With the deadline for providing e-government services across the public sector only just over six months away, demand for IT contractors is rising steeply. According to a survey by online IT recruitment specialists CWJobs.co.uk., demand increased by 25% in the first quarter of 2005. Compared to the same period in 2004 there has been a 200% increase. These increases are marginally less than those for the IT rich financial sector.The data is based on key information taken from all the jobs advertised in the UK’s leading IT and multi-sector recruitment web sites, together with jobs advertised in IT business magazines, as well as national & selected regional press.

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Young people in Scotland will benefit from plans to partner every secondary with a local college by 2007. This will give pupils a wider choice of study and ensure that the ability of a pupil to learn is not curtailed by the boundaries of their school classroom. The Scottish Executive’s Partnership Agreement includes a commitment to enable 14-16 year olds to develop vocational skills and improve their employment prospects by allowing them to undertake courses in further education colleges as part of the school-based curriculum. The partnerships will offer the choice of pupils going to college or with lecturers coming into school.Partnerships between schools and colleges have already proved that they can meet a growing need and there are around 44,000 school pupils enrolled in colleges. The additional funding of 41.5 million pounds announced today will allow partnerships to be extended country wide.

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By James Barlow and Mary Breeze Using the telephone or the internet for the weekly grocery shopping could make life much easier for older and disabled people with limited mobility and at the same time halve the cost to councils of providing a home grocery shopping service. Much remains to be done to make this a reality. The authors describe a pilot project in Bristol which explored the barriers and evaluated the outcomes. They suggest ways in which councils, supermarkets and technology might bring the benefits everyone is looking for.