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This article describes the approach to modernisation of adult mental health day services taken in Sandwell, which retains a building‐based element to provide for attachment and belonging, while developing community‐based models that promote social integration and recovery.

The purpose of this paper is to compare data from national social care statistics on day services and home care for people with learning disabilities across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

National social care statistics (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland) reporting the number of adults with learning disabilities accessing day services and home care were reviewed, with data extracted on trends over time and rate of service use.

Regarding day services, despite some variations in definitions, the number of adults with learning disabilities in England, Scotland and Wales (but not Northern Ireland) using building-based day services decreased over time. Data from Scotland also indicate that adults with learning disabilities are spending less time in building-based day services, with alternative day opportunities not wholly compensating for the reduction in building-based day services. Regarding home care, there are broadly similar rates of usage across the four parts of the UK, with the number of adults with learning disabilities using home care now staying static or decreasing.

Similar policy ambitions across the four parts of the UK have resulted (with the exception of Northern Ireland) in similar trends in access to day services and home care.

This paper is a first attempt to compare national social care statistics concerning day services and home care for adults with learning disabilities across the UK. With increasing divergence of health and social service systems, further comparative analyses of services for people with learning disabilities are needed.

A postal survey and semi‐structured interviews were under taken with mental health day centre staff in two regions of England, investigating whether criticisms levelled at buildings‐based day services are justifiable. The majority of respondents agreed with recommendations outlined in From Segregation to Inclusion (National Institute for Mental Health in England/Care Services Improvement Par tnership, 2006), believing that mental health services should ideally be based in community locations. Respondents believed that this would help to challenge stigma, facilitate community integration, and provide service users with more oppor tunities. However, concerns were expressed as to the availability of mainstream facilities and whether this approach would be suitable for all service users. Suggestions on how day services could be improved included having access to reliable sources of funding, relaxing access criteria, and having greater service user involvement.

This article examines Current CITE-ings from the Popular and Trade Computing Press, Telework and Telecommuting

The methodology adopted is a literature review.

Readily available technologies now allow librarians to perform most of their work-offsite. Some traditional building-based services such as reference, have been taken over by virtual reference and now even instruction offers options on par with or even better than classroombased questions such as a webinar that can be viewed and reviewed at any time or by having librarians embedded into various courseware packages.

Librarians no longer need be limited to a single library; groups of subject librarians can work together in the cloud to provide services to multiple universities.

This article collates some articles from the non-library literature that mayprovide some ideas and review advantages and disadvantages for both the library and employee

The national programme for personalising adult social care represents a massive change management challenge for local government in England. The programme has entered its third year and this article presents evidence of councils struggling to deliver change on the scale required. In addition, councils now have to find savings at an unprecedented level as part of the new coalition government's emergency budget to tackle the financial deficit.This article demonstrates the need for leadership development to deliver change of a magnitude never before confronted by social care leaders. In particular, the report identifies a need for leadership capabilities to be developed in the two key areas of change management and financial management.The article introduces the Personalisation Tipping Point Framework as one tool to help leaders deliver personalisation programme changes and significant savings quickly. The article concludes that it is possible to deliver personalised services and the financial savings, provided that the right leadership and tools are in place.

Librarians today are facing increasing demands for services and stable or declining levels of fiscal and human resources. To survive in an environment of escalating expectations, libraries are looking for new answers as to how they can become more nimble and develop effective strategies and practical solutions. This paper explores two interconnected approaches to solve the riddle[1]. The first approach is to control client expectations by developing and articulating a comprehensive client services program. The second approach is for libraries to work through library consortia not only to expand access to print and electronic collections, but also to develop new services.

This article describes the development of a specialist peripatetic support service for people with learning disabilities whose behaviour is challenging. It addresses service goals, working methods and development objectives, reviews selected aspects of service process and client outcome, and comments on the impact of changing demand on the service environment.

The modernisation of mental health day services has been shaped by concerns about the social exclusion of people with enduring mental health problems. Initiatives have emphasised the use of mainstream facilities and an individualised approach. In contrast, service users have sought to safeguard opportunities for peer support in safe places. This participatory action research brought together service users, staff and others involved, to explore how these different views could be transformed into modernised services. The research took place in an outer London borough from 2003‐2007, using varied methods to explore social networking, including a visual method, action research groups and individual interviews. The research was designed and adapted to enable the involvement of people with different capacities and interests. Each stage generated findings for local modernisation, pointing to the importance of a safe space, service user knowledge of social and recreational activities and how self‐help groups develop and thrive. The final reconfiguration of local services reflected these research outcomes. Credible and useful outcomes can be achieved from collaborative research, allowing time and creating opportunities to shape interpretations of policy. Emerging initiatives are more likely to reflect service user perspectives and receive their support.

Helen Bird and colleagues report on a small‐scale research project completed in west Yorkshire that examined the effects of the closure of a traditional sheltered workshop on those who attended. The closure was contentious, and the report questions the centrality accorded to ‘social exclusion’ as a central feature of current policy and practice. They argue for a more nuanced approach, which reflects both service users' actual preferences and current social realities.

A year‐long review of services was carried out in South Essex by local authority and primary care trust commissioners to help inform future commissioning plans. The review included a focus group to consult service users, carers, project staff and referrers across the area. This was undertaken by SE‐SURG, a group of current and former service users who carry out research and consultation work for mental health service commissioners and providers. The results of the consultation are presented here, particularly in relation to the strengths and limitations of current services, service user aspirations and staff expectations.