General Reports and Other Publications

Ofsted: The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills’s (Ofsted) latest report finds programme-led apprenticeships produce learners that are better prepared for the workforce and achieve their full apprenticeship in a shorter time. However despite this, participation has declined (falling by 58% from 2005 to 2007), raising concern that more needs to be done to promote & understand the benefits of the programme.
The report, 'The impact of programme-led apprenticeships', evaluated programme-led apprenticeships in terms of improving participation and achievement by learners. These apprenticeships are found to be an important alternative to traditional employer-led apprenticeships, providing a path for young people who may find it difficult to gain employment, or for those who require an initial phase of upfront training before progressing onto an employer-led apprenticeship.
Press release ~ 'The impact of programme-led apprenticeships' ~ LSC - Programme Led Apprenticeships ~ A Strategy for Programme-led Apprenticeships in England 2007–2010
CRC: The Commission for Rural Communities new report ‘Rural Financial Poverty: Priorities for action’ shows that the proportion of rural households in relative poverty rose from 16% to 19% between 2004 and 2007 - the equivalent of 1.6m people. The increasing proportion of children living in poor working households and the dramatic rise in the proportion of pensioners living in poverty are particularly striking.
A companion paper ‘Rural Financial Poverty: Good practice’ describes how an increasing number of people living in rural communities are working with local and regional partners to develop innovative solutions to address poverty in rural England.
Press release ~ ‘Rural Financial Poverty: Priorities for action’ ~ Rural Financial Poverty: Good practice’
ESRC: For the first time, children as young as 5 have been shown to understand issues regarding integration and separation. The research, funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), confirms that the ethnic composition of primary schools has a direct impact on children’s attitudes towards those in other ethnic groups and on their ability to get on with their peers.

Professor Brown concludes: “Our findings add to a growing body of evidence suggesting that the more contact children have with other ethnic groups, the more cross-group friendships they will have and the less prejudiced they will be”. This argues against policies leading to reductions in school diversity such as the promotion of single faith schools”.
Press release ~ ‘Identities in Transition: A longitudinal Study of Immigrant Children’ ~ ESRC Society Today

SE: Employers can play a key role in getting the nation playing more sport, a new study has revealed. Findings from the Well@Work pilot programme, the first of its kind in the UK, showed that workplace health programmes can have a big impact on levels of sports participation, fruit & vegetable intake and staff morale.
The project involved a wide range of both public and private workplaces including a factory, a hospital, small and medium-sized companies, voluntary organisations and a call centre. The research found that:
* Over 80% of the projects led to some increase in sport and recreation participation
* Popular activities included team-based events, competitions and ‘come and try’ sessions
Press release ~ Well@Work full report ~ Well@Work summary report ~ British Heart Foundation - Well@Work pilot programme ~ Sport England - Recognised national governing bodies of sport
CLG: The Government has welcomed Matthew Taylor MP's report into rural economies and affordable housing, which finds that long term under supply of housing in rural areas is holding our rural communities back. It recommends a new drive to boost rural jobs and community led affordable housing through enterprise hubs, greater home working, neighbourhood extensions to market towns, rural exception sites for local people in villages and an experimental restriction of second homes in national parks.
CLG press release ~ Matthew Taylor Review on rural economy and affordable housing ~ Planning and land use to support sustainable rural communities ~ CRC press release ~ CRC full response to the report ~ CPRE’s vision for the countryside in 2026 ~ Rural Housing Commission ~ Defra: Affordable rural housing ~ JRF Commission on Rural Housing in Wales
NAO: The Prison Service has made significant progress in the way it manages its buying of goods & services such as food, clothing and utilities, the National Audit Office has reported. In 2003 the NAO found that the Prison Service’s procurement function was ‘fragmented and costly to deliver’. Since this report, the Prison Service has implemented a new procurement strategy, led by a new centralised professional procurement team backed up by regional purchasing units, which negotiate central contracts for a range of goods & services.

At the same time the Prison Service has introduced a shared service centre to provide administrative functions, including purchasing, for prisons. The implementation of these two reforms has enabled the Prison Service to make significant savings in both purchasing & administrative costs.
Press release ~ The procurement of goods and services by HM Prison Service ~ Executive Summary ~ Prison Service
NAO: Jobcentre Plus, The Pension Service and the Disability and Carers Service provided services to 22m customers in 2007-08, over 80% of whom were satisfied with the services they received according to a report by the National Audit Office. Nevertheless, there were 70,000 complaints recorded in 2007-08 and over 40% of complainants remain dissatisfied.
There is a risk that difficulties in recording complaints may mean that Agencies could miss early warnings of poor service, systematic errors, or problems with their processes. The report also found significant dissatisfaction with how complaints were handled, so improving the quality of responses could prevent complaints being unnecessarily escalated.
Press release ~ Department for Work and Pensions: Handling Customer Complaints ~ Executive Summary
HC: The Healthcare Commission said the quality of the services varied widely across the country as it published the most comprehensive assessment of NHS acute inpatient mental health services ever undertaken. Overall, 8 trusts were rated as "excellent" (accounting for 843 beds – 9%), 20 as "good" (2,808 beds – 28%), 30 as "fair" (3,985 beds – 40%) and 11 as "weak" (2,249 beds – 23%).
The review showed that while some trusts struggle to meet standards, there are a number of high-performing trusts proving that it is possible to provide personalised, safe and good quality acute mental health care. However, no trust was scored as "excellent" across all four of the key criteria, showing that every NHS mental health provider trust has room to improve services to patients.
The higher performing trusts were those that actively involved inpatients in their care, provided meaningful activities in a therapeutic environment and that planned care around the needs of the service users. Organisations, service users and carers can access the results of the review and a range of other information relating to mental health trusts, on the Commission’s new mental health website.
Press release ~ The pathway to recovery - A review of NHS acute inpatient mental health services (pdf 2307kb) (opens new window) ~ New HC mental health website ~ National audit of violence in mental health services ~ UK Inquiry into Mental Health and Well-being ~ The Human Rights of Older People in Healthcare - Volume I - Report and Formal Minutes ~ Dignity in Care campaign ~ Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS)
MPA: The MPA's Stockwell scrutiny report was discussed by members at the full Authority meeting on Thursday 24 July 2008. Len Duvall, chair of the MPA, said: "The Scrutiny report makes 34 recommendations. The MPA has requested that the Commissioner responds in writing outlining how the MPS intends to implement the recommendations and the Authority will ensure regular updates are received.
We have also asked the Commissioner to submit a report no later than two months after the end of the coroner's inquest outlining any proposals for change as a result of the inquest's findings…………….. Many of the issues that faced the MPS in July 2005 are likely to present themselves again during the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, potentially on a larger scale. Actions taken by the MPS to respond to Stockwell need to be tested continually as to capability and resilience in the context of future policing."
Press release ~ MPA Stockwell scrutiny report
Ofgem: Energy regulators in north west Europe have called on gas network operators in the region to step up efforts to publish more data on gas flows and availability of network capacity. The network companies agreed to increase transparency of information on gas flows across Europe and capacity available to transport gas, which will help the drive to make European energy markets more competitive.
The voluntary information sharing project is being co-ordinated by Britain’s energy regulator, Ofgem and it is part of a wider regional initiative for north west Europe, led by the Dutch Office of Energy Regulation.
Press release ~ Transmission transparency project first implementation report ~ Ofgem ~ European Regulators Group for Electricity and Gas (ERGEG)
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