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November 2004 |
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Well, that's it – all over for another year. No, not Christmas, that's still to come (as if you hadn't noticed). No, what I'm talking about is "the event of the year", the ADSET Annual Conference. The overall numbers were disappointing and some delegates noted the reduced networking opportunities as a result. However, it was a great opportunity to catch up on what is going on in our world – a world of change, confusion and disorientation! Maybe none of us are clear yet about who is doing what but John P G Smith in his opening presentation made it very clear that "what goes round comes round". John provided us with a clear and concise view of life around adult guidance since 1986. He shared with us his experiences of the various initiatives which have been set up by "the government" in order to improve the skill levels of the UK populace – mainly through providing information and advice (don't mention the "G word") about learning and work. Fascinating.
I did not get to any of the option sessions other than the three that I was facilitating and, since I spent break times preparing for the next session, I didn't get to talk to as many people as I would have liked to. Feedback forms indicate a considerable level of satisfaction with the topics – and some criticism that detail about the sessions was not available before the event. Actually the booking forms did say "more detail on the website" but ... next year you will have the information in writing with your booking confirmation. Whether you came to Darlington or not you will no doubt be interested in reading about the various option sessions (I know I will). I hope that Ruth will be able to get the slides or other material onto the ADSET website before too much longer. To be honest with you I'm usually the person that she has to nag the most – and I've got three to do from scratch as I don't use PowerPoint (not that I can't but that I don't!) I am, as always, very grateful to all the contributors, some of whom travelled long distances or for a long time to be with us. Here you will note that John McCarthy spent twenty (yes, twenty) hours on his return journey Brussels to Darlington whilst Andy Dean came the furthest, from his office in Berlin.
Changing the subject, but only slightly, I have to tell you that Andy Dean has taken up the reigns of ADSET chairmanship again. Dave Lowry, who had agreed to do the job, took up a new appointment with a training company at the beginning of November and, as his new employer is not an ADSET member, he will be unavailable for a while. Draft minutes from the Annual Meeting will be put onto the website shortly. Dawn will also be writing up notes of the informal (because it was not quorate) meeting of ADSET Council. The next meeting of Council is scheduled for 7 March at 11: 30 – any member organisation may send someone to the meeting but please tell us you are coming so we can provide lunch!
Why are publications in the DWP library like London buses? Because you get none at all for ages then three come at once. Unfortunately in the case of the fairly long, needs careful reading, Information Today, it was FOUR at once. I decided to skim-read issues 7 (July/August), 8 (September) and 9 (October) for anything that "leapt off the page" and concentrate on 10 (November), and save 11 (December), which I picked up at the online exhibition, for next week.
Only I ran out of time without doing November AT ALL!
Hazel Edmunds, Editor
Five leading business organisations are to meet in Brussels today (23 November) to issue a joint call for the burdens imposed by EU employment regulations to be reduced. Representatives from the British Chambers of Commerce, the CBI, the Federation of Small Businesses, the Institute of Directors and the Forum of Private Business will urge the new European commissioners to "halt the tide of employment red tape heading to the UK".
Jonathan Moules, The Financial Times 23 November
About 200,000 jobs could be created by small businesses if the burden of employment red tape were lifted, according to the Small Business Council (SBC). In its annual report, the SBC says that it is not the number of regulations that concerns small companies. Rather it is the increasing complexity of employment law which is the most frustrating aspect of self-employment. The report highlights research which finds that some 7% of sole traders have elected not to take on staff because they "could not face employment regulations".
Jonathan Moules, The Financial Times 24 November
Full report (PDF 36pp): http://tinyurl.com/6m94d
Commenting on the DTI's five-year programme, British Chambers of Commerce Director General, David Frost, said: "There are some useful messages but we are left waiting for the government to show a commitment to businesses trying to compete in the global market. The report lacks any real detail to reassure business. We welcome the government's ambitious target to raise R&D investment to 2.5% but the sketchy details in this report make this objective unrealistic. We are below the EU average for R&D investment and far behind the United States. There is no substantial evidence in this plan to suggest that we will be able to overtake our leading competitors."
British Chambers of Commerce press release 17 November
Nigel Griffiths, Small Business Minister, today (3 November) welcomed figures that show the highest number of business VAT registrations since records began in 1994. Statistics from the DTI's Small Business Service outline the number of businesses which registered and de-registered for VAT in 2003. They show an 8% increase in the number of firms registering, bringing the overall number of registered businesses at the start of 2004 to 1.8 million.
The full statistics can be downloaded from the Small Business Service website at www.sbs.gov.uk/analytical/statistics/vatstats.php
DTI press release 3 November
Client ref P/2004/407
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The financial impact of red tape on the UK economy rose from £6 billion to £7 billion in the last 12 months alone, according to new findings. Calculations from the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) will strike fear into business and politicians' hearts. It means that successive government reviews on the issue, coupled with measures to combat red tape like regulatory impact assessments and set "red tape days", are having no impact on levels of paperwork. Even more frightening: the ICAEW statistics found that smaller companies shouldered the burden disproportionately. Micro-firms, with fewer than 10 employees, carried 69% of red tape compared with just 3% for big corporations. "Government measures to improve access to finance, reduce skills shortages and improve the burden of red tape are falling short of their objectives," said Eric Anstee, Chief Executive of the ICAEW.
Copyright BusinessEurope.com 2004
BCC Newsletter November 20045
Details of a new small business unit that will transform tax administration for small businesses were announced today (2 December) by David Varney, Chairman of Inland Revenue and Customs and Excise. The new unit will sit at the heart of HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), and will champion the needs of small businesses. It will be charged with improving customer experience and compliance as well as reducing costs – for both businesses and HMRC – by eliminating unnecessary contact. It will ensure that the development and delivery of the tax system takes full account of the needs of small business and that necessary contact is handled effectively, efficiently and comprehensively. The longer-term goal for HMRC is to enable its support and compliance staff to take a "whole view" of each customer, tailoring the services provided and minimising the burden of compliance by providing joined-up systems so that business needs to provide information only once, when possible through a single form; integrated audits covering direct and indirect taxes; a single account through which all payments and repayments may be made; and streamlined and effective support and access to information in a way that better suits small business customers, including more effective use of information technologies and the Internet. This longer-term vision will require enabling legislation as well as the development of new information and IT systems and will take a number of years to build. As a first step the departments will now begin consulting on the scope for a single tax return that would bring together all small business taxes.
Inland Revenue press release 2 December
Client ref
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Chancellor Gordon Brown is to announce the immediate abolition of substantial tax liabilities on academics' shares in high-technology university spin-out companies in his pre-Budget report on December 2. The Chancellor's decision, disclosed in an Inland Revenue internal email, goes much further than expected towards resolving a row over tax rules introduced in the 2003 Finance Act that have caused a slump in the number of spin-outs. The email, sent to academic campaigners by Janice Cross, the Revenue official in charge of the issue, says that "in broad terms the measures will aim to put spin-outs back to where they thought they were".
Kevin Brown, The Financial Times 19 November
Government plans to boost start-ups by sending business owners to study in America have come under fire from business groups and MPs. They complained that money allocated to the scheme – part of the Transatlantic Enterprise Partnership – would be better spent on providing support to businesses in this country, rather than lining the pockets of overseas institutions and companies. Moreover, many argue that poor management skills are not the root cause of poor business performance. A spokesperson for the Federation of Small Businesses said: "What [companies] really want, and are crying out for help for, is better access to public-sector contracts, to be able to access finance at reasonable rates of interest and for loans to help them expand their business." The scheme was also criticised by academics who said it would undermine British business schools.
Elizabeth Judge, Times Online 18 November
The government has pledged £60 million next year to a scheme that will match schools and universities with local businesses in an effort to "forge a stronger enterprise culture among students". Speaking at the launch of the first National Enterprise Week, Chancellor Gordon Brown called for firms to become "business champions" to schools in the UK – by, for example, visiting schools and speaking to students about business and enterprise. Mr Brown argued that the key to creating an entrepreneurial culture is to focus on the school curriculum and encourage a more risk-taking attitude in the young.
Anna Czerny, People Management Online 25 November
Education Secretary Charles Clarke has congratulated colleges and universities for "making strides" since 1997. However, he warned that there was no room for complacency, and called on higher and further education houses to build stronger links with employers.
British Chambers of Commerce Newsletter 18 November
Update comment: What? Again?
British universities are "powerhouses of innovation in the UK economy", enjoying far greater links with businesses than previously thought, according to a report from the Cambridge-MIT Institute (CMI). Research conducted by CMI found that as many as two-thirds of British companies use universities and higher education institutions as sources of knowledge, and almost a quarter of these businesses have research collaborations with them. However, the research also found that, while the UK may have more connections with universities than the US, the US university-business links were "deeper and more beneficial to companies".
Chris Johnston, The THES 3 December
Schools in deprived areas are struggling to build the links with business that the government says are essential, according to a leading ministerial adviser. Sir Howard Davies, architect of the government's drive to promote a sense of enterprise in schools, said: "Businesses are enthusiastic to become involved but are not necessarily in areas where they are most needed. Schools in relatively prosperous areas find it easy to establish links, but schools where two-thirds of pupils are from single-parent families or where parents are unemployed do not have the local business links."
Stephen Lucas, The TES 19 November
Innovative small firms helping to regenerate rundown areas of the UK are being priced out by their own success, a new report claims. According to the New Economics Foundation (NEF), companies listed on Inner City 100, an index of fast-growing companies in deprived inner city areas, are being forced to relocate because of the "urban renaissance" they have caused. The regeneration of previously rundown locations has created extra demand to move into the areas, resulting in spiralling rental and property prices. These costs cannot be met by many small firms so they have had to relocate. Paradoxically, this has undermined regeneration and weakened the enterprise base, NEF said. For example, Hackney Community Transport, an Inner City 100 award-winner, has fallen victim to the problem. Expansion plans by the London-based organisation have been blocked because land they hoped to move on to has been earmarked for the capital's 2012 Olympics bid.
Copyright BusinessEurope.com 2004
BCC Newsletter November 2004
"Nothing is interesting if you're not interested."
Helen MacInness
Conservative MP Richard Bacon has called for an official investigation after a "technical glitch" at the Inland Revenue resulted in thousands of tax records being accidentally deleted. The mistake meant that Pay As You Earn files dating back to 2001 were deleted from its systems. While Mr Bacon accused the Inland Revenue of "sloppy procedures", a spokesperson insisted that it would not be asking individuals for more money if they were found to have underpaid their tax bill. The taxpayers affected are people who left their jobs up to three years ago and did not start working again or begin drawing a pension.
Rachel Stevenson, The Independent 3 November
Public service sector unions have called for an inquiry into a massive computer crash which disabled the government's benefits system, forcing civil servants to write out benefit cheques by hand. Up to 80% of the 100,000 desktop computers at the DWP were knocked out following a blunder during routine maintenance. The disruption has caused a backlog of unprocessed claims. Officials at the DWP said that the crash had been "blown out of all proportion". However, a spokesperson for the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) described the incident as the biggest computer crash in government history, and warned that the incident had cast doubt on the wisdom of plans to cut thousands of civil service jobs at the DWP.
Staff and agencies, The Guardian 26 November
An article in The Economist (20-26 November) argues that the government's new childcare policies have been undermined by the "mess" at the Child Support Agency (CSA). The CSA was set up in 1993, with the aim of managing child maintenance payments from one parent to another when a marriage breaks up or a parent leaves. Despite having strong regulatory powers (the CSA can imprison non-payers or confiscate their driving licences) the agency currently owes parents around £1.72 billion. Over £1 billion of this is deemed uncollectable. A new computer system, costing £456 million, was introduced in March 2003 and supplied by Electronic Data Systems (EDS). EDS, however, has "a patchy record in government IT projects" and has not been able to implement the new system as efficiently as all concerned would have liked. Indeed, if moving cases from the old system to the new one continues at the current rate, it will be 2067 before the task is completed. The government blames EDS, and has withheld some of its funding. This means, though, that the Department for Work and Pensions is exempt from blame, even though it was the DWP's task to supervise the project.
Update comment: EDS? "Patchy"? It leaks like a sieve!
An investigation by the National Audit Office has concluded that, while the Office of Government Commerce has made significant improvements in identifying why IT projects go wrong, there remains no room for complacency. The investigation examined the way in which the government "buys" information technology systems. It noted that the most effective measure that the OGC has introduced is a review process called Gateway. The Gateway system involves rigorous screening by independent examiners at six key stages in planning, procurement and implementation. Projects can be halted at any of these stages and problems attended to immediately, rather than following a well-publicised launch and a subsequent embarrassing failure.
Michael Cross, The Guardian 11 November
Improving IT procurement - The impact of the Office of Government Commerce's initiatives on departments and suppliers in the delivery of major IT-enabled projects
Executive summary (PDF 12pp) http://tinyurl.com/6bn5p
Full report (PDF 78pp) http://tinyurl.com/5dn3q
According to a report from the Society of Information Technology Management (SocITM), e-government targets for the delivery of all public services online by the end of 2005 may not be achieved unless a way can be found of enabling people to prove who they are online. The report acknowledged that local councils are "confused about which direction to take, and worried about impending deadlines". However, it warns that doing nothing "is not an option" and urges the government to take immediate action to devise a reliable system for authentication.
Michael Cross, The Guardian 18 November
Full article: http://tinyurl.com/5cejk
According to a recent survey conducted by NTL, 98% of UK local government organisations claim they will overcome time and budget challenges to reach 2005 e-Government targets. However, just 12% of the "Internet-literate public" are aware of the e-Government drive. Two-thirds of those questioned said that if they knew of the online services they would use them for activities such as paying taxes and fines, voting and accessing entertainment and information. However, over two-thirds expressed concerns about data protection and one-third said they would be reluctant to "trust" online transactions.
Info@UK Issue 44 (November 2004)
"Everyone is in awe of the lion-tamer in a cage with half a dozen lions – everyone but a school bus driver, that is."
Laurence J Peter
As part of its commitment to help employers comply with the requirements of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995, the Disability Rights Commission, in conjunction with British Telecom, has developed a question-and-answer-based online self-appraisal toolkit. The toolkit has been designed with SMEs in mind, and seeks to reassure employers that compliance is not as difficult as it may seem.
Virginia Matthews, The Independent 28 October
A search engine that returns accessible websites only and rates them for accessibility for any query entered is to be formally launched by the end of the month. Website consultancy Net Progress's Net-guide currently features 1,000 sites from around the world in its database.
URL: www.net-guide.co.uk
E-Access Bulletin Issue 59 (November 2004)
Maria Eagle Minister for Disabled People today (18 November) awarded organisations from across the country which excel in providing access for their disabled customers and urged others to make sure they do the same. She congratulated the five small organisations which have excelled in their innovative and committed approach to their customers. Run by the Department for Work and Pensions, the Access all Areas awards give service providers with under 100 employees the chance to demonstrate how they have made changes to their business to enable disabled people to use their services.
Department for Work and Pensions press release 18
November
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Details have emerged this month of a new version of the main international standard for Web accessibility, to be launched next year, in a move which will make it easier for public sector bodies to meet their obligations to make online services accessible for all. Accessibility is most commonly measured against guidelines set down by the international Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI). Judy Brewer, Director of WAI, announced that the first major overhaul of the guidelines was set to make them easier to understand by non-technical people, and easier to test against using automated checks. The last call for contributions to a working draft of the new guidelines will be in Spring 2005.
For more details see www.w3.org/wai
E-Government Bulletin Issue 175 (29 November)
The proposed Commission for Equality and Human Rights (CEHR) is to be given more powers than originally intended after discussions between the head of the Commission for Racial Equality and the Department for Trade and Industry. In light of concessions offered by ministers, the CRE has agreed to drop its opposition to the merger that will create the new commission. However, CRE Chair Trevor Phillips said that the Commission would not join the new body until 2008-09, as a result of "the rise in Islamophobia and the increased activity of the far right". The changes agreed by the DTI and the CRE include:
Alan Travis, Home Affairs Editor, The Guardian 19 November
A free online directory has been launched with the aim of providing information on the accessibility of facilities and services provided by every UK business. Direct Enquiries provides details about the current accessibility of facilities such as lifts, toilets, counter heights, lighting, information in alternative formats such as large print and Braille, staff assistance, and also what new accessibility features are planned to be provided in the future.
E-Access Bulletin Issue 59 (November 2004)
The Learning and Skills Development Agency has produced a new DVD to give teachers and support staff in post-compulsory education and training a better insight into the needs of disabled students. Learners' Experiences considers a range of disabilities and shows interviews with disabled adults and young people who talk openly about their experiences of education, and the impact that staff have on those experiences.
Learners' Experiences: A training resource on the Disability Discrimination Act is available free of charge
For more information, contact Sally Faraday
tel: 020
7297 9098
email: sfaraday@lsda.org.uk
Basic Skills Bulletin Issue 27 (October 2004)
The Disability Rights Commission published its annual review on 1 November 2004. It covers work undertaken between April 2003 and March 2004. Highlights of the report include:
Highlights for the DRC's work in 2004-05 include:
Gerard Goggin and Christopher Newell
This article considers questions of technological change, innovation, and communication from a disability perspective. Using a critical social perspective on disability, it offers an Australian case study to analyse disability in national telecommunications policy. In doing so, it critiques the systemic lack of incorporation of disability in national visions, policies, and programmes. Accordingly, it argues for a cohesive and genuine commitment to incorporating disability considerations in all areas of information and communication technology policy and scholarship.
Prometheus Volume 22 Number 4 (December 2004)
Few employers have taken steps to make their corporate recruitment website compliant with the demands of the Disability Discrimination Act, claims new research. The research, conducted by jobsgopublic – a public sector job board – found that just one in five local authority job sites was compliant. Central government performs worse than this, with less than one in 10 sites being accessible.
IRS Employment Review Number 810 (22 October)
Enable Enterprises is a leading provider of disability and accessibility services including training, consultancy, research, advocacy, information and payroll. Its primary goal is to assist organisations and individuals in ending "disablism" and maximising the life experiences and opportunities of everyone, in particular disabled people.
URL: www.enableenterprises.com
Community Care, 26 August-1 September
The Learning and Skills Council (LSC) today (18 November) announced the launch of its Equality and Diversity Strategy. Aimed at improving contact with those groups of people who are not currently involved in learning, the strategy will improve learners' experience of the education and training they receive, and help them to progress in a way that is appropriate to their abilities and aspirations. Kit Roberts, Director of Equality and Diversity at the LSC, said: "For the past three years the LSC has worked hard to make a positive difference to individuals' learning experiences. We've introduced Equality and Diversity Impact Measures to identify local gaps and barriers to learning provision. We've made headway in addressing gender stereotyping in the take-up of Apprenticeships." The strategy identifies six priority areas or "strands" of work:
Mark Haysom, Chief Executive of the Learning and Skills Council, said: "The most important reason for delivering equality is because it is about people … it is about people with dreams and with needs, regardless of where they come from, regardless of what their backgrounds are, regardless of what advantages or disadvantages they have had in life. I believe passionately that they should have the opportunity to go as far as their talents and their efforts can take them."
LSC press release 18 November
LSC Equality and Diversity Strategy 2004/07 (PDF 6pp) is at http://tinyurl.com/4nnn5 with lots of colour photographs
The Kyoto Institute of Technology has developed a computer-aided camera that can "see" across roads. The device is able to detect pedestrian crossings, measure the width of a road and discern the colour of traffic lights. Worn as spectacles and with an earpiece to give commands to the user, it is hoped this device will make the production stage.
James Meikle, Health Correspondent, The Guardian 19 November
The OECD has advised the UK to abandon mandatory retirement ages in the forthcoming age discrimination legislation, unless they can be "objectively justified". The OECD also calls for:
Working Brief Number 159 (November 2004)
Over a third of British businesses could be damaged if the government decides to remove the right to set the retirement age of employees, according to the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC). In the largest business survey on retirement age of 1,200 businesses across all sectors, the BCC found that 36% of employers thought it was crucial to their business to retain the right to set a retirement age. The figures emerged in advance of a meeting of the government's Taskforce on Age Discrimination which will discuss taking away employers' rights to set their own retirement age for staff. Commenting on the results, British Chambers of Commerce Director General, David Frost, said: "Having a retirement age is the best of both worlds – employers know when someone is due to retire but can still have the flexibility to agree with individual employees who want to work beyond that age. When will the government and Europe realise that employers need to be trusted to run their businesses and look after staff, rather than this constant interfering?"
British Chambers of Commerce press release 12 November
The relatively low levels of over-50s in the workplace costs the UK economy between £19 billion and £31 billion each year, claims a report from the National Audit Office. This cost is primarily in lost output, although reduced tax revenue and increased benefits payments also form a substantial part. The report maintains that there are currently around 2.7 million people between the ages of 50 and the state pension age who do not work. Of these, around 1 million say that they would like to be earning a living, but face multiple barriers to finding work.
Professional Manager
Volume 13 Number 6 (November 2004)
Research from Vodaphone UK suggests that the UK could be doing more to combat ageism. The research particularly highlights the way in which older people are portrayed in the media, noting that there are few positive examples on television. In the introduction to the report, Bill Morrow, the American CEO of Vodaphone, says: "At a very fundamental level, it appears we tend to celebrate age a little more in the US – we have a host of television programmes that reflect maturity in a positive light and we have built a whole economy reflecting the affluence of old age. I was therefore intrigued to find that this is less clearly the case in the UK – it seems more common to caricature older people as grumpy, hard-up and feeling sorry for themselves."
Professional Manager
Volume 13 Number 6 (November 2004)
Three-quarters of the public believe that age discrimination will not improve in the next five years, and a quarter feel that it will get worse, according to research conducted by Age Concern. Of those surveyed:
In 2006 new laws will outlaw ageism at work for the first time and a statutory body must be in place to ensure older workers can seek advice and protection of their rights.
HRLook Daily News 4 November
Unions have given a lukewarm response to the government's plan to create a single Commission for Equality and Human Rights (CEHR). Dave Prentis, General Secretary of UNISON, said: "The new Commission would have to tackle discrimination and promote equality on grounds of race, sex, disability, sexual orientation, religion or belief and age – a huge challenge. UNISON is against putting human rights in with equalities as it muddies the waters. They are two distinct issues requiring two very different responses." Mark Serwotka, PCS General Secretary, said: "We welcome the promise of effective enforcement powers for CEHR that this bill will bring but it needs sufficient resources and staffing if it is to be a success. The fear is that the creation of the CEHR without first harmonising the law on equality will prove to be a wasted opportunity." In addition, AUT General Secretary Sally Hunt pointed out that the 1970 equal pay act hadn't yet closed the gender pay gap. She added: "We will be closely watching the progress of the single equality body and how the new Commission for Equality and Human Rights will work in practice."
Changing Times News Number 49 (29 November)
An independent evaluation of Adult Learners' Week 2004, conducted by the Institute of Employment Studies, revealed:
Three hundred people who called learndirect during Adult Learners' Week were called back two months later. Of these:
Discover Number 15 November 2004
Two national inquiries into the state of adult education have been launched, amid evidence of "a sharpening decline" in participation. The first consists of a survey for the Learning and Skills Council, which will investigate the financial arrangements for adult and community learning, and examine exactly what the funding is spent on. The second will be conducted by NIACE, and will look at patterns of provision, participation rates and breadth of study. The findings of both studies will be published next year.
Ian Nash, TES FE Focus 12 November
Specialist colleges which provide further education for people with learning difficulties have come under fire for placing too much emphasis on caring and not enough on education. Both David Bell of OfSTED and David Sherlock of the Adult Learning Inspectorate argue that too many specialist colleges are failing inspections due to poor leadership and low educational standards.
Joe Clancy, The TES 26 November
The Adult Learning Inspectorate (ALI) has published its annual report on the state of adult education. The report criticises constantly shifting ministerial demands on colleges. While it acknowledges that adults with poor basic skills need urgent help, it calls for "a more sophisticated understanding of the benefits of adult and community education". It states: "To achieve a sense of excellence and well-being, colleges need greater stability and clarity in the expectations placed upon them, and to learn to say no."
Steve Hook, TES FE Focus 26 November
How can further education be "demand-led" when courses that people want are closing down, asks Peter Kingston (The Guardian 9 November). He argues that, for all the talk of further education becoming more "demand- led", there is very little evidence that what is demanded by learners is of any consequence to the decision-makers. He says: "Ask the thousand or so punters at Bradford College who were enjoying their yoga, tai chi, swimming and other adult education 'physical health' classes, whether they demanded that the courses suddenly be scrapped this autumn. Or ask deaf students about the £138 fee that Macclesfield College is slapping on their lip-reading class, which has hitherto been free. … Indeed, ask adult students all over the country how reassured they are by this new demand-led mode of operations." Mr Kingston tells us that colleges have been placed in such a constrained position that, even if all their learners were to fully fund their studies, they would still have to refuse to provide the courses. Meeting the government's learning priorities means that for many institutions running courses which fall outside the priority areas is too big a drain on the available facilities and resources. Moreover, there is an argument to be made that course provision has always been demand-led, in that colleges only secured funding if they managed to recruit students.
Education and Skills Secretary Charles Clarke has encouraged the FE sector to engage more with employers for a more successful future. Launching a consultation exercise on the proposed introduction of a "National Quality Improvement Body" in 2006, designed to drive quality improvement in FE, Clarke said: "The role of the Sector Skills Councils is paramount. They provide an important new voice in identifying the skills that we need to drive up productivity across the UK sector by sector. I hope colleges take the opportunity to work with the Sector Skills Councils, and the Regional Skills Partnerships to put in place a coherent skills offer for individuals and employers."
SSDA Intelligence Number 29 (26 November)
The consultation closes on 8 February 2005. More details at http://tinyurl.com/6duh4
Further education colleges are planning to "divorce" themselves from partnerships with universities, so that they can offer foundation degrees validated by a new national consortium. The degrees would be validated by the University Vocational Awards Council, and the service should be available by next academic year. The move has been welcomed by FE college heads, many of whom feel that they have been given the rough end of the deal by their HE partner institutions.
Tony Tysome, The THES 26 November
According to research commissioned by Foundation Degrees, UK businesses hold vocational qualifications in high esteem and recognise the role industry has in the provision of such education. However, the research also found that employers are failing to take sufficient action to ensure that vocational qualifications remain relevant to industry. Further findings of the survey of 216 directors from companies with 50 or more employees across the UK include:
HRLook Daily News 22 November
According to a survey conducted jointly by The THES and the Association of Colleges, almost one-third of foundation degree courses run by further education colleges are struggling to fill places, and more than one in eight has been axed. The survey found that, of 234 degrees launched by the 52 colleges questioned, 72 are struggling to recruit and another 31 have been discontinued. While many college principals say that there has been insufficient demand for the courses, a substantial number blame mismanagement by higher education partners and difficulties with employer involvement. Others argue that the weak government publicity campaign also contributed to the poor take-up of courses. The findings of the survey "cast fresh doubts over the government's flagship two-year courses, intended to lead the expansion of student numbers in higher education".
Tony Tysome, The THES 12 November
This overview outlines the problems associated with inadequate basic skills and relates these to those who have recently finished statutory education. It highlights both the causes and likely outcomes of poor basic skills, and describes some of the obstacles that have arisen in attempts to deal with these. The Skills for Life national strategy is described, along with initiatives relating to teaching and the curriculum; students; local education authorities; prison and young offender education; and ESOL. Government, cross-agency, and community initiatives are all described. Finally some suggestions are made about how local problems can be identified and strategies developed to tackle them.
renewal.net education email update 7 (23 November)
Word Document 14pp: http://tinyurl.com/4kf96
The Basic Skills Agency has launched the first ever adult literacy core curriculum for Welsh. It has been designed so that it corresponds to the curriculum demands in English, and is based on the national standards for adult literacy qualifications.
More information from Helen Vaughan-Jones at the BSA
tel: 020 7440 6512
email: helenvj@basic-skills.co.uk
Basic Skills Bulletin Issue 26 (September 2004)
OfSTED has published the results of a survey designed to inform the development of government, funding council and college policies. It reports on how effectively colleges currently identify and respond to the needs of employers and to highlight instances and characteristics of best practice. Findings include:
SSDA Intelligence Number 29 (26 November)
Full report (PDF 58pp) is at http://tinyurl.com/4t9dn
The gap in A-level performance between schools and sixth-form colleges has halved in the past two years, official figures show. School students now gain an average of only one half-grade higher than their peers at sixth- form colleges. Moreover, all colleges outperform school sixth forms with fewer than 150 students.
Jon Slater, The TES 19 November
Most college heads remain undecided about top-up fees, a conference will hear his week, amid concerns that the further education sector may lose out when fees are introduced for higher education courses from 2006, writes Tony Tysome (The THES 12 November). Mr Tysome tells us that college principals are worried about the level of competition they face, with both higher education institutions and other local colleges, if they set their fees at the "wrong" level. Susan Hayday, head of the Association of Colleges' higher education working group, said colleges would have to make decisions soon about fee levels for 2006. She said: "Most colleges feel they are in a high-risk situation, trying to decide whether to set fees so they are in line with those set by universities, or set them lower and risk their courses being perceived as of lower quality."
Tony Tysome, The THES 12 November
Chief Inspector of Schools David Bell has described the news that 11% of FE colleges fail OfSTED/ALI inspections as "a national disgrace". Mr Bell said that a "national outcry would erupt" if the failure rate of schools matched that of further education colleges. He highlighted a growing north-south divide in quality, commenting: "What we are talking about is students who are not getting a decent deal."
Joe Clancy, The TES 26 November
A new report from OfSTED claims that there are nearly four times as many failing colleges in the south of England as there are in the north. The Inspectorate cites the north's industrial history and affinity for "artisan training" as being a key factor in this reversal of the north-south divide. The most successful colleges, however, are more evenly spread around the country, and 60% of them are sixth form colleges, OfSTED calculates. The findings were drawn from research published in two parallel reports – Why Colleges Succeed and Why Colleges Fail. They are based on evidence drawn from the inspections of 307 FE colleges between April 2001 and June 2004 and of 42 independent specialist colleges for students with learning difficulties and/or disabilities inspected from January 2002.
Peter Kingston, The Guardian 30 November
Why colleges succeed (PDF 20pp): http://tinyurl.com/6gm82
Why colleges fail (PDF 22pp): http://tinyurl.com/5o4nu
The Association of Colleges (AoC) has hit out at the harsh criticism colleges received from OfSTED Chief Inspector David Bell, who branded their failure rates as "a national disgrace". John Brennan, the AoC's Chief Executive, said that, if colleges were to be judged according to the same criteria as schools, their success rates would be twice that of schools. He added: "It is highly inappropriate for immoderate language of this kind to be used about a sector which achieves remarkable success in the face of continuing government underfunding."
Joe Clancy, TES FE Focus 3 December
Charles Clarke has told colleges that the Department for Education and Skills will not be able to carry on funding them at the current 80% rate, and they will have to look for funding elsewhere, perhaps from students and industry, relating the skills taught to the needs of potential employers. Speaking at the Association of Colleges' annual conference, Mr Clarke said that the government would continue to support the expansion of 16-19-year-olds and adults to level 2 provision. However, he told college principals that they must "diversify their sources of funding".
Ian Nash and Steve Hook, The TES FE Focus 19 November
The Learning and Skills Council (LSC) has set out an agenda for change, outlining a major programme for the transformation of the further education sector. The agenda is fundamental to the LSC's commitment "to engage fully with the sector and work in partnership with colleges and training providers in a spirit of openness and transparency". It focuses on five key themes. Each theme has a dedicated lead person appointed from the LSC's Management Group. They will set up task groups for each theme, involving many representatives from the further education sector, to agree a way forward to address these key issues. The themes are:
The LSC will also work with FE college principals to raise awareness of the vital role of colleges in delivering education, training and skills for the 21st century.
LSC Update November 2004
The government's plans to "streamline the quality improvement landscape" for further education, announced by Charles Clarke at the Learning and Skills Development Agency's summer conference this year, include the setting up of a new quality assurance body for the sector. Mr Clarke has now confirmed that this role is likely to be undertaken by the Learning and Skills Development Agency itself. Consultation on the new body is expected to begin at Christmas, and will most probably be conducted by former head of the Audit Commission, Sir Andrew Foster. While the decision to offer the role to the LSDA falls short of actually creating a whole new quango, it has not prevented accusations that the government is "duplicating what it has already got in the inspectorates: the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) and the Further Education Standards Unit, launched in Success for All".
Peter Kingston, The Guardian 16 November
Children as young as 14 could study part-time at university under the government's reform of secondary education, due to be unveiled in the New Year. Education Minister Ivan Lewis said yesterday (17 November) that encouraging children to engage in higher education would raise "aspirations and expectations" of youngsters from disadvantaged backgrounds, as well as challenging the most able. Speaking at the Association of Colleges' annual conference, Mr Lewis said: "For many young people university is not on their radar screen. It has never been relevant to them, their families never went and they have no idea what it is like. This is a way of changing their aspirations and expectations."
Matthew Taylor, The Guardian 18 November
Pupils as young as 14 will be able to learn construction industry skills under a new initiative launched by the Scottish Executive. The Developing Skills for Work programme will give young people the chance to take vocational courses at college instead of traditional subjects such as geography and history. Jim Wallace, Minister for Enterprise and Lifelong Learning, said the new scheme, which is scheduled to begin next year, would allow pupils to realise their full potential. He said: "Colleges' partnerships with schools across Scotland will help develop young people to become successful learners and effective contributors to society and work."
Kevin Schofield, Education Correspondent, The Scotsman 27 November
Building the Foundations of a Lifelong Learning Society, the interim report of the school/college review, was published today (26 November). The report outlines how the Executive will meet its commitment to allow 14-16-year-olds to gain vocational skills by:
Further consultation will take place on today's interim report before the final partnership strategy for schools and colleges, including an implementation plan, is published in April. The final strategy will be implemented from academic year 2005/06 onwards.
The consultation period will run until February 28, with two consultation seminars planned for Glasgow (27 January) and Edinburgh (28 January).
Scottish Executive press release 26 November
The principal of South Cheshire sixth-form college has accused the DfES of inventing the 14-19 educational phase as a "convenient" way to "solve discipline and curriculum problems in schools". David Collins has called for the government to give greater consideration to the impact admitting under-16s into FE establishments. He maintains that it is the voluntary nature of post-compulsory learning that gives it an adult focus and ethos, even in a sixth-form setting.
Steve Hook, TES FE Focus 12 November
In an article for The Guardian (1 November), Peter Kingston examines the publication of Equipping Our Teachers for the Future: reforming initial teacher training for the learning and skills sector. This document is a blueprint for reforming further education, which is intended eventually to give FE lecturers parity with school teachers. The initial teacher training reforms will be developed over the next two years and introduced in full from September 2007. The key features are:
Mr Kingston questions the logic behind maintaining two separate qualifications when the reforms are meant to create equality between FE lecturers and school teachers. He says: "The document notes FE teachers' desire for 'parity of esteem and of professionalism' with school teachers. So why have the separate QTLS certificate? Why not operate a common, qualified teacher status certificate for both sectors? The cynic might suppose that the new certificate is an effort to stem the flow of FE teachers into better-paid and more secure jobs in schools."
Full article: http://tinyurl.com/6ulhx
The Scottish Executive has teamed up with the Royal Bank of Scotland to launch a new scheme to encourage more young people from poorer backgrounds to go on to college or university. A special roadshow will visit more than 140 schools throughout the country with the aim of targeting 17,000 pupils – in particular those from families with no experience of further or higher education. Pupils are given a 30-minute presentation by a recent graduate who tells them how they benefited from further education.
Kevin Schofield, Education Correspondent, The Scotsman 3 November
Unless there is another overhaul in the way education is provided in prison, future adult learning inspections will not find much to be optimistic about, says Erwin James (The Guardian 24 November). Writing as a former inmate, Mr James says that the performance of prison education is no great surprise. Although his own experiences were largely positive, he argues that the difficulties faced by prison education departments have been greatly compounded by the expansion of the prison population. Like many other establishments, it now has to provide more teaching to more people without more money.
Full article: http://tinyurl.com/4gxgz
Employers view apprenticeships as more valuable than other qualifications according to independent research conducted on behalf of the LSC. The research found that 27% of employers put apprenticeships at the top of their list for value, with 26% choosing GCSEs, 8% A-levels and just 5% opting for university degrees. Commenting on the findings, Stephen Gardner, LSC Director of Work-Based Learning, said: "With employers recognising apprenticeships as a more valuable qualification than A-levels it is clear that the apprenticeship route offers an excellent career choice for young people."
Apprentice newsletter Number 8 (November 2004)
The Sutton Trust charity has attacked the "spurious debate" about social engineering in higher education, claiming that it has overshadowed some truly significant achievements. A report published by the Trust says that outreach projects and benchmarking have resulted in 15,000 extra state-school pupils gaining places at top research universities over the past five years. Sir Peter Lampl, Chair of the Trust, said that the recent row about a "discredited system" of benchmarks for widening participation should not be allowed to undermine these successes.
Paul Hill, The THES 5 November
State School Admissions To Our Leading Universities (Word document 10pp) is at http://tinyurl.com/4a94v
Teaching unions have reacted with anger after learning that not a single teacher has been invited to join a new government taskforce on university admissions. The 23-member taskforce has been charged with examining how a post-qualification application system may be introduced. A spokesperson from the Association of Teachers and Lecturers accused the government of sidelining teachers. She said: "The government's new relationship with schools is becoming a new relationship with headteachers."
Warwick Mansell and Michael Shaw, The TES 12 November
A significant number of universities look set to finalise plans for tuition fees and bursaries in 2006 by January – two months before the deadline. The Office for Fair Access revealed that a "great majority" of institutions hoped to submit access plans for the regulator's approval by January 4. The final deadline is 18 March. However, Sir Martin Harris, Director of OfFA, has agreed to respond to universities by 11 March if they submit their documents by 4 January. Without approval from OfFA, universities will not be able to charge the maximum £3,000 top-up fees.
Paul Hill, The THES 26 November
Two universities are considering charging top-up fees of less than £3,000 a year in a move that would shatter the national consensus that all institutions will inevitably charge the maximum. Both Leeds Metropolitan and Bradford universities have submitted proposals to their respective governing bodies for approval. It is understood that London Metropolitan University is also said to be considering such an option, and a spokesperson for OfFA confirmed that it had received a draft submission to charge less than £3,000 for all its courses. While the Vice-Presidents of the universities concerned say they intend to challenge the idea that low fees means lower quality, the Chair of Campaigning Modern Universities feels they will not succeed. Michael Driscoll stated: "I am afraid price will be equated with quality - that is how the market works."
Claire Sanders, The THES 3 December
Student leaders in Scotland have accused the Scottish Executive of introducing English-style top-up fees by the back door, with the introduction of a new law allowing ministers to set higher fees for selected university courses. The Executive has already announced plans to charge English students higher fees than domiciled Scottish students once fees are introduced in England. However, it has indicated that it also wants to impose even higher fees for medical courses.
A spokesperson for the Executive said that this move has become necessary as many English students study medicine at Scottish universities, then return south leaving a shortage of doctors in Scotland. Melanie Ward, president of NUS Scotland, warned: "They want to start with medical students, but what if there is a problem next year with lawyers or dentists or any other group you care to name? We see it as the thin end of the wedge. There is nothing to stop them extending it to Scottish students or any course the minister chooses."
Ian Swanson, Scottish Political Editor, The Scotsman 9 November
New figures released by the Welsh Assembly show that a total of 22,780 students applied for Assembly Learning Grants (ALGs) during the last academic year 2003/04. This figure is 13% higher than the number received in the ALG's first year, 2002/03. Moreover, the number of successful applications has risen by 9%, to 90% of the total applications.
Learning for Wales News 11 November
More than 70,000 students have not received their student loans and are in danger of failing their degrees as they neglect their studies to try to earn some money. Ministers are now demanding daily progress reports in an attempt to see if the payments will speed up. Nearly one in ten undergraduates has not been paid by the Student Loans Company since the start of the Autumn term. However, a spokesperson for the company insisted that everyone who applied on time has been paid and that over the past week alone it received 1,000 new applications. While it is not clear why so many students have not received their loans, it is believed that the introduction of a new computer system has contributed to the delays. Poor communication between local education authorities, students and universities has also been blamed for the poor state of affairs.
Alexandra Blair, Times Online 8 November
A submission by the Student Loans Company regarding how it would organise bursary schemes for universities could mean that institutions pay administrative fees of £15 for every bursary they award. While the Student Loans Company insists that this is far lower than using in-house systems to assess students' eligibility and allocate funds, it would still cost the sector around £3 million a year. Moreover, new universities believe that they are likely to be disproportionately affected by the costs, leaving them to pay out annual bills of five figures. Professor Michael Driscoll, Chair of Campaigning Modern Universities, said that the government had "remained pretty silent" about the hidden costs. He commented: "Our argument remains as it always has: there should be a central mandatory bursary system paid for by top-slicing the funding of the whole sector and distributing centrally. We think that we are being disadvantaged by the mandatory bursary system – as we have larger numbers of eligible students – and if we are going to be charged per student for the administration cost, it rubs salt into the wound."
Paul Hill, The THES 26 November
"To avoid making mistakes is very easy. All you have to do is avoid having any ideas."
Leo Burnett
Students with big debts who are thinking of wiping the slate clean by declaring themselves bankrupt may want to think again. The Insolvency Service now has tough new powers to extend the bankruptcy process for up to 15 years, where an individual's bankruptcy results from "reckless or irresponsible spending".
Miles Brignall, The Guardian 13 November
A team of researchers at the University of Hertfordshire is developing a behavioral code for how future robot companions should react in social situations. "We are assuming a situation in which a useful human companion robot already exists," says project leader professor Kerstin Dautenhahn. "Our mission is to look at how such a robot should be programmed to respect personal spaces of humans. Without such studies, you will build robots which might not respect the fact that humans are individuals, have preferences and come from different cultural backgrounds. And I want robots to treat humans as human beings, and not like other robots."
BBC News 28 October
via NewsScan Daily 1 November 2004
The TUC is warning that bugs and germs, and dry, centrally heated offices could prove disastrous for millions of UK workers who rely on their voices to do their jobs. Research conducted by the TUC finds that as many as five million workers in the UK are routinely affected by voice loss, at an annual cost to the economy of over £200 million. Work hoarse, which appears in the TUC-backed health and safety magazine Hazards, says that teachers and call centre workers are the groups of employees most likely to be suffering a silent blight at this time of year. However, the report notes that other workers are also at risk of losing their voices as a result of the jobs they do, including childcare workers, shop workers, radio and TV reporters, sales staff, barristers, bingo callers, counsellors and fitness instructors. TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said: "The lesson for employers is to listen to their workers while they still can, provide adequate breaks and welfare facilities and avoid coercing sick employees back to work before they are fully recovered. And workers need to know that voice loss is no laughing matter – they should speak up when they first develop symptoms or risk suffering in silence."
HRLook Daily News 19 November
Full report: www.hazards.org/voiceloss/workhoarse.htm
"Everyone should go to college and get a degree and then spend six months as a bartender and six months as a cabdriver. Then they would really be educated."
Al McGuire
The European Court of Justice has ruled in favour of a French student who was denied financial support by a local authority because it believed he was not "settled" in the UK. The student had applied to Ealing Borough Council for funding when he enroled at University College London in 1998. He was refused a maintenance loan, despite completing his secondary schooling in London. He claimed the council had breached his rights as an EU citizen. The ruling is a result of changes to EU discrimination laws, which extended the remit of such legislation to education. If, as is expected, the judgement is confirmed by the EU in the spring, this will mean that public bodies will be unable to turn down grant applications from students from another country. However, students from outside the UK will have to prove that they have a strong link to the UK to qualify for support.
Alan Osborn, The THES 19 November
A Labour Assembly Minister has attacked the Student Loans Company after it admitted that students who wrote to it in Welsh would get a slower service than those using English. Leighton Andrews said: "This is unacceptable. I have raised this issue because it is important that if we bring powers over higher education to the National Assembly – including powers over the Student Loans Company – we must ensure that students who study through the medium of Welsh are treated on the same basis as those who choose to study through the medium of English."
Martin Shipton, The Western Mail 12 November
Jane Davidson, Minister for Education and Lifelong Learning, today (2 November) announced £2.9 million funding for an innovative and collaborative scheme to extend Welsh-medium provision in the higher education sector in Wales. The University of Wales-led sector-wide bid is designed to increase teaching capacity and forms an integral part of the strategy developed by the National Steering Group chaired by Andrew Green. The bid essentially consists of two components – a Postdoctoral Teaching Fellowship scheme and a Postgraduate Research Scholarship scheme. The Postdoctoral Teaching Fellowship scheme builds on the existing highly successful programme and will provide for up to six Fellows per year up to 2007/08 at an estimated cost of almost £250,000. The Research Scholarship scheme proposes to fund up to 10 scholarships per year. The scheme will extend over seven years, commencing in 2005-06 at an estimated cost of over £2.6 million.
Welsh Assembly press release 3 November
A survey of over 400 academics by The Times Higher has revealed "first-hand evidence of the widespread dumbing down of academic standards". According to the survey, many academics feel that they are being forced to teach students who are "not capable of benefiting from degree-level study". A substantial number also indicated that they had felt obligated to pass students who did not deserve it. Findings include:
Roger Kline, head of the universities department at lecturers' union NATFHE, said: "We have been saying for a long time that the government (and institutions) are trying to get a quart out of a pint pot." In contrast, while a spokesperson for the DfES said that it would be "worrying" if the findings were correct, Universities UK said that the survey represented only a small sample of academics and could not, therefore, be accepted as representative of the sector as a whole.
Phil Baty, The THES 19 November
According to research from London Metropolitan University, a student could gain a first class degree with average marks of "little more than 50%", depending on where they chose to study. The study, which exposes the "shocking" variation in the way that degrees are calculated, showed that the easiest place to achieve a first is Sunderland University. Here students require a minimum average mark of just 50.8% across their full course. In contrast, a minimum average of 68.75% is required for a first at the University of East Anglia, the most rigorous of all institutions. Lead author John Curran, an economist at London Met, acknowledged that the calculations were based on the lowest possible hypothetical set of results needed to gain a first, which would be unlikely in practice. However, he said: "What we have found is shocking. The figures show just how much easier it is to get a first at some universities than others. The system is unfair and it is very worrying. We need a debate."
Phil Baty, The THES 5 November
Vocational awards are poised to change, as the QCA proposes a simpler framework, writes Peter Kingston (The Guardian 30 November). The QCA proposes to replace the National Qualifications Framework (NQF) with the Framework for Achievement. QCA Chief Executive Ken Boston explains that the new Framework will be "immeasurably clearer than what it replaces". Work will be undertaken to streamline the units of work that make up qualifications. While there are an estimated 40,000 such units in the current framework, the QCA maintains that there is a great deal of overlap and duplication. In addition, the QCA will work to rationalise sector specific qualifications, so that there are no longer more than 100 possible study routes to "prove" a particular level of competency in a given field.
Ruth Barrett (University of Hertfordshire) and Anna L Cox (University College London)
This paper reports the results of a study which investigated whether there is a common understanding of the terms plagiarism and collusion between students and staff. Participants made judgements on scenarios describing student behaviour in assessments. The results suggest that although plagiarism is well understood, the same cannot be said of collusion. Both staff and students feel that collusion is much more acceptable than plagiarism because some learning is taking place. It appears that there is no consensus on the boundary between collaborative behaviour and collusion.
Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education
Volume 30 Number 2 (April 2004)
Lore Arthur and Alan Tait, The Open University
The research project reported here arose out of questions we had in relation to time pressures, increasingly heavy workloads and concerns that we were, it seemed to us, neglecting our families and friends. We kept on asking ourselves: how do people manage? Open University students, for example, most of whom are working full-time, have families and friends, often study more than 14 hours a week on various programmes for either work-related purposes or personal development. How meaningful, therefore, is the concept of lifelong learning to adults in the context of everyday reality? Does the policy-led demand for lifelong learning not place too heavy a burden on individual learners? What does the concept of "time" mean to them? This paper draws on theoretical perspectives of time (rather than space and time) in relation to lifelong learning in the context of work, seen from both the employees' and the employers' perspectives.
Studies in the Education of Adults
Volume 36 Number 2 (Autumn 2004)
These figures relate to levels of highest qualification held by people of working age, the relationship between qualification level and rate of employment of those of working age, participation in job-related training by employees, and the proportion of adults who participate in any form of learning.
www.dfes.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/STA/t000543/index.shtml
Department for Education and Skills 24 November
This eighth edition provides an integrated overview of statistics on education and training in the UK, in some 60 tables. Chapters relate to expenditure, schools, post-compulsory education and training, qualifications and destinations, population, and international comparisons.
www.dfes.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/VOL/v000538/index.shtml
Department for Education and Skills 25 November
This provides updates to statistical first release (SFR) 32/2003 and SFR 12/2003. For the first time, figures for the take-up of the higher education grant is shown.
www.dfes.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000539/index.shtml
Department for Education and Skills 30 November
New figures released by the Scottish Executive show that the number of pupils on school rolls has fallen by more than 8,000 in the past year. The statistics also predict that school rolls will plummet by 113,000 (14%) over the next decade. While ministers insist that the figures are in line with wider population trends, opposition parties claim that the fall is a direct result of Executive education and economic policies which are "mired in confusion".
Kevin Schofield, Education Correspondent, The Scotsman 10 November
OECD in Figures is a pocket data book, containing key data on OECD countries, ranging from economic growth and employment to trade and migration. It offers comparable tables on the environment, science and public finances, and a selection of graphs, giving snapshots on subjects such as GDP, education spending, services, trade, health funding, development aid, and renewable energy.
Hard copies are available from the OECD online bookshop http://tinyurl.com/49wru
It can also be downloaded in full (PDF 96pp) from http://tinyurl.com/565nv
OECD Observer November 2004
Two more Sector Skills Councils (SSC) have worked with the University for Industry (UfI) to set up specific Information, Advice and Guidance (IAG) services for current and prospective employees in their industries. SkillsActive (the SSC for the active leisure and learning industries such as sport, health and fitness, and playwork) and Automotive Skills (the SSC for the retail motor industry) are launching new services in the next couple of months. These launches follow the setting up of IAG services for a number of other established SSCs including:
Gareth Dent, Head of Information and Advice Services at UfI, said: "We are now working with a number of SSCs to offer them IAG services specific to their sector. The SSCs recognise that giving people access to the right advice and information at the right time is vital if they are going to make an impact on the skill levels in their industries and I am pleased SkillsActive and Automotive Skills are the latest to take advantage of UfI's experience in this area."
Reach November-December 2004
Kevin Morrell, Warwick Business School, University of Warwick
This paper outlines a technique for enhancing the effectiveness of careers thinking by identifying and challenging tacit beliefs about career success. These beliefs can be understood as social scripts, i.e. cognitive structures that simplify common decision scenarios. An important contribution of careers counselling is to enable clients to recognise tacit beliefs and assumptions that limit the effectiveness of their careers thinking. In the process, this often involves finding problems. This paper outlines how an archetypal problem-finding technique – Socratic inquiry – can be adapted and applied in this particular context. Socratic inquiry can enable identification of social scripts which are a source of limiting assumptions. It can also enable cross-examination of these assumptions, and enhance the facility for internal dialogue.
British Journal of Guidance and Counselling
Volume 32 Number 4 (November 2004)
"It's snowing still," said Eeyore gloomily.
"So it is."
"And freezing."
"Is it?"
"Yes," said Eeyore. "However," he said, brightening up a little, "we haven't had an earthquake lately."
A A Milne
Lucy Joyce and Clarissa White, BRMB Social Research
Brief no: 577 ISBN: 1-84478-320-0 October 2004
As part of a programme of research to inform the development of the Connexions service, the DfES commissioned BRMB Social Research to carry out a longitudinal programme of qualitative research with young people who had experience of using the service, in order to enhance understanding of its role and value. The research comprised two stages. This research documents the findings of the second stage of research. The findings include:
The views expressed in this report are the authors' and do not necessarily reflect those of the Department for Education and Skills
The full report (RR577), 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 (RB577) 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 David Berreley, Room W621, DfES, Moorfoot, Sheffield S1 4PQ
email:
david.berreley@dfes.gsi.gov.uk
Careers education in two-thirds of schools is being led by staff who have no formal qualification in the subject, according to a report from the Public Accounts Committee. The PAC called for improvements to the Connexions service, so that it can ensure that all children receive the career support they need. The report praised the work of Connexions with NEET clients. However, it said that there remained "risks that the wider population of young people may not always get the advice they need". The report recommended that Connexions staff work more closely with schools.
Michael Shaw, The TES 3 December
Inter-agency partnership working has been one of the guiding principles behind the Connexions Strategy, described by the Prime Minister as "our front-line policy for young people". Yet little is known about the practical problems involved in successful implementation of inter-agency work, what such an approach means for the daily tasks of front-line workers, or how effective it is in dealing with the complex problems faced by many young people. This research, by Bob Coles, Liz Britton and Leslie Hicks, examines the problems involved in inter-agency work at a time when UK youth policy itself is under review. The main findings include:
An overview of the research is at www.jrf.org.uk/knowledge/findings/socialpolicy/d24.asp
The full report, Building better connections:
Interagency work and the Connexions Service by Bob Coles, Liz Britton and
Leslie Hicks, is published for the Foundation by The Policy Press (ISBN:
1-86134-661-1 price £13.95)
It is also online (PDF 61pp) at
http://tinyurl.com/5hxvp
JRF mailing list 2 December
L Nota and S Soresi
A number of theories and models have helped to elucidate the decision-making difficulties encountered by some young adolescents. These theories and models, together with the results of research focused on problems associated with career indecision in adolescents, provide the basis for the present study aimed at establishing and verifying the efficacy of an intervention programme whose purpose is to improve problem-solving and decision-making skills. We hypothesised that a programme designed to increase general competencies could greatly impact decisional problems and could reduce levels of indecision among adolescent students. The current study will provide a description of our intervention and an evaluation of its effectiveness.
International Journal for Educational and Vocational Guidance Volume 4 Number 1 (2004)
A pioneering counselling service for children at primary schools has been condemned by parent groups, despite a decision by the Scottish Executive to extend the programme across Edinburgh. The Place2Be programme, piloted in two Edinburgh schools, is a forum where children can express their feelings through talking, creative work and play. However, parent groups and teaching unions have criticised the scheme, saying that it encourages children to believe that they "feel" adult emotions like stress and fatigue.
The Scotsman 6 November
Teachers have reacted with dismay as Schools Minister David Miliband gave his support to an "e-mentoring" pilot scheme. The scheme, which is being organised by the Specialist Schools Trust and is due to begin in 15 schools early next year, will mean that teachers must stay in contact with pupils by email during exam study leave. However, teaching unions believe that this move will simply be the first step on a slippery slope, particularly since a growing number of schools already encourage their staff to accept email from pupils in the evenings if they are struggling with their homework. Chris Keates, Acting General Secretary of the NASUWT, said: "[These developments] appear to conflict with the reasonable work-life balance contractual change the government has introduced."
Michael Shaw, The TES 12 November
Tips on how NOT to mentor, by mentoring guru David Clutterbuck.
Cuttings Number 53 (December 2004)
Apprenticeships should be made available at degree level, claims the apprenticeship task force. The task force said that the scheme will not meet the needs of industry unless it is made available above the present Level 3 (A-level equivalent). It called for the DfES to "remove the obstacles" that prevent apprenticeships being offered at level 4 and beyond.
Steve Hook, TES FE Focus 3 December
Familiarity breeds contempt. This, believes Carl Gilleard, Chief Executive of the Association of Graduate Recruiters, is the reason the retail industry doesn't come high up the careers wish-list of most graduates. "It's a sector we think we all know about because we all shop. And if we worked as students, the chances are we worked in retail," he says. "But both these experiences give a jaundiced view of retail. You don't get to see all the functions that are involved behind the scenes, like buying, store management, logistics and HR. The big retailers, in particular, are sophisticated businesses with some of the widest range of jobs and impressive training schemes." British notions that working in shops is for the unskilled and poorly educated don't help, adds Terry Jones of the Association of Graduate Careers Advisory Services. Mr Jones said that the retail industry in the UK should do more to address its image problem. He said: "At a recent careers fair in London, Sainsbury's was the least popular stand. Students walked straight past it, despite having a realistic chance of getting on its graduate scheme, which is excellent."
Kate Hilpern, The Independent 25 November
C Brennan, M Daly, E Fitzpatrick and E Sweeney
The traditional methods of graduate recruitment do not adequately meet the needs of the changing profile of students and graduates. As industry becomes internationalised, the needs of employers are also changing. Graduate recruitment is in response to short-term needs and varying levels of experience are required. A case study method was used in Dublin Institute of Technology to evaluate the effectiveness of a virtual careers fair in providing greater access to job opportunities for students and graduates. Access by employers to potential employees was also measured. Findings showed that while access improved, other issues requiring attention emerged.
International Journal for Educational and Vocational Guidance Volume 4 Number 1 (2004)
Peter Elias and Kate Purcell
This paper uses a variety of recent sources of information to explore the labour market experiences of those who gained a degree in the 1980s and 1990s. Specifically, it addresses the issue of "over-education" – the view that the expansion of higher education in the 1990s created a situation in which increasing numbers of graduates were unable to access employment that required and valued graduate skills and knowledge. The paper concludes that, while there may have been a decline from the high premium enjoyed by older graduates, for those who graduated in 1995 the average premium was holding up well, despite the expansion. Although differences were found between established graduate occupations and the newer areas of graduate employment, evidence suggests that the development of new technical and managerial specialisms and occupational restructuring within organisations has been commensurate with the availability of an increased supply of highly qualified people.
NIESR Number 190 (October 2004)
The latest official monthly job statistics show there has been a healthy rebound in job creation, with employers adopting innovative approaches to filling vacancies and avoiding the need for inflationary pay increases, according to John Philpott, Chief Economist at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. However, record numbers of economically inactive people and continued rises in the levels of long-term sickness continue to give cause for concern.
CIPD press release 17 November
More details in the full release at www.cipd.co.uk/press/PressRelease/Jobstats_171104_PR.htm
Labour market statistics published this month (November) show an increase in the employment rate and more people in employment. The unemployment rate and the number of unemployed people have fallen but there is an increase in the number of people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance benefit. There are fewer vacancies but the numbers of people made redundant has fallen. Growth in average earnings excluding bonuses is unchanged while growth in average earnings including bonuses has fallen slightly.
National Statistics press release 17 November
GNN ref 105528P contains full details
The latest edition of this publication is now available. Contents include:
News and research
Items on: revisions to Labour Force Survey estimates; new survey of hours and earnings; workers arriving in the UK; small businesses in the UK; and New Deal for Disabled People.
Workless households: results from the Spring 2004 LFS by Annette Walling, Labour Market Division, Office for National Statistics. The labour market characteristics of people living in workless households are discussed.
Labour productivity by Craig Lindsay, Labour Market Division, Office for National Statistics. An insightful analysis of the reasons why the UK lags behind its main international competitors.
Methodology for the 2004 Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings by Derek Bird, Employment, Earnings and Productivity Division, Office for National Statistics.
Labour Market Trends
Volume 112 Number 11 (November 2004)
Full publication (PDF 143pp) is at http://tinyurl.com/5co76
Unemployment was down on both counts in the three months to August, according to official figures. Using the Labour Force Survey count, the total fell by 51,000 to 1.39 million, compared with the previous three months, giving an unemployment rate of 4.7% – the lowest level since 1984. The claimant count showed its 16th consecutive monthly fall. This gives an unemployment rate of 2.7%, and is the lowest level since July 1975.
Labour Research Volume 93 Number 11 (November 2004)
The level of disability benefits encouraged more than half a million unskilled males to give up work during the 1990s, according to a working paper from the Bank of England. However, the report also finds that the exodus has peaked now that disability benefits are less generous.
Health, disability insurance and labour force participation, by Brian Bell and James Smith (Bank of England Working Paper number 218) (PDF 27pp) is at www.bankofengland.co.uk/workingpapers/wp218.pdf
Community Care, 26 August-1 September
Jane Kennedy, Minister for Work, today (17 November) welcomed new statistics showing the continued success of the UK labour market. She said: "These figures show employment at its highest ever level. The number of people in work has increased by over 200,000 in the last 12 months and by more than 2 million in the last seven years."
DWP press release 17 November – as always has a
great deal of detail
Client ref STAT171104-LMS
GNN ref
105533P
Richard Dorsett and Diana Kasparova
Policy Studies Institute
DWP Working Paper Series - No. 15 November 2004
This working paper, published by the Department for Work and Pensions, is part of the Families and Children Strategic Analysis Programme (FACSAP). The focus in this analysis is on low-moderate income couples with children, their characteristics and their labour market transitions, using both cross-sectional and longitudinal data. Findings include:
The paper is available from Paul Noakes at the DWP Social Research Division on tel: 020 7962 8557. For more information on the Families and Children Study visit www.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd5/facs/
DWP press release 2 November
The top 100 companies on the London Stock Exchange gave 0.97% of their pre-tax profits to charities and community projects, according to the Guardian's annual survey of corporate responsibility, The Giving List. While the cash value of their donations is £872 million, almost 7% up on last year, just 34 of the FTSE 100 gave 1% or more. The bottom 14 gave 0.01% or less. The results will come as no surprise to respondents to a recent MORI poll, which revealed a large degree of public distrust regarding corporate social responsibility. The poll found that just 15% of the population believe that large companies are genuine about being responsible. Nigel Griffiths, the Minister for Corporate Responsibility, said: "Public attitudes are an important benchmark of progress and a powerful driver for change and companies should take the opportunity to communicate their activities."
Murray Armstrong, The Guardian 5 November
Dr William Kilbride, Assistant Director, Archaeology Data Service / Arts and Humanities Data Service Centre for Archaeology, University of York
Internet Resources Newsletter Issue 122 (November 2004)
Update comment: Not surprisingly I went to look at this – and printed it out from the "printer friendly format" link. Unfortunately, the end of the document contains a copyright statement which tells me that I should not be copying (i.e. printing) the document without prior written permission!
The Low Volume Document Delivery licence was originally issued on a trial basis. The licence has now been extended, and is no longer the subject of a trial. The CLA sticker scheme was also issued as a trial. The actual usage of the stickers has been lower than anticipated and whilst the scheme has been extended until October 2005 it is still offered as a trial.
Computer game makers have been sued by Texas-based McKool Smith, which claims the makers' games violate a 1987 patent that covers a way to display 3D objects realistically in a 2D space. The technique is used by almost every game that uses 3D modeling, including older games such as Quake and Doom. The companies are now frantically researching prior art, citing games such as The Colony and Spectre, which may have been released before the 1987 patent was granted.
The Register 3 November
www.theregister.com/2004/11/03/game_cos_3d_lawsuit/
The Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) Division of the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) recently restructured and updated its website dedicated to SMEs. The new website contains a series of documents dealing with different intellectual property rights and business-related issues, as well as interesting links to events, publications, case studies and other useful information.
URL: www.wipo.int/sme/en/
In an article for The Financial Times (23 November), Frances Williams and Tim Burt report on the negotiations among members of the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) on a new broadcasters' rights treaty. WIPO officials say that the US is no longer insisting that the new treaty extend protection to Internet broadcasting and other forms of Web-casting. The WIPO secretariat has agreed to investigate the credibility of a voluntary scheme to protect Web-casts. Concerns remain about how digital rights will be protected when analogue signals are switched off.
C W Maughan
The simplicity of the lay view, the complexity of the legal and economic concepts of ownership and property, and the real-life gains that are to be made from using the simplistic view to justify the creation of monopoly rights, has led to considerable and often deliberate confusion in discussions about intellectual property. To reduce the confusion, this paper considers the legal and economic aspects of property. First the legal taxonomy of property, including intellectual property, is described. Then, a law and economics model of intellectual property is built, stressing not only the economic gains but also the economic losses that result from treating property as some "thing" that can be monopolised. The paper then argues that the central policy issue is to devise methods of creating and protecting intellectual property that balance the gains from creation and protection (incentives to invest, improvements in information markets) against the losses (potential monopolisation of knowledge). A tentative conclusion is drawn that such a policy may well involve weakening present copyright and patent rights, and treating copyright and patents as if they were more analogous to trademarks. Alternatives might be to require greater dissemination of protected intellectual property by allowing two-part pricing in different markets.
Prometheus Volume 22 Number 4 (December 2004)
Library and information professionals have joined together to demand that the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) "moves away from encouraging the monopolisation of information". Hundreds of signatories, including the International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA) and the American Library Association (ALA), have endorsed the Geneva Declaration on the Future of WIPO. The Declaration expresses "deep concern" that "in 30 years of WIPO's existence, … it has failed to promote a fair balance between users and rights-holders in the digital age". Areas of concern include:
The full text of the Geneva Declaration is available in PDF, MS Word or HTML at www.futureofwipo.org
Library and Information Update
Volume 3 (11) November 2004
Creative Commons, the organisation which is working towards a wider use of the "some rights reserved" copyright, has introduced a new initiative. The Developing Nations License attempts to encourage more authors to make their work available to developing countries, in a bid to reform global information policy. The website states: "The fact is that most of the world's population is simply priced out of developed nations' publishing output. To authors, that means an untapped readership. To economists, it means deadweight loss. To human rights advocates and educators, it is a tragedy. The Developing Nations License is designed to address all three concerns."
More information: http://creativecommons.org/license/devnations
Info@UK Issue 44 (November 2004)
An item in The Register (17 November) refers to a new report by law firm Rowe Cohen which says that the government's Data Protection Working Party has agreed to tighten the terms of the Data Protection Act so that they punish those who break the law. At the moment people perceive the risk of getting caught for flouting data protection laws as being very low, and this, combined with public ignorance over the rights of individuals and a lack of enforcement by the relevant authorities, has led a number of people to brand the current system as being "chaotic".
www.theregister.co.uk/2004/11/17/data_protection_laws_chaotic/
Representatives from historical, conservation and diplomatic groups from around the world gathered last week at the British Library to mark the debut of the Endangered Archives Programme – a £10 million global effort to help save endangered archives. The programme, funded as a joint initiative between the British Library and the Lisbet Rausing Charitable Fund, will be administered by the BL in conjunction with a panel of international experts. Institutions and academic researchers will be able to apply for grants to identify endangered records and relocate them in local institutional archives. The programme will also provide funds for overseas librarians and archivists to foster improved archival management and preservation for the longer term. "This is an immensely exciting initiative which will unquestionably have a far-reaching and long-term impact on international research and scholarship," says BL Director of Scholarship and Collections Dr Clive Field. "As a repository of world knowledge, through our universal collections and professional expertise, the British Library is proud and delighted to have been invited to house, administer and lead the programme."
British Library News Release 16 November
www.bl.uk/cgi-bin/press.cgi?story=1455
Jeffrey N Gatten (Dean of Library and Information Resources, California Institute of the Arts) and Tom Sanville (Executive Director, OhioLINK)
The struggle to find cost-effective alternative approaches to scholarly publishing resulting in a meaningful change to funding models – as opposed to simply reshuffling the funding deck – continues in full force. One debate within this larger context centres on the merits of the Big Deal, which is "any online aggregation of e-content that a publisher, aggregator, or vendor offers for sale or lease at prices and/or terms that substantially encourage acquisition of the entire corpus". One problem with any discussion of the Big Deal is how widely the concept is defined from one environment to the next, often creating an "apples to oranges" debate on the benefits and threats the Big Deal presents. For purposes here, the Big Deal is defined from the consortium perspective, meaning the subscription and purchase of full sets of publishers' journals in electronic format and the provision of access to member institutions. The purchase is a negotiated contract for a fixed period of years (typically three years) and at fixed rates of cost increases (usually well below the increases on the open market).
D-Lib Magazine Volume 10 Number 10 (October 2004)
Full article: http://tinyurl.com/4zd38
Update comment: For example: Network Subscriptions provides a new business subscription "bundle" consisting of:
all for $23.95 a month. ADSET only wants The Economist so we'll be giving this a miss but it is a good price!
A senior appeal court judge has called for a national DNA database to be developed. Sir Stephen Sedley, who is widely respected as "an upholder of civil liberties", argues that there is an artificial line drawn between those who are held on the present police database and the rest of the country. The police database maintains records of anyone who has ever been arrested, whether they have been convicted or not. Sir Stephen insists that this "has the unfortunate effect of putting the innocent on a par with the guilty." He said that, not only would the database assist the police in their work, it could also be used for benign purposes, such as identifying disaster victims or tracing lost children.
Clare Dyer, Legal Correspondent, The Guardian 24 November
A database containing details of all 11 million children in England has been described by critics as "a Big Brother". The planned database will contain details such as name, birth date, GP and school for every child under the age of 18. The government has, however, indicated that it may also record the details of any GP or other professional – whether a speech therapist or sexual health adviser – who had contact with the child. While this information will be added with permission from the parent, carer or data subject in most circumstances, ministers are pressing for health and other workers to be able to add their concerns without consent "in exceptional circumstances". The government argues the database will enable professionals to "shift focus from reaction when things have gone wrong to prevention and early intervention".
Lucy Ward, Education Correspondent, The Guardian 28 October
In an article for Information World Review (Number 207 November 2004), Tracey Caldwell reports on the growing use of data anonymisation. She tells us that the management of information usually requires the treading of "a fine line between two conflicting legislative impulses – data protection and the freedom of information". While in the past this has largely been achieved through "the blunt instrument of human deletion", there has been a rise in the number of organisations offering anonymisation services. For example, Infoshare's People Tracker replaces names and addresses with unique ID numbers, which can only be decoded by authorised personnel. This enables organisations to share useful information, without breaching the confidentiality of the data subject.
Government departments have been shredding record numbers of official files in the months leading up to the implementation of the Freedom of Information Act, according to anonymous inside sources. Sources claim that vast numbers of documents are being destroyed in "housekeeping exercises" before the Act is implemented, with "politically embarrassing material" being destroyed. Julian Lewis, Shadow Minister for the Cabinet Office, commented: "I was wondering how a government with such a culture of evasion would be able to cope with an era of openness and it seems The Telegraph has found the answer. They are going to destroy the evidence."
Ben Fenton and Heather Brooke, The Daily Telegraph 29 November
The government has admitted that the cost of introducing its planned ID card scheme could be around £5.5 billion over 10 years. This figure is almost twice the original estimate of £3 billion. A spokesperson for the Home Office also said that the new figure was a revised estimate, not a maximum figure.
Jean Eaglesham and Maija Pesola,
The Financial Times 30 November
Arguments for the retention of print, as an alternative to digital, format have arisen as part of the Standing Committee on Official Publication (SCOOP). This is of particular concern in the context of government organisations wishing to increase digital publishing at the expense of print publications. This article, by Howard Picton, Secretary of SCOOP, reviews the debate and sets out some of the arguments for retaining the print form. Mr Picton outlines the legal, economic and, indeed, moral reasons for ensuring that government information is disseminated as widely as possible. He believes that access to official information for any purpose is the inalienable right of every UK citizen. However, for the foreseeable future there will remain a substantial proportion of the population who either "cannot or do not wish to use the digital format". Denying these citizens access to this information is to "treat them in an inequitable manner". In addition, Mr Picton suggests that there are other, more practical reasons for retaining the print medium – not least because most people print digital material out so that they can read it! Indeed, he argues that the cost of making a self-printed copy of digital material could be prohibitive for libraries or individual end users, thus diminishing availability still further. Other concerns include:
Mr Picton concludes: "I am not arguing for more print or that print is superior to digital. … I am arguing that a print equivalent for official publications is necessary until appropriate access and archiving structures are put in place in the electronic environment, and until digital take-up nears 100%."
Refer Volume 20 Number 3 (Autumn 2004)
Like many states, Kentucky has a long history of archiving public records. Increasingly, those records are "born digital" – created in digital format – and such records are presenting a new set of challenges to state archivists. "Preservation of born digital content in state government is becoming a significant business challenge which will require the collaboration of state CIOs, archivists, librarians and state agencies," says Doug Robinson, Executive Director for the National Association of State Chief Information Officers. "Every state agency in the USA produces digital-only documents in some form and the forecast is for significant growth of collections in the next five years. In addition to addressing policy issues, the states will need to identify and test potential solutions for long-term digital preservation of published state electronic resources." The Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives is currently participating in a federally funded Persistent Archives Testbed Project, which is examining which methods are best for preserving born digital content. In addition, KDLA is planning to launch an Electronic Records Archives website that will make government records available to the public on the Web.
Government Technology 9 November
www.govtech.net/?pg=news/news&id=92057
via ShelfLife Number 183 (18 November) ISSN 1538-4284
Naomi Dushay, Cornell University, National Science Digital Library
User interfaces for digital information discovery often require users to click around and read a lot of text in order to find the text they want to read – a process that is often frustrating and tedious. This is exacerbated because of the limited amount of text that can be displayed on a computer screen. To improve the user experience of computer mediated information discovery, information visualisation techniques are applied to the digital library context, while retaining traditional information organisation concepts. In this article, the "virtual (book) spine" and the virtual spine viewer are introduced. The virtual spine viewer is an application which allows users visually to explore large information spaces or collections while also allowing users to home in on individual resources of interest. The virtual spine viewer introduced here is an alpha prototype, presented to promote discussion and further work.
D-Lib Magazine Volume 10 Number 10 (October 2004)
Full article: http://tinyurl.com/5zmcl
"Some people are making such thorough preparation for rainy days that they aren't enjoying today's sunshine."
William Feather
Timothy Collinson and Alison Williams, Southampton Institute
Much time and effort has been devoted to designing and developing library websites that are easy to navigate by both new students and experienced researchers. In a review of the Southampton Institute Library it was decided that in addition to updating the existing home page an alternative would be offered. Drawing on theory relating to user interface design, learning styles and creative thinking, an Alternative Library navigation system was added to the more traditional library homepage. The aim was to provide students with a different way to explore and discover the wide range of information resources available by taking a less formal approach to navigation based on the metaphor of physical space and playful exploration. (Original abstract)
An eminently readable article from which I bring you a few snippets:
Aslib Proceedings: New Information Perspectives Volume 56 Number 3 (2004)
Update comment: The library is at www.solent.ac.uk/library/ and it's WOW! Hazel
Linking Arms is an ambitious and long-term project proposed by a consortium partnership between The National Archives and other national and regional institutions, including community archives, local archives repositories, the higher education sector and strategic bodies. The Linking Arms project aims to:
For more information contact Sarah Stark, Regional Liaison Coordinator, A2A email: sarah.stark@nationalarchives.gov.uk or linking-arms@nationalarchives.gov.uk
managinginformation.com 8 November
The EU Data Protection Working Party has published an Opinion describing the current proposals for a Europe-wide system of data retention as "not acceptable". In April, the UK, France, Ireland and Sweden published a draft Framework Decision setting out provisions for the creation of an EU-wide system of retaining communications data. Such data identify the caller and the means of communication (e.g. subscriber details, billing data, e-mail logs, personal details of customers and records showing the location where mobile phone calls were made) but not the content of the communications. In the UK, the Retention of Communications Data (Code of Practice) Order of 2003 lays out a voluntary Code of Practice for ISPs and telcos, but has met with resistance from these companies – which believe that it will expose them to claims under data protection and human rights laws. A draft European Framework Decision on data retention has been discussed for years, much to the concern of civil liberties groups. Earlier this year human rights group Privacy International obtained a legal opinion on the proposals – which suggested that the draft Decision was unlawful, finding that it breached the Convention on Human Rights. However, the political will for such a scheme was jolted by the Madrid bombings, and the draft Framework Decision published shortly thereafter. The EU Data Protection Working Party, an independent EU advisory body, has the task of assessing the privacy implications of such proposals and this month published a preliminary Opinion on the draft Decision. It will reconsider the Decision later, when the Council has completed its own discussions and published a revised draft. The existing proposals do not, according to the Working Party, conform with the requirements of the European Convention on Human Rights as they do not fulfil three basic criteria: "a legal basis, the need for the measure in a democratic society, and conformity with one of the legitimate aims listed in the Convention".
While the Working Party did not consider the legal basis of the Decision (in view of the preliminary nature of the Council discussions), it expressed concern as to the actual aim of the Decision. Is it solely for the "prevention, investigation, detection and prosecution of crime and criminal offences", as stated in the current draft? This, says the Working Party, must be made clear at the very outset. But the Working Party's most serious concerns relate to the second criterion – the need for the measure in a democratic society. "The routine, comprehensive storage of all traffic data, user and participant data proposed in the draft Decision would make surveillance that is authorised in exceptional circumstances the rule," said the Opinion. "This would clearly be disproportionate. The draft Framework would apply, not only to some people who would be monitored in application with specific laws, but to all natural persons who use electronic communications. Not everything that might prove to be useful for law enforcement is desirable or can be considered as a necessary measure in a democratic society, particularly if this leads to the systematic recording of all electronic communications," continued the Working Party. Nor was the Working Party convinced that data needed to be retained for longer than six months – as opposed to the 12-month period currently envisaged in the Decision. So far, said the Working Party, UK law enforcement agencies have failed to show why such far-reaching measures are necessary. "Not only does the draft Framework Decision fail to cover those conditions, it expressly seeks to nullify them by not requiring definite grounds of suspicion and a reliable basis in fact in individual cases and providing for comprehensive data storage as a precautionary measure in future legal proceedings against any users of electronic communications systems," it concluded.
The Working Party's Opinion (PDF 9pp) is at www.bfd.bund.de/Presse/pm20041115b.pdf
Open University Press has published How to Find Information, a handbook written by information professional Sally Rumsey for academics and students, public and government researchers, and researchers in the private sector. The book "enables researchers to become expert at tracking down, accessing and evaluating information, working systematically through the information-seeking process, from planning the search to evaluating and managing the end results."
How to Find Information (ISBN: 0-33521-428-2
price £16.99) is available from Open University Press
tel: 01628
502720
email: emea_orders@mcgraw-hill.com
managinginformation.com 8 November
Large government IT projects are likely to feel the heat once the Freedom of Information Act comes into force next month. In an article for The Guardian (25 November), Michael Cross looks at the battle against secrecy. Mr Cross highlights the fact that John Oughton, Chief Executive of the Office of Government Commerce (OGC), was recently able to refuse to answer two questions before a parliamentary committee. That he was able to do so with impunity is a clear example of the conventions which permit such secrecy among civil servants. Mr Cross argues that this secrecy is now under threat.
Full article: http://tinyurl.com/4htzz
Catherine A Johnson, School of Information Studies, University of Wisconsin
It is an almost universal finding in studies investigating human information behaviour that people choose other people as their preferred source of information. An explanation for the use of people as information sources is that they are easier to approach than more formal sources and therefore are a least effort option. However, there have been few studies that have investigated who the people chosen as information sources are and what their relationship to the information seeker is. This paper reports findings that come out of a larger investigation of information-seeking behaviour. … Results indicate that respondents chose people who had better resources than they had and were not well known by them. This suggests that respondents were deliberate in their choice of people information sources and therefore it is speculated that people are not necessarily the least effort option but may require considerable effort to seek out and consult. (Original abstract)
Information Research Volume 10 Number 1 (October 2004)
This paper is available in full at http://informationr.net/ir/10-1/paper201.html
A new research project from The Work Foundation, which is being supported by Adobe, is to examine the role of ICT in achieving public service improvements. The research programme will include quantitative and qualitative elements, working with senior managers, service managers, front-line staff and the public. Establishing a clear view of what "better" public services look like, the research programme will examine the different stages of public service improvement. It will identify where ICT can and can not make a positive difference to the "agility" of public services, and will also look at public service workers' ability to comply with efficiency targets and audit demands. The findings will reveal practical implications for citizens, public service workers, managers, policy-makers and politicians in the wake of the Gershon Review and its recommendations. The results will be released throughout 2005.
Work Foundation press release 11 November
People who spend hours glued to their computers may be at increased risk of developing glaucoma and ultimately going blind, according to a study conducted by Japanese researchers. The researchers found that heavy use of computers could cause damage to the optic nerve. Those most at risk are people who are already short-sighted.
Alan MacDermid, The Scottish Herald 16 November
Increasingly "on Web" means "available via Google". In an article for Library and Information Update (Volume 3(11) November 2004), Lorcan Dempsey explains how electronic searching evolved, and how the information professional can combine each of these three evolutions to best assist their client. The three stages he identifies are:
A search operator provides both the data and the interface to access the data.
A metasearch operator provides an interface which interacts with another operator's search engine, responding to a secondary layer of information which seeks to "hide" the boundaries between information sources.
Data are made available to an external search and user interface operator. This can be achieved through a "sharing" approach, or by exposing data for search engines to harvest.
Lorcan Dempsey is Vice President, Research and Chief Strategist at OCLC Inc.
The article is available in full at http://tinyurl.com/6xpk3
Databases and search engines can spew out thousands of "results", but how many of them are really on target? And how much time do you want to spend sifting through straw to find the gold? Enter "topic maps" – smart indices that improve search by categorising terms based on their relationships with other things. For instance, topic maps can sort out the different results for "Franz Ferdinand", the doomed Austrian archduke, and "Franz Ferdinand", the alternative rock group named after him. "The payoff (of topic maps) from the user standpoint is that you are no longer confronted with everything in the world that is known about the subject," says Patrick Durusau, chairman of a topic maps technical committee at OASIS, the Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards. Topic maps are currently used at the Internal Revenue Service to organise its tax forms and to coordinate with the Social Security Administration, and at several US Department of Defense agencies for intelligence-gathering purposes. According to one expert, the legal and pharmaceutical industries are the next ones likely to adopt the topic map approach to indexing their data. Wired.com 30 November
www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,65840,00.html
NewsScan Daily 30 November
"You can tell the holidays are close. You can feel it. Today a 70-foot Norway spruce was selected as the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree. What says 'the holiday' better than the destruction of a 200-year-old miracle of nature?"
David Letterman
The number of young carers could be up to four times higher than official figures suggest. Data from the 2001 Census shows that around 225,000 UK residents up to the age of 19 carry out a caring role. Research commissioned by the Princess Royal Trust for Carers shows that there are more than one million young people who provide care for someone with a disability, illness or health problem. The Trust argues that the Census figures mask the reality as it is completed by parents who may not want to admit that their child is a carer.
Community Care, 2-8 September
The national database containing details of all children is being proposed in the Children Bill. It would enable wider access by professionals to currently restricted information. In an article for Poverty (Number 119 (Autumn 2004)), Eileen Munro assesses the adequacy of this approach and whether it will make any real difference to the life chances of children in poverty. Ms Munro says that the database will hit poor families the hardest, since they are likely to have had contact with more social agencies and accessed a greater number of services. She also suggests that the database will give too much power to professionals, by enabling them to make assumptions about poor families with regard to what intervention they need. She insists that, barring exceptional cases, parents, even poor ones, are capable of seeking the correct help for their children.
Ms Munro notes that the introduction of the database will remove the rights of all families to confidentiality in their interaction with teachers, doctors and social services. She asks: "Why should such a wholesale surveillance system be necessary for children to fulfil their potential? What grounds are there for deciding we can no longer trust parents to keep track of their own children's welfare so that the state must watch them?"
Full article is at www.cpag.org.uk/info/Povertyarticles/
Poverty119/tracking.htm
The government has announced plans to extend child benefit to 300,000 families of 16-19-year-olds in work-based training, in a surprise Bill included in the Queen's Speech. Parents are entitled to receive child benefit of £16.50 a week until their child reaches the age of 19, provided the child remains in full-time education. Under the new law, this would be extended to include those in work-based learning. The move is intended to encourage more pupils to choose training on leaving school, and is designed to match Educational Maintenance Allowances offered to those who continue their studies.
Polly Curtis, Education Correspondent, The Guardian 23 November
The full text of the Queen's Speech is at http://tinyurl.com/57gkm
New research findings, released by the Elizabeth Finn Trust charity, show that a career "can't insulate against poverty". Ill health, redundancy, family breakdown and poor pension provision are among the factors identified which have pushed almost four million adults below the poverty line, despite solid career backgrounds. According to the Trust, these "hidden poor" come from more than 120 occupations, including management, teaching and nursing, and their number is predicted to reach 11% of all adults by 2020.
Training Journal September 2004
Paul Spikes, Robert Gordon University
Indicators are often confused with measures. This article argues that precise measurement is often inappropriate in relation to complex, multi-dimensional issues such as poverty.
A good indicator should be understood as a pointer, not a measure. It should be accessible, robust and reinforced by other pointers. By treating indicators as quantities, summary indices conceal key issues, hide the values and concepts implicit in the exercise, and are vulnerable to mathematical accident. Using multiple indicators is sounder in principle, in methodological terms, and in practical application. (Original abstract)
Policy and Politics Volume 32 Number 4 (October 2004)
Robert J Oxoby
A model of cognitive adaptation is presented to examine the growth and behaviours of the underclass. In the model, individuals experiencing cognitive dissonance between status seeking and social recognition adapt their attitudes regarding what is deemed status-worthy. This yields the endogenous formation of an underclass in which non-pecuniary social returns counteract the effect of traditional incentives (i.e. wages) in motivating behaviour. By gaining insight into the process of psychological adaptation of those living in poverty, the paper sheds light on economic policies that mitigate the disenfranchisement and hence the growth of the underclass.
The Economics Journal
Volume 114 Number 498 (October 2004)
"No man ever got very high by pulling other people down. The intelligent merchant does not knock his competitors. The sensible worker does not knock those who work with him. Don't knock your friends. Don't knock your enemies. Don't knock yourself."
Alfred, Lord Tennyson
According to this article in The Economist (6-12 November), the most common way to measure economic efficiency is not the best. The author argues that there is no commonly agreed definition of just what is meant by the term "productivity growth", although economic commentators seem to think otherwise. There is a variety of ways to measure productivity. For example, in the US, UK and other industrialised countries, the measure is usually "output per man-hour in the non-farm business sector". The author argues that this, however, is a measure of "labour" productivity. What is required is multi-factor productivity (or total factor productivity) measures, which try to capture the efficiency with which inputs of capital as well as labour are used. This method is not generally favoured because it is much more difficult to gather the information required.
Update comment: So, we continue to measure what is measurable rather than what is required?
Productivity is a measure of the ability to create goods and services from a given amount of labour, capital, materials, land, knowledge, time, or any combination of those. This paper by ONS looks at productivity from a labour market perspective. The aim is to look at the importance of productivity, the different ways of measuring it, the different drivers of productivity within the labour market, and to put the UK's recent performance into both an historical and international perspective.
SSDA Intelligence Number 29 (26 November)
Full paper (PDF 8pp): http://tinyurl.com/3nwkw
An Incomes Data Services (IDS) survey has shown that nearly all managers and union negotiators are using the Retail Price Index (RPI), rather than the government's preferred measure of inflation, the Consumer Price Index (CPI). The RPI currently stands at 3.3%, whereas the CPI is only 1.2%. The difference between the two measures is arrived at because the CPI does not take household expenses such as mortgage payments, council tax and buildings insurance into account. Pay negotiators have steadfastly refused to accept CPI as a realistic measure of inflation, as they believe that household expenses are "part of the rising cost of living and cannot be ignored".
Philip Thornton, Economics Correspondent, The Independent 23 November
"As of tomorrow, employees will only be able to access the building using individual security cards. Pictures will be taken next Wednesday and employees will receive their cards in two weeks."
Fred Dales, Microsoft Corp in Redmond, WA
Bizarre News
The number of people asking the Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) for help with employment problems fell by almost a third last year, according to the Commission's Annual Report. The CRE says that this fall – from 761 cases in 2002 to 486 in 2003 – reflects three main developments:
IRS Employment Review Number 806 (20 August)
Richard Allen, Gail Dawson, Kathleen Wheatley and Charles S White
Diversity has increasingly become a "hot-button" issue in corporate, political, and legal arenas. While many organizations have embraced diversity, others still consider it merely an issue of compliance with legal requirements. Effective diversity management has historically been used to provide a legally defensive position; that is, a firm with a diverse workforce could argue that it was not guilty of discrimination because of the prima facie case based on its workforce demographics representing the demographics of the local community. However, in more recent years, the view of diversity has dramatically changed to a more proactive concept. (Original abstract)
Development and Learning in Organizations
Volume 18 Number 6 (2004)
On the first anniversary of the government's Ethnic Minority Employment Task Force, Minister for Work Jane Kennedy said that the employment rate for ethnic minorities is rising, but not fast enough. The ethnic minority employment gap is narrowing, but remains substantial. The employment rate for ethnic minorities is currently 59.4% compared to 74.9% for the overall population. Also, ethnic minorities earn less than their white counterparts.
HRLook Daily News 23 November
Equality. Opportunity. Success. The Year 1 Progress Report of the Ethnic Minority Employment Task Force (PDF 76pp) is at www.emetaskforce.gov.uk/pdf/EMETF.pdf
"The subjects that were dearest to the examiners were almost invariably those I fancied least... I should have liked to be asked to say what I knew. They always tried to ask what I did not know. When I would have willingly displayed my knowledge, they sought to expose my ignorance. This sort of treatment had only one result: I did not do well in examinations."
Winston Churchill
Commenting on the publication of the report of the Ethnic Minorities Employment Task Force, TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said: "Despite many positive changes in the world of work, the harsh reality is that even now black and Asian people, regardless of their age or background, qualifications or experience are more likely to be unemployed, lower paid and more junior than white people. Not only is this wrong, but it is also poor business sense. Companies that only recruit from a narrow base are missing out on the wide range of experiences on offer in our many different communities. We've got to make it harder for discriminating employers to continue to get away with their prejudices, and employees in the private sector deserve the same protection against racism that is enjoyed by people who work in the public sector."
TUC press release 24 November
Between July 2002 and August 2004, the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) funded the Black Leadership Initiative (BLI). This innovative, positive-action programme supported the progression of Black staff to senior management level in the post-16 sector. BLI provided secondments, mentoring and work-shadowing opportunities for Black staff, including a very successful inspection- shadowing programme with the Office for Standards in Education (OfSTED). In September 2003, the LSC asked Zahno Rao Associates to evaluate the BLI. The aim of the evaluation was to assess the impact of the BLI, and support its transition to the Centre for Excellence in Leadership from September 2004.
Evaluation of the Black Leadership Initiative (PDF 72pp) is on the LSC's website at www.lsc.gov.uk
Southampton Institute has introduced a career enhancement scheme to improve the career prospects of minority ethnic students, who are nearly twice as likely to experience unemployment when compared with their white peers. The Institute's Minority Ethnic Recruitment, Information, Training and Support (MERITS) programme provides the student participants with the ability to develop the skills required to successfully obtain employment and to help them to gain confidence for entering the graduate labour market. The scheme is supported by 12 local employers – B&Q, the BBC, Carswell Gould Associates, the Crown Prosecution Service, Cunard, Ford, HSBC, Meridian Broadcasting, Paris Smith & Randall, Harefield School, Hampshire Constabulary and the NHS – and boasts "a zero unemployment rate" for participants.
Kate Hilpern, The Independent 25 November
According to new research, almost two-thirds of white people in Britain admit they are prejudiced against at least one minority group. While travellers and asylum-seekers were identified as the main targets for bigoted attitudes, Asian people, homosexuals and disabled people also fared badly. The research, commissioned by gay rights lobby group Stonewall, noted that, even where tolerance levels were relatively high, it was grudging and people remained convinced that their attitudes were well-founded and based on fact. Those least likely to be prejudiced were women, people aged between 15 and 44, and those educated to A-level standard or above. The report, Understanding Prejudice, highlighted five types of bigotry displayed by white people:
Ben Summerskill, Stonewall's Chief Executive, commented: "It's all too commonplace among all sorts of people. Britain is growing up and beginning to recognise and celebrate difference but, sadly, there are significant pockets of unpleasant prejudice against minorities which still exist."
Sophie Goodchild, Home Affairs Correspondent, The Independent 14 November
Understanding Prejudice – Attitudes Towards Minorities
(PDF 24pp) is at www.stonewall.org.uk/docs/Understanding_Prejudice.pdf
"One of the lessons of the Web is that if people have access to information, they will consume it, whether they are hungry or not."
Lee Gomes
NIACE is leading the Learning for Living consortium, which aims to build on developments to test what works best in the teaching and learning of literacy, language and numeracy skills. The consortium intends to work with learners in a range of settings, including the community, colleges and prisons. The pathfinder project has just entered phase two, which six Skills for Life pathfinders will trial materials in areas such as pre-entry and entry levels, wider key skills, ESOL Access for All, Access Employment and teacher training.
For further information please contact Narzny Khan
tel: 0116 204 4293
email: narzny.khan@niace.org.uk
Discover Number 15 November 2004
The Learning and Skills Council (LSC) has launched a comprehensive review of its funding and planning of education and training provision for learners with learning difficulties and/or disabilities. The aim of the review is to produce a national strategy that meets the growing demand for post-16 education and training for learners in this group and expands the range of options on offer to meet their needs. The LSC's National Council endorsed the need for this strategic review in March this year and, as a result, a National Steering Group has been established to oversee the work, chaired by Peter Little OBE, formerly Chief Executive of Birmingham Rathbone.
LSC email alert 9 November
This publication from the DfES provides guidance on ensuring effective transition from Connexions services to adult information and advice (IA) services when young people reach the age of 20, or 25 for those with disabilities or learning difficulties. Examples are provided to show how Connexions partnerships and IA providers can work together on a range of issues.
You can find the document (PDF 28pp) at http://tinyurl.com/4j2xd
NB: Don't print in colour - front and back covers are solid dark red!
The Scottish Executive has unveiled £18 million of funding for regenerating the country's most deprived communities, but voluntary organisations will only be allowed to bid if they are "commercially competitive". The Executive wants voluntary organisations to become "self-sufficient businesses", making profits that will be reinvested into the communities they serve.
Futurebuilders Scotland - Investing in the Social Economy is at www.scotland.gov.uk/library5/social/fsse-00.asp
Community Care 26 August-1 September
Since 1997, the government has pursued a number of inter-related policies aimed at reforming the welfare system for people of working age, getting more people into work and reducing poverty. Joseph Rowntree Foundation research had identified many of the needs of targeted groups, and the Foundation has been involved in commenting on reform plans and tracking progress. This Foundations is a round-up of what JRF has had to say about welfare reform and related issues since the late 1990s, and provides an assessment of the progress made. Key points include:
The full report (PDF 12pp) is at www.jrf.org.uk/knowledge/findings/foundations/pdf/n44.pdf
JRF Mailing List 17 November
A recent parliamentary answer regarding the Social Fund indicates that the government is considering ways to extend the fund to people on low incomes. This has been one of the campaigning points for a number of poverty organisations. The Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) has been particularly critical of the system, which prevents people on low incomes from accessing the low-interest loans as soon as they move from benefits into work. Parliamentary Under-Secretary Chris Pond said: "The government is looking at ways in which affordable loans can be made to people on low incomes."
Welfare Rights Bulletin Number 182 (October 2004)
Mike Brewer and Andrew Shephard
A review of the Labour Government's success in improving the financial reward to work for low-income families. The report examines the key outcomes targeted by "make work pay" policies, showing trends in the proportion of parents in employment, and the number of children in households where no adult is in paid work. It reviews studies which estimate the contribution that government policies made to these changes. It also provides new evidence on the impact of changes to personal taxes, tax credits and benefits on measures of financial work incentives. The authors also anticipate where this policy agenda might take the government in the future.
Full publication (PDF 68pp) is at www.jrf.org.uk/bookshop/eBooks/1859352626.pdf
Published by: Joseph Rowntree Foundation
(ISBN: 1-85935-262-6 price free)
JRF Mailing List 17 November
Rowland Atkinson and Keith Kintrea, University of Glasgow
This article looks at perceptions of the link between residential location and life chances. The idea of "area effects" suggests that people's prospects for social engagement and economic activity are related to the neighbourhood where they live. It permeates social and urban policy as well as theories of deprivation and social exclusion. However, while quantitative evidence on area effects has begun to suggest that such a link exists, there has been little evidence using qualitative data and no contrast between the social patterns of life in deprived and more socially diverse areas. In response to these concerns, this article seeks to throw more light on how the linkages between area of residence and life chances are understood locally. The article concludes that experiences of deprivation may be more entrenched and fatalistic in deprived areas in response to a range of perceived negative impacts of area on social action and engagement. However, this general position is also contradictory and fragmented depending on social position within the locale. The article concludes by drawing out these ideas in terms of how the experience and reproduction of poverty are theorised.
Sociology Volume 38 Number 3 (July 2004)
The Scottish Executive is to receive European funding to help it develop the country's skills base and boost employment opportunities in disadvantaged areas. In total, £25 million will be made available for projects designed to generate jobs and strengthen the infrastructure for getting people into work.
Croner Training Briefing Number 15 (10 November)
The New Policy Institute has updated its annual analysis of indicators of poverty and social exclusion for all the latest data. This year's analysis has a particular focus on the contrasting fortunes of different groups within the population. Overall, four key issues emerge, namely working-age adults without dependent children, the economically inactive who want paid work but are not officially unemployed, the quality of jobs at the bottom of the labour market, and young adults with poor or no educational qualifications. Findings include:
An overview of the research is at www.jrf.org.uk/knowledge/findings/socialpolicy/d14.asp
The report is available only online (PDF 72pp) at www.poverty.org.uk/reports/mpse2004.pdf
JRF mailing list 1 December
"Wear a smile and have friends; wear a scowl and have wrinkles. What do we live for if not to make the world less difficult for each other?"
George Eliot
Newcastle University, a member of the Russell Group of leading institutions, has announced that it is to axe its pure physics department. A spokesperson for the University said that this year's intake of 30 students would be the last. The decision will be a disappointment to Chancellor Gordon Brown, who named Newcastle as a "science city for the North" in his plan to boost the UK's "scientific genius and world class universities".
Tim Ross, PA News, The TES 3 December
This article examines "the barmy economics of British universities", with particular regard to the threatened closure of Cambridge University's architecture department. Teaching in the department is highly rated, and attracts 11 applicants for each place. However, according to Marcial Echenique, the department's acting head, it costs £10,000 per year to teach a student. It can charge fees of £1,000 and receives a state subsidy of £4,000. The shortfall has traditionally been made up from research funding. Unfortunately, using the new research assessments, the architecture department was rated a 4. This means a drop of £400,000 to the overall budget, which means that there is no longer spare money to prop up undergraduate study. The author comments: "It is hard to criticise the government for concentrating research funding on the best-rated places (if dons divert money to undergraduate teaching it hardly signals a single-minded drive to reach the frontiers of knowledge)."
The Economist, 27 November-3 December
Eleven of Britain's leading architects have attacked the proposal by Cambridge University to close its architecture department because it failed to secure a 5 in the Research Assessment Exercise. The group, which includes former President of the Royal Institute of British Architects Sir Richard MacCormac, Millennium Bridge designer Lord Norman Foster, and Lord Richard Rogers, designer of the Millennium Dome, says that this decision is "an act of extraordinary folly". The group accuses Cambridge heads of being "unaware of the impact the closure of the department of architecture in Cambridge will have" and add: "It has uncomfortable echoes of the closure of the Bauhaus."
David Pallister, The Guardian 29 November
Exeter University, which plans to axe three academic departments to save money, has been put up for sale on the Internet auction site eBay. The campus was on offer at £10 million in the spoof auction but appears to have now been removed. It is understood that the auction was part of a student protest at the university's plans to close departments.
Press Association, The Guardian 25 November
Education Secretary Charles Clarke has asked the Higher Education Funding Council for England to find ways to safeguard "nationally important" subjects. While stopping short of offering government intervention to save departments facing closure, Mr Clarke asked the HEFCE to find ways of securing funding in five key areas, including Arabic, Eastern European and Far Eastern languages, the sciences and courses linked to the "cultural and creative industries". Giving evidence to the House of Commons Education and Skills Select Committee, he indicated that regional quangos might be asked to ensure subjects of strategic importance do not die out in their areas. The Chemistry Society described the Secretary of State's response as "a bit thin and a bit late". Echoing this sentiment, Peter Main, Director of Education at the Institute of Physics, added that he expected more closures. He said: "Almost all physics departments are in trouble financially. The funding model just isn't working."
Anna Fazackerley and Paul Hill, The THES 3 December
Following Exeter University's announcement that it is to close its chemistry, engineering, Italian and music departments, it has emerged that a government undertaking to protect academic subjects of "strategic importance" may only cover departments with 5 and 5* ratings for research. While the HEFCE has confirmed that it is drafting plans to protect such subjects from closure as a result of poor student demand, it indicated that there was no policy in place as yet. However, Steve Smith, Vice-Chancellor at Exeter University, was told by the HEFCE that this protection would only be available to top-rated units. A spokesperson for the Royal Society of Chemistry said that this decision would only ensure that the demand for chemistry study remained low. He commented: "Preserving only high-prestige departments that are difficult to get into will exclude many people."
Anna Fazackerley, The THES 26 November
Universities that "restructure" by axing departments to invest in new subject areas can do more harm than good, a Vice-Chancellor has warned, writes Tony Tysome (The THES, 3 December). Brian Cantor, Vice-Chancellor of York University, argues that such decisions can cause irreparable damage to staff morale and the quality of teaching and research. He said: "If you [restructure], you lower staff morale and then it becomes difficult to rebuild it. I believe the academic business is one with a fairly lengthy time scale because it is an intellectual endeavour, so the danger of moving things round is very high."
Britain's new universities are abandoning traditional academic courses in favour of vocational degrees as they vie for students, a survey conducted by the Financial Times has found. The FT contacted 69 universities in an attempt to assess the impact of market forces on academia ahead of the introduction of variable tuition fees. It found that, as well as a widening gulf between the former polytechnics and the traditional universities, even longer established universities are being forced to offer "perks" to tempt applicants to shortage subject programmes like maths, chemistry and physics.
Miranda Green, Anne-Marie O'Leary and Hannah Hoffman, The Financial Times 1 November
In an article for The Guardian (9 November), Sir Martin Harris, the Director of OfFA, explains what he will require universities to do if they want to charge full fees. In essence, any institution that wishes to increase fees for undergraduate programmes above the standard level of £1,000 per year will be required to submit an access agreement to OfFA. The agreement must set out how the institution will "safeguard and promote fair access", with particular focus on students from low income groups, through bursary and other financial support and outreach work. The agreement must be approved by OfFA before any increase in fees may be levied. Sir Martin explained: "By way of example, if, over time, 80% of higher education institutions charge the full fee of £3,000, and if they invest 20% of their additional income into bursaries, then we would be looking at up to as much as £200 million each year available to support students from under-represented groups, in particular those from low-income groups. This will be money put directly into the pockets of students and, in my view, will be a major step towards ensuring that all those who have the potential to benefit can gain access to a course most suitable to their needs."
Full article: http://tinyurl.com/3z9za Producing Access Agreements: OfFA guidance to institutions (PDF 20pp) is at www.offa.org.uk/pubs/04_01.pdf
Sir Martin Harris, Director of the Office for Fair Access to Higher Education (OfFA) has advised universities to "hold back" up to 35,000 places a year until A-level results come out. Sir Martin said that reserving 5-10% of total intake until students receive their results would help to make university more attractive to working-class students. He highlighted research which found that some working-class students do not apply for top universities because they do not believe that their results will be good enough. Enabling them to apply after they receive their results will eliminate this crisis of confidence.
Richard Garner, Education Editor, The Independent 9 November
Commenting on the inauguration of the Office of Fair Access (OfFA), Terence Kealey, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Buckingham said: "I love OfFA – the Office of Fair Access. I love it because, in its short life, it has confirmed who really runs British higher education: not the government but the chief executives of the big five institutions, namely Oxford, Cambridge, Imperial, the London School of Economics and University College London. And those five chief executives have created the OfFA they want. … Now the universities are committed only to showing that they're trying awfully hard to recruit the working classes; targets have been forsaken, and the universities will publish their provisional top-up fees this year in anticipation of, not waiting on, Harris approving them."
The Guardian 16 November
Full article: http://tinyurl.com/5lthu
A government-backed plan for teenagers to apply to university after getting their A-levels could be a reality within four years, if the proposals outlined in a report from the Secondary Heads Association are accepted. The proposals call for students at schools and colleges in England and Wales to take their A-levels earlier in May, with results being published in mid-July. The SHA report proposes a two-phase process for university applications: a registration phase from 30 April, and an application phase after results are published on 15 July.
Donald MacLeod, The Guardian 8 November
Post Qualification Application to Higher
Education is available, price £12.50, from SHA Headquarters, 130
Regent Road, Leicester LE1 7PG
tel: 0116 299 1122
email:
info@sha.org.uk
All those sixth form girls who are hoping to become sexy pathologists like Amanda Burton in the BBC's drama series Silent Witness by studying forensic science at university should think again. That's the message of a report published by SEMTA. The report says that the new courses will not lead to jobs in forensic science. Clive Wolfendale, Deputy Chief Constable of North Wales Police and chair of the forensic science strategy group at SEMTA, confirmed that this view is supported by the police force. He said that a great many of the new degrees were "little more than a collection of basic scientific principles combined with the telling of some anecdotes". He warned: "If a young person is excited by the prospect of a career in this field, I would advise them strongly not to be seduced by some of the poorer-quality degrees on offer. … This is a product based on a television perception of what forensic science is about. The reality is that it is very labour-intensive, routine, time-consuming, dirty and unpleasant work."
Lucy Hodges, The Independent 25 November
Oxford and Cambridge are among the world's top ten universities, according to a new global ranking published by the Times Higher Education Supplement. They were ranked fifth and sixth respectively in the league table of the world's 200 best universities. Harvard University secured top place, beating the University of California, Berkeley, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the California Institute of Technology by a significant margin. The London School of Economics and Imperial College are placed a respectable 11th and 14th respectively.
Edinburgh University is the only Scottish higher education institution ranked in the top 50 universities of the world in a survey of academics. At 48, it is outranked by seven others in the UK.
Elizabeth Buie, Education Editor, The Scottish Herald 5 November
Dundee University has been rated the best scientific institution in Europe by academics and researchers in a poll conducted for Scientist magazine. The poll found that the university was the best place to do research work, enhancing its reputation as a centre of scientific excellence. It was also ranked the third best scientific centre outside the United States.
Kevin Schofield, Education Correspondent, The Scotsman 13 November
The Institute of Education at the University of London has extended the intake for its MBA in higher education to include overseas students. While the MBA, which focuses solely on the way that UK institutions are administered, has been offered by the IoE for the past three years, this year's participants include four university managers from the US, Japan, Switzerland and Ireland. Paul Temple, programme manager of the MBA, said that tuition fees, widening participation and the debate over research funding have turned the UK into "a laboratory for overseas professionals to learn about managing higher education".
Paul Hill, The THES 5 November
Nottingham Trent University has set up one of the UK's first campus "prep schools" for overseas students in partnership with Kaplan, a US company. The International College, based at the university, will coach overseas students wishing to take undergraduate and postgraduate courses at Nottingham Trent to bring them up to the same standard as their UK counterparts. A university place is guaranteed for those who do well enough in the preparation courses.
Chris Johnston, The THES 19 November
Research conducted by the Higher Education Policy Institute has shown that former polytechnics have seen an increase of 245% in their overseas postgraduate intake over the past seven years. The research report, Postgraduate Education in the UK, reveals that just over two-fifths of all postgraduates are now in new universities. Key points include:
Overall trends: The growth in numbers of overseas students studying for taught masters degrees has been extraordinary.
Institutions, regions and students: The new university share of overseas postgraduates almost doubled.
Financial benefits: Male postgrads typically earned 4.7% more than undergrads.
Quality information: The most prestigious universities have the highest proportions of postgrad students.
Future trends: Overseas student demand can be volatile and there is already evidence of fall-off.
Geoffrey Copland, Vice-Chancellor of Westminster University, said: "This is one of the unsung success stories of new universities. The introduction of top-up fees for undergraduates led to a great deal of talk about introducing the market to higher education, but among overseas postgraduates the market has existed for a long time – and new universities have done very well."
Claire Sanders, The THES 12 November
Postgraduate Education in the United Kingdom by Tom Sastry (PDF 60pp) is at http://tinyurl.com/6e2fy
Universities UK has warned that Home Office plans to raise visa fees and introduce more bureaucratic procedures for vetting foreign students will have "a serious impact on UK universities' £1 billion overseas market". UUK, the body which represents Vice-Chancellors, said that the bid to raise revenue by the Home Office is undermining attempts to maintain the status of UK universities abroad. A spokesperson said that this development was of particular concern, considering that other English-speaking countries such as Australia are "chasing this market aggressively".
Donald MacLeod, The Guardian 29 October
The Conservative Higher Education Minister has claimed that British universities have lost around £30 million in tuition fees this year alone, because foreign students are facing increasing difficulties in obtaining entry visas. Chris Grayling said that, according to a survey of Vice-Chancellors conducted on behalf of the Conservative Party, almost two-thirds of universities were having problems with visa applications from overseas students. Mr Grayling said that legitimate institutions were being penalised because of the furore surrounding bogus colleges and the fear of terrorism.
Phil Baty, The THES 19 November
The government has urged universities and colleges to boost their contribution to the UK economy by recruiting more overseas students and becoming global centres of excellence for teaching and research, writes Tony Tysome (The THES 19 November). Speaking at the launch of the government's new international strategy for education, Charles Clarke said there was scope for higher and further education institutions to build on the £10 billion a year they already add to UK's economy through, for example, overseas student fees and the spending of these students while in the UK.
In this strategy, three key goals are identified:
The priorities for action are outlined.
The document (PDF 28pp) is at http://tinyurl.com/4jq2j
Welsh universities are wasting millions of pounds a year because of their failure to introduce smarter buying policies, claims the Auditor General for Wales. In a new report, Sir John Bourn criticises higher education institutions for not implementing fully changes he recommended three years ago, which included taking steps to establish formal procurement procedures. In his report, Sir John says that more than half of the 13 higher education institutions in Wales have no such procedures, and those that do "have serious shortcomings". He said: "Most institutions still rely on paper-based ordering systems that provide very little information, specifically on procurement, although some institutions have begun to automate their purchase ordering process."
Martin Shipton, The Western Mail 25 November
Chris Patten, Chancellor of Oxford University, has indicated that he will not pursue the idea of Oxford becoming a private institution. Speaking before his first public address on the future of science and universities, Mr Patten said that, while he would like to see Oxford raising significantly more income privately, opting out of state control completely would not be his preferred option. He said: "Tertiary education represents the public good and should receive public support."
Anna Fazackerley, The THES 26 November
Demand for new graduates is set to increase during 2004/05 according to the latest graduate recruitment study issued by IRS Employment Review. In the year to September 2004, most graduate recruiters either increased their previous demand for new graduates or sustained it. Starting salaries have also improved, with an average forecast starting salary of £20,144 in 2004/05. Half of all employers will be offering starting salaries between £18,000 and £21,700. Other findings include:
HRLook Daily News 19 November
The South West Observatory Skills and Learning Intelligence Module has published two Research Briefs which relate to the Improving Training and Development Opportunities for Graduates in the South West learning theme. The Research Briefs present the main findings from the relevant literature, identify key data and links, and summarise the main ideas generated by the online discussions and workshops.
Word Document 4pp at www.swslim.org.uk/documents/themes/lt8_rb1.doc
Word Document 4pp at www.swslim.org.uk/documents/themes/lt8_rb2.doc
Marchmont Observatory, University of Exeter
October 2004
Figures released by the Higher Education Statistics Agency reveal that graduate salaries span "a startlingly wide range". While a handful of 2002 graduates are earning more than £40,000 a year in their first jobs, a significant number earn less than £10,000. The majority earn between £10,000 and £19,999.
Chris Johnston, The THES 5 November
The Foreign Office has published the Guide to the European Union, as part of its drive to persuade the British people to support the European Union constitution. The guide is a 44-page booklet explaining how the EU works and how the constitution – signed by Mr Blair on 29 October – would affect Britain. It seeks to dispel some of the "false alarms and misconceptions" about the constitution. Some 200,000 copies of the guide have been printed and are available in public libraries.
Andrew Grice, Political Editor, The Independent 2 November
A PDF version (48pp) is at http://tinyurl.com/5mpwm
Update comment: The government also insisted that the launch of the guide did not represent the onset of a referendum campaign. Oh no. Indeed not. Not at all.
A new brochure has recently been published which explains the role of the European Ombudsman and how to make a complaint. The website notes that you can complain to the Ombudsman about maladministration in the activities of the institutions and bodies of the European Union. It defines maladministration as "poor or failed administration. This occurs if an institution fails to act in accordance with the law, fails to respect the principles of good administration, or if it violates human rights."
More information www.euro-ombudsman.eu.int/home/en/default.htm
Info@UK Issue 44 (November 2004)
Employers are increasingly turning to migrant workers in a bid to plug skills shortages, says the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD). The CIPD says its latest Human Resources Quarterly Trends and Indicators Survey (Autumn 2004) shows that the current tight labour market is fuelling the recruitment of migrant labour, rather than pushing up wages. It also reveals that, despite the common perception that migrant workers' jobs are low-skilled, low-paid and casual, the majority of employers are seeking professional and technical skills from abroad. Key findings include:
Labour Research Volume 93 Number 11 (November 2004)
According to new figures from the Home Office, workers from the countries that joined the EU on 1 May 2004 are "regularising their status in the legal economy, filling gaps in a range of industries … and contributing to UK productivity". The figures show that immigrants from accession countries are not claiming benefit in significant numbers. Less than 1% of accession nationals who have come to the UK since May have made a claim for income-related benefits, and, of these, less than 3% – approximately 16 people – passed the new "right to reside test" and were awarded benefit. Other key figures include:
rightsnet.org.uk 10 November
A national survey that for the first time gives a breakdown of levels of employment, economic inactivity, skills and qualifications in almost all local authority areas has been published. Scottish Executive Enterprise Minister Jim Wallace said: "We have funded this major survey so that we can better tackle economic inactivity and close the opportunity gap. It provides us with robust information and a better understanding than ever before of where people are not working, where they want to work and what the obstacles might be. The key strength of the Scottish economy is its workforce – we need to make sure that those people who want to work, have the opportunity to do so. Although the survey confirms record levels of employment in Scotland, it shows that economic inactivity remains an issue. We are committed to tackling this. The survey will help us target our initiatives in skills and training to those areas that need it most, for those people who need help most." Statistics are available for more local authority areas than previously.
Scottish Executive press release 24 November
In the run-up to the Christmas trading period, over 46,000 temporary jobs have been created among just four leading retailers. Boots, Sainsbury's, Tesco and Argos all report that they have had to increase the number of temporary staff they employ, compared to the same period last year.
IDS Pay Report Number 915 (October 2004)
More than a third of teenagers now drop the study of languages at the age of 14, following the government's decision to make the subject optional in Year 10, a survey reveals. The survey, conducted by the National Centre for Languages (CILT), found:
Teresa Tinsley of CILT commented: "There is going to be a generation of pupils without the language skills many of them will need in later life. We already have the lowest level of language skills in Europe. Is this really what the country wants?"
Warwick Mansell, The TES 5 November
Alex Withnall with Veronica McGivney and Jim Soulsby
ISBN: 1-86201-191-5
Price £12.95
Published by NIACE
Myths and misconceptions about the impact of ageing on the ability, need and will to learn have been with us for a long time. Even in an era when there are more older people than ever, enjoying longer and more fulfilling lives, our perceptions of ageing are influenced by these destructive myths and images from another time. This book faces some of the these myths, presents the most recent evidence to refute them, or at least improve our knowledge of the issues, and considers what the truth means for those in education and elsewhere who are working to develop more, better and different learning opportunities for older people.
Older and Bolder Issue 18 October 2004
Contact Publication Sales, NIACE, 21 De Montfort Street,
Leicester LE1 7GE
tel: 0116 204 4216
email:
orders@niace.org.uk
This consultation paper sets out the vision, roles and responsibilities of the National Quality Improvement Body (NQIB). It also describes how the NQIB will work with other major organisations that have responsibility for improving the quality of education and training. Views are invited on shaping the priorities of the new body as the department takes forward detailed development work.
The paper is available as PDF or Word document at http://tinyurl.com/6duh4
According to a survey carried out by YouGov, the gap year is no longer the preserve of the undergraduate. The survey revealed increasing numbers of stressed executives taking a break from their careers to go hostelling around the world. For some, the reason behind their journey was to step back from a hectic working environment; for others, it can mark the passage from single life to parenting and domesticity. The peak age for this type of career break is 26-34, and, while cheap accommodation might be the order of the day, older backpackers are more likely to take "luxury" items with them, such as iPods and PalmPilots.
Arifa Akbar, The Independent 26 November
Update comment: They will also find useful the new book by Susan Griffith, "Gap Year for Grown Ups", published by Vacation Work Publications.
This is a new publication from the Learning and Skills Council. It replaces the Adult and Community Learning newsletter and "has a broader remit to incorporate all of the areas of work that come under the new WAP team, namely, information, advice and guidance, community learning, widening adult participation, the voluntary and community sector, family programmes, learner support for adults and quality improvement."
Full publication (PDF 8pp) http://tinyurl.com/3ksf4
To coincide with National Stress Day (3 November), the Health and Safety Executive has completed a consultation on the proposed guidance on stress. This article assesses whether these draft management standards will tackle the growing problem of stress in the workplace. The HSE guidance sets out areas in which employers should reach a proscribed level of satisfaction.
At least 85% of staff should indicate that:
At least 65% of staff should indicate that:
Labour Research Volume 93 Number 11 (November 2004)
Full text of revised standards is at www.hse.gov.uk/stress/revdraftstandards.pdf
Update comment: Eh? What happens if you are outside the 85% or 65%? How does having your manager say "Well, 85% of your colleagues are okay" help? Dawn
Writing in The Guardian on National Stress Awareness Day (3 November), Sarfraz Manzoor urges readers to take deep breaths and calm down a bit. Mr Manzoor acknowledges that stress is regarded by many as a drain on productivity. However, he questions the view that the so-called pressures of modern living are to blame. What he believes has changed is not the workload as such, but the attitude of the workforce to that workload. He wrote: "As a young boy I remember my father coming home after having worked a 12-hour shift at the Vauxhall car plant. Each night he would get home, eat and then work till the small hours of the morning helping my mother as she made dresses on her sewing machine. Four hours of sleep later, he would be up again for work. That was his life, seven days a week, yet I don't once recall him complaining about suffering from stress or threatening to sue General Motors for the 'excessive pressure' they were putting him under. He understood that our jobs are called work for a reason: that is meant to be what they are. There is a word for doing things that are pleasurable, and that is a hobby."
Full article: http://tinyurl.com/4nwcj
Update comment: A "must read" article. Great stuff!
If you want to get ahead, get a nervous disposition, would seem to be the advice of a research team from the University of Wales, Swansea. Their research found that people who are anxious and prone to worrying tend to be better at their jobs than those who are calm and unruffled. However, before we all rush out to find our own healthy dose of stress (or congratulate ourselves for having a head start on everyone else!), the researchers add that worrying on its own is not very useful. Apparently, it must be combined with "cognitive ability" and "intelligent thinking".
The Guardian 18 November
Update comment: Ah well, back to the meditation.
Commuters on Britain's rush-hour roads and railways suffer greater anxiety than fighter pilots or riot police facing angry mobs of protesters, according to research conducted for Hewlett Packard. Researchers found that the heartbeat of a rush-hour commuter can be up to 165 beats per minute, compared to an "at rest" rate of 65 for a healthy young adult. They also suggest that commuters enter into "commuter amnesia" – a light hypnotic trance in which subjects shut out most of the sensory information around them – in order to protect themselves from the worst of their journey.
Andrew Clark, Transport Correspondent, The Guardian 30 November
The Work Foundation, which works with many companies to understand and manage stress, has produced a list of the top five popular misconceptions on workplace stress.
The International Classification of Diseases defines work stress as "a potential cause of ill health", not as a disease in and of itself. It is not, therefore, a defined and recognised medical condition, rather it is an unhelpful umbrella term for a series of mild to moderate mental disorders such as anxiety and depression. Some professionals argue that, in many cases, stress is no more than "the medicalisation of unhappiness".
Stress is a subjective phenomenon. The degree of exposure one can tolerate varies, as does the perception of stress. In 2002, the Court of Appeal ruled that stress pertains to the individual not to the workplace, and that no one occupation is inherently more stressful than another.
There has been considerable controversy over the growing willingness of GPs to sign patients off with "stress". This often results in a prolonged period of absence from work, with no real attempt to isolate the course of the problem. Employers should get the view of occupational health professionals in many of these cases.
Work stress is often closely linked to control over one's job. Junior staff tend to have the least autonomy and so are unable to change circumstances that create stress. Conversely, senior managers have the most control of their environments and so are better able to reduce stress stimulators.
Like so many work issues, employee well-being at work is the responsibility of line managers. While there will be specific circumstances where it makes sense to offer help with ameliorating the effects of stress on an individual, it is more effective to manage the causes.
Stephen Bevan, Director of Research, The Work Foundation, said: "The psychological well-being of UK workers is an issue of some concern, both to employers and to staff. The term 'stress' might be convenient shorthand, but unless we break through the common mythology about its causes and cures, we are unlikely to make serious strides towards a more resilient, empowered and healthy workforce."
HRLook Daily News 4 November
Stress Puppy: a person who seems to thrive on being stressed out and whiney.
"A lot of good arguments are spoiled by some fool who knows what he is talking about."
Miguel de Unamuno y Jugo
According to new research from the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC), taking time out of work to look after children has a long-term "scarring" effect on women's pay levels. The research found that, for each year a woman takes out of work, there is a corresponding 1% fall in her earnings, which remains for the rest of her working life. The research also found that working part-time decreases a woman's earning power year-on-year, in contrast to the increase experienced by full-time workers.
HRLook Daily News 15 November
New evidence has emerged which reveals that women who move from full-time work to a part-time position face an average 22% cut in hourly earnings. The research, published by the Department for Trade and Industry, shows that a significant number of women are coerced into making a downward occupational shift into lower-grade work. This penalty is most frequent when changing employers, although a significant number were forced to accept demotion in return for the ability to work flexible hours. Moreover, the evidence also suggests that the pay penalty for working part-time in Britain is the highest in Europe.
John Carvel, The Guardian 24 November
MPs on the Science and Technology Select Committee have reacted angrily to what they describe as the government's "obstructive response" to the findings of their enquiry into scientific publishing. The MPs released their original report on the scientific publishing industry, which argued that the government must "urgently" investigate the open access or "author-pays" system. However, the DTI told the committee that: "In a market in which different organisations are competing to provide services to the academic community, the government does not think it should intervene to support one model or another. The government is also not convinced that the 'author-pays' model is inherently superior to the current model." Committee members accused the government of kowtowing to the publishing houses, and interfering with the work of the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC). Ian Gibson, chairman of the committee, said he was "pretty angry" and vowed that "all hell will be let loose" when Parliament gets a chance to debate the matter. "This is a really serious political battle. It is between what's best for the [publishing] industry and what's best for the public," he said.
Saeed Shah, The Independent 9 November
The Financial Times (26 November) set up Matthew Cockerill, Technical Director and Co-founder of BioMed Central, against John Enderby, Vice-President of the Royal Society. Mr Cockerill argues that "the cost of publishing a scientific research article is a tiny fraction of what it costs to do the research in the first place; yet publishers end up controlling access to the findings." In contrast, Mr Enderby questions the view that open access will lead to significant overall savings, and suggests that both peer-review and the ability of scientists without substantial financial backing to publish their work may be compromised.
Richard Poynder, a UK-based freelance journalist who specialises in intellectual property and the information industry, observes that self-archiving is gaining allies in some surprising quarters: "Bob Campbell, President of Blackwell Publishing, has come to believe that not only is it acceptable, but it could benefit publishers. First, by offering easily accessible archives over the Web, it would deflect criticism from those who argue that the taxpayer should be entitled to read what they have paid for. Second, self-archiving may drive traffic toward publishers' versions of articles thereby increasing, rather than decreasing, access to their services, through the so-called citation boosting effect, which provides "increasing evidence that self- or open-archiving provides an added promotional effect for the official version." Poynder finishes his column with this meditation: "What, then, is the solution to the journal affordability problem? We don't know. What we do know is that, although the merits of OA are indisputable, it looks certain (in the short term at least) to increase, not decrease, library costs. The tragedy for librarians is that while they have done so much to promote OA, their reward has been only further financial pain. No gain without pain, they say. In this case, researchers gain; libraries feel the pain!"
Information Today Nov 2004
www.infotoday.com/IT/nov04/poynder.shtml
This article presents the results of a survey which sought to discover what authors think about the move towards open access publishing. The survey revealed a wide variation in the attitudes expressed. While the majority of respondents were broadly positive, some had "significant reservations" about the preservation of the content and quality of their work. The survey also noted hostility towards the publishing community and an "alarmingly low" level of interest and understanding of copyright issues.
Library and Information Update
Volume 3 (11) November 2004
Scholarly communication in the digital environment: what do authors want? (PDF 37pp) is at http://ciber.soi.city.ac.uk/ciber-pa-report.pdf
In its annual submission to the Low Pay Commission (LPC), the TUC recommends an increase in the adult national minimum wage to £5.35 next October, rising towards £6 by October 2006. The TUC notes that previous increases in the minimum wage have benefited fewer than the LPC's target of up to two million workers. With average earnings expected to rise by 9% over the next two years and prices by 6% (RPI inflation), a minimum wage set at £5 or less – as the business lobby is suggesting – would mean a real cut in the value of the wage and in the number of low-paid workers it benefits. The TUC also recommends that the adult minimum wage is paid from the age of 18 rather than at 22. The submission proposes an increase that would sustain the level of the £3 minimum wage for 16- and 17-year-olds in 2005 in relation to earnings, and says that for 2006 it would like to see an interim review to set a rate that benefits larger numbers of young workers.
TUC press release 11 November
The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) is arguing for a regional minimum wage after research showed variations in the impact of National Minimum Wage increases across the UK. The FSB says that minimum wage increases affect one in four businesses in Scotland, Wales and northern regions of England, compared with just under one in 20 in the South East of England. In evidence to the Low Pay Commission, the FSB also shows that community businesses such as hotels, restaurants, shops, garages, care homes and hairdressers are the most likely to be affected by increases to the minimum wage. The FSB warns the Low Pay Commission to "guard against the assumption that the minimum wage should be increased above inflation, year on year in a rubber-stamping exercise."
HRLook Daily News 5 November
The CBI has called on the Low Pay Commission to freeze the level of the minimum wage next October, and to ensure that the adult rate remains below £5 per hour until 2006. Digby Jones, Director General of the CBI, said that that a "pause year" must be reinstated as a matter of urgency, so that the full impact of the latest increase may be analysed. Mr Jones said: "The minimum wage is a success and business wants it to stay that way. Caution has been the secret of that success but the recent second big rise was a risk."
Jonathan Moules, The Financial Times 17 November
Homelessness charity Shelter has warned that Britain risks "a return to Victorian times" if measures are not introduced to address a growing social divide in the housing market. Research conducted by the charity finds that greater social divisions caused by rapidly rising house prices are trapping millions of people in poorer areas while rewarding those on the property ladder in the south. In order to illustrate the divide, the report, Know Your Place, calculates that 10 years ago, the sale of an average house in Kensington, central London, the richest area, would have bought two houses in the Fife town of Leven, the poorest area. Today, the Kensington house would buy 24 properties in Leven.
Peter Hetherington, Regional Affairs Editor, The Guardian 26 November
Know Your Place – Housing wealth and inequality in Great Britain 1980-2003 and beyond (PDF 31pp) is at http://tinyurl.com/6f7su
Although many people remain poor for some time, there is considerable movement into and out of poverty. Policy-makers are increasingly interested in the ways in which people escape from poverty. This study by the Social Policy Research Unit at the University of York reviewed existing evidence on this topic. Key findings include:
An overview of the research is at www.jrf.org.uk/knowledge/findings/socialpolicy/n94.asp
The full report, Routes out of poverty: A research review by Peter Kemp, Jonathan Bradshaw, Paul Dornan, Naomi Finch and Emese Mayhew, is published by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (ISBN: -85935-230-8 price £13.95)
It is also available free of charge (PDF 132pp) http://tinyurl.com/6uhz7
JRF mailing list 24 November
A consultation to explore how new technologies can increase opportunities for disadvantaged social groups has been launched by the Social Exclusion Unit. The consultation, which is gathering views from service users, central and local government and the voluntary and private sectors, is the first step in the SEU's Inclusion through Innovation project which will review how better links could be made between existing information about vulnerable and excluded people and identify the causes of digital exclusion. Initial consultation runs until the end of January 2005 and will be followed by focus groups and a review of international best practice in the field. An action plan will be developed in April 2005 for implementation from summer 2005 onwards.
E-Government Bulletin Issue 175 (29 November)
URL: www.socialexclusion.gov.uk
Findings of a recent independent evaluation of the Big Lottery Fund's People's Network programme, which put all UK libraries online, indicates the funding has had a positive and wide-ranging impact on libraries and library users. The evaluation, undertaken by the Tavistock Institute, shows that the People's Network has been effective in broadening the user base of libraries and repositioning them at the heart of local communities. Findings show that young people (16-25), with a predominance of males, are a major new group going to libraries to use the computer facilities and the Internet. Other new library surfers include older people (50-70), many with no previous ICT experience, and other groups who ordinarily may be digitally excluded such as the unemployed and people with disabilities. The research shows that the most popular uses of the Internet in libraries are keeping in touch with family and friends, helping with studies and finding work. Findings also indicate that users of the new facilities are overwhelmingly positive about ICT facilities and in particular, free Internet access and the speed of the connection available. There is also strong evidence that the roll-out of the programme was both swift and effective, achieved well within timescale and budget.
managinginformation.com 24 November
The People's Network: Evaluation Summary (PDF 20pp) is at www.mla.gov.uk/documents/pn_evaluation_summary.pdf
"As a child my mother would always tell me not to sit so close to the TV, that it was bad for my eyes. Now, as an adult, I spend 8+ hours a day within 2 feet of a computer screen."
Unknown
Kevin Farnsworth
Occupational welfare has been a relatively neglected area in both theoretical and empirical studies of the welfare state despite its importance to overall levels of social provision. Surprisingly, there has not yet been a comprehensive examination of British occupational social provision, as opposed to non-wage benefits more generally, or specific provision such as pensions, housing or childcare. This neglect can be explained both by the perception that occupational welfare plays a relatively insignificant role in contemporary welfare states and by a general lack of clarity regarding its definition and scope, factors which have added to the difficulties surrounding its conceptualisation and measurement. Despite the lack of attention it has received, however, recent pressures have propelled the issue higher up the social policy agenda, increasing the need for a clearer conception of what constitutes occupational social provision and a more comprehensive assessment of its contemporary significance. This paper seeks to shed some light on these areas by drawing on comparative and UK data in order to carry out an audit of occupational social provision.
Social Policy and Administration Volume 38 Number 5 (October 2004)
Sinn Fein Councillor Maeve McLaughlin has called for closer collaboration between the Northern Ireland and Eire teaching professions, through the harmonisation of teaching qualifications across Ireland. Speaking after attending the All-Ireland Teacher Training conference in Armagh, Ms McLaughlin argued that a unified qualification would "set a benchmark for students in both Northern Ireland and the Republic". She said: "It is important that there is more of this type of cross-border work throughout the whole sector of education. … Harmonisation of teaching qualifications would facilitate greater movement of teachers across the island and lead to increased skills sharing."
Brendan McDaid, The Belfast Telegraph 17 November
A disabled homeless man was denied access to a bath for 17 months because social services did not consider bathing to be "an essential activity", according to a report from the Local Government Ombudsman. The man became homeless, and was placed in a hostel without disabled access to bathing facilities. The Ombudsman found the social services department in question guilty of maladministration.
Community Care 19-25 August
2003/2004 Digest of Cases is at www.lgo.org.uk/digest.htm
David Robinson
Rough sleeping in rural England is a social problem denied. This neglect reflects the more general non-coupling of homelessness and rurality, with idyll-ised notions of rural England informing interpretations of social problems in rural spaces. This article contends that this non-coupling also stems from the inappropriate application of traditional methods for estimating rough sleeping in rural locations. The particular geography of problem recognition that has driven the policy response to rough sleeping is revealed and the insights provided by and challenges raised through the application of an alternative method of counting rough sleeping sensitive to the rural context are exposed. (Original abstract)
Policy & Politics Volume 32 Number 4 (October 2004)
Richard Berthoud, Mark Bryan and Elena Bardasi
Institute for Economic and Social Research, University of Essex
DWP Research Report: 219 November 2004
Research published by the Department for Work and Pensions presents new and original analysis looking at the relationship between income and deprivation over time. Previous research has looked exclusively at the relationship between income and deprivation at a single point in time. This research considers how changes in income relate to changes in deprivation dynamically. Comparing income patterns over the period 1999 to 2002 with deprivation levels recorded in 2002 for families with children, the analysis reveals:
A hard copy of this report summary can be obtained by
contacting Paul Noakes, Social Research Division, Department for Work and
Pensions, 4th Floor, Adelphi,
1-11 John Adam Street, London WC2N 6HT
email: Paul.Noakes@dwp.gsi.gov.uk
It is also at http://tinyurl.com/3q4jm
DWP press release, 2 November
J N Morris and C Deeming
Research worldwide is establishing basic needs for personal health and well-being. Official acceptance of this consensual evidence into policy tends to be slow, partial and unsystematic, resulting in avoidable health deficits, waste of human potential and costs to society. Minimum personal costs of meeting these basic needs can be assessed, together with costs of the popular consensus on other requirements for healthy decent participatory living. UK policy could next aim to provide for these costs generally, including the social security and anti-poverty programmes that determine minimum living standards, and so life chances, of increasing millions of people. (Original abstract)
Policy & Politics Volume 32 Number 4 (October 2004)
Landing a job can be difficult for young people who lack skills and confidence. But a project in East London is providing the training needed for jobs in nearby Canary Wharf, says Robert Nurden (The Independent 4 November). The East London Advanced Technology Training (ELATT) in Hackney offers programmes of study directly linked to employment or work experience, and which put the student at the centre. It combines elements such as basic skills and ICT with "soft" skill improvement programmes, including assertiveness training, working with others and interview techniques. Gary Taylor, ELATT's employability manager, explains: "Most of our students – who have to be unemployed to come here – are from ethnic minorities in the Hackney area, and securing that first job is particularly hard for them. We go to great lengths to prepare them psychologically. We don't just arm them with a stack of qualifications."
For more information about ELATT, visit the website at www.elatt.org.uk/
The BBC has recently reprinted the popular financial literacy magazine Cashwise – written to help with money management with sections on budgeting, getting out of debt, dealing with bailiffs, bank accounts and saving.
To order individual or bulk copies call the BBC
tel:
0800 022 022
The magazine is also at www.bbc.co.uk/education/beyond/cashwise.shtml
BBC Skillswise Edition 149 (10 November)
Current local times around the world, including a time zone converter and a meeting planner for international gatherings.
URL: www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/
Neat New Stuff I Found This Week 23 November
http://marylaine.com/neatnew.html
© Marylaine Block, 1999-2004
Matching the skills and interests of young people to prospective career paths is the key facet of a new website launched by Northern Ireland DJ Sonya Mac at Belfast Institute of Further and Higher Education. The website has been designed by the Careers Service and IT solutions company Fujitsu. Features include: help to find a Careers Adviser, job information and resources, qualifications and training pages, information on student life and a fun-zone. It also contains the latest careers information including a virtual jobs page, where clients can see and hear various people at work and get a flavour for their jobs.
NI Department for Employment and Learning press release 3 November
A new offering from Google [Do these people EVER sleep?!] claims to place "a treasure trove of academic material" at the disposal of anyone with a mind to research something. Google Scholar allows any Internet user to search for keywords in theses, books, technical reports, university websites and even traditional academic publications. The system spans a variety of disciplines and ranks results in order of relevance according to how many times the source has been cited by other academics. While the system is still under evaluation, initial feedback from the academic community has been largely positive. However, sample searches undertaken by The Guardian indicate that, scientific subjects aside, it is not as useful for the casual or non-specialist researcher.
Richard Wray, The Guardian 22 November
In an article for The Daily Telegraph (25 November), Stefan Stern writes that the corporate world is beginning to recognise the value of skills gained by workers who are volunteers. He says that some business leaders feel that the word volunteering has an off-putting quality. The mood in business is slowly changing – with next year being declared The Year of the Volunteer and "even Digby Jones is banging the drum". The article also highlights that out of the top 25 FTSE companies, 19 state in their annual report that they see voluntary or community action as an activity worth supporting.
A new report from the Home Office has shown that businesses are making good use of volunteering. The report, Employer-supported volunteering and giving, argues that many companies are making a difference in their communities by giving staff the opportunity to volunteer or donate money to charity.
Working Brief Number 159 (November 2004)
Full report (PDF 40pp) is at www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs04/hors280.pdf
In an article for The Guardian (16 November), Donald MacLeod reports on the government's failure to fund university students who wish to study part-time. Many universities will depend on recruiting part-time students to help them meet their targets for widening participation. However, unless more is done to help part-timers – who already make up 40% of the total student population – access the benefits offered to full-time students, higher education will become increasingly unattractive. Of particular concern is the arrangement for paying tuition fees. From 2006, full-time students will pay nothing until they have completed their courses. They will have access to heavily subsidised loans and will not begin paying them back until they earn a reasonable wage. In contrast, part-time students must pay in advance. Universities will not – as the government assumes – charge 50% of the full amount to part-time students, as this would risk placing many into hardship, and could dissuade students from enroling. This will, vice-chancellors warn, have a disproportionately negative impact on new universities, which traditionally enrol higher numbers of part-time students. The authors argue that the government must move away from the misconception that most higher education students are 18 years old and harbour ambitious desires for an Oxbridge education. They suggest that those concerned with higher education policy-making take a closer look at the diversity of the student base, and take steps to ensure that no group is disadvantaged because it does not fit in with the traditional picture.
Lyn Tett, University of Edinburgh
Widening participation initiatives tend to focus on raising the aspirations of the working class rather than changing educational cultures. However, any analysis must take account of the role of the educational institution itself in creating and perpetuating inequalities. Participation in higher education (HE) is an inherently more risky, costly and uncertain "choice" for working class groups and this frames their decisions. This paper focuses on the particular issues and "risks" raised when mature working-class students form a small minority in an élite institution. It draws on the experiences of two cohorts of mature students to examine the contrasting discourses used to explain their exclusion and choice. It argues that if the entrenched inequalities in participation in, and across, HE are to be properly addressed and systematically dismantled, there is a need to understand issues of process and structure, and exclusion and choice, in all their complexity.
Studies in the Education of Adults Volume 36 Number 2 (Autumn 2004)
A growing number of school leavers are putting off higher education, and the fall has been particularly acute among middle-class young people. New figures suggest that not only has the proportion of 18-year-olds going to university dropped, it has dropped most in places such as Wokingham, Berkshire, and Bromley, Kent, the universities' "traditional breeding grounds". Writing for The Daily Telegraph (25 November), an Oxford philosophy teacher Marianne Talbot welcomes the move to delay higher education. Ms Talbot believes that too many people leave university having hated their experience, made entirely the wrong choice about what to study or having not studied at all. She argues that most people would benefit from waiting a few years before deciding about where and when to study at university, if at all. She says: "I think we should be delighted that some youngsters are refusing to stay on the educational production line. There might once have been a time when ducking out of the automatic progression from school to university was a no-brainer, a time of full grants, excellent courses and guaranteed jobs for life (with greatly enhanced salaries). But it is no longer the case. For many young people, university now means huge debts, cynically constructed Mickey Mouse degrees and, if they're not among the 14% who drop out, mind-numbing jobs without even the consolation of salaries that keep them in designer gear."
Much valuable learning takes place at work, but is often not recognised as "learning" in the usual sense because it happens informally. New research conducted by the Learning and Skills Development Agency shows that employers and employees in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) learn best from their everyday experiences and place great value on informal learning, rather than taught courses or structured training programmes.
Learning without lessons – supporting
learning in small businesses by Lisa Doyle and Maria Hughes is available
free of charge from Information Services, LSDA, Regent Arcade House, 19-25
Argyll Street, London W1F 7LS
tel: 0207 297 9123
email:
enquiries@LSDA.org.uk
Marchmont Webflash
Volume 8 Number 7 (November 2004)
A new concept in lifelong learning – a Scottish Union Academy – is set to be developed by the Scottish Trades Union Congress and the TUC education service in Scotland. The initiative will build on the work of the STUC's lifelong learning unit which since 2000 has fostered the work of more than 1,000 work-based learning representatives who promote and advise workers on learning opportunities.
Kay Smith, TES Scotland 3 December
Parents at work, a new advisory booklet from workplace conciliation service ACAS, aims to assist employers to put in place policies to help parents balance their work and home life. ACAS says its booklet explains how policies to help parents cope with the responsibilities of working and looking after their children can also benefit the wider workforce – helping to maintain a work-life balance that is manageable and creating a healthier and happier working environment.
Parents at work is available in print from ACAS
Publications
tel: 08702 429090
It is also at www.acas.org.uk/publications/B17.html
Changing Times News Number 49 (29 November)
A compromise plan from the European Commission over the optout from the Working Time Directive has angered both the TUC and the CBI. The Commission proposes that the optout may be retained, but only under the following conditions:
The TUC said that this plan would offer no protection to workers who find themselves pressured into agreeing to optout. It reiterated its call for the optout to be scrapped altogether. The CBI is unhappy that trade unions and other representative bodies will be able to exercise a veto, and have called for this condition to be removed from the plan.
IRS Employment Review Number 809 (8 October)
The CBI has launched a guide to help firms comply with new laws on informing and consulting employees. The guide offers companies a simple way of kick-starting their preparations for the Information and Consultation Regulations, which will take effect in April 2005. The laws will establish when and on what issues a firm is required to inform and consult its employees.
A copy of the Employer's guide to the law on
informing and consulting employees (in association with Lovells) is
available, price £15, from the CBI
tel: 0870 242 2345
It can also be purchased from the CBI bookshop at www.cbi.org.uk/bookshop
HRLook Daily News 5 November
In an article for The Guardian (28 October), Guy Clapperton argues that achieving a healthy balance between work and home for employees is not as straightforward as it first appears. Mr Clapperton tells us that most literature on this suggests that there is a "one-size-fits-all" approach, which in turn implies that all an employer has to do is implement a handful of policies and voila – happy workforce. However, just as each employee brings different skills and experiences into the workplace, so they will require different "rewards" for their efforts. A young person at the beginning of their working life may just want to earn enough money to buy a car and a flat, regardless of the number of hours' work that may take. An older person may value time with their family, and may not want to attend lengthy meetings or social events. Indeed, the difficulties arising from such diverse needs and desires has prompted Tim Osborn Jones of Henley Management College to question whether there is any merit in the whole notion of a work/life balance. He commented: "My overriding view of work/life balance is, as much as it's been apparently a headline issue for the past five years, the debate hasn't actually moved anywhere in particular with any degree of further clarity and is possibly beginning to move off the centre stage." Moreover, research from recruitment company Adecco finds that it is not employees as such, but managers and owners who are the most likely to have a "work-rich, life-poor balance".
Full article: http://tinyurl.com/6yjfh
In an article for The Guardian (25 November), Lucy Ward considers "role strain", and the effect it has on working mothers. She highlights a new report from the National Family & Parenting Institute (NFPI) which claims that, despite improvements in childcare and more positive attitudes to working mothers, women are still under great pressure when trying to juggle family responsibilities and their working lives. The report, UK Family Trends: 1994-2004, examines the ten years since the first International Year of the Family. It sets changes during the decade in the wider context of longer-term trends, and provides a detailed analysis of family life.
Full article: http://tinyurl.com/6gh69
The report is available (ISBN: 1-90361-543-8 price
£18) from NFPI
tel: 020 7424 3460
email:
info@nfpi.org
Research conducted on behalf of Payroll Portfolio and Peninsula finds that more than four in five managers (82%) feel that they are "doing a good job". Fortunately, nearly as many employees (76%) agree with them.
HRLook Daily News 15 November
Career development sounds good in principle – helping employees develop their skills and take on more responsibility is good for business. But in these uncertain times, the very word "career" makes many large organisations more than a little nervous according a new report from The Work Foundation. The report, Managing Careers in Large Organisations, shows how positive career management practices can help meet the needs of individual employees and help organisations to nurture the talent that will drive future performance. Specific examples show how these employers are achieving positive results. One key challenge is how to combine very pro-active career management for certain small populations of key staff with an appropriate level of career support for the whole workforce. Research has shown that, although the rhetoric is of "career development for all", most of the practical effort goes into relatively small groups of senior or high-potential employees. Only a quarter of companies have a career development strategy in place that covers all employees and just one-third of HR professionals say that their senior management are firmly committed to putting effort into career management activities. In summary, the report recommends:
Copies of the report, Managing Careers in Large
Organisations, are available from The Work Foundation. Hard copies are no
longer available, but you may purchase a PDF for £10
email:
contactcentre@theworkfoundation.com
Work Foundation press release 10 November
Forget "new men", the modern male has a new role model to aspire to – the "diddy". Diddies are "doing-it daddies" who pride themselves on being around for their children and working to provide for them, according to a new advice manual from the charity Working Families and Lloyds TSB. The guide, Daddy's home, contains advice from successful diddies on how to balance work and home life and also provides information on everything from paternity leave through to part-time working for grandfathers.
Daddy's home – how fathers can work flexibly is available, price £6, from Working Families
To order a copy, call 020 7253 7243
Changing Times News Issue 48 (November 2004)
Tesco, the UK's biggest retailer, is asking publishers to submit their magazines for approval before they go on sale, following complaints from angry shoppers about offensive cover images. The company has already demanded – and received – changes to several publications, including Bizarre and Zoo, and has issued publishers with guidelines governing "taste and decency". While the publishers are reluctant to criticise Tesco publicly, senior executives are expressing their concerns about the way in which Tesco is seeking to exercise censorship over their products. One commented: "Ultimately, this is about freedom of speech. It already happens in America and when I heard about this I thought 'Here we go'."
James Robinson, Media Business Correspondent, The Observer 21 November
Update comment: Yes it's censorship but then it's also customer care - which is right? asks Hazel.
Tesco, Tesco, Tesco and – just in case you didn't get it the first time – Tesco! Anyone who feels differently is welcome to borrow my nine-year-old son to take with them when they go grocery shopping. Postmodern irony be blowed! Dawn
An urgent review of marking in all GCSE and A-level exams to penalise poor grammar, spelling and punctuation has been demanded by the former Chief Schools Inspector Mike Tomlinson. Mr Tomlinson said he found it "difficult to defend" the current practice, in which marks are not deducted for poor spelling and grammar. His comments follow complaints from universities about the standard of English among undergraduates.
Richard Garner, Education Editor, The Independent 25 November
Update comment: Excuse me? I don't think it's very fair to penalise children for not using something that they haven't been taught about. Dawn
The debate about whether school exams have been "dumbed down" in recent years is pointless, a report has concluded. The study was conducted by the independent committee on exam standards, which was set up after the 2002 A-level grading fiasco. In its report to exams watchdog the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, it claimed that the public and the media have "unrealistic" expectations about maintaining standards from one decade to the next. It stated: "Much of the public discussion of examination results in England is based on the assumption that results are standard-referenced with a degree of precision that cannot be delivered. Over the longer term, it makes little sense in many subjects to ask whether examination standards have been maintained since the subjects themselves have changed so much. It would help if different expectations were set – not asking if performance standards are rising or falling over the long term but asking only if the examinations are making reasonable and appropriate demands of students and if the results work for the key purposes for which they are intended."
Tim Ross, PA News, The TES 3 December
In an article for The Times (24 November), Aidan Hetherington argues that much of the fault for the poor relationship between schools and businesses can be traced back to "the founding principles of UK schools". Schools were, he says, originally designed to be "centres of academic excellence". They did not provide industry-specific training, as it was believed that this was the job of employers. Mr Hetherington argues that, as a result of recent criticism, business schools have been forced to re-examine their relationship with the business community. Many MBA programmes now include training in the so-called "soft skills" such as leadership, ethics and interpersonal skills and place a greater emphasis on the teaching of international business issues and a focus on practical, rather than purely academic, skills.
Aidan Hetherington, Times Online 24 November
Schools are facing a leadership crisis because of a demographic timebomb which will see half the country's headteachers retire in the next 10 years, according to research from the National College of Schools Leadership. The research reveals that some 45% of England's headteachers are aged over 50 and will retire by 2014. The situation is even worse in Wales, where 62% of heads are 50 or more, according to figures from the General Teaching Council for Wales.
Graeme Paton and Karen Thornton, TES Cymru 19 November
The Economist (20-26 November) reports on what appears to be a renaissance for single-sex schooling in the UK. Speaking at a meeting of private girls' school heads, David Miliband cited research from Cambridge which offered "startling" evidence about the benefits of single-sex education. The Cambridge research found that exam passes improved in maths, science and languages in schools where girls and boys were taught separately for these subjects. However, Alan Smithers, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Buckingham, suspects that other factors may play an important part. For example, research from the National Foundation for Educational Research concluded that the strongest predictor of good results is ability, followed by parental background and then the type of school attended. Mr Smithers is also sceptical, and suggests that most innovations will bring a brief improvement, largely due to simply paying attention. He also suggests that single-sex state schools are more likely to be "old-established and well run". Moreover, the kind of parent who sends their child to single-sex schools "may also be the kind who provides other performance-enhancing features such as breakfast, early nights and a quiet place to do homework".
Estelle Morris used her first speech on education for two years to criticise the "bigamous" relationships head-teachers are forced to have with other schools. Speaking to delegates at the National College for School Leadership, the former Education Secretary argued that too much teacher time is wasted in multi-school projects without proper evaluation of their results. She said: "If I was a teacher I would quake in my shoes when anyone mentions partnerships. The place is full of partnerships. It is like being a bigamist, to tell the truth. We have entered into so many partnerships in the past 10 years that really somebody ought to call you to account for it."
Graeme Paton, The TES 5 November
Update comment: Schools are, of course, not the only organisations to be tired of being forced into partnerships with other organisations!
Includes a timeline, images of the computers, and links for buying the machines or parts, researching ancient computer technology, and finding help. A great resource for anybody trying to retrieve information stored in obsolete formats.
Neat New Stuff I Found This Week 5 November
http://marylaine.com/neatnew.html
© Marylaine Block, 1999-2004
The Learning and Skills Council (LSC), the organisation that exists to make England better skilled and more competitive, today launches England's first annual statement of skills priorities. The Skills We Need: Our Annual Statement of Priorities sets out what needs to be done to improve skills and boost productivity and is one of the biggest challenges facing the economy today. With a budget of £9.3 billion the LSC will focus on encouraging those who provide training to deliver what employers need now and in the future. The priorities outlined in the Annual Statement include:
Actions include:
Actions include:
Actions include:
In addition, the priorities will focus on delivering the skills necessary for economic development, effective regional development and improving the skills of those who deliver public services.
LSC press release 2 December
The Skills We Need: Our Annual Statement of Priorities (Word and PDF) is at http://tinyurl.com/46kyf
Update comment: Front and back cover are A4 portrait – the inside is A4 landscape (presumably to be folded to A5) with lots of pictures and all are in full colour.
"Every thought is a seed. If you plant crab apples, don't count on harvesting Golden Delicious."
Bill Meyer
Out of school hours learning schemes for children and young people are a winner, helping to raise achievement, attendance and self-esteem, says the Big Lottery Fund today (16 November). Building the Future of Learning celebrates the success of the Big Lottery Fund OSHL programme and draws together advice on how to sustain OSHL activities in the future. The programme, launched in 1999, has provided funding to establish innovative activities outside school hours. Five years on, the programme has benefited over half of all secondary schools, a third of all primary schools, and nearly half of all special schools across the UK. Also available today is a summary of the findings from the evaluation of the programme, carried out by the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER). This shows how out of school hours learning activities, including homework clubs, sports and the arts, are particularly successful at easing transition from primary to secondary school and creating independent learners.
Copies of Building the Future of Learning and the NFER evaluation are at the publications page of www.nof.org.uk
Government News Network 16 November
Client ref PN 04-11-26 / GNN ref 105428P
The proposed 71,000 cut in civil service jobs will deliver less than 6% of the £22 billion the government expects to save, claims the TUC. According to a TUC report, the job cuts would save the public purse less than £1 billion, and could have such a negative effect on staff and resources that the reforms expected to deliver the lion's share of the savings are jeopardised. Brendan Barber, TUC General Secretary, said: "The government's big boost to public spending is now showing results. Public services are improving but looking for simple savings through job cuts at this stage could be a false economy. Cutting thousands of civil service jobs will hit the morale and capabilities of the public servants expected to implement government reforms."
HRLook Daily News 3 November
According to a report from the Institute of Employment Studies, employers are failing to capitalise on the unique skills and expertise of postgraduate employees. Despite all the benefits they personally feel they gain, postgraduates feel employers need convincing of the added value, improved skills and personal maturity they have to offer. The study found that postgraduates feel they are treated the same as graduates, even when they return to the same organisation on completion of their studies.
IRS Employment Review Number 810 (22 October)
Higher Degrees of Freedom: the Value of Postgraduate
Study is available from the Institute of Employment Studies, price
£30 for hard copy and £8 for PDF
tel: 01273 686751 or order
online at http://tinyurl.com/57mos
The National Health Service University has finally been scrapped, ending months of uncertainty. A spokesperson for the Department of Health said that the NHSU would merge with the NHS Modernisation Agency and NHS Leadership Centre as part of a major rationalisation of quangos. The new organisation will be called the NHS Institute for Learning, Skills and Innovation – or NILSI. The NHSU has been plagued with difficulties since its inception, not least because of its use of the "university" title. Indeed, shortly after it launched, it was forced to sign a memorandum of understanding that it would not be treading on the toes of universities by duplicating degree courses.
Claire Sanders, The THES 3 December
Update comment: The Guardian had a review on 23 November – see http://tinyurl.com/5zzfe
Since citizenship ceremonies were launched in February of this year, British nationality has been bestowed on 31,000 immigrants to the UK. Who are our new fellow countrymen and women – and why do they want to live here? James Meek sat in on one ceremony in London, then interviewed its participants.
The Guardian 24 November
Full article: http://tinyurl.com/67234
Almost one-third of local authorities have failed to meet a set of government-prescribed minimum requirements on information sharing, according to new research. All local authorities that are not one of the 10 Information Sharing and Assessment (previously Identification, Referral and Tracking) trailblazers were requested to meet the requirements by the end of March 2004. The study found that barriers to meeting the requirements included a lack of resources and a lack of support from local authority chief executives and councillors. Conflicting guidance by government departments on the legality of sharing information was also cited as a problem. The requirements include developing a common understanding of assessment and the thresholds at which information sharing is triggered.
Information Sharing and Assessment: The Progress of "non-trailblazer" Local Authorities is available online.
Research Brief (PDF 4pp): http://tinyurl.com/4p6hz
Research Report (PDF 85pp): http://tinyurl.com/6y4m5
Community Care 2-8 September
Staff at Careers Scotland have no confidence in its management, according to a survey by the public sector union Unison. However, the union's main target appears to be Scottish Enterprise, which has overall responsibility for Careers Scotland. It wants an urgent meeting with ministers to alert them to developments the union claims could lead to a "second-rate, demoralised and ill-equipped" careers service.
Neil Munro, TES Scotland 26 November
Document management vendor Adobe Systems has teamed up with Internet portal Yahoo in a project that could make it easier to manipulate documents published online. Adobe has issued an update to its Acrobat Reader that includes a Yahoo toolbar, which enables users to search for information from within an Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) file. Currently this option is only available when viewing PDFs in a Web-browser window. The two companies have said that they continue to collaborate to extend the toolbar's functions to include the ability to quickly and easily convert Web-based content into PDF files.
Infoconomy Bulletin 1 November
A new report from the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) has called for the creation of a series of "state-sponsored online auction websites". Users could "market" their skills to prospective employers and customers, and employers could select staff based on their rating by previous customers. The IPPR report suggests that "national e-marketplaces" could "herald huge opportunities for micro enterprises and bring disadvantaged people back into the labour market".
Henry Palmer, New Start Hotnews 24 November
An investigation by The Times Higher has uncovered a booming trade in student dissertations on eBay. Dozens of undergraduate and graduate papers are being sold for as little as £10 each. While the majority of sellers describe their wares as "study aids", some quite blatantly suggest that buyers pass them off as their own work. Indeed, one work on offer claims to be a first-class dissertation on "the Internet and cyber plagiarism"! Fiona Duggan, head of the Plagiarism Advisory Service (PAS), admitted that the papers which are bought and sold via eBay and similar commercial sites may be unwittingly accepted by universities as authentic. She explained that the PAS software only searches the information available on the Internet. The material sold via eBay is unlikely to have been published and would, therefore, not be recognised as a copy.
Phil Baty, The THES 19 November
The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority has developed guidance and standards for adult ICT skills (now held as a Skill for Life alongside literacy, numeracy and language). The standards can be found at www.qca.org.uk/qualifications/types/2791.html
Basic Skills Bulletin Issue 26 (September 2004)
Tuesday 9 November saw the official launch of Firefox, a free Internet browser which aims to become a major rival to Microsoft Internet Explorer. While Microsoft has the advantage in that Windows is now pre-loaded with Explorer and most users will simply stay with what is available, the developers of Firefox believe that their browser offers the first realistic alternative to Explorer. They claim that, not only is it easy to install, it also blocks pop-ups and offers more security against most of the bugs and viruses that have riddled Explorer.
7 million people have already downloaded the Firefox browser, giving the developers a 3% share of the market.
The Guardian 9 November
A retired headteacher, who spent four decades teaching children, has attacked "socialist theorists" who inflicted "trendy" teaching methods on pupils from the 1960s onwards. Brenda Bullock, who spent most of her teaching career in Birmingham, argued that four decades of social engineering in education had reduced many working-class children to "ignorant, illiterate unemployables". Writing in The Birmingham Post, Ms Bullock said: "Somehow, with the backing of the local authorities, the acolytes of the new socialist dogma were appointed as inspectors of schools. They were allowed to go into schools and order teachers to sit pupils in tables opposite each other so that pupils could 'have eye contact with each other' and to tell teachers that they must not stand up in front of a class and teach, because this gave them too much prominence in the classroom. Writing on the board was wrong, giving notes was wrong... written exercises were wrong... and so it went on."
Aled Blake, The Western Mail 16 November
"Designed to provide students and laymen with high-quality reference articles in the field. Articles for the Online Encyclopedia are written by experts, screened by a group of authorities, and carefully edited." Wide-ranging topical coverage includes cigarette advertising, the barcode, the 1929 stock market crash, pensions, and lots more.
Neat New Stuff I Found This Week 5 November
http://marylaine.com/neatnew.html
© Marylaine Block, 1999-2004
An annotated guide to Web-based resources, courtesy of the New York State School for the Blind Resource Center.
URL: www.tsbvi.edu/Education/brl-resources.htm
Neat New Stuff I Found This Week 19 November
http://marylaine.com/neatnew.html
© Marylaine Block, 1999-2004
The business lobby's fantasy of a red-tape-free economy fuelled by a "flexible" workforce that can be hired and fired at will is based on a selective analysis of the US economy and a string of myths about successful job markets, according to a TUC report. Building a Modern Labour Market says that when employer lobbyists complain of red tape and say that we should be more like the USA in order to become more productive and competitive they mean that UK workers should accept far fewer holidays, longer working hours and less secure jobs. The TUC report argues that the UK should instead take the best from both the US and European models to combine the dynamism of the US with the investment in a quality workforce typical of Europe. This would allow us to become one of the most successful economies in the world, without reducing the quality of life of the UK workforce.
Labour market flexibility: building a modern labour market
Full report (PDF 68pp) is at www.tuc.org.uk/economy/tuc-8926-f0.pdf
Report summary and press release is at www.tuc.org.uk/economy/tuc-8927-f0.cfm
TUC press release 3 November
Nearly one in 10 employers has given a pregnant employee a package to end her employment in the last three years, according to a new survey. The reader survey was carried out for the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) by Personnel Today. Findings include:
Changing Times News Number 49 (29 November)
The Prime Minister has announced that mothers will win the right to a year's paid leave after having a baby as part of a massive overhaul of childcare. Mr Blair has promised an "expansion of childcare to provide a better start for all our children, and to help parents better balance work and family", as part of the campaign to win the next general election.
Gaby Hinsliff, Chief Political Correspondent, The Observer 28 November
Update comment: Great idea, Mr Blair. That little decision will make sure that young women have a snowball's hope in hell of getting a job with a small firm. Dawn
A survey by anti-bullying charity The Andrea Adams Trust suggests that almost 90% of personnel professionals have witnessed, or are aware of, bullying in their workplace. A third said that the number of incidents has increased over the past two years. This high figure is particularly unsettling as 70% of respondents said that their workplace has established formal anti-bullying policies.
Labour Research Volume 93 Number 11 (November 2004)
Workers from ethnic minorities are five times more likely than their white colleagues to experience bullying in the workplace. Recent research carried out on behalf of the University of Glamorgan Business School found that 25% of ethnic minority workers reported being bullied, compared with 5% of white workers.
Labour Research Volume 93 Number 11 (November 2004)
Jane Sturges and David Guest, The Management Centre, King's College London
This article reports the findings of research that explored relationships between work/life balance, work/non-work conflict, hours worked and organisational commitment among a sample of graduates in the early years of their career. It concludes that although graduates seek work/life balance, their concern for career success draws them into a situation where they work increasingly long hours and experience an increasingly unsatisfactory relationship between home and work. The article discusses the causes and potential consequences of this predicament and in particular how work/non-work conflict is linked to hours worked, the state of the psychological contract and organisational commitment through support for younger employees' lives out-of-work and effective management of aspects of psychological contract. (Original abstract)
Human Resource Management Journal
Volume 14 Number 4 (2004)
Update comment: Interesting to note that this article comments on work/non-work conflict rather than work/family conflict – previous articles seem to have assumed that conflict exists only for people with child or elder-care responsibilities (primarily women)!
The United Nations has demanded urgent government action to reduce the numbers of vulnerable children behind bars in Britain. A report from Jap Doek, Chair of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, accuses Britain of failing to respect the human rights of young offenders. Mr Doek condemned Britain's high incarceration rate, and said that the UK "locks up more children than most other industrialised countries".
Nigel Morris, Home Affairs Correspondent, The Independent 29 November
The collapse of a company involved in leandirect's cash distribution has left some training providers with deficits of up to £200,000, reports Steve Hook (The TES FE Focus 19 November). Mersey Hub, the company which was contracted to distribute funding to private course providers in the Greater Merseyside area, has announced that it is to go into voluntary liquidation, leaving providers without money. Control of the finances has been taken over by the University for Industry until a new contractor can be found. Commenting on the situation, Barry Sheerman, Chair of the Commons Education Select Committee, said that the committee would be questioning both Charles Clarke and Mark Haysom, Chief Executive of the Learning and Skills Council, about the situation. He said: "It seems like madness. They [the providers] see UfI has got plenty of money and they are not being paid. My sympathy is with the providers. There ought to be some redress."
Everyone needs a hobby and government should invest in leisure activities to encourage community cohesion, says a new report from think tank Demos. Enthusiasts, once derided as trainspotters or anoraks, are now emerging as an important new social group called "Pro-Ams" – amateurs who pursue a hobby or pastime to a professional standard. Pro-Ams are involved in "serious leisure", which requires specialist knowledge and a substantial time commitment. The report, The Pro-Am Revolution, says that these committed amateurs can make a significant contribution to society, particularly in less traditional disciplines such as computing, astronomy and engineering. The authors conclude that government should invest in people's hobbies as a way to build communities. The report makes a series of policy recommendations aimed at encouraging Pro-Ams' contribution to their communities and helping children develop Pro-Am activities at school.
Demos press release 30 November
The Pro-Am Revolution: How enthusiasts are changing our economy and society (PDF 70pp) is at www.demos.co.uk/catalogue/proameconomy/
Hard copies can be ordered, price £10, from
Central Books
tel: 020 8986 5488
Cod liver oil can have a dramatic impact on children's behaviour, a new study of school pupils in Edinburgh has found. The research discovered that the concentration and behaviour of pupils taking the supplement improved by 38% over a six-week trial period.
The Scotsman 5 November
Update comment: So, Granny was right all along then?
Britain will be the only developed country not to appear in the largest and most reliable international survey of school attainment, due to the "inadequate quality" of data it supplied. Researchers from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development said that they were unable to use the UK data, saying that it "fell below the required statistical quality because the sample of schools and pupils was not representative". A spokesperson for the DfES said that it was "disappointing" that the UK would not be included.
Simon Briscoe, Statistics Editor, The Financial Times 20 November
Janet Homewood, Dept of Information Science, City University
The topic of this article, health information, is of little relevance to most readers of Members' Update, at least in their professional capacity. However, many of the findings of this study resonated with me, Hazel. For example: "over one-third of email senders misspelled key search terms" links very well to the analysis of words and phrases used in job searching – the number of people who want to be "widow cleaners" or "crapenters" is amazing!
Aslib Proceedings: New Information Perspectives Volume 56 Number 3 (2004)
Three in five employees (59%) think a regular nap would improve their working day, a survey has revealed. Research from recruitment firm Portfolio Payroll and employment law firm Peninsula shows that employees would welcome an hour's sleep at some stage in the day. The survey found that 88% of workers feel they often get tired while at work. Nearly two-thirds (64%) said they would be in favour of a two-hour lunch break to enable them to get some sleep.
HRLook Daily News 11 November
Researchers from Imperial College and the Royal Brompton and St Bartholomew's hospitals believe that they may have found a more potent cough relief than codeine – chocolate! Apparently, dark chocolate is a rich source of theobromine, which can act as an efficient remedy for a persistent cough.
James Meikle, The Guardian 23 November
"Man is an animal that makes bargains: no other animal does this – no dog exchanges bones with another."
Adam Smith
Given the number of comments received recently about Dawn's wonderful work on the "trivia" I wouldn't dare not to provide you with two and a bit sides, would I?
New hope for the clueless, whether shopping for a digital camera, struggling with one, or presented with one for a Christmas present. The site aims to provide information on digital cameras and photography without the technical jargon. Includes step-by-step guides (selecting a camera, shooting, editing, sharing and storing photos etc) and product reviews.
URL: www.basic-digital-photography.com/
Neat New Stuff I Found This Week 23 November
http://marylaine.com/neatnew.html
© Marylaine Block, 1999-2004
Update comment: An American site, but the information crosses the pond quite well.
A student with a young child was pleased when her daughter became eligible to attend the day care centre at the University. The director of the nursery gave the mother a tour of the facilities. To assure herself of the centre's high standards, the young mother asked about the curriculum.
"Well," said the director, eyes twinkling, "today we are studying the children's favourite philosopher: Play-Doh."
Clean Laffs 22 November
A man goes into a restaurant, sits down at a table and an attractive young waitress comes for his order. He gives her a smile and says, "I want a quickie."
She turns red in the face and ahems, "Sir, I don't know what kind of restaurant you're used to eating in, but I can assure you you're not going to get a quickie here!"
"How disappointing," the man replied. "Could you ask the chef to make an exception?"
"He doesn't have anything to do with it!" says the waitress indignantly.
"Hmmm, do you know anywhere around here where I could get a quickie?"
"I'm SURE I don't know," answers the waitress loudly.
A patron from the next table leans over and taps the man on the shoulder, "I think you'll find it's pronounced QUICHE."
Clean Laffs 12 October
"Space isn't remote at all. It's only an hour's drive away... if your car could go straight upwards."
Sir Fred Hoyle
A man and his wife were having some problems at home and were giving each other the silent treatment. Suddenly, the man realised that the next day he would need his wife to wake him at 05: 00 for an early morning business flight. Not wanting to be the first to break the silence (and therefore LOSE), he wrote on a piece of paper, "Please wake me at 5: 00 AM". He left it where he knew she would find it. The next morning, the man woke up, only to discover it was 09: 00 and he had missed his flight. Furious, he was about to go and see why his wife hadn't wakened him, when he noticed a piece of paper by the bed.
The paper said, "It is 5: 00 AM. Wake up."
Arrived in my inbox
When you're hospitalised, it pays to be nice to your nurse, even when you're feeling miserable. A bossy businessman learned the hard way after ordering his nurses around as if they were his employees. One morning a senior nurse entered his room and announced, "I have to take your temperature." After complaining for several minutes, he finally settled down, crossed his arms and opened his mouth. "No, I'm sorry, the nurse stated, "but for this reading, I can't use an oral thermometer." This started another round of complaining, but eventually he rolled over and bared his bottom. After feeling the nurse insert the thermometer, he heard her announce, "I have to get something. Now you stay just like that until I get back!" She left the door to his room open on her way out, and he cursed under his breath as he heard people walking past his door laughing. After almost an hour, the man's doctor came into the room. "What's going on here?" asked the doctor. Angrily, the man answered, "What's the matter, Doc? Haven't you ever seen someone having their temperature taken?" "Yes," said the doctor. "But never with a carnation."
Shamelessly stolen from Usenet
Big Mac and fries please.
A 14" pizza can feed a family of four.
Because it might give them something to do in the afternoon.
The sperm has a 2 million to 1 chance of becoming human.
Shamelessly stolen from Usenet
A professor of chemistry wanted to teach his class a lesson about the evils of alcohol, so he produced an experiment that involved a glass of water, a glass of whisky, and two worms.
"Now, class, closely observe the worms," said the professor while putting a worm into the water.
The worm in the water writhed about, happy as a worm in water could be. He then put the second worm into the whisky. It curled up and writhed about painfully, then quickly sank to the bottom, dead as a doornail.
"Now, what lesson can we learn from this experiment?" the professor asked.
Johnny, who naturally sits at the back of the class, raised his hand and wisely responded confidently, "Drink whisky and you won't get worms."
Shamelessly stolen from Usenet
"If I sold my house and my car, had a big garage sale, and gave all my money to the church, would I get into heaven?" I asked the children in my Sunday school class.
"NO!" all the children answered.
"If I cleaned the church every day, mowed the yard, and kept everything neat and tidy, would I get into heaven?"
Again the answer was, "NO!"
"Well," I continued, "then how can I get to heaven?"
A five-year-old boy shouted, "You gotta be dead!"
Kenfunny.com 7 October
Once, there was a preacher who was an avid golfer. Every chance he could get, he would be on the golf course swinging away. It was an obsession. One Sunday was a picture-perfect day for golfing. The sun was out, no clouds were in the sky, and the temperature was just right. The preacher was in a quandary as to what to do, and shortly the urge to play golf overcame him. He called an assistant to tell him that he was sick and could not do church, packed the car up, and drove three hours to a golf course where no one would recognise him. Happily, he began to play the course.
An angel up above was watching the preacher and was quite perturbed. He went to God and said, "Look at the preacher. He should be punished for what he is doing."
God nodded in agreement. The preacher teed up on the first hole. He swung at the ball, and it sailed effortlessly through the air and landed right in the cup 250 yards away. A picture-perfect hole-in-one. He was amazed and excited.
The angel was a little shocked. He turned to God and said, "I beg your pardon, but I thought you were going to punish him."
God smiled. "Think about it. Who can he tell?"
Shamelessly stolen from Usenet
UK retailers have reacted angrily to the latest figures showing a continuing fall in Christmas spending. The head of the UK Retail Association, Mr D Ramsbottom, described the disappointing figures as "yet another nail in the coffin of a once great tradition". Mr Ramsbottom blamed the low spending figures on a number of factors, not least "the creeping influence of religion at Christmas". He said: "People are forgetting what the true meaning of Christmas is, that is to say profligate spending. Every year Christmas is becoming less and less to do with the mindless purchase of tat and more and more to do with the celebration of the birth of Christ. It makes me weep to see people turn their backs on the relentless bombardment of Christmas advertising and instead be drawn to the bright lights of the Church. … If this worrying trend continues then we face the all too likely prospect of people getting through Christmas with money still in their pockets. Is this something we really want to see?"
Flash Gorman
DeadBrain.com 19 December 2003
Three men died on Christmas Eve and were met by Saint Peter at the pearly gates.
"In honour of this holy season," said Saint Peter, "you must each possess something that symbolises Christmas to get into heaven."
The first man fumbled through his pockets and pulled out a lighter. He flicked it on. "It represents a candle," he said.
"You may pass through the pearly gates," said Saint Peter.
The second man reached into his pocket and pulled out a set of keys. He shook them and said, "They're bells."
Saint Peter said, "you may pass through the pearly gates."
The third man started searching desperately through his pockets and finally pulled out a pair of women's knickers.
Saint Peter looked at the man with a raised eyebrow and asked, "And just what do those symbolise?"
The man replied, "They're Carol's."
Ducking into confession with a turkey in his arms, Brian said, "Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned. I stole this turkey to feed my family. Would you take it and settle my guilt?"
"Certainly not," said the Priest. "As penance, you must return it to the one from whom you stole it."
"I tried," Brian sobbed, "but he refused. Oh, Father, what should I do?"
"If what you say is true, then it is all right for you to keep it for your family."
Thanking the Priest, Brian hurried off.
When confession was over, the Priest returned to his residence. When he walked into the kitchen, he found that someone had stolen his turkey.
Clean Laffs 26 November
In a move set to infuriate leading chains of department stores, parents, and little children all over the world, the European Union has announced that it intends to ban Santa Claus. A spokesperson for the European Commission, Mr Helmut Scroogemeister, explained: "It has been clear to many of us here at the EU that Santa Claus has been running an illegal programme of toy distribution for many years. The working conditions in Lapland have been monitored by inspectors from our employment law department and it is clear that Mr Claus is in breach of several European standards." Of particular concern are the hours worked by Santa's elves, the unethical treatment of reindeer, and alcohol abuse. There are also a number of cases of sexual harassment under consideration, involving the kissing of female parents under mistletoe. It is, at present, unclear as to whether these advances were welcome or otherwise.
Dick Tator, DeadBrain.com 20 December 2003
Read the shocking details in full at http://tinyurl.com/4eyyz
On a more serious note ...
In an article for The Guardian (29 November), Emma Lunn urges readers to consider giving the gift of their time this Christmas. She believes that Christmas has become a rather jaded affair for many people, with too many obligations and demands placed on them to actually enjoy the holiday season. Ms Lunn argues that volunteering could be a way to give something more useful than socks and bath salts, and suggests a range of charities that would appreciate some help. Among Ms Lunn's suggestions is the Be Inspired Zone, managed as part of the Crisis Open Christmas project. Between 23 and 30 December, Crisis opens six additional shelters across London, offering vulnerable people companionship. Volunteers work eight-hour shifts, but it is perfectly acceptable to do just one shift on one day, if that is all you can offer. Every little helps. Be Inspired Zones aim to help homeless people learn life skills ranging from literacy and numeracy to poetry appreciation, and volunteers are needed to support learners. For more information, contact Crisis via the website at www.crisis.org.uk
Other suggestions, which all welcome seasonal volunteers, include: