The House of Commons Public Administration Select Committee has launched a scrutiny into the effectiveness of the Civil Service and its relationship with other public services. The committee will consider whether local government and health service staff should be brought under the Civil Service umbrella. Other issues the Committee will explore include whether today’s civil servants have the right skills to deliver public services, and whether wider use of new technology, relocation outside London and more devolution to local bodies will help strengthen the performance of the service. They will also seek views on Civil Service careers, asking whether “the job for life” should become a thing of the past and whether it should be easier for people from the private sector to join the service.Submissions should be sent by 17 December 2004 to Philip Aylett, Clerk, Public Administration Select Committee, Committee Office, First Floor, Committee Office, 7 Millbank, London SW1P 3JA.

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Local authorities have been told by the Government what the efficiency targets set out in this year’s spending review will mean in practice and how they will be achieved. An information pack has gone to all council leaders and chief executives setting out the government’s view of how it will work with local authorities to make the savings.The Spending Review imposed a target for efficiency gains across local government of two and half per cent a year with a view to delivering savings of at least 6.45 billion pounds by the year 2007-8. The targets were set in the light of the Gershon review of public sector efficiency, which focused on the Government’s objective of releasing resources to fund front line services.

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Older people in Wales are to be allowed to use local authority swimming pools without charge in the first national scheme of its kind anywhere in Europe. The Free Swimming pilot will allow anyone over 60 to swim for free.The Welsh Assembly set providing free swimming for children and older people as one of its ‘Top Ten’ commitments and it will invest more than a million pounds in 60-plus swimming in the current financial year. First Minister Rhodri Morgan, who qualifies for the scheme himself, said it was a key part of the Assembly Government’s drive to encourage healthier lifestyles.Mr. Morgan said regular, light exercise could make a real difference to older people’s health and well-being. “In Wales alone, the effects of inactivity and unhealthy lifestyles cost our health and social care services around 500 million pounds a year,” he said. “By providing the opportunities for people to take greater responsibility for their own health, we will cut the incidence of long-term sickness, improve the quality of people’s lives and reduce the burden on our health services,” he added.

Read more on WELSH SWIMMING INITIATIVE AIMS TO CUT HEALTH BILLS…