Current restrictions on local council employees playing an active part in politics are excessive and need to be reviewed according to the local democracy think tank the Local Government Information Unit. It has produced a new pamphlet called “Barred From Politics”, as part of its campaign to modernise the legislation.The publication sets out a case for less draconian rules and comes as the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has promised a consultation paper on reforming the restrictions, which were introduced in the Local Government and Housing Act 1989.

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The Swindon Southern Development Area is to help pilot the government’s Urban Design Coding Programme. A code is a set of specific rules or requirements set out to guide the physical development of an area and the SDA will help test whether coding at a national level can accelerate the delivery of well-built and well-designed homes for local communities.The code aims to provide clarity about acceptable design quality for developers and local communities and should speed up high quality building schemes. Developing the code will be a joint process and local people in Swindon will be involved with other stakeholders with a consultation programme being run in the community.

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The primary leadership programme launched in summer 2003 was badly flawed and failed to meet expectations. Ofsted, the education watchdog, has analysed why the aim of strengthening leadership and responsibility for teaching and learning in English and maths in primary schools was not achieved.Under the programme experienced primary headteachers acted as consultant leaders to support and provide expert guidance for headteachers and their leadership teams, working closely with local education authorities’ literacy and mathematics consultants, schools’ advisers and other LEA staff.

Read more on WATCHDOG ALLOCATES BLAME FOR SCHOOL LEADERSHIP FAILINGS…

The reluctance of some councils to install customer relationship management systems, and the failure of others to make best use of them, has prompted a research initiative to find out what benefits the systems deliver. CRM systems bring together customer records to a single point to provide a fast and reliable response to personal and telephone callers. The research will be carried out as part of the National Customer Relationship Management Programme, which is sponsored by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.Although some three quarters of councils are involved in the National CRM Programme, only about half have installed a CRM system. What is more disturbing is that a recent survey by NDL Ltd found that many councils are using CRM systems as a call logging facility rather than as a business efficiency tool. The survey also revealed that integrating existing systems with a new CRM system is proving a major challenge mainly because processes have to be re-engineered and in many cases the organization has to be re-structured to support new ways of working.

Read more on BID TO CONVINCE COUNCILS OF TECHNOLOGY BENEFITS…

By Adam Lent and Natalie ArendThis report is based on a year long study of how local authorities across the UK are introducing wider choice in the provision of their services. It offers a practical guide on how user choice can be successfully implemented and managed. In considering the changing nature of user choice and the different providers, the report claims ‘enhanced choice’ is the key to improving local public services.

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Better accesses to pharmacies will result from sweeping away many of the restrictions which limit the service provided to the public. Companies will be able to set up on-line and mail order pharmacies without having traditional ‘bricks and mortar’ outlets. This will bring in a range of new providers of pharmaceutical services.The new legislation provides, in some cases, for the removal of the requirement for companies considering opening a pharmacy and dispensing NHS prescriptions to apply to their local primary care organisation for a contract. The ‘control of entry test’ will not apply providing the proposed pharmacy is part of a large shopping development, or will be open for more than 100 hours each week, or it will be part of consortia developing new one-stop primary care centres.

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A paper by health minister Stephen Ladyman setting out a new vision for social care, which was due to be published about now has been put on hold. The decision follows publication of the findings of a survey by the Social Care Institute for Excellence which presents differing views of where social care should go in the 21st century.The survey reveals limited radical thinking about services. Responses concentrated on the means of delivering services through processes and systems, rather than the end result. There was also an assumption in responses that the “professional” always does the assessment rather than the individual with support needs.

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By Michael BallThe problems created by the partnership approach to urban deprivation could outweigh the benefits, according to research sponsored by the ESRC and the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. Bringing together the private and voluntary sectors, local community groups and various central and local government agencies in urban regeneration partnerships can sometimes work well. However, it can also raise a host of issues about trust, leadership, costs, and having too many unproductive meetings. In this report the author explores the difficulties of co-operation between such diverse groups.

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The integrated approach to education, day care, social support and adult learning for children from 0 – 5 could have applications elsewhere in the school system. An inspection of Early Excellence Centres by Ofsted found that the model which brings together parental and carer involvement in the education and care of children, combined with support services for children, parents and carers, delivers excellent results. The first Early Excellence Centres were established in the late 1990s. They were an innovative development providing full day care for babies and young children under 3 years including sessional care such as playgroups, crèches, before- and after-school care, such as an extended day for nursery children or for primary age children from local schools.The Ofsted report reveals growing evidence that the increased childcare facilities are having a positive effect on reducing the effects of child poverty in some communities. This results partly from the support that allows parents to return to work and partly from the provision of adult and other courses for parents and carers. The Ofsted inspectors found that there was positive action to promote social inclusion, equal opportunities and race equality.

Read more on PIONEERING EDUCATIONAL MODEL EMERGING FROM EARLY YEARS WORK…

E-procurement is emerging as a key feature of the modernisation agenda in local government. It is estimated that councils could collectively save over one billion pounds each year on the costs of goods and services.The latest development is the appointment of a team of private sector consultants who will give direct support to councils to help develop e-procurement plans. Portsmouth City Council, the lead authority in the National e-Procurement Project, has issued a notice inviting suitably experienced organisations to tender for the consultancy work. Responses are required by 3 September 2004.

Read more on E-PROCUREMENT MOVES UP THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT AGENDA…