Children from the poorest families should receive free healthy meals at holiday clubs, just as they do during the school term, according to new research from ippr north, an independent thinktank. All children are now enjoying their school holidays but 850,000 children who usually get free school meals face six weeks without support. ippr north argues it is crucial that children from low income families benefit from nutritious food all year round. 

 
There has been a slow improvement in adult specialist community mental health services and this lack of progress combined with variations in quality is leaving some people with little or no access to care and treatment. This is the main finding from the Healthcare Commission and the Commission for Social Care Inspection national review. The Commission highlights weaknesses in involving people who use services, giving access to care and treatment and recovery and social inclusion. 

By Kevin EikenberryRemarkable Leadership is a practical handbook written for anyone who wants to hone the skills they need to become an outstanding leader. In this groundbreaking book, Kevin Eikenberry outlines a framework and a mechanism for both learning new things and applying current knowledge in a thoughtful and practical way. 

 
Social workers and care staff in flood-hit areas of Britain have been praised for their `tremendous resilience’ in caring for older people, families and communities. Anne Williams, President of the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services, said she had been deeply impressed by evidence from all the affected regions of departments working with private care home providers, voluntary agencies, the police, fire and other services. 

 
Moves towards the updating of the local government publicity code have been welcomed by the Local Government Information Unit, which has been pressing an easing of restrictions on council officers and elected members. It said the government’s promise to look again at the code could improve accountability and help councils communicate effectively with local people. 

 
Local authority leaders should take up places on the new House of Commons Regional Committees as a step towards a big change in the way regional decision making is scrutinised. The call has come from the New Local Government Network, which has set out a number of measures it wants to see as the debate on the Government’s Sub-regional Review continues.
NLGN has published “The Age of Regions? 

 
Councils across the country are ahead of the game when it comes to involving young people in decisions on spending their youth budgets, according to the Local Government Association. In its new strategy for young people the Government is calling for them to be given control over more of the budgets spent on positive activities. 

By David M Allen. Management theories come and go. Some achieve ‘flavour of the month’ status, but they too become history. The author offers thoughts about practical issues of management which have an immortal quality. His reflections on the replacement of traffic bollards expose common failures in organizational learning.

 
The Commission for Social Care Inspection says people who use social care services are now significantly more involved in the design and delivery inspection. In its third annual report CSCI details how it has recruited service users it calls Experts By Experience to participate in inspections. 

Nine schemes to create single tier unitary authorities are to proceed towards implementation with the intention that the new authorities would be in full operation by 2009. It is expected that the new authorities could save more than 150 million pounds a year.