Social care

Ian Johnston, director of the British Association of Social Workers

The BASW wants:

• The challenges and achievements of social workers and other social care staff to be recognised by politicians and the general public.
  • An end to social workers being held up as scapegoats for the failings of society and for them to be valued for their contribution to the wellbeing of the very substantial number of people of all ages, from every walk of life, who depend on their services.
  • And, of course, for the staff team to win the lottery.

Jennifer Bernard, chief executive of the Central Council for Education and Training in Social Work

All I want for Christmas is:

• For everyone who works in social care to make a new year's resolution to review their training needs - and to act on the results. There should be no more reliance on unaccredited training or vintage qualifications.
  • That every practice teacher takes responsibility for at least one student placement during 2001 - it would help the student's development and the practice teacher's ability to demonstrate that they want to continue to learn themselves.
  • If you have started a qualification and stalled, to get on and finish it, ending social care's reputation of being a registration-only zone with completion trailing on into infinity.
  • That all employers will make sure that their agency has a staff development plan that matches their business plan and objectives. Given that staff will be doing the work their skills must be developed to deliver the organisation's goals.
  • More mentors for schemes such as that run by the ADSS to work alongside people from black and minority ethnic groups and ensure that their career development is supported.
  • That no one is selected for employment in social care in 2001 who has not been fully assessed as suitable - preferably with the help of people who will be using their services.
  • And, of course, that we find more funds to make the wider delivery of training strategies affordable for all agencies and individuals - not least the poverty-stricken social work students.

Daphne Statham, director of the National Institute of Social Work

I have three wishes for 2001:

• Achieving good results for people using services remains central to the new organisations that will set standards and regulate both the services themselves and the delivery of them. Work in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales is being pushed forward. In England services are being reshaped, and chief executive, chair and council members are being appointed. Keeping on the target of being user friendly will be crucial to their success.
  • The people appointed to run these organisations should be expert at connecting services and networking. A range of standards are being put into place in social care: the national service frameworks, standards of conduct and practice for workers, for education and training, together with best practice guides based on reviews of social care knowledge. All these need to connect with each other and with existing and developing frameworks on health, housing and education. Skilled communicators able to connect with other areas of social care are therefore essential. Only then will front line workers and service users have a coherent and accessible framework to work within, and only then will they be able to make a difference to people's lives.
  • Some of the media and some politicians should spend less time beating social workers and social care staff about the head in 2001. Social workers and social care staff help people to remain in their homes, keep families together, supplement or replace family support when risks are too high and contribute to health, employment and education objectives. Being accountable for what we do and any failures is obviously necessary. What I object to is attacks on the whole of social care. The national task force on violence to social care staff found that front line workers thought these attacks paved the way for verbal and physical abuse. If the message is "you are rubbish", that's how you tend to get treated.

John Buttle, business manager of CareandHealth

What would CareandHealth, a company providing information for the social care sector, like for Christmas:

• A new bank holiday, when for one day only people promise not to fall ill or suffer hardship so that social workers and nurses can for once share a holiday with the rest of the population.
  • A series of in-depth nationwide tabloid exposés of all the good practice that changes thousands of lives a year but never normally gets a mention.
  • A sense of pride and public confidence in the work we do brought about through the fulfilment of the dream for a general social care council.
  • A means to spread good tidings to the whole care sector through universal internet access and email for all social work staff.
  • A brighter, more secure future for thousands of children though the success of the government's adoption task force.

CareandHealth

Felicity Collier, chief executive of the British Agencies for Fostering and Adoption

The white paper on adoption has been delivered for Christmas - which reminds me of the Downing Street adoption summit I attended at Easter. Both Christmas and Easter are special occasions for children and families, so what better time to talk about real families for those children who do not have them?

If Christmas is for presents, then the new year is certainly for wishes and resolutions - what would be at the top of BAAF's wish list?

• For every child to be in a safe place for 2001.
  • A new understanding between the public and social workers, with an end to "blaming" and instead an appreciation of the tough job social workers do on the front line.
  • More people having confidence in social workers, which would lead to more adopters and foster carers coming forward.
  • Better financial support for adoptive families.
  • Full implementation of the Children Leaving Care Act.
  • Women who relinquished their infants for adoption many years ago to be given access to records so that they can pass messages to their adopted adult children.

Housing

Dilys Fletcher, vice-chair of the Higginshaw Estate Management Board, Oldham

If I could have just one thing for Christmas, it would be to wipe out the stigma attached to being a council house tenant. I come from a generation who got vetted to live on this estate. Now people lie about living here. Even the kids feel the stigma.

My tenants don't perceive themselves as socially excluded and socially disadvantaged, but in order to get money for an estate I have to say that they are. I would like not to have to degrade people in order to get money to improve their lives.

I would like to feel that when the government says all these lovely things about tenants' involvement and bottom-up working that they really mean them. But they don't.

I would like to go into meetings side by side with ministers. I sit on many committees in Oldham. People ask for my opinions but we are not making any decisions ­ they are dictated by the party in power and the personality of the director. I want to be making policy.

Tenants are the biggest providers of employment at the moment - consultants, the DETR and the universities must have made millions of pounds out of tenants. I go to committees and tenants pay for my second-class train fare for a full day in London. The only attempt to pay tenants has come from the Audit Commission for best value reviews, but they too don't use the tenants properly. They ask them to telephone residents to ask how they feel about repairs. The tenants should be interviewing the directors.

Finally, I would like to sign Mel Gibson up for one of our properties. This estate is 80% women on their own ­ it would be all their Christmas dreams come true.

Carol Radmore, chief executive of the Family Housing Group

My best Christmas present would be a housing benefit system that is simple and that delivers - most of all for our tenants. I'm fed up with the angst they have to go through to get what is theirs by right and sick of the time our staff have to spend helping tenants to get their benefits. I would much rather could spend those resources on more constructive projects.

I would like mainstream funding for community regeneration work to be available for registered social landlords. At the moment, we are all doing it on the side but we're constantly asking ourselves, "Should we be doing this or shouldn't we?"

I would also get rid of the right to buy because it does not help to promote mixed communities. I would like VAT to be taken off refurbishment so that there is less of an incentive to build new houses when refurbishment is often a better option.

On the professional side, there is still a "them and us" culture between registered social landlords and local authorities that I would like to see broken down.

When I used to work in a local authority, people used to resent housing associations because they were not subject to compulsory competitive tendering. A similar situation exists with best value. People spend too much time agonising rather than pulling together, yet the regimes governing the two sectors are in fact similar.

Harris Beider, executive director of the Federation of Black Housing Organisations

I would like to see much greater social justice that enables people to reach their full potential and a debate about what it means to live in a society that is driven by equal opportunity.

In mainstream housing associations, 16% of employees are black but there are only two black chairs and one chief executive. The problem is not lack of qualifications ­ it is the old boys' network and the macho drinking culture. Most black people, and most women I know, don't want to get involved in that. We need a new organisational culture that is transparent, accountable and meritocratic.

If we had more black people in senior management posts, the whole culture would change. We need new systems of working that reach out to black graduates and fast-stream them.

In the corporate sector, companies are doing it because they believe this will make them a better business. The Lawrence report changed the terms of the debate but only created a small window of opportunity that we must seize.

I'd like to see black and minority ethnic housing associations (BME) getting the investment to be local champions in rebuilding communities. BME associations are trusted because of their radical roots and campaigning past.

But there are also debates to be had within the black community. When I came to the FBHO there was a culture of talking mainly to black organisations. You don't learn much if you always talk to people with the same perspective.

Things are changing. White people who grew up in the 70s and 80s are more relaxed in terms of black culture and working with black colleagues, though we still have to fight the old "whiteguard".

For my last wish ­ and given the success of the English cricket team since Nasser Hussain took over as captain ­ I'd like to see a black housing minister. Then we'll know we really have arrived.

Health

Roy Lilley, fellow of the Imperial College, London, and former NHS trust chair

Just like most factories, offices and workplaces, staff in the NHS will be getting together for their Christmas parties. They will go to a nearby restaurant or pub for some festive cheer.

Heaven forbid they are given a dirty glass. They will create hell with the bar staff and insist on it being changed.

They will be oblivious to the fact that 1,500 of their customers - patients in the NHS - are likely to have died this year from infections they have acquired in hospital, mainly because staff in the NHS don't remember to wash their hands often enough.

Probably NHS staff, like the rest of us, will leave their shopping to the last minute and rely on late-opening shops. They will overlook the fact that for most of the working population, GP surgeries open too late for them to visit a doctor before they start a journey to work and close well before they get home.

If they are given a Christmas present that doesn't work, doesn't fit or isn't the right colour, they will take it back and demand a refund or something more to their taste. They will forget the number of hip operations that have to be redone, breast-screening results that have been wrong, muddled or misleading, doctors who have killed their patients and hospitals that have removed the wrong organ.

What would I give the NHS for Christmas? Tied up in a big bow would be a large measure of common sense.

The NHS is full of some of the brightest and best educated people you are ever likely to meet. The trouble is, when they come to work they leave the real world behind. NHS staff should bring real-world expectations to work.

The standards they insist upon in stores, corner shops, garages and restaurants should be imported to their work place. No great expectations, just the ordinary, reasonable expectations they come face to face with every day.

The best presents are always the simplest.

Roy Lilley website

Local government

The Local Government Association

For this year's wishlist, the LGA manifesto, "Opportunity to Prosper'", details wishes for more freedom and flexibility to deliver services, greater emphasis on community leadership and support for regeneration.

In education, the LGA wishes for central government to recognise the importance of local government in raising standards and connecting the education sector to the rest of local services. A further wish is for a rethink on proposals for a 90% delegation of funding from Local Education Authorities (LEA) to schools. Such passporting will threaten vital LEA services, such as special educational needs support, which the Queen's speech reinforced as a key local government role.

A final education wish is for a full review of governors' roles, including the issue of payment, to ensure all sections of the community have the chance to take part in school development.

In cultural services, the LGA wishes for lottery funding decisions to be made locally, and for the development of a modern, efficient and accessible library service. To achieve these aims, we also wish to see the contribution of arts, sports and other cultural activities recognised across all government departments.

The LGA was disappointed that the adoption bill was dropped from the Queen's speech, and so we hope the planned white paper will outline adoption legislation, with clear duties for health authorities to provide post-adoption support services and funding. We wish for better partnerships with health authorities to raise standards of all social care.

In housing, the LGA wishes for a legal requirement for councils to consider the community as a whole when building new homes, as outlined in a new strategic housing role for local authorities in the housing green paper. At the same time, councils that do not wish to transfer housing stock must be supported. We also wish for better planning powers to determine the mix and affordability of new developments.

The LGA wishes to see legislation on consumer issues and was disappointed that the Queen's speech made no mention of such a bill. Local government already has a consumer protection plan and we wish for legislation to empower councils to tackle issues such as rogue traders.

One final wish is to address the "democratic deficit". We want a revival of grassroots democracy, with more than a 30% turnout at the next local elections. Without strong local representation communities cannot be heard by central government. A further wish is for more women, young people and ethnic minorities to stand as councillors so that we can give voice to our diverse communities.

Dennis Reed, director of the Local Government Information Unit

What we in local government want from Santa this year is some recognition of all our hard work.

The floods came and went. Councillors, council staff, the police and fire brigade were down at flood barriers at all hours, but rarely a mention was made about all this teamwork in the community. Yes, there's much work to be done, tackling social exclusion, improving services and getting closer to our communities, but a little recognition for what has been accomplished would go a long way.

So let's hear some celebration of local government, and then let's really get down to business on quangos this year. We need simple steps to make them more accountable and ensure proper scrutiny. This isn't just about fine words and making people feel good. It's about belonging to communities where you know who's running what, you know how well they're running them and you know who to complain to if things aren't running so well. It's about providing better services and joining them up on the ground so that they make a real difference to people's lives and don't just disappear into another round of board meetings behind closed doors.

Money? No, we're not asking for oodles of cash. Just for some real power to be shifted to local communities for the raising and spending of it. It's not just that people working in central and local government should be able understand the money situation - though that would be a start - but, more importantly, that local people should be able understand it. So no more ring-fencing and the business rate should be put back where it belongs, at local level.

David Clark, director general of the Society for Local Authority Chief Executives (Solace)

I want:

• A joined-up inspection regime for local authorities. I have nothing against inspection, but why are there so many regimes and why do they not seem to talk to each other?
  • A major cultural shift in our society. If I can believe in Santa then I can believe in miracles. All I ask is that politicians and the media would start celebrating the quality of many of our local authority staff. Yes, there are many good people and ideas in the private sector, but that does not mean that these are always better than the ideas and staff in the public sector.
  • A nice present in the stocking for all of the local authority folk who coordinated the response to the recent floods. The way local authorities responded to that crisis merely goes to show how valuable functional local authorities are.
  • Could you also send a bottle of scotch to my friend Max Caller in Hackney? He might not be getting Christmas day off but he certainly deserves a drink.

Vincent Watts, lead chair of the English Regional Development Agencies

A well-earned Christmas break is top of the wish list for staff at the nine English Regional Development Agencies this Christmas. In just 21 months of operation, the eight agencies that were set up in April 1999 have recorded significant successes on the road to improving economic performance across the English regions, as has the London Development Agency, established earlier this year.

In order to keep on making progress, the RDAs have a long list of wishes for Santa:

The RDAs look forward to 2002, when we have been promised budget flexibility and less red tape to get on with the job of tackling the real issues of under investment, deprivation and disadvantage in the regions. Our biggest wish is that this happens quickly and seamlessly, that government agrees to "buy" a single set of outcomes from RDAs, with sensible monitoring and review arrangements. What must not happen is separate corporate plans, prescriptive guidance, and an excessive degree of detail in planning and reporting. If Santa could just pull this one off, the RDAs would be forever indebted.

Second, we would love a decision from Europe on setting up regional venture capital funds, and for funds to be made available quickly. The news that the European Commission could take up to six months to investigate the plans is impeding our work in helping new business start-ups, which are vital to growth in the English regions.

Quick solutions to the inadequacies of transportation around the country are a necessity if our economies are to grow. We wish for the urgent go-ahead of major investment in our roads and railways, to unlock bottlenecks and help economic regeneration and renewal.

The RDAs have a crucial role to play, not just in physical regeneration, but in social regeneration too. A quick decision on single regeneration budget, round seven, or its replacement, would be really welcome, so that we can tackle the problems in our most needy communities.

The rural white paper was on our Christmas wishlist last year, and we welcome this brave new policy statement. Policies being developed from it should form the cornerstones of a thriving economy. Central to issues in rural areas is the need to relax red tape for rural businesses and to make planning a quicker and simpler process, so that farmers and other rural businesses can diversify more quickly.

Also in the rural white paper was a pledge to give local power to country towns and villages, to help them play a central role in shaping the future of their own communities. We hope that this happens quickly, and that local people take up the opportunity to make a positive difference and take advantage of the new funding which will be available across rural areas.

Regeneration

Professor Brian Robson, Geography, Manchester University

My best Christmas present would be for my mantra 'No cities; no civilization' to top the list of Christmas carols. The urban white paper outlines a new framework through which towns and cities could be put more firmly to the fore of the agenda.

The economy needs strong cities; social justice requires targeted intervention to re-engage the excluded who are overwhelmingly found in cities. General national schemes for competitiveness, education, crime and the like do not necessarily benefit either cities or their poor. We need to recognise that place matters and that legislation needs to be place-specific and focused on supporting the efforts of cities to reinvent themselves and to link their fortunes with those of their poor.

Getting cities to the top of the policy agenda is vital. The danger is that the rural lobbies are so much better organised and that, with an election apparently in the offing, the momentum of the white paper could dissipate.

The white paper builds in some milestones - an urban forum in 2002, a state-of-the-cities report in 2005. But we need 'friends of the cities' to sing the praises of regeneration schemes that have worked, as well as to keep pointing to the urban problems that remain. Far better that than more murder and mayhem that merely captures the short-term attention of the media.

Voluntary sector

Lis Pritchard, director of the National Association of Councils for Voluntary Service

What do I want for Christmas?

On the serious side, adequate and consistent statutory funding for local infrastructure bodies such as CVS to enable them to play a full part in the government's social inclusion initiatives. The Local Strategic Partnerships (LSPs) will only work if the voluntary and community sector is resourced properly to enable effective participation.

Central and local government need to agree on the best way to fund this involvement. In both Scotland and Wales there is already some central funding for local infrastucture bodies. This needs to be resolved in England as well.

Apart from this, I would like to be able to take holidays without having to come back to several hundreds of emails as well as all the usual pile of accumulated work.

Stuart Etherington, CEO of the National Council of Voluntary Organisations

The two things I would like the voluntary sector to get for Christmas are:

• For the government to follow the example set by the Scottish Executive and grant free criminal record checks for volunteers working for charities and community groups.
  • Some prior warning if the general election is not going to be next May, so the NCVO has time to prepare itself.

What is your Christmas wish for the public sector? Email Patrick.Butler@theguardian.com with your wish list for the new year.