Will the policy work and is it worth it?
This briefing is designed for senior policy makers in government departments and Directors of Policy in large NGOs.

Transforming Public Services

Improving the Improvement System
The NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement and Matrix have jointly published Improving the Improvement System, a document summarising the lessons learnt from the Improvement Partnership for Hospitals. The document describes that the programme contributed to, reductions in delayed discharges and lengths of stay , improved discharge planning, reduced bed occupancy, redesigned portering and transport services , improved outpatient follow-up rates as well as identifying how the programme could have been improved to maximise effectiveness.

Change for children: how much does it really cost?
This briefing is for Children’s Fund managers and those charged with the establishment of Children’s Trusts who have yet to develop an approach for analysing and evidencing the relative costs of the different services they fund. It sets out an approach to doing economic cost analysis and demonstrates how such analysis can inform planning and commissioning.

Early findings from the evaluation of the Drug Interventions Programme for Children and Young People.
This briefing is based upon findings from field research undertaken in the summer of 2004, during the set up and very early operational stages of the Drug Interventions Programme for Children and Young People.

Implementing and improving performance management systems.
This briefing is for managers involved in designing or implementing performance management systems, and organisational leaders who require good performance management information to make effective decisions.

Laying the foundations: improving substance misuse outcomes through Supporting People.
This briefing provides an overview of how Drug Action Teams, Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships and Supporting People Core Strategy Groups can work in partnership to successfully implement joint substance misuse, health and housing-related support strategies.

The Future for Community Legal Service Partnerships.
This briefing is for individuals and organisations interested in civil law and the delivery of the Community Legal Service (CLS).

Street Wardens: key lessons for sustainability.
Successful Street Warden schemes: the stakeholder view
Street Wardens and Young People
These briefings are for those managing and working with Street Warden schemes to improve the liveability of neighbourhoods.

Partnerships: where next?
Tackling the ‘cross-cutting’ social issues that are at the centre of this government’s agenda requires multi-agency working. This briefing is designed for local, regional and national policy makers across the public sector who are involved in developing and promoting partnership working.

Value for Money
The briefing is for practitioners involved in planning and implementing crime reduction initiatives at a local level who want to assess whether such initiatives provide value for money.

Substance misuse, young people and Every Child Matters.
The briefing is for practitioners involved in planning and assessing need for drug prevention and rehabilitation services for young people.

Will the policy work and is it worth it?
This briefing is designed for senior policy makers in government departments and Directors of Policy in large NGOs.