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. 

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. 

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.