Throughout the United Kingdom it is likely that 'out of hours', the smallest number of social workers is covering the largest geographical areas, the highest proportion of referrals, the most hours per week with the least support and in some of the most dangerous situations. For nearly thirty years, the majority of the working week has been staffed by out of hours social workers, and yet no systematic research has ever been undertaken into any aspects of this social work service. The focus of this research then is local authority emergency duty team (EDT) social work. From a variety of perspectives and using a range of methods the researcher examines the past, present and potential future nature of out of hours social work. As an EDT worker and researcher simultaneously, the author highlights the types and variability of his own assessments and those made by colleagues locally and nationally. Having established that EDT social work deals with significant occurrences after hours, this research questions whether conventional expectations of social work assessment are applicable 10 circumstances that are radically different from day-time work. Employing statistical surveys, questionnaires, interviews and autobiographical commentary, this research collates and analyses EDT social work practice issues seeking to establish an assessment framework that can be applied to the generic, urgent and statutory demands that EDT and daytime social workers frequently face. The framework combines the qualitative and the quantitative, academic with practitioner, the personal and the political and reflects the nature of EDT social work. Addressing a research void, this study clarifies and attempts to improve out of hours social work practice, including that of the researcher. This research presents a systematic analysis of the risk assessments, the decision-making processes and the crisis work undertaken by the most experienced group of social workers in Britain. The findings of this research should be of interest to those involved in out of hours social work, but may also have relevance to (social) workers undertaking (risk) assessments of service users.

This study aimed at investigating the legitimacy of violence as political act, especially the issue of vandalism surrounding service delivery protests in South Africa. The investigation was conducted in a small township around Soweto called Kliptown as a case study. This study was necessitated by the increasing number of violent service delivery protests around all provinces in the country. The statement of the problem provided a foundation within which the aims of the study were explained. The importance of this research cannot be justified enough especially given the mounting daily protests witnessed over service delivery by different communities from different provinces around the country.

Este estudo tem por escopo analisar o julgamento das contas anuais dos prefeitos municipais do Estado do Paraná, desde a emissão do parecer prévio pelo Tribunal de Contas do Estado do Paraná até o efetivo julgamento pelo Plenário das Casas Legislativas, a fim de apurar quais os fundamentos que levam algumas Câmaras Municipais Paranaenses a rejeitar o parecer prévio emitido pelo Tribunal de Contas quando sugere a desaprovação (irregularidade) da prestação de contas. Para tanto, faz-se uma explanação sobre a estrutura e formação do Estado, suas formas de governo e os tipos de administração pública existentes no sistema brasileiro para fins de melhor compreensão do tema. Em seguida, trata-se dos tipos de controle externo, com ênfase no controle parlamentar exercido com o auxílio do Tribunal de Contas, nos termos previstos nas Constituições Federal e Estadual vigentes. O estudo mostra-se relevante uma vez que os julgamentos das contas anuais dos prefeitos municipais realizados pelas Câmaras Municipais do Estado do Paraná não estão sendo acompanhados pelos demais órgãos de controle, nem mesmo pelo Tribunal de Contas do Estado. Assim, pretende-se analisar a efetividade da análise técnica realizada pela Corte de Contas do Estado quando da emissão dos pareceres prévios, bem como a influência política da governabilidade quando ocorre a rejeição dos pareceres prévios no momento do efetivo julgamento destas contas. O método de pesquisa utilizado segue a taxionomia empregada por Vergara (2004), que propõe dois critérios: a) quanto aos fins e b) quanto aos meios. Com relação aos fins, pode ser classificada em pesquisa exploratória e explicativa e, relativamente aos meios, em pesquisa bibliográfica e documental. Como resultado da pesquisa, verifica-se que a rejeição dos pareceres prévios se dá por questão de natureza política, uma vez que não há motivação técnica e legal e que a influência da governabilidade no julgamento das contas dos prefeitos municipais no Estado do Paraná ocorre de forma indireta, dado que não está presente no julgamento propriamente dito, mas, sim, durante o trâmite processual, contribuindo para a inércia do legislativo em colocar os processos na pauta de julgamentos, mantendo, desse modo, as prestações de contas paradas, sem o efetivo julgamento pelo plenário das Câmaras Municipais. / This study has the purpose to analyze the judgment of the annual accounts of the Municipal Mayors of the State of Paraná, since the issuance of the preliminary opinion by the Court of Accounts of the State of Paraná until the actual trial by the Plenary of the Legislative Houses, in order to determine which grounds that lead some Municipalities of Paraná reject the prior opinion of the Court of Accounts when suggesting disapproval (error) of accountability. Therefore, it is an explanation of the structure and formation of the state, their forms and types of government existing in the Brazilian system for the purpose of better understanding of the topic. It is then treated the types of external control, with emphasis on parliamentary control exercised with the assistance of the Court of Accounts, pursuant to the applicable Federal Constitution. The study shows to be relevant, since the judgments of the annual accounts of the Municipal Mayors conducted by local councils of the state of Paraná are not being accompanied by other organs of control, even by the Court of Accounts of the State. Thus we intend to investigate the effectiveness of technical analysis conducted by the Court of Auditors of the State when issuing preliminary reports, as well as the political influence of governability when the previous rejection of opinion occurs in the moment of the effective prosecution of these accounts by the Plenary of the Legislative Houses. The research method follows the taxonomy used by Vergara (2004), which proposes two criteria: a) about the purposes and, b) as to the means. As for the purpose, can be classified into exploratory and explanatory research and as to the means in literature and documents. The qualitative methodology of content analysis will be used for data analysis. As a result of research it turns out that the rejection of prior opinions occurs by political issues, since there is no legal and technical motivation and the influence of governance in the judgment of the accounts occurs indirectly , since the Court is not present at the trial itself. The political influence of governability takes place during service of process, contributing to the inertia of the Legislative Houses in place on the processes in the agendas of judgments , in order to maintain the benefits of still accounts without the effective judgment by the plenary of municipalities.

Thesis (MTech (Business Management))--Peninsula Technikon, 2003. / This dissertation sets out to develop a Performance Management System for the Greater Stellenbosch Municipality. It is proposed for use as a unit of analysis. The system provides a framework for determining developmental priorities and identifying the appropriate resources. The system monitors progress and simultaneously serves as an instrument that maintains municipal accountability for the delivery of its core developmental functions. Internationally, an infinite number of research projects in the field of performance management and best practices for organisational performance have been undertaken for local authorities. This includes a range of terms extending from the 1950's, known as benchmarking, to the current context where the balance scorecard has been put on the performance agenda. The emphasis for increased and accountable performance of local authorities is currently on the foreground, because local authorities are now responsible for executing duties in the form of developmental outputs.

CAPES / A gestão municipal, em qualquer País, necessita de planejamento e alocação de recursos de maneira equilibrada. No Brasil, a Lei de Diretrizes Orçamentária (LDO) orienta os gestores municipais em direção a esse equilíbrio. Esta pesquisa desenvolve um modelo que procura encontrar o equilíbrio da alocação dos recursos públicos nos municípios brasileiros, considerando a LDO como parâmetro. Para isso se utiliza das técnicas estatísticas e da análise multicritério, numa primeira etapa, a fim de definir estratégias de alocação, baseando-se nos aspectos técnicos advindos do gestor municipal. Numa segunda etapa, apresentou a otimização baseada em programação linear, em que a função objetivo deriva dos resultados da preferência desse gestor e das restrições impostas pela legislação. A representação estatística é apresentada para dar suporte ao desenvolvimento multicritério na definição das taxas de substituição, através de séries temporais. A análise multicritério foi estruturada pela definição dos critérios, alternativas e pela aplicação dos métodos UTASTAR para calcular as taxas de substituição. Após essas definições iniciais, uma aplicação da programação linear foi desenvolvida para encontrar as alocações ótimas de aplicação de recursos do orçamento municipal. Dados do orçamento de um município do Sudoeste do Paraná foram estudados na aplicação do modelo proposto e análise de resultados. / The municipal management in any country of the globe requires planning and allocation of resources evenly. In Brazil, the Law of Budgetary Guidelines (LDO) guides municipal managers toward that balance. This research develops a model that seeks to find the balance of the allocation of public resources in Brazilian municipalities, considering the LDO as a parameter. For this using statistical techniques and multicriteria analysis as a first step in order to define allocation strategies, based on the technical aspects arising from the municipal manager. In a second step, presented in linear programming based optimization where the objective function is derived from the preference of the results of the manager and his staff. The statistical representation is presented to support multicriteria development in the definition of replacement rates through time series. The multicriteria analysis was structured by defining the criteria, alternatives and the application of UTASTAR methods to calculate replacement rates. After these initial settings, an application of linear programming was developed to find the optimal allocation of enforcement resources of the municipal budget. Data from the budget of a municipality in southwestern Paraná were studied in the application of the model and analysis of results.

CAPES / A gestão municipal, em qualquer País, necessita de planejamento e alocação de recursos de maneira equilibrada. No Brasil, a Lei de Diretrizes Orçamentária (LDO) orienta os gestores municipais em direção a esse equilíbrio. Esta pesquisa desenvolve um modelo que procura encontrar o equilíbrio da alocação dos recursos públicos nos municípios brasileiros, considerando a LDO como parâmetro. Para isso se utiliza das técnicas estatísticas e da análise multicritério, numa primeira etapa, a fim de definir estratégias de alocação, baseando-se nos aspectos técnicos advindos do gestor municipal. Numa segunda etapa, apresentou a otimização baseada em programação linear, em que a função objetivo deriva dos resultados da preferência desse gestor e das restrições impostas pela legislação. A representação estatística é apresentada para dar suporte ao desenvolvimento multicritério na definição das taxas de substituição, através de séries temporais. A análise multicritério foi estruturada pela definição dos critérios, alternativas e pela aplicação dos métodos UTASTAR para calcular as taxas de substituição. Após essas definições iniciais, uma aplicação da programação linear foi desenvolvida para encontrar as alocações ótimas de aplicação de recursos do orçamento municipal. Dados do orçamento de um município do Sudoeste do Paraná foram estudados na aplicação do modelo proposto e análise de resultados. / The municipal management in any country of the globe requires planning and allocation of resources evenly. In Brazil, the Law of Budgetary Guidelines (LDO) guides municipal managers toward that balance. This research develops a model that seeks to find the balance of the allocation of public resources in Brazilian municipalities, considering the LDO as a parameter. For this using statistical techniques and multicriteria analysis as a first step in order to define allocation strategies, based on the technical aspects arising from the municipal manager. In a second step, presented in linear programming based optimization where the objective function is derived from the preference of the results of the manager and his staff. The statistical representation is presented to support multicriteria development in the definition of replacement rates through time series. The multicriteria analysis was structured by defining the criteria, alternatives and the application of UTASTAR methods to calculate replacement rates. After these initial settings, an application of linear programming was developed to find the optimal allocation of enforcement resources of the municipal budget. Data from the budget of a municipality in southwestern Paraná were studied in the application of the model and analysis of results.

Neste trabalho é avaliado o impacto da interoperabilidade intergovernamental na melhoria da eficiência nos processos de governo eletrônico, em especial entre estados e municípios. Governo Eletrônico é visto como o uso intensivo de tecnologia da informação para atender às necessidades do Estado com foco nos cidadãos, visando otimizar os processos governamentais. A Interoperabilidade é a capacidade de troca transparente de dados entre sistemas. A união dos dois conceitos, aplicada nas relações intergovernamentais, tem como objetivo propiciar, principalmente ao poder executivo nas três instâncias - união, estados e municípios -, a troca de dados de forma transparente e desburocratizada, buscando a melhoria do atendimento ao cidadão e da eficiência, eficácia e efetividade entre os entes federados. Para compreender a influência da interoperabilidade na eficiência destes processos foi analisado o processo de matrículas escolares entre os sistemas do estado e do município de São Paulo. No Estado de São Paulo são realizadas, anualmente, cerca de dez milhões de matrículas no ensino básico, sendo um terço (três milhões e meio aproximadamente) no município de São Paulo. Partindo-se da descrição histórica do processo de implantação, são apresentadas as motivações que levaram à criação de interoperabilidade entre os sistemas de matrícula dos dois entes federados, barreiras encontradas para a implantação, como foram enfrentadas e o impacto na eficiência tanto nos processos internos quanto no atendimento à população. Além do processo ter sido simplificado com a interoperabilidade, conclui-se que o impacto na eficiência dos processos internos de controle e gestão dos sistemas foi grande, principalmente nas secretarias de escolas, onde foram percebidas melhorias significativas, apesar de persistirem outros problemas no processo como um todo. A inexistência da interoperabilidade entre os sistemas dos outros estados da federação faz com que o tempo de matrícula de um aluno transferido de fora do Estado de São Paulo seja muito superior ao tempo de confirmação de aluno transferido no Estado de São Paulo. / In this paper, the impact of intergovernmental interoperability in improving e-government processes efficiency between states and municipalities is evaluated. E-Government is considered the intensive use of information technology to meet the state\'s needs with a focus on citizens in order to optimize governmental processes. Interoperability is the ability of transparent data exchange between systems. The joint of the two concepts, applied to intergovernmental relations, aims to provide, mainly to the executive in three instances -union, states and municipalities-, to exchange data seamlessly, without bureaucracy, seeking to improve public service and the state\'s efficiency, efficacy and effectiveness. In order to understand interoperability\'s influence in the efficiency of these processes we have analyzed school enrollment\'s process among São Paulo city and state\'s systems. In São Paulo state annually about ten million enrollments in primary education are performed, being a third part (three and a half million approximately) in São Paulo city. Based on the historical description of the deployment process, in this paper are presented the motivations that led to the creation of interoperability between registration\'s systems of the two federal entities, the barriers encountered to the deployment and how they were faced, and the impact on efficiency in both internal processes and in the service to population. We also conclude that the impact on efficiency of internal control processes and management systems was of great deal, as well as in the schools secretariats, where significant improvements in efficiency were perceived, although other problems persist in the process as a whole. Due to the lack of interoperability between systems of other federation states, the time of transferring a student registration from outside of São Paulo is higher than the time transferring from São Paulo municipalities. Besides this, interoperability simplified processes between both systems.

This is a case study undertaken in White Rock, a postindustrial, oceanside town of 16,000 on Canada's southwest border. The participant-observation research was undertaken between 1989 and 1993 when the author was politically active in the community. Noting a challenge to an encrusted city council from a loosely affiliated group who soon became members or supporters of the "White Rock Residents' Association", the participant intervened to explore theories about the instability of post-industria1 society and the emancipatory power of new social movements. Believing that the environmentalist social movement could attract broad public appeal and was conducive to grassroots progressive politics, the participant utilized the power of environmental ideology by publically prioritizing environmental issues while seeking a council seat as a political newcomer in a town where local elections were often uncontested. Although unsuccessful and subject to countervailing gender politics, the author placed seventh on a ballot of 11 for six council positions, outperforming several long-term and influential residents of the community. Chapter One provides a brief, overview of the research project, with further methodological discussion in Appendix A. Chapter Two gives a comparative discussion of environmentalist and localist ideologies, suggesting how they pertain to the White Rock community. Chapter Three offers a profile of the community of White Rock as it undergoes certain changes while facing environmental problems. The final chapter considers changing political and power relations between local and senior governments as they respond to environmental regional problems. During the period of intervention, new political party provincial and federal governments were elected, and in White Rock a member of the White Rock Residents' Association became the city's provincial member of the legislative assembly, while an active Reform Party member became federal member of Parliament. As well, the Boundary Board of Health won a power battle with city council to eliminate swimming at White Rock's polluted west beach, demonstrating the newly won influence of the provincial government. In exploring and comparing environmentalist and localist politics, both the research and literature review indicate that environmentalist ideology and political practice can lead to a reformation of traditional localist politics, resulting in greater influence and prestige for environmental organizations. / Arts, Faculty of / Anthropology, Department of / Graduate

Background: Community participation has become an integral part of many areas of public policy over the last two decades. For a variety of reasons, ranging from concerns about social cohesion and unrest to perceived failings in public services, governments in the UK and elsewhere have turned to communities as both a site of intervention and a potential solution. In contemporary policy, the shift to community is exemplified by the UK Government’s Big Society/Localism agenda and the Scottish Government’s emphasis on Community Empowerment. Through such policies, communities have been increasingly encouraged to help themselves in various ways, to work with public agencies in reshaping services, and to become more engaged in the democratic process. These developments have led some theorists to argue that responsibilities are being shifted from the state onto communities, representing a new form of 'government through community' (Rose, 1996; Imrie and Raco, 2003). Despite this policy development, there is surprisingly little evidence which demonstrates the outcomes of the different forms of community participation. This study attempts to address this gap in two ways. Firstly, it explores the ways in which community participation policy in Scotland and England are playing out in practice. And secondly, it assesses the outcomes of different forms of community participation taking place within these broad policy contexts. Methodology: The study employs an innovative combination of the two main theory-based evaluation methodologies, Theories of Change (ToC) and Realist Evaluation (RE), building on ideas generated by earlier applications of each approach (Blamey and Mackenzie, 2007). ToC methodology is used to analyse the national policy frameworks and the general approach of community organisations in six case studies, three in Scotland and three in England. The local evidence from the community organisations’ theories of change is then used to analyse and critique the assumptions which underlie the Localism and Community Empowerment policies. Alongside this, across the six case studies, a RE approach is utilised to examine the specific mechanisms which operate to deliver outcomes from community participation processes, and to explore the contextual factors which influence their operation. Given the innovative methodological approach, the study also engages in some focused reflection on the practicality and usefulness of combining ToC and RE approaches. Findings: The case studies provide significant evidence of the outcomes that community organisations can deliver through directly providing services or facilities, and through influencing public services. Important contextual factors in both countries include particular strengths within communities and positive relationships with at least part of the local state, although this often exists in parallel with elements of conflict. Notably this evidence suggests that the idea of responsibilisation needs to be examined in a more nuanced fashion, incorporating issues of risk and power, as well the active agency of communities and the local state. Thus communities may sometimes willingly take on responsibility in return for power, although this may also engender significant risk, with the balance between these three elements being significantly mediated by local government. The evidence also highlights the impacts of austerity on community participation, with cuts to local government budgets in particular increasing the degree of risk and responsibility for communities and reducing opportunities for power. Furthermore, the case studies demonstrate the importance of inequalities within and between communities, operating through a socio-economic gradient in community capacity. This has the potential to make community participation policy regressive as more affluent communities are more able to take advantage of additional powers and local authorities have less resource to support the capacity of more disadvantaged communities. For Localism in particular, the findings suggest that some of the ‘new community rights’ may provide opportunities for communities to gain power and generate positive social outcomes. However, the English case studies also highlight the substantial risks involved and the extent to which such opportunities are being undermined by austerity. The case studies suggest that cuts to local government budgets have the potential to undermine some aspects of Localism almost entirely, and that the very limited interest in inequalities means that Localism may be both ‘empowering the powerful’ (Hastings and Matthews, 2014) and further disempowering the powerless. For Community Empowerment, the study demonstrates the ways in which community organisations can gain power and deliver positive social outcomes within the broad policy framework. However, whilst Community Empowerment is ostensibly less regressive, there are still significant challenges to be addressed. In particular, the case studies highlight significant constraints on the notion that communities can ‘choose their own level of empowerment’, and the assumption of partnership working between communities and the local state needs to take into account the evidence of very mixed relationships in practice. Most importantly, whilst austerity has had more limited impacts on local government in Scotland so far, the projected cuts in this area may leave Community Empowerment vulnerable to the dangers of regressive impact highlighted for Localism. Methodologically, the study shows that ToC and RE can be practically applied together and that there may be significant benefits of the combination. ToC offers a productive framework for policy analysis and combining this with data derived from local ToCs provides a powerful lens through which to examine and critique the aims and assumptions of national policy. ToC models also provide a useful framework within which to identify specific causal mechanisms, using RE methodology and, again, the data from local ToC work can enable significant learning about ‘what works for whom in what circumstances’ (Pawson and Tilley, 1997).

Magister Administrationis - MAdmin / Training and development is an important issue in South African Local Government. These are related concepts. However, more emphasis is placed on training in this research report. Several authors argued that the majority of South African workers need new or significantly expanded skills to keep up with the demands of their jobs. Employee training and development (T&D) is seen as a key factor in meeting the employer’s strategic, business and operational goals. Others mentioned that the people who work in the public sector must constantly strive to act in a way that will lead to improvement of the quality of service delivery by public institutions. They also mentioned that training is aimed at the practical application of knowledge as well as the development of specific behavior patterns, attitudes and motives with a view to realizing goals (Carrell et al., 1999). The population increase leads to the expansion of organizations and their responsibilities. The changing constitutional and political dispensation of South Africa demands certain amendments and changes to be made by organizations. Increased pollution and shortage of natural resources demand certain strategies. The shortage of trained manpower causes higher demand to be made on the available manpower. All these shows needs and demands for training and development. Cloete and Mokgoro (1995:91) argued that the new government would have to rely heavily on the public service to implement new policy and facilitate development. They added that the council should develop broad guidelines for public sector training. Further these would relate to current and future human resource needs for the public service. In addition, such a policy would set standards for trainers and training programs (Cloete and Mokgoro, 1995). Training and development needs are examined in this research report to see how the Helderberg Municipality (Western Cape) has conducted its training. The study aims to identify the key obstacles for effective training. Some authors suggest that the simplest method of conducting a training survey is to go around asking managers and supervisors what they think are the training priorities in their department. The result obtained may be subjective but as long as the surveys are analyzed carefully, they would prove a useful starting point for analysis. The literature also suggests that the management and supervisors must feel involved from the beginning. This study focuses on the Helderberg Municipality. The researcher relied on the literature to gain more information about training and development, especially in the South African situation. Some interviews were conducted in the Helderberg Municipality. The study is based on both qualitative and quantitative methods. This researcher used the qualitative methods because she considered them as useful and that they would give her a wider scope. By contrast, the quantitative method would be useful hence figures are also provided. Some interviews were conducted with the Training Manager of the Helderberg Municipality. The study could help the Helderberg Municipality to rectify its weaknesses and deal with their current challenges of training and development. Policy makers and consultants could use the results of this study to formulate policies for municipalities. Lastly, students could also benefit from this study by using it as a source of reference. / South Africa