Council websites now attract almost as many visitors as the site run by the supermarket chain Tesco. Research from the Central Office of Information says the number of ‘hits’ on local authority web pages has risen following the successful ‘Connect to Your Council’ publicity campaign
The study also shows that the number of people making personal visits to council offices has dropped by a quarter since the beginning of the advertising drive. 

Dorset County Council has the most satisfied customers in the country, according to a new corporate assessment report published today by the Audit Commission. It finds that local people’s overall satisfaction with the council has improved over the past three years and the authority now has the highest rating of any county council.
The Commission’s report says that overall the council is performing well. 

By Fran Branfield and Peter Beresford.
Involving users in the health and social care services they receive is a popular idea, but its value is being questioned. The service providers have begun to ask what evidence there is that it improves services. Users of services have raised the issue of what they are actually able to achieve by their involvement and to question the usefulness of getting involved. 

Some local councils are accused today of rejecting too many challenges to the parking fines they impose. An article in the January 2008 issue of ‘Which?’ magazine says, though, that the number of fines overturned at the appeal stage, which is often uncontested by the authority, means it is worth drivers persevering if their initial challenge is turned down. 

New-style fire stations which are more open and inviting, as well as environmentally friendly, can play a part in driving down the number of deaths in fires, according to new guidance on how the buildings are designed. The Fire Minister, Parmjit Dhanda, said engagement with the public was a vital part of continuing to cut the number of fatalities. 

This report from Kable says that the existing system is struggling to deliver complex programmes of benefits and care and that the situation is made more difficult by the diversity of providers.
It says the key issue for councils is to push through reform more quickly in areas such as children’s services, welfare and pensions. It describes three phases of challenges for councils in the next decade. 

An experienced senior figure from Local Government has been named as the first head of the new Homes and Communities Agency, which will bring together the existing work of English Partnerships, the Housing Corporation and some delivery functions from the Department of Communities and Local Government. He is Sir Bob Kerslake, who is currently Chief Executive of Sheffield City Council. 

A consultation has been launched to look at how Government can help faith groups to engage with their local communities and with one another. “Face-to-Face and Side-by-Side” has been drawn up to look what is already being done and at what support might be given to facilitate more inter-faith dialogue and activity so faith groups can make a positive difference in the wider community. 

This report from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development highlights how organisations are developing a range of different methods to assess the value of learning. Learning, training and development can only be perceived as successful if organisational decision-makers believe it delivers value. Because training is about people development, it needs to take into account not just hard quantitative data but also more subjective qualitative measures. 

The possibility of community power schemes and local renewable energy supplies have moved a step closer with changes to the planning system so that councils will be expected to provide for such projects. The responsibility is contained in a new Planning Policy Statement on climate change.
The new guidance means planners will have to promote green growth. At the same time a consultation has been launched on new planning rules for economic growth.