Some 80 per cent of people mixed socially with people from different ethnic or religious groups at least once a month either at work, at a place of education, through a leisure activity, at a place of worship, at the shops or through volunteering. In the over 75 age group this perception of cohesion was 91 per cent, but for the under 34s it was only 77 per cent.

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Strategic service delivery partnerships between councils and the private sector can bring benefits, but the risks are extremely high. This is the conclusion of the Audit Commission which warns that councils should consider a partnership as one of a number of potential options to meet the challenge to increase efficiency.

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By Andy Bagley

Changes to the Assessment Framework from April 2008 could leave local authorities unprepared and ill equipped to deliver against performance targets. Fewer targets do not mean less performance measurement, it means focusing measurement on the things that matter. The author describes how local authorities could run the risk of failing to achieve key government targets if they do not have the right working methods and measures in place to deliver performance success. The reduction in Whitehall performance indicators will mean more freedoms for local authorities, but it also means revolutionising how performance is monitored.

Read more on WHAT A PERFORMANCE?…