This document sets out the corporate governance framework within which the Audit Commission operates. The Commission is an independent body responsible for ensuring that public money is spent economically, efficiently and effectively, to achieve high-quality local services for the public. Its remit covers 11,000 bodies in England, which between them spend more than 180 billion pounds of public money each year. 

Experts on responsible gambling have concluded that a regional casino in Manchester would be highly regulated and unlikely to increase problem gambling. At the request of the city council they have been looking at Manchester’s approach to combating problem gambling and have emphasised that the real threat comes from the growth of internet gambling. 

The Improvement and Development Agency has joined forces with the Local Government Employers’ organisation to develop online resources to help local authorities looking to share services as a way of achieving efficiency savings. The special web pages have been written with senior human resources staff in mind but IDeA believes much of the information will also be of interest to other managers who want to address the workforce issues involved in setting up shared services.