By Merlin Stone, Neil Woodcock and Ashley Semmens.The public sector must decide whether the people they serve are customers or citizens. This is the challenge of a report from the think tank Public Management and Policy Association. The report also poses questions about the effectiveness of ‘customer’ and ’stakeholder’ management techniques.
The authors explain that the issue has arisen out of the modernization of public service delivery. 

Local authorities across England and Wales will be implementing a simplified system of environmental regulations from April next year. A new single permit is to be introduced to replace the current waste management licence and pollution prevention and control systems.
The Government believes the changes, which follow consultations by Defra, the Welsh Assembly Government and the Environment Agency, will make it easier and cheaper for local businesses to be environmentally responsible. 

Every local council and every school in England have been sent a series of new guides as part of Local Democracy Week, which runs until Sunday. The guides are designed to help increase the number of young people who get involved in politics. The guides include ‘Sending the councillor back to school’ and ‘Getting the most out of your council chamber’, both produced for councillors and councils.