TENANTS’ VIEWS CENTRAL TO REGENERATION OF BIRMINGHAM ESTATE

Birmingham City Council is to go ahead with the regeneration of a housing estate, which will include the provision of 300 properties that will be available for sale and through shared ownership as well as for rent. The plans, for the Highgate area of the city, can move forward following a decision to sell land on the St. Luke’s estate.

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AWARDS FOR HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE STAFF

Local authorities, community groups and a prison were among organisations that were honoured in the prestigious Health and Social Care Awards this year. The 12 winning teams from NHS and other care organisations across England and one outstanding individual achiever were chosen from an initial 1,500 entrants.

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CIFAS, the UK’s Fraud Prevention Service, and the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development have launched free guidance to help employers understand the threats associated with fraud and help HR professionals manage the risks.Staff fraud is increasing. Examples of “insider fraud” make headlines almost daily. This can damage an organisation’s reputation and staff morale as well as causing a loss of money. The guide urges employers to be on their guard when vetting prospective employees and to ensure that the environment for existing employees is one in which fraud cannot prosper.

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COUNCILS EYE YORK’S UNIQUE SCHOOLS EVENT

A number of local authorities from around the country will be monitoring a unique conference for primary schools in York with a view to taking up the idea in their own areas. The event tomorrow will bring together school council members from 37 primaries across the city.

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CALL TO RAISE TARGET FOR NEW HOMES ON BROWNFIELD SITES

Local authorities are accused today of failing to identify urban sites that would benefit from redevelopment and it is claimed that the lack of action to encourage such developments is blighting communities. The claim comes from the Campaign to Protect Rural England which is calling for even more new homes to be built on brownfield sites.

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By Hannah Green and Celia Hannon,This report from the think tank Demos argues that children are developing a sophisticated understanding of new technologies outside of formal schooling, gaining creative and entrepreneurial skills demanded by the global knowledge economy. Schools are failing to develop these skills, with many attempting to limit children’s online activity to ICT ‘ghettos’ while banning the use of social networking sites like MySpace and Youtube.

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RESEARCH CALLS FOR END TO SCHOOLS’ CONTROL OVER ADMISSIONS

A new report is calling for all schools to be part of a local system of admissions to give parents a fairer choice of school places and to help tackle educational segregation. In research published today the Institute for Public Policy Research says schools can develop a strong individual ethos without having control of their own admissions processes.The study also finds that secondary schools that act as their own admissions authorities are less representative of their local areas. It says that faith schools controlling their own admissions are ten times more likely to be highly unrepresentative while non-faith schools are six times more likely to be highly unrepresentative. The report comes as local authorities across England prepare to write to parents this week with offers of secondary school places.

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COMMISSION CALLS ON COUNCILS TO TARGET ROAD SAFETY CAMPAIGNS

The Audit Commission says local authorities should work to raise awareness of road safety issues among secondary school pupils. In a report today, it is also recommending that police forces should improve the accuracy, completeness and timeliness of data on road accidents. The report, ‘Changing Lanes’ says that the 3,000 road deaths and 237,000 injuries each year cost the National Health Service 470 million pounds and it puts the total cost to the economy at 8 billion.

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This report from the Society of IT Management is based on research from recent disasters that have hit local authorities, affecting their ICT service. It raises serious concerns and questions whether councils understand the expectations of the Civil Contingencies Act and are sufficiently prepared to cope with threats to business continuity.The cases of discontinuity examined in the report include an arson attack, the aftermath of storm damage, an explosion at an oil terminal, major flooding, a building collapse and a burst water main in a town hall.

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COUNCILS TOLD TO ‘RAISE THEIR GAME’ TO CUT TEENAGE PREGNANCY RATES

The local delivery of services designed to cut the rate of teenage pregnancies is crucial to their success according to the Minister for Children, Young People and Families, Beverley Hughes, but she is also calling on all local authorities to do more to reduce the figures by 2010. New figures from the Office of National Statistics show that the overall conception rate for under 18s remained virtually stable from 42,198 in 2004 to 42,187 in 2005, but with more girls under 16 becoming pregnant. That figure was up by four per cent.

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