The Munro report on child protection presents an opportunity to re-think the ICT systems that support social workers. This article looks at the requirements that emerged from the report and explores possible solutions.

Read more on CHILD PROTECTION – GETTING THE RIGHT SYSTEMS TO SUPPORT SOCIAL WORKERS…

With pay for most frozen and in some cases, cut, social workers are angry about the way people see the profession. A survey reveals that 85 per cent of social workers say they are poorly represented in the UK.

Read more on SOCIAL WORKERS FEELING THE STRAIN…

Charities in the less prosperous regions serving the most disadvantaged people will be hit the hardest by cuts in public funding. This is a key finding from a report from the Third Sector Research Centre.

Read more on CUTS TO HIT CHARITIES HARDER THAN EXPECTED…

By William Tate.

Stop polishing the fish and tackle the water they swim in!

The author shows why it is naive to expect much leadership from individual managers acting alone. Only when we start to see leadership as a property of the organisation can we begin to improve it.

Read more on THE SEARCH FOR LEADERSHIP: AN ORGANISATIONAL PERSPECTIVE…

Ofsted is planning to tighten up its inspection of adoption and fostering agencies and it will reduce the notice of inspection from 6 weeks to 10 days. This will help inspectors gain as true a picture as possible of the service that is being provided.

Read more on ADOPTION AND FOSTERING AGENCIES TO GET LESS WARNING OF INSPECTION…

The Government’s reform plans rely heavily on the public service mutuals programme, but there is a failure across local and central government to understand what it is about. This is the conclusion the employee ownership all party parliamentary group.

Read more on KEY FEATURE OF PUBLIC SECTOR REFORM THREATENED BY FAILURE TO GET MESSAGE ACROSS SAY MPs…

Councils are expecting to make spending cuts of 20 to 30 percent by 2014, but many have no strategy in place to achieve these targets.

A survey of over 100 top managers by YouGovStone, commissioned by Interserve, the support services and construction group, found that 40 per cent do not yet have strategies in place to achieve the spending cuts required. Overall, 25 per cent of councils don’t expect to meet their savings targets fully by 2014.

Read more on COUNCILS LACK STRATEGIES TO MAKE SPENDING CUTS…

Spending cuts are bringing radical change across the public sector and creating a need for new leadership roles and workforce capabilities. But a survey reveals a lack of confidence in senior leaders to manage the change.

Read more on PUBLIC SECTOR HEADING FOR LEADERSHIP CRISIS…

Business Secretary Vince Cable gave a warning to the GMB Union conference that new laws would be introduced to restrict strike action if the workforce made extensive use of strikes. The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development said that the key to avoiding mass strike action was employee engagement.

Read more on THREATENING EMPLOYEES NOT A GOOD HR STRATEGY SAYS INSTITUTE…

This report from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development delves deep into the issue of employee engagement. It acknowledges that employee engagement is an important driver of sustainable organisation performance, but goes further by exploring ‘what’ employees engage with and ‘where’ in the organisation their focus of engagement is located, or what is their ‘locus of engagement’.

Read more on ENGAGEMENT: UNDERSTANDING WHAT EMPLOYEES CONNECT WITH WORK…