News - General
Blair pays tribute to third sector executives
The Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations (acevo) will celebrate its 20th anniversary this year and has been congratulated by Tony Blair on the achievement.
The prime minister dedicated a New Year’s message to the association in a special commemorative booklet published to mark the milestone, honouring the “remarkable” contribution of third sector leaders.
“The government strongly backs your desire to play a bigger role in the reform and design on public services and in ensuring that sector leaders are heard in the corridors of power,” Mr Blair wrote.
“Your success has been remarkable and your mission to drive up the talents and potential of the sector’s chief executives is hugely important. The sector is growing in its professionalism and needs bodies like yours to develop and strengthen sector leaders.”
Paying tribute to aveco chairman Stephen Bubb and all 2,000 members of the professional body, the prime minister added: “I wish you well as you prosper over the next 20 years.”
Each member of the organisation will receive the commemorative booklet within the next month and a number of events will be hosted over the year to both celebrate past achievements and prepare for the future.
A Commemorative Summer Ball will take place on June 6th, there will be an anniversary forum on June 7th and a reception at 10 Downing Street is expected to take place in the summer.
Representing a not-for-profit sector that employs in the region of 1.5 million staff, aveco represents charities and voluntary bodies with a collective annual turnover exceeding £46 billion.
© Adfero LtdGovernment launches latest public services forum
A major new policy review launched by the government this month will welcome members of the public to pass their judgement on key public services in a new “deliberative forum”.
Cabinet office ministers Ed Miliband and Pat McFadden will support the 100 ordinary citizens as they mull over the same official papers seen by members of parliament on a daily basis, before making their decisions on the best course of action.
Sharp fall in number of full-time employees dampens festive spirit in latest jobs figures
The latest Office for National Statistics (ONS) snapshot of the UK labour market shows a welcome fall in unemployment on both measures used by the Government. But, says Dr John Philpott, Chief Economist at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), the modest fall in unemployment disguises a quarterly drop in the number of employees in employment and a rise in the number of people without work who say they want to work but who are not recorded as unemployed.
Dr Philpott comments as follows:
Employment and unemployment
‘There is a mix of good news and bad news in today’s latest ONS figures. The number of people in employment increased by 41,000 in the period August to October and there is a small fall in unemployment on both official measures. But the rise in employment is entirely due to more people in self-employment (up 72,000). The number of employees fell, with a particularly sharp fall of 123,000 in the number of full-time employees, this being especially notable for full-time women employees (down 73,000). With the level of job vacancies also falling, this suggests that the good news on unemployment should not be read as a sign of a significant pick-up in demand for staff.
‘At the same time, the number of economically inactive jobless people who say they want a job increased by 41,000, dwarfing the 7,000 fall in measured unemployment. The rise in the numbers of economically inactive people is most noticeable amongst those looking after the family and home (up 24,000), again mostly women.
Public sector paradox
‘The latest figures show a surprise, albeit small, rise in the level of public sector employment in the quarter to September 2006. The number of public employees has in fact risen slightly since the spring and returned to roughly where it was at the end of 2005. This looks paradoxical given recent talk about efficiency savings across the public sector but highlights the fact that the government’s objective to date has not been to cut public sector employment overall but rather to switch staff numbers from back office functions to front-line delivery roles.
Pay pressures mounting?
“Growth in regular pay (i.e. excluding bonuses) in the private sector seems to be tracking the rise in Retail Price Index (RPI) inflation, while public sector workers are on average experiencing a real pay squeeze. This in itself does not signal an imminent pay surge. But with RPI inflation close to 4% at the outset of the key winter pay round it is vital that employers in all sectors remain firm in the face of demands for cost of living related pay rises. This might sound Scrooge like as we approach the festive season but too much generosity on pay in the coming months would result in a less than happy 2007 for interest rates and job prospects.”
Councils on track to save £1.3bn
Councils nationwide are on track to deliver annual efficiency gains to the tune of £1.3 billion, according to official figures.
Published by the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG), the figures for the mid-financial year indicate that local authorities are achieving their cost-cutting goals - delivering improved services with greater efficiency.
Report proposes £700m in administration cuts
The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has published a report proposing a cross-governmental cut in bureaucracy that could save up to £700 million per year.
Building on a draft published in 2005, the report outlines a level of regulatory simplification that would represent a significant step towards the ambitious plans to cut DTI administrative burdens by 25 per cent within the next three years.
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