Self employment has a positive impact on those people that are socially excluded, offering a route to gainful economic activity, independence and self esteem. This is the conclusion of an assessment of the New Entrepreneur Scholarships, the innovative training and enterprise programme for people in disadvantaged areas.The assessment by Professor John Stanworth and David Purdy of the Westminster Business School, found that there were significant improvements in all the core business skills measured, and particularly marked improvements in the areas of financial management, marketing and business legislation. In the first year of the programme more than 60% of participants saw improved economic status and two thirds became self employed. The second year of the programme had only just finished when the research took place but even so a third of participants had already improved their economic status and a significant number expected to start businesses within three months.

Read more on ENTREPRENEURS FROM DISADVANTAGED AREAS FIND ROUTES FROM SOCIAL EXCLUSION…

Ten years on from the Rio Earth Summit few government departments, agencies or local councils have mainstreamed sustainability and they do not systematically issue sustainability reports. The Summit recognized the crucial role of public service organisations in promoting sustainability, but with some exceptions they have failed to deliver. In contrast there has been a steady growth in sustainability reporting by listed companies.The wake-up call comes in a discussion paper published by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy ‘Advancing Sustainability Accounting & Reporting: An Agenda for Public Service Organisations’. The paper is designed to challenge and stimulate debate and thinking on sustainability reporting within the public services.

Read more on WAKE-UP CALL TO PUBLIC SERVICES ON SUSTAINABILITY REPORTING…

The report from the National Audit Office notes that the Department for Education and Skills achieved its 2004 target of increasing the skills of 750,000 people. Achievement of the 2010 target will require a further 1.5 million learners to achieve a first qualification.The Department has sponsored a variety of approaches to identifying people with low skills and engaging them in learning, but it will need to continue to find and sponsor new and creative ways to persuade more people with the lowest skill levels that improving their skills is worthwhile. Although the Department has promoted initiatives to engage employers, progress at local level is slow. Low skilled employees are one the hardest groups to reach and more small and medium sized employers need to be persuaded of the benefits of raising the skills of their employees.

Read more on SKILLS FOR LIFE…