Expensive design and technology equipment is lying unused in some schools because of a lack of specialist teachers. A report today from Ofsted says that while design and technology is the most popular GCSE foundation subject there needs to be a national development plan to drive improvements. 

A local government think tank has begun a consultation process which is designed to refocus public services towards the citizen. The consultation paper, ‘Getting to the heart of local accountability’, has been produced by the Local Government Information Unit and suggests there should be a single commissioning process for all local public services.
The LGiU believes this step would empower local authorities as the only democratic local body and would, therefore, strengthen accountability. 

Research funded by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, the Health and Safety Executive and Investors in People has led to the development of a competency framework setting out the key management behaviours for managing stress at work.
Work-related stress accounts for over a third of all new incidences of ill health. Stress and other mental health problems are the second biggest cause of working time lost to sickness absence, costing the UK an estimated 26bn pounds a year.