General Reports and Other Publications
CIOB: In a submission to the Department’s of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) and Communities and Local Government (DCLG), the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) has called for a combined approach towards buildings & energy generation.
Michael Brown CIOB Deputy Chief Executive said; “With 50% of CO2 emissions being apportioned directly to the buildings we live and work in, the built environment is in the front line in the battle to cut carbon dioxide emissions. Tackling the issue at source through the production of energy is vital for the construction industry.”
The CIOB believes that displaying the practical affects of any energy efficient measures will be fundamental in gaining public engagement.
ScotGov: The report of the independent inquiry into abuse at the former Kerelaw residential school in Ayrhsire has been published. The school was opened in 1970 and a Secure Unit added in 1983. It was run by Strathclyde Regional Council until local government reorganisation in 1996, when it was taken over by Glasgow City Council.
The Open School was closed at the end of 2004 following adverse inspection reports and investigations of bullying & harassment of staff and allegations of child abuse. In 2006 a former teacher and a unit manager were convicted of abuse and jailed. The Secure Unit was closed in March 2006. A number of former staff, including the school's senior management, were dismissed by Glasgow City Council following internal investigations.
Press release ~ Independent Inquiry into Abuse at Kerelaw Residential School and Secure Unit ~
CLG: A new Government-funded report into levels of racism experienced by members of the UK Chinese community should start a national debate on how best to tackle the problem, Cohesion Minister Sadiq Khan has claimed.
Hidden from Public View, published by The Monitoring Group-Min Quan Project following a Connecting Communities Grant from the Department for Communities and Local Government, examines how best to monitor & tackle racist incidents against UK Chinese people.
Press release ~ Hidden from Public View ~ The Monitoring Group-Min Quan Project ~ Racial Harassment handbook ~ True Vision project
NAO: In 2007 the National Audit Office reported that primary care trusts (PCTs) could save more than £200m a year without compromising patient care if GPs prescribed cheaper, generic medicines. Keele University has now confirmed the NAO’s finding by calculating that almost £400m has been saved by the DH, the NHS and PCTs in England, through more cost effective prescribing as recommended in the NAO report.
BERR: The interim Digital Britain report established a Spectrum Modernisation Programme to address a range of key issues around the transition to Next Generation Mobile Services. In February 2009, an Independent Spectrum Broker was appointed to determine whether a series of market-led spectrum trades between operators could be achieved to facilitate this objective.
The Independent Spectrum Broker has now concluded this process and has published his conclusions in a report and accompanying statement. The government will be setting out their response in the final Digital Britain report in June 2009.
Press release ~ Independent Spectrum Brokers' report ~ Next Generation Mobile Services ~ Digital Britain channel
ESRC: The way that mothers talk to their children when they are young has a lasting effect on children’s social skills, according to a research study funded by the Economic and Social Research Council. The researchers found that children whose mothers often talked to them about people’s feelings, beliefs, wants & intentions, developed better social understanding than children whose mothers did not include much ‘mental state talk’ in their conversations.
The researchers also observed how each of the mothers talked to their child when they were 3 years old as they looked at a series of pictures together. They found that children whose mothers had often described the mental state of people in the pictures – their emotions or what they might be thinking or going to do next - did particularly well on the social understanding tasks.
BERR: The industry-led Industrial Biotechnology Innovation and Growth Team (IB-IGT) chaired by Ian Shott has published its report setting out its vision for industrial biotechnology (IB) by 2025 and its recommendations to Government and industry.
Robust estimates of the global IB market by 2025 range from £150bn to £360bn. Similar estimates for the UK IB market range from £4bn to £12bn, with a favourable research environment & technology development having a high likelihood of pay-off in the future in the area of high-value low-volume chemicals.
Press release ~ Maximising UK Opportunities from Industrial Biotechnology in a Low Carbon Economy ~
NAO/MoD: A report from the National Audit Office finds that, despite the challenging operational environments, the MOD has successfully delivered around 300,000 personnel and 90,000 tonnes of freight to Iraq & Afghanistan over the last two years. However, it has not consistently met its targets for delivering supplies in a timely fashion.
MOD is taking measures to improve the effectiveness of its supply chain and the amount of time a unit waits for items to be delivered has reduced by half in Afghanistan and a third in Iraq. The MOD’s prioritisation of Urgent Operational Requirements has led to shortages of equipment matching that in theatre for Service personnel in the UK to train with. The MOD has introduced new equipment, but numbers remain limited to support the scale of pre-deployment training.
Personnel have widespread confidence in the medical system, which the MOD has delivered successfully. The helicopter borne Medical Emergency Response Teams provide quick, life-saving medical support to casualties and evacuate them speedily to hospital.
While welcoming the praise from the National Audit Office, the MoD also accepts the need for further improvements in some areas and is now looking seriously at the recommendations.
CQS: The CQC, the new health and social care regulator, has published results from the sixth national inpatient survey, carried out by 165 acute and specialist NHS trusts in England. The 2008 survey results overall show significant improvement in the experience of patients in key areas relating to infection control.
BUT the survey highlights persistent problems in important aspects of care. Despite some improvements, the NHS must do more to ensure hospital food is consistently of good quality and that patients are sent copies of letters between hospitals and GPs. Performance remained poor in other key areas such as help with eating, mixed-sex accommodation, involvement in decisions about care and answering call buttons.
NAO: A National Audit Office report has found that HM Revenue & Customs faces large peaks in its workload but, by introducing different filing deadlines for paper & online Income Tax Self Assessment returns, it has smoothed some of those peaks.
By encouraging more customers to file tax returns online and removing the need for some returns, HMRC has smoothed peaks in workload and released resources of £7m a year. The Department could also make greater use of modern employment practices used by other organisations, such as part-year permanent contracts.
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