Annual Reports
AS: Councils face tougher challenges in the year ahead, particularly in dealing with budget pressures, says the Accounts Commission in its annual overview report. Pressures on resources & demands on services mean that councils may now have to consider decisions, which they had previously ruled out, to balance their budgets.
CQC: The Care Quality Commission’s report on its monitoring of the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards reveals that there is still a widespread lack of understanding of the wider Mental Capacity Act. The Mental Capacity Act is a very important mechanism for protecting the rights of people who do not have the ability (mental capacity) to make certain decisions for themselves.
NAO: There is scope for greater use of online public services, according to research by the National Audit Office. In addition, the government’s aim of making public services ‘digital by default’ is broadly acceptable to most citizens & SMEs. The NAO’s survey indicates that 83% of people use the internet.
However there are still significant numbers of people who cannot go online or do not wish to do so. The research suggested 3 main reasons why people choose not to use more public services online.
However there are still significant numbers of people who cannot go online or do not wish to do so. The research suggested 3 main reasons why people choose not to use more public services online.
DECC: New analysis highlights the extent to which the government’s energy & climate change policies are tempering the impact on household energy bills of global gas prices and network costs.
IfL: The Institute for Learning (IfL) has published its fourth annual review of members’ continuing professional development (CPD), based on evidence from more than 40,000 teachers & trainers who declared their CPD for the year ended 31 August 2012.
FSA: The Food Standards Agency has published the second wave of its biannual survey exploring the public’s attitudes & reported behaviour on food safety issues.
Ofsted: Following the recent inspections of 6 schools in Portsmouth in February 2013, Ofsted has written to Portsmouth City Council to advise it of the findings. The focused inspections are part of a concerted programme of action by Ofsted to establish why children in some parts of the country have a much lower chance of attending a good or better school than their peers in other similar areas.
ScotGov: Scotland's Chief Statistician has published a report exploring variations in the experiences of different people using primary care services, which explores whether factors influence people’s experiences such as patient characteristics - age, gender, ethnicity, deprivation, health status for example. It also looks at the influence of GP practices and regional level factors.
