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August 2005 |
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Hallo again and, to many of you, welcome back from your holidays. You can't have failed to notice, unless you were holidaying the whole month of August in some really remote spot, that A-level and GCSE results have arrived amid the usual "well, of course they're easier" and similar remarks. I have tried very hard to ignore most of the stories as all of the media seem to be saying the same thing but finding different ways of doing so. Boring!
Just occasionally in all this reading of six newspapers a day (or rather skimming through the sections that usually produce relevant articles) I come across something which is so well written that I want to draw it to your attention by pulling it into the editorial. John Harwood, writing in The Guardian of 23 August, said: "It is said there are two types of research studies. The first tells you something new, but with no guarantee that what you learn is interesting, relevant or useful, let alone something that needs action. The second tells you what everyone already knew in the first place – people with cars travelled more than people without them or, the one I really liked, people who ran to get out of the rain didn't get as wet as those who walked slowly. Very occasionally, along comes a study that confirms what we all knew already, but which is worth reading for the quality of the analysis and a clear call for action." As one of the economics journals put it: "Some research tells us what we know, and provides statistically valid evidence for that knowledge, and includes reasoned arguments for why the situation exists, and provides recommended action to change the situation – but not often!" I can't remember when or where I read that so can't attribute it correctly. I have recently read, as many of you will have done, a report which sets out to tell us what we knew but does so in such a way that it is not clear whether what I know is really what I know, appears to ignore evidence, provides little by way of statistical validity and recommends action to change the situation to, in the opinion of many, make it worse not better. I refer to the latest Green Paper from the government, Youth Matters, and the recommendations for the future of careers education and guidance contained in the End-to-End Review of the delivery of CEG in England.
Along with this copy of Members' Update you will find an occasional paper which is the full text of an article written by Professor Tony Watts which was first published in Newscheck (Trotman Publishing). And yes, I do have Tony's permission to reproduce this – would I dare do otherwise?
Why the secrecy?
I came across a reference recently to a website that looked as though it would carry useful information so, in time-honoured fashion, I asked Dawn to investigate. In due course the answer comes back: "STEER is `a timely, concise, clearly written and jargon-free policy briefing service covering skills, training, economy, environment and regeneration issues. The service is run by the Local Government Information Unit, an independent policy and research organisation'." "Yes this is for us" I'm thinking as I read on: "Unfortunately, it is a priced service – and there is no indication of how much a subscription costs." Ah well, we'll never know whether it might have been useful because I'm not going to sign up to something without a sample of content and a price so I can judge against the other sources we already use. Do you know something I don't about www.steerbriefing.org.uk?
As the annual debate over A-level standards gathers momentum, objective measures of work applicants show that verbal reasoning skills amongst graduates have risen for the first time since 1999 but numerical skills continue to decline. According to data from nearly 25,000 test-takers sitting tests from SHL Group plc, verbal skills of candidates in 2004 were marginally better than those of candidates in 2003. However, numerical skills continued a six-year-long trend of decline. In 1996, candidates were answering an average of 50% of numerical questions correctly but in 2004 this had fallen to an average of 38% correctly answered. Kevin Kerrigan, Managing Director for SHL UK commented: "The annual debate on A-level standards is really a moot point for most employers. With more and more job applicants having virtually identical academic records, including high-grade A-levels and 2.1 degree passes, they are finding it increasingly difficult to differentiate between applicants based on academic achievement. Our tests provide objective assessments of candidates, not only rating them against their peers, but also allowing like-for-like comparisons with previous years' intakes."
Copyright ® 2005 Midland HR & Payroll Solutions
HRLooK 22 August
Donald MacLeod tells us (The Guardian 15 August) that "The tired old standards debate is due for resurrection again this week as A-level results are released, but this year there's a new twist." The reason is that not only are "standards falling" but now young people are doing all the wrong subjects. Business gurus are worried that the move from maths, science and languages to media studies and psychology is damaging British industry – and students, who need points regardless of subject in order to get into university, are taking what seems to many to be an easy option. Why study a language if you don't see any reason to? Studying something in which you are interested is more likely to yield results. Research undertaken at Durham University shoes that a B grade in arts subjects at GCSE is likely to lead to a B or C at A-level in those same subjects whilst students with a grade B at GCSE in maths, computing, German, French, chemistry, physics and biology were more likely to score a grade D at A-level. So much for science and languages. How about the "getting easier"? Here again there is a logical explanation. Are you wanting to get into university? Are you expecting to get three or four passes? If not then opt for an alternative qualification or drop at least one of your subjects after AS-level to give yourself more chance with the remaining subjects.
Estelle Morris, one of the architects of the government's A-level reforms, said yesterday that the examination should be abolished in favour of a diploma. Ms Morris, the former Education Secretary, said that both GCSE and A-levels were "ripe for modernisation". She urged Ruth Kelly, the present Education Secretary, to replace them with a single diploma as proposed by Sir Mike Tomlinson, the former head of OfSTED. Ms Kelly had rejected his recommendations and insisted that "A-levels and GCSEs are here to stay". But Ms Morris said that Ms Kelly should reconsider her decision. "Somebody once said to me that nobody wants to be the Secretary of State that is known as having abolished A-levels. I think there's another way of looking at that," Ms Morris told The World at One on BBC Radio 4. "The 14-19 exam system is now ripe for modernisation, ripe for renewal. I think Ruth has the opportunity to be remembered as the Secretary of State for Education who actually had the courage to grasp that and move ahead."
Tony Halpin, Education Editor, Times Online 16 August
Don't ask whether A-levels are getting easier. Ask what education is doing for the aspirations of all pupils, says Fiona Millar writing in The Guardian (16 August). She tells us that we'll be awash with stories of outstanding A-level success, and comment from traditionalist doom-mongers, who would prefer to go back to an era when only an élite few did well and went to university. Either way, it will be impossible to escape the coverage, which must be an odd, if not dispiriting, experience for the majority of secondary school pupils who don't take A-levels at all. We should all, writes Ms Millar, be thinking about what it is like for those for whom A-levels, results, and university are words that are "completely meaningless".
The full article, which has to be read to be appreciated, is at http://tinyurl.com/ayw3c
The Prime Minister, Tony Blair, is today (15 August) reported to be having doubts about plans to set up 200 privately sponsored academy schools by 2010. Mr Blair has so far been a personal champion of the scheme, with some prominent Labour MPs describing his backing for the academies as "evangelical". But, according to reports, he is beginning to question whether the schools are good value.
Polly Curtis, Education Correspondent, The Guardian 15 August
Update comment: Easy to say "and about time too" since it seems that these new bodies are not achieving what they were set up to do. However, have they been given enough time? Were the targets impossible to start with?
Donald MacLeod writing in The Guardian (23 August) refers to the Groundhog Day of sterile arguments about easier exams, students working harder, dire predictions about Clearing and exhortations to students to remain calm. Next year, however, there will be, says Mr MacLeod, another huge row which will be worse, or at least more complicated. Variable fees, discounts for "early booking", last-minute concessions on hard-to-fill courses, bursaries, scholarships, and sponsorships make the choices even harder for next year's entrants to higher education – and then there'll be university-set tests for the most competitive subjects such as law and medicine to separate the good from the very good since the government's decision not to reform A-levels. Mr MacLeod completes his article with quotes from former Education Secretary Estelle Morris who said that "that A-levels are no longer fit for the purpose" and, during a Newsnight interview before the last general election, "The educationalist in me cannot understand the decision [not implementing the Tomlinson recommendations]; the politician can."
Figures released by the Scottish Qualifications Authority reveal that overall Higher and Standard grade pass rates have risen for the fourth year in a row. The figures show 71.2% of pupils passed their Highers this year, a rise of half a percentage point on 2004, while Standard grade rates also went up, from 97.2% to 97.3%. The SQA has also announced that it is to drop up to 20 subjects at Higher and Advanced Higher because of falling take-up rates. Among the courses with a very poor uptake are forestry, hairdressing, retail travel and media literacy.
Andrew Denholm, Education Correspondent, The Scottish Herald 9 August
Three new Foundation Degree Frameworks are now available from SEMTA, the Sector Skills Council for Science, Engineering and Manufacturing Technologies. Developed to guide the design of foundation degrees and meet specific sectors, the frameworks are in aerospace engineering, automotive engineering and electronics engineering.
For more information, contact John Harris at SEMTA on tel: 01923 238366
SSDA INvolve Issue 100 (30 August)
As part of the ongoing work on the Skills for Business website, the list of Sector Skills Councils has been updated. The list now gives a more thorough description of what each SSC covers and includes contact details and website addresses.
SSDA INvolve Issue 97 (9 August)
www.ssda.org.uk/ssda/default.aspx?page=16
An automated accessibility tool is a piece of software which can test a web page, or even an entire website, for accessibility. Some companies use these tools to gauge compliance with the Disability Discrimination Act. This is a mistake. Automated tests have some uses, but legal compliance demands more: it requires that your site can be accessed and used by disabled internet users – and this cannot be proved by an automated tool. Trenton Moss of usability and accessibility specialists Webcredible <www.webcredible.co.uk/> explains the risks and limitations of automated tools in an article for OUT-LAW News (24 August). Automated tools, no matter how good they are, have no common sense. They are tools not decision makers. Mr Moss sets out very clearly why, if you want to ensure that your sebsite is accessible and usable then you need to do more – much more. Automated accessibility testing tools can be useful as they can save a large amount of time in performing some very basic checks for accessibility. However, they must be used with caution and they cannot be used as a stand-alone guide for accessibility checking. Indeed, some expert accessibility knowledge should always be applied in evaluating a site's accessibility, perhaps in conjunction with the fantastic web accessibility toolbar <www.nils.org.au/ais/web/resources/toolbar> to help dramatically speed up manual checks.
® Webcredible 2005
In an article for Ariadne (Issue 44 (July 2005)), Kevin Carey, Director of humanITy, describes accessibility by disabled people to digital information systems across broadcasting, telecommunications and the Internet, looks into the future and makes recommendations. Mr Carey argues that there is a significant "functionality gap" between disabled people and digital information systems, arising from deeply entrenched misunderstandings in both the design of digital information and the design of the user interface. He concludes by suggesting a five-point plan to "enhance accessibility and to break away from the traditional approach".
He says: "None of these proposed solutions is science fiction – they are all available now – but we must stop travelling into the future with our back to the engine; it is time to turn round and face the future."
Full article: www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue44/carey/
An accessibility survey of telecommunications websites, carried out by the charity AbilityNet, has identified Onetel as the most accessible. The report concerns the accessibility and usability of the websites of 10 of the UK's telecoms companies. The report gives websites a star rating, with one star being the least accessible and five the most. Onetel was given a four-star rating. The AbilityNet State of the eNation Reports are a quarterly review of a number of websites in a particular sector. The next web accessibility report will focus on UK utility companies.
E-Access Bulletin Issue 68 August 2005
State of the eNation Reports, July 2005 – Telecoms (PDF 15pp): http://tinyurl.com/9opez
A new audible version of the famous board game Monopoly has been launched by the accessible games site Kitchen's Inc. Players can compete against the computer or invite up to five others to play.
E-Access Bulletin Issue 68 (August 2005)
URL: www.kitchensinc.net
e-skills UK has published the latest issue of the IT User Skills Digest. The Digest is a quarterly publication which looks at issues facing IT users in the UK. It offers information on business connectivity, internet access levels and skills gaps, as well as an overview of skills issues at a sectoral, regional and national level. This issue focuses on the exploitation of IT to discuss the issue of "Skills for Life", exploring the theory that "IT user skills are not just for Christmas", but form "part of an ongoing set of tools that serve a variety of purposes at home, school and at work".
SSDA INvolve Issue 98 (16 August)
IT User Skills Digest, Issue 3 (August 2005) (PDF 9pp): www.e-skills.com/Research/1059
One in ten websites fails to provide full and complete access to visitors using non-Internet Explorer browsers such as Firefox, and risks alienating customers and suffering consequential revenue losses. This is the primary finding of research undertaken by web-testing specialist SciVisum, which examined a number of well-known sites using the Firefox browser and checked site compatibility with recognised web standards. Of 100 UK leading consumer websites that SciVisum tested, 3% were found to be turning away non-Internet Explorer (IE) web browser users and 7% of the sites included non-standard code recognised only by Internet Explorer.
Info@UK Issue 53 (August 2005)
"A machine has value only as it produces more than it consumes – so check your value to the community."
Martin H Fischer
GHK Consulting Ltd
DWP Research Report RR264
ISBN: 1-84123-853-8
GHK undertook, on behalf of the Department for Work and Pension (DWP), a small research study into the Ambition Programme. Ambition aims to place disadvantaged jobseekers into types of employment not usually accessible to them, whilst seeking to address identified skills shortages and employers' human resource needs in specific sectors and occupations. Initiatives have been piloted for five sectors or "strands", namely Energy, Construction, IT, Retail and Health. The research was completed to a tight timescale over February and March 2005. The specific objectives of the research were to identify:
The study was based on qualitative research with key stakeholders, namely employers, training providers/intermediary organisations and Jobcentre Plus lead staff in selected Ambition strands. The approach examined three strands and six locations that Jobcentre Plus had identified as demonstrating key features of the Programme.
The full report (PDF 46pp) is at http://tinyurl.com/a5bt3
Skills for Logistics is encouraging women in Scotland to consider a career as an LGV driver through its women-only driver training scheme. With benefits including a good salary, flexible hours, interesting work and the chance to be their own boss whilst out on the road, driving an LGV is a career option with great potential, yet in Scotland only 2% of LGV drivers are women. Skills for Logistics aims to redress this, starting with this female focused training programme, with the support of the Scottish Executive.
For further information please contact Nikki Hoople, PR and Events
Specialist, Skills for Logistics
tel: 0870 242 7314
email:
nicola.hoople@skillsforlogistics.org
The BBC has published Breadline Britain, a special report that focuses on poverty in the UK 60 years after the creation of the welfare state. It has interesting facts and figures, and features on many aspects of life including child poverty, debt, health care and fuel poverty.
Social Exclusion Unit News Brief August 2005
"To be ethical is profitable, but to be ethical because it is profitable is not ethical."
Peter Koestenbaum
IFF Research
ISBN: 1-84478-566-1
August 2005
The aim of this research is to gain an better understanding of adult learners in further education (FE), particularly how their current study aim relates to their prior attainment, thus assessing the extent to which learners are progressing to new or higher levels of attainment. Respondents were also asked questions related to their personal circumstances, reasons for learning and likelihood of engaging in future learning. Key findings include:
The full report (RR677), price £4.95, is available
from DfES Publications, PO Box 5050, Sherwood Park, Annesley, Nottingham NG15
0DJ
Cheques should be made payable to "DfES Priced Publications"
The Research Brief (RB677) is available free of charge
from the above address
tel: 0845 60 222 60
Research Briefs and Research Reports can also be accessed at www.dfes.gov.uk/research/
Further information about this research can be obtained
from John Kerr, N611, DfES, Moorfoot, Sheffield S1 4PQ
email:
john.kerr@dfes.gsi.gov.uk
The views expressed in this report are the authors' and do not necessarily reflect those of the Department for Education and Skills.
"Automation always looks good on paper. Sometimes you need real people."
Veronica Stevenson, president of a union representing baggage handlers, on the failure of an automated baggage system at Denver's airport
Jude England and Papiya Chatterjee
ECOTEC Research and Consulting Ltd
DWP Research Report 275
ISBN: 1-84123-870-8
August 2005
The DWP has published a review of the range and effectiveness of financial education across the UK, looking at both pre- and post-compulsory education provision, including coverage of long-term planning and saving issues. Its main purpose was twofold: to draw together existing information and contribute to the future development of Informed Choice policy on financial education as a whole; and to facilitate a presentation to the US-UK Dialogue on Pensions conference in Washington, July 2005. Key findings include:
DWP press release, 17 August
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 online (PDF 116pp) at http://tinyurl.com/dxsop
Investment in customer relationship management software has done little to improve customer loyalty according to the latest research from IT services company Accenture. A survey of 2,000 customers in both the UK and US found that 61% identified poor service or product quality as the main reason for moving between companies. Almost one-fifth of respondents cited technology problems as a reason for their dissatisfaction. Moreover, a third of respondents complained of being "forwarded through multiple company representatives before problems were adequately resolved".
Jason Wright, Infoconomy Bulletin 1 August
Managers at top-performing companies work only one hour a week longer than those at businesses whose financial results are poor, according to unpublished research by the McKinsey strategy consultants. The findings support the proposition – backed by those who like to leave their offices on time – that working long hours does not increase productivity. The study could be used in evidence by those, such as the Trades Union Congress, who argue that Britain's "long hours culture" does not necessarily lead to better economic results and upsets people's home lives. The McKinsey study examined 135 manufacturing companies, and found a strong correlation between the quality of management methods and how well the businesses performed commercially. It was part of an exercise looking at 700 businesses in manufacturing from the US, France and Germany as well as the UK. John Dowdy, of McKinsey's London office, said the results showed that the way companies progressed in terms of financial returns was through being concerned not about "squeezing more and more out of the front-line workforce, but about seeking out and deploying new ways of doing things". He said the best companies had found ways of "working smarter, not harder".
Peter Marsh, FT.com 16 August
Bad spelling and grammar could be costing UK businesses up to £41 billion in lost sales, a new report from the Royal Mail claims. The report found that more than 70% of customers would not trust businesses with poor literacy skills. Alex Batchelor, Royal Mail's Director of Marketing, commented. "This study is proof that poor communication really does hit companies where it hurts – on the bottom line," he said.
Katie Hope, PM Online 12 August
"Reasonable people adapt themselves to the world. Unreasonable people attempt to adapt the world to themselves. All progress, therefore, depends on unreasonable people."
George Bernard Shaw
The UK Companies (Audit, Investigations and Community Enterprise) Act 2004 introduced a requirement for UK-listed-companies to produce Operating and Financial Reviews (OFRs) alongside their Annual Reports. There are approximately 1,300 UK companies which will need to publish a lot more than has been the case. The OFR, unlike the Annual Report, is a non-financial narrative detailing any "material issues" that may affect future performance of the company. The article in ButlerGroupReview (Issue 28 (May 2005)) goes on to look at decisions about what is "material" and the information management required to collect and review potentially important information. Part of the problem for the company's directors is that importance and/or relevance is not always apparent at the time of an incident. The resignation of the Head of Product Development is only material if s/he takes away commercially sensitive information to use in competition – you don't know until it happens. However, Mike Davis, Senior Research Analyst at ButlerGroup, says that there are considerable benefits for companies operating a controlled method of collecting and recording potentially relevant information for the once-a-year exercise of producing the OFR and that is through regular review, by the board, of the information.
Update comment: The benefit that Mr Davis does not mention, which is to my mind even more important, is that, for listed companies, potential employees have another document which provides information about the company to which they are applying.
Steven McIntosh, London School of Economics
This paper uses recent data from the UK Labour Force Survey to estimate the wage gains that individuals make on average if they complete an apprenticeship programme. The results suggest gains of around 5–7% for men, but no benefit for women. Further analysis extends the results by considering the returns by age group, by qualification obtained, by highest prior qualification and by industrial sector. A key finding emerging from this further analysis is the importance of acquiring Level 3 qualifications with the apprenticeship.
Journal of Education and Work Volume 18 Number 3 (September 2005)
The BBC Keyskills website has launched a new section aimed specifically at current or potential candidates for Apprenticeship programmes. The sector currently featured is Health and Social Care. Visitors to the site can find out what their employment options will be, what qualifications they can study for, and also try some interactive exercises and activities.
More information: www.bbc.co.uk/keyskills/apps/
BBC Skillswise Issue 187 (17 August)
For many small businesses, size doesn't matter, a new report suggests. The NatWest/SERTeam survey of small businesses reveals over a third want to stay the same size or at least have no desire to recruit more employees. On the contrary, half of respondents say they prefer to measure business growth by sales figures, and a further 38% base it on profits. Only a meagre 2% measure growth in terms of market share, employment, number of sites or product range. Successfully finding new customers is the strongest motivator for wanting to grow, the study reveals. Over a third hold this view, predominantly retailers and restaurant owners who are more dependent on an expanding local community. Firms overwhelmingly agree that red tape and taxation are their biggest barriers to growth and reduction in either would prompt more small firms to consider expansion.
BCC news letter 27 August
Once again I read an article designed to be read by business managers and interpreted what I'm reading into "but this applies to career decision-making too". Business forecasting, or predictive analytics techniques to use the jargon phrase, is about looking at the past, analysing what happened and predicting a future. However, despite much sophisticated software, forecasting is still, in many areas, an art rather than a science. Science is facts – the art is interpreting those facts and producing an accurate picture of "what might be" next week, next year, in ten years etc. At a glance:
And ADSET's additions to the list:
Ian Charlesworth, Senior Research Analyst, ButlerGroupReview Issue 28 (May 2005)
"If you want someone to build a ship, do not send them out to gather the wood, saw it up, nail it together to make a boat. Rather, teach them to have a desire for the sea."
Antoine de Saint-Exubery
According to a report from the Institute of Directors (IoD), one in three business leaders has never heard of their regional development agency (RDA), while 40% say they do not understand the RDA's role and activities. Of those who were familiar with RDAs, most were "unimpressed" by the organisation's lack of understanding of the needs of businesses. The report acknowledged that RDAs performed well against government targets. However, IoD members believe that these achievements are "far less noteworthy" than the targets suggest.
Rosie Niven, New Start Hotnews 17 August
Transforming England's regions? A business view of the Regional Development Agencies (PDF 64pp) http://tinyurl.com/ct22d
Update comment: This is another case of counting frogs because you aren't paid to count toads. Sorry, but if targets are being reached but business is unhappy about achievement and/or relevance then "someone" should take it up with the target-setters not the deliverer.
Robert K Toutkoushian, Indiana University and Taylor Curtis, Carleton College
The authors used data on public high schools in New Hampshire to demonstrate how the socioeconomic status (SES) of the district can help explain variations in students' average standardized test scores and college-attendance rates and subsequent rankings of schools within states. The authors show how states can use multiple-outcome measures to derive an alternative ranking of high schools that removes the contribution of SES to the school-level outcomes and how these rankings compare with similar rankings that would be obtained solely on the basis of observed outcomes. Results demonstrate that socioeconomic factors account for a large portion of the variations in school-level outcomes in New Hampshire and that the subsequent rankings of schools can change dramatically after controlling for these factors. The methodology that the authors present can be replicated easily in other states and applied to different choices of outcome and control measures. (Original abstract)
Journal of Educational Research Volume 98 Number 5 (May/June 2005)
Update comment: Some of the statistical analysis is beyond my O-level standard but the authors have provided a methodology for predicting test outcomes based on the SES for a school's catchment area and calculating "added value" (which can be negative) before producing a league table. To my untutored eye this looks like a sensible way of ensuring that schools performing well in a difficult environment are not penalised whilst schools in more affluent areas aren't rewarded simply for standing still.
Two new modules on how to handle the distress caused by the recent London bombings have been published on www.learningmatters.com and on the British Learning Association <http://learningmatters.com/bla/actionlists/> derivative. Authored by Colin Grange of Foundation Psychological Services Ltd, the modules are being offered for free download.
email alert from www.Learningmatters.com: a resource of bite-size business solutions from Echelon Learning Ltd
Emphasis on employability skills needs to start in post-primary education, a government consultation has found. Respondents to the Department for Employment and Learning's draft skills strategy for Northern Ireland said a focus on employability in younger people would encourage a more economically active society. The strategy, launched for consultation last November, seeks to provide a framework for the development of skills. It focuses on raising the skills of the workforce, enhancing the quality of those entering the workforce and addressing the employability skills of those not in employment.
Andrea Clements, Business Correspondent, Belfast Telegraph 24 August
Students opening their GCSE results this Thursday (25 August 2005) could see their lifetime earnings increase by up to £4,000 a year, but only if they stay in education and training which they can now be paid to do with an Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA). Official figures reveal that staying on to gain A-levels, GNVQ Level 3s, or retaking GCSEs, can increase a person's earning power by up to £4,000 a year or a quarter (24%) more than someone who leaves education without good GCSEs. This means that over their lifetime, a young person who gains further education qualifications, such as A-levels, will earn £185,000 more than some of their peers. Those who leave education without good GCSEs can expect to earn £16,739 whereas a young person with FE qualifications earns on average £20,692 a year. The findings show that retaking exams to achieve five GCSEs at grade A-C, including English and Maths, can also increase a persons earning power by 9% on average, almost £1,400 a year more than someone leaving education without key GCSEs.
LSC press release 24 August
This press release applies to England only. Separate EMA schemes are operated by the administrations for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
"To get something done a committee should consist of no more than three people, two of whom are absent."
Robert Copeland
Sue Middleton, Kim Perren, Sue Maguire, Joanne Rennison (Centre for Research In Social Policy)
Erin Battistin, Carl Emmerson and Emla Fitzsimmons (Institute for Fiscal Studies)
ISBN: 1-84478-568-8
August 2005
This is the fourth and final report of the longitudinal evaluation of the Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) Pilots. The main aims of the evaluation were to assess the impact of EMAs on participation, retention and achievement in post-16 full-time education. Key findings include:
The full report (RR678), price £4.95, is available
from DfES Publications, PO Box 5050, Sherwood Park, Annesley, Nottingham NG15
0DJ
Cheques should be made payable to "DfES Priced Publications"
The Research Brief (RB678) is available free of charge
from the above address
tel: 0845 60 222 60
Research Briefs and Research Reports can also be accessed at www.dfes.gov.uk/research/
Further information about this research can be obtained
from Maura Lantrua, N611, DfES, Moorfoot, Sheffield S1 4PQ
email:
maura.lantrua@dfes.gsi.gov.uk
The views expressed in this report are the authors' and
do not necessarily reflect those of the Department for Education and Skills.
email: ian.drummond@dfes.gsi.gov.uk
Business confidence has declined in every UK region for the first time since 2003, as new orders continued to fall – according to the latest quarterly Regional Trends Survey published by the CBI and Experian. The fall in new manufacturing orders in the three months to July continues a trend that began at the start of this year – but is now driven exclusively by the continuing slowdown in the domestic economy. By contrast, export orders, which had declined in the two previous surveys, rose in five regions in the past quarter, and stabilised in two others. However, in four regions the decline in export orders continues unabated.
CBI press release 8 August
More detail in the press release: http://tinyurl.com/9z6kt
The government has published the Coming of Age consultation documents and draft regulations to end age discrimination in the workplace. The draft regulations include provisions to ban age discrimination at work and forced retirement before 65. All employees to have right to request working beyond 65. In addition, employees over the age of 65 will be given the same rights to unfair dismissal and redundancy payments as younger workers. They will also introduce:
The consultation closes on 17 October, and the regulations are due to come into force on 1 October 2006.
Age Positive News 23 August
Coming of Age – consultation on draft legislation to outlaw age discrimination
Full consultation document (PDF 112pp): http://tinyurl.com/bggye
Summary document (PDF 20pp): http://tinyurl.com/86282
Response form (PDF 26pp): http://tinyurl.com/8klmj
To order a hardcopy publication, telephone the DTI Response Centre on 020 7215 5000 and quote the title and reference code:
The documents are also available in the following alternative formats: Braille, 3.5" floppy disc, CD ROM or large print.
Age Positive has produced a checklist for employers to help them implement a review of their working practices. Removing Ageism – Make It Your Business will help employers to identify where changes need to be made before age legislation is implemented in October 2006. It comprises a 3 step business checklist.
The checklist is designed to help businesses identify and eliminate age discrimination in the workplace, and is suitable for employers of any size or sector.
Age Positive News 23 August
Removing ageism – make it your business (PDF 6pp): www.agepositive.gov.uk/complogos/ACFA9.pdf
"Inspirations never go in for long engagements; they demand immediate marriage to action."
Brendan Francis
Graham Kelly, Patsy Lam, Dr Andrew Thomas and Caroline Turley; BMRB Social Research
DWP Research Report 277 ISBN: 1-84123-872-4
August 2005
This research examines small employers' awareness of the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) and measures how they were responding to the new duties under the DDA, introduced on 1 October 2004. The research looks at issues mainly relating to the employers' awareness of, and responses to, the employment provisions in Part 2 of the DDA though it also picks up on some issues from the customer service provisions in Part 3 of the DDA. The research is a follow-up to a 2003 survey of Employers' and Service Providers' responses to the DDA and their preparations for the 2004 duties. (DWP Research Report 202). Key findings include:
DWP press release, 25 August
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 online (PDF 126pp) at http://tinyurl.com/dbbpu
Colin Barnes and Geof Mercer (University of Leeds)
This article engages with debates relating to social policy and disabled people's exclusion from the British labour market. Drawing on recent developments from within the disabled people's movement, in particular the concept of independent living and the social model of disability, and the associated disability studies literature, a critical evaluation of orthodox sociological theories of work, unemployment, and under-employment in relation to disabled people's exclusion from the workplace is provided. It is argued that, hitherto, analyses of work and disability have failed to address in sufficient depth or breadth the various social and environmental barriers that confront disabled people. It is suggested therefore that a reconfiguration of the meaning of work for disabled people – drawing on and commensurate with disabled people's perspectives as expressed by the philosophy of independent living – and a social model analysis of their oppression is needed and long overdue. (Original abstract)
Work, Employment & Society, Volume 19 Number 3 (September 2005)
This new report from the Office of National Statistics considers the advantaged and the disadvantaged and explores the differences between them. The report presents information on social inequality in six key areas: education, work, income, living standards, health and participation. It finds that people in the United Kingdom are better off than in the past across a range of measures but the benefits are not spread equally. Household income and educational attainment have improved overall but the gaps remain large. However, employment rates for most key groups that have been disadvantaged in the labour market have improved recently and at a greater rate than for the population overall. Nevertheless, a significant minority of people are affected by a lack of material resources and the inequality in the health of the population has widened.
Social Exclusion Unit News Brief August 2005
The UK Coalition Against Poverty (UKCAP) has launched a new project to make sure unemployed and low-paid workers have a say in the UK's next National Action Plan on Social Inclusion. The Get Heard project is a participatory process designed to enable people with experience of social exclusion to express their views on government anti-poverty initiatives and policies by joining forces nationally with others facing social exclusion and through local advocacy and campaigning.
In ToUCh Issue 10/11 (August 2005)
More information: www.ukcap.org/getheard
This study addresses aspects of inequalities in the UK using data from the 2001 Census. The work focused on five themes: health, education, housing, employment and poverty. The research reveals the broad locations, circumstances and numbers of those most disadvantaged in society by contrasting their opportunities and resources with those available to people more advantaged. The study uncovers the geographical relationship between poverty, affluence and area. Key findings include:
Further information and an overview of the research is at www.jrf.org.uk/knowledge/findings/socialpolicy/0425.asp
JRF mailing list 1 September
Basic Skills Bulletin (Number 34 June 2005) has an article which is highly critical of the way in which the LSC has processed contracts for the delivery of education services to offenders whether in prison or on probation. The new Offenders Learning and Skills Service (OLASS) is [was] being developed in three regions for a start in August 2005. The Forum on Prisoner Education <www.fpe.org.uk> is planning a campaign against the loss of Education Managers in prisons "which it fears will be one consequence of the new arrangements". There are doubts in many minds as to whether the reforms will equal improvement.
At the closing plenary session of the biennial Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP) Umbrella conference, delegates unanimously backed a resolution declaring their support for the Make Poverty History campaign and called on the government to recognise and promote the essential role that library and information services play. The full resolution reads: "Whereas library and information services underpin information, literacy and the learning process; and whereas literacy and learning underpin all our aspirations, locally and globally, for ourselves, our communities and our economies including equality, social justice and the eradication of poverty; therefore be it resolved that this conference declares its support for the Make Poverty History campaign and calls on the UK government to recognise and promote the role of libraries in sustainable economic development."
Info@UK Issue 53 (August 2005)
Attendees at summer music festival The Big Chill were able to pick up a book to go with their "snakebite and black" this year, after the Museums, Archives and Libraries Council (MLA) decided to offer a public library in the festival grounds. The Reading Tent offered 2,000 books, a quiet space in which to read, and support from fully-qualified librarians. It was the first space of its kind at any UK festival and was extremely popular among revellers. Anne-Marie Dossett, one of four librarians staffing the tent, commented: "If you've spent a lot of the evening dancing, it's actually quite nice to be able to chill out and have a read."
Adi Bloom, The TES 12 August
The Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA) has presented England's public libraries with five major challenges to be met over the next three years. In its response to the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee's report on public libraries MLA is calling on local authorities and other funding bodies to back its improvement programme for libraries by:
E-Gov Monitor Weekly Issue 177 (1 August)
Public Libraries In The 21st Century: Response to the Third Report of the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee (Word document 15pp): www.mla.gov.uk/documents/resp200507a.doc
Kathy Dempsey, Editor in Chief of Computers in Libraries, sets out the focus for the April 2005 issue of this journal which is that the type (electronic not physical) and range (music, images etc, not just texts) of assets which the librarian is called upon to manage has changed and continues to change. Books and magazines, archival material etc – if it's physical then you can put it in a specific place and it will stay in that place (you hope). Digital assets don't sit on a shelf – they are often not actually in your library at all. Digital assets have to be organised into sets, indexed and listed (usually in a database). The database needs to be accessible and, in a public setting, user-friendly. You, and your users, need to know how to retrieve not just the record about the asset but how to access the asset itself. This issue has case studies that detail how three librarians are handling their digital assets. Whilst these studies are on different aspects they have in common that the librarians involved were not specialists.
According to a survey carried out by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA), nearly a third of library staff in England will retire in the next 10 years. Moreover, some 59% of library authorities say that they are experiencing recruitment difficulties. The picture around the country is fairly constant, although London appears to be worst affected. Here, 36% of staff are due to retire within 10 years. MLA chair Mark Wood commented: "It's not simply a lack of applicants, although in some areas this is a problem, it is also attracting the right candidates. The stereotype of library workers couldn't be further from the truth. Public libraries today are thriving centres of the community, attracting people of all ages, from toddlers picking up their first book, to grandparents learning to surf the web - and the staff have to be lively, creative, out-going types, who can help users get the most out of their library visit."
Managing Information Newsletter Issue 185 (30 August)
More employers are using temporary contracts and part-time workers to meet staffing needs. The number of companies employing temporary workers has risen from 26% to 46% over the past 18 months, according to the latest quarterly Labour Market Outlook by the CIPD. The proportion of employers with workers on fixed-term contracts has also increased. John Philpott, Chief Economist for the CIPD, said confidence in the jobs market was levelling out. He commented: "Against a background of a weakening housing market and a slowdown in consumer spending, it would appear that employers are looking to gain greater flexibility from short-term contracts and part-time working."
Anna Czerny, PM Online 31 August
The latest quarterly Labour Market Outlook from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) reveals that more than 60% of employers exclude groups with certain characteristics from the recruitment process. UK employers are most likely to exclude those with a criminal record, those with a history of drug or alcohol problems and those with a history of long-term sickness/incapacity. And with fewer recruitment opportunities in a slightly cooler labour market, the government's policy task of moving people from these "core jobless" groups up the job queue, off welfare benefits and into work looks set to get harder. John Philpott, the CIPD's Chief Economist comments, "Widespread reluctance on the part of employers to recruit the core jobless highlights the magnitude of the task facing the government as it strives to get more economically inactive benefit claimants off welfare and into work."
Tough trading conditions for smaller manufacturers have continued, as both orders and output fell for the second quarter in a row, according to the CBI. During the three months to the end of July just over a third of smaller firms saw their orders fall, while just 22% reported an increase. There was also little evidence of an improvement going forward, with 10% more firms expecting to see a further decline during the coming three months than those who thought orders would pick up. At the same time 33% of smaller manufacturers said their output had fallen, and only 27% said it had risen.
Western Mail 17 August
Work and Pensions Minister James Plaskitt yesterday welcomed figures showing further growth in employment over the last year. Mr Plaskitt said: "Compared to this time last year, there are more people working and unemployment is close to flat. The number of people claiming incapacity benefits is falling, while for the first time ever there are more than a million lone parents in work. The latest month's figures show a more mixed picture: although employment has fallen back from an historically high level and unemployment is slightly higher, vacancies remain strong and redundancies are low."
HRLooK 18 August
Information is available on: www.statistics.gov.uk/StatBase/Product.asp?vlnk=9390
National Statistics press release 17 August Client ref lms
"If you don't want to work, you have to work to earn enough money so that you won't have to work."
Ogden Nash, US humorous writer (1902-1971)
The latest edition of this publication (Volume 113 Number 8) is now available. Contents include:
Items on: public sector employment growth slows; erratum; productivity and unit wage costs; employment of 16-18-year-olds and higher education leavers; and The Part-Time Pay Penalty.
Together with the Annual Survey of Earnings and Hours two new experimental indicators provide an extensive set of earnings statistics (Polly Hopwood, Employment, Earnings and Productivity Division, Office for National Statistics).
The methods underlying this new short-term indicator and how it differs from the Average Earnings Index (David Freeman and Polly Hopwood, Employment, Earnings and Productivity Division, Office for National Statistics)
How this timely indicator of changes in the hourly cost of labour to employers is produced (Polly Hopwood, Employment, Earnings and Productivity Division, Office for National Statistics).
The most recent figures for employment, unemployment, economic activity and S1-104 inactivity, earnings, claimant count, vacancies, redundancies and labour disputes plus enquiry points.
ONS website August 2005
Full publication (PDF 142pp): http://tinyurl.com/a6bgf
Under the Radar, a report from the Commission for Rural Communities (CRC), reveals how "almost surreptitiously" Britain's rural economy is being reinforced by arrivals working from home. Research found that one in nine wage-earners in the countryside is now a homeworker or manager of a "home business", many sustained by IT resources that were a daydream 10 years ago. "A lot of villages lack an active daytime economy," says the report. "Agriculture is in decline, second homes and commuters are prominent. Can home-based business offer a sustainable alternative?" Looking at a revival in Robin Hood's Bay the answer is a resounding "yes". The CRC report calls for the government to help the revival with support for home-based business on a scale matching start-up facilities in towns.
Martin Wainwright, The Guardian 22 August
"Work is not man's punishment. It is his reward and his strength and his pleasure."
George Sand, French author (1804-1876)
Karen Bunyan and Anne Jordan (Waterford Institute of Technology, Ireland)
This article explores the interests and motivations of older learners, their learning experiences and the barriers faced in accessing education. The aim of the research is to promote inclusiveness in education by investigating the educational needs of older learners and how academic providers can meet these needs. The research documents the experiences of older learners in an access to higher education course at WIT, members of the University of the Third Age, and students on a computer course designed specifically for older learners. (Original abstract)
Research in Post Compulsory Education
Volume 10 Number 2 (2005)
Dorothy S Griffiths, Yiannis Gabriel (Imperial College London) and Diana Winstanley (Kingston University)
This article develops a theory for a phenomenon we have termed "learning shock". This refers to experiences of acute frustration, confusion and anxiety experienced by some students, who find themselves exposed to unfamiliar learning and teaching methods, bombarded by unexpected and disorienting cues, and subjected to ambiguous and conflicting expectations. The article examines the incidence of learning shock among a group of full-time students studying towards a Masters in Business Administration and aims to identify some of the causes of learning shock as well as some of its principal manifestations. It further examines some of the coping strategies used by these students and the relative effectiveness of such strategies. Our findings suggest that one of the foremost factors contributing to learning shock can be the experience of working and learning as part of a multi-cultural syndicate group. We examine some of the reasons why such groups can become dysfunctional to learning. The article concludes with some recommendations on the management of learning shock. (Original abstract)
Management Learning
Volume 36 Number 3 September 2005
A one stop shop for information on adult learning is being managed by the UfI advice team as part of the new Directgov website. Since January the Directgov Adult Learning Franchise has been run by the UfI advice team. Account Manager and Editor Marlène Mariani-Burgess said: "The adult learning section of Directgov brings together all the relevant information in one place and now encompasses the old Waytolearn site. Adult learners can use Directgov for a wide range of information to support their learning such as childcare, finance and employment."
Reach July-August 2005
URL: www.direct.gov.uk
People across the country wanting to progress in their careers will soon have access to intensive, personal advice on learning, training and employment opportunities, with government plans to extend the learndirect national learning advice service. The plans, announced in the Skills White Paper, will see more advisers at the learndirect national learning advice line trained to give in-depth guidance in longer interview sessions. The results of the pilot will inform further work to develop face-to-face IAG services, possibly through the learndirect and UK Online centre networks. Gareth Dent, Head of the learndirect advice service, said: "The decision to extend the service of the learndirect advice line is a great vote of confidence in the work already being done, and recognition of the success and remaining potential for nationally co-ordinated telephone and web advice. In accordance with the recommendations of the White Paper, the service will be aimed at people looking to gain skilled trade, craft or professional work requiring a Level 3 qualification – equivalent to A-level. For this audience, careers advice is often not easily accessible. By encouraging people at this stage to think about advancing their knowledge and careers, I believe we can make a significant contribution to the government's skills agenda."
Reach July-August 2005
It is the question every academic could soon be dying to ask colleagues: "What's your h-index?" Jorge Hirsch, a physicist at the University of California, San Diego, developed the index to measure academic worth. There is some mathematics behind the calculation, but broadly speaking it measures the number of an academic's citations versus the number of academic papers he or she has produced. For example, if an academic has published 50 or more papers, of which 50 have been cited 50 times, then he or she has an h-index of 50. The index raises the possibility that employers will use this yardstick in assessing potential academic employees or the performance of existing employees. Professor Hirsch, explaining his reason for creating the tool, said: "In a world of not unlimited resources, such quantification is often needed for evaluation and comparison purposes." Thus far, Professor Hirsch has applied the index only to physicists and biologists. Within a given field, he said, "The person with the higher `h' is likely to be the `better' scientist." The index avoids the pitfalls of looking only at numbers of papers. It also avoids merely relying on the number of citations per paper, which could reward low productivity or a body of otherwise mediocre work that has been skewed by just one significant highly cited paper.
Details: http://physics.ucsd.edu/jorge/jh.html
Caroline Davis, The THES 26 August
Sixth-formers will face a "double whammy" of admissions tests and A-levels to help universities to pick out the very best, unless the government reforms the exam system, headteachers said yesterday. As almost a quarter of all students were awarded A grades this year, David Hart, the General Secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, said that a failure to act risked creating divisions between the state and independent sectors. He said: "The real danger is that just as the state sector has cracked the entry into the best universities, students could be faced with a battery of tests which move the goalposts again in favour of the independent sector." The government had ruled out any major changes to A-levels until 2008, but this week Tessa Stone, Director of the Sutton Trust, told The Times that preparations were under way for a national trial of the US-style university admissions test, or Scholastic Aptitude Test, as early as next month.
Alexandra Blair, Education Correspondent, The Times
An administrative blunder by UCAS led to almost 100 Scottish sixth-formers finding out whether they had gained a university place before they had even received their exam results. Universities had made their decisions based on results submitted to UCAS. However, the letters, containing the details of placements, should not have been sent out until the week after students received their examination results.
Kevin Schofield, The Scotsman 9 August
Middlesex University has been struggling with "overworked and demoralised staff", high student dropout rates and poor course quality at its School of Computing Science, according to material released under the Freedom of Information Act. A summary of the report reveals "a catalogue of concerns that include a failure of courses to keep pace with technical developments in computing, dictatorial managers and the recruitment of students unsuited to courses".
Phil Baty, The THES 12 August
Update comment: Blimey! No wonder they didn't want to tell anyone. Surely if the public is being asked to pay large sums of money for education, it's only right that we should know which institutions – or parts of institutions – are up to the job of providing that education.
"The line between democracy and anarchy is a fine one. Blogs and Wikis undermine a lot of the work librarians have done to structure information so that it can be retrieved."
A delegate to the Gilbane Conference on Content Management Technologies.
An accountability expert has warned that the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) cannot reasonably account for the £6 billion of public money that it administrates each year. HEFCE agrees with this diagnosis, and admits that it is possible for institutions to breach the funding body's requirements regarding the use and management of public funds without its knowledge. Professor Nick Tiratsoo, a research fellow at Nottingham University, said that the situation is likely to grow worse, as HEFCE is currently consulting on plans to scale back its financial scrutiny in a bid to cut red tape. Professor Tiratsoo commented: "It is important that universities are not subjected to excessive scrutiny, but it is important that they account for public money. Scarce resources are wasted by mismanagement, and this must be prevented. Staff and students have a right to know if an institution is in financial trouble."
Phil Baty, The THES 12 August
From 2006 the system of student fees, grants and loans for universities is changing. People considering applying for university from January for entry in September 2006 will have to get to grips with a whole new system. In an article for The Guardian (4 August), Polly Curtis explains how it will work, including the differences between HE funding systems for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Full article: http://tinyurl.com/72g3m
The government has been forced to admit that graduates could take up to 15 years to repay their student debts under the new fees system. In a briefing session for journalists, a spokesperson for the DfES said that weekly repayments for graduates on the average starting salary of £18,000 would be £5.20, with a "likely repayment period of 13 to 15 years".
Polly Curtis, Education Correspondent, The Guardian 4 August
Nearly half of this year's freshers (49%) say that they would be less inclined to go to university next year when the new top-up fees regime is introduced, according to a Natwest survey of student finance. The survey also revealed that nearly two-thirds of respondents are already concerned about the amount of debt they are in, while a worrying 29% have considered dropping out to find a full-time job instead. The Liberal Democrat Shadow Education Secretary, Edward Davey, said: "This survey gives the first glimpse at the massive negative impact of fees that is just around the corner. There's a real danger that we could see university applications falling next year for the first time for years."
Polly Curtis, Education Correspondent, The Guardian 9 August
The Conservative Party has expressed concerns about the cost to the taxpayer of subsidising European Union students at British universities. A spokesperson for the party said that grants, subsidies and student loans would cost the UK around £50 million a year when top-up fees are introduced. Government ministers agreed with the figure, but pointed out that each student would spend about £6,000 a year in living costs, benefiting the UK economy by around £250 million.
Donald MacLeod, The Guardian 9 August
Update comment: But didn't these students spend £6,000 a year on living costs before they got any "grants, subsidies and student loans"? If the answer to that question is "yes" then the benefit to the UK economy is £50 million less than it was.
Graduates with student loan debts are more likely to become tax evaders later in life – particularly if they don't feel their degree course was very good – Australian research suggests. Australia was a key model for the tuition fees and loans introduced at English universities and its Higher Education Contributions Scheme (HECS) is well established. In a study of the taxpaying habits of 447 recent Australian graduates, Eliza Ahmed and Valerie Braithwaite of the Australian National University were surprised to find that a student's dissatisfaction with their university course played a key role in directly triggering tax evasion. "When graduates did not feel that they had received quality training for their investment, this discontent was expressed through shamelessness about not paying HECS and willingness to evade tax," they said in a study published this week. One graduate told them: "I think that HECS should only be repaid if the education received has been of value in gaining employment". In one important respect the UK government is more vulnerable than the Australian authorities to graduate tax evasion because it is faced with collecting repayments from graduates throughout the European Union who are entitled to the same loans as students in England.
Donald MacLeod, The Guardian 23 August
The Cabinet Office's Advisory Panel on Public Sector Information (APPSI) has called for the government to appoint a Minister for Public Sector Knowledge, amid concerns that its information policy lacks "high-level support, leadership and proper coherence". APPSI wants to see a minister introduced who has "explicit responsibility for the proactive management of knowledge within the public sector".
E-Gov Monitor Weekly Issue 178 (8 August)
The Data Protection Act 1998 regulates how an organisation or business collects, keeps and uses information about individuals. Persons or organisations who handle personal information must comply with the eight data protection principles. This has implications for the information held by employers on past and current workers, job applicants and casual staff. The Information Commissioner has published The Employment Practices Data Protection Code which provides guidance on the impact of data protection laws on the employment relationship. It covers issues such as the obtaining of information about workers, the retention of records, access to records and disclosure of them. The Data Protection Act is concerned with personal information held on computer, or in a structured filing system.
Siobhan Harding, Working Brief 22 August
The UK's Information Commissioner has threatened to fine thousands of accountancy firms who are not complying with the Data Protection Act. The Commission says that the firms are keeping sensitive personal data on computers without registering it with the Commission, as required by the Act. The question now: is this just a bark, or is the Commission ready to really start gnawing away at one of the first big cultural and legal problems of the information era? Some organisations, including the Institute of Chartered Accountants, have complained that the legalistic approach is becoming too aggressive. But the problem requires some action. In the UK and beyond, the Data Protection Act, along with its cousin the "ePrivacy Directive", is ignored by large numbers of businesses, and is just treated as a bit of pointless bureaucracy by others. Many otherwise reputable companies have chosen to flout the ePrivacy law, because it restricts what they consider to be legitimate business activity. And why should they worry about a fine, when the likelihood of any action from the Commission is remote, and will in any case only be a few thousand pounds? So far, in its 20-year life, the Information (formerly Data Protection) Commission has done very little to inspire businesses to conform to the law. A law that is ignored, it is said, is usually a bad law – and perhaps it is. But victims of error, identity theft and spam know that some law is necessary, and if the Data Protection and ePrivacy laws were better understood and better policed, they might be more widely followed.
Infoconomy news
"What progress we are making. In the Middle Ages they would have burned me. Now they are content with burning my books."
Sigmund Freud
A South Wales recruitment agency has been fined £2,000 for breaching the Data Protection Act. Abacus Recruitment Ltd had failed to notify the Information Commissioner's Office, as required under the Act. "I am pleased that the magistrates' court has recognised the seriousness of a failure to notify," said Information Commissioner Richard Thomas. "Complying with the Data Protection Act ensures that individuals' personal information is secure, accurate, up-to-date and processed fairly. This prosecution should remind organisations of their responsibilities."
OUT-LAW News 31 August
Jonathan Gordon-Till, Oxford Business Intelligence
In the UK, official registers such as the Electoral Roll or Register of Companies, and unofficial resources such as telephone directory enquiries services and commercial websites, contain information relating to ordinary people. This article discusses the use of those resources, their benefits and limitations, and the legal and ethical framework within which each exists. The benefits for information professionals contrast with the author's caution over data integrity and unethical temptation. (Original abstract)
Business Information Review
Volume 22 Number 3 (September 2005)
Bill Raschen
This article presents a basic review of taxonomy from the viewpoint of its growing importance for information professionals. It traces the practice and definition of taxonomy back to the 19th century to show the way in which the field has evolved into a systematic means for the organisation of knowledge and the provision of an hierarchical structure of concepts by means of terms that assist in the development of a common language for knowledge sharing. It shows how interest in taxonomy has been boosted in recent years by two factors connected with the development of the World Wide Web: the need to improve the way in which knowledge sharing can be improved through its classification and retrieval; and the way in which taxonomies play a vital role in the working of the so-called "semantic web". The article notes that taxonomies can help to avoid the problems created by similar sounding words or words with multiple meanings, and can help to give web resources a more professional, organized look, and improve site navigation. A basic guide is provided for implementing taxonomies by covering some of the basic issues involved. (Original abstract)
Business Information Review
Volume 22 Number 3 (September 2005)
For the second time in two years, a key part of Britain's e-government strategy is in chaos because of uncertainty about who owns postal addresses. The government revealed last week that plans to create a national database of addresses – essential for schemes ranging from the identity card to the reform of the fire service – had been suspended because public agencies had failed to meet a deadline for agreement. Local Government Minister Jim Fitzpatrick said he is "disappointed" at the failure of talks to create the so-called national spatial address infrastructure. A leading expert in geographical information, Dr Robert Barr of the University of Manchester, described the failure as "the latest, and perhaps the most serious, breakdown" of "five years' bickering ... during which there has been a scandalous waste of public money". The heart of the issue is thought to be the fees that bodies such as the local authorities, which have contributed the data, would have to pay the Ordnance Survey to get access to it.
Michael Cross, The Guardian 18 August
Simon Briscoe, Statistics Editor, FT.com 28 August
When one small businessman checked his emails he was very surprised to see that, according to Companies House, the address of his registered office had been moved. As far as he was concerned his family business was in the same place it had been for the past 100 years. Research revealed he had become a victim of identity theft. He was very lucky in that he had signed up to a service which monitors changes at Companies House. He called Companies House, assuming it was a mistake. However, he was unable to remove the fraudulent entry from his company filing history without going to court. This left him with a significant legal bill. Having changed the address, and maybe even the names of directors, the fradusters can now trade on the good name of the business and order goods to be supplied to the new address which will, of course, not be paid for. Both the supplier and the legitimate business will not even realise what is happening until it's far too late to catch the perpetrators. Prevent company identity theft by:
The Federation of Small Businesses is concerned that companies have to go through a court procedure to get data rectified and yet making the change in the first place is extremely simple.
Western Mail 24 August
Andrew E Clark
Job quality may usefully be thought of as depending on both job values (how much workers care about different job outcomes) and the job outcomes themselves. Here, both cross-section and panel data are used to examine changes in job quality in OECD countries during the 1990s. Despite rising wages and falling hours of work, overall job satisfaction is either stable or declining. These movements are neither due to changes in the type of workers nor because of changes in their job values. Some pieces of evidence point to stress and hard work as being strong candidates for what has gone wrong with employees' jobs. We find evidence of increasing inequality in a number of job outcomes. Some groups of workers have done better than others: the young and the highly educated have been insulated against downward movements in job quality, and there is tentative evidence that trade unions may have protected their members against adverse job outcomes.
British Journal of Industrial Relations
Volume 43 Issue 3 September 2005
A new study has found that working long hours can lead to serious health problems, but if you can't leave the office on the dot of 5pm, what you can do to keep yourself healthy?
The idea that working too hard can be bad for us is nothing new: the problem was first highlighted in a government investigation in 1916. But we are working longer hours than ever and, as reported last week, we are increasingly putting our health at risk. The body interprets excessively long hours of work as a threat and triggers a stress response. More than 3.5 million people in this country work more than 48 hours a week, and a new American study, published in Occupational and Environmental Medicine, has confirmed that the health consequences can be severe. Researchers found that for people working a 12-hour day, the risk of becoming ill increased by 37%. Experts fear that Britain's health and productivity will nose-dive unless the long-hours culture can be curbed, but even with stricter regulations, many will still find themselves working late. So if we can't do anything about the amount of time we spend in the work-place, what, at least, can we do to protect our health while we're there? In brief:
Chloe Rhodes, The Daily Telegraph 28 August
"If you look like your passport photo, you're too ill to travel."
Will Kommen
The way that communication takes place within an organisation has profound effects on the thinking and emotional state of the people who inhabit it. There is a direct net effect that internal language has on productivity. More and more business leaders are now beginning to consider the type of language being used within their organisations and the impact it is having on their people. When we use verbal and written language, including emails and text messages, we are utilising a structured language system that consists of a series of coded messages that have meaning for our selves and others – we have learned the meanings during our lifetime of experiences within a given community. Occasionally, the meaning of the coded language transmission is rather different to the "code breaking" of the recipient of the language. Just how many times at work have we heard the expression (or used it ourselves) "I didn't mean it like that"? The worst offender is that three-letter-word "but" which follows from the dropped tone at the end of the "praise sentence". For example, "I liked the contribution that you made to the discussion ..." is usually followed by "but" and then the speaker goes on to criticise, often unnecessarily. It is here that the damage is done. One senior manager said she knew that when a downward inflection was combined with "faint praise" that a "But Monster" was about to bite her, and that what was coming would be painful. Adrenaline prepares you to "fight or flee" – if the "But Monster" is being used by your manager you do neither, and build up stress.
Nick Drake-Knight <www.hypnoticbusiness.co.uk/> helps managers and employees recognise the language patterns being used within their businesses, and the impact language is having within their organisation. He is a professionally qualified clinical hypnotherapist and Member of the British Society of Clinical Hypnosis.
HRLooK Review
Update comment: Guilty as charged, m'lud. From now on every time I say "you've done well with this" I must not even think of saying "but it would be even better if ..."
Recent discussions surrounding the Working Time Directive threw up an interesting problem. How does a person determine whether their hours should be considered "measured" or "unmeasured" for the purposes of the Directive? An employee who works unmeasured hours, such as a manager, is not subject to the 48 hours a week maximum working time limit, in the same way that an employee working "measured" hours is. The "Hair Cut Test" was identified as a reasonable indicator of the nature of an employee's working week. If they can elect to have their hair cut when they want during working hours, they can be considered to be "autonomous decision-makers" who work unmeasured hours.
Professional Manager Volume 14 Issue 4 (July 2005)
The Disability Rights Commission has launched its Impact Report for 2004-05, which also looks at the progress the DRC has made on disability equality over the past five years in the areas of education, employment, services and transport, and health, social care and independent living.
Hard copies can be ordered from the DRC helpline
tel: 08457 622 633
The report (PDF, Word or RTF) is also at www.drc-gb.org/whatwedo/annual.asp
DRC Email Bulletin Number 39 (August 05)
Thousands of disabled students will have new rights to better access on university and further education campuses under new laws in force from Thursday 1 September. Under the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA), universities and colleges must make "reasonable" changes to their premises to make them more user-friendly for Britain's disabled students. A failure to do so could result in disabled students taking court action. Campuses will have to ensure that lecture halls, libraries, ICT suites and halls of residence are more user-friendly. This includes altering steps, providing lifts, dropping kerbs, and making sure better lighting and clear signage are provided where it is reasonable to do so. This is the final part of provisions for post-16 education under the DDA.
Disability Rights Commission press release 25 August
Now where have we all heard this before? This time, however, the "college" is higher education in the USA. An article by Tamar Lewin in the New York Times of 17 August indicates that "Only about half of this year's high school graduates have the reading skills they need to succeed in college, and even fewer are prepared for college-level science and math courses, according to a yearly report from ACT, which produces one of the nation's leading college admissions tests." "It is very likely that hundreds of thousands of students will have a disconnect between their plans for college and the cold reality of their readiness for college," Richard L Ferguson, Chief Executive of ACT, said in an online news conference yesterday.
Copyright problems have resulted in Google temporarily suspending their plans to scan and copy books from five of the world's top libraries. Google Print has been halted and in-copyright books will not be scanned from now until November 2005. The move follows an outcry by publishers. Copyright holders now have time to inform Google about any books they do not wish to be scanned for the programme.
Managing Information Newsletter Issue 184 (22 August)
Hyped technologies: digital paper, P2P VoIP, podcasting, grid computing, corporate blogging, desktop search, XBRL, RSS, biometrics. Expectations inflate, disillusionment sinks in and eventually a plateau of productivity is found. Gartner researchers have charted the lot. The company has recently released its 2005 Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies, assessing the maturity, impact and adoption speed of 44 technologies and trends over the coming decade. Carbon nanotubes and speech recognition, service-oriented architecture and RFID also feature in the Hype Cycle which charts the progression of an emerging technology from conception, to market over-enthusiasm, through a period of disillusionment, to an eventual understanding of the technology's relevance and role in a market or domain. As such, the Hype Cycle provides a valuable aid to strategic planners who advise their organisations on the adoption of emerging technologies.
OUT-LAW News 24 August
Access from www.out-law.com (free registration required)
We now have devices that allow us to email or text message wherever we go. Good idea? Not necessarily – some people say it can become an addiction. According to a recent research study conducted at the University of London for Hewlett-Packard, the need that some people feel to constantly check messages is not only boorish but it can "make Jack a dull boy". Psychologists at the university reported the results of clinical trials that show the compulsive use of communications devices can lower your IQ by as many as 10 points – equivalent to operating without a night's sleep and 2½ times as much as smoking a typical joint. (That's not recommended either – cannabis is illegal!) How do you know if you suffer from some form of "info-mania"? Consult the HP Guide to Info-Mania <http://tinyurl.com/agfxh>. Dick Kaser, Vice President of Content for Information Today Inc, urges those of us not yet infected to stay clear (or should that be clean?)
Information Today Volume 22 Issue 6 (June 2005)
Update comment: The original report was published in April – evidenced by The Scotsman ("Too much info has the same effect as cannabis") and the Manchester Evening News ("E-mails fog brain worse than cannabis") but we must have missed it.
The LSC has agreed to scrap the penalty system, under which colleges that fail to meet their targets have a proportion of their funding clawed back. From the next academic year, colleges will no longer have to pay money back to the funding body if student numbers or achievements fall short of those forecast.
Joe Clancy, TES FE Focus 12 August
John Harwood, formerly Chief Executive of the Learning and Skills Council, welcomes "a coherent study" on the 16-19 funding gap crisis. The next step is, he says, to "take action". The "coherent study" was published recently by the Learning and Skills Development Agency (LSDA). It was commissioned last year by the Learning and Skills Council (LSC), completed this Spring and has only just been published. The LSDA study confirms what everyone involved in post-16 education knows: that there is a big difference between the funding levels for students in sixth form colleges and those in schools. The study helpfully sets out in lay language how the LSC funding system actually works, why there is a funding gap and how much it amounts to. It confirms that the gap is around 13% – higher than the most recent assessments by the DfES would suggest. That amounts to some £400 per student. All this is, of course, no surprise to anyone familiar with LSC funding. What is equally important about the study is that it recommends a well-thought-through eight-point plan for eliminating the gap.
John Harwood was the first Chief Executive of the Learning and Skills Council and is now an associate fellow of the Warwick Business School
The Guardian 23 August
Moving once again to ease the requirements of the nation's tough new education law, Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings announced yesterday (1 September) that she would allow the Chicago Public Schools to run federally financed tutoring programs for students at low-performing schools, despite Chicago's failure to meet academic goals. It was the second time in a week that
Ms Spellings had extended new flexibility in her enforcement of President Bush's signature education law, known as No Child Left Behind. Earlier she had extended a waiver to four Virginia districts, allowing them to offer tutoring before they offer the chance to transfer out of failing schools.
Sam Dillon, NYTimes 2 September
Update comment: I couldn't resist letting you know that the UK government is not the only one moving goalposts so that targets can be reached!
Research into the UK's email habits, by peripherals firm i.Tech Dynamic, reveals the top five email gripes as:
Iain Thomson, VNUNET.com Weekly News Review 3 August
Marshall Breeding, a regular contributor to Computers in Libraries, is the Library Technology Officer at Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee. Mr Breeding celebrates his 20th anniversary in a temporary job to set out some of the things he's learned along the way
I've reversed the order of the last two points to concentrate on context. Yet another expert is telling us that "technology is never an end in itself". Technology is a means to an end – it is a tool and just as you can travel from your house to your friend's house by car, bus, tram, train, airplane, boat or on foot depending on the context of your travel, so with technology. Is your friend's house close enough so that you can walk? Have you a disability which makes walking difficult or impossible? Are you a long-distance runner? Start by setting out the context, the overall requirement, and then, and only then, look at the technology which will help you to get to where you wish to be. And remember, money, or rather the lack of it, may not be the only obstacle to change that you have to overcome – barriers are part of the context.
In an article for The Guardian (8 August), Andrew Shanahan presents a Do-It-Yourself guide on how to deal with office technology. Mr Shanahan answers questions such as:
Full article: http://tinyurl.com/84dur
Update comment: Dawn says that there's a few decent hints and tips so I'd better read it because I thought she knew all the "tips and tricks". Hazel
The UK remains ranked first in the world for broadband availability yet still lags behind on offering competitively-priced services, according to latest research. The UK Broadband Status Report shows that, while the UK retained its top-ranking position availability during Q1 2005, it is currently in fourth place regarding prices. Customers in Japan, France and Canada enjoy considerably cheaper prices.
E-Gov Monitor Weekly Issue 177 (1 August)
Full report (PDF 43pp) www.egovmonitor.com/reports/rep11898.pdf
Jack Schofield in his regular Thursday column for The Guardian (11 August) commisserates with Jeremy Clarkson of The Sunday Times who is visiting an osteopath for a slipped disc – Jack is "just" having physiotherapy for a cricked neck. If you want to avoid the problems experienced by both these experts then "keep your ears, shoulders and hips in line, with the top of your computer screen just below the height of your eyes". Sorry – no can do with a laptop! Well, plug in a separate monitor or a separate keyboard and mouse but don't hunch over this thing that calls itself a laptop while it is actually in or on your lap. Ten-minute breaks every hour? Do you? Should you? The latest advice is a shorter break every twenty minutes.
Further information: Visual Ergonomics in the Office