General Reports and Other Publications

CRC: The Commission for Rural Communities’ new report 'The Features and Characteristics of Successful County Associations of Local Councils' explores & promotes reforms for the parish council sector.
 
The CRC appointed the Centre for Local Policy Studies, University of Gloucestershire and the Institute for Local Government Studies, University of Birmingham to undertake research into what makes a successful County Association of Local Councils (CALC).
 
The CRC believes that creating a renewed structure of empowered & influential town and parish councils, with well-organised and effective representation at county level, will help to support strong & sustainable rural communities.
 
Ofsted: The achievement of 14 to 16 year olds on vocational courses provided in collaboration with Centres of Vocational Excellence (CoVEs) is good and many pupils progress to further study or training, according to a new report published recently by the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills (Ofsted).
 
The purpose of CoVEs is to develop high quality vocational provision and training to meet the current and future needs of the local area.  Many are based at colleges and offer vocational courses to 14-16 year olds from local schools.  The report found that they were able to provide a wider range of good quality courses and more specialist equipment to students than would be possible in their schools.
 
However, the report also found that there are barriers to the further development of this effective support for school-based students that included; uncertainty over future funding and the reluctance of some schools to develop links with other providers. In addition, much more training and awareness-raising is needed to prepare for the new 14 to 19 diplomas in 2008.  
 
DCMS: Some very small scale live music events have had to be cancelled or had unnecessary restrictions placed on them following the introduction of the new licensing laws, according to the independent Live Music Forum's report, which makes 28 recommendations.
 
The Forum states that the lack of clarity in the legislation coupled with some over zealous local authorities is to blame and recommends that small music venues & those putting on acoustic gigs should therefore not have to acquire a licence to stage live music.
 
MoJ: The Prisons Inspectorate has published the first separate reports of the experiences of immigration detainees under escort, while being taken to Dungavel House in Scotland and Colnbrook Immigration Removal Centre near London.
 
These reports, based on interviews with escorted detainees, did not find evidence of poor treatment of detainees while on the escort vans and most detainees said that staff treated them well. There were however some concerns, such as lengthy journeys and excessive movements for detainees at Dungavel.
 
PCS:  The Public and Commercial Services Union warned that the creation of the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission (CMEC) could be undermined, as it responded to the publication of the Committee of Public Accounts report into the implementation of child support reforms.
 
The union echoed the committee's concerns that there was a lack of clarity how the new commission would regain the confidence of the public and warned that the formation of CMEC and ongoing work to clear backlogs would be undermined if there were insufficient resources and continuing IT problems.
 
IPCC: The Independent Police Complaints Commission has published the report of its investigation into Operation Venison. The inquiry resulted from criticisms made when Mr Justice Crane halted the Customs and Excise Prosecutions Office prosecution into an alleged missing trader intra community (MTIC) fraud.
 
Last year the IPCC sent a file to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) who decided the five HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) officers and one lawyer, criticised by Mr Justice Crane, had not committed any criminal offences.  Now the IPCC investigation has cleared the officers of misconduct. The IPCC has no remit to consider possible misconduct on the part of the lawyer as he is not employed by HMRC.
 
The IPCC has made two recommendations and one formal comment as a result of the investigation.  There is no doubt that HMRC have come a long way since the Operation Venison judgment and have addressed every area that this investigation identified as a problem.
 
NAO: Income tax is processed accurately in the majority of cases by HM Revenue & Customs, but errors in processing lead to the wrong amount of tax being paid by around 1 million taxpayers, according to the National Audit Office.
 
HMRC accurately calculates the right amount of tax in 95% of income tax cases and subsequently corrects errors it finds or which are brought to its attention by the taxpayer, but that still left an estimated £125m of tax underpayments and £157m in overpayments in 2006 - 07.
 
The report also found that HMRC’s projects to automate clerical processes have been successful in reducing levels of error, and it is managing its performance more effectively.
 
Recommendations in the report include:
- HMRC developing an early warning system for emerging processing problems
- separating out more complex cases for processing
- developing staff training, and
- strengthening the help available for taxpayers affected by errors
 
ESRC: The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) has found that American companies are more likely to draw attention to official published histories on their websites, more likely to invest in historically orientated visitor attractions or museums, such as The World of Coca Cola in Atlanta, and more likely to publish official histories.
 
By taking a more low key approach to their corporate past, UK companies may be failing to capitalise on a range of potential business benefits.  An accurate portrayal of a company’s history is, Professor Rowlinson believes, vitally important to ensuring a robust corporate identity.
 
Defra: Defra has published an updated response to the Dimmock report into quarantine procedures for captive birds. The report was published on 15 December 2005 and made 32 recommendations for changes to the quarantine regime. This updated response indicates that all of the recommendations have now been met as far as possible, given the current restrictions on bird imports.
 
Considerable action has been taken by Defra in response to the Dimmock report, including a comprehensive review of wildlife disease surveillance and new research into the origin & development of avian influenza in chickens, ducks and turkeys.
 
The publication of the updated response comes as a new EU regulation came into force on Sunday 1 July, which sets out the conditions for the import of birds other than poultry. It includes a ban on commercial imports of wild-caught birds and a requirement for captive-bred birds to come only from approved establishments in a list of countries with high avian health status and reliable veterinary services.
 
CRC: To help inform our response to the Government’s consultation on the future of the post office network, the Commission for Rural Communities organised a series of four focus groups in different parts of England earlier this year.
 
The report highlights the importance of the post office in the local community and how it acts as a social hub. Reactions to the Government’s proposals for restructuring the post office network are reported including the access criteria and possible outreach services.
 
CRC: Launched at this year's Royal Show, the Commission for Rural Communities new report 'The social contribution of land based industries to rural communities' shows that the nature & scale of interactions between land-based industries and rural communities vary greatly from place to place.
 
HC: A Healthcare Commission review has found that more heart failure services are in place, but reveals concerns regarding variations in patient access to diagnostic tests, drugs and specialist care. It has expressed concern that a significant number of patients with heart failure may not be being identified.

The report’s data shows that the number of people reported as having confirmed heart failure is around 140,000 less than expected.  This could be due to problems with recording patient data on GPs’ systems – a lack of clear auditing was one of the enduring issues for the entire review.  On the other hand, it could mean that some patients are not getting access to diagnosis and, in turn, treatment.
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