This consultation document sets out the plans a single inspectorate for children and learners. The proposals envisage bringing together the children’s services work of the Commission for Social Care Inspection into Ofsted, together with the Children and Families Court Advisory and Support Service inspection remit of the Inspectorate of Court Administration to create a single inspectorate for children and learners. A single inspectorate would better reflect the current and proposed arrangements locally of services and it would also help bring vocational learning into the mainstream with a single inspectorate looking at vocational and academic learning together.Other benefits include focusing inspection activity on the needs and experiences of children regardless of organisational boundaries. A single inspectorate would also have a coherent and authoritative voice in speaking for the needs of children right across the sector. The development would also enable efficiency savings to be made by reducing the cost of inspection and freeing more resource to the front-line.

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The demand for IT staff across the public sector continues to grow. According to online IT recruitment specialists CWJobs.co.uk. the latest IT skills index reveals that permanent IT positions increased by 11 per cent in the second quarter of 2005. This follows a 13 per cent increase in the previous quarter. The number of positions advertised for contract staff also increased by 4 per cent, however this rise is minimal compared to the previous rise of 13 per cent in the first quarter of 2005.The target to put all public services on line by the end of 2005 is creating a boom in permanent IT positions, but demand for contractors is slowing which could be the result of outsourcing. It is predicted that the third quarter of 2005 will see a further rise in permanent positions and although any growth for contractor positions may be smaller than previously experienced, it is likely to be substantial.

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The Consumers Association in its latest ‘Which?’ report exposes weaknesses in the Government’s proposals for greater choice in healthcare. The adoption of ‘choice’ is expected to transform healthcare and the NHS. The claim is that patient choice and market mechanisms will create a modern, decentralised and more personalised NHS that is responsive to consumers’ needs. The Which? report considers the proposals from the consumer’s perspective using new research on consumers’ attitudes and experiences of choice in healthcare.The research revealed that choosing can be an unwanted and overwhelming burden at times of stress and vulnerability. For many, the concept of choice was so alien to their experiences of the NHS that they found it difficult to imagine how it would work in practice. They had little knowledge of current proposals to increase choice and develop new roles for health professionals and primary care services. Many also knew little about how to use these services. Tackling this knowledge gap is crucial if consumers are to understand and use the different options available to them.

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