General Reports and Other Publications

PC&PE: The House of Commons Home Affairs Committee has published a report on private investigators, which concludes that it is getting easier for anyone to advertise themselves as a private investigator - with modern communications & cheap surveillance devices - and while the industry remains unregulated, a number of serious risks remain

The Committee explores the risks of the involvement of private investigators in the justice system and law enforcement and the threat of corruption those links entail.
Press release & links
 
PC&PE: The Commons Public Accounts Committee has published a report - Efficiency and reform in government corporate functions through shared service centres. The Rt Hon Margaret Hodge MP, Chair of the CPA, said: "Government could save significant sums of money if it pooled back office functions such as finance, HR and procurement. ……. However, shared service centres have failed to deliver the savings they should have. They cost £1.4bn to set up, £500m more than expected, and in some cases have actually cost the taxpayer more than they have saved”.
Press release & links ~ CBI responds to PAC report on shared services
 
ESRCPhotographs of faces may not be adequate proof of a person's identity and this could have serious implications for the accuracy of passport photographs in determining identity.  Research funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) shows that an image of a person may look strikingly different from one image to the next.  

We are told not to smile in our passport photos as a smile distorts the face; but the opposite may actually be true, and a poker face may be the one which distorts normal facial features.
Press release & links
 
PC&PE: Independent regulators should take a more prominent role in communicating the risks associated with energy generation & distribution because the Government is not seen as an impartial source of information, according to MPs on the Science and Technology Committee.   

Their latest report warns that there is a lack of strategic coordination across Government when it comes to risk communication.
Press release & links
 
NAO: A report by the National Audit Office on the regulation of defined contribution pensions has concluded that there is insufficient accountability to ensure that the regulatory system delivers value for money.
Press release & links ~ CBI comments on NAO report on regulation of DC pensions
 
JRF: Local councils are losing momentum in preparing to protect vulnerable people from the effects of climate change, a new report commissioned by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) warns. Socially just adaption to climate change claims that local authorities are only just beginning to consider vulnerable communities and involve them in their climate change adaptation plans.
Press release & links
Spotlight on women at Serco – Anita’s story