Achieving the vision of managing taxpayers money wisely requires working through four essential principles. There must be transparency providing clear, consistent, comparable and accessible information and there must be accountability so that decision-makers and budget holders can be held to account. There is also a need for simplicity so that it is easy to understand what is going on. From this it follows that there must be coherence so that government activities are clear and logical.

Read more on MANAGING TAXPAYERS MONEY WISELY: COMMITMENT TO ACTION…

By Chris Widener.

This is an inspiring fable that champions leadership for the Everyman. It is a compelling new story showing what you give and get when you lead.

The story follows down-cast protagonist Mike Keller who, recently separated from his wife and demoted at work, must relocate to a rural factory-town in Texas. There, Mike encounters the deep-rooted traditions of Texas high school football, and in the process learns everything business school didn’t teach him about leadership from the most influential man in town-the local high school football coach.

Read more on LEADERSHIP RULES: HOW TO BECOME THE LEADER YOU WANT TO BE…

By Frances Hesselbein.

Frances Hesselbein traces her development as a leader and reveals her remarkable personal story and the principles that have served and guided her well throughout her extraordinary life.

Read more on MY LIFE IN LEADERSHIP…

By Sonia Sodha and William Bradley.

Poverty measurement is almost by definition controversial: there is no single, universally accepted definition of poverty. The way we measure poverty, deprivation and social exclusion has been the focus of innovative work, but in the UK we still overwhelmingly focus on poverty as measured by income. This is a key time to be thinking about poverty measurement: the Field Review on Poverty and Life Chances has published a report which recommends a focus on the early years and broadens the outlook of poverty measurement.

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By Ed Cox and Jenni Viitanen.

This Good Practice Guide summarises the findings and recommendations of new research which explores the critical success factors for community and social enterprises working in deprived communities in the North West of England. The guide seeks to set out material gathered through the research in an accessible way for practitioners, particularly those working in local authorities.

Read more on SOCIAL ENTERPRISE – A GOOD PRACTICE GUIDE FOR PRACTITIONERS…

This report seeks to place an economic value on the benefits that are produced by regeneration policies in line with the recommendations of HM Treasury. It sets out a conceptual framework that can be used to value the benefits. The report also assesses the existing evidence base in relation to valuing regeneration.

Read more on VALUING THE BENEFITS OF REGENERATION…

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…

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…

This report from ResPublica argues that the Big Society will fail unless urgent action is taken to better support civil society in our public services. The report says that the development of an expanded civil society is being hampered by burdensome bureaucracy and over complicated commissioning processes.

Read more on THE CIVIL EFFECT…

Edited by Dr Joanna Richardson

Written by leading academics in the field of local governance, finance, systems thinking and politics, this topical book examines and debates the challenges posed, on a local, European and global level.

Read more on FROM RECESSION TO RENEWAL – IMPACT OF FINANCIAL CRISIS ON PUBLIC SERVICES…