By John ParkinsonA number of organizations in the National Health Service have been experimenting with ‘deliberative’ techniques of citizen involvement, techniques that were designed with democratic imperatives in mind. This paper offers an explanation for the interest in deliberative processes in the NHS by comparing deliberative and public management imperatives, as well as discussing more case-specific motivations, drawing on interviews with health policy actors. The insights are used to highlight gaps between the deliberative ideal and deliberative practice, showing what has been gained and what has been lost in the encounter between deliberative democracy and new public managers.

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The Government’s anti-poverty strategy should look more widely at people’s welfare, both inside and outside work. Millions of people in low-paid, insecure jobs need better training and working conditions and incentives, in order to realise their full potential and improve their living standards. Two reports from the Joseph Rowntree foundation reveal that as a result of a low pay culture there are four times as many low paid workers earning below two-thirds of the median wage than there were in the 1970s. Another difference is that in the 1970s most of the low paid workers were not the main breadwinners. Today low pay is more prevalent among breadwinners.The introduction of the National Minimum Wage in 1999 has had little impact. The low pay figure is little changed from before its introduction. Of those who are low paid, 14 per cent are in households living in poverty, that is where income is below 60 per cent of median income. This is an increase from 11 per cent from the mid 1990s. For the low paid who escape poverty only 8 per cent do so through their wages alone. Couples rely on partners’ earnings to stay above the poverty line, while lone parents rely mainly on benefits and tax credits.

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Schools throughout the UK are being given guidance to help them teach young people the vital skills of innovation, creativity, risk management and business understanding. The initiative aims beyond growing the next generation of entrepreneurs, because enterprise skills are valuable to all young people. A can-do, enterprising mindset offers powerful benefits for individuals, such as more personal control, self-expression and recognition in their lives. Enterprise education is seen as critical in securing future economic success and equipping young people with vital life skills.The guidance has evolved from the experience of over 700 schools that have taken part in pathfinder projects. It is a key element of the Enterprise Education strategy which includes providing all Key Stage 4 pupils from September 2005 with the equivalent of five days’ activity which develops enterprise capability.

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