June 2005
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June 2005

Editorial

What's been happening with you this month? Apart from busy? Nothing? Well, relax, sit down with a cup of your favourite beverage, and read about what has been going on in the world around you while you've been busy. I know that for some "being busy" has meant seeing rather more of the inside of a hospital – either as a patient or a visitor – than was desirable and hope that all is progressing well. Dawn and I seem to have spent rather a lot of time avoiding stories about flagships, identity cards and academies. Flagships aren't easy to ignore when it seems that every new initiative introduced by this present administration is "a flagship which must not be allowed to sink". As for ID cards and academies, you'd have to have multiple physical deprivation successfully to have avoided either. We have, of course, included some stories about both the cards and these new English schools but have tried not to swamp you.

Staying with schools and England, my attention was caught by an article in Community Care (16-22 June) which reported on the Local Government Association's reaction to the "Extended Schools" proposition. While the LGA welcomed the announcement from the DfES, it warned that the sum of £680 million is not a lot when shared across over 20,000 schools. It amounts to just £30,000 per primary and £50,000 per secondary school. The LGA also expressed concerns about how extended schooling would be staffed. I did some sums. £30,000 will pay for two support workers during term-time – more if these people only do the breakfast club or the after-school club, but there are other costs. What do the children do? Sit still and watch TV or a video? If they are to be involved in any activities then there will be a cost to the school of providing paint and brushes, playdough, paper and pencils etc, maybe even a computer or two for games. At £50,000 per secondary school the figure becomes even more derisory – there's not much you can buy with that amount that would interest young people. And who pays for the heating and lighting, cleaning and caretaking? The answer is likely to be "the school", which will mean that there is less money for the prime activity of the school – educating our young people.

Depending on whether you start at the back or the front of this publication, you will have read, or are about to read, something particularly interesting – or which is important for work – and you want to read more. Perhaps it's a Joseph Rowntree Foundation publication or maybe it's the latest report from the EOC, Women in Non-Traditional Training and Employment. But ... it's 72 pages long ... and you haven't really got time to find it on the internet, print it out, staple it together etc. Anyway you really only want to glance at it, like browsing in a bookshop or library. If you can afford to wait a couple of days to do your browsing then send an email <info@adset.org.uk> or pick up the phone and speak to Pippa or me in the office (01536 410500) and tell us what you want to read. Hard copy will wing its way to you by snail mail. (Wings on snails? Now that is a whimsical idea.) Cost? Enclose the postage cost in small(ish) denomination stamps when you return it. I really can't face the idea of making a set charge for this service and as for raising an invoice to cover post and packing, it is not worth the time and effort. Would it be useful to list on the website everything that we've put into the ADSET library? This month? The last three months on a rolling basis? What time-scale would be useful to you?

Hazel Edmunds, Editor

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Bullying is rife in city academies, pupils say

A survey of pupils in the first 11 privately sponsored academies found that four out of five children were aware of bullying at their school. The report, by the consultants PricewaterhouseCoopers, called for further investigation to see whether academies were tackling bullying effectively. Overall, it suspended judgement on the scheme, saying the jury was still out on how much it had improved standards.

Richard Garner, Education Editor, The Independent 16 June

Update comment: Is this any worse than at other schools? If bullying exists at all then surely 100% of pupils would know about it, wouldn't they?

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Government to press on with city academies

The government is to press ahead with its plan to expand the academies programme, despite receiving a "mixed" report from PricewaterhouseCoopers. However, the plans will now be amended in light of "significant problems" exposed by the report. The report found that, while the new academies had largely won the support of pupils and parents, they still faced a number of problems, including widespread bullying. School Standards Minister Jacqui Smith said that headteachers will be given a longer "lead-in" time of five full terms before a school's opening to give them more time to prepare and recruit staff, and will also be given better training. The report was also highly critical of academies' "bold statement" buildings, describing them as "inappropriate for the more practical requirements of modern teaching and learning spaces". A separate evaluation of the buildings has now been launched.

Rebecca Smithers and Lucy Ward, The Guardian 16 June

Academies Evaluation

full report (PDF 47pp): http://tinyurl.com/a4csu

DfES response (PDF 20pp): http://tinyurl.com/8tbr9

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Smith welcomes independent backing for academies

Jacqui Smith, Schools Minister, has welcomed an independent evaluation published today (15 June) that shows the strong enthusiasm of parents and pupils for academies, and the progress they are starting to make in raising standards and extending opportunities. Commenting on the PricewaterhouseCoopers report Jacqui Smith said: "This is a positive endorsement of the academies programme and gives ground for optimism for the future. If I were to pick out a finding from the report that points to the long-term success of academies then it would be the huge backing from parents and pupils – particularly in how academies are led. Something the schools they replaced never had."

Copies of the PwC report and the government's response are at www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/academies

DfES press release (applies to England) 15 June

Client ref 2005/0063

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Public "misled" on city academies

Ministers have been accused of "misleading" the public over the city academies programme in England. A report from The Education Network (TEN) argues that, while the PricewaterhouseCoopers evaluation published earlier this month indicated parental approval, the questions asked were loaded. Respondents were asked if they were in favour of sponsors bringing more money into their schools, rather than asking if parents minded that businesses and other organisation were to be involved in the school's administration. The report also claims that the government was "disingenuous" in the way it presented the report's findings. The DfES said the PwC evaluation showed that three-quarters of pupils felt behaviour was better at their academy than its predecessor. But TEN said the figures were inaccurate and "misleading". However, the TEN report states: "In fact, PwC reports that 69% of pupils disagreed with the statement that 'my behaviour is worse now than before I came to this academy', which is not the same thing at all. Such manipulation of the data is disingenuous and the removal of those replying 'don't know' also presents a misleadingly favourable impression." The report accused the government of "taking the most favourable view possible", when it should be launching an extensive investigation into the academies programme.

BBC News Online 1 July

Full report (PDF 14pp): www.steerbriefing.org.uk/ten/PB33-05.pdf

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Academies draw better off

Academies have succeeded in attracting middle-class children, but have failed to improve standards any faster than schools in similar circumstances, according to official figures released to Parliament. The figures show that most academies have fewer deprived pupils on their roll than the schools they replaced, suggesting that they have been successful in persuading middle-class parents to choose an academy. Supporters of the programme believe that the influx of middle-class children is playing a key part in raising achievement.

Jon Slater, The TES 1 July

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"Failing" academy gets £1.4 million more

A city academy criticised by inspectors for "failing" its pupils has received an extra £1.4 million extra from the government to help stabilise its budget. The Unity City Academy in Middlesbrough was the first of England's 17 academies to be placed in "special measures". A spokesperson for the DfES said that additional money given to the academy was part of a "financial recovery programme". He said: This was a specific financial recovery plan for Unity City Academy; there is no question of it having any bearing on other academies."

BBC News Online 20 June

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File-sharing suffers major defeat

The US Supreme Court has ruled that file-sharing companies are liable for the piracy on their networks. The surprise ruling could start a legal assault on the creators of file-sharing networks such as Grokster and Morpheus. The case was brought by 28 movie and music makers who claimed that rampant piracy was denting profits. The Supreme Court judges were expected to rule in favour of the file-sharers because of legal precedents set when video recorders first appeared. The unanimous ruling is a victory for recording companies and film studios in what is widely seen as one of the most important copyright cases in years. In the ruling Justice David Souter wrote: "The question is under what circumstances the distributor of a product capable of both lawful and unlawful use is liable for acts of copyright infringement by third parties using the product. … We hold that one who distributes a device with the object of promoting its use to infringe copyright … is liable for the resulting acts of infringement by third parties."

BBC News Online 28 June

US Supreme Court ruling: MGM Studios Inc. et al v Grokster Ltd. et al (PDF 55pp): http://tinyurl.com/d7gb5

Update comment: I caught the tail-end of a programme of Radio 4 last week about the Assets Recovery Agency [Authority?] (ARA). There does not have to be any proof of guilt before the ARA can seize assets which it believes have been acquired as a result of criminal activity. Copyright law is criminal law – if you steal my intellectual property you are as guilty of theft as someone who breaks into my house and takes my physical property. So, file sharing is theft and if you make money out of it in the UK then you could have your assets seized – and handed back when, and only when, a court of law has proved your innocence.

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Mother faces music over girl's downloading

A mother whose teenage daughter was caught illegally downloading thousands of music files to her computer is being sued after the family were targeted by lawyers acting for the music industry body, the British Phonographic Industry (BPI). The BPI insists that, as the internet account is in the mother's name, she is liable for the £2,500 settlement fee. The mother said that she had no idea her daughter was doing anything illegal, as she is completely unfamiliar with computers. She said: "I don't know how to use a computer. I've never even switched one on. I just pay the bills."

Helen McCormack, The Independent 21 June

Update comment: That statement seems to sum up parental irresponsibility as far as ensuring that children are not only safe when using the internet but are also acting legally. And you should, of course, never sign up to anything without knowing what you are letting yourself in for!

"Live in such a way that you would not be ashamed to sell your parrot to the town gossip."

Will Rogers, humorist

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Seven dangerous things people do on the internet that don't seem dangerous at all

In the second part of an article for Internet ScamBusters (Issue 130 (8 June)), Anne P Mitchell, Professor of Internet Law at Lincoln Law School of San Jose, highlights the seven most common mistakes that internet users make when considering online security:

1. Responding to phishing attempts by clicking on links contained in emails.
2. Opening attachment files which come in via email.
3. Not making sure that the site at which they believe they are shopping is really the site at which they wish to be shopping, either as a result of phishing or clicking a spoofed link from another source.
4. Not making sure that the payment pages for the website are secure.
5. Being naïve about the potential for social engineering and manipulation in chat rooms and instant messaging.
6. Failing to pay attention to other security risks including spyware and adware.
7. Believing everything they read on the internet, even when it is blatantly untrue!

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Evil Twins - the newest dangerous thing people do on the internet that doesn't seem dangerous at all

In the first part of the Professor Mitchell warns that the increase in public wi-fi hotspots has led to a new scam – the Evil Twin hotspot. An "Evil Twin hotspot" is a hotspot that mimics a legitimate public wi-fi hotspot. Users are tricked into connection to the internet via the Evil Twin hotspot, which then provides hackers with access to everything that they type. Professor Mitchell highlights her own experience with Evil Twin hotspots to explain: "Just last week I was sitting in my local Starbucks, where they offer wi-fi hotspots from T-Mobile. In order to log into a T-Mobile hotspot, you must have an account with T-Mobile, for which you must pay. Even though I don't use the T-Mobile hotspots, I always check (with my laptop) to see what wi-fi hotspots are available at any given location because, well, that's part of my beat. Sure enough, users at that Starbucks who opened their laptops and searched for a local wi-fi internet connection were presented with the option of 'T-Mobile Hotspot', as they should be, but were also presented with a second option, called 'Free wi-fi from Team Wi-Fi', which I am 99% certain was an Evil Twin (and indeed Starbucks confirmed that there was no special offer going on which would have otherwise explained that second hotspot)."

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Phishing pair jailed for ID fraud

A UK-based American citizen has been jailed after stealing an estimated £6.5 million through identity fraud. Douglas Havard made fake credit cards with stolen bank details. Havard admitted conspiracy to defraud and conspiracy to launder money. His co-accused Lee Elwood was jailed for four years for the same offences.

BBC News Online 30 June

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Lesson's over

Whether it's in pottery, upholstery or Cantonese cuisine, there's something "as quintessentially British as Radio 4 or baggy shorts" about evening classes. But now many are being axed as funds are diverted elsewhere. In an article for The Guardian (14 June), self-confessed evening-school junkie Sue Arnold (skilled in thumb-pot jugs, aromatic duck and speed Finnish) laments their demise.

Full article: http://tinyurl.com/8rwhg

Update comment: Great fun!

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Adults left out in the cold

Concern is deepening over the future of adult learning after a letter from the Director of Resources at the LSC admitted that the post-19 budget may have to be cut by as much as 10%. This is the equivalent of 300,000 adult places. David Russell wrote to college principals to let them know that the budget cuts will be "higher than anticipated". Julian Gravatt, Director of Funding at the Association of Colleges, said that the announcement vindicated the AoC's estimates of the loss of 200,000 places, which were dismissed by ministers as "scaremongering". Mr Gravatt said: "The cuts in adult learning are unacceptable and we will take up the issue with the DfES and the LSC."

Steve Hook, The TES FE Focus 10 June

Update comment: Unacceptable to cut 300,000 places in adult education? Of course it is BUT... how do you persuade the government to cough-up more money? Blood out of stones comes to mind.

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nextstep Service Delivery Specification 2005/2006

This Specification provides existing nextstep contractors with information about contracting with local LSCs during the operational year 1 August 2005 to 31 July 2006. In particular it describes the role of the Council-convened and chaired Strategic Board for Information, Advice and Guidance (IAG) in delivering the vision and strategy for all IAG provision in the local area and the contribution the Contractor will make to the strategy, including the production of a one-year Delivery Plan for 2005/2006 covering all Council Information and Advice programme funded activities.

LSC email update 18 June

nextstep Service Delivery Specification 2005/2006

(PDF 40pp): http://tinyurl.com/8zx3n

Update comment: I will admit that I have yet to find time to read this but will remedy the omission before next month's update so that I can tell you a bit more about what's in it – if appropriate.

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Cash for students to take science

Reading University is offering financial incentives to encourage students to enter its science courses. It will give £2,000 scholarships for "high achieving" students who accept places on a number of courses. It also plans to offer "performance-related pay", which will give "achievement rewards" to students in their second and third years.

BBC News Online 22 June

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Colleges have hit their targets two years early

Figures released by the Learning and Skills Council reveal that colleges have met their targets for students' success two years ahead of schedule. The figures show that 72% of students successfully completed their studies this year, compared with 65% a year ago. The LSC also reported improvements in the success rates for vocational and work-based courses, although pass rates are still low, at 46%. Other evidence suggests that the number of students has risen by 20% since 1997, with some 41% of the student population now being drawn from the lowest three socio-economic groups. Highlighting the improvements, Further Education Minister Bill Rammell said that they clearly indicate that the government is "giving the right financial support to colleges". He accused the Association of Colleges of "crying wolf" over the supposed financial crisis, and warned that their perpetual exaggeration may lead them to being ignored by the government. He said: "I want the AoC to have real influence on what we do, but we need grown-up dialogue for that to happen. I don't think the 1970s-style campaigning of throwing stones from the sidelines actually influences anything."

Joseph Lee, The TES FE Focus 1 July

Update comment: Three weeks after the LSC spokesman says "cuts could be as much as 10%" the minister says that the AoC is crying wolf. That wolf looks fairly real from where I'm sitting – and throwing stones at it will not make it go away.

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Central government "still obstructive" over FOI

An investigation conducted by freedom of information watchdog Richard Thomas suggests that the Freedom of Information Act has done little to break down "the entrenched culture of secrecy" in Whitehall. Mr Thomas revealed that, just six months after the Act gave the public the right to ask, his office is investigating almost 1,000 complaints concerning failure to disclose material. Complaints include government departments losing requests or failing to comply with deadlines for answering enquiries. The government, however, has hailed the legislation as a huge success, claiming that 10,000 pieces of new information [surely this should be 10,000 new pieces not new information?] had been released since January. Lord Falconer, the Lord Chancellor, said: "A presumption of openness has been created. Putting citizens on a level playing-field with the institutions that serve them. Raising the quality, accuracy and completeness of public debate. Bringing government closer to the people. Greater transparency. Greater accountability. Greater engagement. A radical and lasting change in the relationship between citizen and government."

Robert Verkaik, Legal Affairs Correspondent, The Independent, 17 June

Update comment: That is the spinniest piece of spin-doctoring I've seen in a long time – and it ain't even good grammar!

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Legal barriers to FOI under review

The Department for Constitutional Affairs is to review the current legal obstacles restricting public bodies from releasing information under the Freedom of Information Act, with over a hundred further statutory bars currently placed under review. Lord Falconer, the Lord Chancellor, described the move as a demonstration of ministers' commitment to "pushing the boundaries of openness" under the freedom of information regime. Of more than 400 provisions which could act as potential barriers:

• 122 were not considered to be prohibitive to disclosure under FOI;
• 116 provisions were repealed during the course of the review; and
• 27 cannot be changed.

Of the remaining 183 statutory bars, the government has committed to repealing, amending or introducing "sunset clauses" into 72 provisions. This means that 111 will be retained or are still currently under review.

eGOV Monitor Weekly Issue 171 (20 June)

Review of Statutory Prohibitions on Disclosure

(PDF 66pp): www.egovmonitor.com/reports/rep11605.pdf

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Whitehall struggles with FOI deadlines

Whitehall departments have not responded to a quarter of Freedom of Information requests within the statutory deadline, which the Home Office missed in six out of ten cases, new government figures have revealed. The first report on the government's performance during the first three months of the new FOI regime shows "wide variations in performance across the main departments". Findings include:

• central government bodies together received on average 4,500 "non-routine" FOI requests a month;
• departments did not reply within the 20-working-day deadline for 36% of requests;
• nine of the 20 departments did not deal with over 80% of FOI requests "in time";
• the best performers were the Department of Work and Pensions, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and the Wales Office; and
• the worst performer was the Home Office, with the Treasury following close behind by breaching the statutory time limit on 59% of the 277 information requests it received.

eGOV Monitor Weekly Issue 172 (27 June)

Freedom of Information Act 2000 - Statistics on Implementation in Central Government Q1: January – March 2005

(PDF 29pp): www.egovmonitor.com/reports/rep11659.pdf

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Citigroup admits losing personal details of 4 million customers

Citigroup, the world's largest financial services group, has expressed "deep regret" over the loss of computer tapes containing personal data relating to 3.9 million US customers. The company admitted that the tapes had been mislaid during transportation to another location, but would not be drawn on the details of the information that was lost.

David Teather, The Guardian 7 June

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UBS loses 15,500 customer records

The Japanese branch of investment bank UBS has become the latest financial services company to reveal that it has lost sensitive customer data. UBS has admitted that it lost a hard disk containing the banking details of 15,500 of its customers – including individual and company customer names, addresses, phone numbers and details of transactions carried out between 1994 and 2004. The loss came to light during a software upgrade programme at its Tokyo and Hong Kong offices.

Abi Carter, Infoconomy Bulletin 1 June

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Regulator urges tougher laws on data protection

The National Consumer Council has suggested the need for tougher data protection laws, to protect privacy in the face of an "explosion" in organisations collecting and using personal information from their customers. The NCC said that the Office of the Information Commissioner, Britain's personal information regulator, should be given increased powers to audit companies to ensure they are complying with data protection laws.

Maija Pesola, IT Correspondent, The Financial Times 14 June

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Population database will move to India

In a controversial deal due to be signed in at the beginning of July, a database containing details of every birth, marriage and death in England and Wales since 1837 is to be transferred to India. This is one of the biggest offshore contracting deals ever to be signed by the government, and will go ahead, despite attracting a wealth of criticism from MPs, peers and trade unions. The contract will be managed by the Office for National Statistics, although most of the work will be undertaken in Madras. A spokesperson for ONS said that computerised records from individual registrars would be scanned in the United Kingdom and then sent by an encrypted link to India to form part of a new digital database. Critics believe that the move could put people's personal data at risk, and point out that the deal has already been slated by two parliamentary committees. Mark Serwotka, General Secretary of the Public and Commercial Services Union, said: "Not only is this highly irregular, but it is outrageous that a government will so readily dismiss the concerns of both houses of parliament in handing over the records of 250 million people to a third party halfway across the globe. Ministers need to intervene, stopping ONS playing fast and loose with such valuable and sensitive information, and ensure that the population's personal information remains in the hands of the public sector."

David Hencke, Westminster Correspondent, The Guardian 23 June

Update comment: This could be the biggest "oops" this government has ever perpetrated.

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Government IT roles cleared up

The two key government bodies responsible for public sector IT have signed a Memorandum of Understanding which clarifies their respective roles and responsibilities. The MoU between the Office of Government Commerce and the Cabinet Office e-Government Unit covers areas including efficiency, e-government and "mission critical" projects. A spokesperson for the OGC explained: "Broadly, OGC will lead in commercial, financial and contractual delivery process issues, while eGU will lead on strategic, architectural, technical and operational delivery, together with performance issues."

eGOV Monitor Weekly Issue 169 (6 June)

A summary of roles and responsibilities is at www.egovmonitor.com/go?169d

Update comment: Clear? No? Am I surprised? Not really. If you understand it please let me know.

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Government plans new property address infrastructure

Plans for a single national infrastructure of property addresses, which could transform how public services are managed and delivered in the UK, have been unveiled by the government. The National Spatial Address Infrastructure is intended to replace the thousands of separate lists and databases held across parts of government, taking over from the government's abandoned national address infrastructure project known as "Acacia". This similarly aimed to pull together data from sources such as the National Land and Property Gazetteer (NLPG) and Ordnance Survey. Announcing the venture, Local Government Minister Phil Wollas said the project would "help to drive the knowledge economy as well as improve the quality and efficiency of vital public services."

eGOV Monitor Weekly Issue 168 (31 May)

More information: www.egovmonitor.com/go?168j

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e-Government take-up figures show challenge ahead

According to the Oxford Internet Survey 2005, internet take-up has hit a "virtual plateau" of 61% in the UK, increasing by just 3% since 2003. This means that a third of the population is unlikely to get online, a figure which pours cold water on the government's plans for e-government take-up. However, the research also suggests that there is a "huge untapped market" of potential users among those who are already online. Three-quarters of users polled have never used an online public service, while less than one in 20 had used the internet to transact online with a public body, such as paying taxes and fines. The report suggests that the government makes an effort to target existing users, as well as those who are not enthusiastic about using the internet.

eGOV Monitor Weekly Issue 172 (27 June)

Full report (PDF 136pp): www.egovmonitor.com/reports/rep11641.pdf

Update comment: If government websites were more accessible in terms of navigation then perhaps more of us would use them.

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Mylocal kiosks

The Mylocal service will provide free access to government information, as well as advertising local commercial services, from interactive, touch screen kiosks across the UK. There will be a mix of local authority kiosks, ITboxes in local pubs and members' clubs and Mylocal kiosks in sub-post offices, leisure centres, libraries and hospitals. The plan is to have 7,000 kiosks in operation by the end of 2005, and 18,000 by the end of 2006.

URL: www.mylocal.org.uk/index.htm

Info@UK Issue 51 (June 2005)

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Morgan Stanley's email bounceback

A Florida judge has ordered the Morgan Stanley bank to pay the full $604.3 million claim made against it by billionaire financier Ronald Perelman. Mr Perelman had accused the bank Morgan Stanley of defrauding him of this amount following a series of business transactions in 1990. The judge ordered the payment (and a further $850 million in "punitive damages"), not because he believed that the bank was guilty, but because Morgan Stanley repeatedly failed to locate and hand over email correspondence deemed vital to Mr Perelman's case. The judge decided that this failure had occurred as a result of both email archiving mismanagement and deliberate attempts to suppress evidence.

Information Age June 2005

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British Library faces digital avalanche

In an article for the Financial Times (29 June), Ben King reports on how the British Library is struggling to fulfil its mission to preserve the nation's knowledge in the digital age. Lynne Brindley, Chief Executive of the BL, explains that preservation of digital material is more problematic than the preservation of printed matter, even though physical storage space is less of an issue. Ms Brindley notes that it would be impossible for the Library to keep a working example of every different type of computer hardware necessary to make sure that the digital material is accessible. She outlines some solutions on how to fulfil the BL's ultimate aim of archiving the entirety of the UK web domain, including the development of software emulation programmes. Emulations are new programmes that "pretend" to be old ones. However, this is not the complete answer, as emulation programmes will, themselves, become obsolete over time.

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Digital sustenance

Museums, libraries and archives are concerned that 90% of their digital collections are externally funded and therefore have no guarantee of long-term support to preserve public access to them, according to a survey. The survey, from the Museum Libraries and Archives and the Digital Preservation Coalition, will inform the development of a digitisation strategy for cultural resources.

E-Government Bulletin Issue 189 (24 June)

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Developments in mortgage lending to higher-risk borrowers

There has been a growth in the number of lenders offering secured loans to people with credit problems, including those who have been bankrupt or have CCJs (County Court Judgements) against them, and for purposes such as debt consolidation. This research investigated the emergence of such "sub-prime" lending and considered its implications for sustainable home-ownership. Findings include:

• Several factors caused a growth in demand for sub-prime mortgages in the mid-1990s. These include: mainstream lenders automating their credit scoring procedures; more people with previous debt repayment problems; more marginal borrowers seeking loans for home-ownership; and, in the late 1990s, soaring levels of borrowing for consolidation of debts as interest rates rose.
• Sub-prime borrowers are higher risk overall, and face higher interest rates and charges than mainstream borrowers. They also face higher charges. There is evidence that sub-prime lenders are relatively quick to pursue repossession and impose relatively high charges to borrowers in arrears.
• This can lead to a "downward" spiral for borrowers, through repeated remortgaging from lenders at increasingly higher rates and worse terms due to an increasingly poor credit record.
• There is general concern at the high and rising levels of consumer debt. The researchers conclude that it is important to monitor this new and evolving lending sector, especially should the current benign economic and housing market circumstances alter.

The full report, Lending to higher risk borrowers: Sub-prime credit and sustainable home ownership by Moira Munro, Chris Leishman, Noah Kofi Karley and Janet Ford is published by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (ISBN: 1-85935-334-7, price £12.95).

It is also (PDF 84pp) at http://tinyurl.com/8p79j

An overview of the research is at www.jrf.org.uk/knowledge/findings/housing/0275.asp

JRF mailing list 27 May

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Basic skills and financial exclusion

MORI conducted face-to-face interviews with a demographically representative sample of 2,089 adults, in their homes. They were asked to complete ten basic skills tasks which were the kind of things customers would do when using financial institutions. Key findings include:

• 62% of those who completed 0-6 tasks had a current account, compared with 93% of those who completed all 10.
• 34% of those who completed 0-6 tasks had a savings account, compared with 60% of those who completed all 10.
• 9% of those who completed 0-6 tasks had a mortgage or house purchase loan, compared with 42% of those who completed all 10.
• 55% of those who completed 0-6 tasks were in social groups D or E, compared with 22% of those who completed all 10.

This research shows the links between poor basic skills, financial exclusion and social disadvantage. People with poor basic skills do use financial products such as bank accounts, and therefore may need appropriate help from financial institutions in order to make the most of those products. Those with poor basic skills are also more likely to be socially disadvantaged, although it is not possible to tell whether social disadvantage and poor basic skills are a cause or effect of financial exclusion.

National Literacy Trust News (May 2005)

A copy of the study can be obtained free of charge by contacting the Basic Skills Agency quoting stock code A1189
tel: 0845 60 222 60

It is also (PDF 12pp) at http://tinyurl.com/axlen

Editor's note: Sorry about the white space but I thought these two stories really needed to be together. Hazel

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One in five pensioners "lives in poverty"

A fifth of older people in Britain live in poverty – the same proportion as when Labour came to power in 1997 – according to research published by the National Pensioners Convention (NPC). The annual NPC Age Audit revealed that some 2.2 million older people are living on incomes which are below the poverty line, with 1.5 million malnourished or at serious risk of malnourishment. In addition, 1.5 million older people said their house was too cold in winter, with 22,000 people dying as a result of the cold last year. However, the Audit estimated that older people save the UK around £24 billion each year through doing voluntary work and providing unpaid social care and childcare. Joe Harris, NPC General Secretary, said: "Being older in modern Britain can mean that you feel trapped in your own home and don't have enough money to eat or put the heating on. Even those above the poverty line struggle to pay rising council tax bills, meet the costs of care and buy presents for their grandchildren. The scale of inequality affects every older person in one way or another."

The Guardian 6 June

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"Sex stereotypes" deter fathers from childcare roles

Research from the Pre-School Learning Alliance has warned that men are being deterred from getting involved in childcare as fathers or workers because playgroups and nurseries are dominated by women. The study examined the extent and nature of father involvement in childcare, and found that:

• When fathers spent time in playgroups, their role was often restricted to "gender-appropriate" activities, such as "doing jobs", outdoor games or construction play.
• Almost half spent less than 10 minutes in the nursery or playgroup, and three-quarters spent less than half an hour.
• Fathers "tended to be content to see themselves as supportive to their partners, who are usually primary carers".

The report suggests that women could be more proactive in encouraging men to take a greater role in caring for their children. It also proposes that playgroups arrange sessions specifically targeted at fathers at the weekends, for example on Saturday mornings.

Lucy Ward, Social Affairs Correspondent, The Guardian 7 June

For further information or a copy of Fathers Involvement in Early Years Settings: Findings from Research contact Andrew Fletcher, Press Manager
tel: 020 7278 9037
email: andrew.fletcher@pre-school.org.uk

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Did you follow your childhood dream?

If you did, you are in the minority according to research by Friends Reunited. The website asked its members to remember back to their first day in secondary school and say what they wanted to be when they grew up. Old stereotypes rung true, with nurse coming out on top (23%) as the most-dreamed-of job for girls and scientist for boys (18%). Teacher and hairdresser came in second and third for girls respectively with soldier and then footballer for boys. However, little over a quarter of respondents said they had fulfilled their childhood ambition. Half of those that missed out on securing their dream job said they had simply "changed their mind", 14% said they "failed to meet the grade", while 10% of women and 5% of men cited "family commitments" as the reason. Overall 6% had not given up on their early plans and were still working in their chosen field.

HRLook Daily News 2 June

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Investigation: Free to Choose – tackling gender barriers to better jobs

The Equal Opportunties Commission has published a new report as part of its investigation into why women and men continue to work in traditional jobs. Women in Non-Traditional Training and Employment "captures the perspectives of women who have succeeded in entering training or employment in the non-traditional sectors of plumbing, construction, engineering and information and communications technology (ICT)". It identifies the benefits of training and work in non-traditional skills sectors, along with obstacles that hinder the take-up of non-traditional occupations. It also suggests a number of actions which could help to "re-address the needs of women entering training and employment in non-traditional skills areas". They include ensuring that:

• Girls are encouraged and supported to undertake work placements and choose vocational options in non-traditional skill areas.
• Girls are introduced to role-models of women working in non-traditional skill areas.
• Careers and Connexions advisers are trained to counter gender stereotyping in career choice.
• Features of positive action training for women are taken into the mainstream and adopted as good practice.
• Employers are encouraged to provide quality work placements to women in training.
• Employers give women a chance in employment so that they can demonstrate what they are capable of.
• Employers develop flexible working practices, as well as equal opportunities policies and practices (including harassment) to develop their workforce and provide protection to women.

EOC email update 1 June

Full report (PDF 66pp): http://tinyurl.com/8ppjn

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Organisations working to tackle stereotyping

The Equal Opportunities Commission has produced a list of organisations working to tackle sex stereotyping in education and in the labour market.

URL: http://tinyurl.com/cjcg9

EOC email update 1 June

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Teenagers are snubbing grant

More than one in three teenagers eligible for a government grant to help them with their studies have shunned the scheme, according to official figures. When ministers first announced the Education Maintenance Allowance, worth up to £30 a week, they said 353,000 16-year-olds would be eligible this year. However, since the scheme began in September 2004, just 227,000 have applied for the grant.

Edinburgh Evening News 3 June

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EC says 2007 will be equal opportunities year

The European Commission has designated 2007 European Year of Equal Opportunities for All. This will form part of a concerted effort to promote equality and non-discrimination in the EU, forming the centrepiece of a framework strategy designed to ensure that discrimination is effectively tackled, diversity is celebrated and equal opportunities for all are promoted. Core themes in 2007 will be rights, representation, recognition and respect.

Changing Times News Number 59 (9 June)

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Anti-social behaviour strategies: finding a balance

The government has attached great importance to tackling anti-social behaviour (ASB), and has introduced a range of new measures to deal with it. This study, by King's College London, looked at public attitudes towards ASB nationally and examined the problems and solutions in three case-study neighbourhoods with high levels of ASB. It found that:

• Nationally, the general population tended to equate ASB with problems associated with young people, including graffiti, drug use or simple rowdiness. Two-thirds favoured preventive action over tough action against ASB perpetrators.
• Residents often regarded ASB as a symptom of social and moral decline. Local agencies tended to explain it in terms of social exclusion, especially of young people from deprived backgrounds. Some people, however, thought that much of the behaviour now labelled as ASB simply showed that "kids will be kids".
• These different perspectives on ASB implied different solutions. Those who saw it as a consequence of declining moral standards tended to favour tougher discipline. Those who saw it as a result of deprivation preferred prevention and inclusion.
• In all three case-study areas, local ASB strategies have been adopted. These balanced enforcement with preventive work, and emphasised the need for a graduated and proportionate approach to enforcement. This contrasted with the stronger national emphasis on enforcement.
• The researchers conclude that both national and local ASB strategies should aim for a balance between enforcement and prevention, and that more care is needed in defining ASB and determining limits on the use of civil law remedies.

The full report, Anti-social behaviour strategies: Finding a balance by Andrew Millie, Jessica Jacobson, Eraina McDonald and Mike Hough, is published for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation by The Policy Press
(ISBN: 1-86134-763-4, price £13.95).

It is also (PDF 72pp) at http://tinyurl.com/d6zo7

An overview of the research is at www.jrf.org.uk/knowledge/findings/housing/0305.asp

JRF Mailing List 7 June

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ASBO "unlawful"

A High Court judge has ruled that an anti-social behaviour order (ASBO) banning a 15-year-old from committing any crime is unlawful. The judge said that the terms of the ASBO mean that the child would be punished twice for the same offence; once for the crime and once for breaching the order. The judge ordered that the child be charged for the theft alone.

Community Care 16-22 June

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ASBO chief rounds on liberal critics

Critics of anti-social behaviour orders (ASBOs) are "not living in the real world", according to the head of the government unit tackling the issue. In an interview for The Guardian, Louise Casey, Director of the Home Office Anti-social Behaviour Unit, argued that critics should accept there is strong public support for the sanctions in addressing "a culture of intimidation". She notes a MORI poll which found that 82% of respondents are in favour of the orders. While one in five believe ASBOs could create more problems than they solve, 70% say they send out "a clear message that action will be taken to combat anti-social behaviour". Ms Casey commented: "Sometimes I wish people like ASBO Concern and some of the people who write letters to The Guardian could just see it from the point of view of the people in the communities. … [ASBO] is a byword for the country wanting something done about a guy who is 50 and looks 70 who gets gobbed on and has stuff thrown at him by a group of teenagers when he leaves the house for a night shift."

Lucy Ward, Social Affairs Correspondent, The Guardian 10 June

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Liberty challenges child curfew and dispersal orders in landmark case

Human rights group Liberty has called for a judicial review of the curfew and dispersal orders introduced as part of the 2003 Anti-social Behaviour Act. Responding to a High Court case, in which a teenage boy argued that the creation of "dispersal areas" in his neighbourhood infringed his human rights, Liberty challenged the law, describing the new measures it introduced as "draconian". The boy told the court that, because he lives in a dispersal area, he is prevented from doing "ordinary" things, such as catching a bus home in the evening, walking the dog and running errands for his mother. Alex Gask, Liberty's legal officer, argued that the curfew infringes four articles of the Human Rights Act: the right to liberty, respect for private life, the freedom of assembly and freedom from discrimination. He commented: "These are important parts of growing up. Small journeys to the shops are important stages in developing independence from the family. There is a real danger of sweeping 'anti-yob powers' demonising an entire generation of mostly decent kids."

Patrick Barkham, The Guardian 27 May

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Academy freedom threatens colleges

Sixth-form colleges are worried that the new academies will put them at risk of "uncontrolled competition". They are concerned about the freedom afforded to academies to expand without the permission of local authorities and that they do not have to follow the priorities as set by the LSC.

Francis Beckett, The TES FE Focus 1 July

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Sex education demand after rise in teenage pregnancies

Figures released by the Office for National Statistics show that more than 8,000 girls under 16 became pregnant in England and Wales in 2003, an increase of 2.5% on the previous year. The statistics reveal that, while conception among girls under the age of 14 has fallen, there has been a marked increase in 14 and 15-year-olds conceiving. Children's Minister Beverley Hughes said that the government has reached a "sticking point" in its ability to reduce under-age pregnancy. She said ministers can do no more to change young people's behaviour without "a stronger contribution from parents". However, family planning advisers criticised the government for failing to make sex education a formal part of the curriculum. Jan Barlow, Chief Executive of Brook, said: "Making comprehensive sex and relationships education a compulsory part of the national curriculum would guarantee that the vast majority of young people received the information they needed and had the opportunity to discuss wider issues such as how to resist peer pressure to have sex too early."

John Carvel, Social Affairs Editor, The Guardian 27 May

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It isn't babies that blight young lives

In an article for The Guardian (27 May), Madeleine Bunting argues that the government campaign to reduce underage pregnancy is rooted in "one of the most widespread and pernicious misuses of social science". Ms Bunting says that the argument which is most often used to justify the campaign – that a baby "ruins a girl's life and brings dire consequences, ranging from educational under-achievement and depression to alcohol misuse, drug abuse and poverty" – could not be further from the truth. Studies conducted by experts in this field reveal that, when comparing like with like, teenage mothers will not fare significantly worse than girls who have had similar life experiences, but not had children. The non-parents are equally likely to have a low-paid job, or no job at all. They are as likely to marry a low-paid male, live in poor-quality housing and drop out of education as their teenage parent counterparts. In short, a teenage pregnancy has a negligible effect on a person's life chances. Ms Bunting writes: "When a girl at 17 decides to go ahead and have a baby, there is no tragedy of lost opportunity other than the local checkout till waiting for her low-paid labour. Why is it that in Labour's crusade against teenage pregnancy, it can't recognise that some of these teen mums are making reasonable – even moral – decisions about what they value in life, and what they want to do with their lives? How did opting for baby and motherhood over shelf-stacking ever become a tragedy?"

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Seven deadly sins: a new look at society through an old lens

A new ESRC report uses the seven deadly sins – pride, anger, lust, avarice, gluttony, envy and sloth – as a way of looking at some pressing issues of modern life: religious conflict, rage in kids and adults, sexual behaviour, corporate greed, binge drinking, rising personal debt and political apathy. The report brings together studies by a group of leading social science researchers using large-scale data resources – like the three big birth cohort studies of 1958, 1970 and 2000/1, the British Household Panel Survey, the General Household Survey, the National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles, and the British Election Study – to provide invaluable insights into the patterns of our lives in the early 21st century.

Pride: Northern Ireland: in-group pride and out-group prejudice.

Anger: and irritability and hostility in children and adults.

Lust: changing sexual behaviour in the UK.

Avarice: executive pay in the United States.

Gluttony: "binge drinking" and the binge economy.

Envy: debt: envy, penury or necessity?

Sloth: Turnout: a crisis in UK politics?

ESCR Press Release 18 June

To order a copy of the report, contact Becky Gammon,
PR Officer, ESRC
tel: 01793 413122
email: becky.gammon@esrc.ac.uk

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Schools take on teaching of basic manners

Officials at Glasgow City Council have decided to introduce lessons in basic social skills for primary school pupils because they believe parents are failing to teach their offspring how to behave. Under the scheme, known as the Nurture Class Initiative, pupils will be taught how to sit at a table, to eat in a group, to share with others, to say "please" and "thank you", and how to form basic relationships. Margaret Orr, head at the City Council's special educational needs service, said the scheme was vital because increasingly pupils were coming to school without having the basic building blocks of social behaviour the majority took for granted.

Andrew Denholm, Education Correspondent, The Scottish Herald 26 May

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Blair apology for tax credit chaos

Prime Minister Tony Blair has apologised for the "unintendedly harsh and unfair consequences" suffered by poor families as a result of mismanagement of the Treasury's tax credit system. However, the government rejected demands for "a complete amnesty" on efforts to reclaim £1.5 billion in overpayments.

Michael White, Political Editor, The Guardian 23 June

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Two million families hit by tax credit clawback

Two million families are being forced to repay £2 billion to the government after new figures revealed that a third of all awards were overpaid. The figures, released by Revenue and Customs, show that out of a total of 5.7 million tax credits made to families in 2003-04, 1.9 million were overpaid. Critics say families are suffering great hardship and many are falling into debt as a result of the "boom and bust" of their personal finances. A spokesperson for Citizens Advice said: "Even where Revenue and Customs acknowledges its error, claimants must dispute the recovery and demonstrate it was reasonable for them to have thought their award was correct before they will consider writing it off. In the meantime they are struggling."

Phillip Inman, The Guardian 2 June

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Write off tax credit errors, says watchdog

Pressure was mounting on the government last night (21 June) to write off tax-credit cash mistakenly paid to families after Ann Abraham, the parliamentary ombudsman, criticised the scheme. Ms Abraham said the tax credits system operated in a way that could have "unintended harsh and unfair consequences" for vulnerable people. She called on officials to consider writing off all tax credit overpayments resulting from Inland Revenue errors since the system began two years ago. Ms Abraham noted other problems, including:

• errors, such as unrelated customers' details being mixed up;
• poor information on tax credit award notices sent out – some were "unintelligible";
• poor accessibility, with phone lines being engaged and letters not answered; and
• that it was "virtually impossible" to speak to someone about a complaint.

Rupert Jones, The Guardian 22 June

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Government regulations and tax burden hit small businesses

Government regulations and the total tax burden are now the top two problems facing Britain's small firms, according to the latest NatWest/SERTeam Quarterly Survey of Small Businesses. Whilst the impact of government regulations has been the number one problem for 18 months, the tax burden has now jumped into second place for the first time in 3 years. On a more positive note, however, the general economic climate, which was the top-ranked problem for most of 2003, is now only fifth-ranked and is no longer a top problem for any industry sector. Optimism about the future is also good, with sales and employment both expected to improve in the coming months. The ability to recruit employees with the required skills remains a burning issue for many small businesses, particularly construction firms, where 25% report that this is the biggest single problem facing them.

HRLook Daily News 14 June

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Gender and benefits

This EOC research report, by Fran Bennett, examines social security benefits/tax credits in the UK and discusses ways in which they may reinforce inequalities between women and men. It argues for a more explicit focus on gender when considering the benefits/tax credits system. Key findings include:

• The "gendered division of labour" – i.e. that women and men do different types of work both within and outside the home – is at the heart of lifetime differences in individual income. The benefits system can encourage traditional gender roles in some ways.
• Men's weekly median total individual income is almost double that of women. More women than men have no income of their own and women receive a higher percentage of their income from benefits than men do. So despite the problems with the benefits/tax credits system it is also crucial for many women.
• Key factors which potentially affect lifetime differences in income between women and men are maternity, paternity, parenting and pension provision.
• The system currently undermines some of the government's own objectives. For example, the family-based means test is an obstacle to tackling child poverty because of the inherent disincentive to "second earners", generally women.
• Reforms to the benefits/tax credits system cannot achieve significant social change on their own and can only ever be one element of a broader and more comprehensive strategy to combat gender inequalities.

Full report (PDF 130pp): http://tinyurl.com/bmd9d

EOC email update 15 June

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CBI backs family-friendly plans

Employers would be willing to extend paid maternity leave and introduce more flexible working rights, says business group the CBI. However, it has urged the government not to introduce any further changes during the present Parliament. Director-General John Cridland said: "This is the first test of the government's recent promises on regulation. Employers have been challenged to accept new family-friendly rights. In return, we have a challenge for government – demonstrate your commitment to smarter regulation by reducing the burden on employers alongside introducing these extra rights. Employers have been active in implementing new family-friendly employment rights, and are willing to go the extra mile with further extensions to these benefits. But this will inevitably add to the burden, particularly for smaller businesses, and our members expect the extended rights to be introduced in a balanced way, and to be the last for some time."

BBC News Online 6 June

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Work experience "badly planned"

Schools are failing to follow up on work experience placements to reinforce a link between the classroom and careers, a survey from educational charity Edge suggests. The survey of pupils aged 15 to 16 found that 70% of those who had completed a placement thought it had been not been well-managed. Moreover, 58% said that they had not been given the opportunity to discuss their experience on return to school. Commenting on the findings, Mariska Van Der Linden, Senior Policy Adviser for Employment and Skills at the CBI, said that employers need more feedback from schools. She said: "Employers are committed to providing the work experience which can help young people gain valuable skills but, as the findings from Edge confirm, too many employers and students are finding it difficult to make placements a worthwhile experience. … We need more support and guidance for employers – and students – to turn the goodwill into a really worthwhile experience."

BBC News Online 27 June

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Let's go in for the skills

Dr John Graystone, Chief Executive of FFORWM, has argued that there is "a clear responsibility" on politicians and society as a whole to promote the status of vocational training. In a speech to the Welsh further education sector's annual conference, Dr Graystone said more must be done to encourage young people "to experiment with the whole range of exciting vocational opportunities available at college", adding that this can only be achieved by "tackling student perceptions at an early age". He said: "There is clearly work to be done to convince those advising young people of the real benefits of vocational training – particularly parents, who value academic above vocational, and school teachers, who often have little vocational experience themselves."

Jenny Rees, The Western Mail 26 May

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Skills for Business welcomes Welsh Vocational Skills Champion

Jane Davidson, Education and Lifelong Learning Minister for Wales, has announced that Wales will have its first Vocational Skills Champion. The Skills Champion will promote the importance of employers and learning providers in encouraging the take-up of vocational learning routes, improve the esteem in which they are held and increase the numbers of learners and employers who support them. Rachel Jones, SSDA Manager in Wales, said: "The Skills for Business network in Wales welcomes this announcement. … We are working hard to promote vocational learning pathways, and are particularly keen that employers are able to influence the 14-19 Learning Pathways agenda."

SSDA INvolve Issue 87 (31 May)

Further information: www.ssda.org.uk/ssda/default.aspx?page=824

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The Workplace Basic Skills Network

The Workplace Basic Skills Network (WBSN), founded in 1993 and based at Lancaster University, is a national organisation dedicated to workplace language, literacy and numeracy provision. It builds professional capacity in workplace basic skills through sharing and disseminating good practice, continuing professional development and supporting basic skills professionals to meet the language literacy and numeracy needs of the changing workplace.

More information: The Workplace Basic Skills Network, CSET, Lancaster University, Lancaster LA1 4YL
tel: 01524 593 405
URL: www.lancaster.ac.uk/wbsnet

t Magazine June 2005

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Teenagers with GCSEs lack basic skills

London teenagers with top-grade GCSE passes in maths and English are having to be tested again when they look for a job because so many lack basic skills, according to a report published by the Corporation of London. The report suggests that many school-leavers are unable to complete simple tasks, such as writing a business letter or working out basic sums without the aid of a calculator. It calls for schools to set time aside to coach pupils in specific administrative skills such as letter-writing and the application of numbers. The report also showed that employers in the capital still rely on GCSE and A-level results as a measure of intelligence. Very few said that they were actively seeking applicants with vocational qualifications.

Richard Garner, Education Editor, The Independent 29 June

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Key Skills – Health & Social Care

The BBC Key Skills website has just launched the first of a series designed to complement Modern Apprenticeships. The first is for Health & Social Care and has a selection of Flash activities that put the user in the position of a Key Worker in a residential care home. The activities combine NVQ criteria with Level 2 Key Skills. At the end of each activity, users can print out the results of their work to include in both NVQ and Key Skills portfolios.

More information: www.bbc.co.uk/keyskills/apps/care/app_index.shtml

BBC Skillswise Issue 176 (1 June)

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Academy laments engineer shortage

The UK will drop further behind other countries unless it can bring more young people into engineering, Lord Broers, President of the Royal Academy of Engineering, has warned. The academy has been talking to ministers about how to attract more students into engineering and applied science. Lord Broers said: "If we don't get the best young minds into this, we're going to gradually slip back and back, and we have slipped in a lot of industrial fields."

Alison Maitland, The Financial Times 23 June

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Overcoming UK skills shortages and helping refugees and migrants into jobs – new partnership launched

A new partnership – Progress GB – to help employers overcome skills shortages and support refugees and migrants develop and adapt their skills for the UK labour market, has been launched. Progress GB is led by the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (NIACE) and supported by partner organisations across the country. Research by NIACE has demonstrated that refugees and migrants have a wide range of skills and qualifications in a variety of professions, including business and vocational fields. However, they frequently experience unemployment or only gain low-skilled, casual employment. At the same time employers in the UK are unable to fill vacancies in a variety of areas such as construction, transport, engineering, and health and social care. In addition to this, research from the Home Office has revealed that it takes an average of 20 years for migrants in the UK to reach the same level of employment as UK-born workers with similar skills. Sue Waddington, Progress GB Project Leader, said, "Refugees and migrant workers are often highly skilled and highly motivated but can find it very difficult to find progress in the UK workplace. Progress GB will be able to develop new approaches to benefit both employers and refugees across the UK. We will help refugees into jobs, predominately where there is a current shortage of skilled workers."

NIACE press release 15 June

More information: http://tinyurl.com/afz45

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Homeless volunteers

Many homeless people see volunteering as "a chance to give something back", according to research by homelessness charity Off The Streets And Into Work. The research, funded by Bridge House Trust and EQUAL and the European Social Fund, examined how homeless people view volunteering, what benefits they can gain from it, what potential barriers they face, and how they feel they could be best supported to volunteer. Key findings include:

• Half of the people who were not currently volunteering said that the only thing stopping them was not seeing the right sort of opportunities.
• People identified a wide range of potential benefits, but felt that the increase in self-worth, confidence and the chance to "give something back" were the most important.
• 28% of people had wrongly been advised by Jobcentre Plus that volunteering could result in them losing welfare benefits.
• Everyone who had started volunteering since becoming homeless had been given some kind of support to find their opportunity by staff in homelessness agencies.

Community Care 16-22 June

Homeless People and Volunteering

(PDF 17pp): http://tinyurl.com/dhqk8

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Open your arms

Whether they are "hoodies" or "chavs", we need to bring the derided back into the human fold with training, writes Patrick Ainley (The Guardian 14 June). Professor Ainley, Professor of Training and Education at the University of Greenwich, argues that society is doing a disservice to an already excluded group by labelling and ridiculing its members. He further believes that the government is underplaying its role in creating the disaffected, hoodie-wearing underclass. He says: "Hoodies are, after all, the ungrateful nemesis of New Labour's educational effort. Drilled by a narrow and repetitive inculcation of literacy, numeracy, facts, figures and SATs, their culture of tat anticipates a workless future without the wit to dramatise it as a punk 'no future'." Professor Ainley advises the government to recognise the way in which education and training interact with each other and with the world of employment. He says: "What the Blair governments have never realised is that education and training cannot work in limbo. It has to prepare for a viable future where what is learned can be applied. Too many vocational routes are dead ends, while everyone knows that academic disciplines, supposedly untainted by practical application, actually lead to the glittering prizes."

Full article: http://tinyurl.com/aykkh

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Truancy blights vocational scheme

According to OfSTED inspectors, the Increased Flexibility Programme, a scheme which offers disaffected children training in industry, has resulted in high truancy rates. However, inspectors also found that the scheme was very popular with students, and had resulted in significant improvements in performance and engagement among many disaffected students. The report will encourage ministers, who believe a drive to give more vocational training to 14-16-year-olds in further education colleges or in the workplace, is key to improving behaviour and tackling drop-out rates.

Miranda Green, Education Correspondent, The Financial Times 13 June

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System still fails children in care

Research conducted by the Institute of Education, University of London, has concluded that government targets to improve the exam results of children in local authority care look "certain to be missed". The study found that just 59% of children in care managed to sit at least one GCSE or equivalent exam last year. The target for 2006 is 90%. Moreover, less than a fifth of local authorities are hitting the target for 15% of children in their care to obtain at least five good GCSEs. The study blamed "negative stereotypes of young people in care among teachers, as well as the general public" for the low achievement rates.

Joseph Lee, The TES 3 June

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Transatlantic perspectives on mixed communities

The idea that new communities should accommodate a mix of tenures, incomes, ages and household types animates housing and planning policy in Britain today. However, efforts to promote economic integration are less prominent in government strategies for improving deprived neighbourhoods or supporting existing communities. A review of research evidence and policy experience from the United States and the United Kingdom demonstrates that:

• Economic segregation has grown in Britain over the past few decades. Rising income inequality, residential "sorting" by economic status and housing policy have helped to create area concentrations of wealth and deprivation.
• Research studies from both the US and UK indicate that concentrated poverty limits opportunities for people above and beyond their own personal circumstances. Area deprivation reduces local private sector activity, limits local job networks and employment ambitions, exerts downward pressures on school quality, stimulates high levels of crime and disorder, and exacerbates health inequalities.
• The government's approach to building new communities embraces social and economic mix as an alternative to the negative effects of concentrated wealth and deprivation. Evidence suggests that these efforts should proceed from areas of market strength, avoid extreme physical segregation of subsidised and market-rate households, and include a moderate-income "tier" of households to reduce differences between the extremes.
• Pursuing mix in new communities and severely deprived communities alone could overlook the residential dynamics that tip existing mixed neighbourhoods towards concentrated wealth or poverty. Local housing and planning agencies in the US are developing tools to monitor neighbourhoods over time, and deploying policies to sustain them as inclusive, healthy places.

Mixed communities in England: A US perspective on evidence and policy prospects, by Alan Berube, is published by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation in electronic format only (PDF 80pp) http://tinyurl.com/bbfn8

An overview of the research is at www.jrf.org.uk/knowledge/findings/housing/0295.asp

JRF mailing list 27 May

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The role of work in low income families with children

Jenny Graham, Rosalind Tennant, Matt Huxley and William O'Connor; National Centre for Social Research

DWP research report no. 245

ISBN: 1-84123-814-7 June 2005

Research published by the Department for Work and Pensions explores the experiences and longer-term impact of work on families with children, following an initial transition from benefits into work. The research was carried out by the National Centre for Social Research, and followed-up two previous DWP studies which interviewed families at the point where they had made the initial transition into work. This study re-interviewed the families, two years on from their original interview.

Key findings include:

• The factors that motivated retention in work were not all the same as factors that had initially motivated entry into work. For example, desire to avoid benefit dependency became less of a consideration, while desire for a job that met their aspirations for personal development and allowed a balance between work and family became increasingly important.
• Tax credits were viewed very positively and had helped to make work sustainable. However, in some cases, problems with reporting changes, miscalculations and awareness had affected their impact.
• Certain people in the sample, such as those with particular skills and those who were highly motivated, had moved between jobs quite smoothly. Others, such as those who had lost their job at short notice, lacked confidence or were not proactive in seeking other work, had found difficulties in re-entering work once they had dropped out of the labour market.
• Better social adjustment was reported for children thanks to the material benefits and loss of stigma of moving from benefits to work. Parents also reported an increased determination for their children to avoid benefit dependency.

A hard copy of this report can be obtained by contacting Paul Noakes at 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 (PDF 132pp) at http://tinyurl.com/av8y2

DWP press release 15 June

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Poor children "now less likely to fulfil their potential"

According to research published by the Centre for Economic Performance at the London School of Economics, social mobility in Britain has fallen over recent decades to levels well below those of Canada, Germany and the Nordic countries. The research found that children born to poor families are now "less likely to break free of their background and fulfil their potential than they were in the past". The economists concluded that the strong relationship between family income and educational attainment was a key to understanding Britain's low levels of social mobility.

Vanessa Houlder, The Financial Times 20 June

More details about the research, Social Mobility In Britain: Low And Falling, can be found in CentrePiece (Spring 2005).

Update comment: I would have reported this to you from reading CentrePiece in the DfES library but it wasn't there!

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Has anyone asked young disabled people what they want?

In the aftermath of Baroness Warnock's report into education policies aimed at promoting inclusion of disabled children in mainstream schools, the DRC called for a grounded debate based on up-to-date data on the real experiences of disabled children. Research on disabled children's experiences of education commissioned by the DRC found that:

• one-fifth said that they had been discouraged from taking GCSEs;
• a quarter of disabled children said they were discriminated against at school; and
• 34% of disabled students said that they did not get the support they needed from teachers and other staff.

Speaking on the research and the need for a grounded debate the Commission said: "The voices of disabled children and young people who have been in, and are going through, our education system are rarely heard in this debate. Isn't it time we listened and had a debate which responds to what they tell us they want? Young disabled people want the same opportunities as their peers to achieve, to make independent choices about their lives and to take part in all aspects of life. … Whilst the wider policy agenda on education and skills has set clear and ambitious targets to marry the interests of learners with those of employers and higher education, this has frequently and sometimes actively omitted opportunities for disabled people."

DRC press release 10 June

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Special educational needs – experts in attack on Warnock report

Special educational needs experts have criticised Baroness Warnock for her report on inclusion in education. Lady Warnock's report says the inclusion agenda has had a "disastrous legacy", while special schools are "regarded as little more than places of containment, hospitals, or day centres, but with better educational facilities". She called for "a fundamental rethink of inclusion policies". Mark Vaughan, Director of the Centre for Studies on Inclusive Education, said Lady Warnock has overlooked a fundamental issue with segregated education, namely that it is discriminatory in the extreme. He also argues that she has not kept up to date with recent developments and innovations that have brought about significant improvements. President Jean Salt, of the National Association of Special Educational Needs, responded in defence of special schools. She said: "Our members who work in special schools will be upset by that because of the improvements and the strides forward that have been going on within special schools, particularly for those with profound and multiple learning difficulties."

David Singleton, Children Now 15 June

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No excuses for weak performers

ELWa, the National Council for Education and Training for Wales, and the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales, have launched a major drive to raise the quality of education and training for teenagers – with a clear warning that action will be taken against those which do not maintain standards. ELWa has issued a new system of quality assurance, along with detailed information about how low standards and poor management will be dealt with. ELWa has stated that from 2008 onwards only learning that is classified as "satisfactory" or above by inspection body Estyn will receive public funding, and from 2010 only provision found to be "good" or "excellent" will qualify. While poor performers will initially be given access to a wide range of support, ELWa's chairperson Sheila Drury warned: "Where this support does not bring about improvements we are prepared to take tough decisions because our learners deserve better."

Jenny Rees, The Western Mail 23 June

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Drive on numeracy and literacy fails to improve GCSE results

The government's drive to raise literacy and numeracy standards in primary schools has failed to make an impact on GCSE results, ministers have been told. An analysis by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), claims that, while there have been significant improvements in SATs scores, this has not translated into equivalent improvements at GCSE level. The paper argues: "Either the gains at 11 are overstated and/or value added (to the pupils' performance) in secondary schools has fallen."

Richard Garner, Education Editor, The Independent 27 June

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Quarter of parents spend up to £25 per hour on private tuition

A quarter of parents are relying on private tutors to give their children the edge in exams, according to a Mori poll. The study found that by the time their children reach 16, 24% of parents in England and Wales are paying up to £25 an hour for extra lessons after school. Families from ethnic minorities were found to be more likely to pay for extra lessons, and maths is the most common subject in which students need extra help. Critics claim that this is a clear indication that standards in secondary schools are falling. However, others blame the increasingly competitive culture children in which are brought up.

Jenny Rees, The Western Mail 20 June

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How to manage failure

Right and wrong are situational – in the appropriate situation, nothing is wrong – without the appropriate situation, nothing is right – what is right in one case is not right in another – what is wrong in one case is not wrong in another.

Taoist tradition

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How effective is online learning? – new research seeks answer

As more and more people are using computers and the internet for a whole host of different life-tasks – such as shopping, banking and booking holidays – the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (NIACE) is conducting a research project to find out how effective learning online is. With over 3,000 courses now available to study online – in subjects as diverse as languages, IT and fork-lift-truck driving – this form of learning is often seen as convenient for learners and, as such, it is anticipated to become ever more popular. However, NIACE is keen to hear about the experiences – good and bad – of learners who have chosen to study online, so future learners can benefit.

For more information, contact Ian Pettit
tel: 0116 204 6986
email: ian.pettit@niace.org.uk

NIACE website 7 June

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Book learning out of date, says Greenfield

Baroness Greenfield, the Director of the Royal Institution, has called for an urgent national consultation on the future of learning, "in the face of technological advances that are creating a divide between bookish lecturers and their computer-centred students". Lady Greenfield believes that traditional lectures may soon become a thing of the past, as students become more au fait with technology and more adept at managing their own learning. She argued that the students of the future will be "more comfortable accessing the information they need from talking computers than they will by searching a library for a book". She said that the implications for the teaching and testing of students were "so significant that the government should begin a consultation with academics, IT experts and educationists to consider how the education system should change in response".

Tony Tysome, The THES 17 June

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Pioneering text service helps keep students on course

Students at Paisley University are receiving course updates and deadline reminders through their mobile phones as part of a pioneering project. The scheme, which is expected to roll out across the university next year, provides reminders of deadlines for assessments, changes to lecture and tutorial times, and dates when examination results will be published. The university is also considering texting students who fail to attend lectures or seminars. Both students and staff are in favour of the scheme, saying that it enables "closer bonds between staff and the student body".

Martyn McLaughlin, The Scottish Herald 7 June

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Paper's "wikitorial" trial halted

The Los Angeles Times was forced to withdraw a short-lived experiment which gave readers the chance to edit its editorials on its website. The "wikitorial" was intended to give readers a "voice". The original piece would be published on the website, alongside "a constantly evolving collaboration among readers in a communal search for truth". The idea has a promising beginning, in which readers provided links for phrases in the original piece, as well as links to alternative viewpoints. One contributor split the editorial in half, which was welcomed by the editors. However, the wikitorial had to be withdrawn after it was flooded with explicit photos and other inappropriate material. In a statement, the LA Times said the wikitorial would stay offline while it looked at what happened and how to prevent it from happening again. It said: "We thank the thousands of people who logged on to the wikitorial in the right spirit."

BBC News Online 22 June

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Public sector "condoning" software theft

Around half of public bodies "do little" to minimise the risk of unlicensed software being installed on staff PCs, with some having "a culture of complacency" about basic IT security, a new report from the Audit Commission claims. The report, ICT fraud and abuse 2004 - An update to yourbusiness@risk, says that new technologies, like the use of handheld devices (PDAs) and wireless networking, are creating fresh risks to which public services are only reacting slowly. Since the last survey in 2001, the new report points to some improvement in ICT security, with security policies in place at 96% of organisations. It also recorded a fall in the incidence of "business disruption" as a result of viruses, hacking or other criminal activities. However, it also notes:

• a 13% growth in reputational risks, including staff accessing pornography or other inappropriate material (52% of cases in 2004 compared to 39% in 2001);
• financial risks continuing to mount (28% of cases in 2004 compared to 22% in 2001); and
• evolving technology (like wireless networking) presenting a challenge that organisations do not fully appreciate (64% of respondents put wireless networking in the low/medium-risk category).

The survey also found that, while three-quarters of organisations explicitly prohibited staff from using unlicensed software, just 43% checked PCs for non-standard software by internal audit or ICT staff.

eGOV Monitor Weekly Issue 170 (13 June)

Full report (PDF 39pp): http://tinyurl.com/agdpk

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Removable media – security risk?

According to a survey on removable media in the workplace, the IT profession sees the risk of removable media but chooses to ignore it, thereby negating investment on IT security. A survey, conducted by mobile security specialists Pointsec, highlights that a large number of organisations are yet to address the problem of removable media, despite growing numbers of organisations using the devices. To secure your company from the security implications associated with removable media and mobile devices Pointsec recommend that you:

1. Deploy user mobile guidelines or ensure that your corporate IT security policy includes corporate directives that state the importance of proper handling of mobile devices such as removable media.
2. Ensure that all members of staff are aware that their employment does not allow non-company devices to be used within the company network.
3. Use encryption software which enables centralised policy enforcement of strong encryption of all data stored at mobile devices and removable media.
4. Use policies to control the amount of login attempts that people may use to try and get at information they shouldn't.
5. Have methods in place which enable encrypted data to be decrypted in a controlled way outside the corporate network.
6. The encryption process should be transparent and quick to the user, so that it does not interfere with their work or put any extra requirements on the user.
7. Have methods (independent of the end user) which enable decryption of all encrypted data within the company network.

Martin Allen, Managing Director of Pointsec UK, said: "There seems little point in companies spending vast sums of money on information security if, at the same time, they're letting their staff use these devices at work which allow them unhindered access to download vast quantities of sensitive company information."

HRLook Daily News 13 June

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Microsoft adopts XML for Office formats

Microsoft has announced that it will adopt "industry standard" XML as the file format for popular applications like Word in the next major release of Office. This move will help to develop inter-operability between Office documents and those from competing productivity suites such as Sun Microsystems' StarOffice. The implementation is called Microsoft Office XML Open Format, and will also be published by Microsoft on a royalty-free basis to the industry, potentially opening the format to third parties to develop inter-operability with Office.

Gavin Clarke, The Register

via ITProPortal News Roundup 6 June

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Irish college deploys fingerprint scanners

St Andrew's College in Dublin has introduced a biometric student registering solution which allows the reading of children's fingerprints without physically storing an image of same. Rather than storing a full image of a person's fingerprint, the scanner is reported to respond to "minutiae points" to verify identity. School head Arthur Godsil said: "Every morning it is the responsibility of the form teacher to register all pupils. This is a time-consuming but necessary process as for safety reasons we need to know the whereabouts of our students at all times. However, if we can place the responsibility of registration directly on the pupils, this will free the individual form teachers' time to provide greater pastoral care to the students at that time."

Lester Haines, The Register

via ITProPortal Midweek Roundup 1 June

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The slow road to Windows XP

A study from AssetMetrix shows that, while the use of Microsoft Windows XP has grown inside corporations, nearly half of business PCs are still running the older Windows 2000. The study shows that older versions of Windows, including Windows NT4 and Windows 95, are falling out of favour. However, the popularity of Windows 2000 remains high, with 48% of business PCs using this system during the first quarter of 2005.

Ina Fried, News.com

via ITProPortal Midweek Roundup, 15 June

Update comment: And some of us (many of us?) are still on 98SE.

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Microsoft bans democracy and freedom

Software giant Microsoft has bowed to the whims of the Chinese government and banned the words "democracy" and "freedom" from parts of its Chinese website. According to the Financial Times, the move is designed to avoid offending Beijing's political censors.

Nick Farrell, The Inquirer

via ITProPortal Midweek Roundup 15 June

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Working Draft: XML schema datatypes in RDF and OWL

The Semantic Web Best Practices and Deployment Working Group has released a first working draft of XML schema datatypes in RDF and OWL. Posing questions and answers about XML schema datatypes in the semantic web, the document discusses user-defined datatypes, comparison of values, duration and the use of numeric types. The group invited public discussion and feedback on implementations.

Managing Information (May-June 2005)

More information: http://tinyurl.com/aa8rt

Piglet: "Rabbit, is that you?"

Rabbit: "Let's pretend it isn't and see what happens."

A A Milne

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Good news comes in threes for FE

A fundamental and wide-ranging review of further education in Scotland was announced today (10 June). In his final speech as Minister for Lifelong Learning, Jim Wallace indicated there would be four main pillars to the review. These are:

• the contribution the sector makes to Scotland's economy and society;
• its strategic future over the next 10 to 20 years;
• how governance and accountability might be strengthened; and
• opportunities to modernise and improve teaching methods and support the professionalism and development of staff.

Mr Wallace also said that two new colleges would be formed on 1 August as a result of mergers between:

• Falkirk and Clackmannan Colleges, to form Forth Valley College of F&HE
• Fife and Glenrothes Colleges, to form The Adam Smith College, Fife

Scottish Executive press release 10 June

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Review team looks to US for community model

American community colleges could become a model for the future development of further education institutions in the UK, according to the head of a government-commissioned review of the sector. Sir Andrew Foster said that he was interested in taking a closer look at the American system, where community colleges are considered the first layer of higher education, offering two-year associate degrees as a route to honours degree courses.

Tony Tysome, The THES 24 June

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FE sector's self-regulation plan

FFORWM, the association of colleges in Wales, has revealed details of a "self-regulation" scheme for the further education sector. The pilot, due to start in September, is aimed at raising standards and quality across the sector in Wales. Under the scheme, colleges will assess their own areas of strength and weakness, before inviting specialist teams from the sector to help improve performance. The scheme will rely on co-operation across the sector, as institutions support each other and share best practice and expertise.

Jenny Rees, The Western Mail 9 June

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Scheme to validate foundation degrees is met with caution

College lecturers and heads have given a mixed response to the launch of a national validation service for foundation degrees. The service is offered by the University Vocational Awards Council through a newly created National Validation Council. Some believe that the service will give further education colleges more freedom to develop courses that local universities cannot or will not validate. However, others fear that adding another player to the validation market will confuse.

Tony Tysome, The THES 1 July

More information: www.uvac.ac.uk

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Private sector muscles in

Private-sector companies are queuing up to get UK degree-awarding powers, raising the prospect of cut-throat competition that could threaten university courses and jobs, writes Claire Sanders (The THES 1 July). Ms Sanders tells us that three providers, including the College of Law and professional training company BPP, have applied, using rules introduced by the government which created teaching-only universities. Institutions no longer have to have a research base to have degree-awarding powers. In addition to the three formal applications for degree-awarding powers, the Financial Training Company, part of Kaplan Inc, an international education firm, is considering this route. Michael Shattock, visiting professor at the Institute of Education, University of London, commented: "We have been too frightened of private-sector higher education in this country. In the US, such competition provides quality benchmarks for the public sector. But these new providers will certainly pose a threat to universities, particularly new universities."

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Pupils want perks for £3K fee

Research conducted by The Times Higher and Hobsons UK reveals that the majority of the "top-up fee generation of market-savvy students" expect to go to university. However, in return for their willingness to pay the £3,000-a-year fee, they are demanding much better facilities than their predecessors. The Times Higher-Hobsons UK School Leaver Recruitment Review questioned 16-to-18-year-olds. Findings include:

• 62% said they expected better teaching quality;
• 40% said they expected better campus facilities such as libraries and IT equipment;
• 30% said halls of residence should meet a higher standard; and
• 39% said they expected that there would be no hidden fees – such as an extra charge for university accommodation.

The survey also revealed that young people are uncertain about their own abilities.

• 57.5% said they did not have numerical skills, including 19% of those studying maths;
• 54% said they have "no" essay writing skills; and
• when asked if they were skilled in working with computers, just over two-thirds (67%) of boys, compared with 46% of girls, said they had computer skills.

Paul Hill, The THES 3 June

For full report contact: Louise Wringe, Commercial Mananger, Hobsons Education Research
tel: 0207 958 5075
email: louise.wringe@hobsons.co.uk

"When you give someone a book, you don't give him just paper, ink, and glue. You give him the possibility of a whole new life."

Christopher Morley, journalist and author

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"Desperation" spurs online loan revolt

A website urging graduates to refuse to repay their student loans in protest at the government's student funding policy has been branded "irresponsible" by Higher Education Minister Bill Rammell. The anonymous authors of the site have called for "a mass movement of non-repayment" in response to the "dire situation facing students and graduates today". They claim that the campaign was born out of "sheer desperation", and rage against the politicians who have consistently failed to help students financially. The site blurb says: "Those politicians got grants and didn't have to pay any fees. It is the ultimate hypocrisy." The Student Loans Company pointed out that anyone defaulting on payments would face legal sanctions.

Phil Baty, The THES 1 July

URL: www.stuffyourloans.co.uk

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Fear of debt deters students

A study by education charity The Sutton Trust has concluded that as many as one in four teenagers from single-parent families is deterred from going to university by the prospect of getting into debt. Schoolchildren aged 11 to 16 were questioned about their desire to go to university. While seven out of ten thought that they would go on to higher education, more girls than boys saw themselves studying for a degree. White boys in particular are more likely to be drawn to finding a job rather than staying in education. The overall proportion of young people who said that they were unlikely to go into higher education because they were worried about getting into debt remained relatively low at 17%, although the proportion is higher among single-parent families. However, 48% of young people said that they wanted to "start earning money as soon as possible", with this figure climbing to 59% among children from one-parent families.

Alexandra Blair, The Times Online 30 May

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Market prompts bursary reviews

Two universities have sought official permission to improve the bursaries they will offer undergraduates in 2006 amid signs of market forces at work in higher education. Both Nottingham Trent and Sheffield Hallam universities believe that the bursaries they originally planned to offer, as detailed in their proposals to the Office for Fair Access, will not be competitive enough to attract applications. As the revisions will be in the student's favour, it is expected that OFFA will approve the revised bursaries. However, Julian Nichols, vice-president (education) of the National Union of Students, warned that frequent changes to bursaries and fees would cause further confusion. He said: "This is an early sign that market forces are at work in higher education. It remains to be seen what other tricks universities and colleges will pull out of the bag as we move towards 2006."

Paul Hill, The THES 1 July

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Review could lead to shake-up in student loans and grants

Increasingly complex methods for student grants and loans could lead to a shake-up of the way the money is delivered and repaid, the government warns. Announcing a review of student finance arrangements, the DfES said that the government is looking for "better value for money" and wants technology to be used to "improve efficiency and customer service". Prospective students should also be given clearer advice. The review follows criticisms levelled at the Student Loans Company and local authorities by universities, which feared a new online system for registration would lead to late delivery of some loans.

Miranda Green, Education Correspondent, The Financial Times 8 June

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Universities tackle fee confusion

Universities have launched a campaign to try to tackle the confusion among students and their families over changes to tuition fees and grants. The Payment by Degrees campaign will emphasise that university courses will now become free at the point of entry. Developed by Universities UK, the campaign seeks to send a more positive message to young people considering applying to university.

BBC News Online 8 June

More information: www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/paymentbydegrees/

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Closing the Equity Gap: the impact of widening participation strategies in the UK and the USA

Editor: Geoff Layer

ISBN: 1-86201-236-9

Price £18.95

Published by NIACE

At a time when the government is aiming to increase the number of students in higher education (HE), a new book offers an analysis of the impact of higher tuition fees for students from low-income families, and looks at how HE is organised in terms of progression for students from "alternative" entry routes. The book focuses on how a more socially inclusive HE system might be secured. It explores the challenges facing higher education as the student-financial-support model increasingly relies on higher fees and delayed debt. The book is a series of papers developed by eminent academics focusing on such issues as:

• the economic impact of tuition fees on access in the USA;
• the Scottish experience in broadening participation through short-cycle courses;
• the role of FE colleges in providing HE;
• how college education and financial support operate in the USA; and
• the implications that broadening participation has for the learning and teaching strategy of universities.

NIACE, 21 De Montfort Street Leicester LE1 7GE
tel: 0116 204 4216
email: orders@niace.org.uk

NIACE website 6 June

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University funding in Scotland "unfair system"

Professor Steven Schwartz, the Vice-Chancellor of Brunel University in London has warned that Scotland's rejection of university top-up fees will "force poorer people to pay for middle-class welfare". Professor Schwartz said that money which could have been channelled into health and schools will now have to be used to pay for higher education instead. He said: "With 'government' funding, the cost of higher education is shouldered by all taxpayers – including low-income earners – while the benefits go mainly to students from high-income families. Students should pay tuition fees – 'free' education is middle-class welfare paid for by the working class."

Alastair Dalton, The Scotsman 27 June

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Part-time students "face fees discrimination"

Lord Dearing, the man whose inquiry in 1997 paved the way for Labour to charge undergraduate fees, has warned that part-time students may suffer discrimination once top-up fees are introduced. He argued that, because universities are currently unable to raise fees for part-time students in line with the £3,000-a-year for full-timers, there will be "a financial incentive" to favour full-time students. Speaking in the House of Lords, Lord Dearing said: "With an increase in fees for full-time students effectively guaranteed by the government, it could well be in the interests of universities to substitute full-time for part-time places. And that could be to the national disadvantage." Concerns were also raised about the position of the Open University and Birkbeck College London, both of which take only part-time students and will not benefit from the proposed fee increases. Lord Graham of Edmonton, who said he was the only OU graduate in parliament, said: "There is a growing resentment, at least in the Open University and others, that by comparison with those for full-time students the institutions for part-time students have got the dirty end of the stick."