This Good Practice Guide from the Department for Communities and Local Government sets out lessons about how councils can improve their performance. It draws on evidence gathered from the rapid improvements made by councils designated as poorly performing in the Comprehensive Performance Assessment . Their process has been tracked by INLOGOV at the University of Birmingham.It has been produced to help councils maintain improvements and to prevent performance decline. It also looks at what can be done to bring a council back on course when performance has declined.

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POSITIVE MESSAGES ON HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENT MORE LIKELY TO BRING CHANGE

New research shows that initiatives to promote recycling or healthier lifestyles are more likely to succeed if they use positive, informative strategies which help people set specific health and environmental goals rather than negative strategies using fear, guilt or regret. The study by the Economic and Social Research Council has looked at the increasing number of efforts to encourage people to do more for their health and for the environment to assess which have been successful, and why.

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STUDY FINDS BEACON COUNCILS WORK MORE CLOSELY WITH GOVERNMENT

The effects of the Beacon Scheme, which recognises excellence and innovation in local authorities, includes councils working more closely with government, according to a new report from the Improvement and Development Agency which assesses the scheme in detail. In addition to offering evidence of the impact that 2005-06 Beacon authorities have had on local government improvement, it includes plans for further development of the scheme.

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