Society daily 30.03.12

Sign up to Society daily email briefing Today's top SocietyGuardian stories • NHS watchdog not ready for new responsibilities, say MPs • Gove rejects 'inadequate' report into 2009 Edlington child attacks • Jersey child abuse victims to receive compensation • Liam Byrne to quit shadow cabinet for Birmingham battle • England's cities 'must follow examples of Salmond and Johnson' • Ken Livingstone outlines his transport manifesto • UK Biobank puts medical records of half a million Britons online • The increasingly rare sight in UK's green spaces – children playing • Mary Portas disappointed by coalition plans to help high streets • Oliver Letwin: Payment by results will transform public services for the better All today's SocietyGuardian stories On the Guardian Professional Networks • A day in the life of the global head of healthcare at KPMG , Mark Britnell • The community buying movement is still in its infancy but it could c hallenge the way commerce works and benefit community groups , reports Rosie Niven • Patient records to go online in Oxfordshire • How the CityCamp model inspires public service innovation • Social entrepreneur and former contestant Melody Hossaini says The Apprentice honeymoon is over On my radar ... • A very interesting claim on the Flip Chart Fairy Tales blog: Government may ban interim managers . It says the budget red book implies so. Blogger Rick writes: It may come as a surprise to self-employed consultants, interim managers and contractors to learn that they are not 'genuinely in business', especially when they have to go out and find new assignments after each one ends, but perhaps this reflects the ill-informed nature of the whole debate. The impetus for this proposal started with a public sector fat-cat story about a civil servant avoiding his tax by working through a company. Of course, he wasn't a civil servant, he was an interim manager on a fixed-term contract but by the time that detail had come to light no-one was listening. As with all witch-hunts, no-one is interested in the finer points. Anyone working for public sector organisations and charging fees was fair game. So, true to form, the government is responding to tabloid outrage by 'doing something' and that something could well be a total ban on any interim managers working anywhere. A draconian solution to a problem that barely existed. • A recommended post also on a budget theme from the Lasa blog. Terry Stokes picks up on the £20m funding for not-for-profit advice agencies announced by the chancellor and warns " this simply is not enough" in the context of legal aid cuts: ... the £20million announced is a fraction of the total currently spent in ensuring that poor and vulnerable people can have equal access to justice. The key worry is that the £20million will be used as a justification for overturning the amendments, that it will be used as the sweetener if questions are raised about how significantly the Legal Aid Bill will cause harm to independent advice providers across the country and the hundreds of thousands of people they help every year. That worries me a great deal more than a pasty tax, I have to say. • The Listening Project , a new collaboration between the British Library and the BBC, which launches today. The project aims to caputure slices of life through audio conversations . Fi Glover will be hosting what my colleague John Plunkett described as "an aural snapshot of the nation" on Radio 4. Glover told Plunkett : The Listening Project has an element of magic to it. Radio provides the perfect place for the intimacy of a profound conversation between two people – but the joy of this prospect is that it then allows all of us to eavesdrop on that conversation, and I defy anyone not to learn more about our shared human experience through doing so. The Listening Project is awesome in the scale of its ambition but humbling in the intimacy of each conversation – I am thrilled to be a part of it. • Julie Jones , chief executive of the Social Care Institute for Excellence, who is retiring today. Jones , who has been at Scie since 2007, is a former deputy chief executive and director of children's services at Westminster city council. Scie's chair, Allan Bowman, said: Julie has overseen five years of fantastic achievement at Scie. There's been the continued growth of our rigorous evidence base; finding out what works in social care and then telling the sector about it. Julie's skill has been to juggle many different priorities; from making SCIE publications accessible to all, to the creation of Social Care TV, to midwifing the National Skills Academy and The College of Social Work into existence. Julie has personally focused on the importance of recognising the effects that long-term conditions have on social care. She's passionate about what can be achieved for people who use services, by making the link with health and other agencies as seamless as possible. Other news • BBC: Girl of five forced into marriage • Children & Young People Now: X-ray pilot for child asylum-seekers sparks outrage • Community Care: Number of adults social workers remains stable • Independent: Philanthropists: Giving up giving? • Inside Housing: Landlords apply to build schools • LocalGov.co.uk: Cameron publishes open public services update • Public Finance: Councils urged to adopt local pay • Telegraph: Doctors will only treat emergencies in pensions action • Third Sector: Charities lost £1.1bn to fraud last year, says National Fraud Authority Events and seminars Digital communications and campaigning for charities Thursday 19 April, Kings Cross, London This half-day seminar will enable you plan, implement and manage your online campaign to maximum effect. It will give you practical advise on how to get the most out of popular social media websites as well as help you define your target audience. This event is a must for anyone needing to plan a campaign to create relationships with supporters to champion your long-term aims. Successful bid writing Friday 18 May, Kings Cross, London Bid writing is an essential skill in voluntary sector organisations. This interactive seminar will help you create applications and bids that demonstrate your organisation's strengths and priorities, how you differ from other projects, what the benefits are for your clients and the community and how you'll be able to measure them. Managing volunteers Tuesday 15 May, Kings Cross, London Engaging with volunteers is an increasingly challenging task. This half-day seminar will help you explore what 21st century volunteers want and what you need to do to involve them effectively. Delivered by leading expert Rob Jackson, this session is a must for anyone building a long-term volunteer engagement strategy. 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