Civitas: New research shows that ‘for-profit’ schools must be an integral part of Michael Gove’s education reforms if they are to work. Schooling for Money: Swedish Education Reform and the Role of the Profit Motive, looks at the role of for-profit schools in Sweden and provides quantitative evidence regarding how these schools perform. The competition that drove improvements in the Swedish system was only possible because of the high number of for-profit schools that were established.
CH: The sidelining of justice by the Afghan government and its international backers is fuelling the insurgency in Afghanistanand presents a serious strategic risk, says a new report from Chatham House. The report (No Shortcut to Stability: Justice, Politics and Insurgency in Afghanistan) published ahead of President Obama's statement on the review of the US war strategy in Afghanistan, argues that any strategy to create long-term stability in Afghanistan must place justice at its core.
Civitas: The Government has announced a 20% real terms reduction in police funding over the next 4 years, starting with a 6% cut in the national funding grant this year. Satisfying this proposal is likely to involve dramatic staff reductions, including of frontline police officers. In this briefing, Civitas claims that there is a strong relationship between the size of police forces and national crime rates.
LSN: The Learning and Skills Network have claimed that the UK economy could falter as a result of the lack of new skills needed to meet demand in growth sectors. If government is to ensure this doesn't happen, it needs to take action now, because this could prove to be a Sword of Damocles hanging over the recovery. The LSN research report, 'Engaging employers to drive up skills', reveals a ‘dangerous gap between national policy rhetoric and the attitudes, expectations and capabilities of education providers on the ground’.
W&PSC: The Work and Pensions Select Committee has published its report into changes to Housing Benefit. The Report says there is still a level of uncertainty around the impact of the proposed changes to Housing Benefit and their cumulative effect on households. It examines the wide-ranging reforms to the Housing Benefit system proposed by the Government and in particular for claimants in the private rented sector, in receipt of Local Housing Allowance.
Civitas: The German & Swiss economies are powering ahead of the rest of Europe through superior lending to small & medium sized businesses, according to a new report from independent think tank Civitas. German savings banks and Swiss cantonal banks, lessons for the UK by Stephen L. Clarke, Research Fellow at Civitas, argues that the UK system suffers from a lack of competition and a lack of locally-oriented banks committed to serving the needs of Britain's SMEs.
Instead of urging the City to relax lending, as George Osborne and Vince Cable did in a recent meeting with the heads of the major banks, the Government should bypass the big banks altogether by making the banking sector more diverse and competitive.
EFRAC: The cross-party Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee has published the report of its inquiry into Future Flood & Water Management. The Report says the Government must act to tackle the twin challenges of protecting over 5m properties from flooding and maintaining clean, reliable & affordable water supplies.
SAC: In a report published on postal services in Scotland, the Scottish Affairs Committee says the Government’s assurances regarding its intentions for the universal service obligation and the Post Office network are welcome, but need to be reinforced.
The Committee recommends that, where appropriate, this would be best achieved by amendments to the Postal Services Bill or, at least, by clear statements during the Bill’s passage. The Committee’s report considers 2 key issues: the maintenance of a universal service and the continuation of a sustainable Post Office network across Scotland.
CECCC: Doubts raised about oil spill response in UK – but MPs on the Commons Energy and Climate Change Committee warn against moratorium on deepwater drilling. The MPs conclude that extra precautions should be considered to ensure that a deepwater drilling disaster does not happen here – but that a moratorium would undermine energy security and is not necessary.
The Committee states it has serious doubts about the ability of oil spill response equipment to function in the harsh conditions off the west coast of Shetland – where wells are being drilled over a thousand metres deep. A lack of clarity in UK liability rules could also see taxpayers pick up the tab for a major oil spill in the North Sea, the CECC Committee has warned.
PAC: The Government's "Bonfire of the Quangos" has been "poorly managed" resulting in badly drafted legislation that won't deliver significant cost savings or improved accountability, according to a new report by MPs on the Public Administration Committee (PASC).
Press release ~ Public Administration Committee Report: Smaller Government: Shrinking the Quango State ~ Public Administration Committee Report: Smaller Government: Shrinking the Quango State - Additional Written Evidence ~ Bills before Parliament: Public Bodies Bill HL
PF: Muslim population figures from a Pew Forum report estimates growth rates among Muslim populations worldwide and provides population projections for 2020 & 2030.
PX: Policy Exchange has recently published a new report detailing how the planning system is failing to build the infrastructure Britain needs – and how the system could be reformed. Planning Curses by Bridget Rosewell, Chief Economic Adviser to the Greater London Authority, shows how despite efforts to streamline planning, vital projects are not going ahead because of over-elaborate and unrealistic economic predictions.
PX: Britain’s electricity market is being hamstrung by too much regulation & uncertainty, according to a new study from Policy Exchange. The research finds that costs are being piled on consumers, with generators waiting for government to centrally plan, and regularly fine-tune its plans, rather than seeking out the best investments & innovations to secure supplies and reduce carbon emissions.
PPI: Fresh analysis of the government's raft of economic cuts identifies families with new babies as among those hardest hit by the cuts package. The Family and Parenting Institute research shows how a broad range of family types will be affected. The report identifies 3 family types which will suffer the biggest blows to their finances from changes to tax & state benefits:
Press release ~ Families in an age of austerity – how tax and benefit reform will affect UK families ~ Executive summary ~ Family and Parenting Institute
ippr: The system for electing Westminster MPs is ‘broken’ and is likely to produce increasingly undemocratic results in the future, according to a new report from ippr. New analysis shows that the May 2010 general election was decided in just 111 constituencies by fewer than 460,000 voters – or 1.6% of the electorate.
The report – Worst of Both worlds: Why First Past the Post no longer works – shows that, because of long-term changes in voting patterns, the current voting system can no longer be relied upon to deliver a clear-cut result with a strong & stable single-party government.
Press release ~
ippr: A new briefing on migration trends by ippr suggests that net migration is unlikely to fall much below 200,000 in 2011 – roughly the annual level it has been at for much of the last decade. This is despite the fact that the Coalition government is introducing measures to restrict immigration in order to meet the Conservative election pledge of reducing net immigration 'from the hundreds of thousands to the tens of thousands'.
Press release ~
PX: Universities could reduce potential student debt or protect teaching & research by being more imaginative about how they are run, a recent report from Policy Exchange shows. The study calls for the HE sector to outsource functions like maintenance & accommodation that have little to do with education. It claims that there are also big savings to be had from universities sharing services like finance, human resources or student records. Up to 30% of the total cost could be saved if more services were shared, according to estimates.
Press release ~ Higher Education in the Age of Austerity - Shared services, outsourcing and entrepreneurship
Demos: The test to assess people for the new Personal Independence Payment will not accurately measure the cost of living with a disability shows a new report from the think tank Demos, funded by the disability charity Scope. The report warns that the costly reassessment will waste government money and fail to provide disabled people with vital support.
This new assessment will test the functional impact of a person’s disability. Yet, the report finds that the cost of living with a disability could not be accurately measured in this way. Rather, disability-costs are driven by a range of factors, including employment status, housing and transport. This means many disabled people with less complex needs, but very high disability-costs, will be left without vital support.
HAC: In a brief report, the Home Affairs Committee highlights a number of areas where the UK Border Agency is not meeting the standards which both those using its services and the general public have the right to expect. In particular, the committee singles out the continuing threat of delays & backlogs in processing asylum applications, which it attributes at least in part to inadequate decision-making in the first instance.
PX: Policy Exchange recently published a new report on bailouts arguing that there should be a semi-automatic procedure to recapitalise troubled banks whereby bank bonds are converted into equity. This report considers the economic & ethical perils of state guarantees for the creditors of banks.
Ofsted: Primary schools are making good progress in introducing languages to children, but there are significant barriers to good language learning in secondary schools, according to a report published by Ofsted, the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills. These obstacles include insufficient use of the chosen language in lessons and a drop in the numbers studying languages.
The report, ‘Modern languages – Achievement and challenge 2007-10’, recognises the significant efforts made to support languages – especially in primary schools – since Ofsted’s last languages report in 2008 and highlights a number of weaknesses in the way secondary students are taught.
Press release ~ Modern languages – Achievement and challenge 2007-10 ~ The changing landscape of languages: an evaluation of language learning 2004/2007
KF: Commenting on the National Audit Office report on NHS hospital productivity, Professor John Appleby, chief economist at The King’s Fund said: ‘The report highlights once again the scale of the productivity challenge facing the NHS. Despite some welcome announcements from the government this week, there is no doubt that the structural changes to the NHS will distract attention from this essential task.
‘But this is not a counsel of despair. As the report points out, there are significant opportunities for the NHS to improve productivity, especially by reducing variations in clinical performance between front line teams delivering health care. With evidence emerging that some services are already being restricted, an intelligent approach is needed that focuses on these opportunities. This will take time to implement and the financial squeeze is already severe, but it is vital to avoid a ‘slash and burn’ approach.’
Press release ~
KF: New reports on the quality of NHS services have in many cases failed to provide the public with meaningful information about the performance of local health services, according to a report published by The King’s Fund recently. The KF analysed around a quarter of quality accounts and, while there were some good examples, found significant variation in the quality & presentation of the information published.
Press release ~ How do quality accounts measure up? Findings from the first year ~ Expectations for the 2010-11 quality accounts ~ Accounting for quality to the local community
iea: The UK has fallen out of the top 15 most economically free countries in the world. Scoring only 74.5 in the 2011 Index of Economic Freedom, released last week by the Heritage Foundation and The Wall Street Journal in association with the Institute of Economic Affairs, the UK has slipped to 16th place in the Index. This is 5 places lower than last year. The UK does particularly badly when ranked on fiscal freedom & government spending.
CQC: A major review by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) on stroke care has found the extent to which patients are supported in coping with life after stroke varies significantly across England. Although the report highlights some good services built around the individual, their family and carers, The North East and South West of England being particularly good, however the CQC found that this approach is far from universal.
Press release ~ The 151 local assessment reports produced for each PCT area in England, are available here.
DWP: The National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) were commissioned to use their global econometric model, NiGEM, in order to model various scenarios involving extending working lives, and to quantify the macroeconomic effects therein. The core scenario is a 1 year increase in working life for the UK population that is gradually phased in over the period 2010-14.
In addition to this, NIESR carried out a series of counterfactual analyses which modelled the loss to the economy from older people leaving the labour market early.
PA: The Patients Association have published a report on ‘Public Attitudes to Pain’ which is the largest survey of its kind ever performed. Chronic pain is continuous, long-term pain of more than 12 weeks or after the time that healing would have been thought to have occurred in pain after trauma or surgery
In the report, the Patients Association calls for the Government to establish a clear care pathway for chronic pain services in the NHS and to recognise chronic pain in its own right. They also want to see further education provided for healthcare professionals on pain services. Approximately 7.8m people live with pain from day to day yet there is only 1 pain specialist for every 32,000 sufferers.
