PUBLIC SECTOR FAILING TO LIVE UP TO TALK ON WORK-LIFE BALANCE

Public sector employers have only a limited commitment to changing standard working patterns, according to new research today although, it says, they ‘talk the talk’ on work-life balance. The study by The Work Foundation says that in some cases employers block people from flexible working or grant requests only to selected members of staff.

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Meg Munn, Under Secretary of State at the Department for Communities and Local Government, speaking at a Local Government Information Unit conference, said that local authorities are best placed to understand the particular migration challenges their city, town or neighbourhood faces. It is only at a local level that tensions relating to migration can be felt and addressed. Only local authorities have the democratic mandate to co-ordinate differing interests, reconcile diverse views and provide the space for open debate and dialogue.She highlighted principles on which councils have based their success in responding to migration challenges. They include strong leadership and engagement, developing shared values, building understanding and resilience across communities, planning how to respond in a crisis and tackling inequalities.

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ASSEMBLY CONSULTS ON REGENERATION PLANS

Consultations have begun on major plans for the regeneration of East Wales. The Welsh First Minister, Rhodri Morgan, has launched the process to gather views on the investment of up to 200 million pounds in the region as part of the European Union’s Regional Competitiveness and Employment Programmes under which the area has been allocated 97 million pounds. The total will be made up by match funding.

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WELCOMES AND WARNINGS GREET BARKER REVIEW

Proposals to improve the flexibility and responsiveness of the planning system and to make more efficient use of land have been set out in a report by the economist Kate Barker. She wants to see a faster local plan-making process, tailor-made delivery agreements between developers and planning authorities and a sharp reduction in the number of applications delayed by being called in by ministers.

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Editor Jesse NormanThese eight essays published by the Policy Exchange set out a range of ideas on urban policy ranging from the architecture of cities to their zoology. They are critical of current thinking. There has been a marked increase in social segregation. Urban green spaces have been seriously reduced. Poor public transport infrastructures have reinforced reliance on the car, with adverse effects. Violent crime has rocketed. Cities are less healthy, less safe and less biodiverse than they might be.

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REVIEW UNIT WANTS MORE ACTION TO EASE BURDEN OF BUREAUCRACY ON SCHOOLS

A national review team, including head teachers and senior staff, is calling for more to be done to limit the burdens placed on schools. The twelve members of the Implementation Review Unit say some good progress is being made but the Department for Education and Skills, local authorities, government agencies, other government departments and even schools themselves should do much more to free people to focus on improving teaching and learning.

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COUNCIL LEADERS WANT COMMISSION TO TAKE POLITICS OUT OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT FINANCE

Local authority leaders have called for big changes in the way local government is financed and for the setting up of an independent public finance commission that would take the politics out of tax. In a submission to the Lyons Inquiry, the Local Government Association proposes that the commission, which it has called OFTAX, should oversee and ensure sustainable finances for local councils.

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More than half of employees working in Local Government have given management jargon, such as ‘think outside the box’ and ‘the helicopter view’, the ‘thumbs down’, saying it is a problem in their workplace. According to the poll conducted byYouGov to mark the 15th anniversary of Investors in People, employees have a low opinion of colleagues who use management jargon. Over a third of those surveyed in the sector think it betrays a lack of confidence and almost one in six think people who use it are untrustworthy or trying to cover something up.The research suggests that jargon can create a barrier between managers and their teams. Demonstrating the potential ‘desk divide’, over half of senior managers in local government think jargon is harmless, whilst four in ten employees think that it creates misunderstanding about roles and responsibilities. Over a third of employees say it results in mistrust in the workplace and makes people feel inadequate.

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MORE AREAS TO BENEFIT FROM TEAMS TO TACKLE LOAN SHARKS

More areas are being given funding to help deal with the problem of illegal money lending following the success of pilot projects in Glasgow and Birmingham, where local authority trading standards officers and the Department of Trade have worked together to tackle loan sharks who often use intimidation to extract big repayments. The Treasury and the Department of Trade have announced 1.2 million pounds of funding for the expansion of the idea into new areas including Sheffield, West Yorkshire and Liverpool.

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GOVERNMENT CALLED TO COUNT ENVIRONMENTAL COST OF ROAD SCHEMES

The Government is condemned today by leading environmental groups which have joined forces to criticise its failure to gather what they believe is crucial information on the environmental impact of road schemes. Friends of the Earth, Transport 2000, the Campaign to Protect Rural England and Road Block have issued a joint statement questioning the Government’s commitment to the environment.

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