A scheme that helps voluntary and community groups to understand more about the issues surrounding generating income is to be expanded to give them a chance to learn from other Third Sector bodies that have first hand experience of delivering public services. ‘Only Connect’ will now help improve understanding about how public service delivery works. 

People in twelve more areas of England are to be given a direct say in how their council spends some of its money. The new areas getting access to a so-called community kitty will join the existing ten pilot schemes, which the Communities Secretary, Hazel Blears, believes have heralded a shift in power.
The new areas are Thanet, Wiltshire, Dartford, Sefton, Cornwall, Lancaster, Mansfield, Suffolk, Leicester, Wirral, Reigate & Banstead and Buckinghamshire. 

The new local government performance framework seeks to improve the quality of life in local communities and promote better public services. By reducing the number of indicators demanded by Government to 198, the way is now open for performance to be driven from the bottom as well as from the top.