By Stephen Denning.
Organizations today face a crisis. The crisis is of long standing and its signs are widespread. Most proposals for improving management address one element of the crisis at the expense of the others. This is particularly so in the light of deficit reduction measures.
People living in rural areas typically need to spend 10-20 per cent more than people in urban areas to reach a minimum acceptable living standard. These higher costs mean a single person living in a village needs to earn at least 50 per cent above the minimum wage to make ends meet.
Teaching gardening to children and young people with special education needs has a positive impact on their development says the Royal Horticultural Society. This is a key finding from a year long outreach project undertaken by the RHS in 2009 -10.
Read more on GARDENING HELPS TO MEET SPECIAL EDUCATION NEEDS…
This publication from the Cabinet Office sets out the Government’s response to suggestions from the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector who were asked for their views on how the Government can reduce the deficit and deliver services more innovatively and efficiently.
The Homes and Communities Agency operational budget is to be reduced by 50 per cent as it cuts funding worth £1.9bn for 13 regeneration schemes across England.
HCA is the national housing and regeneration agency and its role is to provide funding for affordable housing, to bring land back into productive use and improve quality of life by raising standards for the physical and social environment.
Read more on HOMES AND COMMUNITIES AGENCY DOWNSIZED AS IT CUTS REGENERATION SCHEMES…
Martha Lane Fox, the UK digital Champion, has called for public services to be delivered online or by other digital means.
In her report she argues that public services should provide higher quality and more convenient 24/7 services to users. As well as delivering better services for citizens, 30 per cent of government service delivery contacts should be shifted to digital channels. Such a move has the potential to deliver gross annual savings of more than £1.3 billion, rising to £2.2 billion if 50 per cent of contacts shifted to digital.
Read more on DIGITAL CHAMPION CALLS FOR CHANNEL SHIFT IN PUBLIC SERVICES…
By John Woolham, Guy Daly & Liz Hughes.
Many older people are enjoying life. That is what the authors found from their research. But a significant number are not. The reasons are many and varied and the summaries of those reasons give indications of what might be done to improve the quality of life.
The Institute for Public Policy Research North says the Secretary of State, Eric Pickles, is paying lip service to localism which will only be achieved if local councils are raising 50 per cent of their finance from local taxes. At present, 80 per cent comes for central government grants.
The Institute’s report sets out the foundations on which genuine localism must be built. It argues for arrangements which give powers for much greater local financial autonomy. The target should be that local councils raise 50 per cent of funds locally through a reformed local taxation system which combines local income and property taxes.
Read more on THINKTANK CALLS FOR COUNCILS TO RAISE 50 PER CENT OF FUNDS THROUGH LOCAL TAXES…
Research commissioned by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council found that the English public widely value public libraries as a force for good and one that should be provided free.
The research, carried out by Shared Intelligence and Ipsos MORI, provides an up to date picture of what the public wants from library services, and gives a timely pointer to how councils, faced with difficult financial choices, should shape the service for the future.
Three quarters of current users surveyed described libraries as “essential” or “very important” in their lives. Fifty-nine per cent of non users also think libraries play an “important” or “essential” role in the community. But it also suggests that the notion of library users and non-users is an artificial divide and that instead people’s reliance on libraries tends to vary as their life circumstances change, for example through taking up study, becoming unemployed, having children or retiring.
Read more on PUBLIC LIBRARIES HOLD A SPECIAL PLACE IN THE NATION’S HEART…
All work is conducted through relationships, and the key to relationships is trust. Yet trust is constantly being broken in the workplace. Sometime’s it’s in spectacular ways with redundancies, sometimes co-workers actively sabotaging others’ work. But far more common, and more insidious, are the small betrayals we all have been guilty of, or subjected to, or both—things like gossiping, missing deadlines, taking credit for other people’s work. Any betrayal, large or small, can end up sapping our energy, commitment and creativity.
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