General Reports and Other Publications

ASI: A report released by the Adam Smith Institute (ASI) calls on the government to take radical steps to kick-start employment in SMEs.  The UK’s economic growth prospects depend on SMEs creating jobs to deliver a recovery.  SMEs account for 99% of private sector firms, and should be exempted from much of the onerous regulatory & tax burdens that currently stifle their success.
 
Gimmicks such as ‘shares for rights’ and a government-funded business bank will not address the real barriers to SME growth and will only advantage a small percentage of small businesses.  In order to restore confidence in the British economy and reduce the burden of regulation on small businesses, the report’s author proposes a set of policies the coalition government should implement immediately.
Press release & links
 
UNICEF UK: Research commissioned by UNICEF UK reveals that low breastfeeding rates in the UK are costing the NHS £ms.  The report takes an in-depth look at how raising breastfeeding rates would save money through reducing illness.
Press release & links
 
TWF: With the Coalition reaching the halfway point for its Spending Review, and in the wake of the West Coast Main Line fiasco, an in-depth analysis published by The Work Foundation warns that ‘the government is largely flying blind on the damage public sector workforce cuts could be doing to the labour market, despite making cuts at a faster rate than either the Thatcher or Major governments’.
 
The report also raises concerns about the impact on public sector skills, with recent events at Department for Transport raising the possibility that cutbacks could be leaving key areas with a shortage of essential skills & experience.
Press release & links ~ Public Loss, Private Gain?
 
NO: There were flaws in the way Suffolk County Council decided to cancel subscriptions to an audio book service for some blind & visually impaired adults, finds Local Government Ombudsman, Dr Jane Martin.
 
The Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) complained on behalf of 7 blind or visually impaired adults about the Council’s decision to stop paying for them to have RNIB’s Talking Books service.  Talking Books is an audio books service provided by the RNIB on an annual subscription (currently £82), designed to meet the needs of people who are blind or visually impaired.
Press release & links
 
NOKent County Council delayed in investigating how an elderly man came to be seriously injured during an altercation with another resident of his care home. The man died in hospital a few days later. 

In her report, Local Government Ombudsman Anne Seex says that “the Council’s three failures to investigate the incident caused the man’s daughter significant injustice.  She had to wait for more than a year for an answer to whether her father’s death could have been prevented. This has caused her significant distress.”
Press release & links
 
NOThe Latymer School wrongly refused to admit a boy to its sixth form finds Local Government Ombudsman, Dr Jane Martin.  The Latymer School, in the London Borough of Enfield, selects pupils based on their academic ability and has an onsite sixth form for pupils wishing to pursue post-16 education.  It refused to admit a boy – already at the School – to its sixth form because of an incident of poor behaviour in the previous school year that resulted in a temporary exclusion.  The School says admission to its sixth form is dependent on good behaviour.
 
The Government’s Code is explicit that schools cannot refuse an application on the grounds of it prejudicing efficient education unless the school is oversubscribed or, in the case of sixth forms, if the pupil has not achieved the necessary GCSE results.
Press release & links
 
NOCity of York Council moved a homeless family into a house that was overcrowded from the moment they moved in, finds Local Government Ombudsman, Dr Jane Martin. In her report, she says “This has caused the family a serious injustice. They have been forced to live in overcrowded conditions for over two years and the two daughters, now aged 11 and 12, have had to share a bedroom barely big enough for two single beds.”
Press release & links
 
PC&PE: The Public Accounts Committee has published its 14th Report of this Session which, on the basis of evidence from the Major Projects Authority, HM Treasury and an expert witness from the private sector, examined how the new central assurance scheme was progressing.
Press release & links
 
Civitas: A combination of radical cuts in energy costs, red tape & taxes allied with targeted state support for manufacturing and German-style savings & enterprise banks should be at the heart of a bold new industrial policy, according to a major new report from an independent think-tank Civitas.
Press release & links
 
Demos: A new report by the think-tank Demos reveals the full extent of the hardship experienced across Scotland, estimating that 24,000 families face severe disadvantage. Glasgow is the worst area affected, with over 1 in 10 families facing severe disadvantage – 3 times the national average.
Press release & links
 
PC&PE: The Treasury Committee has recently published a report – ‘The FSA’s report into the failure of RBS’ - concluding that the FSA should and could have intervened in RBS’s takeover of ABN AMRO. The report identifies issues arising from the FSA’s own report into the failure of RBS that may merit further legislative or regulatory change. The report also considers the value of the reporting process for understanding the causes of RBS’s failure and for ensuring that appropriate lessons have been learnt.
Press release & links
 
iea: The Treasury is losing as much as £1.2bn every year to the illegal alcohol industry.  A new report, Drinking in the Shadow Economy, demonstrates how illicit alcohol consumption is becoming a permanent and growing problem due to excessive taxation.
 
The report from the Institute of Economic Affairs, claims that ‘failing to deal with counterfeit and smuggled alcohol threatens not only public cash, but public health and public order.  Counterfeit alcohol can contain potentially life threatening levels of dangerous chemicals, whilst alcohol smuggling is linked to other illegal activities such as drug dealing, violence and money-laundering.
Press release & links
 
PC&PE: The Environmental Audit Committee has recently published the report of its inquiry into Wildlife Crime. Wildlife legislation has become so complex that prosecutions fail and even specialist enforcement professionals struggle to implement it effectively.  The lack of sentencing guidelines on wildlife offences means that some offenders are being neither punished nor deterred in the courts.
Press release & links ~ WWF comment
 
ESRCPeople on low incomes who find it impossible to secure affordable loans can now access finance more readily following a successful Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) project jointly funded by Economic & Social Research Council (ESRC) and the Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).
 
Following the 2-year KTP collaborative project, lending by East Lancashire Moneyline (IPS) Ltd (a ‘not for profit’ Industrial & Provident Society that provides access to credit, savings & advice, primarily to low income individuals) is set to increase by 50% from 2011 to 2012. Total lending by ELM to people on low incomes will top £10m this year.
Press release & links
 
IfL: The Institute for Learning (IfL) has responded to the final report of the independent review panel, ‘Professionalism in Further Education’, published recently.
Press release & links
 
BISComputer-based trading can have beneficial effects on liquidity, transaction costs and the efficiency of market prices, according to a new comprehensive report on computer trading.  The study found no direct evidence that computer-based high frequency trading (HFT) has increased volatility in financial markets, nor evidence to suggest it has led to an increase in market abuse.
 
The new 2-year Foresight study, The Future of Computer Trading in Financial Markets – An International Perspective, aims to shed new light on technological advances which enable computer algorithms - rather than humans - to drive high-speed stock trades, and which have transformed market structures in recent years, attracting controversy in the process.
Press release & links
 
WWF: With DECC and Treasury apparently divided over energy policy, a new paper published recently and funded by WWF-UK, highlights the importance of targeting policies to promote emerging clean energy solutions and cautions against simplistic solutions to policy.
Press release & links
 
NAO: The National Audit Office has published a report identifying issues & risks which may arise as the Department for Transport devolves more control over funding & delivery of transport services to local bodies. The Department has recently announced proposals to devolve funding for major transport schemes to new local transport bodies and is also consulting on devolving bus funding and some responsibilities for rail services to local authorities.
 
The spending watchdog is calling on the Department to clarify its approach as it implements these changes and moves into the new ways of working.  This includes being clearer on who is accountable for local transport funding and how they will be held to account.
Press release & links
 
Ofsted: The Ensuring quality in apprenticeships report by Ofsted looks at apprenticeships in more detail and assesses the quality of subcontractors providing services for colleges & training providers. In 2011 the Skills Funding Agency introduced a policy of minimum contract values.  
 
This meant smaller providers had 2 main choices - to form a consortium or set up as a subcontractor for larger providers.  In many cases smaller, often good providers have been penalised by the loss of funding they can use to support apprentices because their lead contractors took too high a fee for very little work, often equating to the loss of frontline members of staff.
Press release & links ~ Skills Funding Agency response   
 
Cebr: Think tank Cebr forecasts show that employee earnings growth will be incredibly weak for years to come. The forecasts are released as part of the economics consultancy’s quarterly UK Prospects report. Although employment reached a record high recently, this has been almost entirely driven by part-time job creation. The number of full-time employees in the economy is still nearly 700,000 lower than during the previous peak in employment.
 
With so much slack in the labour market, average gross earnings will grow at a snail’s pace over the next 5 years. Average gross earnings (including bonuses) are expected to grow by just 2.2% next year, following on from dismal 1.5% growth in 2012.  Even in 2017 growth of just 3.0% is predicted.
Press release & links
 
IPPR: The Office for National Statistics has confirmed that the UK economy emerged from recession during the third quarter of 2012.  Real GDP increased by 1.0% – its fastest for 5 years and well above expectations. However, IPPR analysis cautions against taking too rosy a view of the economic situation, as 2 special factors need to be taken into account.
 
Underlying growth in the third quarter was, therefore, about 0.3% – a welcome improvement but still below the economy’s potential growth rate.  Looking at the longer-term picture, GDP is unchanged in the last year, and has grown by only 0.6% in the last 2 years.
Press release & links
 
PC&PE: The International Development Committee has published its report: Afghanistan - Development progress and prospects after 2014.  In it the MPs urge the Government to use UK Aid to improve the lives of Afghan women.  The report also calls for DFID to focus less on creating a viable state and more on delivering effective development.
 
The Chairman of the IDC, the Rt Hon Sir Malcolm Bruce MP, said: ….. "The treatment of women in Afghanistan after troops pull-out in 2014 will be the litmus test of whether we have succeeded in improving the lives of ordinary Afghans over the last ten years.”
Press release & links
 
PC&PE: In a report published recently, the UK Parliament’s Scottish Affairs Committee says that Scottish Separation creates the prospect of unilateral nuclear disarmament being imposedupon the Royal Navy and UK government for an indeterminate period, and says that the UK & Scottish government must fully detail the consequences of the removal of Trident as part of the whole secession agreement as soon as is practical.
 
No vote on separation should go ahead without the Scottish people fully understanding the consequences of separation for defence and the UK's entire nuclear deterrent, which is based & serviced in Scotland.  While nuclear weapons in Scotland could be disarmed within days & removed within months, the construction of facilities elsewhere could take upwards of 20 years.
Press release & links
 
HEFCE: The Higher Education Funding Council England has published the outcomes of its consultation on the future direction of quality assurance in higher education.
Press release & links
Spotlight on women at Serco – Anita’s story