The conclusions of the Knox D’Arcy Report shown below has been widely challenged, due to the lack of specific details to support their findings. In response Knox D’Arcy research into public sector productivity will be available as a down load from their website when the report is released at the end of August.

Councils workers are “wasting” up to two-thirds of their day, mainly due to poor line management, new research has suggested.

The productivity of local government workers is lagging so far behind that of their private-sector counterparts that up to 500,000 public-sector jobs could be cut without affecting front-line services, claims the report from management consultancy Knox D’Arcy.

Junior staff in local authorities are productive only 32 per cent of the time during working hours, compared to an average of 44 percent in the private sector, according to the study.

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Employer keen to help counter ‘gloomy’ graduate job market

South Korean car manufacturer Kia Motors has launched a graduate employment and training scheme for its UK division.

The programme is offering five places, which will start later this year and last 12 months. Kia said it expects at least 120 applications for the scheme.

Gary Tomlinson, head of HR at Kia Motors UK, told PM: This scheme is an opportunity to provide positives throughout it provides Kia Motors UK with fresh talent, provides greater support to our employees and gives the graduate an opportunity to join our organisation.

Commenting on the high competition for graduate schemes, he said: As many as one in 10 UK graduates failed to find a job last year and prospects for 2010 are just as gloomy.

We are aware of the difficulties for graduates in the current market and it’s a chance for us to make some contribution in supporting them. So, we’re conscious of the scheme’s corporate social responsibility aspect, something our managing director has taken a specific interest in.

Tomlinson added that they had received more than 60 applications after one week of advertising the scheme, and this number was likely to double.

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England’s public spending watchdog the Audit Commission, which employs 2,000 people, is to be scrapped. The announcement today came “completely out of the blue”.

• The Audit Commission for Local Authorities in England and Wales was established in 1983
• It is an independent watchdog “driving economy, efficiency and effectiveness” in local public services
• The commission assumed auditing responsibility for the National Health Service in 1980
• Functions were extended to fire and rescue services in 2004
• Its remit in Wales was transferred to the auditor general for Wales, also in 2004
• The commission now covers local government, health, housing, community safety and fire brigades
• It audits £200bn spent by 11,000 local public bodies

The body, which looks for savings and efficiencies in local government, has offices in London, Bristol, Leicester, Solihull, Stevenage, Bolton, Gateshead, Leeds and Exeter.

In a press statement, Mr Pickles said the commission’s research functions would stop and councils would be able to ask private companies to carry out audits. There would also be a “new audit framework” for local health services.

Source: BBC News