More details have been given of the Commission for Social Care Inspection’s review of access to social care. It will focus on a framework for personalised services and will involve a range of service users. The review was announced last month and follows the CSCI report into the state of social care which highlighted the problems faced by people who were unable to meet local authorities’ eligibility criteria for care. 

Local authorities have been quick to show their support for a campaign to recognise the importance of councillors. The Local Government Information Unit has reported a ‘terrific response from councils’ who have signed up to ‘Supporting Councillors: a manifesto for councils’. 

By Stuart Lister, Emma Wincup, Toby Seddon, Sam Barrett and Peter Traynor
Tackling Drugs to Build a Better Britain, a ten-year strategy published in 1998, focused strongly on tackling drug-related crime. The police play important role in combining the curbing of drugs supply with the potentially contradictory role of channeling drug-using offenders into treatment. 

A report published today looks in detail at the extent of bullying experienced by children and young people living away from home or using social care services. In spite of anti-bullying campaigns two thirds of the young people in the study say bullying is getting worse. 

The man leading the inquiry into last summer’s floods has told council leaders that information on flood risk needs to be more localised. Sir Michael Pitt said the country had not been prepared for the scale of the disaster, which he believed ranked alongside almost anything that had happened during peacetime. 

The Guide from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development is designed to help equip line managers with the skills and confidence to intervene at an early stage to prevent disputes from escalating to the point where the formal disciplinary or grievance procedures has to be used or an employment tribunal application lodged. 

The independent regulator for charities in England and Wales is warning that proposals in the Housing and Regeneration Bill could have serious implications for charitable housing associations. The Charity Commission has highlighted its concerns in a briefing to members of the Bill Committee and other MPs with a particular interest in housing. 

People are being urged to work with their local authorities to find the best methods to disperse young people behaving in an anti-social way and to ensure that the young people still have somewhere to let off steam. The Local Government Association stressed the need for a joint approach in its response to calls for a ban on a device that uses high-pitched sounds to disperse groups of youngsters. 

This report from Communities and Local Government examines people’s perceptions of racial discrimination in council housing departments and housing associations, local schools, local doctors’ surgeries, the police service, the prison service, the courts, the Crown Prosecution Service and the probation service. It presents the findings of a qualitative survey. 

Local authorities are switching off street lights in trials that could cut carbon missions and save on energy bills. One motoring organisation has raised concerns about safety risks but the councils believe there are no increased risks and that cutting lighting will help in the fight against global warming.