General Reports and Other Publications
PC&PE: The Commons Public Accounts Committee published its 55th report of Session 2010-12 - Report: Formula funding of local public services, on the basis of evidence from the Treasury, the Department of Health, the Department for Education and the Department for Communities and Local Government
The Rt Hon Margaret Hodge MP, Chair of the CPA, recently said: "The current system for distributing central Government funding to local bodies is complex & difficult to understand, and too often results in local public bodies getting the wrong amount of money, which is not fair to local communities”.
NLGN: The Devil in the Detail: Designing the right incentives for local economic growth, a new white paper issued recently by NLGN, presents a timely response to the recent government consultation on business rates reform.
Press release & links ~ The Devil in the Detail: Designing the right incentives for local economic growth
CBI: CBI has published a report, Unfreezing the housing market, in which it suggests that boosting housing activity could be a major game-changer for growth and economic recovery.
TUC: Employees spend nearly 200 hours a year travelling to & from work - adding up to around 5 weeks extra work - according to a TUC analysis of official statistics published as part of the recent Work Wise UK's Commute Smart week.
CIVITAS: A new report from Civitas (A Strategy for Economic Growth) argues that growth is faltering because the Government has been solving the wrong problems - our main problem is de-industrialisation.
IfG: The Institute for Government has set out a package of proposals to reform candidate selection to increase the diversity of MPs and enhance public participation.
CBI: The tentative private sector jobs recovery is continuing, but firms are scaling back on temporary staff following the introduction of new agency workers rules, and serious risks to the employment outlook remain according to a recent survey.
Ofsted: Providing the best grounding in mathematics at primary school is of fundamental importance to children’s future success in education, life and at work in today’s mathematical world, according to an Ofsted report launched recently, called Good practice in primary mathematics: evidence from 20 successful schools..
IPPR: Ahead of unemployment figures expected to show youth unemployment topping 1m, new research from the think tank IPPR shows that Governmentapprenticeship schemes are not helping enough young people out of unemployment.
EHRC: The Equality and Human Rights Commission says Britain needs to defend or build on the Human Rights Act, in its first submission to the Government’s Commission on a Bill of Rights.
Ofsted: The Children’s Rights Director, Dr Roger Morgan, publishes the 100 days in care report which documents 100 personal diary entries about children’s experience of being in care, leaving care, and living in boarding schools or residential special schools.
NAO: A briefing has been published to support the International Development Committee’s inquiry into DFID’s Annual Report and Accounts 2010-11 and Business Plan 2011-15.