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Leading from the front

Report looking at options for reforming public services in the UK to make them more effective and responsive. It argues that reform should be based on principles such as a lessening of bureaucracy and over-management, better training for staff and better accountability.

New scrutiny bodies 2011: a conference for service users and their carers and equality organisations on how services will be inspected from April 2011 26 June 2009, The Trades Hall, Glasgow: event summary and conclusions

The Scottish Government is establishing two new improvement and scrutiny bodies for healthcare and for social care and social work. These changes, which are part of a wider simplification of the public sector, should lead to improvements and better checking of health, social care and social work services in Scotland. This conference was organised to make sure that the views of people who use services and of equality groups could be heard. The conference had two main purposes: to tell people about the changes; and to hear the views of the people affected.

Guidance on building a local sense of belonging

Last year Communities and Local Government worked with the Citizenship Foundation to publish the Citizens' Day Framework. This guidance is the next step and suggests ways in which councils, voluntary groups and other organisations can encourage a sense of belonging. It is aimed at local cohesion practitioners and will be particularly relevant where they are working in areas where building a sense of belonging is a key priority, or where it supports the delivering of improved community cohesion in other areas.