WIREDGOV NEWSLETTER ARCHIVE

PRT:  Can they legally be treated differently than men? - Effective community sentences that command the confidence of the courts should cut women’s offending, reduce the women’s prison population and save the public purse, according to a report launched by the independent Women’s Justice Taskforce on the Prison Reform Trust website.

Over the past 15 years the women’s prison population has risen from 1,800 to over 4,000 today – an increase of 114%.  Most women serve short sentences for non-violent crime and for those serving sentences of less than 12 months, almost two thirds are reconvicted within a year of release.

The average cost of a women’s prison place is £56,415 a year.  By contrast, an intensive community order costs in the region of £10,000 - £15,000.
Press release ~ Click HERE for full news item ~ Corston report ~ Progress on the government's response to the report by Baroness Corston ~ Additional funding to prevent & reduce offending by women ~ £10m funding to divert vulnerable women from custody ~ Report on diverting women away from crime ~ HM Prison Service – Female Prisoners ~ Prison Service Gender Specific Standards ~ Women in the criminal justice system ~ Women in Prison ~ Think Again project ~ Barnardos – When a parent goes to prison ~ Scottish Parliament - 3rd Report 2009: Female offenders in the criminal justice system ~ Women In Prison: A Review of the Current Female Prison System: Future Directions and Alternatives ~ Provision for women offenders in the community ~ Heron Unit ~ CPA: The youth justice system in England & Wales - Reducing offending by young people ~ NAO report: The youth justice system in England and Wales – Reducing Offending by young people ~ NAO: Managing offenders on short custodial sentences ~ Offender Learning and Skills Service (OLASS) ~ Briefing documents on young offenders with communication difficulties ~ EDM - Communication Difficulties and Young Offenders ~ BBC NEWS - Communication skills 'cut re-offending' ~ Community sentencing: Public Perceptions and Attitudes - Summary Research Report ~ Alternatives to Custody ~  Community Sentencing - Reducing Re-offending, Changing Lives ~  NOMS third sector action plan 'Working with the third sector to reduce re-offending' ~ 'Transitions: a Social Exclusion Unit interim report on young adults'

DfE:  Let them have a childhood - A 6-month independent review into the commercialisation & sexualisation of childhood, calls on businesses & media to play their part in ending the drift towards an increasingly sexualised ‘wallpaper’ that surrounds children.

Reg Bailey, Chief Executive of Mothers’ Union, who led the independent review, has listened to parents’ concerns about the barriers they face in bringing up their children.  They are particularly unhappy with the increasingly sexualised culture surrounding their children, which they feel they have no control over.  

They singled out sexually explicit music videos, outdoor adverts that contain sexualised images, and the amount of sexual content in family programmes on TV.

Reg Bailey’s recommendations are based on parents’ concerns and are intended to support them, make sure their views are taken more seriously by businesses and broadcasters, and help children understand the potential dangers they face.  They will put control back in the hands of families.
Press release & links ~ Letting Children be Children ~ Related No.10 DS PR ~ The Bailey Review into the commercialisation and sexualisation of childhood ~ BRC good practice guidelines on childrenswear ~ ASA: Children and Advertising ~ Panorama: Too Much Too Young ~ Full findings and policy implications from the EU Kids Online survey of 9-16 year olds and their parents in 25 countries ~ Dr Tanya Byron's review of the internet and video games and their impact on young people ~ Best practice guidance for the financial industry on the prevention and detection of commercial child abuse images ~ HO: Sexualisation of Young People Review 2010 ~ BBC: Home Office report on the sexualisation of children (2010) ~ Scottish Parliament: 2nd Report 2010: External research on sexualised goods aimed at children

TNATwittering on about their archives - On Thursday 9 June 2011, The National Archives will spend the day answering your questions on Twitter, as part of #AskArchivists Day.  On this day, you can use your Twitter account to ask us any questions about our collection, online resources and how to research at The National Archives.  

They will have many of their experts on hand, so ask them: how to start your research, about archival practice & advice, where to find a particular record, about conservation, digital preservation and web archiving.

In the afternoon, between 14:00 and 16:00, Oliver Morley, Chief Executive and Keeper, will also be available to answer any questions you may have for him, as part of their Meet the Keeper.  
Press release & links

STFCFancy helping to see into the future? - The Science & Technology Facilities Council is seeking nominations for members to its Futures Advisory Panel, to provide independent advice to STFC on the overall programme priorities and balance of funding across the global challenge themes of energy, the environment, healthcare and security.  

If anyone wishes to discuss the role of panel members please contact Catherine Ewart. If you wish to nominate yourself or a colleague please send the nominee’s full name, institution, a brief summary of their expertise and their contact details to Sharmila Banerjee.
Press release ~ Nominations process ~ STFC Futures Programme

Recent Paper: - Lean Six Sigma - How to Eat an Elephant - Government and public sector organisations invest massive efforts in business improvement techniques like Lean Six Sigma in the quest for operational improvements and cost efficiencies. Managers devote long hours to training, then debate, before trimming and re-engineering their operations.

But time, effort and upheaval don’t guarantee results. Neither does knowledge.

We often find that organisations focus on the tools and technique, and the task of applying it rigorously across the enterprise, without giving enough thought to implementing change in the underlying cultures of practice. They have wrongly identified the technique as the solution – when it’s merely the framework that will enable a more healthy, responsive and focused business.

Like swallowing an elephant, organisations that successfully use business improvement programmes to bring about change take them one bite at a time. Those who try to swallow them whole tend to stray into one of two ‘danger zones’.

Click here to find out more andf receive the free paper.

Please note that previously published newsletters can be accessed from the Newsletter Archive
Free Paper on Lean Six Sigma  - 'How to Eat an Elephant'........and more..... image.
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