By Paul Epstein, Paul M. Coates, Lyle D. Wray, David SwainThe book provides a new governance framework for using valuable tools of community improvement-especially performance measurement and citizen engagement-to empower communities to achieve the outcomes their citizens most desire. Government and nonprofit managers will learn how to combine these tools in new ways, not only to achieve one-time improvement of their organizations and communities, but to foster continual community renewal and improvement.

Read more on RESULTS THAT MATTER: IMPROVING COMMUNITIES BY ENGAGING CITIZENS, MEASURING PERFORMANCE AND GETTING THINGS DONE…

HELP WITH THE HOUSING LADDER

Key public sector workers are among those who will qualify for a new shared equity mortgage to help buy their own home. The Government has teamed up with four private sector lenders, Nationwide, Yorkshire Building Society, Advantage – a Morgan Stanley company, and Bank of Scotland, to offer a mortgage that will boost people’s buying power by up to 25 per cent. Currently, a family on a combined income of 35,000 pounds could typically obtain a mortgage of just 122,500 pounds. But if eligible for the Open Market HomeBuy scheme, they could potentially buy a home worth over 160,000 pounds.

Read more on HELP WITH THE HOUSING LADDER…

SENIOR DIRECTORS CHALLENGED TO ANSWER THE CALLS

The Institute of Customer Service is lobbying senior directors at town halls and county councils and challenging them to go back-to-the-floor in a front-line customer service role. The challenge is designed to hammer home the message that customer service involves all levels in an organisation. The Institute believes that if senior directors across the board shared this front line customer service experience it would give them a valuable insight into the customer perspective and help them to appreciate the difficulties their staff cope with day by day.

Read more on SENIOR DIRECTORS CHALLENGED TO ANSWER THE CALLS…