General Reports and Other Publications
IoE: Employees' ability to influence decisions at work is one of the most important factors affecting their motivation & psychological well-being. Yet, first findings from the 2012 Skills & Employment Survey (SES), published recently show a growing sense of disempowerment amongst Britain's workforce.
3 reports have been published:
* Skills at Work in Britain
* Training in Britain
* Job Control in Britain
RUSI: Iran may inadvertently cross unclear US & Israeli 'red lines' with its nuclear programme and trigger military action, warns a new briefing paper by the Royal United Services Institute.
Iran: Red Lines and Grey Areas argues it is important that all parties - including Iran - understand where war-triggering 'forceful red lines' are located and concludes that Iran's adversaries have set 'poorly conceptualised' red lines with 'significant ambiguity' resulting in confusion.
Iran: Red Lines and Grey Areas argues it is important that all parties - including Iran - understand where war-triggering 'forceful red lines' are located and concludes that Iran's adversaries have set 'poorly conceptualised' red lines with 'significant ambiguity' resulting in confusion.
RUSI: The UK is approaching a decision point where a significant strategic reorientation of its defence & security towards the Gulf is both plausible & logical; and for the first time since the UK unceremoniously left the Gulf in 1971, a coherent strategy for a 'return to east of Suez' is emerging, according to a new paper from the Royal United Services Institute.
A Return to East of Suez? UK Military Deployment to the Gulf assess public statements which point to the current British government's commitment to deepening the strategic defence relationship in the Gulf and argue the UK is taking on this burden both out of necessity and of desire. The paper highlights the UK's 'return east of Suez' is more evolutionary than revolutionary and only partially related to the US pivot towards the Pacific.
NO: The Local Government Ombudsman has criticised Nottingham City Council for failing to properly safeguard the welfare of 2 children over a 4 year period. The council has been asked to review its policies for handling complex neglect cases involving children as part of the investigation carried out by the Ombudsman.
The LGO has also recommended it compensate the children £5,000 each, reimburse legal expenses of the grandmother, and pay the grandmother £1,000 for the distress caused pursuing the complaint.
IEA: The moral panic being spread about gambling machines is grounded in myth, not evidence. In a close examination of the facts, new research (The Crack Cocaine of Gambling? Gambling machines in the UK) shows the key arguments being put forward to justify increased regulation of these machines are baseless.
UKOC: Academic researchers, policy makers & digital practitioners came together last week for the 5th Social Digital Research Symposium, led by OCF. The symposium is a quarterly research exchange meeting, for those working in digital inclusion research & practice.
The morning session focussed on the landscape of digital inclusion in the UK, who's left behind and how current practice caters for their needs. The afternoon focused on examples of how local practice & research approaches are closing this gap for certain communities. All presentations can be accessed through ‘slideshare’.
PX: The police could save money and offer a better service to the public by closing out of date police stations and opening more local police offices in shopping centres and other popular public locations. A new report (Rebooting the PC: Using innovation to drive smart policing), by Policy Exchange, urges police chiefs not to put ‘buildings before bobbies’.
It says that the nature of the emergent financial & social challenges that British society faces over the next decade means the police service needs to become more imaginative in how it interacts with the public. This should include ‘managing the police estate in a smarter fashion’ by closing out of date police stations.
The paper highlights the fact that the majority of people hardly ever walk in to a police station to report a crime and that a dramatic decline in front counter use means that some stations see fewer than 7 visitors every day.
The paper highlights the fact that the majority of people hardly ever walk in to a police station to report a crime and that a dramatic decline in front counter use means that some stations see fewer than 7 visitors every day.
Defra: Defra has published information about the actions following discovery of undeclared horse DNA in meat products.
