Eight rural economy beacon councils have developed a best practice toolkit aimed at addressing regeneration priorities in rural communities. Designed to assist councils to work as facilitators for regeneration activities, the toolkit shows how new and enhanced services can be cost effectively provided in rural areas by working in partnership to deliver joined up solutions. It also gives local authorities practical advice on assessing their regeneration activities and learning from the beacons’ success. It draws extensively on a research study commissioned by DEFRA, the LGA, the Countryside Agency and the IDeA.The toolkit is available from Richard Greening at the IDeA on 020 7296 6824.

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Moving the heath service from paper files, post-it notes and records left on trolleys, to an electronic patient record system has major implications for patient confidentiality. Although the current system has security weaknesses, the electronic record could pose a threat to some people and they need to know that if normal access to their record might cause them substantial damage or distress they can restrict access.In what is considered to be a long overdue move a national public awareness campaign is being launched next year to address the full range of issues posed by the implementation of the NHS Card Records Service. The purpose will be to raise patients’ awareness of their rights and how personal information can be used and shared within the health service.

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Social services departments of 150 local councils have increased their star rating by 8 per cent compared to last year. Some two thirds of councils have been awarded two or three stars for their performance. But the figures published by the Commission for Social Care Inspection, which has taken over from the Social Service Inspectorate, reveal a disturbing picture at the lower performance levels. A one star rating was awarded to 40 councils and 8 councils were zero rated.Children’s services are expected to improve in 81 per cent of councils and this figure rises to 91 percent for adult services. The problems lie with almost one fifth of councils where improvements are less certain. There is a big gap between the best performing and worst performing councils. Margaret Hodge, Minister for Children said: “Poorly performing services are letting down children and this cannot be allowed to continue. We have taken new powers of intervention through the Children Act which will allow us to consider all possible solutions to help turnaround councils where the star ratings show consistent underperformance. We will look to agree and tailor our approach to individual circumstances and, where it is shown to be necessary, take whatever action is needed to improve services for children.”

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By Kusminder Chahal and Ahmed Iqbal Ullah Much evidence is available to show a persistent lack of recognition of the circumstances of groups and individuals that make up minority ethnic communities and of the way they are often ignored in policy and practice responses. The authors have collated a picture of inappropriate services staffed by very few from the black and ethnic minority communities. They bring together lessons from a wide range of research projects and call for a response from policy-makers, service planners and practitioners.

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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The need for employers to have greater recognition as stakeholders in further education must be recognized by colleges. Education Minister Charles Clarke has urged colleges to collaborate more fully to ensure that the needs of employers are understood and met so they are confident that learners will be equipped with the necessary skills, knowledge and attitudes. Closer collaboration will also ensure that learners have the confidence that their education will give them prospects in the future economy and society. To achieve this, employers need to contribute more to course development so that the supply side is geared up to provide what they want, when they want it and where they want it.Charles Clarke also wants colleges to diversify income sources, finding new business, and collecting more income from fees. They need to adopt a similar approach to Higher Education Institutions.

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Business rate payers in Kingston-upon-Thames have voted to set up an improvement district to boost the local economy and provide a vibrant and competitive place in which to operate. This is the first Business Improvement District scheme to be implemented under regulations introduced in September this yearBusinesses will pay a one per cent supplement on the rateable value of properties and this will generate 4 million pounds over five years and double the Royal Borough of Kingston’s current spending on the town centre services. The new funding will provide a package of improvements which will enhance the quality and viability of the area. These include the provision of environmental rangers to clean streets and remove chewing gum, the appointment of “community rangers” to deter anti-social behaviour, as well as better transport and access to the town centre through funding and promotion of Park and Ride schemes.

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By Peter K Smith and Denise WatsonThe Childline in Partnership with Schools Programme (CHIPS) was introduced in 1997 to raise awareness about ChildLine and to encourage schools to support their pupils in setting up projects run by and for pupils in tackling issues that affect their lives, such as bullying and violence. Although the programme provides value for money, improvements should be made to aspects of the training, supervision and operation of the schemes. In some schools, difficulties were not being addressed thoroughly enough, and some schemes fell short of achieving their full potential. Good practice needs to be disseminated more widely, and evaluation must be taken more seriously and done more systematically.

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