Elsewhere in the public sector, South Tyneside…

…has started on what it's calling its Cultural Revolution. Basically this is about trying to make the council's values of excellence, integrity and valuing people just part of what people do day to day. These values were developed by a wide range of staff and councillors.

The council describes its target culture as "hard nosed...warm
hearted". Under "hard nosed", the focus is on efficiency, effectiveness and continuous improvement. For "warm hearted", the focus is on creating a culture where people are truly valued as individuals, and a determination to work as "one team", always acting in line with the values.

South Tyneside has also begun to come up with the behaviours that will support each value, and those that would not, publishing examples of the values working in practice. Under the value of integrity, the council describes its approach to housing tenants in payment arrears  - where "hard nosed" is expecting people to pay what they can afford, but "warm hearted" is caring about the people involved. When a tenant falls into arrears, an officer visits the tenant and makes an appointment with a statutory or voluntary advice agency so they can get independent advice to solve their problem.

To find out more go to: http://www.idea.gov.uk/idk/aio/8672327