Public bodies are being urged to have the courage and confidence to invest more in good design as they come to terms with new funding settlements. CABE - the Commission for the Built Environment - says positive investments are even more important.
The call came as the Commission, the government’s advisor on architecture, urban design and public space, published its annual report. 

This report describes the importance of health organizations meeting employees’ expectations and the impact this can have on individual performance. It shows that good people management and development influences performance through a process involving individuals, which is more effective if aligned with organisational goals. A key message is that for success it must come from the top. 

Nottingham City Council is leading calls for a change in the law that would give local authorities the power to limit the number of homes being converted for multiple occupation. The council is keen to tackle what it see as the problems caused by a proliferation of bed-sits and shared houses.
Elected members have agreed to lobby the Government and local MPs for a change in planning laws as a way to ensure local authorities can maintain a viable number of family homes in local communities. 

The Government has published details of its ‘empowerment action plan’ setting out how it will fulfill its pledge of greater devolution and giving more power to communities. Two councils from each region of England - 18 authorities in all - have been named as ‘empowerment champions’. 

By Dame Denise Platt DBE Public perceptions of the needs of children are often in conflict with the perceptions of children. The public often see the need as being more about control than care. The author explores how children see their need and how they respond to the support they receive. This article was first published in Public Management and Policy and is reproduced by permission of the Association. http://www.cipfa.org.uk/pmpa/index.cfm

South-west local authorities led the way in the NLPG and NSG Exemplar Awards run by the Improvement and Development Agency Intelligent Addressing to recognise outstanding service delivery by councils using the National Land and Property Gazetteer and National Street Gazetteer.
Devon County Council won both the Best Business Integration and Best Gazetteer Integration titles in the NSG section, in which the south west was named the best performing region. 

Local authorities, police,fire services and health boards across Wales are being asked for their views on plans for an improved approach to tackling drink-related crime. The Assembly government has begun a consultation process on a draft framework aimed at helping Community Safety Partnerships take a more co-ordinated approach to disorder and anti-social behaviour. 

By James Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner.The authors have taken this opportunity to underscore that not only is leadership everyone’s business, but that it is a relationship-one of personal self-development and the development of those being led.
This leadership classic continues to be a bestseller after three editions and twenty years in print. It is the gold standard for research-based leadership, and the premier resource on becoming a leader. 

People across England are being urged to take part in a special poll to demonstrate pride in their local community. Scores of local authorities are taking part in the vote, the first national council-led online poll of its kind, which is inviting people to visit council websites to select one of ten locally-nominated favourite places. 

Britain’s largest trade union, Unite, says much of the 42 billion pounds spent by the Government and local authorities on manufacturing contracts each year is going to overseas companies. The union says those contracts account for about a third of the total procurement spend and if the money was spent here it could secure more than half a million British jobs.