The report from the Social Exclusion Task Force sets out a vision for a local system that improves the life chances of some 140,000 UK families at risk and helps to break the cycle of disadvantage. It outlines the key characteristics of a system that ‘thinks family’ at all levels, from governance to the frontline, where staff will be empowered to innovate and cooperate in response to whole family situations. 

This document sets out a vision for major reform of the adult social care system. It presents a shared vision and commitment to the transformation of adult services. The ultimate goal is that every locality will have a single community based support system focused on the health and wellbeing of the local population. This will involve bringing together local Government, primary care, community based health provision, public health and social care. 

Communities and Local Government have updated the 2004 deprivation indices, which present a picture of a range of economic, social and housing issues at local authority district level and county council level.
In the most deprived 20% of areas across England just over a third of people are income deprived and one in five of men and women are employment deprived. Just under half of children live in families that are income deprived and more than one third of older people are income deprived. 

This report from Kable says that the existing system is struggling to deliver complex programmes of benefits and care and that the situation is made more difficult by the diversity of providers.
It says the key issue for councils is to push through reform more quickly in areas such as children’s services, welfare and pensions. It describes three phases of challenges for councils in the next decade. 

By Freada and Kapor Klein
The authors make the hurdles that women and minorities face in the workplace as personal to the reader as they are to those who face them. Giving Notice is filled with sensible approaches for solving the current imbalance and challenges us to rethink unconscious ideas about stereotypes and commonly accepted practices.
This book offers approaches for changing the hidden biases in the workplace. 

By Sue Hutchinson
The main message from this report from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development is that line managers need to be recognised as strategic partners of Human Resource professionals.
The role of line managers is becoming increasingly important in influencing employee engagement in the workplace. New research commissioned by the Institute shows that there is confusion as to the role of line managers. 

By Marcia L. Worthing and Charles A. Buck.
The authors set out a step-by-step process to help get the bored, burned out, retired, or fired, back on track.
Everyone deserves a second chance at a great career. That’s why Escape the Mid-Career Doldrums offers a step-by-step process that will help mid-career professionals get back on track. 

Despite the pressure for local councils to follow the lead of the private sector and develop shared service and partnership arrangements, the barriers in terms of culture, differences in priorities across councils and lack of experience are formidable. Yet this is the most likely source of meeting government targets for reduced overheads and improved organizational effectiveness. 

By Stephen Denning
The book introduces the concept of narrative intelligence - an ability to understand and act and react agilely in the quicksilver world of interacting narratives.
It shows why this is key to the central task of leadership, what its dimensions are, and how you can measure it. 

The survey of income trends for human resources professionals from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development shows that for the first time in ten years, training professionals earn higher than the average HR salary. The survey also found that one of the main reasons HR professionals working in the public sector experience low levels of engagement is due to bad management.
Managers in the learning and development field earn an average of 45,000 pounds.