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Monday 1 October sees the implementation of the majority of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (the Act). Parts of the Act came into operation in April 2007, namely the creation of a new criminal offence of wilful neglect or ill treatment, the provision of Independent Mental Capacity Advocates (IMCAs) in England, and the Code of Practice governing the Act.The months leading up to October have been an exceptionally busy time for the Public Guardianship Office (PGO). The new legislation creates a new Office of the Public Guardian (OPG), which will replace the existing PGO. But there is more to this change than a simple re‐arrangement of words, as shown in this article.

This article examines the existing legal framework for safeguarding in the context of the Putting People First (Ministers et al, 2007) agenda, in order to consider the risks of abuse in a new era of arms' length care management, and the employment of non‐regulated workers. It examines how these risks may be adequately and proactively managed through attention to the requirements of the current legal framework, as long as it is understood that the current legal framework should be pervaded, by now, by the principles and fall‐back remedies offered by the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (HM Government, 2005a).

Government policy for vulnerable people has long been to encourage as many people as possible out of care homes and into supported accommodation. This article seeks to explore some of the unforeseen legal difficulties arising out of this trend. Two have already become very apparent: first, where the question of ordinary residence arises, with regard to which authority is liable for the purchase of the additional domiciliary care, and second, for residents who may be thought to lack capacity to make a contract for the tenancy which underpins the whole arrangement. The article begins by describing two quite different arrangements for providing accommodation and support.

Our South African correspondent writes:—Considerable damage has been done to the University Library of the Witwatersrand as the result of an extensive fire which destroyed a large part of the collection and the building. The Library was, in the course of the past year, in process of reorganisation….. A plea for closer co‐operation between the libraries of South Africa was made by Mr. Percy Freer of Johannesburg at a meeting of the Witwatersrand and Victoria Branch of the South African Library Association. Mr. Freer said that most of the libraries were concentrating on particular subjects, and it was desirable that all libraries should be able to draw on the resources of each other. He suggested that the following libraries should function as regional centres with a view to relieving pressure on the National Central Library: the South African Public Library (Cape Town), Bloemfontein (operating with Kimberley), Maritzburg (with Durban), Johannesburg, Bulawayo and Port Elizabeth. The headquarters of the National Central Library itself should be attached to the State Library at Pretoria. A union catalogue and other bibliographical aids were desirable…. Dr. Gie (Secretary for Education) has been urging teachers to have a greater regard for books. He had been astonished to learn from recent investigations that many teachers not only did not read current books and periodicals regularly, but did not keep in touch with current topics through the newspapers. He advised teachers to assist in setting up libraries and centres where they did not exist.

The objective of this paper is to test whether the observations of foreign managers about the low mobility level of the Hungarian workforce can also be verified on a sample drawn from among young professionals. Second the paper aims to prove that a low mobility level is not necessarily a disadvantage for the economy in which small to medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) are playing a significant role in creating new jobs.

The paper uses a questionnaire, which is based on the mobility pyramid developed by Quelch and Bloom, to survey two groups of students in two institutions.

The paper finds a strong correlation between the observations of foreign managers and the opinions of the participants in the samples. Although the sample size is not too large, the arguments of the students about why long‐term and far‐away foreign assignments are not very desirable for them are powerful and convincing. They prove how slowly society characteristics are changing.

The present low mobility level corresponds with the earlier Hofstede's findings on Hungary being a strong uncertainty avoidance society. However in the paper's view the low mobility is not necessarily a disadvantage, as people still can continuously learn, create new knowledge and strengthen local social capital, which are all important ingredients of national competitiveness.

Inner cleanliness The amount of binders' and book‐sellers' hospitality accepted by librarians has in our opinion (and therefore has) reached scandalous proportions. As we are without sin in this—and most other matters—we feel divinely prompted to start stone throwing.

A PLEASING personal and professional acknowledgement is contained in the award of the OBE in the mid‐June Birthday Honours to W J (‘Jock’) Murison, Chief Librarian of the former West Riding County. We have remarked before that the profession is under‐represented in the honours lists, but here is an award which Jock will doubtless have accepted on behalf of all his former West Riding colleagues.

I take it for granted that the noble institution of Lifemanship is familiar to all librarians. So competitive a profession, where all must Gambit and Ploy to keep in the race, is natural soil for the doctrines of the new evangelism. In truth, the sagest among us were practising the creed before it had a local habitation or a name. But what may not be generally known is that a Sub‐Group of the parent institution has recently been formed to study the problems of our profession. In particular, the Group aims to encourage, advise and guide young recruits; to make the rough places smooth and shorten their pilgrimage to Sleepe after toyle, port after stormie seas, Ease after warre— in other words, the Chief's Chair.

The purpose of this paper is to consider the role of the Mental Health Act (MHA) 1983 in safeguarding adults at risk of abuse and neglect. The author has undertaken a thematic review of Safeguarding Adults Reviews (SARs) commissioned in England and Adult Practice Reviews (APRs) commissioned in Wales where the MHA 1983 was a central aspect to the review.

Reviews were included based on specific determinants, following analysis of SARs, APRs and executive summaries. This should not affect the credibility of the research, as themes were identified in conjunction with analysis of literature regarding use of the MHA in the context of adult safeguarding. Consequently, this review has been underpinned by evidence-based research in the area of study.

The interaction between statutes, such as the MHA 1983 and Care Act 2014, signify challenges to professionals, with variable application of mental health legislation in practice.

Lack of a complete national repository for review reports means that it is likely that the data set analysis is incomplete. It was noted that limitations to this research include the fact that Safeguarding Adults Boards in England may not publish SAR reports or may choose to publish an executive summary or practice brief instead of the full SAR report, therefore limiting the scope of disseminating learning from SARs, as this is difficult to achieve where the full report has not been published. The author aimed to mitigate this by undertaking comprehensive searches of Local Authority and SAB websites, in addition to submitting Information requests to ensure that this research encompassed as many relevant review reports as possible.

This is an important and timely topic for debate, given that the UK Government is proposing reform of the MHA 1983. In addition, existing thematic reviews of SARS tend to be generalised, rather than specifically focused on the MHA.

A LEAN year faces many librarians and, of course, their Staffs as a result of the sudden but not unexpected bound in the cost of public services. It creates, as one well‐known librarian remarked in our hearing, not a crisis but an administrative problem. It is difficult to suggest a condition in which such circumstances may not occur from time to time; the former Stability of local government and its officers has been considerably weakened in recent years: a fact which may have unfortunate effects on the recruitment to this service. Most towns, however reluctantly, have accepted the fact that if municipal or other local services are to continue they must be paid for and, this is the essential, at current rates. The butcher, baker, and perhaps most obviously the builder, decorator, farmer and miner, will not serve them in their homes on any other terms. The proverb of cutting the coat according to the cloth means, of course, according to the weave and certainly has not the silly meaning given popularly to it for, if there is insufficient cloth, there can be no coat at all. It seems then that libraries have not all been deprived in the manner that has been the case in a few towns. As we write the national and international atmosphere has a touch of spring and therefore of promise in it and, while there is as yet no cause for jubilations, some optimism may be felt. Nevertheless, it takes a large library a long time to recover from a temporary mutilation of its services.