Responding to the second round of the Government’s public consultation on eco-towns which opens today (Tuesday), TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said: “Everyone in the UK should be able to afford decent housing, but for many people renting a good quality flat or owning their own home remains a distant dream. We therefore welcome the Government’s plans to build five new eco-towns. More good quality, environmentally-friendly homes must be built and quickly. We need to get the housing market moving again during the economic down turn, and develop new skills to make construction environmentally friendly.”

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30 October 2008
© TUC

An examination of community involvement in the governance of local services, with an emphasis on the role of public officials. The role played by public officials in community engagement has important effects on the extent to which community views can influence local services. This study explores the experiences and views of public officials, comparing a local authority, a police service and a Primary Care Trust in one part of London.Download full report: http://www.jrf.org.uk/bookshop/eBooks/2248-governance-community-engagement.pdf

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30 October 2008
© Joseph Rowntree Foundation

The extra cost to public services of the existence of child poverty. This report estimates the costs of child poverty to the Exchequer, focusing on public service costs. It includes: services provided to individuals or families on a basis of need or demographic eligibility, including education, most health services, subsidised housing and social care services; services which provide local ‘public goods’ such as policing and the criminal justice system; area-based regeneration initiatives and more general supplementary expenditure targeted on deprived neighbourhoods. Free download: www.jrf.org.uk/bookshop/eBooks/2303-poverty-services-costs.pdf

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24 October 2008
© Joseph Rowntree Foundation

 The Care Quality Commission is today (Friday) publishing two documents which set out how it will: drive further improvements in how the NHS deals with healthcare associated infections, such as MRSA; use its new enforcement powers to improve the quality and safety of health and adult social care services for the people who use them. The Care Quality Commission is launching a 12-week consultation with a wide variety of stakeholders on how it intends to use its new enforcement powers, together with publishing guidance to NHS trusts about additional requirements for registering with the new Commission in relation to healthcare associated infection (HCAI). Under the Health and Social Care Act 2008, the Care Quality Commission has a number of new enforcement powers to deal with underperforming services - to inspect and investigate, to issue a statutory warning notice, to issue a financial penalty notice in lieu of prosecution and, in the most serious cases, to prosecute or suspend registration. The use of these powers will focus on HCAI from 1 April 2009. The Act will come fully into force in April 2010, so during 2009/10 the new Commission will use existing enforcement frameworks in relation to other aspects of NHS care, independent healthcare and social care that the Healthcare Commission and the Commission for Social Care Inspection use now. Making streets safer can improve quality of life, writes Tony Armstrong, chief executive of Living Streets. Streets are the one public service we all use everyday. How well designed and managed our streets are has a huge effect on many other aspects of our lives – from how much regular exercise we take, to whether we feel safe using our local shops and amenities. Living Streets is a national charity, working to bring our streets to life by encouraging people to walk more in people-friendly public spaces. We strongly believe that this cannot be achieved at arms length, and it is our work with local residents, and local authorities, which often has the biggest impact on people’s lives. The introduction of the new set of national indicators for local area agreements, which give councils the ability to choose their own local priorities, has allowed third sector organisations to work out ways that we can help councils to achieve their most pressing aims. In many ways it seems set to streamline the relationships between charities like ourselves and the many local authorities we work with, as we highlight areas of shared concern. We think that small-scale, local projects, designed to improve the standard of our streets and encourage regular walking, have a significant role in meeting many of the most popular performance indicators.

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24 October 2008
© Care Quality Commission (National)

Making streets safer can improve quality of life, writes Tony Armstrong, chief executive of Living Streets. Streets are the one public service we all use everyday. How well designed and managed our streets are has a huge effect on many other aspects of our lives – from how much regular exercise we take, to whether we feel safe using our local shops and amenities. Living Streets is a national charity, working to bring our streets to life by encouraging people to walk more in people-friendly public spaces. We strongly believe that this cannot be achieved at arms length, and it is our work with local residents, and local authorities, which often has the biggest impact on people’s lives. The introduction of the new set of national indicators for local area agreements, which give councils the ability to choose their own local priorities, has allowed third sector organisations to work out ways that we can help councils to achieve their most pressing aims. In many ways it seems set to streamline the relationships between charities like ourselves and the many local authorities we work with, as we highlight areas of shared concern. We think that small-scale, local projects, designed to improve the standard of our streets and encourage regular walking, have a significant role in meeting many of the most popular performance indicators.

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22 October 2008
© LGA

Acevo and the Community Alliance have urged local authorities not to reduce their voluntary sector spending in the wake of the Icelandic banking crisis. In a letter to Margaret Eaton, chair of the Local Government Association , Acevo told local authorities to resist squeezing their grants to and contracts with third sector organisations. Scores of councils stand to lose money after the collapse of several Icelandic banks.

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21 October 2008
© Third Sector

Natural England, the government’s independent advisor on wildlife, today called on water companies to sharpen up their draft business plans to ensure that the Review of Water Pricing for the next five years (the PR09 Review) delivers on its potential to benefit the environment. Natural England has reviewed the draft business plans submitted by England’s water companies to assess how they measure up on protecting the environment. Overall, the plans show a mixed awareness of the natural environment. But, on the plus side, there is growing recognition of the need to manage water resources by looking after entire catchments rather than selected hotspots. By helping to resolve water quality problems at source and avoiding investment in expensive and energy intensive “end of pipe” solutions, catchment management benefits the customer and water companies as well as the environment. Helen Phillips, Natural England’s Chief Executive, said: “We are really encouraged that the majority of companies have catchment proposals in their draft business plans. Catchment schemes represent the new, innovative and enlightened way of thinking regarding cutting pollution at source and offer a wide range of benefits for consumers, companies and the environment.”

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15 October 2008
© Natural England

Rural businesses in Leicestershire including shops and post offices can apply for new grants of between £750 and £5,000 and benefit from free, expert business advice through the new Vibrant Villages programme which has been set up to support and enhance vital community facilities. Vibrant Villages will also support existing facilities such as community halls to become multi-purpose venues incorporating, for instance, a meeting space, youth facility, crèche, training venue or drop in service offering health or citizens’ advice. Lesley Pendleton, Chairman of the LRP, said: “We all know how important local village shops, post offices and community facilities are to the well-being of our rural communities. The Vibrant Villages programme will ensure the sustainability of these essential services by encouraging businesses to improve and enhance their services.”
 
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12 October 2008
© Leicestershire Rural Partnership

This datasheet contains information about the availability and accessibility of services in rural areas. Download the full text as an Excel document: http://www.ruralcommunities.gov.uk/files/Availability_2007_analysis1.xls

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2 October 2008
© Commission for Rural Communities

This Viewpoint reviews some of the key proposals in adult social care of the last ten years from an equity perspective. It uses the analysis to argue that we can develop practical policies that are informed by clearly stated equity principles which serve to ensure that the most disadvantaged groups of people are treated more fairly.Download: http://www.jrf.org.uk/knowledge/findings/socialcare/pdf/2292.pdf

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25 September 2008
© Joseph Rowntree Foundation