June 2003
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Editorial

We're here! Dawn and I are sitting at desks in the library of the Department for Work and Pensions in the Adelphi. Apparently the library is maintained for the use of staff, and "outsiders" are not normally allowed in. I'm not sure what we did to earn the special privilege! Interesting to find that, whilst the DfES library staff told us that "these journals have been passed to the DWP", we found little evidence of this. What we did find was yet more different journals from which to cull interesting items. We'll need to sit down and study our check list in more detail ready for next month's Update but it appears that we will not be bringing you extracts from Croner's Employer Briefing amongst other journals which seem to be "no longer available to us. In the "new to us" items we found one which might interest those of you in Connexions/Careers Services. Advisor (ISSN 0950-5458) is published bi-annually by, and primarily for, Citizens Advice in February and October. It covers housing, benefits, employment, money, advice, and consumer issues. A "jolly good read" and seemed to me to be reasonable value at £42 for the two issues. Unavailable in the DfES library, because the supply has not yet resumed after the Rowecome fiasco, are the April and May issues of Training Journal. This is one of our favourites for reading even if we do not always extract anything to bring to Update. And, yes, there they were on the shelf in the DWP library.

However, all is not gloom and doom at the DfES library. Dawn worked her way through six issues (3 months' worth) of IRS Employment Review and that is now up to date and some of the academic journals are starting to re-appear.

On the subject of re-appearance – you may notice as you read through this Update that there is no more of the fairly useless "TES News Roundup" which we have been bringing you since the electronic access ceased to be free. No, we haven't paid for the electronic version but now have the hard copy delivered from the newsagents.

The upshot of all this is that, after pruning quite drastically, I'm still left with 280 stories to fit in. 280 items into 40ish pages does not go – particularly when some extracts require a whole column!

The theme has been inspired by the spate of government (and other organisations) telling us how good things are when, if you dig beneath the surface, you find… I leave it to your imagination. This is particularly true of labour market information where, for example, it is unlikely for anyone under the age of 24 to be long-term unemployed, and those engaged in involuntary part-time working are not counted as "job seekers". There will, of course, be various option sessions on aspects of information management from Data Protection to access and retrieval systems.

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North London youth support service has significant weaknesses, says OfSTED

The inspection report for the North London Connexions partnership is published today (25 June). The North London Connexions partnership was found to have significant weaknesses. Standards of achievement are unsatisfactory and inspectors found that the partnership does not provide value for money. Leadership is not effective and the capacity for improvement is limited.

• Inspectors found performance management at strategic level to be underdeveloped and there is a lack of management information to inform the partnership's direction. Reliable data is difficult to acquire because of the transient and mobile youth population. The partnership is unable to measure young people's participation and achievement accurately.
• Progress in attracting black and minority ethnic groups has been made through the work of the personal advisers working in the community. However, many young people in the area are unaware of the services available and the partnership is not yet responding to the needs of the large number who are unemployed and not receiving formal education or training.
• Standards of achievement are generally low and there is a high proportion of unsatisfactory work. Overall achievement is good or better in only 59% of the sessions, satisfactory in 28% and unsatisfactory in 13%. Variations in achievement are unacceptably high. Where young people achieved well they had set themselves ambitious but achievable targets for further improvement, sometimes with the help of personal advisers. Where achievement was unsatisfactory provision had been poorly planned or too little account had been taken of personal circumstances.
• Although the partnership board is very supportive of Connexions principles and career companies and the partnership co-operates well, the partnership as a whole lacks strategic clarity. Many partners, schools in particular, become involved in individual aspects of provision rather than contributing to the development of a strong and united North London network.
• The partnership has suffered difficulties in recruiting personal advisers which has undermined its capacity to meet its objectives. Quality assurance of its two major contracts is poor.

The partnership does the following well:

• offers support at times of personal crises and difficulties;
• promotes an inclusive approach which has a positive impact on the services which young people receive;
• uses many methods to enable young people to access provision and training and sets achievable targets to help them improve further;
• provides well-managed group work and individual support sessions and is introducing additional management staff;
• actively involves young people in designing and shaping the service; and
• is taking steps to enable Local Management Committees to operate more effectively.

The following should be improved:

• the quality of learning and standards of young people's achievement;
• communication of the Connexions vision and purpose;
• performance management and quality assurance;
• initial analysis of young people's needs;
• practice which focuses on just some of the support needs of young people; and
• collection and use of data to improve the management of the partnership.

North London Connexions was one of the first partnerships to start in April 2001. It covers the four boroughs of Waltham Forest, Barnet, Haringey and Enfield. This area is hugely diverse economically, socially, culturally and racially. The population is in excess of one million with a cohort of 74,252 young people in the 13–19 age range.

The report, ref: 1645, is published on the OfSTED Website, www.ofsted.gov.uk

OfSTED press release NR 2003-81 25 June

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CRB threat to services

Public-sector bodies, charities and voluntary organisations warn that they may have to cut services after hearing that the Criminal Records Bureau is to double its fees for running security checks. A standard check now costs £24 and an enhanced check is £29 and the new costs will be in force from 1 July. Organisations are unhappy about this increase in cost, particularly when they received such poor service last year, and there is no indication that the delays will be any less this time around.

Joy Persaud, People Management Online 26 June

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The price is right, says CRB director

John O'Brien, director of the Criminal Records Bureau, has defended the decision to raise the cost of obtaining a criminal records check from £12 to £29. Mr O'Brien said that pursuing each request had turned out to be three times more expensive than had been first anticipated. He said: "These checks provide safer recruitment to ensure that people who apply for sensitive posts in schools and other areas are suitable to work in them – it is not an unreasonable fee to get that assurance."

Michael Shaw, The TES 13 June

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DfES bitten by its own red-tape watchdog

The DfES has been criticised by its Better Regulation Review Group for failing to produce a "serious" regulatory impact assessment of the changes proposed in the higher education White Paper. A senior member of the group reveals that the first impact assessment submitted by the DfES was rejected on the grounds that it was "appalling, superficial nonsense" and had "obviously been written by some junior department lackey who had been taken off another job". A revised assessment will be presented by the department in July. The source said: "This is a classic example of how a department, busy criticising everybody else left, right and centre for poor leadership and management, itself falls down at the first hurdle." Strangely, the DfES declined to comment.

Phil Baty, The THES 27 June

Update comment: Make your own mind up time! ADSET also declines to comment.

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UUK and SCOP fire at "simplistic and dictatorial" government

In its response to the higher education White Paper, Universities UK has hit out at the plans to differentiate between teaching and research-led universities. Its paper states: "UUK is concerned that the government's priorities and related funding council proposals will produce a limited and differentiated sector that does not reflect the complexity of how universities have to operate in the public interest regionally, nationally and internationally. Universities must be free to decide their own missions in the best interests of their students, their staff, their communities and their local economies." This view was echoed by the Standing Conference of Principals. Patricia Ambrose, executive secretary of SCOP, commented: "We would strongly emphasise the complexity of the sector and the need for it to remain dynamic, open to change and innovation. Any attempt by government or funding bodies to limit and define the pattern and role of institutions could lead to future decline and ossification for the sector overall."

Alison Goddard, The THES 6 June

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Bristol stands firm on admissions

Bristol University has refused to bow to pressure from outside influences, and will continue to consider backgrounds as well as academic records when selecting students this year. Barry Taylor, the university's communications director, said that the institution had welcomed the scrutiny it faced over its admissions procedures last year, and had undertaken a thorough review of its policies. He warned, however, that there would be no change to the practices that Bristol employs to select students, apart from an increase in transparency and consistency. He said: "The key message is that we are sticking to our guns as far as our commitment to widening participation is concerned."

Polly Curtis, The Guardian 19 June

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Demand to explode but no new cash

The Higher Education Funding Council has acceded to the recommendation that it scrap this year's competition for additional student numbers, as the number of enrolments has already exceeded expected levels. It is anticipated that it will repeat this move next year. This means that there will be no additional funding for any university which chooses to enrol more than its present capacity. Unfortunately, a report from the Higher Education Policy Institute, Higher Education Supply and Demand to 2010, claims that up to 250,000 more places will be needed on traditional three-year courses over the next decade, as the number of eighteen-year-olds rises and school achievement improves. The report advises the government not to restrict the number of such places available to students, since a substantial number will choose to go to university, rather than "settle" for a foundation degree. The report concludes: "There are important lessons here for the future of any government that might wish to try and steer demand: the supply of places does not dictate demand." However, a spokeswoman for the Department of Education and Skills said: "The government remains firm in its view that expansion should be through foundation degrees because they meet the needs of students as well as the economy."

Alison Goddard, The THES 20 June

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Foundation plan misses target

Research from the Higher Education Policy Institute shows that foundation degrees are not behaving as the government has predicted. The report, Higher Education Supply and Demand to 2010, notes that the number of people participating in sub-degree programmes has steadily declined over the past few years. Indeed, even when the figures for HND and HNC courses are added to the number taking a foundation degree, the pattern of decline persists. The report warns that, although it is highly likely that the government will meet its 50% participation target, this will not happen through the foundation route.

Alison Goddard, The THES 20 June

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Call for local course design

The LSDA is calling for colleges to be granted the freedom to design their own vocational qualifications, so that they may provide a more responsive service to local businesses. In a report launched at its annual conference, the LSDA argues that the most efficient way to present employers with courses that they will want to pay for is to offer them smaller units, rather than a traditional qualification, some of which may be relevant to business and some which may not. The report, A Basis for Skills, maintains that there is still a need for a nationalised system. However, it suggests that the national role should be to provide "kite-marking, licensing and defining qualification levels and titles".

Tony Tysome, The THES 13 June

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Colleges hit by funding crisis

The Association of Colleges claims that too many eyes are on the plight of funding in schools, when colleges are suffering from a shortage of cash. The AoC said that the £1.2 billion allocated to the sector by the government has too many strings attached to benefit colleges this year. A spokesperson pointed out that, despite claims that there had been an increase of 19% in real terms, 11% was earmarked for increasing student numbers, 3% has been absorbed by pension and National Insurance increases and 5% is earmarked for use from 2004. This adds up to an increase, in real terms, of absolutely nothing.

Liz Ford, The Guardian 20 June

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FE test-beds speed reform

Minister for lifelong learning, Margaret Hodge, has announced that the government plans to introduce "test-beds" in colleges and other FE institutions to "fast-track" key strategies outlined in the Success for All plans for post-compulsory education. She explained that the test-beds will enable the LSC to "evaluate the effectiveness of the new policies". Speaking at the LSDA's Summer Conference, Ms Hodge also revealed the creation of a "gatekeeper group", which would be charged with reducing bureaucracy in the sector and championing "light touch" quality control.

The group will be made up of provider representatives and will be chaired by Sir Andrew Foster.

Tony Tysome, The THES 13 June

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FE told to fight for contracts

FE colleges should be "freed" to compete with private providers for training contracts, according to politicians and business leaders. This was the view reflected at an Association of Colleges' reception, held as part of its "Colleges at the heart of business" campaign to raise the training profile of further education. Comments included:

"[Colleges] have been stirred into action by the chancellor's budget statement that indicated it would be industry and the private sector that would deliver the bulk of the skills agenda. What is needed is a clear view of what we want the sector to deliver, and for the sector to be freed to compete in the training market." Phil Willis, Liberal Democrat education spokesperson

"Employers are saying that too many people are getting qualifications that are not valuable to them. One of the things the skills strategy needs to address is the relevance of qualifications." Damian Green, the Conservative education spokesman

The AoC argues, however, that far from being unable to meet the needs of business, it is hampered by a bureaucratic tangle that complicates both qualifications and funding streams.

Tony Tysome, The THES 6 June

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Further education colleges' views on FE-employer links

Andrew McCoshan and Manuel Souto Otero, ECOTEC Research & Consulting Limited
Brief no: 442
ISBN: 1-84478-009-0
June 2003

ECOTEC Research & Consulting was commissioned by the DfES to carry out research into the views of further education colleges on their links with employers and explore barriers and incentives.

Key Findings include:

• Colleges work with employers to improve the employment prospects of their learners, to generate income and to contribute to the economic development of their local area.
• Individual college departments and business units have the most important role in organising and shaping links with employers.
• Two-thirds of colleges now have business units and more are planning their introduction. However, the form and function of these units varies substantially, as does their degree of integration with their "host" colleges.
• The evidence for collaboration between departments is not strong and the lack of integrated approaches to employer contact means colleges risk not knowing who last contacted an employer, why and with what result.
• Whilst almost all colleges offer a "common core" of flexible provision such as training outside office hours, less than 50% offer more complex provision such as business solutions, research and development and product design.
• College principals have very positive views about the quality of their links and employers' satisfaction, but also believe that they need to become more responsive to employers, and to give greater priority to employer links over other college priorities.
• Funding arrangements and qualification systems are the main external barriers identified by colleges to achieving greater responsiveness. Internally, colleges need to overcome the inflexibility of timetables and the lack of requisite staff skills, particularly industry knowledge and selling skills.

The full report (RR442), price £4.95, is available from DfES Publications, PO Box 5050, Sherwood Park, Annesley, Nottingham NG15 0DJ

Cheques should be made payable to "DfES Priced Publications"

The Research Brief (RB442) is available free of charge from the above address
tel: 0845 60 222 60

Research Briefs and Research Reports can also be accessed at www.dfes.gov.uk/research/

Further information can be obtained from
Rachel Jones, Room N611, DfES, Moorfoot, Sheffield S1 4PQ
email: Rachel2.Jones@dfes.gsi.gov.uk

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Brown's man sidesteps industry row

Richard Lambert, chair of the consultation into universities' links with business, is set to surprise ministers by recommending a "softly-softly approach". In his first interview since the closure of the consultation, Mr Lambert admitted that he didn't feel the gulf between universities and local businesses was as wide as he'd originally believed. He revealed, however, that the main stumbling block in forming collaborative partnerships was the issue of intellectual property (IP). He argued that the academic stance views the IP resulting from research projects as belonging solely with institutions, since state funding means that they often bear the brunt of the costs. Business, on the other hand, argues that universities "overvalue" their IP and do not take into account the costs of transforming their projects into marketable commodities. Mr Lambert commented: "IP is very complex and it really is an issue. Coming down with hard practical proposals will be tricky." The Lambert team is due to report back in September. A preliminary analysis is due next month.

Caroline Davis, The THES 13 June

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Adult Continuing Education in Wales – new statistics published

The National Assembly has published new key summary information on adult continuing education provision in Wales. Key points include:

• There were 16,300 enrolments on maintained courses in 2002/03, a fall of over 12% from the previous year.
• In addition to LEAs providing courses there were a further 39,400 enrolments in 2002/03 provided under contracted out, contracted in or assisted arrangements.
• Adult education maintained courses have traditionally been "general" in nature. These accounted for over 14,300 enrolments.

Further information is available from www.wales.gov.uk/keypubstatisticsforwales

SSDA Intelligence Issue 12 16 June

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Adults drop out of education despite £663 million boost for courses

According to reports from the DfES, the number of adults engaged in learning has fallen by more than 73,000 since 1998, despite spending on the promotion of adult learning totalling £663 million. Findings include:

• Between 1998 and 2002, the number of enrolments in adult education fell from 1,115,000 to 1,042,000.
• Enrolments in evening and distance learning courses have fallen significantly since 1998 by more than 100,000.
• The number of workers enroling to Modern Apprenticeships plunged a fifth – from 188,300 to 151,400 – between 2001 and 2002.

Critics argue that the figures cast serious doubts about the government's pledge to improve the skills level of 750,000 adults by next year.

Mark Townsend, The Observer 8 June

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Developing an Evaluation Framework: assessing the contribution of community-based and work-based approaches to lifelong learning amongst educationally marginalised adults

Authors: Liz Thomas and Kim Slack, Staffordshire University

Abstract: In the United Kingdom and Europe "lifelong learning" is often propounded to bring both economic and social returns, although the former, rather than the latter is more frequently the focus of policy prescriptions. Despite the significant increases in participation in post-compulsory education, certain socio-economic groups are still poorly represented. This article presents two case studies that promote lifelong learning to adults: a community-based initiative and a work-based scheme. Drawing on a comparison of these initiatives (based on a grounded theory approach) an evaluation framework for assessing the contribution of different approaches to further lifelong learning amongst educationally marginalised adults is proposed. This is then elaborated and utilised to explore the two case studies. This systematic analysis helps to highlight the complexity of the issues pertaining to lifelong learning amongst educationally marginalised adults. In addition, this article presents a substantive theory of evaluation that can be applied by others both to evaluate their work and to contribute towards a formal theory of evaluation.

Research in Post Compulsory Education Volume 8 Number 1 2003

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Employer Training Pilots hitting the mark

Employer Training Pilots, the initiative aimed at encouraging employers to train low skilled employees, are successfully reaching and benefitting smaller employers who would otherwise not in engage in training, according to the preliminary findings of research by The Institute for Employment Studies. The £170 million pilots, jointly developed by the Learning and Skills Council, the Department for Education and Skills and HM Treasury, have been underway in six areas across England since September 2002 and have recently been extended to operate in an additional six areas from this summer.

LSC press release Issue 138 2 June

Update comment: The Skills & Education Network Newsletter June 2003 has a feature on this which you can read, with related links, at http://senet.lsc.gov.uk/features/june2003.cfm

"Don't fear failure so much that you refuse to try new things. The saddest summary of a life contains three descriptions: could have, might have, and should have."

Louis E Boone

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Evaluation of the adult basic skills Pathfinder Extension Activities

Michael White, Policy Studies Institute, University of Westminster
Brief no: 436-439
ISBN: 1-84185-547-2
June 2003

In September 2001, the DfES launched the Pathfinder Extension programme of innovative educational courses for adults. This was a complex initiative, with eight separate strands, including one in prisons. The Pathfinder Extension Activities tested two main types of innovation in provision, with variations in each type. The first type was course intensification, while the second was the provision of financial incentives.

There were three main findings concerning the average impacts of the Pathfinder Extension Activities as a whole.

• The learners in the Pathfinder Extensions on average achieved a higher rate of course completion within the year of the course. The estimated difference from traditional basic skills provision was 14 percentage points.
• They were less likely, if not completing the course, to re-enrol for the same course in the following year. They were also less likely to start another new course. The estimated difference from traditional basic skills provision in the latter case was 9 percentage points.
• They were more likely to be in employment at the follow-up survey. The estimated difference from traditional basic skills provision was 9 percentage points.

Copies of the full reports which link to this brief (RR436, RR437, RR438 and RR439),
price £4.95 each, are available from
DfES Publications, PO Box 5050, Sherwood Park, Annesley, Nottingham NG15 0DJ Cheques should be made payable to "DfES Priced Publications"

The Research Brief (RB436-439) is available free of charge from the above address
tel: 0845 60 222 60

Research Briefs and Research Reports can also be accessed at www.dfes.gov.uk/research/

Further information about this research can be obtained from
Andrew Lincoln, 6S2, DfES, Sanctuary Buildings, Great Smith Street London SW1P 3BT
email: andrew.lincoln@dfes.gsi.gov.uk

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Award for adult literacies tutor assistants

A new national training award for adult literacy and numeracy trainers, approved by the Scottish Qualifications Authority, has just been launched in Scotland. The new awards are for tutor assistants – trained volunteers who help teach literacy skills. Communities Scotland, the Scottish Executive's housing and regeneration agency award them.

The publication SQA Professional Development Award: Introduction to Adult Literacies Learning is available from
Learning Connections at www.lc.communitiesscotland.gov.uk/regeneration
tel: 0131 313 0044

Learning Connections is the division of Communities Scotland responsible for supporting the work of Adult Literacies and Community Learning and Development across Scotland

Scottish Executive News Release SEnw546/2003 26 June

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Successful "Golden Hello2 initiative to include basic skills

The LSC announced today (17 June) that the successful "Golden Hello" initiative for teachers in FE will also apply to teaching posts in basic skills from September this year. This initiative has been extremely successful. The latest figures suggest that to date, 678 people have benefited. However, from next year, more teachers will be able to benefit from this initiative with the announcement that the list of designated subjects will be expanded to include basic literacy, numeracy and ESOL.

For further information please contact Julian Burnell, LSC Press Manager
tel: 024 7682 3510
email: julian.burnell@lsc.gov.uk

LSC press release Issue 140 17 June

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Research highlights critical success factors in raising achievement of Modern Apprentices

A new report, Making the difference: provider support for learner retention and achievement in work-based learning, published by the Learning and Skills Development Agency (LSDA), examines the factors that contribute to successful Modern Apprenticeships within training organisations. The research focused in particular on issues around retention and achievement rates. A number of short-term measures for raising standards are identified. These include:

• identifying potential non-completers and taking swift action;
• making sure trainees are placed on the right training programme;
• an integrated key skills programme; and
• effective engagement with employers.

The report also identifies a number of medium- and long-term actions that should contribute to improving both retention and achievement rates.

Copies of the full report are available, free of charge, from
Information Services, LSDA, Regent Arcade House, 19-25 Argyll Street London W1F 7LS
tel: 020 7297 9144
email: enquiries@LSDA.org.uk

SSDA Intelligence Issue 12 16 June

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Measuring success in developing soft skills

The European Social Fund Division in the Department for Work and Pensions has published guidance on measuring soft skills and distance travelled. Measuring Soft Outcomes and Distance Travelled: A Practical Guide and Existing Models discusses issues such as key success factors for implementing an effective measuring system, deciding what to monitor and how and reviewing progress. An annex to the guide provides a range of practical examples from approaches currently in use.

Copies of the publication can be obtained from Yvonne Smith
email: yvonne.smith3@dwp.gsi.gov.uk

ESF News Issue 9 June 2003

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Students rate teamwork below presentation skills

A survey from the Careers Research and Advisory Centre will not please employers who feel that graduates are not work-ready when they leave university. The survey revealed that students give the least consideration to developing teamworking talents, despite this being the skill employers rate as their number one priority. Students felt that presentation skills were the most important (55%), closely followed by negotiation skills (45%).

Phil Baty, The THES 13 June

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Scots snub jobs in the service sector

Research from the Work Foundation reveals that young people in Scotland are the "most snobbish" in the UK as far as employment choices are concerned. Three-quarters of Scots aged 19-29 said that they would not work on a supermarket check-out or in a burger bar, regardless of the career prospects it may have, because of the negative image associated with it. CBI Scotland suggested one reason for Scots' reluctance was the country's number of graduates per head of population – the highest in the UK. A spokesperson said: "Young people who have spent three or four years at university will have aspirations that are perhaps slightly higher." The Work Foundation report argues, however, that young people are prejudiced against service sector work, even though it has "some of the most cutting-edge training programmes in the UK today".

Valerie Hannah, The Scottish Herald 19 June

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Job snobbery threatens productivity

Job snobbery is rife in the UK and hampering efforts to fill skills shortages and boost productivity, a new report by The Work Foundation has found. It reveals that jobs in the maligned service sector, are providing communication and teamwork skills that the country is crying out for. It shows that the service sector boasts some of the most innovative training programmes in the UK. The report warns that failure to take notice of the career progression and social mobility engendered by service sector employers could damage attempts to raise productivity. Andy Westwood, head of policy research and author of Are we being served? Career mobility and skills in the UK workforce, said: "Jamie Oliver was rightly applauded when we watched him work incredibly hard to develop his trainee chefs – so why aren't the same plaudits given to companies who do the same on a much greater scale? There are unsung `heavy lifters' at work in the UK economy – employers like McDonald's and ASDA who dig deepest into some of the country's most difficult and marginalized labour markets and that simultaneously boast some of the most far reaching development programmes."

Are we being served? Career mobility and skills in the UK workforce is at www.theworkfoundation.com

Work Foundation press release 19 June

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Internet can plug skills gap

The industrial skills gap in Wales could be tackled by businesses giving employees Internet access for learning in the workplace, according to the head of Learndirect. Jeff Greenidge, leader of Learndirect Wales, said, "Improving the skills base is vital for Welsh companies to meet changing business needs. There is evidence to suggest that our relatively low GDP compared with our neighbours is linked to the skills shortage. Investing in staff training is vital in all enterprises – and the Internet has made it easier, more convenient and cheaper than ever. In Learndirect we make accessing learning packages very easy."

Will Smale, The Western Mail 18 June

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E-learning is top of the education agenda

Education and Lifelong Learning Minister, Jane Davidson, today (23 June) highlighted the importance of e-learning as a tool for all and reaffirmed the Welsh Assembly government's commitment to drive forward the e-learning agenda in Wales. In a keynote speech to the Dysg e-learning conference the Minister told an audience of key players drawn from local authorities, schools and further education how she intends to maintain the momentum of driving forward the Assembly's e-learning strategy and reflected on work already underway in Wales. The Minister stressed the vital role of ICT in schools and concluded by paying tribute to the organisations working together to get things done and deliver their part of the e-learning agenda.

Welsh Assembly press release 26 June

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Blending into the background

Commenting on the growing interest in blended learning, Peter Williams, editor of E-Learning Age, said: "No-one surely has been really fooled by blended learning? There is no such thing – in the digital age or before – as pure (or should that be single?) learning. You don't need to be an expert in learning to know that it's useful to have more than one delivery method. Read a book, ask a teacher, ask a fellow student, listen to a lecture – it's all blended. … E-learning has serious potential, but no-one thinks it's going to shut down all the other ways we learn. In that sense, blended learning has always been with us and always will be. It's a statement of the obvious, not a magic silver bullet."

E-Learning Age June 2003

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Cultural Heritage and ICT Newsletter

The NEOTHEMI project is building up a virtual museum of resources about European cultural heritage.
The newsletter about this project is at www.brundalen.vgs.no/inlan/NEOTHEMInewsletter/index.html
Sean.Neill@warwick.ac.uk

MirandaLink June Newsletter

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Bank of England Quarterly Bulletin Volume 43 Number 2 Summer 2003

This issue includes:

Markets and operations

• Reviews developments in financial markets, UK market structure and the Bank's official operations since the Spring Quarterly Bulletin.

Research and analysis

• What caused the rise in the UK terms of trade?
• Assessing the extent of labour hoarding

The strength of employment during the recent slowdown is sometimes taken as evidence of labour hoarding. But the extent of such hoarding is difficult to measure. This article reviews different definitions of labour hoarding and a variety of ways of measuring it using aggregate data. Most of these measures indicate that labour has been underutilised during the recent slowdown, implying that firms have indeed hoarded labour to some extent. However, the magnitude of the reduction in utilisation differs across these measures. The evidence also suggests that the recent decrease in utilisation has been limited compared with previous episodes in which labour utilisation was significantly below trend.

Reports

• Public attitudes to inflation
• Foreign Exchange Joint Standing Committee e-commerce subgroup report

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Bank "misses opportunity" by holding interest rates

Reacting to today's (5 June) decision by the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Bank of England to hold interest rates at 3.75% the Director General of the British Chambers of Commerce, David Frost, said: "The Bank of England has definitely missed an opportunity to offer extra support to UK business in a climate of weak demand at home and overseas."

www.chamberonline.co.uk/cmn/ml.jsp?id=000005348502

British Chambers of Commerce Newsletter 5 June

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Core Cities see inclusion as key to prosperity plan

A plan to secure England's economic future by strengthening cities outside London and the South East was launched today (4 June) by England's eight "core cities" (Birmingham, Bristol, Liverpool, Leeds, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham and Sheffield). The plan includes measures to ensure an enhanced role for "distinctive, culturally attractive, competitive cities with stronger relationships with other towns and cities in their regions".

A report from the Core Cities working group argues that economic strength is not necessarily a precursor for a lack of inclusiveness. Indeed, it argues that the cities should do more to ensure that the skills and abilities of a diverse population are adequately harnessed so that greater prosperity can be secured for all its inhabitants.

More information at www.corecities.com

Susan Downer, New Start News 4 June

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Government proposals on Employers' Liability Insurance to help business

Minister for Work Nick Brown today (3 June) announced proposals to help deal with the costs of Employers' Liability Compulsory Insurance (ELCI) as he published a cross-departmental government review. The review, led by DWP, also involved HM Treasury, the DTI and Lord Chancellor's Department. The review lays out an agenda for action to provide both short- and long-term help to business. The report, the first of a two-stage process, examines the factors driving recent ELCI premium increases and considers the case for potential reforms to the ELCI system.

The full review is available on the DWP Website at www.dwp.gov.uk

DWP press release EMP0306-ELCI 3 June

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FSB reacts to government announcement on employers' liability insurance

FSB National Chairman John Emmins said that he was pleased to see key proposals that will assist small firms in the future but was disappointed that there will be little action in the short term. He said: "We have been working with Nigel Griffiths, Minister for Small Businesses, and are pleased that a number of FSB proposals have been taken on board. Insurers and brokers will have to give three weeks' notice when cover is up for renewal and look at the health and safety records of individual businesses before denying cover. The government has recognised that the growing compensation culture is a real problem and has given a commitment that future costs in compensation cases will be reasonable. There also appears to be a genuine appetite to reform the outdated Employers' Liability legislation which is a very big step forward." But Mr Emmins is concerned that there was little in the reports to provide immediate relief to small firms facing a second round of huge premium increases. There was also no immediate help for those unable to secure Employers' Liability insurance at any price.

HRLooK 4 June

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E-government falls behind schedule

The Office of the e-Envoy (OeE) has failed to hit its most recent targets for putting government services online. Last June, the office set itself a target of increasing the proportion of its services available online from 54% to 71% by June 2003. However, its latest Electronic Service Delivery report shows that it has managed a mere 9% increase to 63%.

A spokesperson for the OeE commented: "There has been a bit of slippage on our spring 2002 forecast, but the department maintains it is still on track for the 2005 target."

Karl Flinders: vnunet.com

TheITportal News Roundup 2 June

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Report says privacy laws slow e-government

A new study has found that the UK Data Protection Act is "hindering the progress of online government projects". According to a BBC news article many public sector organisations are finding it hard to juggle conflicting demands from existing laws and targets for online services. Around a third of public sector bodies said that the Data Protection Act was preventing them moving services online and offering joined-up government.

INFO@UK Issue 27 June 2003

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E-voting triallists ready for more

Swindon and Sheffield councils have reported an "overwhelmingly" positive response to the e-voting trials conducted during this May's elections. More than a quarter of the votes in Swindon were cast using the Internet, touch-tone phones, interactive TV and street kiosks, and almost all these voters said that they would vote electronically next time. Similarly in Sheffield, 97% of those who cast their vote electronically would do so at the next election, if the option were available. However, a new report from the Electoral Reform Society suggests that those choosing to vote in this manner would probably have voted anyway, since the availability of e-voting systems did not improve the overall turn-out.

E-Government Bulletin Issue 139 20 June

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Most gov.uk sites "need redesigning"

According to an article in EGov Monitor Weekly, around 80% of central government Websites need to be redesigned to make them accessible to disabled users.

Library and Information Update June 2003 Volume 2(6)

Update comment: I have heard no official confirmation of this, but I assume that the DfES will not have to change its Website in the slightest. Why do I assume this? Well, any organisation that spends £1,747,000 per year (yes, I did type that and no it's not a misprint) has to have the most perfect Website ever, right? Dawn

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New on-line guide to improve local authority e-communications

Councils are being offered further help in developing their e-communications following the launch of a new module on the Connecting with Communities good practice toolkit. The e-communications module covers trends in e-government, key success factors for producing a good council Website, accessibility and usability, techniques for driving Website usage, intranets, portals and the use of different technologies such as SMS, digital TV and Web casting.

The toolkit can be accessed on the IDeA Knowledge Website at www.idea.gov.uk/knowledge

managinginformation.com 18 June

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Entry to employment opens doors

This article in LSDA Briefing (May 2003) examines the Entry to Employment (E2E) programme, designed to help 16–18 year olds who are not ready to embark on a Modern Apprenticeship. LSDA Development adviser Sylvia Gentleman believes that this scheme will succeed where other youth training has failed because, although it is still designed to prepare young people for the labour market, there are fundamental differences between E2E and its predecessors. Ms Gentleman argues that the main differences are that it is not driven by qualifications nor constrained by length of stay. Older schemes required a participant to attend for a proscribed length of time in order to "pass". Leaving the scheme, even to move into formal employment was regarded as a "fail". The E2E position is that "getting a job is as positive an outcome as gaining a qualification". Ms Gentleman also believes that combining vocational study with a diverse programme of personal and social education is a great improvement. Regardless of the curriculum options available, all participants are supported in the development of "soft" skills such as confidence-building, anger management, budgeting and independent living, sexual health and career decision-making. It is this holistic approach that Ms Gentleman feels will reap the greatest rewards. She says: "[E2E] is critical to breaking the cycle of non-achievement for a wide range of young people". E2E will start nationwide in August 2003.

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Public losing faith in government education policy

According to an ICM poll, public confidence in the government's handling of education has slumped in the past three months. More voters now think that education and schools have got worse since Labour came to power than think they have improved. 36% said that education has worsened, compared to 19% who believed that it has improved. A spokesperson for the DfES dismissed the claims, saying that there is "no doubt" that standards are rising.

PA News, The TES 27 June

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EIS says schools on edge of legal minefield

Alana Ross, the outgoing president of the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) has warned that Scottish schools are teetering on the edge of a "legal minefield". She argued that the focus on discipline and social inclusion has led to a situation whereby schools are fearful of putting the needs of the majority of pupils first, lest they should breach some regulation which protects the interests of a minority. She said: "Schools are looking over their shoulders at local authorities and local authorities are looking over their shoulders at the Scottish Executive and the legal eagles. Our schools are on the verge of becoming legal minefields and that is in the interest of no-one except lawyers."

Elizabeth Buie and Valerie Hannah, The Scottish Herald 6 June

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EOC to investigate "jobs for the boys" and "jobs for the girls"

The Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) has launched a nationwide inquiry into young people's job choices and the barriers they can face to getting the jobs they want. The Commission wants to hear from young people, schools and employers about the experience of making career choices and the kind of advice and support available. It also wants to hear about women's and men's experiences of training or working in a sector dominated by the opposite sex. There are still enormous differences between the choices made by young women and young men. For example, men still account for 99% of Modern Apprentices in construction and 96% of apprentices in engineering, while 97% of childcare apprentices are women. No more "jobs for the boys" or "jobs for the girls", the EOC's general formal investigation into occupational segregation, will focus on Modern Apprenticeships in five sectors: construction, plumbing, engineering, ICT and childcare. It will explore the relationship between gender segregation in training and at work and skills and pay gaps in the UK. The six-month investigation will carry out two pieces of research:

• a statistical overview of occupational segregation, skills gaps and pay gaps; and
• a survey of all 47 Learning and Skills Councils, the funding organisations for Modern Apprenticeships, to identify how choice and equality are promoted by the system, including rates of pay.

In 2004 it will examine the effectiveness of current initiatives to challenge stereotyped choices and carry out qualitative research, including focus groups, with young people, employers and training providers.

Equal Opportunities Commission press release 25 June 2003

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Virtual venue showcases early work by old masters

A new Website showcasing some of the "hidden treasures" of British art schools has been launched. It exhibits works by former pupils who have gone on to make "a significant contribution to UK fine art education through practice". Artists include sculptor Henry Moore and illustrator Quentin Blake. There is also an extremely rare painting by Tracey Emin (she of the messy bed "sculpture"), who destroyed most of her paintings when she started working in other media.

URL: www.fineart.ac.uk

Caroline Davis, The THES 6 June

"The story – from Rumplestiltskin to War and Peace – is one of the basic tools invented by the human mind, for the purpose of gaining understanding. There have been great societies that did not use the wheel, but there have been no societies that did not tell stories."

Ursula K Le Guin

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Just a minute…

In his regular column for Library and Information Update (June 2003 Volume 2(6)), Bernard Naylor argues that the destruction of the cultural heritage of Iraq can be viewed as a form of genocide. The dictionary definition of genocide is "the deliberate extermination of a race or other group". Mr Naylor highlights the invasion of Peru in 1532 – the invading force did not exterminate the indigenous population but did manage to destroy its society and culture, an event which historians believe to be as effective an act of genocide as killing the population. In much the same way, Mr Naylor argues that, even though many Iraqi people survived the military attack on their country, the destruction of museums, the national library and archives has wiped out 5,000 years of history. He says: "These resources are now burned, trashed and scattered to the four winds, perhaps forever – by the Iraqis themselves, it must be said, but those overwhelming military forces that were clearly warned of the possibility in advance, that could have ensured their preservation and didn't, are complicit in what has happened. Despite the many casualties, most of the Iraqi people may well live out their natural lives, just as many Peruvians did. But the organised expression of their cultural identity has gone, and that is why it is appropriate to ask whether they have suffered a form of genocide."

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Pulped books spark fury

Academics have expressed their dismay at the news that the British Library has "pulped" around 30,000 pieces of material, which included "irreplaceable" books, journals and official research reports, since 1990. Richard Grove, research director of the Centre for World Environmental History at Sussex University, said that this move had ruined his ten-year research project on the environmental history of the British colonies. He said: "There has not been a loss to the world of scholarship this big since the Library of Alexandria burnt down in the 3rd century. It makes a mockery of the British Library's global role as a library of last resort and a receptacle of all human knowledge." Clive Field, director of scholarship and collections at the British Library, defended the library's actions, explaining that, with the best will in the world, it is not possible to keep everything. He revealed that the paper-based material the library receives each year takes up around 11km of shelf space and a decision to destroy a particular piece has to be ratified by the board of trustees. He said: "We do not want to get into a situation where one cannot collect because there is not enough room. The policy is, wherever possible, to try to provide a good alternative home for material. Sometimes it's falling to bits and of no use, sometimes it is not of current interest. As a last resort – and only as a last resort – it will end up pulped."

Phil Baty, The THES 27 June

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Spam law

It is not only the "spammers" that will be affected by a new law warns Manchester law firm George Davies Solicitors. Shelbey Whitehouse explains: "From 31 October 2003, companies using any form of electronic communication to send out promotional literature such as newsletters, will have to obtain the consent of the person or company receiving it. This opt in consent will become a requirement for all kinds of UK businesses. Any electronic communication that has not been consented to will effectively be unlawful. Companies and individuals that are existing customers must be given the opportunity to opt out of receiving subsequent direct marketing every time they receive it. Potential customers and clients to services will have to give their express permission to receive any promotional emails. Email marketing is the fastest growing component of the marketing mix and it is crucial that companies and their marketing departments stay on the right side of the law.

Northamptonshire Chamber eBulletin 25 June

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Half of all emails are spam

According to the latest figures from MessageLabs, more than half of the emails that are sent and received are now unsolicited messages. MessageLabs said that 55% of emails it scanned in May were spam, up from just under 40% in April.

Source: bbc.co.uk

TheITportal News Roundup 2 June

Update comment: Only half? ADSET ditched 45 of the 60 emails in the inbox this morning. Admittedly the weekend is the worst time for these "things" to be arriving.

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Microsoft sues spammers

Microsoft is taking legal action against alleged email spammers in the US and the UK. The company says it has filed lawsuits against individuals, accusing them of clogging its computers and those of its customers with over 2 billion unsolicited email messages. Thirteen of the lawsuits were filed in the US, while the remaining two were filed in the UK.

managinginformation.com 18 June

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Spam will die out in three years

The CEO of a leading anti-spam firm has predicted that spam, which currently makes up 50% of all email messages, will be down to around 5% in three years time. Enrique Salem of Brightmail argues that what will turn the situation around will not be tougher legislation, but improvements on technology. Mr Salem tells us that, as email filtering becomes more sophisticated, fewer responses will mean that it will cease to be profitable for spammers to carry on. He warns, however, that the situation is likely to get worse before it gets better. He predicts that spam levels will rise to around 65% of all emails before it begins to fall.

Will Sturgeon, Silicon.com

TheITportal News Roundup 17 June

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Doing IT for the kids: re-examining children, computers and the information society

Author: Neil Selwyn, Cardiff University

For the past 20 years the discourse of the child as "expert", or at least competent, computer user has proliferated in popular and political rhetoric in Western societies. From the early 1980s phenomena of the "keyboard junkie" and "computer hacker" to the "cyberkids" and "technotots" of the early 21st century, notions of omnipotent young computer users have been instrumental in shaping public expectations and fears concerning technology and society. Despite this importance, the role of the child computer user in expediting societal acceptance of technology remains relatively unexamined. This article analyses the varying discursive constructs of child computer users in the UK over the last 20 years through government rhetoric and policy making, IT industry marketing and media representation. In so doing the article shows how various discourses of the child computer user have been integral elements in the framing and justification of prevailing notions of the information society in the adult world and, more importantly, continue to underpin the ongoing political-economic construction of the UK as a technological society. The article concludes by considering how the metaphoric use of the child acts to obscure the key actors and power relations behind the ongoing construction of the information age.

Media, Culture and Society Volume 25 Issue 3 May 2003

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Security firms slam Uni decision to write viruses

The anti-virus industry has condemned a US university for its plan to offer a course in virus writing. Calgary University claims that the course is designed to educate "the next generation of anti-virus experts". Industry experts, however, argue that the move is "entirely misguided". Commenting on the decision, David Perry, global director of education for anti-virus software maker Trend Micro, said: "I don't see any educational value at all. You don't send somebody out to shoot someone so they understand what happens when somebody gets shot."

Will Sturgeon: Silicon.com

TheITportal News Roundup 2 June

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Funding Watch

Following recent reports that the wi-fi (wireless fidelity) sector may have been over-hyped, one leading technology investor has warned against following fashion.

www.chamberonline.co.uk/cmn/ml.jsp?id=000005348511

British Chambers of Commerce Newsletter 5 June

"Learn how to turn frustration into fascination. You will learn more being fascinated by life than you will by being frustrated by it."

Jim Rohn

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Start-up brings hard drive to the masses

A US-based start-up has developed a 1.5Gb, 1-inch diameter hard drive that could shake up the consumer electronics industry. The company claims the drive will be cheaper, smaller and hold more data than some other mini-hard drives or flash-memory cards.

Source: News.com

TheITportal Midweek Roundup 4 June

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UK software piracy on the rise

In its annual report, the Business Software Alliance (BSA) reveals that levels of software piracy in the UK have risen for the first time since 1994. The report states that, while global piracy has decreased over the past eight years, the UK has seen an increase. BSA believes that this rise is indicative of the levels of complacency which exist in British firms. Former chair Richard Saunders said: "The main reasons for software piracy are general complacency, where a firm overuses its legitimate licences as the company grows, and the ease of access to bootleg software over broadband." BSA is calling for harsher punishments to be meted out to offenders.

James Middleton, vnunet.com

TheITportal Midweek Roundup 4 June

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Wireless networking

Wireless networking may be the new craze, but it seems it's not so acceptable in Somerset. According to The Register, Somerset County Council has banned the use of wireless networks in its offices and schools until it has carried out a study into the possible dangers of wireless network technology. But the council's hesitancy, while commendable, may be misplaced. The National Radiological Protection Board <www.nrpb.org> reckons mobile phones give out more radiation than wireless kit.

Full story at www.theregister.co.uk/content/69/31143.html

.net Welcome to the Weekend 13 June

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Yr dr wl c u 2moro

Four hospitals around the country are to begin trials of a new appointment reminder system for patients. Patients will be asked if they would like to receive a reminder by text message the day before their appointment is due. The texts will be paid for by companies which will be permitted to add an advertisement to the message. It is hoped that this system will reduce the number of patients who miss their appointments, costing the NHS an estimated £400 million pounds each year.

Press Association, The Guardian 5 June

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Recruiting ex-offenders: the employers' perspective

This report examines recent research undertaken by NACRO, which suggests that, contrary to popular belief, employers are willing to employ ex-offenders. However, they are reluctant to establish formal policies and procedures for doing so, fearing that they may encounter negative publicity as a result. The report also contains a guide for employers which sets out detailed guidance on recruitment policies, including assessing risk, the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and the new Disclosure Service.

Copies of the report are available, priced £7.50, from NACRO. Also available is A brief guide to recruiting people with criminal records (single copy £1, multiple copies 75p each) which offers straightforward information about employing ex-offenders. It provides guidance on measuring risk, the relevance of offences, the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974, and how to find out about criminal records.

To order either publication contact NACRO, 169 Clapham Road, London, SW9 0PU
tel: 020 7582 6500
email: publications@nacro.org.uk

Working Brief Issue 145 June 2003

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Children caring for relatives for over 50 hours a week

According to figures released by the Children's Society and the YMCA, there are over 13,000 children caring for a sick or disabled relative for more than 50 hours per week. Research conducted by the charities found that children are regularly spending in excess of the recommended working week looking after family members, often without adequate help from public agencies. Over 3,500 of these children are under the age of 11.

John Carvel, social affairs editor, The Guardian 9 June

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Nurses and police officers forced out of jobs because of a lack of night and weekend child care, report says

According to a study from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, inflexible childcare is preventing may parents from returning to work or taking advantage of flexible working practices. The report said the provision of childcare is rooted in the belief that all work is conducted between the hours of 9am and 5pm, from Monday to Friday. Most childminders are not prepared to offer either early morning or late evening care, and very few will consider offering care at week-ends or overnight.

Maxine Frith, Social Affairs Correspondent, The Independent 18 June

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CIPD puts human capital in frame

The CIPD has released its proposals for measuring and reporting on human capital. At their core is a framework based on the provision of five categories of information: human capital strategy, learning and development, acquisition and retention, management and, finally, performance. Human Capital: External Reporting Framework recommends that any report produced by an organisation for public consumption should start with an account of an organisation's human capital strategy. More information at www.cipd.co.uk/changeagendas

Jon Watkins, People Management Online 12 June

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References become a legal minefield

In an article for Director (June 2003), Raul Peschiera tells us how to avoid being prosecuted when writing a reference for a former employee. Advisors from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development maintain that what appears to be a relatively straightforward task can quite easily result in court proceedings. The CIPD points out that, while there is no legal obligation to write a reference, most employers do so because it is an "established practice". The body advises that references should contain only the evidence that would stand up to independent verification, such as length of employment, position and responsibilities. Former employers should not offer judgements about the applicant's suitability for the position applied for and should avoid passing on the testimonials of former colleagues. The CIPD goes on to say that employers should be aware that failure to disclose information that could have an impact on a subsequent job offer could result in proceedings for deceit. For example, if an employer does not mention that they dismissed an employee for stealing and the ex-employee goes on to steal from their new employer, the new employer may take action because of non-disclosure of a material fact. Finally, the CIPD recommends that all references include the phase "without legal responsibility". This phrase indicates that the reader relies on the reference at their own risk.

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Candidates confuse the truth

Research from the Risk Advisory Group (TRAG) indicates that more than half (62%) of the CVs examined by the TRAG screening unit in the last quarter of 2002 contained "lies or inaccuracies". For the CVs screened in the same period in 2001, the proportion was 54%. The worst offenders during 2002 were women in their late twenties and men in their late thirties, with two-thirds of applicants in each group having some form of discrepancy on their CVs. The most common inaccuracies related to employment history (79%), academic history (40%) and financial and personal background (30%). Bill Waite, chief executive of The Risk Advisory Group, said: "Much of what we uncover is simply the result of mild exaggeration or inadvertent error, rather than malicious intent. But there is a growing tendency for people to feel they can cheat their way in. The tough economic climate is obviously playing a part, as candidates get increasingly desperate to secure new jobs. But the continued growth in the number of people with serious inaccuracies on their CV has to be worrying for employers."

IRS Employment Review Issue 775 9 May

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Jobseekers warned to be vigilant

Jobseekers have been warned today (23 June) to be careful about what they post on school reunion Website Friends Reunited. Some employers have been checking the site for pupils' entries and using that as a reference. London-based agency Media Contacts claims that the site has led in some cases to candidates losing job offers. Gordon Cherrington, a recruitment consultant at Media Contacts said: "People should think carefully about what they say about themselves and employers – past and present – in any online public domain. Having fun and demonstrating a sense of humour is in general a good thing, though negativity in any form rarely reflects well on the writer." According to Media Contacts, an account manager for a PR company was pushed into resignation after her bosses discovered that she described her boss as a "bitch from hell" and her employers as "a bunch of cowboys". A senior sales executive was apparently sacked from his job after it was discovered that he only got his last job by "lying through his teeth at the interview" and admitted his CV was "a masterpiece of fiction and creative writing". Another example of honesty not being the best policy was when a media sales executive had a job offer withdrawn when the potential employer discovered that the applicant only planned to stay in London for a few months before embarking on a world tour.

HRLooK 23 June

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New research examines importance of qualifications to employers

A research report from the Centre for the Economics of Education provides some evidence about the extent to which employers view an individual's qualifications as an indicator of the skill that he or she possesses. The research found that employers tend to use qualifications as an indicator of the skills and productivity of workers during the recruitment process. However, qualifications become less important after a person is recruited, with employers preferring to make decisions about further career development based on their interaction with the employee. The report calls for "a reliable system of credentials that can genuinely reflect excellence at the skills learned as well as proof of the capacity to learn more specific skills on the job".

The full report, Employer Learning and Schooling Related Statistical Discrimination in Britain, can be downloaded from http://cee.lse.ac.uk/cee%20dps/ceedp31.pdf

SSDA Intelligence Issue 12 16 June

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One-third of employers surveyed see administration training as a priority

Research from the Council for Administration has found that 97% of employers surveyed agree that the administrative function is critical to the effectiveness of the organisation. Yet, only a third of these employers see training staff in administration as a high priority. Over 4.7 million people work in administration, representing about a sixth of the UK workforce. Yet, two in five organisations do not have a plan to improve the performance of administration. This research is based on surveys of 940 people.

The National Administration Skills Survey Report is available in PDF from www.cfa.uk.com/research/reports_skills_ssr2003.htm

Skills & Education Network Newsletter June 2003

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Quangos squeezed to ease cash crisis

An article in The TES (13 June) tells us that civil servants have been ordered to cut funding from "pet projects" to find money for cash-strapped schools. Budgets for the DfES and related public bodies such as the Teacher Training Agency, the Adult Learning Inspectorate and the National College for Leadership are to be re-examined, to see if cuts can be made to administration costs.

John Slater, The TES 13 June

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Snooping at work: know your rights

The TUC has launched an online guide to monitoring and surveillance at work on its working life Website. The guide helps employees understand the implications for them of the government's new code advising employers on monitoring email, phonecalls and Internet use at work. Questions answered on the new workSMART guide to monitoring include:

• What counts as personal information for the purposes of monitoring at work?
• How should my employer approach monitoring at work?
• Am I being monitored without my knowledge?
• Is my boss allowed to listen to my voicemail or open my email whilst I'm away from work?
• Do I have a right to know what information my employer has collected through monitoring me at work?
• Can my employer conduct covert monitoring where I work?
• Can my employer place covert cameras or microphones in private areas?
• Is my employer allowed to monitor my vehicle?

More information at www.worksmart.org.uk/rights/viewsubsection.php?sun=57

TUC press release 12 June AND workSMART newsletter Issue 12 June 2003

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Information Commissioner spells out the Do's and Don'ts for workplace monitoring

The Information Commissioner, Richard Thomas, has published the third part of the Employment Practices Data Protection Code Monitoring at Work. The code provides clear and practical guidance for employers about monitoring employees in the workplace. Following an extensive consultation process with a range of employer and employee organisations on the implications of data protection law in this field, Monitoring at Work spells out the basic Do's and Don'ts for employers who monitor the activities of their employees, or who are thinking of doing so. The Code is substantially shorter and more accessible than previous drafts. In response to concerns from small businesses about the complexity of the issues, the Information Commissioner has also produced a short summary of Part 3, Guidance for small businesses. This gives smaller employers a concise plain English summary of their data protection responsibilities when carrying out monitoring. The Code aims to strike the right balance between the legitimate expectations of employees and the interests of employers, but it does not impose new legal obligations. The Code provides straightforward advice and information to help employers to comply with the Data Protection Act and to adopt good practice.

HRLooK 12 June

The Code can be downloaded from www.dataprotection.gov.uk/employcop.htm

Press Association, The Guardian 11 June

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New public sector charges threaten SME jobs

The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) is warning that vital private sector jobs will be lost unless politicians and civil servants address the threat posed to small businesses by new local authority powers to charge and trade outlined in a government bill. So far no political party has been willing to take up the cause and the legislation in question, the Local Government Bill, has been allowed to pass unamended through Parliament. Now small firms will have to rely on guidance written by civil servants for protection. The guidance is currently lacking in genuine safeguards and much of it has still not been published. As well as encouraging cash-strapped local authorities to set up their own trading companies, the bill allows councils to introduce new charges for a wide range of services such as planning advice, vehicle maintenance, gardening, and security services. FSB Policy Chairman John Walker said: "Local authorities only need to cover their costs and so will undercut businesses which offer similar services but also face the commercial realities of covering their overheads and making a profit. These new charges will be devastating for small businesses threatening jobs and livelihoods and wiping out potential markets for start-ups."

HRLooK 24 June

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Copyright and licensing for digital preservation

In an article for Library and Information Update (June 2003 Volume 2(6)), Adrienne Muir describes a new project to identify copyright and licensing issues that currently hinder digital preservation and looks at whether new legislation will help. He tells us that the rise in digital information has placed libraries and archivists in a difficult position with regard to preservation. Since there is no physical object when information is accessed electronically, it is not possible for the library to claim ownership. Thus, if a library does not own it, it cannot preserve it. Preservation of the resource is left to individual publishers that may or may not have a commitment to archiving their own information. The Copyright and Licensing for Digital Preservation (CLDP) project, sponsored by the Arts and Humanities Research Board, is to examine this issue, along with others which have an impact on long-term access to material. The aim of the project is to "investigate whether copyright legislation and licensed access to digital content threaten the ability of libraries to provide long-term access to that content and to suggest ways in which the problems can be overcome".

For further information about CPLD, contact
Margaret-Mary O'Mahony, Department of Information Science, Loughborough University Loughborough LE11 3TU
tel: 01509 222 178
email: m.m.omahoney@lboro.ac.uk
URL: www.lboro.ac.uk/departments/ls/disresearch/CLDP/index.htm

This article is available online at www.cilip.org.uk/update/issues/jun03/article2june.html

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File-swappers face the music

The Court of Appeal in Washington has ordered an American Internet provider to supply the names of four customers accused of illegally copying music over the net. The Verizon ISP was refused a further delay to a case that has already been running for over a year and was obliged to hand over its customers' details to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). This ruling supports the RIAA's argument that the Digital Millennium Copyright Act permits it to subpoena information about suspected pirates without first seeking a court order. The body warns that it intends to sent out a "significant" number of subpeonas, although it has not made it clear what action it will take against the Verizon customers it has accused of illegal file-sharing.

BBC News

TheITportal News Roundup 9 June

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EU Directive: further delay in UK

The UK Patent Office has issued the following statement: "We indicated in a recent copyright notice a target by which we had hoped to produce draft regulations to implement the copyright Directive. However, it has now become clear that this latest target cannot be met. We very much regret this further unavoidable delay in implementation, but wish to reassure all concerned that the work towards UK implementation is well advanced and that we are maintaining our efforts to produce as soon as possible the necessary Statutory Instrument (SI) to be laid before parliament."

Further information at www.patent.gov.uk
email: copyright@patent.gov.uk

managinginformation.com 23 June

Update comment: Are we expected to be surprised?

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Quango's staff take dim view of their leaders

According to an employee attitude survey, conducted by International Survey Research and leaked to FE Focus, the Learning and Skills Council's staff opinion of the LSC is that it "suffers from poor leadership with no clear direction and lacks credibility". Findings include:

• 38% said that the pace of change was too fast, with just 14% believing that the national executive was managing the pace of change well.
• 60% feel that the LSC does not act as a unified organisation.
• 70% argue that it is not "safe" to speak their mind about the nature of their work.
• 85% say that there is too much bureaucracy at the LSC.

The TES FE Focus 6 June

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Learning and Skills Council annual report

The Learning and Skills Council (LSC) has published its annual report. Read Changing People's Lives - the first annual report and accounts of the Learning and Skills Council to 31 March 2002, The Stationery Office, 2003, at www.lsc.gov.uk/news_docs/Annual-Report_Pages-1-63.pdf

Skills & Education Network Newsletter June 2003

Update comment: You can, of course, print it out for reading at a more convenient time and in a more convenient place. Be aware of the health warning: "Printing this document will seriously affect your supply of coloured ink." Since it costs £22 to purchase can I suggest that you borrow our copy (full of pretty pictures) or print it on a monochrome printer. My estimate is that the document without pictures would occupy about 15 sides of A4 instead of the present (including covers) 70 sides.

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Research to drive up standards in schools

A new £2 million national research programme will draw on expertise at Scottish universities to improve best practice in schools, it was announced today (22 June). The Applied Educational Research Scheme, jointly funded by the Scottish Executive and the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council (SHEFC), aims to improve practice in schools and develop a clear strategy for the long-term growth of Scottish educational research.

Scottish Executive News Release: SEed243/2003 22 June

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Better training opportunities for school staff

Minister of State for School Standards, David Miliband MP, will later today (15 June) set out an eight point prospectus to boost training and qualifications available to support staff working in schools. This represents another important step forward following discussions between the signatories to the National Agreement on workforce reform.

DfES press release 2003/0114 (relates to England only) 15 June

Update comment: We don't seem to have received the details of the eight point prospectus!

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Largest equal value claim launched

Public service union Unison has launched an "equal value" claim on behalf of almost 1,000 teaching assistants (TAs). The union claims that the work undertaken by TAs is of equal value to that of male comparators employed by a county council as technicians. Despite an assessment which shows that both groups are required to work to similar skill levels, and provide services which are of equal value to the public, the technicians' salary is some 40% higher than the TAs'. A spokesperson for Unison said that a successful claim could be worth up to £10 million per year for TAs, and warned that further claims are currently under consideration in other parts of the country.

IRS Employment Review Issue 774 18 April

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Greater recognition for classroom assistants

A new professional qualification for classroom assistants was launched today (11 June), recognising the role they play in helping both teachers and pupils. The launch of two new SVQs will ensure assistants have the skills and knowledge to assist teachers and pupils to the full. At 31 March 2002, local authorities had employed 4227 classroom assistants, helping ensure a pupil: adult ratio of 15: 1 across primary schools. This is measured at local authority level. A Professional Development Award for classroom assistants was launched by the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) in July 2000. The new SVQs which have been developed by and are available from SQA, are higher qualifications available to new and existing classroom assistants and will be done on an in-service basis. The SVQs will be taken in further education colleges but will also take into account work done in the classroom.

Scottish Executive News Release: SEed238/2003 11 June

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OfSTED alarm at 10,000 absent children

According to a new report from OfSTED, there are over 10,000 15-year-olds who are unaccounted for on education rolls in England. The report stated that there had been no lessening of the problem first highlighted by an investigation 18 months ago, despite government pledges to provide full-time education to all school-age children. The report also claimed that, where children are educated outside the mainstream sector, provision is often inadequate, with many alternative providers offering activities which occupy, rather than educate, young people.

Sarah Cassidy, Education Correspondent, The Independent 11 June

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Big poll majority backs Borstal-style schools for unruly pupils

A survey conducted on behalf of The Scottish Herald reveals that more than half of Scots favour segregating unruly children in a Borstal-style school. They want children who misbehave in the classroom to forfeit the right to be educated in mainstream schools. Almost 80% of those questioned believe that indiscipline in school is now "very serious or serious". Scottish teaching unions do not agree. Ronnie Smith, general secretary of the Educational Institute for Scotland (EIS),said: "The notion of herding all bad boys and girls into one sort of concentrated school for bad boys and girls would not be something we would advocate. You have to look at the nature of the problems rather than jump to conclusions."

Keith Sinclair and Victoria Mitchell, The Scottish Herald 2 June

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School learning pilot hailed a success

A three-year pilot of a new curriculum delivery method has been reported as producing "stunning" results. The Opening Minds project, run by the RSA, taught pupils the curriculum through a programme of competency skills development. It focused on learning, managing information, relating to people, managing situations and citizenship, by using projects and encouraging children to debate and discuss the material that was presented to them. Lesley James, head of education at the RSA, commented: "Without exception all the schools have reported a massive improvement in motivation and enjoyment. … They've all reported fewer behavioural incidences, fewer exclusions, some have improved attendance levels, improvement in terms of handing in homework and being more responsible."

For more information about the Opening Minds project, visit: www.thersa.org/newcurriculum/

Polly Curtis, The Guardian 17 June

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Ministers in retreat from school set pay

Government plans to allow schools the freedom to set their own curriculum and teachers' pay rates have been shelved less than a year after being approved by Parliament. Introduced as part of last year's Education Act, "earned autonomy" was to be granted to the best performing schools as a "reward" for continuing good practice. However, the guidance which was supposed to be given to schools last autumn has not been forthcoming, and sources at the DfES admit that the department is undecided regarding how to "take this forward in a coherent way".

John Slater, The TES 20 June

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Treasury to block schools rescue package

Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown has thwarted plans to bail out struggling schools. Charles Clarke is understood to be developing a funding package which will guarantee more money for schools next year, in a bid to prevent a repeat of this year's funding crisis. However, Mr Brown has made it clear that the Treasury will adhere to the three-year funding formula and will not be allocating any more money to schools.

Jo Dillon, Deputy Political Editor, The Independent 1 June

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The London business challenge: linking schools to success

London Education Minister, Stephen Twigg, has joined forces with leading businesses from across the capital to offer every London school the opportunity to forge a high quality link with a major London enterprise. The London Business Challenge will:

• create a group of London businesses dedicated to improving education in the capital;
• build on the many successful partnerships existing in London today, and develop new links;
• develop partnerships consisting of a cluster of schools working in conjunction with a business in order to achieve an agreed set of goals; and
• enable schools to forge links with other schools in its cluster to share good practise still further.

Mr Twigg said: "The government is committed to transforming education provision in London, and the London Business challenge is an important part of this strategy. We want to draw on the vast economic resources in London and allow schools to reap the benefits. … I am also confident that not only will this make a real difference to schools, but that it will greatly benefit the businesses themselves, in terms of both community recognition and staff development and morale."

SSDA Involve Issue 34 13 June

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Anti-gay Section 28 to be repealed

Section 28 – the law banning the promotion of homosexuality in schools – is finally to be repealed. When the issue comes before the Lords' Grand Committee at the beginning of this week, the Tories will drop their opposition to repeal. Peers will be asked to consider compromises, which includes granting parents the right to examine sex education materials included in schools.

Jo Dillon, Deputy Political Editor, The Independent 15 June

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New OfSTED report finds five-year improvement in quality of school leadership and management

"Good or Better" leadership and management in three out of four schools, says Chief Inspector.

The proportion of headteachers providing excellent leadership and management in schools has doubled over the last five years, according to a new Office for Standards in Education report published today (27 June). Leadership and Management: what inspection tells us finds that strong leadership and management are the vital ingredients to bringing about improvements and success in schools. OfSTED inspectors report that the quality of leadership and management in schools has improved significantly over the last five years, with the proportion of schools with very good or excellent leadership and management more than doubling since 1996/97. In 2001/02 leadership and management was very good or excellent in 40% of primary schools and 47% of secondary schools compared to 15% and 19% respectively in 1996/97.

The report, ref. 1646, is available on the OfSTED Website (www.ofsted.gov.uk). It will also be available free from the OfSTED Publications Centre
tel: 07002 637833
email: freepublications@ofsted.gov.uk

OfSTED press release NR 2003-82 27 June

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Students "would prefer the atmosphere of college and at the earlier age of 14"

A survey from the Association of Colleges tells us that most schoolchildren would prefer to go to college than school. One in four said that they preferred the adult atmosphere, while a further 20% said that the courses offered by colleges were more attractive. Over half felt that studying vocational qualifications at college would make them more employable, although at 37%, there were still a substantial number who were not sure. Judith Norrington, curriculum director at the AoC, said that there was still a long way to go before vocational qualifications received parity of esteem with academic awards. She commented: "One way to give vocational qualifications appropriate status and recognition would be to include them in a wider, over-arching diploma or baccalaureate to ensure all pupils gain skills which will lead to employment in later life."

Patrick Fletcher, The Western Mail 19 June

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UK ID cards – the incredible shrinking consultation

Privacy International has accused the Home Office of fiddling the figures from the entitlement card public consultation. Prior to the closure of the consultation in January, there had been an announcement from the Home Office that it had received around 1,500 responses, the majority of which had been positive. A subsequent campaign by Privacy International and stand.org managed to "whip up" over 6,000 responses objecting to the proposal. However, when the final figures were presented to the Commons in April, minister Beverley Hughes said that a total of 2,000 responses had been received. Somewhat confused by this total, Simon Davies of Privacy International made an Open Government request for statistics and related information concerning the consultation. He was informed by a Home Office official that his request had been rejected. However, Mr Davies claims that he was "informally notified" by the Home Office that it had decided to collapse the 6,000 into just one or two by treating them as a single petition. Government officials deny that the numbers have been fiddled and say there's "no question of changing the statistical emphasis."

John Lettice, The Register
TheITportal News Roundup 9 June

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Public oppose ID card scheme

Home Office Minister, Beverley Hughes, has confirmed that the government received around 7,000 responses to its consultation on ID cards. She also admitted that over 5,000 of the 7,000 responses on the issue were against the scheme. She warned, however, that it could take until the middle of next month to "fully analyse" the responses. Simon Davies, head of Privacy International, is not impressed. He said: "I don't understand why they need until the end of this parliamentary session to analyse this. There are dodgy tactics going on here."

BBC News
TheITportal News Roundup 24 June

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GMB votes to expel racists

Delegates at the GMB conference have voted to expel members who participate in racist activities or who support or promote racist organisations. The ruling includes anyone who "gives encouragement to, or participates in, the activities of any organisation, faction or grouping whose policies or aims have expressed or implied promotion of racial supremacy or racial hatred at their core". GMB general secretary Kevin Curran said: "Racism is a cancer in our communities. We want to make it very clear that it has no place in the GMB. Our actions today will ensure that we remain an organisation that campaigns against racism and racist activities and upholds our objective of equality for all at work and at home."

Zoë Roberts, People Management Online 10 June

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Do not talk about race but act, says CRE chief

Trevor Phillips, head of the Commission for Racial Equality, is calling for schools and councils who are failing ethnic minority pupils to be punished. Mr Phillips would like to see school inspectors given powers to penalise schools and local education authorities which are not fulfilling their obligations to ethnic minority pupils.

James Sturke, The TES 13 June

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Racism's hidden impact on the quality of life for Britain's ageing ethnic minorities

The impact of racism should be properly considered when attempts are made to measure the quality of life of older people among Britain's ethnic minorities, according to a report on research sponsored by the Economic & Social Research Council. The research argues that, while there is growing interest in quality of life and how it is judged in terms of people's expectations and factors such as health and income, until now little research has been based on the views of older people themselves. This is particularly true of older people from minority ethnic groups, says the report. Although they make up an increasing proportion of Britain's older population, they are rarely represented in significant numbers in mainstream research. The report highlighted the increasing diversity in people's experiences of growing older in Britain today. However, the area in which the clearest contrasts emerged between white older people and those from minority ethnic groups was the experience of racism. Report author Jabeer Butt said: "About half the people from minority ethnic groups said they had experienced racism – a figure which is likely to be an underestimate given a widespread reluctance to speak about the topic. By contrast, only those white people who were from a hidden minority, such as Welsh or Irish, or who had a Black partner, reported they had experienced racism." Other findings include:

• There seems to be an emerging trend for Black Caribbean and Asian older people to live in sheltered accommodation run by housing associations operated within these ethnic communities.
• Although many from minority ethnic groups visited their country of birth for holidays or family occasions such as weddings, the great majority saw themselves as firmly established in their local communities where they had lived for many years.
• Perhaps contrary to expectations, a high proportion of people identified religion as providing meaning and purpose to their lives. This was especially true of Black Caribbean women for whom their local church was an important source of support.

For more information, contact Lesley Lilley or Anna Hinds at ESRC
tel: 01793 413119/413122

ESRC press release 19 May

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Disability Discrimination can include constructive dismissal

Whilst off sick, C was offered redundancy or early retirement. He claimed disability discrimination which was upheld on appeal. "If the choice is between redundancy and early retirement C is not being asked whether but how his employment is to be terminated. Dismissal under the DDA 1995 includes constructive dismissal." was the conclusion of the Employment Appeals Tribunal.

Advisor No 97 May/June 2003

Update comment: The exhortation to "phrase your questions carefully" reminds me of a recent question about a popular, perfect-bound, publication. The question "Do you want this publication in one large ring binder or two smaller ones?" does not invite the only answer most of those questioned wanted to give: "Neither – I don't want it ring-bound."

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Discrimination rights extended to ex-employees

Employees are entitled to bring claims of race, sex or disability discrimination against employers for acts that occur after their employment ends, following a landmark ruling from the House of Lords. The decision swept away previous case law that allowed only post-employment victimisation claims linked to a tribunal claim to be pursued under discrimination laws.

People Management Online 26 June

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Jobs cash call

An interim report from the Work and Pensions select committee has delivered a "wake-up call" to the government over its schemes to boost the employment of disabled people. The report states that Jobcentre Plus and the New Deal for Disabled People are "severely under-resourced" and will be unable to deliver on work-focused schemes without more money. Loran Reith, chief executive of the Disability Alliance said that the government has "underestimated how serious the barriers are for disabled people moving into work".

Disability Now May 2003

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Greater effort required for special educational needs

A report from the National Association for Special Educational Needs (NASEN) has warned that not enough effort is being made to support the learning of children and adults in Wales. It criticises both the lack of teacher training in special educational need and physical access. However, it argues, while schools appear to be addressing the situation, there is little comparable work being done in the post-compulsory sector. The report states: "In Wales post-16 education in particular needs should be tackled to make sure sufficient funding is ring-fenced."

Jenny Rees, The Western Mail 5 June

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Government must do more to get disabled people into jobs

The government cannot hope to meet its targets for getting more disabled people into jobs unless it adopts a more ambitious long-term strategy for change. That's the message coming from a new report published by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR). Commitments to significantly reduce the difference between the employment rate of disabled people and the overall rate are not doing enough to transform the lives of the one million disabled people in the UK who want to work, but are currently unemployed, the report says. It argues that although advances have been made, support aimed at getting disabled people into work still focuses on the individual disabled person, with less attention given to the role of the employer or to effective rehabilitation policies and services. The IPPR recommends that the government must work towards creating an environment that supports the inclusion of disabled people and gives more disabled people work opportunities. Their report has established a seven point strategy that can help those disabled people needlessly unemployed – the Missing Million – to get into employment.

A renewed long-term approach should:

• dispel the myths that surround disability and work;
• develop an ethical business case model that recognises that business and social benefits are intrinsically linked;
• strengthen rehabilitation services for people when they become disabled which includes refocusing health services;
• create more flexible benefits and reduce the risks for people moving off benefits and into work;
• deliver successful welfare to work initiatives for disabled people through a twin strategy of expanding and enhancing schemes specifically for disabled people and making mainstream programmes accessible to them;
• develop a more ambitious role for Jobcentre Plus; and
• transform the expectations of disabled people, employers, the government and the independent sector.

Kate Stanley, IPPR research fellow and one of the report's authors said: "With nearly one in five adults of working age now disabled [is this really true?] this is a mainstream issue that permeates all sectors of the economy and society. In addition, we also have an ageing population in which older people are more likely to become disabled. Current policies are inadequate to meet the scale and importance of the challenge of supporting many more disabled people into work."

HRLooK 18 June

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"Staggering" level of pay complacency uncovered

A report from the Equal Opportunities Commission reveals that the majority of employers have no plans to investigate the pay levels of their employees. Most considered that their current practices are sufficient to ensure that men and women are paid equally and that their organisation does not have a gender pay gap. The report suggests that the pervading view among employers is that linking pay to performance and job responsibilities will automatically remove the potential for inequitable pay. This is in spite of evidence which shows that the pay gap between male and female full-time employees still stands at around 20%, the same level it has held for the past 25 years.

Monitoring Progress Towards Pay Equality is available to download in PDF from www.eoc.org.uk/cseng/research/monitoringprogress.pdf

Equal Opportunities Review Number 117 May 2003

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Education narrows gender wage gap

According to a recent study, the better educated a woman is, the smaller the gender pay gap she encounters. The study found that, for people who had been working for three years post graduation, the pay gap was just 12%, compared with the national average of around 20%. The report's author, Arnaud Chevalier, warns, however, that there are still many reasons why the gender gap stubbornly refuses to close. Mr Chevalier argues that women continue to be over-represented in areas that are associated with lower pay, such as education and the arts. He suggests that they are also more likely to work in smaller firms and that career breaks mean that promotional opportunities are often denied to them. He goes on to underplay the potential impact of employer discrimination, arguing that it is more likely that "socialisation, differences in educational choice, occupational choice and labour market attachment" determines the value of women's pay levels.

Motivation, Expectations and the Gender Pay Gap for UK Graduates is available at www.warwick.ac.uk/res2003/papers/Chevalier.pdf

IRS Employment Review Issue 776 23 May

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Suggestive? Harrassment?

Advisor (No 97 May/June 2003) has a very interesting article on when unwanted behaviour (suggestive remarks such as "Hiya big tits") becomes unlawful. Do you, as the woman who is generously endowed, need to complain each time such a remark is made? The Employment Appeals Tribunal, in a particular case, made two important points:

• Just because a woman did not complain at the time of each incident it does not mean that she consented to the conduct
• The intention behind the harassment is largely irrelevant. The comments may not be meant to be taken seriously but that is not the point.

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The fact vacuum

A two-year inquiry into how the current and future needs of severely or multiply-disabled adults should be met in the next decade has concluded that "an acute shortage of information about the numbers and characteristics of disabled people is causing unsuitable and badly-planned care". The inquiry report, Where Do You Think You're Going? published by John Grooms, a leading disability charity, reveals that the last comprehensive survey of the characteristics and distribution of disabled adults was conducted 15 years ago. Recent estimates suggest that the number of disabled adults has risen by around 30% since that time, but services and support have not increased to meet the rise in demand. Consequently, many disabled adults cannot find suitable housing, flexible care or access to the facilities they need. The charity calls on the government to develop a consistent way of monitoring the numbers of adults with disabilities resident in the UK. It would also like to see the creation of a national database to make sure that facilities are distributed according to regional requirements.

A summary and full copy of the report is available from the John Grooms National Office – ring Supporter Services on 020 7452 2121.

Raekha Prasad, The Guardian 4 June

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Equal Opportunities versus diversity?

A briefing paper from the Runnymede Trust challenges the view that "diversity" policies have taken over from "equal opportunities" policies for organisations. The paper, Divided by the Same Language?, argues that the two terms are often used as though they are interchangeable. However, it warns that an organisation must support and maintain both as separate strategies if it is committed to achieving change. It states: "[Diversity and equal opportunities] have a combined value in complementing each other; while at the same time, they make particular and distinctive individual contributions to creating a fairer and more inclusive society."

The paper is available in PDF from www.runnymedetrust.org/publications/online/Divided_by_Language.pdf

Equal Opportunities Review Number 117 May 2003

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Reclaiming the right to read

More news on library access for visually impaired people. In this article for Library and Information Update (June 2003 Volume 2(6)), Linda Corrigan reports on how libraries are responding to Framework for the Future, which "highlighted the need to address the gap between mainstream library services and socially excluded groups".

URL: www.cilip.org.uk/update/issues/jun03/article4june.html

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Self-advocacy and supported learning for mothers with learning difficulties

Authors: Tim Booth and Wendy Booth,
University of Sheffield

This article describes the work of the Supported Learning Project (SLP). The SLP was a DfEE Adult Continuing Learning Fund programme designed to provide personal support and development in self-advocacy to mothers with learning difficulties. The authors provide an account of the project, an overview of the learning gains made by the mothers and the obstacles to progress they encountered, and an evaluation of the project's success in achieving its intended aims. The article concludes with a discussion of the transferable lessons that emerged from working with this hard-to-reach group of excluded mothers.

Journal of Learning Disabilities Volume 7 Issue 2 June 2003

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Special needs and inclusion – help!

The National Grid for Learning's Inclusion Website is a resource for education and health professionals who need to access resources to support individual learning needs. The Website has recently launched a new Advice area, where practitioners can find information and advice from experts and colleagues.

URL: http://inclusion.ngfl.gov.uk

Education Marketplace Issue 8 Summer 2003

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Durham axes Asian studies in £8.7 million revamp

Durham University is to close its departments of East Asian studies and linguistics as part of an £8.7 million restructuring plan to concentrate funding on the departments with strongest research and most appeal to students, writes Donald MacLeod (The Guardian 19 June). A spokesperson for the university said: "The whole economic ground is changing under the universities and some difficult decisions have to be made." Departmental staff are said to be "furious" about the decision, saying that it will end a 50-year tradition at the university. They argue that the university has made "erroneous financial assumptions" and have consistently refused to allow subject experts to review the quality of their research.

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Students left in limbo as top university axes course

Forty students have been informed that the podiatry course they thought they would embark on in September has been cancelled. Instead of studying at University College London, arguably one of Britain's most prestigious universities, the students will be reallocated to one of three possible institutions, South Bank University, University of East London and London Metropolitan – all former polytechnics. Tim Miller, deputy head of the Jewish free school in Kenton, where one pupil had been offered a place at UCL, said: "It's a bit like getting on to the trainee management scheme at Harrods, then being told you're now doing it at Iceland."

Polly Curtis, The Guardian 18 June

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Higher Education in Further Education colleges: the Scottish experience

Author: Jim Gallagher,
Council for Industry and Higher Education
ISBN: 1-87422-338-6

Further education colleges in Scotland are major providers of higher education at undergraduate level. In 2000-01, 34% of all higher education students were enroled in further education colleges. This report discusses the nature of this provision and examines its development, including its strengths and weaknesses. The report also asks whether the dependence of English further education colleges on higher education institutions and their funding systems is appropriate. It argues that higher education in further education colleges needs a champion if it is to play a more important role in England.

Skills & Education Network Newsletter June 2003

Update comment: The Newsletter says "read", gives an email address (cihe@btinternet.com) and says the report costs £5. The email address is for ordering – pay by credit card. The Web address is www.cihe-uk.com for more information about the organisation.

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Health academics fear NHSU will grab slice of research pie

The medical academic community is reported to be very concerned at the news that a slice of the Department of Health's research budget is to be allocated to the new NHS university. Universities fear that this move will represent a serious conflict of interests. Mike Spyer, the dean of the Royal Free and University College London Medical School, said: "Most of us in the medical schools are really very concerned about this. It is a strange situation to have a university that is both a commissioner of research activity as well as a provider."

Anna Fazackerley, The THES 13 June

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Colleges hit back at "dumbing down" claim

In response to the raft of criticisms directed at colleges as a result of the news that the government plans to change the rules on university titles, the Association of Colleges insists that there will be no "dumbing down" of higher education. Judith Norrington, director of curriculum and quality for the Association of Colleges, pointed out to the critics that there are already over 200 colleges providing higher education courses, including foundation degrees and MBAs. She indicated that the number of students who are engaged in HE courses at FE institutions now number around 170,000 (10% of the UK total). She also dismissed claims that the move would see a flood of colleges applying for degree-awarding powers and university status. "There may be a small number of specialist institutions or those who have a high level of higher education work who may wish to consider university title, but I don't think there is going to be a wholesale desire by colleges to transform themselves into universities because of the range and depth of their mission", she said.

Donald MacLeod, The Guardian 4 June

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Students in higher education are on the up

Latest statistics from the University and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) show that the trend of increasing numbers of applicants successfully gaining places at Welsh higher education institutions is continuing. Some 20,484 applicants were accepted by Welsh institutions, representing an increase of 11% from 1999. And, of those applicants accepted by Welsh HEIs, 48% were from Wales.

Welsh Assembly press release 12 June

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Students should live at home, says survey

According to a survey conducted by online research company YouGov, almost one in five parents want their children to remain at home while they are studying at university. The survey also showed that, while parents felt their offspring should find part-time work in order to support themselves, most accepted that they would take steps to cover the cost themselves. One in seven parents said that they would work longer hours to increase their take-home pay. 9% said that they would attempt to find a better paid job and 6% said that they would remortgage their homes. Unfortunately for the government, around 16% of parents admitted that they were no longer advising their children to apply to university, recommending that they look for work instead.

Press Association, The Guardian 4 June

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Teaching-focused "not worthy" of university title

Barry Sheerman, chair of the Commons education and skills select committee, has spoken out against the plans to separate teaching and research-led universities. Mr Sheerman told a British Medical Association conference: "There is a very big query about allowing institutes to have the university title without research." He argued that it was "important to defend the partnership of teaching and research in every area of higher education, and not just within a small number of leading universities".

Anna Fazackerley, The THES 6 June

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QAA could make or break new universities

The government has revealed that it intends to introduce criteria under which the Quality Assurance Agency will be able to withdraw degree-awarding powers (DAPs) from institutions. The situation at present is that university status may be given to institutions, provided they gain DAPs, maintain degree standards over time, and meet a criterion on minimum HE student numbers. However, there is no system for removing either DAPs or university status from under-performing establishments. A spokesperson for the government said: "New orders for degree-awarding powers granted by the Privy Council will be for a time-limited period, with renewal of the powers subject to achievement of a satisfactory QAA audit result."

Alan Thomson, The THES 6 June

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Top six universities get extra funding

Higher education minister, Margaret Hodge, has announced that the government intends to reward the top six research departments by granting them an additional £8 million in capital expenditure funding. The decision has sparked fears that this bonus is just "the thin end of the wedge", and that it will create a catalyst to speed up the split between research and teaching institutions. Moreover, according to EducationGuardian.co.uk's league table of research funding, the institutions which are most likely to benefit are Oxford, Cambridge, University College London, Imperial College, King's College London and Edinburgh, creating a concentration of research in the south, at the expense of the north.

John Crace, The Guardian 12 June

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Tories "have got numbers wrong"

A closer inspection of the Conservative Party manifesto, which claimed that the party would abolish top-up fees, reveals that it would indeed do just that. However, in order to pay for it, the party would have to slash some 80,000 student places. The NUS said "Boo. Hiss".

Phil Baty, The THES 13 June

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UCAS courses to train staff in fair admissions procedures

The Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) has launched a series of courses for university admissions staff. Developed in conjunction with Universities UK, the courses are designed to "help meet government demands for institutions to employ a fair and transparent admissions process". Admissions staff will be trained in managing the recruitment and admissions service, making decisions on applications, processing applications and supporting the admissions process.

Alison Goddard, The THES 27 June

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UK poor cousins to US tech transfers

According to the annual Association of University Technology Managers survey, UK universities are the "poor relations" when compared to their North American counterparts. The survey shows that in 2001, North American and Canadian universities generated more than £610 million from their research, while, according to the UK Technology Transfer survey, UK universities raised just £16 million. A spokesperson from the Nottingham University Business School commented that UK universities outperform the US at making discoveries, but were poor at making these discoveries pay.

Caroline Davis, The THES 6 June

"If you must hold yourself up to your children as an object lesson, hold yourself up as a WARNING and not as an example."

George Bernard Shaw

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Older people's views on information, advice and advocacy

This study from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation explored the needs and problems of the diverse communities of older people in Slough in relation to information, advice and advocacy. Older people were interviewed both individually and within focus groups, as were service providers. Key findings include:

• Older people experienced barriers in accessing information, advice and advocacy in three stages: becoming aware that there was information, advice or advocacy that could help in their situation; gaining access to appropriate and comprehensive information and advice; and receiving practical assistance to act on the information and achieve a solution.
• They welcomed advice that helped relate information to their particular circumstances, and assistance to obtain the services they needed. The volume of information available could be as problematic as an absence of information. Older people valued information that was topic-based, rather than the agency-based information that was more frequently offered.
• They desired continuity of contact, to avoid having to retell their story to new people.

A follow-up service was also appreciated, ensuring a solution was achieved, rather than simply being referred on to yet another potential source of information.

• The study also found that services struggled to provide accurate and comprehensive information to older people, in the absence of resources to develop and maintain information databases.
• Older people's preferred solutions included: an information bank to provide a comprehensive and updated source of information, and an information centre to provide a point of contact for older people.

More details at www.jrf.org.uk/knowledge/findings/socialcare/623.asp

Joseph Rowntree Foundation research 12 June

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Blunkett crackdown on unruly youngsters is "illegal"

A joint Commons and Lords committee has warned David Blunkett that his plans to crack down on unruly youngsters may well fall foul of the European Convention on Human Rights. The Committee said that provisions in the Anti-Social Behaviour Bill, currently passing through the Commons, which would give the police powers to disperse groups of young people, return them to their homes and remove them from "dysfunctional" families constituted a "potential intrusion on private life and liberty". It also criticised the wording of the Bill, arguing that the wording was vague and did not provide adequate explanations of what may or may not be challenged.

Nigel Morris, Home Affairs Correspondent, The Independent 18 June

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Industry and Higher Education Volume 17 Number 3 June 2003

Abstracts from the current issue include:

Needs of industrial companies as the point of departure in continuing education

Authors: Ilkka Kauranen and Matti Lintuniemi

Abstract: Conventionally, continuing education has been planned by taking the needs of the students as the point of departure. A new continuing education concept has been developed in which the point of departure for programme planning is the needs of industrial companies. The hypothesis is that, if the continuing education programme is designed to help the companies, the needs of the other interest groups will be better fulfilled at the same time. This paper outlines the new concept, describes its application in a pilot programme, and assesses the outcomes of that programme. The feasibility of the new concept is assessed from the perspectives of the various interest groups, both shortly after the programme and in a longitudinal study. The prime target of meeting the needs of the companies was achieved, and the needs of other interest groups were also fulfilled – to some extent even more effectively than through more conventional approaches.

Work-based learning, theory and practice: a case study of Scottish SMEs

Authors: Evelyn Boyd, Hazel Knox and John Struthers

Abstract: This paper begins with a discussion and analysis of the relevance of work-based learning to contemporary education and training needs. It then briefly outlines changes in attitudes and approaches to higher education and training in the UK over the past few decades and highlights the new "learning partnership model" (LPM) as one that offers great potential for the effective development of a wide range of skills. In this context, the authors present a detailed analytical case study of a European-funded Adapt–University for Industry project that sought to identify training needs and to provide guidance and advice on work-based learning opportunities for a variety of Scottish small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Using training needs analysis, the authors assess the difficulties as well as the opportunities inherent in such projects. The findings illustrate the heterogeneity of the SMEs' training and guidance requirements and highlight the importance of addressing the tension that exists between the different expectations of employers and employees in relation to training needs and benefits.

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WW2 people's war

The BBC has launched a new site to gather peoples' stories and experiences of the Second World War so that first-hand testimony is captured for future generations. To view the site or make a contribution, visit: www.bbc.co.uk/dna/ww2/

BBC Skillswise Newsletter Edition 79 18 June

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Revised HSE guidance on working with VDUs

Stress, visual discomfort, as well as aches and pains in the hands, wrists, arms or shoulders are just some of the problems that people who use visual display units (VDUs) incorrectly can suffer from. A new edition of the guidance book Working with VDUs has today (27 June) been published by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). Over five million people in Britain use VDUs for a significant part of their work. If good working practices are not followed, VDU workers can end up with a variety of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) or other health problems. However all these problems can be prevented by good workplace and job design and by using the equipment and workstation in the right way. In 2001/02 around 1.1 million people in Great Britain suffered from MSDs caused or made worse by work, and an estimated 12.3 million working days were lost due to work-related MSDs. On average each sufferer took 19.4 days off. Working with VDUs gives revised practical advice on working with a mouse, taking into account the latest research results. The main points are to adopt a good posture, placing the mouse close so it can be used with a relaxed arm and straight wrist; to support the arm, for example on the desk surface; and to take frequent breaks and try to limit the time spent using the mouse. If users still find gripping the mouse awkward, the advice is to try a different sized or shaped mouse, or another device such as a trackball. The revised booklet also recommends using a docking station when working with a portable computer in an office environment.

The booklet was last revised in 1998. Today's changes bring it up to date, and completes a fully revised package of HSE guidance on VDU work.

Single copies of Working with VDUs (INDG36 rev2) are available free from
HSE Books, PO Box 1999, Sudbury, Suffolk CO10 2WA
tel: 01787 881165

This booklet is also available in priced packs of 10, ISBN 0-7176-2222-3

HSE press release E105: 03 27 June

Update comment: Working with a mouse? I [Hazel] avoid it whenever possible! Keyboard shortcuts, highlighting with the shift and cursor keys, and using the ALT key to access the menus are all ways of keeping your hands on the keyboard. Not only does this reduce the risk of injury it also saves time – quite a lot of it!

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Support for community languages

BECTa has launched a new Website to support teachers and others working with people for whom English is not their first language. The Community Languages Website offers case studies, language tools including software and fonts and downloadable resources.

URL: www.becta.org.uk/inclusion/inclusion_lang/community/index.html

Education Marketplace Issue 8 Summer 2003

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Tightening responsibilities

Paul Bivand, editor of Working Brief, examines the measures proposed in the budget to tighten the responsibilities of unemployed jobseekers. These are:

• Increased jobsearch help for recipients of Jobseeker's Allowance between the 13th and 19th weeks of a claim including a requirement to sign on weekly.
• Widening the travel to work area from 1 to 1½ hours after 13 weeks of a claim.
• An increase in the minimum number of job applications to be submitted each week.

Mr Bivand argues that the proposals may appear to make reasonable sense on first reading. However, he does not believe that they will have a dramatic impact on joblessness. He believes that it would have been far more effective to widen the type of activities that are considered to be "taking steps to find work". At present activities such as engaging in learning or training and undertaking voluntary work do not count as activities which contribute to finding work.

Mr Bivand suggests that, certainly from a potential employer's perspective, they clearly are.

Working Brief Issue 145 June 2003

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Young adults lack support

According to a study from the School of Lifelong Learning and International Development at the Institute of Education, government education and training policy is guilty of ignoring the needs of a substantial number of young people. The study, Taking Control: Young Adults Talking About the Future in Education, Training and Work, argues that those aged 19 to 25, who make up the other half of the 50% HE participation target, fall into a "demographic vacuum" between government youth and adult policies. Professor Karen Evans, who directed the research, tells us the study revealed that "too much emphasis was placed on identifying the skills this group was assumed to lack, and too little on helping it to overcome the barriers society places in its way." The study calls for agencies to offer the 19 to 25 age group:

• The means to deal with obstacles such as locally depressed labour markets.
• Strategies to tackle racism and sexism.
• Training in their right to be treated equally.
• Ways of thinking through what they want to do rather than relying on chance.
• Family support through liaison with agencies that can assist families unable to provide it.

Professor Evans said: "The ladder of opportunity, getting as many qualifications as possible as quickly as possible, is not the way that everybody sees things. Many young people have other preoccupations, other life events."

Taking Control: Young Adults Talking About the Future in Education, Training and Work, is published by The National Youth Agency (www.nya.org.uk)

Tim Greenhalgh, The THES 6 June

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Students' Internet searching exposed

A research project carried out by the Learning Resource Centre at Cambridge Regional College reveals that FE students are not the most clued-up people when it comes to searching for information on the Internet. An analysis of search engine queries highlighted a number of problems, from misspelling search terms to misunderstanding how search engines work. Students were found to have typed Web addresses into search boxes and entered vague queries which returned in excess of 10 million hits. The researchers concluded that more work should be done with users to make sure that they understand what a search engine is and how to use it effectively. They further suggest that students are made aware of directories, gateways and portals, which may be more useful for subject-wide searches.

Library and Information Update June 2003 Volume 2(6)

Update comment: It's not just students who can't do it. If you're having a problem finding something please email (info@adset.org.uk) or phone (01536 410500) the ADSET Enquiry Service. No, Dawn and I are not saying that we're any better than you at general searching – it's just that between us we spend a heck of a lot of time looking at various topics to do with education, training and guidance etc to produce this Update – a lot of which doesn't make it into the finished publication.

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Internet Q & A

Site of the month from Phil Bradley (Library and Information Update June 2003 Volume 2(6)) is a real beauty this month. For those of us of "a certain age" who lament the passing of the corner shop and sneer at the choice of sweets available to the youth of today, Mr Bradley recommends the A Quarter of… online sweetshop. Here you may purchase strawberry sherbets, coconut tobacco and even Floral Gums and have them delivered to your door. And Swizzle's lollies, cough candy and pineapple chunks. Not to mention Pontefract cakes and space dust and … I'm getting carried away so I'll stop.

URL: www.aquarterof.co.uk

Update comment: Since I [Hazel] know that Phil Bradley did not mention all of those sweets I can only assume that Dawn has been spending a fortune on sweet buying this month!

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Database of post-16 research projects

The Learning and Skills Development Agency (LSDA) has announced that a searchable database of research projects is now available on its Website. The database includes those projects conducted by the LSDA and the Learning and Skills Research Centre (LSRC) which have taken place since 1998.

www.lsrc.ac.uk/projects.asp?pageid=61

Skills & Education Network Newsletter June 2003

Update comment: I found this site quite difficult to understand but – if you know what you are looking for it's very easy. Yet another information source that I need to "get to grips with".

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New Website aimed at Small Businesses

The Small Business Service has launched a new Website providing small and medium-sized firms with practical support and best practice information. The CONNECT Website gives firms access to "real-life" documentary video case studies, a resource library and clear self assessment.

URL: www.connectbestpractice.com

SSDA Intelligence Issue 12 16 June

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RNIB relaunches Website

The RNIB has relaunched its Website to make it more user-friendly for visitors with impaired vision. The new site will be easier to navigate with assistive technologies and will also include information on accessing technology, with fact-sheets and resources.

URL: www.rnib.org.uk

E-Access Bulletin Issue 42 June 2003

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Sector Skills Matrix launched

The Sector Skills Development Agency has launched the Sector Skills Matrix, a source of skills and labour market information from a sector perspective. It presents data from national sources for 27 sectors across the UK and for the 9 English regions, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, where possible. Users can access information by industry grouping, as well as by a range of indicators and, as the Network develops, by Sector Skills Council (SSC). Access to the Matrix is free and no password is required.

URL: www.ssdamatrix.org.uk

SSDA Involve Issue 33 4 June

Update comment: And, lo and behold, we get what we asked for! I [Hazel] have not yet had time to have a good look at this site but what I have seen looks good. It's large (no, it's huge) and if you're not careful you end up going round in circles with lots of links to the DTI, National Statistics etc from the different sectors. Not as "gossipy" as information from many of the individual sector/trade bodies since it relies heavily on nationally produced statistics but none the worse for that.

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242,000 more people in work than a year ago according to government figures

Employment has grown strongly in the latest quarter and over the last year. That's the message coming from the government today (11 June) in the light of their lastest set of employment figures. The trend in unemployment is generally flat but has fluctuated from month to month. Nick Brown, Minister for Work, said: "These are testing times for the world economy, but in the UK the number of people in jobs is growing."

HRLooK 11 June

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e-skills UK publishes new labour market intelligence

e-skills UK, the Sector Skills Council for IT, Telecoms and Contact Centres, has published labour market intelligence which identifies some of the key recruitment and skills issues facing the sector. Findings include:

• Contact centre staff now number 867,000, representing over 3.1% of the UK working population.
• 35% of call centres report vacancies for staff, with 11% experiencing recruitment difficulties. Difficulties are most commonly caused by a lack of skills in communication, using technology/contact centre systems and customer care skills among applicants.
• 32% of contact centre staff lack the type or level of skills to meet business objectives. 24% of contact centres claim they will be increasing the amount spent on training per head over the next six months.
• 56% of the contact centre workforce is female, and 51% of the workforce is under 34 years old.

To purchase a full copy of the report, e-skills UK: Contact Centre Survey (price £95), and for further information on e-skills UK's activities, visit www.e-skills.com/contactcentres

SSDA Involve Issue 33 4 June

Update comment: This is, of course, the type of information we hoped for from every Sector Skills Council – but preferably not costing £95.

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UK job outlook weakens but remains amongst best in Europe

The results have today (17 June) been announced of the quarterly Employment Outlook survey, and it paints a gloomy picture. However, in comparison to the rest of Europe, the situation is still a rosy one. The survey, carried out by Manpower, took in more than 30,000 employers across 18 countries and provides a forecast of employer hiring intentions for the quarter ahead: July to September 2003. The Net Employment Outlook (the balance of employers forecasting to take on more staff) for the UK in quarter three, is +13%. Tony Howard, Managing Director of Manpower said: "Undoubtedly we are facing a challenging business environment but the encouraging news is that the Manpower Survey shows employment prospects in the UK are holding up. The UK's forecast is one of the strongest in Europe."

HRLook 17 June

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Biggest rise in jobless total in over a decade

Figures from the Office for National Statistics for May 2003 show that the number of people unemployed in Britain has risen by the fastest rate in over 10 years. ONS said that the claimant count increased by 9,700 to 950,800, making it the biggest increase since December 1992. The preferred unemployment rate, which includes those out of work but not claiming benefit, increased by 36,000.

Philip Thornton, Economics Correspondent, The Independent 10 June

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Method of measuring unemployment figures to be updated

The way the government monitors and records unemployment is to change, it has been announced today (17 June) by the Office of National Statistics (ONS). Previously, the only information available nationally about job vacancies was from records of vacancies notified by employers to Jobcentres. This provided only a partial picture, because not all vacancies were advertised this way. The new ONS survey, however, looks at jobs right across the economy. The National Statistician, Len Cook, made the announcement, saying: "The ONS Vacancy Survey is a welcome addition to National Statistics, providing valuable information about labour demand across the economy. The assessments of the job market set out in our monthly labour market statistics First Releases will benefit greatly from this important new series. The vacancies survey has been designed to minimise the administrative burden on businesses selected to be in the sample. The basic question is very simple, just asking how many job vacancies the organisation had on a set date. Most respondents make returns directly to ONS using their telephone keypads. ONS began to publish results from this survey in September 2002 as experimental statistics, but from now on the figures will be fully-fledged National Statistics. Full back series are available from April 2001. The latest statistics, for March-May 2003, show a total of 605,900 job vacancies in the UK, little changed from the figure for the same three months of 2002. National totals of job vacancies and details by industry group will, from next month, be in the labour market statistics First Release, to be published on 16 July."

HRLooK 17 June

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Union gloom on industry is "nonsense"

A report from the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) will refute union claims that Britain risks having no manufacturing base within 25 years unless policies are changed. The report, which will be published in August, dismisses this claim as "nonsense", and accused Derek Simpson, joint general secretary of Amicus and the man behind the comments, of misreading the facts. Peter Robinson, senior economist at the IPPR, said the study predicts that the UK will retain a "significant industrial base" until the year 2050. He said: "There will still be a manufacturing base. It will be a smaller proportion of the economy but that will be true for all advanced economies."

Saeed Shah, The Independent 26 June

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Labour figures highlight new business risks

New unemployment figures released yesterday (11 June) may not be as positive as the government has claimed. Nick Brown, Minister for Work and Pensions was only too pleased to herald the figures as yet another success, but the reaction coming from the British Chambers of Commerce today (12 June) is a lot different. Reacting to the figures, David Kern, Economic Adviser to the British Chambers of Commerce said: "These figures are worse than expected. They show a 36,000 rise in the number of people out of work in the three months to April, and a 9,700 rise in the number of people out of work and claiming benefit in May, the biggest monthly increase for more than ten years. The UK labour market has so far been strong and flexible, but these figures are worrying. They clearly show the effects of the marked slowdown in GDP growth around the turn of the year, but we may also see already some of the adverse effects of the one per cent April rise in NICs." Mr Kern added: "The slowdown in the pace of average earnings growth, to 3.2% in the year February to April, from 3.4% in the year January to March, confirms that inflationary pressures are easing and that the Bank of England has considerable room for manoeuvre. However, the fact that growth in private sector earnings at 2.7%, is almost half the 5.2% rise in public sector earnings, highlights the danger that the current upsurge in government spending, although beneficial to many businesses in the short term, will crowd out the private sector in the longer-term." David Frost, Director General, British Chambers of Commerce said: "While not wishing to put too much weight on one month's statistics, today's figures highlight the risks that that the economy will remain weak and the hoped-for recovery will not materialise without government action on reducing tax and regulations on business. Lower interest rates and a weaker pound may not be sufficient to support activity."

HRLooK 12 June

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Class of 2003 shuns the City for careers in the classroom

The 2003 Graduate Careers Survey reveals that just 10% of final-year students believe that there will be enough graduate jobs to go round after they have completed their studies. Most expect that their starting salary will be lower than last year, and almost a third think that graduate opportunities will be limited. A spokesperson said that these results were the "most pessimistic" for a decade. The survey also showed that mounting debts are not putting people off taking a gap-year experience. Despite average debts reaching £10,100, one in five students still intend to go travelling after they graduate, and a further 8% intend to take up casual or voluntary positions.

Richard Garner Education Editor, The Independent 19 June

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The Probability for Unemployed Young People to Re-Enter Education or Employment: a comparative study in six Northern European countries

Torild Hammer,
NOVA Norwegian Social Research, Oslo, Norway

Abstract: This article examines the return to education or employment of unemployed young people in Northern Europe. Comparative surveys of nearly 8,600 unemployed young people in Sweden, Finland, Iceland, Denmark, Norway and Scotland enabled us to study the probability for unemployed young people to re-enter the educational system versus employment. The results showed that, in all countries, re-entering post-compulsory education was mainly dependent on educational capital. … The respondents' education, their parents' education and parents' support for their children's education had a strong impact on the probability of re-entering the educational system. Social capital … increased the probability of re-entering employment, but had no impact on the probability of re-entering education. Most important, in most countries, young unemployed women had a higher probability of re-entering education than unemployed young men. There were also differences between countries. The results cannot only be explained by access to further education. In Iceland and Scotland, further education is less developed than in the other countries. However, 18% of the sample returned to education in Iceland, compared with only 3% in Scotland.

British Journal of Sociology of Education

Volume 24 Number 2 April 2003

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Inspector denies OfSTED is bad value

OfSTED Chief inspector David Bell has rejected claims by a senior civil servant that OfSTED is "poor value for money and can produce misleading results". Richard Housden, director general for schools at the DfES, told a conference that the service provided by OfSTED, which costs around £197 million annually, was expensive and did not always give parents accurate or up-to-date information. He said: "I am not persuaded that the … public expenditure on OfSTED really delivers for us". Mr Bell countered this argument by highlighting what OfSTED has achieved. He reminded critics that the body has identified more than 1,000 schools which were consistently failing to provide acceptable levels of education. He said: "That doesn't seem to me to be about poor value for money or going soft. That's about providing an honest, frank appraisal."

The TES 20 June

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Trust is key to success

Jenny Rees (The Western Mail 5 June), says it is the season for telling jokes about education consultants. One she claims to have heard asks the question: "Why do consultants refer to themselves as gurus?" Answer: "Because they can't spell the word charlatan".

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Think of a number…

This article in Library and Information Update (June 2003 Volume 2(6)) tells us that the world is about to run out of ISBNs. This is due to demand for the 10-digit identifying number growing much faster than its original creators anticipated. Michael Healy, Editorial Director of Neilsen BookData, suggests that it is electronic and print-on-demand publishing that is exacerbating the situation, since ebooks are often printed to suit various platforms, each requiring its own identifier. Publishers have also found that there is a substantial market for "fragments" of books and have thus felt obliged to allocate an ISBN to individual sections or chapters which are offered for sale in isolation. Mr Healy tells us that an International Organization for Standardization working group, is currently working towards a solution to this problem, with the preferred solution being the addition of a three-digit prefix to the existing ISBN.

Update comment: This article is rather complicated, certainly for me [Dawn], and, unfortunately, is not available online. I have, however, found an FAQ from ISO which offers most of the information contained in the article.

URL: www.nlc-bnc.ca/iso/tc46sc9/isbn.htm

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WDA take the lead on Knowledge Exploitation

Responsibility for the Knowledge Exploitation Fund (KEF) will be moving to the Welsh Development Agency from the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales and the National Council – ELWa. The move reflects the need for joined up working in this important policy area. KEF will continue to be a resource for further and higher education institutions. Ministerial responsibility for knowledge exploitation will transfer from the Education and Training Portfolio to the Economic Development portfolio.

Welsh Assembly press release 5 June

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LASER foundation claims UK library service is in "terminal decline"

According to a new report, Overdue: how to create a modern public library service, published by Demos in partnership with the Laser Foundation, a new libraries agency should step in to create a national network of "hub" services. Charles Leadbeater, the report's author, has delivered a hard-hitting analysis of the state of public libraries in the UK. He said: "The library service is sleepwalking to disaster and it needs to wake up to that fact. Unless decisive action is taken now, the decline of our public libraries could become terminal by the end of the decade. If that was allowed to happen, Britain would be writing off vital social and cultural assets." The report recommends the creation of a new national library development agency which would bring together all library stakeholders from national and local government.

The full report is available in PDF from www.demos.co.uk/overdue

INFO@UK Issue 27 June 2003

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Beardy-weirdies" rule

The news that libraries are in the top three "must-haves" for an ideal town has been well documented, both in the professional press and national newspapers. However, research commissioned by the organisers of the Library and Information Show reveals that libraries are failing to capitalise on their popularity. Poor publicity has meant that people are often unaware that the library is more than just a place from which to borrow books. While the majority of people know that they can access the Internet from their local library, few know that they can also research their family history, read foreign newspapers or borrow DVDs and CDs. The research also found that libraries, and librarians in particular, suffer from an image problem. More respondents believed that the terms "twinset and pearls" and "beardy-weirdy" were more appropriate description of library staff than "young professional person".

Library and Information Update June 2003 Volume 2(6)

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Forging a Learning Community? a pragmatic approach to co-operative learning

Author: Richard Hall
De Montfort University, Leicester

Abstract: The "learning community" is an important theme within the move to an information age. This article argues that the empowering elements of such communities are fundamental to higher education. However, a better understanding of what they entail is required by teachers. The author reflects upon current thinking about collaborative learning and communities of practice, and highlights how user-involvement in curriculum design and delivery can promote fuller engagement with the learning process. The findings of a three-year Higher Education Funding Council for England-funded initiative to implement and evaluate online teaching/learning in humanities and arts departments are analysed in order to illustrate the possibilities for learning and teaching innovation that learning communities can offer.

Arts and Humanities in Higher Education Volume 2 Issue 2 June 2003

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Student emails baffle tutors

A survey which examines ICT among staff and students in European universities reveals that academics are unhappy about the rise in the use of email. Far from proving to be a useful communication tool, email is viewed as a source of annoyance and frustration, and respondents said they feared a "collapse of the traditional boundaries between staff and students". Academics complain that students are contacting them for the most trivial reasons, using informal language and expect to be answered immediately. One respondent commented: "Students now readily email me in a form that they might use to text their friends. It's over-familiar, over-intrusive and, frankly, unintelligible."

Claire Sanders, The THES 20 June

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Moving Towards Inclusion: a picture of disadvantage in the South West

This report is intended to update and supersede the South West Training and Enterprise Council Reports of 1997/8 which looked at individual priority groups. It seeks to examine how policy and strategy have changed since the reports were published and provide an overview of the multiple disadvantages experienced by many of the residents in the South West.

The report is available in CD-ROM format, with a hard copy of the report summary. To order a copy, contact the Skills and Learning Intelligence Module
tel: 01392 264850
email: swslim@exeter.ac.uk

It is also available at www.swslim.org.uk/inclusion_report.asp

Skills and Learning Intelligence Bulletin Volume 8 April 2003

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Welfare to Work

The Welfare to Work Information Network, developed by the Centre for Economic and Social Inclusion and supported by Jobcentre Plus, has been given its official launch. The Website offers information about the welfare to work agenda and policy issues, both from a national and regional perspective. It also seeks to develop a network for sharing information and disseminating best practice and innovation in welfare to work settings.

URL: www.w2w.org.uk

Centre for Economic and Social Inclusion
News Bulletin 19 June

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Brain drain: the men who won't let jobs deprive them of fatherhood

According to pressure group Fathers Direct, Britain is in danger of facing a "brain drain" of men from high-profile jobs because the long hours culture does not enable them to spend time with their children. Following the news that health secretary Alan Milburn had resigned from his post because his career in politics was incompatible with his obligations to his family, Jack O'Sullivan, of Fathers Direct, said: "We are seeing a brain drain of fathers from these very high-powered jobs, and that is reducing the talent pool available in this country. Women who have children are getting trapped at home because of the high cost and low provision of child care, which means in turn that men are getting trapped at work, putting in ever-longer hours to make up for the lost income of their partners. It is good that Alan Milburn values his role as a father enough to give up his job, but it should not come down to that kind of choice."

Maxine Frith, Social Affairs Correspondent, The Independent 14 June

"You probably wouldn't worry about what people think of you if you could know how seldom they do."

Olin Miller

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Myth of long working hours

According to a press release from the Institute of Directors, there is no such thing as a "long hours culture" in the UK. The IoD argues that work-life balance protagonists are guilty of making "highly selective and distorted claims" which have "demonised the workplace in order to push through an agenda for changing work practices". In a short paper called the Work-Life Balance Revisited, the IoD said that the average hours for full-time employees in the UK is just 40 hours per week for a male worker, and less than 35 for full-time female workers. The paper also challenges other "urban myths", including:

• The workplace makes people unhappy and ill
  The IoD points to evidence that says that employed people are happier and healthier than unemployed people, and that most employees are satisfied with their working circumstances.
• Current working practices are inflexible and unacceptable
  The IoD says British employers are among the most flexible in Europe, with over 40% of working women working part-time compared with an EU average of 28%.
• Job insecurity has recently become endemic, and hire and fire is rampant
  The IoD dismisses this claim as "simply untrue", arguing that average job duration has changed only moderately over the last 20 years.

Ruth Lea, Head of the Policy Unit and author of the paper, said: "Everyone should be able to balance their work lives and home and family lives satisfactorily. British employers know this and are some of the most flexible in the world. … The Work-Life language is subliminally anti-business as it suggests that, somehow, the opposite of life (good thing) is work (bad thing)." A source from the Marchmont Webflash suggested that this paper should have been subtitled People who make us work long hours say we don't work long hours".

Marchmont Webflash Volume 7 Number 4 12 June

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Absence dips again, says CBI survey

According to the CBI's annual survey of employee absence, the number of days lost to absence has fallen from 7.1 in 2001 to 6.8 in 2002. This figure is the lowest since the survey began in 1987. However, while the CBI welcomes this fall, it warns that employee absence still cost UK plc over £11 billion last year. The survey also found that a substantial number of absences are not caused by illness. Home and family responsibilities are often behind an employees' inability to work. In addition, poor workplace morale is another common cause of absence. Indeed, according to the survey, poor morale now outstrips work-related accidents as a cause of absence among manual workers.

IRS Employment Review Issue 776 23 May

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Age is the key to labour turnover

It may not be a great surprise to learn that certain sections of the labour market suffer from higher staff turnover rates than others. However, recent analysis of the Labour Force Survey by the Office for National Statistics suggests that an employee's age could be a determining factor. It seems that industries which report the highest turnover rates are also those which have the lowest average employee age. Now, before anyone launches into a tirade about the "fecklessness of youth", government statisticians offer several explanations for this phenomenon, including:

• Young people are more likely to be in full or part-time education and will thus take on seasonal or transient work to fit around their studies.
• Young people have fewer financial obligations and are therefore more likely to risk changing jobs more frequently than older workers with mortgages and family commitments.
• Most organisations adopt the "last in, first out" approach to redundancy and downsizing, meaning that young people are among the first to suffer from "involuntary" job loss.

IRS Employment Review Issue 772 21 March

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Women found to be struggling for work/life balance

Employers may well be more understanding of the importance of helping their staff achieve work/life balance, and according to new research from The Work Foundation in association with Employers for Work/Life Balance (EfWLB), they are. But, for many women, the problem remains that when one working day finishes, another begins. The findings come from a report, About Time for Change, which was commissioned to mark the handover of EfWLB's remit to the Work Foundation. It is based on a survey of 500 respondents and investigates feelings about work/life balance. It finds that employers are responsive to the case for better work/life balance – three out of five people say that their employer would support all employees being able to work flexibly. But within the home women still have the greater share of domestic responsibility, and they are often doing what amounts to a double shift. They are over three and a half times more likely than men to report that they do most of the household tasks, and over 12 times more likely to report that they do most of the childcare. The case for equality in the home isn't helped by the fact that women generally earn less than their partners. Amongst couples, those earning the lowest and those whose career takes the lowest priority in a household are more likely to do the childcare and housework. But economic clout gives women more clout at home – the survey shows that couples whose salaries and career priorities were equally matched tended to share domestic responsibilities more evenly.

HRLooK 4 June AND
Changing Times News Issue 22 18 June

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Firms embrace "flexible model"

Investors in People has published a Work-life Balance Model, which provides guidance for organisations wanting to implement work-life balance policies or examine the effectiveness of policies that are already in place. The model can be applied to all organisations, and IiP claims that it will help to "reduce absenteeism, improve recruitment and retention and benefit customers".

The Model is available at www.iipuk.co.uk/IIP/Internet/Models/Hidden/WorkLifeBalance/default.htm

Joy Persaud, People Management Online 12 June

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Homeworking revolutions need embrace

A new report from The Work Foundation examines the rising popularity of homeworking. Time to go home – embracing the homeworking revolution debunks many of the myths surrounding the finer details of working from home, both from an employer and employee perspective. It tells us that, contrary to popular opinion, not all homeworkers are childminders and envelope stuffers. There has been a 65% increase in the number of people who work from home since 1996 and over one million workers now conduct at least part of their working week from home. However, the report argues, such arrangements are very much the preserve of senior, mostly male, privileged employees and very little flexible provision is granted on a formal basis. Arrangements are usually ad-hoc and unofficial. The report argues that, while the introduction of the right to request flexible working will improve the availability of tele-working, little will be achieved unless employers "give up their big brother obsession with keeping staff where they can see them". It calls for managers to change the way they view an employee's productivity, claiming that it is not sufficient to measure the amount of work a person does by recording the number of hours they spend in an office. The report goes on to offer specific advice to employers on introducing tele-working to their organisation, and also sets out the current legal and tax position.

It can be downloaded in PDF from www.theworkfoundation.com/pdf/5110000056.pdf

t magazine June 2003

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More information available on Resource's Inspiring Learning for All

Resource's Inspiring Learning for All is a vision for accessible learning in museums, archives and libraries. It is founded on four broad and overlapping principles, which together describe the characteristics of an accessible and inclusive museum, archive or library. These principles focus on People, Places, Partnerships and Policies, Plans and Performance. The Inspiring Learning section of the Resource Website has now been updated to include further information on the project.

URL: www.resource.gov.uk/action/learnacc/00insplearn.asp

managinginformation.com 20 June

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10 steps to getting better delivery

As part of the Getting the Best from Each Other project and the Supporting Better Delivery programme, the DfES has published Getting Better Delivery: Guidance for Effective Working with Frontline Providers of Post-16 Training, Learning and Community Based Programmes. The document was accompanied by the following 10-point summary:

Focus on Outcomes – Funding agreements should always take account of the desired outcome of the programme, and show how the outputs being provided relate to it.

Consultation – All programme development should be underpinned by appropriate consultation with Frontline Providers. Arrangements to maintain dialogue with Frontline Providers should be in place for the duration of the programme (in line with EC rules where appropriate).

Access to Funding and Support for Providers – Funding Bodies should make funding available in such a way that Frontline Providers are enabled to access funds to meet local needs, and build their capacity to deliver. For procurements, Funding Bodies may consider offering training to Frontline Providers to give them a better chance of competing in tendering exercises.

Full Cost Funding – Funding Bodies should ensure, as far as possible, that the delivery-price agreed with Frontline Providers on average reflects the full cost of delivery.

Co-ordinated Funding – Funding Bodies should actively seek opportunities to join funding programmes with those of other funding bodies

Timing of Payments – Funding Bodies should look to time their payments in ways that help providers to deliver services, taking into account any public procurement rules on the timing of payments.

End-Year Flexibility – Funding Bodies should have a clearly stated policy with regard to End-Year Flexibility.

Long Term Funding – Funding Bodies should ensure that standard period of funding for programmes should normally be not less than 2 years (subject to the provisos set out under this Principle).

Lighter Monitoring and Control – Funding Bodies should aim, wherever possible, to apply the principle of proportionality and a "light touch" approach in the management and control of funding.

Joined-up Inspection and Monitoring – Funding Bodies should look for appropriate ways to use inspection, monitoring and management data gathered by other arms of government.

Copies of the full document can be obtained from DfES Publications
Please quote ref: Getting Better Delivery 2003
tel: 0845 60 222 60
email: dfes@prolog.co.uk

Further details from the project's Website www.dfes.gov.uk/gettingthebest – where a copy of Getting Better Delivery can be downloaded

t magazine June 2003

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Evaluation of post-16 learning arrangements

Philip Wilson, John Rodger, Vicky Hopwood and Matt Antill,
York Consulting Ltd
Brief no: 435
ISBN: 1-84478-019-8
June 2003

The implementation of the post-16 learning arrangements had, by November 2002, resulted in policy change, organisational change and operational change. The new organisations, and changed remits of existing organisations, appear to be bedding in. Evidence indicates that while there have been some difficulties associated with these changes the key elements are in place. There is a high level of awareness among stakeholders of the need for improved performance and raised standards. Many new and improved processes have been and continue to be established. Thus far a systematic impact on learners appears limited, however, a few specific isolated instances of changes impacting learners have been identified. Key findings include:

• Generally, stakeholders involved in the new post-16 learning arrangements felt the timing of the implementation of the LSC arrangements was about right.
• There is overwhelming agreement of the need to bring together the different strands of post-16 learning under a single funding body.
• On the subject of workforce development there is a concern expressed by some stakeholders that the focus on employers is perceived to have been reduced.
• Attitudes to the new funding methodology are mixed across all the constituent stakeholder groups including the LSC itself.
• Three fifths of local LSCs specifically noted that they have made dialogue with partners and providers a high priority during the first 18 months. However, a number of alternative views were presented by stakeholders, of initial difficulties resulting from the LSC national-local arrangements.
• Stakeholder views, at both national and local levels, indicate a need for greater clarity in communicating the respective responsibilities and remit of the LSC national and local offices.
• A number of more specific operational issues cover areas such as management information, local level reorganisation, regional emphasis, level playing field, provider relationships, and the Modern Apprenticeship programme.

The full report (RR435), price £4.95, is available from DfES Publications, PO Box 5050, Sherwood Park, Annesley, Nottingham NG15 0DJ
Cheques should be made payable to "DfES Priced Publications"

The Research Brief (RB435) is available free of charge from the above address
tel: 0845 60 222 60
Research Briefs and Research Reports can also be accessed at www.dfes.gov.uk/research/

Further information about this research can be obtained from
Paul Mount, Room N611, DfES, Moorfoot, Sheffield S1 4PQ
email: Paul.Mount@dfes.gsi.gov.uk

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New independent body to slash red tape in post-16 learning

Bureaucracy in the Learning and Skills Sector will be forcefully challenged following the appointment of Sir Andrew Foster as the new independent Chair of the Bureaucracy Review Group. The DfES and the LSC have created the new Group in direct response to the Sweeney report on bureaucracy in the further education college sector. Sir Andrew Foster, who will initially spend around four days a month in this role, has been appointed by the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, Charles Clarke and will report directly to him and to Bryan Sanderson, Chairman of the Learning and Skills Council. The Group will:

• develop flexible and innovative approaches;
• have the power to review and challenge the impact of new policies imposed across the whole post-16 sector;
• publicly challenge existing policies where they add unnecessarily to bureaucracy and scrutinise proposed plans before they are implemented;
• advise on how to maximise efficiency and effectiveness within the sector; and
• publish an annual report on progress made and issues arising.

DfES press release 2003/0107 10 June

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Exploring the "New" Imperatives of Technology-Based Lifelong Learning

Authors: Neil Selwyn and Stephen Gorard,
Cardiff University School of Social Sciences

Abstract: In the United Kingdom, since 1997, the New Labour government, along with other public and private actors with vested interests, has been responsible for a steady but subtle (re)construction and (re)positioning of "lifelong learning" – ostensibly moving away from a notion based upon an economic compulsion for individuals to participate in credentialised vocational education and training. A significant element of this shift has been the use of information and communications technologies (ICT) in a rebranding of lifelong learning from an avowedly economic concern to a societal and even moral pursuit for the "information age". This article considers how this "technofication" of lifelong learning has been engineered to appear as constituting a "remoralisation" of education and training; i.e. a reconstruction of lifelong learning as more than just an economic duty, but also as a civic and societal duty for the information age as well as being a "good" and intrinsically nourishing activity for individuals to pursue. Having mapped out the nature of these "new" imperatives and the discourses surrounding them, the article then goes on to assess the likelihood of these technology-based forms of learning achieving the goal of stimulating sustained lifelong learning for all individuals in society where previous policy-making has failed.

Research in Post Compulsory Education Volume 8 Number 1 2003

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The contribution of adult learning to health and social capital

Leon Feinstein, Cathie Hammond, Laura Woods, John Preston and John Bynner
Centre for Research on the Wider Benefits of Learning
Brief no: RCB01-03
May 2003

The aim of this research was to investigate the effects of adult learning on a range of outcomes that act as proxies for health and for social capital and cohesion. The National Child Development Study was the database used for analyses. Data relating to almost 10,000 adults born in Britain in 1958 was used, focusing upon changes in their lives between the ages of 33 (in 1991) and 42 (in 2000). The effects of participation in learning between the ages of 33 and 42 were estimated. Participation in learning was broken down according to the type of course taken – academic accredited, vocational accredited, work-related training, and leisure courses. Key Findings include:

• Adult learning plays an important role in contributing to the small shifts in attitudes and behaviours that take place during mid-adulthood.
• Participation in adult learning has positive effects on a wide spectrum of health and social outcomes. These outcomes are changes in exercise taken, life satisfaction, race tolerance, authoritarian attitudes, political interest, number of memberships, and voting behaviour.
• For most variables examined, the first and second course taken is associated with changes in outcomes that are greater in magnitude than those associated with taking additional courses. In other words, there is particular value in relation to taking the first few courses.
• Previous, closely related, research on the effects of adult learning focused on wage effects only and neglected non-accredited learning of the kind considered here. The current project is, therefore, a timely reminder that many learners take courses in adult learning that are not accredited and for reasons other than wage returns. A proper assessment of the value of adult learning must take these wider benefits into account.

Copies of this Research Brief (RCB01-03) are available free of charge from
DfES Publications, PO Box 5050, Sherwood Park, Annesley, Nottingham NG15 0DJ
tel: 0845 60 222 60

DfES Research Briefs can also be accessed at www.dfes.gov.uk/research

Update comment: The Brief contains no mention of a full report nor of where to go for further information. This is an unusual omission which, maybe, Dawn can rectify for next month.

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New thinking urged on childcare help for parents working around the clock

Helping parents who work outside normal working hours to balance their work and family lives requires new policies and services, says the Joseph Rowntree Foundation today (18 June). The Foundation is arguing against the present thinking on the subject which says that simply persuading existing childcare providers to work longer hours is sufficient to solve the problem. The new research argues that stronger action to protect working parents from the growing pressures of the 24-hour, 7-day-a-week society may be at least as important as making childcare services available at evenings and weekends. A study of the barriers preventing expansion of existing childcare services to cover non-typical hours identified just a few innovative services that have started to emerge. These included a community nanny scheme, weekend childcare provision at a hospital and a childminding network to help police employees. But researchers at the Institute of Education's Thomas Coram Research Unit (London University) who surveyed the 150 Early Years Development and Childcare Partnerships in England discovered that while there was near-unanimous agreement on the need to develop childcare services outside normal working hours, fewer than a third had yet taken any action. They also found that:

• While most parents working non-standard hours apparently relied on partners, relatives or friends for childcare, demand for formal childcare services appeared greatest for an hour or so on either side of the working day, rather than late evening, overnight or at weekend.
• Childminders were generally seen as the most appropriate formal care providers at non-standard times because of their home base. However, a survey of 600 childcare providers found that few childminders or nurseries took children before 7am and hardly any worked beyond 7pm or at weekends.
• Although more than a third of childminders were prepared to consider working outside their current hours, this rarely extended to late evenings, overnight or weekends. They and other childcare workers were often concerned about the impact on their own families if they worked longer hours.

June Statham, co-author of the report, said: "Childcare services at non-standard times of day cannot simply be bolted on to existing services. It may be better to develop new types of service, recruiting people without current childcare responsibilities, rather than expecting existing providers to extend their hours." Ann Mooney, also co-author, said: "The overriding requirement is to consider the needs of children and to help parents balance their family responsibilities with the requirements of paid work. We need policies for atypical hours childcare services, but we also need to consider how employment policies and working hours could be made more family friendly, so that parents have less need for care at these times."

HRLook 18 June

Update comment: I (Hazel) listened to a talk on atypical hours working at a Labour Market Statistics Group meeting only three days ago. I'll report on this (and the other sessions) next month.

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Financial Services Sector Skills Council enters development phase

The Sector Skills Development Agency has agreed to the development of a Sector Skills Council for Financial Services. The Sector Skills Council for Financial Services' remit will cover a wide range of sectors and sub-sectors, including banks, retail and wholesale building societies, and will represent the largest group of self-employed people in the sector – some 21,000 independent financial advisers. It is expected that a full licence will be granted by the end of the year.

SSDA Involve Issue 32 28 May

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Passenger transport Sector Skills Council in development

The Sector Skills Development Agency has announced the green light for the Sector Skills Council for passenger transport – GoSkills – to go into the development stage. GoSkills currently covers the following industries: aviation, chauffeur and other private hire vehicles, coaches, community bus services, driving instruction, scheduled buses, taxis, trams, trolley buses, and transport planners. It is expected that a full licence will be granted within a year.

SSDA Involve Issue 33 4 June

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Children upset by spam email

Research from Internet security firm Symantec has found that as many as 80% of US children with personal email accounts receive "inappropriate" spam emails on a regular basis. Findings include: 80% received online gambling messages; 62% received information on dating services; and 47% received links to pornographic sites. Steve Cullen, Senior Vice President of Symantec commented: "As with any email user, kids are just as susceptible as adults to being bombarded by spam. Parents need to educate their children about the dangers of spam and how they can avoid being exposed to offensive content or becoming innocent victims of online fraud."

Source: BBC News TheITportal Midweek Roundup 11 June

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A bridge too late?

A new government scheme to help teenage parents stay in education has been warmly welcomed by further education colleges. However, there has been some concern that the Care to Learn scheme, which gives 16 to 19-year-olds up to £5,000 per child per year to pay for childcare while they study, has been launched too late in the year for many people to benefit. Student services managers argue that the introduction of the scheme, which will commence in August, came too late to include in open days and information packs and many of the young people who could have benefited have already left school. Colleges will work with other agencies such as health visitors and social workers to raise awareness of Care to Learn but most do not anticipate large numbers applying for grants from the scheme in the coming academic year. When questioned about the timing of the launch of Care to Learn, a DfES official explained: "The funding to cover young parents' childcare costs was planned to start in 2004 but the department decided to bring the start date forward to enable as many young people as possible to benefit from it."

Carmel Fitzsimons, The Guardian 24 June

URL: www.dfes.gov.uk/caretolearn/indexflash.shtml

Update comment: Nothing wrong with young parents getting £5,000 for childcare to help them study but… where's the money for the rest of us?

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Universities press MPs to increase top-up fees for students to £5,000

Britain's leading universities will be pressing MPs this Autumn to increase the maximum top-up fee they can charge to about £5,000 a year. Professor Michael Sterling, chairman of the Russell Group, argued that, while the Russell Group welcomed the opportunity to increase their resources, the current threshold is too low. He believes that, since there is strong evidence to suggest that around 80% of universities will charge the maximum top-up fee of £3,000, the Russell Group will suffer loss of reputation if it is not permitted to charge higher fees. Professor Sterling suggested that a level of around £5,000 would enable top universities to offer outstanding courses to their students, and also compete internationally.

Richard Garner Education Editor, The Independent 16 June

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Set aside £70 a month to save your child from debt

According to research from Alliance and Leicester, parents who hope that their offspring will one day go to university should be saving around £70 a month per child from the day they are born, if they are to save them from student debt. The research argues that it will take most parents 18 years to amass the estimated £20,000 that each child will need.

Jenny Rees, The Western Mail 12 June

Update comment: Just £140 a month for me then? Erm, Boss, about that pay rise … Dawn.

More than that – the kids aren't new-born!

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Publication of the Home Office Strategic Framework: A New Vision for Britain

A new way of governing Britain, where individuals work alongside government to improve their community, is outlined in the Home Office's first ever Strategic Framework, published today (26 June). The Home Secretary's vision of a world where people take control of their lives and tackle deep-seated social issues with the help of an enabling department, forms the basis of this new relationship between citizens and the government. The Strategic Framework also highlights major national and international trends that could impact on the way the Home Office staff and its partners do business. From globalisation and technology to Britain's growing diversity and single person households, the document emphasises that the department's many services will continually adapt to a changing world.

Copies available at www.homeoffice.gov.uk/inside/org/pubs/index.html

Home Office press release 181/2003 26 June

Update comment: If you can find this document from this starting point then please email me [Hazel] on info@adset.org.uk

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No time to bank cheques

Britons collectively leave nine million cheques sitting in wallets and handbags for nearly a week each year because they do not have time to go to the bank, according to research from automated clearing house BACS. Just 14% manage to deposit a cheque on the day they receive it. In response to this evidence, BACS has launched its Pay Me Direct campaign, calling on people to ask their employers to pay their salaries and expenses directly into their bank account. A spokesperson for the company said: "Increased time pressures mean that cheques are becoming a real imposition on people, especially workers."

Will Smale, The Western Mail 16 June

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Loan lessons sought to fight youth debt

Research conducted on behalf of Edinburgh City Council's trading standards department has called for schoolchildren to be given lessons in financial management. It revealed that many students have grown up with little understanding of credit and 40% have no idea what APR means. The report argues that teaching children how to handle money and how credit works will help them to avoid getting into debt in later life.

Jeremy Watson, Scotland on Sunday 22 June

Update comment: Many adults have grown up with little understanding of credit and have no idea what APR means. Is that one of the reasons why it isn't just students who have large debts?

"Resolve to be tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving, and tolerant with the weak and the wrong. Sometime in life you will have been all of these."

Lloyd Shearer

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Lone parents, poverty and work: policy approaches and lessons from abroad

Authors: Karen Rowlingson and Jane Millar

This paper examines the government's ambitions to increase lone parent employment and eradicate child poverty, in relation to policy trends in five other advanced industrial countries. The authors tell us that the UK government targets in these areas are largely viewed as a significant step towards the development of an "adult worker" population, characterised by a strong work ethic and a negative attitude to unemployment benefit. They maintain that, in trying to achieve this, the government has allied itself more closely to US policy. This, they argue, may be a costly mistake. While the work ethic in the US is extremely strong, scant attention is given to other care and domestic obligations for lone parents. The authors suggest that unpaid care work in the home, including child-rearing, is placed "a poor second in public esteem behind paid work". The gender pay gap is very high in the US, which often means that lone parents are among the most poorly paid. Thus, child poverty in US lone parent families is among the highest, with over nine in ten children from such households living at subsistence levels. The authors believe that a much more successful approach to adopt would be that which operates in Scandinavian countries and in particular Norway. Norway also believes that adults should be in paid work, and long-term reliance on unemployment benefit is frowned upon. However, the country has an abiding commitment to the rights of children, particularly their right not to live in poverty. It funds high-quality childcare services, which it offers to all children, regardless of their circumstances. This enables parents to work without being penalised by having to pay extortionate amounts of money to child minders. Moreover, lone parents are offered a system of "fair reciprocity". The Norwegian government gives relatively generous benefits to lone parents who choose to stay at home during their child's early years, which helps to keep child poverty levels low. When a child reaches school age, the parent is expected to return to paid employment, and their ability to earn money benefits greatly from an extremely low gender pay gap. In this way, the Norwegian government is able to balance the rights of children with the economic need for the country to have people in paid work. The authors conclude: "If the UK government wishes to achieve both aims – increasing lone parent employment and eliminating child poverty … it will be necessary to consider the broader aspects of gender and income inequality, as well as the specific policies related to lone parent employment."

Benefits: A Journal of Social Security Research, Policy and Practice
Volume 10 Issue 3 October 2002

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Skills for Regeneration – learning by Community Champions

Derrick Johnstone, EDuce Ltd and Claire Campbell-Jones, Sharp End Infoseek Ltd
Brief no: 441
ISBN: 1-84478-010-4
June 2003

The DfES commissioned EDuce to assess the skills and knowledge developed by individuals benefiting from the Community Champions fund, in leading and taking part in community-based regeneration projects. The research aimed to assess the skills gained by local people in leading and taking part in regeneration projects, especially small scale community-based initiatives; and explore what participants do next with the skills gained from the programme. Key findings include:

• for a large proportion of those interviewed Community Champions made a very real difference, both to themselves and to the communities where they work;
• two thirds of Community Champions stated that as a result of participation in the programme they had increased confidence and skills, notably in developing project ideas, understanding community needs, accessing funding and dealing with funders and officialdom;
• few Champions pursued formal learning through the programme – the greatest skills and knowledge gains have come through "learning by doing";
• there is substantial evidence of increased capabilities, for example in being better able to represent local views and needs, improved project management skills and being more able to turn project ideas into action; and
• key strengths of the fund include ease of application and opportunity for individuals as well as groups to use the fund for a wide range of purposes.

The full report (RR441), price £4.95, is available from
DfES Publications, PO Box 5050, Sherwood Park, Annesley, Nottingham NG15 0DJ
Cheques should be made payable to "DfES Priced Publications"

The Research Brief (RB441) is available free of charge from the above address
tel: 0845 60 222 60
Research Briefs and Research Reports can also be accessed at www.dfes.gov.uk/research/

Further information about this research can be obtained from
Rachel Jones, Room N611, DfES, Moorfoot, Sheffield S1 4PQ
email: Rachel2.Jones@dfes.gsi.gov.uk

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LSC arrangements for post-16 education development plans published

The Learning and Skills Council has published a circular (03/09) outlining arrangements for agreeing three-year development plans in the post-16 education sector. The circular outlines the four Headline Improvement Targets which providers will work towards.

Success for All – Implementation of the framework for quality and success is available from http://3dp.lsc.gov.uk/docs/Circular0309.pdf

SSDA Intelligence Issue 12 16 June

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Stress

A survey reported in the US Journal of Epidemiology tells us that workplace stress can have "seriously dangerous" affects on your blood pressure, and that the physiological effects of stress continue long after the stressful situation has passed. Indeed, researchers claim that it can put the same strain on your body as being 40 pounds heavier or 30 years older.

workSMART newsletter Issue 12 June 2003

Update comment: Pass me the lavender oil, someone – quick! Dawn.

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Most workers take stress home with them

According to new research released today (13 June), stress in the workplace is having a negative effect on the home life and even the health of the majority of workers. The research was carried out by IT training company Parity Resourcing Solutions and found that 67% of people take office traumas home with them. The main reasons given by the respondents for their high stress levels were:

• unrealistic workloads (16%);
• job insecurity (14%);
• long working hours (14%); and
• colleagues' incompetence (13%).

The survey took in a cross-section of 300 UK employees, and also found that this trend has led to 60% of the working population looking stressed, tired and overworked, according to friends outside the workplace. "These findings confirm that there is definitely a problem with the way the UK as a whole approaches work," said Rick Bacon, managing director at Parity.

HRLooK 13 June

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Apprenticeship in the "golden age": were youth transitions really smooth and unproblematic back then?

Author: Sarah A Vickerstaff,
University of Kent, UK

This article challenges the taken-for-granted orthodoxy of contemporary youth studies that young people's transitions from school to work have become extended and fragmented in comparison to those of people who left school in the period 1945-75. It is argued that the characterisation of the earlier period as a "golden age" of smooth, unproblematic, one-step transitions from school into the labour market misrepresents the experiences of people in that period and, in particular, fails to understand the specificity of the apprenticeship model of transition which was experienced by around 35% of the male school-leaving age cohort. The discussion examines the experience of people in the period 1945-75 by reference to 30 interviews undertaken by the author with people who did apprenticeships in a variety of trades.

Work, Employment and Society Volume 17 Issue 2 June 2003

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Young people, employability and the induction process

This research, from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, examines the early experiences of young people in their first jobs, from the point of view of both the young people themselves and their employers. Findings include:

• Most young people did not believe in the concept of a "job for life" and many believed that their first jobs were "stop-gaps", either giving them time to consolidate their ambitions or simply a source of income to pay for leisure pursuits.
• Employers tended to focus on "softer" skills and behavioural attributes in the recruitment process, with a less prominent role played by formal qualifications. Young people felt that their qualifications were not sufficient to secure them the employment they wanted.
• Most employers interviewed thought that schools and colleges provide inadequate preparation for young people in relation to what is expected of them in the world of work. However, young people believed that formal education provided them with the opportunity to learn social skills, such as enabling them to get on with different types of people, communicate effectively, work in teams and so on.
• Almost without exception, employers felt that young people who had undergone a period of work experience while at school were better equipped than others for the world of work. Young people expressed similar views, although there were some misgivings about the quality of some work placements.
• The induction processes provided by employers for their young recruits varied widely. There appeared to be very limited recognition of the specific needs of young recruits. The use of mentors or "buddies", and regular review and feedback, would seem to be particularly appropriate for new young recruits.

More details at www.jrf.org.uk/knowledge/findings/socialpolicy/613.asp

Joseph Rowntree Foundation research 6 June

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A-level students to receive lessons in answering back

The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority has announced that it plans to introduce an A-level exam in critical thinking. The examination will be designed to help students to develop arguments and opinions and to help them understand and dissect the views of others. Students will be able to sit the exam from September 2005.

Richard Garner Education Editor, The Independent 20 June

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New learner, new learning: a strategic evaluation of UfI

Dr Penny Tamkin, Jim Hillage, Sara Dewson, Alice Sinclair,
Institute for Employment Studies Brief no: 440
ISBN: 1-84478-022-8
June 2003

In 2002, the DfES commissioned the Institute of Employment Studies (IES) to carry out an evaluation of Ufi's performance against its strategic objectives of improving individuals' employability and organisations' productivity and competitiveness through inspiring existing learners to develop their skills further, winning over new and excluded learners and transforming the accessibility of learning in everyday life and work. The DfES' intermediate objectives for Ufi also include increasing the number of companies providing learning opportunities to employees, and improving the quantity and quality of provision. The five main messages to emerge from the study are that learndirect:

• has so far had more of an impact on individuals than on organisations;
• contributes to lifelong learning by engaging new learners, and by widening participation;
• leads to further learning progression;
• is helping some learners enhance their employability; and
• is contributing to the expansion and diversification of the learning market.

The full report (RR440), price £4.95, is available from
DfES Publications, PO Box 5050, Sherwood Park, Annesley, Nottingham NG15 0DJ
Cheques should be made payable to "DfES Priced Publications"

The Research Brief (RB440) is available free of charge from the above address
tel: 0845 60 222 60
Research Briefs and Research Reports can also be accessed at www.dfes.gov.uk/research/

Further information about this research can be obtained from
Marion Lloyd, Room N904, DfES, Moorfoot, Sheffield S1 4PQ
email: Marion.Lloyd@dfes.gsi.gov.uk

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Calls to end "snobbery" plaguing vocational education

Schools standards minister, David Miliband, has called for an end to the "upstairs downstairs" attitude towards vocational education. Speaking at the Association of Colleges' conference, he said: "Whilst many young people are genuinely attracted by vocational options, they are too often put off by commonly held attitudes about it. A 1950s perception continues – that vocational education is something you only do with your hands, something only done as a second best, always an alternative to general education rather than a complement to it. This is nothing less than pernicious snobbery. It is an upstairs downstairs attitude to vocational education. And it is founded on a dangerous myth. Medicine is not second class. Law is not second class. And music is not second class.

So how can vocational education be second class?"

Staff and agencies, The Guardian 18 June

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Exam system "unsustainable" warns QCA chief

Ken Boston, chief executive of the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, has declared that the exams system in England is "virtually unsustainable". He admitted that he was "cautiously optimistic" that there would not be a repeat of last year's A-level and GCSE fiasco. However, Dr Boston said that the best the QCA could hope for this year was to "make sure the wheels don't fall off". His comments were dismissed by the Assessment and Qualifications Alliance exam board, who argued that this year would be "no different to any other". A spokesperson for the AQA said: "I've been in examining for 26 years, and from where we are it's all very positive. There have always been difficulties in recruiting markers in some subjects, sometimes. It's the same this year as any other year. I don't see any evidence to suggest these problems."

Polly Curtis, The Guardian 11 June

Update comment: Does "the same this year" mean that it won't be any different from last year when the system went horribly wrong for some students or previous years when everything seemed to be working correctly?

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Colleges call for "staggered" curriculum

The Association of Colleges has called for the introduction of a staggered learning programme for sixth-formers, in an attempt to reduce the pressures of exam overload. Judith Norrington, the AoC's curriculum director, said there was too much focus on what students achieved in one day rather than recognising learning and success throughout their course. "The AoC isn't calling for exams to be scrapped, but we want a change of focus on where their position and importance should be in the total learning process", she said.

Charles Lowis, The Guardian 4 June

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Bac plan to be unveiled soon

Attempting to develop "parity of esteem" between academic and vocational examinations is "a pointless exercise", according to Ken Boston, chief executive of the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority. Speaking at the Learning and Skills Development Agency's summer conference, Dr Boston argued that it does not matter what exams are called; it is what they bring to the recipient that matters. He said: "Value and esteem lie not in structures or labels associated with qualifications but in the extent to which the qualifications meet the needs of the users – learners, their teachers, employers and higher education." Dr Boston went on to say that the QCA was currently working on "a unit-based system with core subjects and others chosen according to students' choices and employers' needs", a statement which was interpreted to mean that a UK baccalaureate was still very much a possibility.

George Low, The Guardian 17 June

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Changes to release of DWP statistics

From today (19 June), the DWP will release most of its statistics on the same day. All tables previously published within individual benefit publications will be available on the department's Internet site at dwp.gov.uk/asd/statistics.html

Client Group statistics as well as statistics on the following benefits are available:

• Child Benefit – February 2003
• Income Support – February 2003
• Jobseeker's Allowance – February 2003
• Appeal Tribunal Statistics – December 2002
• Disability Living Allowance – February 2003
• Attendance Allowance – February 2003
• Invalid Care Allowance – February 2003
• Incapacity Benefit/Severe Disablement Allowance – February 2003
• Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit – December 2002
• Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit – February 2003
• Child Support – February 2003
• Maternity Allowance – February 2003
• Bereavement Benefit – February 2003
• Widow's Benefit – February 2003

The rest of this First Release comprises brief details of the statistics being released.

DWP press release IAD190603SSJune03 19 June

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Congestion charge in cash crisis

The London congestion charge has been so successful at cutting the number of cars entering the City that the project will be an estimated £65 million in the red at the end of the financial year. The original forecast estimated that the total income from the charge would be around £130 million. However, the shortage of drivers willing to pay the £5 charge has plunged the scheme into financial crisis. A spokesperson for the mayor's office said: "It is still early days for the congestion charge but the scheme was always designed to reduce congestion and not raise revenue. It is working very well and congestion in central London has been cut by some 40%. But as a direct consequence of the scheme's success, we are likely to be slightly below our original estimates of how much we might make from it."

Press Association, The Guardian 13 June

Update comment: Fifty per cent less income is not "slightly below" in my book nor, I guess, in yours.

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My eye-teeth for a degree

A former student from Northumbria University has come up with an ingenious way of paying off his student debts. Sean Gerrie is offering shares in his body to visitors to his Website. For £5, you can rent an ear. £10 will get you a hand and there is currently a "buy one get one free" offer on strands of hair at £1. Mr Gerrie will send you a certificate of ownership, valid for 6 months, and you may also have a weekly update as to what your body part has been up to.

URL: www.seanyg.com

Alison Utley, The THES 20 June

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Management may miss out on National Skills Strategy

The government's new National Skills Strategy will be in danger of missing the opportunity to upskill management in the UK, if recommendations put forward by the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) are not included in the final report due for publication at the end of June 2003. This is the main warning coming out of the CMI's response to the DfES progress report on Developing a National Skills Strategy and Delivery Plan. Despite recent findings, which indicated that management weaknesses are a key factor holding back innovation, productivity and performance in the UK, the proposed skills strategy offers few incentives for improving managers. The CMI's response to the progress report, based on new survey results from more than 700 practising managers, endorsed the view that a significant proportion of public funding should be targeted at adults without formal Level 2 (five A-C grade GCSEs or their vocational equivalent) achievement, but not exclusively. There is a danger that restricting funding to adults who do not already have any formal qualifications will neglect many of the identified skills shortages, such as management and leadership, particularly as it is common for management development to take place once primary expertise has been gained in a technical discipline. The government's proposal also suggested that funding for training up to Level 3 (four AS-levels or two A-levels or their vocational equivalent) should only be available up to the age of 30. The CMI's response highlighted the fact that this would create an inherent bias against disciplines such as management that are often required after employees have already spent some time in the workplace. When it comes to incentives for training and development, managers' top preferences are for employer subsidies to allow them to take time off for learning and the opportunity to work towards chartered status for enhanced professional recognition.

HRLooK 9 June

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More training for bosses

The Chartered Management Institute (CMI) is calling for the government to address the training needs of UK managers in the forthcoming national skills strategy. The CMI said that poor leadership skills were holding back innovation, productivity and performance in the UK and that the skills strategy should include incentives for addressing the training needs of management. This claim was dismissed by the Association of Colleges, which insisted that "putting public money into management training would merely uphold an inequitable system in which the most highly qualified people already get most free training".

Peter Kingston, The Guardian 10 June

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New technology sweeps away role of gatekeeper secretary

According to a survey from recruitment agency OfficeTeam, the traditional role of the secretary is dying out. It suggests that, as more managers switch to email and mobile phones, there is no longer any need for them to take dictation or answer their boss' calls. The survey revealed that three-quarters of bosses write most of their own letters and 64% take business calls on their mobiles. Secretaries still complain that they are overworked, however, saying that they are diverted to other tasks. Steve Carter, managing director of OfficeTeam, said: "The traditional picture of a secretary used to be as a gatekeeper for her boss – no one could get in to see the boss, speak to him on the telephone or make an appointment with him without her knowing about it. That has all been swept away by new technology. They have less direct contact with their boss, but they have more general responsibility within their organisation."

Paul Peachey, The Independent 26 June

Update comment: Note the male boss and female secretary implication in the quote!

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New ACAS arbitration scheme for flexible working

ACAS has launched a new arbitration scheme offering a voluntary alternative to proceedings arising from an application for flexible working. It is designed to be a "confidential, informal, relatively fast and non-legalistic alternative to an employment tribunal". ACAS also offers a number of resources detailing the rights and responsibilities of flexible working on its Website for both employers and employees.

For more information, visit: www.acas.org.uk/

IDS Brief Issue 732 May 2003

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More firms sack staff over abusive emails

A survey from the Chartered Institute for Personnel and Development (CIPD) claims that a third of British firms have sacked staff over email abuse. Indeed, the survey, entitled People and Technology, tells us that disciplinary action for new-technology-related offences now exceeds the combined total for dishonesty, violence and health and safety breaches at work. The most common single reason for dismissal is the sending of unauthorised emails, usually of a pornographic nature.

Robin Stummer, The Independent 22 June

Update comment: I just wish that someone would stop the person or persons unknown who keep sending these things to ADSET. I have no desire to read them and I believe that I have "a duty of care" to my young assistant to prevent her being, at best, embarrassed by them. Try as I might I can't stop them all coming in.

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Teachers turn their back on "super" status

Scottish teachers have rejected the chance to earn more money by applying for "superteacher" status. Under the scheme, teachers could earn an extra £6,500 per year without having to leave the classroom or take on managerial responsibilities. Unfortunately, the response has been somewhat unenthusiastic. Of the 30,000 qualified to apply for "superteacher" status, only 5,600 have signed up for training courses. According to teaching unions, the reason for the low take-up rate is largely because the teachers must pay for their own training. Candidates for chartered teacher status have to pay up to £9,600 for 12 training modules, taking on average six years of part-time study to complete them. Jim Docherty, assistant general secretary of the Scottish Secondary Teachers Association, said the response would have been higher if the training had been state-funded, pointing out that many classroom teachers still had student loan debts to repay and families to support, and had shied away because they could not afford the cost of the modules.

Stephen Fraser, Scotland on Sunday 8 June

Update comment: The arithmetic seems to make sense – earn an extra £6,500 a year, every year, for an investment of £9,600. But, how do you fund the initial outlay when it is needed over a six-year term and there is no guarantee that the extra income is forthcoming?

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Government "scupper" decent pay and rights for UK agency workers

Commenting on the failure of the EU Council of Ministers to agree a Directive on Temporary Agency Workers, Brendan Barber, TUC General Secretary, said: "The government has sided with business interests to scupper the prospect of agency workers getting equal pay and basic rights in the foreseeable future. It is bad for business and unjust for agency workers to be denied protection from sub-standard treatment."

TUC press release 4 June

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Withholding exam results from debtors may be unlawful

Universities which have been withholding exam results from students who owe them money have been warned that this action could be illegal. A ruling from the Office of Fair Trading which forced Kingston University to change its debt collection policy was commended by education lawyers. Hilary Crook, head of the education unit at lawyers Denison Till, said: "If universities are not taking payment in advance, they are now likely to have to sue for their debts rather than withhold marks. It is generally considered that this will cost more, take longer and be less effective than withholding qualifications."

Phil Baty, The THES 13 June

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BACKPAGE TRIVIA

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Recipe Gold Mine

This Website contains recipes for everything you ever wanted to make, from cookies to crème de menthe. What sets it apart from other sites, however, is that it also offers a huge range of recipes for toiletries – very good news if you have ever struggled to find something without additives which bring you out in a rash.

URL: www.recipegoldmine.com

URL: www.recipegoldmine.com/beautybath/bath.html

Update comment: I wish that I could put an accurate attribution on this but I found it in last month's "overs" without one. Whoever sent it to me, please accept my apologies for not acknowledging you.

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Scientist stirs up a storm in a tea cup

At last, we have an end to the supposedly endless argument. If you are the type of person who puts milk in your tea first, well done. If you believe that the milk should go in second, you are unutterably wrong. Scientists have discovered that putting milk into the cup first prevents the "denaturation of milk proteins". Apparently, pouring milk into a hot drink causes a select number of molecules to degrade, which impairs the flavour of the tea. What on earth are we going to argue about at conference now?

Paul Peachey, The Independent 25 June

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Map thief on most wanted list

A man who has been stealing items from libraries across Europe has been named on the Metropolitan Police's Most Wanted list. The man in question is suspected of stealing around 4,500 16th and 17th century maps from the National Library of Wales. He cuts them out of antiquarian books and then sells them on for between £500 and £10,000 each.

Library and Information Update June 2003 Volume 2(6)

Update comment: Hazel and I [Dawn] were trying to find a suitable name to call this man when we were in the library at Sheffield this month. I think "philistine" and "vulgarian" were the only ones that are printable here.

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MSPs stand by their "neds" and reject Kane's appeal to ban word

Scottish MPs have refused to accede to demands that they stop calling young criminals such as drug dealers or shop-lifters "neds". MSP Rosie Kane said that the name was derived from "ne'er do well" and has come to be recognised as meaning "non-educated delinquent". Ms Kane argued that this was "degrading and hurtful" to disengaged young people who may, or may not, be involved in criminal activity. She called for the word to be banned from the Scottish Parliament. However, MSPs have refused to comply. Duncan McNeill, a Labour back bencher, poked fun at the idea during the debate on young people. He asked: "What are we supposed to call them? Tracksuit ambassadors? Shoplifters as retail stock relocation operatives? Drug dealers as independent pharmaceutical consultants?"

Raymond Duncan, The Scottish Herald 6 June

Update comment: I have to say that "ned" is a heck of a lot more polite that some of the things I've heard them called! Dawn.

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Managing health and safety obligations

"Please be aware of conkers falling from the tree above. Thanks, the Golden Lion"; a "tongue in cheek" warning sign in the garden of the Golden Lion pub in Rochester, Dorset, put up after a customer's lawyers threatened to sue the Landlord after their client was hit on the head by a conker that had fallen from, yes you guessed it, a conker tree in the pub garden.

www.chamberonline.co.uk/cmn/ml.jsp?id=000005383713

British Chambers of Commerce Newsletter 12 June

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Bored on a summer weekend? The RSA is open house on Sundays

The RSA opens its doors on each first Sunday of every month between 10am – 1pm (last entry 12.30pm). Visitors can tour the RSA's remarkable home at No 8 John Adam Street London. Visitors will be free to roam, without charge, the historic rooms of the RSA, purpose-designed in the 1770s by the Adam Brothers as part of their Adelphi development.

For more information and images visit www.theRSA.org.uk/openhouse

RSA press release 10 June

Update comment: Worth a visit!

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Orpheus et al in the underground

As part of a radical new strategy to bring the talents of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra to the attention of a wider audience, the RSNO would like to see its performances piped through Glasgow's underground system. The plan also includes making guest appearances at rock concerts. RSNO has already released a computer game, which shows popular artists such as Kylie Minogue and Michael Jackson playing in the orchestra. Celebrity Orchestra was emailed to 20,000 young music fans in the hope that it would generate a greater interest in classical music. Simon Crookall, chief executive of the orchestra, commented: "This is a good way of getting in touch with a younger audience: some people who never leave their computer screens will be able to see something funny and quirky. … In a way, classical music is the new cool. People are going back to it and this is a way of connecting ourselves up to that a bit."

Phil Miller, The Scottish Herald 5 June

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Beeb boobs – again

The BBC has once again been criticised for permitting an "anarchic and satirical" comedian to make jokes about disabled people. A spokesperson for UK disability organisation Scope said that it was high time the BBC stopped making disabled people "the subject of offensive jokes which are no longer made about other minority groups".

Disability Now May 2003

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Couple win fight to register baby's name in Gaelic

A Scottish couple have been granted the right to have their child's name registered in Gaelic. The couple were originally told by the General Register Office for Scotland that their choice of name, Aoife NicBhaoile, would have to be converted into English before it could be accepted, since Gaelic is classed as a foreign language and cannot be accepted onto the register. The Office reversed this decision after taking legal advice which informed them that Gaelic is included in a European Charter which protects regional and minority languages. The couple were then free to register their child using a language which has been spoken in Scotland for more than 1,500 years!

Martin Williams, The Scottish Herald 3 June

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The big read

The "biggest-ever" searchable database of book-related activities across the UK has been launched by the BBC. As part of the Big Read project, the corporation has joined forces with learndirect to "give everyone the opportunity to join a local reading group or find out about book events in their area".

For more information, call the BBC Big Read action line on: 0800 150 950 or visit: www.bbc.co.uk/bigread

Adults Learning Volume 14 Number 9 May 2003

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Blair named on email shame list

It's official. Tony Blair can be found rubbing shoulders with the likes of Robert Mugabe and Fidel Castro. Not in person, you understand, but on a list of world leaders who are without an email address. Despite an announcement from Downing Street that the Prime Minister would have an email address by November last year, anyone who wishes to contact Mr Blair must rely on the postal service and faxes.

Nicholas Watt, The Guardian 11 June

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Pawn in drinking game?

Just when you thought that students already had enough drinking games, someone went ahead and made up another. Susan Porteous, a final-year fine art student at Leeds University, found that her games of chess suddenly became rather popular when she replaced the pieces with glasses of red and white wine. When you lose a piece, you down the drink. Apparently Ms Porteous, who was on an exchange visit from North America, first thought of the idea when she realised "how much student culture here revolves around alcohol".

Alison Utley, The THES 13 June

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Pupil skips school for truancy hearing

A teenage girl decided that she would skip school for a more pressing engagement – her mother's court hearing about her persistent truancy. Priceless!

Adi Bloom, The TES 20 June

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The gender of objects

• Swiss army knife – male, because even though it appears useful for a wide variety of work, it spends most of its time just opening bottles.
• Kidneys – female, because they always go to the bathroom in pairs.
• Tyre – male, because it goes bald and often is over-inflated.
• Hot air balloon – male, because to get it to go anywhere you have to light a fire under it and, of course, there's the hot air part.
• Web page – female, because it is always getting hit on.
• Shoe – male, because it is usually unpolished, with its tongue hanging out.
• Subway – male, because it uses the same old lines to pick people up.
• Hammer – male, because it hasn't evolved much over the last 5,000 years, but it's handy to have around.

Appeared in my inbox – Dawn

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Ragged browsers thank lottery philanthropy

The full original manuscript of the novel that inspired generations of trade unionists can now be seen on line. Thanks to a grant of £15,000 from the New Opportunities Fund, 1,700 fragile pages of The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists, in author Robert Tressell's own handwriting, can now be seen as part of TUC History Online.

URL: www.unionhistory.info

In ToUCh 13 June

If GH can stand for P as in Hiccough
If OUGH can stand for O as in Dough
If PHTH can stand for T as in Phthisis
If EIGH can stand for A as in Neighbor
If TTE can stand for T as in Gazette
If EAU can stand for O as in Plateau
Then the right way to spell POTATO should be: GHOUGHPHTHEIGHTTEEAU

Clean Laffs

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Are you wearing Superman pants?

According to Kevan Hall, the president of Global Integration, too many people put on their Superman pants when faced with a difficult work situation. He says that, instead of tackling the problem head on, people often "pull Superman pants over their trousers and fly around". They will look like they are busy and in control of a situation when, in reality, they are just "spinning out of control".

Training Magazine

Update comment: My mum would have called it "a headless chicken act" but I guess the end result is the same – a lot of activity for no end result. Hazel.

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Essential additions to workplace vocabulary

• Blamestorming
  Sitting around in a group, discussing why a deadline was missed or a project failed, and who was responsible.
• Seagull Manager
  A manager who flies in, makes a lot of noise, craps on everything, and then leaves.
• Cube Farm
  An office filled with cubicles.
• Prairie Dogging
  When someone yells or drops something loudly in a cube farm, and people's heads pop up over the walls to see what's going on.
• SITCOMs
  Single Income, Two Children, Oppressive Mortgage.
• Stress Puppy
  A person who seems to thrive on being stressed out and whiney.
• Swipeout
  An ATM or credit card that has been rendered useless because the magnetic strip is worn away from extensive use.

Stolen from Usenet by Dawn who seems to spend her spare time hunting around obscure Websites to bring you snippets of totally useless information. It's called "trivia" and you're supposed to enjoy it! Hazel.

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Topics included

Bank of England Quarterly Bulletin Volume 43 Number 2 Summer 2003

basic skills

Award for adult literacies tutor assistants

Evaluation ... basic skills Pathfinder Extension Activities

Successful "Golden Hello2 initiative to include basic skills

business

CIPD puts human capital in frame

FSB reacts to government announcement on ... liability insurance

Government proposals on ... liability insurance to help business

New public sector charges threaten SME jobs

References become a legal minefield

Connexions

North London youth support service has significant weaknesses,

copyright

Copyright and licensing for digital preservation

EU Directive: further delay in UK

File-swappers face the music

criminal records

CRB threat to services

The price is right, says CRB director

culture

Cultural Heritage and ICT Newsletter

Just a minute…

Virtual venue showcases early work by old masters

Data Protection

Report says privacy laws slow e-government

e-government

E-government falls behind schedule

E-voting triallists ready for more

Most gov.uk sites "need redesigning"

New on-line guide to improve local authority e-communications

e-learning

Blending into the background

E-learning is top of the education agenda

Internet can plug skills gap

E2E

Entry to employment opens doors

economic policy

Bank "misses opportunity" by holding interest rates

Core cities see inclusion as key to prosperity plan

education policy

Public losing faith in government education policy

educational research

Research to drive up standards in schools

electronic marketing

Spam law

equality (age, disability, ethnicity, gender issues)

"Staggering" level of pay complacency uncovered

Disability Discrimination can include constructive dismissal

Discrimination rights extended to ex-employees

Do not talk about race but act, says CRE chief

Education narrows gender wage gap

EOC to investigate "jobs for the boys" and "jobs for the girls"

Equal Opportunities versus diversity?

GMB votes to expel racists

Government must do more to get disabled people into jobs

Greater effort required for special educational needs

Jobs cash call

Older people's views on information, advice and advocacy

Racism's ... impact on ... Britain's ageing ethnic minorities

Reclaiming the right to read

Self-advocacy and ... for mothers with learning difficulties

Special needs and inclusion – help!

Suggestive? Harrassment?

The fact vacuum

ex-offenders

Recruiting ex-offenders: the employers' perspective

exclusion

Big poll majority backs Borstal-style schools for unruly pupils

further education

Call for local course design

Colleges hit by funding crisis

FE test-beds speed reform

FE told to fight for contracts

Further education colleges' views on FE-employer links

graduates

Class of 2003 shuns the City for careers in the classroom

health and safety

Revised HSE guidance on working with VDUs

higher education

Bristol stands firm on admissions

Brown's man sidesteps industry row

Colleges hit back at "dumbing down" claim

Durham axes Asian studies in £8.7 million revamp

Health academics fear NHSU will grab slice of research pie

Higher Education in Further Education colleges: ...

QAA could make or break new universities

Students in higher education are on the up

Students left in limbo as top university axes course

Students should live at home, says survey

Teaching-focused "not worthy" of university title

Top six universities get extra funding

Tories "have got numbers wrong"

UCAS courses to train staff in fair admissions procedures

UK poor cousins to US tech transfers

higher education White Paper

DfES bitten by its own red-tape watchdog

UUK and SCOP fire at "simplistic and dictatorial" government

ICT

Doing IT for the kids: re-examining children, computers and ...

Funding Watch

Security firms slam Uni decision to write viruses

Start-up brings hard drive to the masses

UK software piracy on the rise

Wireless networking

Yr dr wl c u 2moro

ID cards

Public oppose ID card scheme

UK ID cards – the incredible shrinking consultation

inclusion

Blunkett crackdown on unruly youngsters is "illegal"

Moving Towards Inclusion: a picture of disadvantage ...

Support for community languages

Tightening responsibilities

Young adults lack support

Industry and Higher Education Volume 17 Number 3 June 2003

information management

Pulped books spark fury

Think of a number…

Internet use

Students' Internet searching exposed

Knowledge Exploitation Fund

WDA take the lead on Knowledge Exploitation

labour market information

... employers surveyed see administration training as a priority

242,000 more people in work than a year ago ...

e-skills UK publishes new labour market intelligence

Labour figures highlight new business risks

Method of measuring unemployment figures to be updated

Sector Skills Matrix launched

UK job outlook weakens but remains amongst best in Europe

labour market statistics

Biggest rise in jobless total in over a decade

Union gloom on industry is "nonsense"

language use

Student emails baffle tutors

Learning and Skills Council Annual Report

learning communities

Forging a Learning Community? a pragmatic approach to co-operat

libraries

"Beardy-weirdies" rule

LASER ... claims UK library service is in "terminal decline"

lifelong learning

... Resource's Inspiring Learning for All

10 steps to getting better delivery

Adult Continuing Education in Wales – new statistics

Adults drop out of education despite £663 million boost ...

Developing an Evaluation Framework: ...

Employer Training Pilots hitting the mark

Evaluation of post-16 learning arrangements

Exploring the "New" Imperatives of Technology-Based ...

New independent body to slash red tape in post-16 learning

The contribution of adult learning to health and social capital

The Probability for Unemployed Young People to Re-Enter ...

lifestyle

Homeworking revolutions need embrace

Loan lessons sought to fight youth debt

New thinking urged on childcare help for parents ...

No time to bank cheques

Nurses and police officers forced out of jobs ...

Publication of the Home Office Strategic Framework: ...

Set aside £70 a month to save your child from debt

Stress

lone parents

Lone parents, poverty and work: policy approaches and ...

LSC

Quango's staff take dim view of their leaders

Modern Apprenticeships

Research highlights critical success factors in ...

National Skills Strategy

Management may miss out on National Skills Strategy

OfSTED

Inspector denies OfSTED is bad value

qualifications

Bac plan to be unveiled soon

Colleges call for "staggered" curriculum

Exam system "unsustainable" warns QCA chief

recruitment

Candidates confuse the truth

Jobseekers warned to be vigilant

New research examines importance of qualifications to employers

regeneration

Skills for Regeneration – learning by Community Champions

schools

Better training opportunities for school staff

Big poll majority backs Borstal-style schools for unruly pupils

EIS says schools on edge of legal minefield

Greater recognition for classroom assistants

Largest equal value claim launched

Ministers in retreat from school set pay

New OfSTED report finds five-year improvement in quality ...

OfSTED alarm at 10,000 absent children

School learning pilot hailed a success

The London business challenge: linking schools to success

Treasury to block schools rescue package

Section 28

Anti-gay Section 28 to be repealed

Sector Skills

Financial Services Sector Skills Council ... development phase

Passenger transport Sector Skills Council in development

service sector

Job snobbery threatens productivity

Scots snub jobs in the service sector

skills

Measuring success in developing soft skills

Students rate teamwork below presentation skills

snooping

Information Commissioner spells out the Do's and Don'ts ...

Snooping at work: know your rights

social issues

Children caring for relatives for over 50 hours a week

spam

Children upset by spam email

Half of all e-mails are spam

Microsoft sues spammers

Spam will die out in three years

statistics

Changes to release of DWP statistics

Method of measuring unemployment figures to be updated

stress

Most workers take stress home with them

student finance

Withholding exam results from debtors may be unlawful

student funding

A bridge too late?

Set aside £70 a month to save your child from debt

Universities press MPs to increase top-up fees ...

Success for All

LSC arrangements for post-16 education development plans ...

teaching

Successful "Golden Hello2 initiative to include basic skills

Teachers turn their back on "super" status

transition

Apprenticeship in the "golden age": ...

UfI/learndirect

New learner, new learning: a strategic evaluation of UfI

useful Websites

Database of post-16 research projects

New Website aimed at Small Businesses

RNIB relaunches Website

Sector Skills Matrix launched

vocational education

Calls to end "snobbery" plaguing vocational education

Welfare to Work

widening participation

Demand to explode but no new cash

Foundation plan misses target

work/life balance

Brain drain: the men who won't let jobs deprive them ...

Firms embrace "flexible model"

Myth of long working hours

Women found to be struggling for work/life balance

world of work

Absence dips again, says CBI survey

Age is the key to labour turnover

Disability Discrimination can include constructive dismissal

Discrimination rights extended to ex-employees

Employer Training Pilots hitting the mark

Government "scupper" decent pay and rights for UK agency worker

Homeworking revolutions need embrace

More firms sack staff over abusive emails

More training for bosses

New ACAS arbitration scheme for flexible working

New technology sweeps away role of gatekeeper secretary

Young people, employability and the induction process

Miscellaneous items

A-level students to receive lessons in answering back

Congestion charge in cash crisis

Quangos squeezed to ease cash crisis

Students "would prefer the atmosphere of college and at the earlier age of 14"