General Reports and Other Publications
IFS: Responding to questions in the House of Commons, the government has just revealed that its Your Freedom website will cost approximately £20,000 to run over the coming year. The cost has been criticised as excessive – but is such criticism fair? How much does a government website cost? The recent release of official data on government websites allows the Institute of Fiscal Studies to make some comparisons.
OBR: The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) has published its formal advice to the Chancellor on how the body should be established on a permanent basis. The advice draws on experiences of interim OBR’s work for the Budget.
HEFCE: Following a period of consultation, the Higher Education Funding Council England (HEFCE)has set out a revised funding agreement with the institutions it funds.
This will come into effect on 1 August 2010. It takes full account of key points of dialogue & discussion raised through the consultation, including accountability for corporate leadership, quality and standards, governance and financial management.
This will come into effect on 1 August 2010. It takes full account of key points of dialogue & discussion raised through the consultation, including accountability for corporate leadership, quality and standards, governance and financial management.
Press release ~ Revised financial memorandum 2010 ~ Consultation on changes to the model financial memorandum
ACE: The Arts Council has published its self-evaluation framework to provide arts organisations with a flexible, development tool to support them in evaluating their own performance and to help inform their future planning. It focuses on six key areas.
DfE: Ministers yesterday published the Department for Education’s (DfE) key policy commitments and invited the public to hold them to account on delivery. The draft Structural Reform Plan (SRP) clearly sets out the Department’s key priorities.
HO: The Home Office has published its Structural Reform Plan.
DCMS: Plans to deliver a ‘fantastic’ 2012 Olympics, boost competitive sport in schools, reform media regulation and deliver universal broadband were set out last week by Culture Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, when he published the DCMS Structural Reform Plan, a blueprint for activity over the next 3 years & beyond, which will also boost the Big Society and stimulate economic growth.
ESRC: Data visualisation techniques that generate sophisticated graphics could bring a fresh dimension to communications & decision-making by public bodies like local councils, according to research completed for the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). The vizLib project presents data in a graphic format to show how people use public services such as libraries.
The project was led by Dr Jason Dykes, senior lecturer in geographic information at City University London, in partnership with Robert Radburn, research manager at Leicestershire County Council. Dr Dykes, who argues that 'graphicacy' should be recognised as an essential skill alongside articulacy, numeracy & literacy,
Press release ~ 'vizLib : Developing Capacity for Exploratory Analysis in Local Government - Visualisation of Library Usage Data' ~ vizLib project ~ City University London's giCentre
NAO: The National Audit Office has underlined the vital importance of measuring government performance. Good performance measurement frameworks show taxpayers what they are getting for their money and enable the Government to assess whether it is achieving its key objectives cost-effectively.
In its final review of the quality of the data systems used by government departments to measure progress against Public Service Agreements (PSAs), the NAO concludes that the PSA framework provided a clear focus on the objectives that mattered for the then Government, and had gradually improved over the years.
Press release ~ NAO: Taking the measure of government performance ~ NAO: PSA data systems validation 2010
Newswire – RSF: Britain's finances may be exhausted but savings in the cost of road crashes costing 1.5% of GDP and worth £18bn annually are readily achievable.
The high costs of emergency services, hospitals and long term care for the disabled can often be avoided through little more than the cost of a pot of paint, according to the annual road tracking survey carried out by the Road Safety Foundation - the largest analysis of its type anywhere in the world, covering 28,000 miles.
The high costs of emergency services, hospitals and long term care for the disabled can often be avoided through little more than the cost of a pot of paint, according to the annual road tracking survey carried out by the Road Safety Foundation - the largest analysis of its type anywhere in the world, covering 28,000 miles.
Consultation with road authorities on improvements show that simple, relatively inexpensive engineering measures are paying dividends, contributing to more than 70% fewer fatal & serious collisions in the last 3 years on the top ten roads listed. Improvements to signing & markings, resurfacing, particularly the use of high-friction anti-skid treatments, and the layout & signing of junctions are common.
Press release ~ Download the report (see press release for more links) ~ www.roadsafetyfoundation.org
CQC: The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has published its report into the GP out-of-hours provider, Take Care Now (TCN). The regulator’s investigation was triggered by the tragic case of Mr David Gray, a patient killed by an overdose of 100mg diamorphine in February 2008. The drug was administered by Dr Ubani, an out-of-hours doctor from Germany employed by TCN.
Dr Ubani has since been struck off the General Medical Council (GMC) register and is no longer permitted to practise in the UK. CQC looked in-depth at TCN’s out-of-hours service to assess its performance dating back to April 2007. It also assessed whether lessons had been learned and action taken following the death of Mr Gray.
Press release ~ Full summary of findings ~ Briefing notes ~ Report 1 ~ Report 2 ~ Report 3 ~ Appendices
Newswire – IfG: An independent review of 'arm’s length bodies' (ALBs) has found that 'quangos' are operating in a confusing environment that neither government, the public nor ALBs completely understand.
Read before Burning, a year-long study by the Institute for Government finds that while cuts & efficiencies in ALBs are certain and may well be justified, making decisions about how & if they should operate in future must be taken alongside fundamental reform or risk more confusion about their role and value in the future.
Read before Burning, a year-long study by the Institute for Government finds that while cuts & efficiencies in ALBs are certain and may well be justified, making decisions about how & if they should operate in future must be taken alongside fundamental reform or risk more confusion about their role and value in the future.
Lack of clarity about what they do, how and to whom they are accountable leads to ‘duplication, policy coordination problems and difficulties achieving the right balance between freedom and control of ALB’s’, the report says.
Ofsted: A recent Ofsted report - Twelve outstanding providers of work-based learning - showcases 12 outstanding work-based learning providers that excel at providing apprenticeships,
