General Reports and Other Publications

Defra: Climate change is having a significant impact on our marine environment according to - The Marine Climate Change Impacts Partnership (MCCIP) report card 2007-08 - which highlights just how much climate change has affected the United Kingdom's marine environment and what the future impacts may be.
 
Key findings from the report include:
* 2006 was the second warmest year for UK coastal waters since records began in 1870; seven of the 10 warmest years have been in the last decade
* Warmer winters have been strongly linked to reduced breeding success & survival in some seabird populations
* Models predict fewer storms in future but there will be increased numbers of severe storms
* Coastal erosion and flooding is expected to increase
Press release ~ Marine Climate Change Impacts Partnership (MCCIP) report card 2007-08 ~ ScotGov - Fisheries ~ Defra - Marine environment and fisheries ~ Fishing, climate change and North East Atlantic cod stocks
 
NAO: A report released by the National Audit Office has found that PFI deals offered sufficient flexibility. However, while value for money of individual changes varied, value for money was not generally being obtained when changes were made.
 
Larger changes were not always competitively tendered, partly owing to the complexity of integrating new work with the operation of existing buildings.  In addition, the cost of making smaller changes was relatively high, varied widely across projects for similar work and took longer to process than in non-PFI projects; and almost half of the changes were completed later than the agreed timeframe.
 
In processing change requests, most private sector PFI partners charged additional management fees, typically 5-10%, on top of those made by service providers to cover their overheads & profit, which were very often not justified in terms of the work needed to process small changes.
Press release ~ Making Changes in Operational PFI Projects ~ Execut ive Summary ~ PFI contract guidance March 2007 ~ HM Treasury - Public Private Initiatives ~ Partnerships UK
 
NAO: Since the early 1990s, the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA), Driving Standards Agency and the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency have made some of their services e-accessible and a report released by the National Audit Office has found that these developments have improved accessibility to these services and are expected to provide savings in the future.
 
Between them, the agencies provide services for 42 million drivers, the owners of 36 million vehicles and 100,000 commercial vehicle operators in Great Britain.  To date, 15 services are available electronically; these include applying for provisional driving licences, booking driving tests, taking driving theory tests and buying car tax.  During 2006-07, some 50 million transactions were handled electronically.
Press release ~ Electron ic service delivery in the Driver, Vehicle and Operator Agencies in Great Britain ~ Execut ive Summary ~ Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) ~ Driving Standards Agency ~ Vehicle and Operator Services Agency
 
CLG: The Supporting People programme is more than paying for itself through the positive impact it is having on the lives of the most vulnerable people in society, a new independent report claims.  The study claims that an investment of £1.55bn in the programme delivers £2.77bn net financial benefits - through reduced costs in health services, tenancy failure, crime and residential care.
 
Funding through the programme helps over a million people live independently in their homes at any one time including 800,000 older people, 40,000 single homeless people, 36,000 people with mental health problems and 8,000 women at risk of domestic violence.
Press release ~ Research into the financial benefits of the Supporting People programme ~ Supporting People programme ~ Housing adaptations for disabled people ~ Independent Living Review ~ 'Better outcomes, lower costs' ~ 'The costs and benefits of independent living' ~ Welsh Care and Repair Agency ~The benefits of Telecare for Local Authorities
Facing the Future...find out more