Tom Gray describes how a new kind of public service was brought into local government with affordable technology to connect citizens to their neighbours. He argues that this initiative could provide vital clues to a way out of far too many years of bad system delivery for the public sector.

Read more on DERRY SHOWS THE WAY IN BETTER DELIVERY OF TECHNOLOGY TO THE PUBLIC SECTOR…

All children in care are to get a virtual school head in a move to reduce the wide gap in attainment compared to the national average for childeren overall.

The national average for children overall who pass five GCSEs, including English and maths is 58 per cent. The average for children in care is just under 15 per cent.

Read more on VIRTUAL SCHOOL HEADS TO SUPPORT CHILDREN IN CARE…

Council-led early intervention pilots are showing it is possible to radically rework public services so those in need get better help.

The Community Budget pilots in Essex, London, Manchester and Cheshire have evolved from the Total Place programme which was launched in 2009.

Read more on COMMUNITY BUDGET PILOTS TRANSFORM PUBLIC SERVICES…

The Social Values Act becomes effective on 1 January 2013. This guide is designed to help councils, the NHS and other public bodies respond to its requirement. It explains how social value can be embedded into commissioning and procurement.

Read more on SOCIAL VALUES GUIDE…

IT maintenance contracts hold no excitement, but they can lead to drama when problems are not fixed quickly. This feature describes how complex networks are kept working and how technology is used to manage incidents and support field engineers.

Read more on KEEPING THE WHEELS OF HOSPITAL TECHNOLOGY TURNING…

A new survey finds council chief executives are failing to keep up with the increasing rate of change that they face, putting them at risk of losing funding and negatively impacting service delivery to their citizens.

Read more on BUDGET CUTS AND CUSOMER DEMANDS PUT STRAIN ON COUNCILS…

In this book John Seddon argues that there is now no politician or executive in any branch of local government or any area of the public sector who can say: “It won’t work here”. The evidence is clear: it does work here, and right across the board.

Read more on DELIVERING PUBLIC SERVICES THAT WORK…

Ron Basu shines the spotlight on an aspect of project management that can often be overshadowed by the pressure to deliver on time and on budget.

Ron Basu’s investigation focuses initially on defining the dimensions of quality in project management and identifying sources of measurement for project excellence. He expands to discuss which tools can be used in the quest for project excellence; and the factors and processes critical to project success and maturity. The text also explores how the successes of supply chain management, Lean Thinking and Six Sigma may be gainfully deployed and offers case study examples.

Read more on MANAGING QUALITY IN PROJECTS…

The Cabinet Office is to offer pilot contracts for the supply of renewable energy generated from biomass and waste in a move to cut costs and boost the UK energy industry. If the pilot is successful, up to half of the Government’s energy portfolio will be bought from renewable suppliers.

Read more on TAXPAYERS AND RENEWABLE ENERGY SUPPLIERS BENEFIT FROM NEW CONTRACTS…

There has been a fall in confidence that all councils will meet the challenging budget cuts and a fear that some will reach a tipping point.

The tipping point warning comes from Grant Thornton’s report on the financial health of English councils. It follows an earlier report by the Audit Commission which predicted that many councils will struggle to get through the final two hears of the four year Spending Review.

Read more on POOR FINANCIAL PLANNING THREATENS COUNCILS FACING MORE CUTS…