Archives for December 2014

WORK PROGRAMME GETTING MORE PEOPLE INTO LONGTERM JOBS

Headlines, PublicNet: 22 December, 2014

More people are finding jobs through the government’s flagship back-to-work scheme, according to figures from the Department for Work and Pensions.

DWP figures show that the Work Programme is exceeding performance expectations for JSA jobseekers. This reflects a recent NAO report which found that the Work Programme is supporting people into employment at the same rate as previous programmes. The report also predicted that performance of the programme is expected to continue to rise.

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WHY LEWISHAM COUNCIL BELIEVES IN THE POWER OF THE CROWD WHEN IT COMES TO BRIGHT IDEAS

Features, PublicNet: 19 December, 2014

Lewisham Council’s Transformation and Development Officer, Joseph Badman, explains how they are aiming to save £95M over the next four years using idea crowdsourcing among staff and potentially residents.

No-one in the public sector can be in the dark about what a challenge the past four or five years have been, having to do more with much, much less. There are a number of ways in which local councils have approached making inroads on the enormous cost savings we are all required to make. One of the initiatives that we’ve been working on is turning to our employees for ideas – after all, who would really know how to go about streamlining the way they work and approach to service delivery, than the people that are actually doing it?

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MINISTER CALLS ON COUNCILS TO GET VALUE FOR MONEY FROM TOP EARNERS

Headlines, PublicNet: 18 December, 2014

Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles has called on councils to be more open about top earners and prove to taxpayers they are getting value for money.

Councils have shown pay restraint in top salaries and the vast of councils have reduced the number of town hall staff on high salaries. However, latest figures for the UK suggest more than 2,000 town hall staff were still taking home more than £100,000 a year.

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LOCAL GOVERNMENT PENSIONS HEADING FOR CRISIS

Headlines, PublicNet: 17 December, 2014

The Local Government Pensions Scheme risks running out of cash to meet pensions in payment. Last year 30 of the 89 funds in England and Wales experienced negative net cashflow as contributions fell behind benefit payments. This situation is expected to deteriorate, as the scheme’s headcount declines and the membership ages.

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QUALITY STILL IMPORTANT IN PUBLIC SECTOR PROCUREMENT

Headlines, PublicNet: 16 December, 2014

Procurement professionals in the public sector have revealed that despite continued pressure on budgets, quality remains an essential factor when making purchasing decisions. In fact, almost half of public sector procurement professionals agree that price and quality are of equal importance when purchasing supplies.

This focus on quality as well as price is clearly reflected in the external factors which influence procurement teams before making a buying decision. The research, by workplace solutions provider Office Depot, has revealed that 56 per cent of those in public sector carry out in-depth online research before placing an order, while 44 per cent said that word-of-mouth recommendation carries influence.

Nigel Crunden at Office Depot said: “This is a very encouraging indication that despite continued pressure to drive down costs and increase efficiencies, procurement professionals in the public sector are determined to ensure the level of quality remains consistent. While cost remains an essential factor in any buying decision, quality is not being compromised in order to achieve savings.”

However, although some procurement teams are embracing modern tactics when looking to inform buying decisions, 75 per cent of procurement managers have admitted that their buying methods have not changed in the last five years.

While the cross-sector research revealed a significant increase in business investment overall in the past year, this was not the case in the public sector. 96% of the public sector procurement departments surveyed said that spending on capital expenditure had reduced in the past year.

Nigel Crunden concluded: “Spending on capital expenditure – things like plant, machinery and technology – can indicate entry to a more confident economic climate. In this case, the lack of investment in this area is indication of the severe pressure on spending.

“Suppliers can do more to help support their public sector clients by fully engraining themselves in their customers’ business culture and designing product and service offerings that meet their needs. Streamlined ordering and billing processes can also help to reduce administration costs.”

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CALL TO COUNCILS FOR IDEAS ABOUT DELIVERING SERVICES DIFFERENTLY

Headlines, PublicNet: 15 December, 2014

Communities and Local Government wants ideas from councils about different ways of delivering services in neighbourhoods.

The government is supporting councils to transform public services through the Whole Place Community Budgets and other initiatives to meet the challenges of reduced public expenditure and increasing customer demand.

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COULD TEMPORARY POOLS BE THE SAVIOUR OF BRITAIN’S AGEING SWIMMING FACILITIES?

Features, PublicNet: 12 December, 2014

Over the past 12 months, 40 per cent of the UK’s local authority swimming pools have faced permanent and temporary closures*, and with 77 per cent of these built pre-millennium and 43 per cent pre-1980, the demands for renovations are looking likely to grow over the coming years.

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WHAT ARE THE GREATEST BARRIERS TO SUCCESSFUL EARLY HELP FOR CHILDREN AND FAMILIES?

Features, PublicNet: 5 December, 2014

Phil Neal examines the obstacles standing in the way of effective early intervention and talks to senior leaders in children’s services about how these can be overcome.

It is encouraging to see the steadily increasing number of media headlines highlighting the successful early intervention schemes being introduced across the country to help children and families in need.

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FAILURE TO IMPROVE STANDARDS FOR CHILDREN IN CARE

Headlines, PublicNet: 3 December, 2014

The Department for Education has failed for four years to raise local authority standards in providing for children in care. The long-term consequences of such children not getting the right care are poorer outcomes for them and increased costs to local authorities and taxpayers.

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PERSON CENTRED APPROACH EXTENDED IN NEW PUBLIC SERVICE REFORM PLAN

Headlines, PublicNet: 2 December, 2014

The person centered approach used in the Troubled Families programme is to be extended to other areas of public service as a result of a Challenge Panel report. Services will be redesigned for individuals and groups with multiple and complex needs.

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