General Reports and Other Publications

CRC: The Commission for Rural Communities’ new report - Indicators of Poverty and Social Exclusion in Rural England: 2009 - uses the most current data available to present a range of key indicators of poverty & social exclusion in rural England in comparison with the equivalent data for urban areas.  In total, there are 37 indicators grouped into 7 sections focussing respectively on low income, work, education, health, housing, services and community.
Press release ~ Download 'Indicators of Poverty and Social Exclusion in Rural England: 2009' ~ Key facts document providing the headline findings of the report ~ CRC ~ JRF: The Poverty Site ~ 'Monitoring poverty and social exclusion'
 
ScotGov: ‘Minimum pricing for alcohol and a ban on off-sales promotions’ would save hundreds of lives every year, according to research commissioned by the Scottish Government and carried out by experts at Sheffield University.
 
Findings show that, using an example minimum price of 40p per unit combined with a ban on promotions, alcohol-related deaths would fall by about 70 in the first year of the policy and about 370 per year after 10 years of operation - a drop in such deaths of nearly 20%. It also shows that a minimum pricing policy would lead to significant falls in alcohol-related illnesses & crimes, leading to yearly savings for taxpayers.
Press release ~ Sheffield University report on minimum pricing ~ ScotGov: action to tackle alcohol misuse
 
Newswire – AC: The Audit Commission has cut what it charges for checking government grants to councils by over a third during the past 5 years.  The AC, in collaboration with grant-paying bodies, has also simplified & rationalised how grants claims are checked for errors, allowing it to cut the number needing to be scrutinised.
 
Each year auditors check grants worth about £43bn.  Since 2004 auditors have identified errors in grant claims worth £530m - leading to reductions of £381m in what councils were due, with increases of £149m in what they should get. When it last examined grant certification in 2004 it promised a 25% cut in fees over 5 years, which has been comfortably exceeded. 
Press release ~ Review arrangements for certifying claims and returns
 
ESRC: With spectacular losses of personal details by major organisations still fresh in the public mind, a new booklet - Assessing Privacy Impact - provides important insights from leading academics, industry experts & information regulators into the whole debate around who knows what about us, whether they need to, and the treatment of often sensitive data.
 
Published by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), the booklet summarises key presentations and open discussion involving a wide range of participants, at a special seminar organised in conjunction with the Cyber Security Knowledge Transfer Network (KTN) - the focal point for UK expertise in this area of activity.
Press release ~ Assessing Privacy Impact ~ Cyber Security Knowledge Transfer Network (KTN) ~ Government's 2008 Data Handling Review ~ Economic and Social Research Council ~ Office of Information Commissioner
 
CRC: The Commission for Rural Communities have responded to CLG’s Consultation 'Strengthening Local Democracy', which sets out a range of proposals to promote democratic renewal and strengthen the power & responsibility of local government. Its response focuses on the need for 'rural proofing' the new proposals and relates to ways of ensuring that rural communities can benefit from & contribute to the ambitions of these new policy directives.
Press release ~ 'Strengthening Local Democracy' ~ CRC response to 'Strengthening Local Democracy' ~ CRC
 
NENatural England has announced the outcome of its public consultation on ‘General Licences’ for wildlife. ‘General Licences’ enable people to carry out activities affecting bird species that would be unlawful under wildlife legislation, but which are deemed necessary in order to prevent public health & safety problems, serious damage to crops or disruption to native wildlife.
 
Reviews of General Licences are carried out periodically to ensure that the licences address emerging circumstances & conservation issues.  The latest review ensures that the licence framework remains up to date and is able to target the increasing impact of non-native species - recognised as a major global conservation problem.
 
Draft versions of the revised licences, which will come into force on 1 January 2010, have been published on the Natural England website to allow licence users time to familiarise themselves with the changes.
Press release ~ Summary of the Responses and Decisions ~ NE Licensing pages
 
FSA: The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has published a response to the feedback it received to the Turner Review and associated discussion paper (DP) issued in March 2009. The feedback statement sets out the FSA’s analysis of the responses received & reports on the progress made since March, in implementing change and in achieving international agreement.
 
Respondents generally agreed with the analysis of the Turner Review and the broad approach it proposed.  The majority offered clear support for the analysis of causes, the main recommendations and the FSA’s supervisory approach as detailed in the Turner Review and DP.
 
Alongside the process of formal response to the proposals, wider debate has continued on the overall approach to financial regulation. In this context, the FSA’s own thinking has continued to develop on certain proposals which now require a more detailed analysis.  Therefore, in addition to this feedback statement, the FSA plans to issue a further discussion paper which will be published ahead of the second Turner Review conference,which is being held on 2 November 2009.
Press release ~ Feedback statement ~ Turner Review ~ 1st Conference notes ~ 2nd Conference arrangements
 
EHRC: The Commission Disability Committee has published its strategic priorities, setting out how it will use its powers & responsibilities to tackle some of the major issues faced by disabled people. The strategy is working towards the Committee’s vision of creating a society where disabled people participate fully and contribute to society as equal citizens.
 
In order to achieve these priorities, the Committee will initiate a series of projects, act as a source of expert advice for all of the Commission’s work and consider how to use the Commission’s regulatory powers to get results.
Press release ~ Disability Committee Work Programme 2009-10 ~ Trevor Phillips' statement on the disability workplan ~ Disability Committee
 
LLUK: Last week saw the publication of Learning Through Life, an independent inquiry into the future for lifelong learning. The report recognises the rich spread of learners, of all ages, who are learning at various levels and in different settings - from colleges through to work-based learning and in the community.
 
It also emphasises the impact that a more diverse range of learners has on the social & economic benefits of lifelong learning.  This involves encouraging greater responsiveness to learners, literacy & numeracy, and the development of a credit-based system, which Lifelong Learning UK are currently undertaking.
Press release ~ Learning Through Life ~ LLUK
 
HEFCE: There is no systemic failure in quality & standards in English higher education (HE), but there are issues needing to be addressed, a report commissioned by HEFCE concludes.  The report is based on a major review chaired by Professor Colin Riordan, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Essex, to examine public concerns about quality & standards in HE.
 
HEFCE is legally responsible for making sure that academic quality is assessed in each university or college across England that it funds.  They contract with the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) to make this assessment based on audit visits.  The group concluded that the current method used by the QAA needs to be made more flexible & responsive to keep pace with changes in English HE and should be revised for the next series of audits beginning in 2011.
Press release ~ HEFCE: Report of the sub-committee for Teaching, Quality, and the Student Experience HEFCE's statutory responsibility for quality assurance ~ Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA)
 
Ofsted: A new Ofsted report showcases 20 primary schools in very challenging circumstances that have been rated 'outstanding' at least twice.  It is written for all primary schools to use & help them achieve success.
The 20 schools, from across England, defy the association of disadvantage with low standards. They serve communities where pupils come from poorer urban backgrounds and an above average proportion receives free school meals.
 
The report - Twenty outstanding primary schools - Excelling against the odds - shows they succeed by having the highest expectations for every pupil & staff member.  It follows a similar report, launched earlier this year, that looked at the ingredients that lead to outstanding secondary schools.
Press release ~ Twenty outstanding primary schools - Excelling against the odds ~ Twelve outstanding secondary schools - Excelling against the odds
 
NA: The latest in a series of innovative videocasts, created by The National Archives to mark the 70th anniversary of the Second World War, has been released. The Longest Day tells the dramatic story of the Normandy landings, one of the most significant operations of the war.  The videocasts form the War on Film series, which recount the events that went on to inspire popular war films, using extracts from real government records and archive footage.
Press release
 
CQC: Early observations from regulator's enquiry into out-of-hours provider, Take Care Now, may indicate a nationwide gap in monitoring.  The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has said it fears Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) may not be effectively monitoring performance of GP out-of-hours services, and risk failing to spot patient safety concerns as a result.
 
Updating on its review of out-of-hours care provided by Take Care Now, the regulator warned the NHS it must improve its monitoring.  The CQC is expected to publish its final report early in 2010, however it may provide further updates in the interim if there are important lessons to be learned for Take Care Now or PCTs.
Press release ~ CQC enquiry into Take Care Now
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