General Reports and Other Publications

Newswire – TUC:  The TUC report - The Corporate Tax Gap - claims that, as well as benefiting from an £850bn bailout from taxpayers & the Bank of England during the recession, banks are able to offset their £19bn of tax losses between 2007 & 2009 against paying tax on future profits.
Press release ~ The Corporate Tax Gap ~ NAO: Maintaining financial stability across the United Kingdom's banking system
 
NAO: According to a National Audit Office report, not making realistic budgetary provision for all likely project outcomes & slowing down projects have resulted in a £3.3bn increase in a single year, 2009-10, in the total cost of the 15 largest defence equipment projects.
Press release ~ NAO: The Major Projects Report 2010
 
Civitas:  In a report for Civitas, Professor Peter Saunders, the author of Social Mobility Myths, has challenged the fallacies in a report (How Fair is Britain?) by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC). Two Core EHRC Assumptions - Both False:
* The assumption that differences between groups prove their members enjoy unequal conditions & opportunities
* Unequal outcomes are always unfair
Press release ~ EHRC: How Fair is Britain? ~ Full rejoinder ~ Civitas
 
CRC: The Commission for Rural Communities are publishing the results of their analysis of over 70 submissions of evidence from civil society organisations & others on the economic aspects of the government’s Big Society agenda, in their new report; Economic conditions for organisations contributing to the Big Society in rural England. 
 
Their analysis shows that the principles of the Big Society approach are already well embedded & supported in much of rural England, but many civil society organisations have real fears that the current funding climate will significantly damage further progress in delivering Big Society objectives.  Moreover demand for many of their services is growing at a time when resources are reducing.
Press release ~ Economic conditions for organisations contributing to the Big Society in rural England ~ Rural Economies Intelligence Report: The Big Society
 
CLG: London is breaking new ground in preparing for the legacy of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games according to a new report published last week. The OECD report -  part of the LEED (Local Economic and Employment Development) Programme - hailed the range of activities that are going ahead to build a lasting Olympic legacy for the communities of East London, highlighting the huge range of local benefits that will result from large-scale regeneration activity.
 
The OECD's study was informed by a think piece report undertaken in 2009 by the University of East London (UEL).  The report, which looked at the socio-economic conditions in the Olympic Host Boroughs and the possible opportunities for creating a lasting legacy, was also published last week.
Press release ~ OECD report ~ LEED (Local Economic and Employment Development) Programme) ~ LERI Think piece on Olympic Legacy for OECD and Communities and Local Government study
 
DH: A detailed review into how & why errors were made in recording the donation wishes of new would-be organ donors has been published.  It praises NHS Blood and Transplant for its sensitive handling of the incident, but concludes that errors could have been avoided if more robust procedures had been in place in 1999 when the error was made.
Press release ~ Review of the Organ Donor Register by Professor Sir Gordon Duff ~ NHS Blood and Transplant
 
Newswire – HPAHealth Protection Agency (HPA) scientists have shown that specific antibodies, which are produced by a patient's own immune system, are a more common cause of encephalitis than previously recognised.  T

his new finding was revealed in a study published in the Lancet Infectious Diseases last week. Around 700 people in England develop acute encephalitis every year and about 7% of these cases are fatal.
Press release ~ Causes of encephalitis and differences in their clinical presentations in England: a multicentre, population-based prospective study ~ HPA: encephalitis ~ Encephalitis Society
 
FSA: The Food Standards Agency has published a report looking at possible implications of climate change on food policy in the UK. The review, carried out by the University of East Anglia for the FSA, examines the impact of climate change on areas including food safety & nutrition.
 
The review suggests food risks will be increasingly unpredictable as agricultural methods adapt to climate change and food is sourced from alternative producers.  The incidence of foodborne infections may alter.
Press release ~ X02001: Food and climate change: A review of the effects of climate change on food within the remit of the Food Standards Agency
Spotlight on women at Serco – Anita’s story