What’s up on the web

Government adviser Charles Leadbeater told the National Social Services Conference that social care could learn lessons from eBay on putting control in to the hands of service users. Check out “about eBay” on www.ebay.co.uk for the company’s ethos. Or maybe browse some of the items for sale. Last week a Disability Discrimination Act trainer pack was going for £4.99!

The Health and Social Care Information Centre’s website (www.ic.nhs.uk) is good for keeping track of the latest stats. It’s also promoting a new site for people with learning difficulties. www.friendlyreports.org.uk will become the place to find plain English-friendly versions of government reports. They could be onto something with wider appeal – who wants to wade through the unfriendly version when an accessible version is on hand?

If you need a birds’ eye view of national policy or a quick briefing on a specific issue then www.politics.co.uk is a useful site. Read a digested account of new bills and white papers – and see at a glance what “opinion formers” have to say about them.