General Reports and Other Publications
Ofsted: A major new survey of almost 150,000 10 to 15 year-olds in England reveals that a large majority are happy, healthy and feel safe in their schools & local areas – but almost half are worried about their future. The annual Tellus3 survey of children and young people, published by Ofsted, the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills, also found that:
* bullying was still a problem
* smoking, drinking and drugs remain concerns
Press release ~ Tellus3 survey of children and young people ~ Children’s and local services by local authority ~ Sir Alan Steer review ~ DCSF: Behaviour and Attendance ~ Teachernet - Cyberbullying ~ 2005 Report of the Practitioners' Group on School Behaviour and Discipline ~ Parent Support Advisers
NAO: Alcohol misuse costs the health service in the order of £2.7bn a year, but efforts to address it locally are not in general well-planned, the National Audit Office has reported. Although the Department of Health is raising the profile of alcohol misuse, hospital admissions for the 3 main alcohol-specific conditions (alcohol-related liver disease, mental health disorders linked to alcohol and acute intoxication) have doubled in the last 11 years. There were also twice as many deaths from alcohol-related causes in the UK in 2006 as there were 15 years before, increasing from 4,100 to 8,800.
Primary Care Trusts are responsible for setting local health priorities, but around a quarter of PCTs surveyed by the NAO have not fully assessed alcohol problems in their areas. Many PCTs do not have a clear picture of their spending on services to address alcohol misuse and its effects on health.
There is scope for the DH to provide greater leadership to PCTs on alcohol misuse and the NAO report recommends a number of specific measures to that end, such as guidance to help PCTs assess causes and to forecast trends in the level of alcohol harm in their localities.
Press release ~ Reducing Alcohol Harm: Health services in England for alcohol misuse ~ Executive Summary ~ Drug and Alcohol Action Teams ~ Safe, Sensible, Social - consultation on further action (Now closed - includes related documents) ~ Alcohol resources ~ DH – Alcohol misuse ~ Working with the alcohol industry ~ Home Office – Alcohol Misuse ~ Changing Scotland's relationship with alcohol: a discussion paper on our strategic approach ~ ScotGov - Alcohol ~ A Question of Architecture: Executive Summary ~ 12 Dimensions of a Manageable Problem ~ Scottish Association of Alcohol and Drugs Action Teams ~ Scotland’s alcohol culture ~ Present costs of alcohol use and misuse based on a ‘Cost of Illness’ approach ~ Alcohol: The effects of drinking on the body and on relationships
NAO: Most Ministry of Defence projects funded by PFI deals are delivered satisfactorily, on time & on budget according to a National Audit Office report. In six of the eight projects examined by the NAO, the MoD has generally achieved value for money through effective allocation and management of risks, but there is scope for improving procurement times.
The Department has developed commercial disciplines for scrutinising the value for money of its PFI procurements and has extended these into other projects. However, while the MOD allocates & manages many of the project risks effectively, it does not always have the robust data necessary to understand the risks it is asking the private sector to bear. The NAO also highlight the risk that contractors may incorrectly report performancewhich would otherwise lead to payment deductions.
Press release ~ Allocation and management of risk in Ministry of Defence PFI projects ~ Executive Summary ~ MoD recovers £1.3m from BT ~ Previous PAC press release ~ Ministry of Defence: Major Projects Report 2007 ~ The House of Commons – Defence Equipment 2008 ~ Previous NAO press release ~ Major Projects Report 2007 ~ Volume II: Project Summary Sheets ~ Volume III: The Landing Ship Dock (Auxiliary) Project ~ Defence Industrial Strategy ~ MoD – Defence equipment & support ~ Ministry of Defence: Chinook Mk3 Helicopters ~ CPA: Ministry of Defence - Battlefield Helicopters ~ Public Accounts Committee report on the work of Defence Estates ~ Defence Estates ~ Service Family Accommodation (SFA) ~ BBC news item
DECC: Climate change will present a major challenge to China in feeding its growing population by the middle of the century. This is a key message from a 3-year bilateral project between the UK and China, which examined how one area of China (the Ningxia Hui Autonomous region) could adapt agricultural techniques to deal with the impact of climate change.
Vulnerable farmers are already having to develop new methods to adapt to these long-term changes in the weather, such as reducing water loss by covering the soil with stones, and planting new crop varieties. The report also predicts that as a result of climate change alone, China is likely to see a reduction in yields of key crops (wheat, maize, and rice) from the 2020s. As the population increases, availability of staple foods may fall below the critical level necessary for people's basic needs.
Press release ~ Key findings and approaches for the project ~ Department of Energy and Climate Change ~ EU-China initiative to demonstrate near zero emissions from coal in China ~ UK-India Study to Identify the Barriers to Low Carbon Technology Transfer
ScotParl: There needs to be a shift in GPs from affluent areas to more deprived areas where they are most needed, according to the Scottish Parliament's Health and Sport Committee. Publishing its response to the Scottish Government's publication Equally Well, the committee called on the ScotGov to take a robust stance in its negotiations with the British Medical Association over the terms of the next GP contract.
Press release ~ Equally Well ~ Health and Sport Committee response ~ NHS Scotland ~ British Medical Association - Scotland
CRC: The Commission for Rural Communities (CRC) has welcomed the EFRA Committee's report & recommendations on the potential of the rural economy. A more pro-active approach to rural proofing and mainstreaming rural into business support, transport, training, housing, communications and investment programmes is critical to releasing the potential of our rural economies.
The report makes several specific proposals where the CRC can help Defra strengthen government action for rural economies.
LSN: According to new research by the Learning and Skills Network (LSN), 75% working in further education (FE) say policy-speak, acronyms & jargon are so prevalent in communications sent by government departments & agencies, that they often find them hard to understand or are put off reading them altogether
* 83% of FE staff surveyed said jargon has put them off reading important external information
* Only 5% find the information they receive is usually clear and easy to read
LLUK: Enquiries about teacher training received by Lifelong Learning UK’s Information and Advice Service rocketed 41% in the last month alone. Compared to the end of last year (Dec 07), there has been a 300% increase
Worries about the current economic climate have led to a radical change in people’s attitude towards career development according to new research from Lifelong Learning UK’s ‘Make a Difference’ campaign. Many people are actively searching for a more secure career option. As a result, a management opportunity in education has become one of the top ‘dream jobs’ for those working in mid to senior management in the UK.
Press release ~ Make a Difference ~ Lifelong Learning UK’s Information and Advice Service ~ Catalyst: for change
NAO: A £330m programme has enhanced the 46 English Fire & Rescue Services’ capacity to respond to terrorist attacks and other catastrophic incidents such as major flooding. But better value for money could have been secured in the procurement of the specialist vehicles and equipment, according to a new National Audit Office report.
The New Dimension programme was introduced following the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001 and it involved procuring specialist vehicles and equipment, training 10,000 fire fighters and helping to prepare Fire and Rescue Services to tackle terrorist and other major incidents.
Funding uncertainty and poor programme, project & financial management in the early days of the project resulted in delays in introducing the equipment and significant cost overruns. Improvements in programme and financial management have since been made, but more still needs to be done to address weaknesses which might hamper future incident response.
Press release ~ New Dimension - Enhancing the Fire and Rescue Services' capacity to respond to terrorist and other large-scale incidents ~ Executive Summary ~ New Dimension programme ~ Resilience and response in Emergencies ~ Audit Commission Assessment for 2007 ~ Centre of Excellence for the Fire and Rescue Service consultation ~ CLG – Fire & resilience ~ Fire Gateway
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