By Allison Fine
The author looks at a new and empowering ways of approaching and organizing social change. How can we move from serving soup until our elbows ache to solving chronic social ills like hunger or homelessness? How can we break the disastrous cycle of low expectations that leads to chronic social failures?
The answers to these questions lie within Momentum, a fresh, zestful way of thinking about and organizing social change work. 

This report from the Department of Health describes how innovative practice in delivering care in more convenient settings is being developed across the speciality groups of ear, nose and throat, gynaecology, orthopaedics, dermatology, urology and general surgery.
Each chapter describes how one speciality area fared in delivering care in more convenient settings currently. 

This book from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, although focused on the private sector, is also relevant to public sector organizations that rely on external partners such as suppliers and consultants to operate effectively. These people have valuable knowledge which is strategic to the organisation and often essential to the delivery of services. 

By Robert Cialdini, Steve Martin and Dr. Noah Goldstein.Every day professionals in the public communications sector have to persuade others to do things, but how? The book gives many insights into the question. It contains serious science, but always with a light touch and shows how influence revolves around key principles that anyone can learn, often with unexpected results. 

Edited by Hugh Bochel and Sue Duncan.The book is set in the context of the Government’s emphasis on ‘modernisation’, and it reflects the growing emphasis on policy making as a skill. It combines both academic and practitioner perspectives to provide critical consideration of contemporary policy-making and highlights examples of good practice at all levels of government. 

The strategy is the Housing Corporation’s response to the recommendations in the Our Shared Future report from the Commission on Integration and Cohesion. 

This publication from the Young Foundation presents a collection of stories about innovative and inspirational neighbourhood initiatives. They originate from a consortium of 15 councils plus national organisations that are collectively seeking modern and practical ways to support community empowerment and improve neighbourhood working. 

Edited by John MeadowcroftThe authors argue that UK welfare policies are actually promoting poverty. By targeting lone parents for additional support, the government has encouraged self-defeating behaviour that increases long-term hardship and family breakdown. Lone parent families are far less likely to leave poverty at any point in their lives compared with couple families.
The authors also criticise governments’ reliance on measures of relative poverty rather than absolute poverty. 

This report from Communities and Local Government describes how the structural changes made by councils in 2000 to enhance executive decision-making has led to more visible and effective leadership, faster decision-making and better public services.Most authorities, 81 per cent, opted for the leader cabinet system, 3% for mayoral systems and the remaining 59 smaller authorities, 15 percent, chose to maintain streamlined committee systems in alternative arrangements authorities. 

This report has been described as a great tool for policymakers, volunteer managers and anyone who wants hard evidence of the impact that volunteers can have in priority areas of social policy. It provides evidence for the success of volunteering, but voices the weariness of volunteers at the Government’s approach to volunteering.