An alliance, just two months old, will present its case for representing public service users at the Labour and Conservative Party’s conferences. Under the label of ‘Future Services’ the new alliance which is made up of The National Consumer Council, the Confederation of British Industry and the National Council for Voluntary Organisations, aims to take the voice of users to the heart of the public service reform debate.At a recent event organised by Future Services, business leaders, local government representatives, senior civil servants, charity chief executives and think tanks, expressed concern that public sector reform has so far followed a top-down approach. Delegates called for a shift to a bottom-up approach which would ensure that the choices currently being developed by the Government are those that communities and individuals actually want.

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The public health remit should to be taken away from the Department of Health and made the responsibility of the entire government. This would then shift the government’s present focus on acute NHS treatment to a broader approach to tackling the root causes of ill-health which include poverty and social inequality, housing, diet and pollution. This call comes from the Local Government Association, the NHS Confederation and the UK Public Health Association.Research shows that 50 per cent of variation in health is down to socio-economic differences, while just 25 per cent is down to the quality of health services, 15 per cent to inherited biological determinants and 10 per cent to environmental factors.

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By Kaye ThorneCoaching for Change is an essential tool for anyone who wants to transform performance through the development of a coaching environment. Drawing upon the author’s experience, this book looks at how to create, develop and manage the process of change whether it be in one-to-one situations, team based or within organizations. It examines how change happens, both at the individual and organizational level and why, despite a desire to change, some people and organizations find it difficult to achieve.

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