Although front line services have been given some protection from the swinging budget cuts, there will be casualties and children’s services will be among them. Some cuts will have a knock on effect. Failure to intervene in the lives of children now will mean that other budgets, such as health and police, will rise in the future. The author questions whether those other budgets should help to fund children’s services now on an ‘invest to save’ basis.

Read more on WHO SHOULD PAY FOR CHILDREN ‘S SERVICES?…

By Ian Mulheirn and Barney Gough.

Public service reform has been on the agenda for years. But in the times of plenty, it has lacked the urgency or coherence that today’s fiscal situation demands. This paper, from the Social Market Foundation, argues that a market-based approach to public service delivery is the basis for public service effectiveness and efficiency over the coming decade.

Read more on MORE WITH LESS – RE-THINKING PUBLIC SERVICE DELIVERY…

The New Local Government Network, an independent thinktank, has called for this week’s Parliamentary debate on localism to take a more radical approach. The thinktank argues that the whole of the State should be open to local community-run services and no part of the State should be immune from forces of localism.

Read more on CALL TO MAKE LOCALISM BILL MORE RADICAL…

Electric bikes are being adopted by police forces to cut crime. They cover ground more quickly than conventional bikes and allow instant access to areas usually inaccessible by car, such as narrow alleyways and footpaths.

Read more on E-BIKES ARE CUTTING CRIME…

A decline in health is often a major worry as people grow older. People fear not being able to look after themselves and being a burden to others. Often a cause of this dependence is a decline in mobility. This report presents findings about mobility patterns in successfully ageing adults. It also assesses the relationship between mobility, health and lifestyle.

Read more on MOBILITY AND SUCCESSFUL AGEING…

By Lee Hull.

Limiting the effect of savage budget cuts on frontline services tops the agenda of most public sector organizations. Sharing services is one of the approaches being adopted and the author outlines how the shared services scene is unfolding.

Read more on SHARED SERVICE COULD BE A LIFE SAVER FOR FRONTLINE SERVICES…

Ofsted is concerned about language teaching in secondary schools and is critical of failure to make use of freely available material such as foreign language websites.

Ofsted inspectors found that one of the main barriers to effective learning is a lack of opportunity for students to listen and communicate in the target language at secondary school. In particular, students had insufficient opportunities to talk in the chosen language in a realistic way. Many teachers make insufficient use of authentic written material such as foreign language websites. Secondary schools were also not always building effectively on the progress made by children at primary school.

Read more on FOREIGN LANGUAGE WEBSITES UNDER USED IN LANGUAGE TEACHING…

Westminster City Council has doubled the response rate and speeded up the publication of staff views on change plans by using an innovative digital survey.

The council provided staff with an anonymous survey to allow them to give their honest opinions on a variety of topics and subjects, including hotly debated departmental restructuring and reorganisation.

Read more on TECHNOLOGY BOOSTS STAFF FEEDBACK ON CHANGE PROPOSALS…

By Michael ARMSTRONG.

This is a practical book from bestelling author Michael Armstrong. A distillation of all his knowledge and experience, it provides advice to managers and team leaders on how to manage people in their teams – getting the best results from them and dealing with any people problems that may arise.

Read more on HOW TO MANAGE PEOPLE…

Science education has improved considerably in the last three years in secondary schools, but there has been less progress in primary schools.

Achievement in science was either good or outstanding in just over two thirds of the schools visited. In both primary and secondary phases, teaching was at least good in around three quarters of the schools, but there was more outstanding provision in secondary schools compared to primary schools.

Read more on OFSTED FINDS SCIENCE TEACHING IS IMPROVING…