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General Reports and Other Publications
PA: In a new report, Parliamentary Ombudsman Ann Abraham criticises 3 government agencies for collectively failing to put things right when a data sharing mistake led to a woman’s personal & financial information being wrongfully disclosed to her former partner and her child support payments being reduced without her knowledge.
The report, A Breach of Confidence, is the outcome of the Ombudsman’s investigation of Ms M’s complaint about HM Revenue & Customs, the Child Support Agency and the Department for Work and Pensions, and their handling of her personal information.
The Ombudsman has also taken the significant step of recommending that the Cabinet Office takes steps to ensure that lessons are learnt from Ms M’s experience and that appropriate guidance is disseminated to all government departments.
The Ombudsman has also taken the significant step of recommending that the Cabinet Office takes steps to ensure that lessons are learnt from Ms M’s experience and that appropriate guidance is disseminated to all government departments.
CH: Existing systems of global governance do not reflect emerging economic realities. This is problematic both for over-represented Europe and for under-represented Asia. But, as Gareth Price (of Chatham House) writes, Asia & the EU must not only work together, but implement new ways of doing so.
IISS: The International Institute for Strategic Studies comments on the price of sharing data and highlights 2 important issues have been raised by the recent publication of secret American diplomatic cables.
Newswire – FAC: The Foreign Affairs Committee has published a short report on Future inter-parliamentary scrutiny of EU foreign, defence and security policy. The report puts forward a proposal that would ensure continued scrutiny of this area of EU activity by a body of national parliamentarians, following the planned dissolution of the Assembly of the Western European Union (WEU) in mid-2011.
Press release ~ FAC: Report on Future inter-parliamentary scrutiny of EU foreign, defence and security policy ~ Assembly of the Western European Union (WEU)
Newswire – CPA: The Committee of Public Accounts has published a report on PFI in Housing and Hospitals. The Rt Hon Margaret Hodge MP, Chair of the Committee of Public Accounts, said: “Local authorities and health trusts used PFI because there was no realistic alternative, not because it represented best value for money. The use of PFI and its alternatives should now be robustly evaluated. Looking back at PFI procurements, the government should also do more to find out where and why PFI works best and capture the lessons. Departments should also do more to ensure they get the best out of existing PFI contracts”
Newswire – CPA: The Committee of Public Accounts has published a report on Educating the next generation of scientists. The Rt Hon Margaret Hodge MP, Chair of the Committee of Public Accounts, said: “… A strong supply of people with science, technology, engineering and maths skills is important for the UK to compete internationally. The starting point is a good education for children and young people in science and maths”.
IISS: In the 4th IISS Global Perspective Series of discussions, the director of the IISS's Transnational Threats and Political Risk programme said ‘Policymakers are running to catch up with online technology and activity’ in his talk on 'Power in Cyberspace' at the institute's Middle East office last week.
Newswire – HoL EUC: The House of Lords EU Committee has published its report on the operation & use of the ELMER database, the Serious Organised Crime Agency’s (SOCA) principal tool in identifying suspicious activity that may involve funds which are the proceeds of criminal activity.
The report, Money laundering: data protection for suspicious activity reports, follows the Committee’s 2009 report, Money laundering and the financing of terrorism, in which the Committee expressed concern about the number of organisations with access to ELMER on the grounds of data protection.
NAO: A report from the National Audit Office concludes that the Department for Work and Pensions does not yet have enough evidence to demonstrate that its activities to reduce the cost of mistakes by customers have been value for money. Mistakes made by claimants in the information they provide to the Department, termed customer error, are difficult to detect, correct & prevent. However, the report concludes that the scale of overpayments and underpayments demonstrate a clear imperative for improvement.
Ofsted: An Ofsted report looking at the barriers to good literacy shows that poor development of speaking & listening skills at an early age is holding children back from learning to read & write.
The report, Removing barriers to literacy, also highlights the need for teachers to have high expectations, the importance of the systematic teaching of phonics, and how the clear assessment of individual pupils’ progress & needs can drive improvement.
The report, Removing barriers to literacy, also highlights the need for teachers to have high expectations, the importance of the systematic teaching of phonics, and how the clear assessment of individual pupils’ progress & needs can drive improvement.
iea: New research shows that government attempts to tackle poverty are fundamentally flawed. The current focus on redistribution comes at a high fiscal cost and is trapping people in long-term dependency.
These policies are driven by meaningless child poverty targets and are a major barrier to the government cutting the welfare bill. Despite pouring ever increasing amounts of money into the welfare budget, actual poverty is still not being addressed.
These policies are driven by meaningless child poverty targets and are a major barrier to the government cutting the welfare bill. Despite pouring ever increasing amounts of money into the welfare budget, actual poverty is still not being addressed.
A New Understanding of Poverty, an Institute of Economic Affairs report, shows why current poverty measures and the redistributive policies built around them should be scrapped. They should be replaced by a new measure looking at poverty in terms of what people can afford to buy, rather than their level of income relative to others.
Press release ~ A New Understanding of poverty (click on pdf links for free download)
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