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…
By Ed Ferrari and Alasdair Rae
The UK’s housing market is one of the most volatile in the world. There are intense concerns about the problems this brings, including the issue of low-income households being priced out of the housing market. The authors highlight differencies in house price growth and argue that deep structural variations in the demand for housing require a different sort of policy response.
Early intervention in the lives of children can make a real difference, but shrinking budgets are making this increasingly difficult. Pete Houslander looks at the way that business intelligence can provide a way to cut costs and provide a better service. He argues that when councils have access to good sources of information they can use it to uncover the story behind the data.
Read more on WHAT CAN THE BUSINESS WORLD OFFER CHILDREN’S SERVICES?…
The cost of telecom services is an obvious target when public sector organisations are looking for savings, but cutting the budget is difficult. Ben Mendoza describes the difficulty of navigating through the fog of vast amounts of data to find where to cut and how to negotiate with suppliers from a position of strength. He presents a way through the data haze.
Read more on WHY IS MORE BEING SPENT ON TELECOMS SERVICES WHILE SERVICES GET CHEAPER?…
This vision of what the public service landscape may look like in 2020 has been compiled by Roger Britton who is with Worcestershire County Council. It is the outcome of discussions with people involved in public service across the country and of collaboration with Local Government Improvement and Development. There is much scope for debate about the detail of the vision but what is really important is to figure out what needs to be done now to prepare the workforce and organisations for the future which will probably look something like the vision set out in the following paragraphs. Your views on what needs to be done will be most welcome. Please email: editor@publicnet.co.uk.
Failing schools get much publicity. So too do the strategies for turning them around. What is now emerging as a greater concern is the failure to sustain improvement. Jonathan Crossley-Holland explains how Tribal launched The Inspirational Schools Partnership to allow schools to share their expertise and to bring leaders and managers together. He describes how professionalised school-to-school support and the use of online tools can bring the benefits of sustainability.
Read more on A NEW KIND OF MIDDLE TIER – HELPING SCHOOLS DRIVE THEIR OWN IMPROVEMENT…
Budget cuts across the public sector are having a significant effect on IT companies and an increasing number are going to the wall. Ewen Anderson sounds a warning to organisations outsourcing any IT activities. He outlines the risks that have emerged from this fast evolving situation and the precautions that can be taken to make sure that standards are maintained and the service continues.
The Localism Bill redefines the relationship between central and local government and has implications for communities and the public and private organisations that serve them. Planning and development is a major area of change. Christine Hereward explains the planning implications which include the need for public bodies and business organisations to work across council boundaries and co-operate on planning issues.
Read more on LOCALISM BILL – IMPACT ON PLANNING AND DEVELOIPMENT…
The public handels a vast quanitiey of sensitive data and it is rightly subject to high levels of scrutiny about the way data is protected, Stuart Feargrieve of Axway UK, describes the widespread risks of data getting into the wrong hands. He also explains what can be done to limit the risks.
Read more on PROTECTING SENSITIVE DATA IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR…
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