June 2011
Dear Improvement Network Bulletin Subscriber,
Back in February 2011 we told you of some major changes to the Improvement Network (IN) that were about to take place, largely due to the impending abolition and/or restructure of some of its funding partners.
We told you at that time that the IN was to remain static until these issues were resolved.
It gives me great pleasure to inform you all that future funding for the IN has now been secured and all links; contributions and new material and research from the IN’s funding partners has now been re-established and uploaded on to the website, including:
Sharing the Gain: Collaborating for cost-effectiveness: This 'how-to' guide has been produced by CIPFA to help public service bodies to take advantage of collaborative working opportunities and reduce their costs. Sharing the Gain provides advice and practical tools to help manage the whole lifecycle of developing and running shared public services. Sharing the Gain can downloaded free of charge from the CIPFA website via www.cipfa.org.uk/sharingthegain
Local Productivity Refresh: Through consultation with the sector, the LG Group has focused the Local Productivity Programme on three 'big win' areas that will help deliver the greatest productivity gains: children, adults and families; future ways of working; and procurement, capital and assets. Also, our library of productivity opportunities now boasts 100 ideas for increasing productivity. So, check out our new-look pages and see how they can help your council. http://www.local.gov.uk/lgv2/core/page.do?pageId=579930
Better Value for Money in Schools: These Audit Commission briefings published in March 2011 are designed to help schools make the best use of their workforce - whether teachers, teaching assistants, or administration and finance staff - at a time when they have to find savings. http://www.improvementnetwork.gov.uk/imp/core/page.do?pageId=1080359
Business Transformation: The role of ICT in improving public services: This paper discusses the Cabinet Office’s 2005 Transformational Government strategy in the context of more recent policy developments, such as the community empowerment and Big Society agendas. It outlines the increasingly important role that ICT will need to play in supporting business transformation that can improve the efficiency and effectiveness of public services. http://www.improvementnetwork.gov.uk/imp/core/page.do?pageId=1068533
As usual all material held on the IN website including its improvement tools are now available for you to view and use for free at: http://www.improvementnetwork.gov.uk
In the coming weeks we will be making further improvements to this site, both in terms of additional practitioner support material, updates to existing guidance and some new plans for a closer link and harmonising of all intellectual property with generic policy themes and legislative developments listed on the website. And as has always been the case we would be delighted to hear from you further in terms of your suggestions on how we can improve this site further.
Further bulletins will be sent monthly from now on.
Please pass details of this site on to colleagues for them to access this site and feel free to contact me further if you have any queries.
Best Wishes
Improvement Network Helpdesk
help@improvementnetwork.gov.uk