Almost 400,000 professionals working with children will have access to the ContactPoint database of details of every child in England, according to the Children’s Minister, Baroness Delyth Morgan. Speaking as the system was rolled out, she said it would save five million hours in professionals’ time.
This evaluation of the impact of policy changes on accountability and public confidence takes account of the 20-plus policies that followed the 1998 and 2001 white papers. It assesses the cumulative impacts of the individual policies over the 1998-2007 period and identifies the initiatives that have been key enablers of desired change.
Read more on LOCAL DEMOCRACY – ACCOUNTABILITY AND PUBLIC CONFIDENCE…
Despite the continued expansion of the housing market in 2006 to 2008 the demand for social housing grew by 100,000 households in the year ended April 2008. There are now almost 1.8million households, or 4.5million people, on social housing waiting lists. The recession will drive demand for more social housing and the Local Government Association is concerned about the impact on local councils.
A consortium of leading universities in UK and Institutes in India, and companies from both countries, have launched the ‘Next Generation Networks’ project to bring online education, healthcare and early warning natural disaster systems to remote areas in both countries.
Read more on INTERNATIONAL PROJECT TO BRING TECHNOLOGY TO REMOTE AREAS…
The New Local Government Network has set out a case for recognising the achievements of local citizens by naming streets and public places after them. This would help to build community cohesion and local civic pride, whilst giving areas a unique identity. It argues that names such as Shakespeare Way and Nelson Road help to celebrate identity and remember British history, and that we should do more to celebrate contemporary British icons.
Read more on WHAT’S IN A NAME – CELEBRATING ACHIEVEMENT THROUGH PUBLIC SPACES…
Providing a better experience for those who need health or social care is the driving force behind this new consultation on how to improve the assessment process. Progress on integrating the activities of those who provide health services with those who provide social care is limited by failure to share data and ways to resolve the problem are being sought. There is general agreement that the assessment process for people who need health and social care services should be quicker, simpler and more convenient.
Read more on STREAMLINING HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE ASSESSMENTS…
Getting it right first time is important to all organizations because follow up calls are annoying to customers and costly to the service providers. Failure to get it right has become a significant feature of the efficiency agenda and local councils have been given a target to reduce avoidable contacts. Help is now at hand to reduce avoidable contacts for website users where English is their second language.
By Steve Bundred
This article was first published in Public Management and Policy and is reproduced by permission of the Association. http://www.cipfa.org.uk/pmpa/index.cfm
Localism, where a wide range of decision making is moved down to the local level, is growing in popularity and its advocates are becoming more vocal. The author presents the case against widespread localism. He argues that governments prefer centralism for reasons such as avoiding post code lotteries. He also believes that ministers have the support of electors to exert control over local authorities because many councils have failed to win the hearts and minds of the people they serve.
Roger Latham says in his introduction to George Jones’ May 2008 PMPA report that ‘George reaches conclusions which any local government officer would feel warmed by’. True, but that’s not the point!
The target to build three million homes by 2020 is looking ambitious and the National Housing Federation believes it cannot be achieved before 2029. In a move to speed up the rate of building, it is now proposed that the barriers that deter councils from building new houses should be removed.
Read more on COUNCILS ASKED TO LEND SUPPORT TO MEET HOUSING TARGET…
More than 800,000 children and young people in England are currently not online at home and they form a substantial part of the “digital divide”. Pilot schemes are set to launch next month to explore how the digital divide for young people can be closed.
Read more on DIGITAL DIVIDE NARROWS WITH YOUNG PEOPLE INTERNET ACCESS PILOTS…
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