General Reports and Other Publications
IFS: Average take-home incomes grew during the recent recession, increasing in both 2008-09 and 2009-10 even after taking account of inflation and in spite of the increase in unemployment.
IfG: People feel less enthusiastic about the idea of a coalition government than they did a year ago, according to new polling research commissioned by the Institute for Government.
Newswire – CIPD: A new Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) report published recently delves deep into the issue of employee engagement. It acknowledges that employee engagement is an important driver of sustainable organisation performance, but goes further by exploring ‘what’ employees engage with and ‘where’ in the organisation their focus of engagement is located, or what is their ‘locus of engagement’.
Press release & links
Press release & links
Newswire – CBI: Students want universities to better explain employability skills and to provide more support to help them develop these important competencies, according to a CBI / National Union of Students survey published this week.
The survey of 2,614 students shows that 57% want universities to do more to help them understand employability skills, such as customer awareness, team working & self management. And 66% would like more support in developing these skills. This comes as 79% of students say that they decided to go to university to improve their job opportunities.
PC&PE: The Science and Technology Committee warns that the UK's prominence in astronomy & particle physics, and its ability to attract and inspire the next generation of scientists in these areas, could be at risk if reduced budgets hit the UK’s growth prospects, reputation and expertise.
ASI: In a recent report the independent Adam Smith Institute (ASI) calls for radical changes in the way the privatised utility and transport networks are regulated. The gas, water, electricity, telephones and rail regulators, it says, have lost their independence and have become subservient to national politicians & officials. Regulators should be given a new mission – to make the utilities fully competitive and then phase themselves out.
PC&PE: The Government risks distorting its planned reform of the electricity market merely to save political face over implicit subsidies for nuclear power, MPs on the Energy and Climate Change Committee warn in a report out this week.
E&YIC: The UK high street faces a difficult decade, with consumer spending set to remain below pre-recession peaks until at least 2013 and growth in spending to be subdued for a further 7 years, as households focus on paying down debt, according to the Ernst & Young ITEM Club.
In a special report released this week, the Ernst & Young ITEM Club says that depressed wage growth and rising inflation will see consumer spending grow by just 0.6% this year and 1.3% in 2012, before rising to 2.2% in 2013.
DWP: The Department of Work & Pensions has published a survey of over 2,500 lone parents currently claiming Income Support. Those surveyed will find their eligibility for that benefit will end when their youngest child turns 7. The research focuses on the circumstances of lone parents affected by Lone Parent Obligations (LPO) to determine their work-readiness and likely requirements in terms of future labour market support.
BIS: Welcoming the publication of Richard MacDonald’s review of regulation in the farming sector, Chairman of the Better Regulation Executive, Sir Don Curry said: "This is the most comprehensive review of agricultural & food regulation in recent years……. I'd positively encourage other Government Departments to carry out similarly rigorous independent reviews of existing regulation…… The report contains a welcome breadth of recommendations but the 'proof of the pudding' will be in the implementation”.
