WIREDGOV NEWSLETTER ARCHIVE
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put migration at the heart of many of our bilateral and multilateral relationships
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make greater use of biometric data and share data legally with our international partners
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intensify our efforts to work with our partners to tackle human smuggling & trafficking, and
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work with EU partners to reduce 'asylum shopping' across Europe
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Use existing rights of way legislation to create a footpath all round the coast
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Extend open access using the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000
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Voluntary agreements with landowners using existing mechanisms
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New legislation to allow Natural England to designate a coastal corridor
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Increased joint policy development
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Improvements in provision and services
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Workforce performance
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The development of joint evaluation and monitoring systems
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Specific activities with delivery partners around issues requiring immediate attention
NAO: Still mainly just ‘Talking the talk’ , rather than ‘Walking the walk’ - Local authorities should work more collaboratively with voluntary & community organisations to help them improve the delivery of public services, according to a report by the National Audit Office, which looked at whether Local Area Agreements (LAAs) are helping to promote better value for money in the way government works with third sector organisations (TSOs) to deliver public services and examined the impact LAAs have had on the role of TSOs in the delivery of public services.
The NAO found that government has put in place a range of initiatives to support TSOs and to encourage public bodies to work with them, but LAAs include only limited references to the third sector and there are as yet no visible changes in local patterns of service provision or in local public bodies’ funding practices towards the third sector. Where changes have occurred, they are due to other initiatives rather than to LAAs.
Among the NAO’s recommendations are that the DCLG and the Government Offices should encourage local bodies to consider third sector organisations as potential partners in the delivery of public services, alongside other private & public partners. The Office of the Third Sector and the Treasury should promote awareness of guidance on the third sector and should find ways of spreading good practices more widely.
This report is the second of three reviews of the third sector’s relationship with government, which NAO is publishing in summer 2007. The first examined ‘full cost recovery’, while the third will look at the public funding of large national charities.
Press release ~ Local Area Agreements and the Third Sector: Public Service Delivery ~ Local Area Agreements (LAAs) ~ Office of the Third Sector (in the Cabinet Office) ~ Government Offices for the Regions (GOs) ~ National Association for Voluntary and Community Action (NAVCA) ~ NAO: The implementation of full cost recovery (1st of 3 reports) – See also item above: CLG: Better service or just a way of cutting Public Sector staff?
DfES: Caring about long-term outcomes for those ‘in care’ - Big business will offer children in care private tutors, apprenticeships and management training as part of the Government's package of measures to give them a better start in life, Education Secretary Alan Johnson announced when launching the Care Matters White Paper last week.
Measures in the White Paper include a £500 annual education budget for each child in care at risk of falling behind in their education to spend on books & after school activities and a £2,000 university bursary.
Children in care will also have their education overseen by a 'virtual school head', who will take responsibility for all the children in care in their area. In addition, children in care have also been given the highest priority in school admissions, with an expectation that they will get places in the best schools, even if they are full.
The Care Matters White Paper will also give children the right to stay in care up to the age of 18, or even to remain with foster carers up to the age of 21. They will also have the support of a personal advisor up to the age of 25 to help provide a smooth the transition to adulthood and support the young person until they are ready to cope on their own.
The Government is also publishing a consultation on its revised version of Volume One of the Children's Act 1989 guidance and regulations ‘Court Orders’ (closes 28 September 2007).
Press release ~ White Paper: Care Matters: Time for Change ~ Making Good Progress project ~ HSBC Global Education Trust ~ HSBC Management Academy Programme ~ Looked-after children - Every Child Matters ~ Educational achievement of looked-after children - ECM ~ Court Orders consultation ~ DfES: Looked-after children – the struggle for stability ~ Green Paper and responses to consultation ~ Prince's Trust - Care ~ Carelaw : A guide for young people in care ~ Review of the Child Care Proceedings System in England and Wales ~ Looked After Children and Young People: We Can and Must Do Better ~ Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) ~ Outcome Indicators for Looked after Children ~ Children’s Commissioner ~ Your Voice, Your Choice ~ Education Protects - Collecting & Using Data to Improve Education Outcomes for Children in Public Care ~ Childline information sheet ~ Useful Links ~ JRF: Barriers to change in the social care of children
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