House of Commons - Public Administration Select Committee: Trith to Power: How Civil Service Reforem Can Succeed - HC 74

House of Commons - Public Administration Select Committee: Trith to Power: How Civil Service Reforem Can Succeed - HC 74
Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Public Administration Select Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
Total Pages: 364
Release: 2013-09-06
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 9780215061751

The Public Administration Select Committee (PASC) has concluded a year-long inquiry into the future of the Civil Service with only one recommendation: that Parliament should establish a Joint Committee of both Houses to sit as a Commission on the future of the Civil Service. It should be constituted within the next few months and report before the end of the Parliament with a comprehensive change programme for Whitehall with a timetable to be implemented over the lifetime of the next Parliament. The Report considers the increased tensions between ministers and officials which have become widely reported, and places the problems in Whitehall in a wider context of a Civil Service built on the Northcote-Trevelyan settlement established in 1853 and the Haldane principles of ministerial accountability set out in 1919. The government's Civil Service Reform Plan lacks strategic coherence and clear leadership from a united team of ministers and officials. The Northcote-Trevelyan Civil Service remains the most effective way of supporting the democratically elected Government and future administrations in the UK. Divided leadership and confused accountabilities in Whitehall have led to problems: a low level of engagement amongst civil servants in some departments and agencies, and a general lack of trust and openness; the Civil Service exhibits the key characteristics of a failing organisation with the leadership are in denial about the scale of the challenge they face. There is a persistent lack of key skills and capabilities across Whitehall and an unacceptably high level of churn of lead officials, which is incompatible with good government.

HC 703 - Government Horizon Scanning

HC 703 - Government Horizon Scanning
Author: Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Select Committee on Science and Technology
Publisher: The Stationery Office
Total Pages: 52
Release: 2014-05-04
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0215071840

The Government launched its new horizon scanning programme last July, stating that 'in a tight economic climate, it is more important than ever to have the best possible understanding of the world around us, and how that world is changing'. However, as it stands, the new programme is little more than an echo chamber for Government views. The new bodies that have been created consist entirely of Civil Servants, effectively excluding the vast pool of expertise that exists outside of government. The new programme does not even have a dedicated web presence to keep interested parties informed. The programme's failings are partially attributed to a lack of ministerial oversight. The Government also needs to recognise the potential role to be played in the new programme by the Government Office for Science (GO-Science), specifically the Foresight Unit. The relative lack of impact that the Foresight Unit has historically had on policy is largely a result of its non-central location in government. GO-Science is located in the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS). In contrast, the new horizon scanning programme is located in the Cabinet Office. In choosing to situate the new horizon scanning programme in the Cabinet Office, the Government has recognised the importance of location and has thereby acknowledged the strength of this argument. GO-Science should be relocated from BIS to the Cabinet Office, where it can play a more central role in the new programme and more effectively fulfill its role of ensuring that the best scientific evidence is utilised across government

HC 244 - National Health Screening

HC 244 - National Health Screening
Author: Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Select Committee on Science and Technology
Publisher: The Stationery Office
Total Pages: 64
Release: 2014
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 0215078535

The risks and benefits of participating in screening programmes, for conditions and diseases like cancer, are not consistently communicated by either the NHS or private health care providers, the Science and Technology Committee has warned in a new report. It is calling on the Government to ensure that a standardised process to produce screening information is introduced and that better communications training is provided to health care professionals. A recently revised breast cancer screening leaflet for the 50-70 age group - with its more explicit focus on helping women make an 'informed choice' about whether screening is right for them - marks a step in the right direction. However, the inquiry found that the principles followed to revise this leaflet have not been applied to the communications developed by other NHS screening programmes. The Committee recommends that steps are immediately taken by the Government's advisor on screening, the UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC), to devise and implement a standard process for producing information that facilitates informed choice. It also recommends a clarification of what 'informed choice' means for potential screening participants so that different screening programmes can be more effectively evaluated on their delivery of it. MPs are also calling on the Office for National Statistics to validate the statistics presented in NHS screening information to resolve disagreement and confusion over their accuracy.

HC 710 - Appointment of the Chair of the Independent Inquiry into Sexual Abuse

HC 710 - Appointment of the Chair of the Independent Inquiry into Sexual Abuse
Author: Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Home Affairs Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
Total Pages: 28
Release: 2015
Genre: Law
ISBN: 021508151X

On 7 July 2014, the Home Secretary announced the establishment of an Independent Panel Inquiry to consider whether public bodies and non-state institutions had taken seriously their duty to protect children from sexual abuse. Baroness Butler-Sloss, former President of the Family Division of the High Court, was appointed Chair of the panel on 8 July, but she stepped down on 14 July after MPs and survivor groups expressed concerns about the possibility that the inquiry might have to consider decisions taken by her late brother, Sir Michael Havers, as Attorney General in the 1980s. Fiona Woolf CBE JP, the Lord Mayor of London, was appointed Chair on 5 September, but stepped down on 31 October after concerns were raised about her social contacts with Lord and Lady Brittan. On 4 February 2015, the Home Secretary announced plans to appoint Justice Lowell Goddard, a judge of the High Court of New Zealand, as the new Chair of the inquiry. She also announced that she would be dissolving the existing Panel and establishing a new, statutory inquiry under the Inquiries Act 2005. Prior to the announcement of the new proposed Chair, the Committee took oral evidence about the panel inquiry During those evidence sessions witnesses' views were heard on the Home Office's process for selecting candidates for the new chair. There were well-publicised problems with the appointment of the Panel, which resulted in the early resignation of two previous Chairs. It is important that a Chair is now appointed who will command the confidence of survivors

Information Rights

Information Rights
Author: Philip Coppel KC
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 2530
Release: 2023-09-21
Genre: Law
ISBN: 150996732X

“An essential addition to the bookshelf of any practitioner who has to consider information rights, however often. The book is the best kind of practitioner text: practical and clear, but also scholarly, thoughtful and analytical.” (Sarah Hannett KC, Judicial Review) Retaining the position it has held since first publication, this is the 6th edition of the leading practitioner text on all aspects of information law. The latest edition includes a substantially enlarged set of chapters on appeals, enforcement, and remedies, as well as covering over 250 new judgments and decisions published since the last edition. Information Rights has been cited by the Supreme Court, Court of Appeal and the Tribunals, and is used by practitioners, judges and all those who practise in the field, including journalists. The new edition maintains its style of succinct statements of principle, supported by case law, legislative provisions, and statutory guidance. The work is divided into 2 volumes. Volume 1 is a 1,500-page commentary, with a comprehensive coverage of the data protection regime, freedom of information and environmental information law, as well as other rights of access to official information such as local government legislation and the Public Records Act. There is detailed coverage of appeal and regulatory procedures. Volume 2 comprises extensive annotated statutory material, including the DPA 2018, the UK GDPR, FOIA, Tribunal rules and statutory guidance. Contributors: James Findlay KC, Olivia Davies, John Fitzsimons, Richard Hanstock and Dr Christina Lienen (all of Cornerstone Barristers); Antony White KC, Sarah Hannett KC, Sara Mansoori KC and Aidan Wills (all of Matrix Chambers); Aidan Eardley KC and Clara Hamer (both of 5RB); Rupert Bowers KC and Martin Westgate KC (both of Doughty Street Chambers); Henry King KC and Bankim Thanki KC (both of Fountain Court Chambers); James Maurici KC and Jacqueline Lean (both of Landmark Chambers); Gemma White KC (Blackstone Chambers); Oliver Sanders KC (1 Crown Office Row); Saima Hanif KC (3VB); Jennifer Thelen (39 Essex Chambers); and Simon McKay (McKay Law).

Government's alcohol strategy

Government's alcohol strategy
Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Health Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
Total Pages: 172
Release: 2012-07-19
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 9780215046857

The main focus of the alcohol strategy is binge drinking and its consequences for anti-social behaviour. Those are important issues, but the health impact of chronic alcohol misuse is also significant and greater emphasis needs to be placed on addressing that impact. In order to be effective the Strategy needs some clearer objectives to provide a framework for both policy judgements and accountability. The Committee recommends that Public Health England should have a central role in developing these objectives, and linking them to local strategies in every area across the country. The Committee supports the decision to introduce a minimum unit price for alcohol, but a transparent process must be put in place in order to ensure that the price level is evidence-based and is monitored to assess its effectiveness. The Committee concludes that: the Responsibility Deal is intrinsic to responsible corporate citizenship, but it is not a substitute for Government policy; the alcohol industry needs to acknowledge that its advertising messages do have an effect on attitudes if it wishes to be seen as a serious committed partner in the Responsibility; rules on alcohol advertising should be re-examined to reduce the likelihood of adverts influencing young people under 18; Public Health England should undertake an evaluation of the effectiveness of the Responsibility Deal and should commission a study into the principles and implications of introducing the French Loi Evin; the Department of Health's work on which models of treatment provision are most effective in addressing the health issues caused by alcohol abuse is welcome

Security as Politics

Security as Politics
Author: Neal Andrew W. Neal
Publisher: Edinburgh University Press
Total Pages: 314
Release: 2019-03-21
Genre: Military policy
ISBN: 1474450954

Andrew W. Neal argues that while 'security' was once an anti-political 'exception' in liberal democracies - a black box of secret intelligence and military decision-making at the dark heart of the state - it has now become normalised in professional political life. This represents a direct challenge to critical security studies debates and their core assumption that security is a kind of illiberal and undemocratic 'anti-politics'. Using archival research and interviews with politicians, Neal investigates security politics from the 1980s to the present day to show how its meaning and practice have changed over time. In doing so, he develops an original reassessment of the security/politics relationship.