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.