted programme of activities. The Project will work in partnership with infrastructure organisations including the National Association of Councils for Voluntary Service, the conciliation service, Acas, the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, the Black Training and Enterprise Group and the Cranfield Trust, to ensure that employment practice in the voluntary and community sector continues to improve.

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Setting targets for the recruitment of volunteers to work with public services could help to tackle crime, health and social problems and reverse the pressure on services, according to CSV – Community Service Volunteers. In a new document – ‘Reports on Active Citizens and Civil Renewal’ – it looks at ways volunteers can contribute to services.It demonstrates how citizens can play an active part in renewal through schools, doctors’ surgeries, prisons, social services, libraries and the media. The Executive Director of CSV, Dame Elisabeth Hoodless, believes what she calls ‘citizen engagement’ can help rebuild communities and reverse the kinds of pressure on public services that led to tragedies such as the death of Victoria Climbie. “Many people sit in front of their televisions too afraid to make the links in their communities that might protect a child or prevent isolation for the elderly,” she said.

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By Peter Newman and Tassilo Herrschel. Reproduced by permission of the Public Management and Policy Association. Much of the debate about Assemblies for the English regions is focused onthe structure and role of the new institutions. The author draws on examples of regional government from Germany and France to show that there are other key issues to consider such as how the institutions get adapted on the ground and the relationships with other tiers of government.