Councils In England Research Articles

Safeguarding Children and Young People is Everyone's Responsibility

Safeguarding Children and Young People is Everyone's Responsibility

Co‐production, governance and practice: The dynamics and effects of User Voice Prison Councils

AbstractDrawing on Bevir's (2013) decentered theory of governance, and Donati's (2016) theory of the relational subject, this article explores how User Voice Prison Councils in England have contributed to shifts in aspects of prison governance and practice. It discusses the cultural and policy context in which the Councils emerged and operate before exploring their perceived purposes, dynamics, and effects. User Voice Prison Councils represent an important example of different actors co‐producing alternative patterns of governance through innovations in democratic participation. Interviews with Prison Council participants, User Voice and prison staff revealed that the development of such “bottom–up” participatory governance practices require and restore interpersonal trust, the mechanisms of which are interactions underpinned by a distinct manner of relating and the establishment of a network of relations oriented to the common good. The effects include enhanced institutional legitimacy; improvements in prison officer‐prisoner relations; and greater quality of life for prisoners. Revealing the “how” of co‐production, from the “inside”, the argument advanced here is that while the effects of co‐production may be more ameliorative than transformative, such collaborative and dialogic approaches can enable differently situated people to forge new norms of interactions and forms of democratic participation to achieve collective goals.

REF impact and the discipline of politics and international studies

On 22–23 November 2016, the Department of Politics and International Studies (PAIS) at the University of Warwick hosted a lively conference on research ‘impact’, a key component of the Research Excellence Framework (REF)—the periodic peer review in UK Higher Education to evaluate the quality of academic work, in turn determining how nearly £2 billion of annual research funding is allocated among competing institutions. In contrast to many other conferences and workshops about impact, a feature of REF that has generated much fevered commentary across the university sector about the public value of academic research, our event was tightly focused on impact as it relates to the discipline of Politics and International Studies. Featuring presentations from a range of academic and non-academic constituencies—including journalists, government officials, and representatives from the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE),1 the creator and (at the time of writing) controller of the REF—conversation was particularly timely, owing to the publication, a few months earlier, of the eagerly awaited Stern Review on the future of university research assessment. This special issue contains selected papers from the conference, with the goal of shedding light on how the discipline as a whole, but also its varied composite parts, is responding to the impact agenda in the lead up to REF2021, now looming close on the horizon. We are grateful to the contributors for their participation and for opening up many new facets to the ongoing dialogue about impact.

BAME Staff and Public Service Motivation: The Mediating Role of Perceived Fairness in English Local Government

This study aims to examine the perceptions of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) staff in English local government on the ethical nature of their treatment at work, and its mediating effect on their Public Service Motivation (PSM). This is a particular imperative in a sector which itself delivers social justice within a strong regulatory system designed to ensure workplace equality and therefore is expected to be a model employer for other organisations. Employees place great importance on their fair treatment by their employers and, in particular, the endeavour of managerial authority to implement equality at work based on their discretionary powers. 2580 valid responses were collected from 15,000 questionnaires sent to staff in five local councils in England. Our analyses show that BAME employees have a significantly stronger PSM than their white colleagues; however, this has been eroded by their perception of unfair treatment: being underpaid allied with a lack of effort from management to ensure an equal work environment, to be specific, to prevent discrimination, bullying, and racism at workplace. Most importantly, the perceived exertion made by management to ensure an equal work environment has a significantly strong mediating effect on PSM and a compensational effect on perceived lower pay. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Public Spaces Protection Orders: a critical policy analysis

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to critically appraise the Public Spaces Protection Orders (PSPOs) policy that was introduced by the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act (2014). Within a designated area assigned by the local council, PSPOs can prohibit or require specific behaviours to improve the quality of life for people inhabiting that space. Those who do not comply face a fixed penalty notice of £100 or a fine of £1,000 on summary conviction. However, the practical and theoretical impact associated with the development of these powers has yet to be fully explored.Design/methodology/approachUsing Bannister and O’Sullivan’s (2013) discussion of civility and anti-social behaviour policy as a starting point, the authors show how PSPOs could create new frontiers in exclusion, intolerance and criminalisation, as PSPOs enable the prohibition of any type of behaviour perceived to negatively affect the quality of life.FindingsLocal councils in England and Wales now have unlimited and unregulated powers to control public spaces. The authors suggest that this has the potential to produce localised tolerance thresholds and civility agendas that currently target and further marginalise vulnerable people, and the authors highlight street sleeping homeless people as one such group.Originality/valueThere has been little academic debate on this topic. This paper raises a number of original, conceptual questions that provide an analytical framework for future empirical research. The authors also use original data from Freedom of Information requests to contextualise the discussions.

Dysfunction of NaV1.4, a skeletal muscle voltage-gated sodium channel, in sudden infant death syndrome: a case-control study

SummaryBackgroundSudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) is the leading cause of post-neonatal infant death in high-income countries. Central respiratory system dysfunction seems to contribute to these deaths. Excitation that drives contraction of skeletal respiratory muscles is controlled by the sodium channel NaV1.4, which is encoded by the gene SCN4A. Variants in NaV1.4 that directly alter skeletal muscle excitability can cause myotonia, periodic paralysis, congenital myopathy, and myasthenic syndrome. SCN4A variants have also been found in infants with life-threatening apnoea and laryngospasm. We therefore hypothesised that rare, functionally disruptive SCN4A variants might be over-represented in infants who died from SIDS.MethodsWe did a case-control study, including two consecutive cohorts that included 278 SIDS cases of European ancestry and 729 ethnically matched controls without a history of cardiovascular, respiratory, or neurological disease. We compared the frequency of rare variants in SCN4A between groups (minor allele frequency <0·00005 in the Exome Aggregation Consortium). We assessed biophysical characterisation of the variant channels using a heterologous expression system.FindingsFour (1·4%) of the 278 infants in the SIDS cohort had a rare functionally disruptive SCN4A variant compared with none (0%) of 729 ethnically matched controls (p=0·0057).InterpretationRare SCN4A variants that directly alter NaV1.4 function occur in infants who had died from SIDS. These variants are predicted to significantly alter muscle membrane excitability and compromise respiratory and laryngeal function. These findings indicate that dysfunction of muscle sodium channels is a potentially modifiable risk factor in a subset of infant sudden deaths.FundingUK Medical Research Council, the Wellcome Trust, National Institute for Health Research, the British Heart Foundation, Biotronik, Cardiac Risk in the Young, Higher Education Funding Council for England, Dravet Syndrome UK, the Epilepsy Society, the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development of the National Institutes of Health, and the Mayo Clinic Windland Smith Rice Comprehensive Sudden Cardiac Death Program.

The landscape of professional doctorate provision in English higher education institutions: Inconsistencies, tensions and unsustainability

This article reports findings from a recent research project, commissioned by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), which explored the current landscape of professional doctorate (PD) provision in English higher education institutions (HEIs) (Mellors-Bourne et al., 2016). Given the absence of a clear definition by the Quality Assurance Agency for England of the characteristics that distinguish PDs from practice-based doctorates and the doctor of philosophy, this paper makes a timely contribution through considering the inherent characteristics of PD programmes. The paper presents an overview of the state of play of PD programmes currently available in HEIs in England, highlighting how the proliferation of PD titles and programmes, and inconsistencies between the various programmes, has resulted in confusion about what PDs are, the contribution they make, and the value they add to professional practice. Consideration is given to the tensions created through the expansion in the number and types of PDs available, and the implications of these tensions with regard to the future sustainability of PD programmes in general and in relation to the professional doctorate in education (EdD) in particular.

Measuring the value of placements to employers

This article explores the concept and measurement of placement value, underexplored in theory and practice to date. The article makes a theoretical contribution to the placement value discourse by examining and articulating the placement value concept. It also offers a practical contribution by exploring a piloted tool to evaluate employer placement value, developed as part of a project funded by the Higher Education Funding Council for England. It examines the immaturity of the placement value concept against contemporary value discourse, including service- and goods-dominant logic frameworks (exploring value-in-use and value-in-exchange) and calls for greater attention to be paid to placement value to support the sustainable provision of placements.

Explaining Low Uptake of Direct Payments in Residential Care: Findings from the Evaluation of the Direct Payments in Residential Care Trailblazers

AbstractIn 2012, the Government invited local councils in England to participate in a pilot programme to test direct payments in residential care. While the programme was set up to allow for comprehensive summative evaluation, the uptake of direct payments in residential care was substantially lower than anticipated, with only 40 people in receipt of one at the end of the programme. Drawing on qualitative data collected for the evaluation, this paper aims to understand better the barriers to implementing direct payments in residential care. Evidence from the use of direct payments in domiciliary care identified gatekeeping by council frontline staff as a major barrier for service users to access direct payments. Our findings suggest that, whilst selectivity of both service users and providers was an integral part of the programme design, gatekeeping does not fully explain the poor take-up. Other factors played a part, such as lack of clarity about the benefits of direct payments for care home residents, the limited range and scope of choice of services for residents, and concerns from care providers about the financial impact of direct payments on their financial sustainability.

Bridging the gap: a case study of a partnership approach to skills development through student engagement in Bristol’s Green Capital year

ABSTRACTHEIs are well placed to engage with local communities, and can connect students with organisations through several pathways, such as volunteering opportunities, placements, internships, or projects. The University of the West of England, Bristol (UWE), the University of Bristol and their respective Students’ Unions have been working in partnership with the city and local communities, using HEFCE Catalyst funding to promote student involvement in sustainability activity during Bristol’s year as European Green Capital. The Green Capital Student Capital project has created a broad programme of citywide impact through mobilising the enthusiasm of the city’s student body. It delivered a wide-ranging programme of engagement in city sustainability and in so doing developed skills, knowledge and attributes in the student body that support the development of graduate attributes and a more sustainable lifestyle. The project demonstrates how institutions can collaborate across cities and communities to have internal and external impacts for sustainability.Abbreviations:ASHE: Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings; BGCP: Bristol Green Capital Partnership; CBI: Confederation of British Industry; HEFCE: Higher Education Funding Council for England; HEIs: Higher Education Institutions; NUS: National Union of Students; ONS: Office for National Statistics; SME: Small and Medium sized Enterprises; UK: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland; UoB: University of Bristol; UWE: The University of the West of England, Bristol.

Lessons in learning gain: insights from a pilot project

‘Learning gain’ has become an increasingly prominent concept in debates about the effectiveness of higher education across OECD countries. In England, interest has been heightened by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE)’s major research initiative on learning gain, launched in 2015, and by the new Teaching Excellence Framework which assesses learning and teaching and student outcomes. HEFCE’s novel research initiative has funded a set of experimental projects across the English higher education sector for the first time. This paper presents preliminary findings from one such project at the University of East Anglia (UEA). The project trials and evaluates three approaches to identifying and measuring learning gain using data from cohorts of students across different discipline areas during 2015–2016 and 2016–2017. It builds upon previous work carried out at UEA in developing self-efficacy assessments and applying concept inventories. Student marks provide a simple comparator as a third approach to measuring learning gain.

Book review: Teaching Excellence in Higher Education: Challenges, Changes and the Teaching Excellence Framework by Amanda French and Matt O'Leary

The Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) aims to recognise and reward excellence in teaching and learning, and help inform prospective students' choices for higher education (Higher Education Funding Council for England, 2017). Developed by the Department of Education in England and first trialled in 2016, the TEF claims to be a voluntary scheme that recognises excellent teaching and helps students choose where to study through awarding institutions a gold, silver or bronze status. From 2018-19, universities with a TEF award will be allowed to increase their tuition fees in line with inflation. The TEF has, however, been met with some concern. This debate is critical in shaping how we think of teaching and learning, the ways in which we seek to develop educational practice and, as learning developers, should be something we engage with, as Amanda French points out in Chapter 2 of this book: The TEF, one can argue therefore, should be regarded as much more than a tool for measuring teaching excellence; it has the potential to become the key vehicle for changing the face of the HE sector in Britain (pp.11-12).

Risk management of the English universities after the 2008 financial crisis

ABSTRACTThe objective of the paper is to identify whether the global financial crisis in 2008 re-shaped risk management in the English universities in order to avoid future financial turbulence and manage risk in uncertain and insecure environments. The paper examined changes in the risk management mechanism of the English university system between 2008 and 2014. The study focused on the state-university nexus, scrutinising the regulation and policy instruments of an English higher education funding body, the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) (1992–2018).The paper argues that the 2008 financial crisis neither reshaped the risk management mechanism in the English university system nor changed the state-university relationship. The effect of the financial crisis on the risk management mechanism in the university sector was neither structural nor dynamic. The development of the English risk management system, which was well under way before 2008, was not noticeably accelerated by the subsequent financial stringency.

Same old drop-out story

Your editorial and analysis on student drop-out rates (6 September) makes the comment that high attrition is not a new issue. The records of the General Nursing Council for England and Wales show that between 1951 and 1968 student ‘discontinuations’ from training for all parts of the register, ranged between 31% and 47%.

Setting the scene for the REACT programme: aims, challenges and the way ahead

This paper provides an introduction to the two-year programme REACT (Realising Engagement through Active Culture Transformation), funded by HEFCE (Higher Education Funding Council for England) from July 2015 to July 2017. REACT has at its core three institutional student-engagement initiatives and these are described in order to give a background context to the joint foci of the programme: ‘student engagement’ and ‘hard-to-reach’ students, both of which terms are considered as complex and problematic. The paper lays out the aims and ambitions of REACT, considers the many challenges of interpreting them in practice and highlights how this multi-streamed programme has developed across three core Universities, in collaboration of twelve further Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) from across England. It also describes the three core strands of the programme: the ‘Collaborative Development Programme’, the’ REACT Research Project’, and ‘Dissemination’, each of which was of importance to planning and heavily influenced programme outcomes.

Realising Engagement through Active Culture Transformation: An Introduction to the REACT Programme

The REACT programme was designed to make a significant impact on student engagement and the student experience in the Higher Education (HE) sector in England and Wales over a two-year period, from July 2015 to July 2017. The focus, in particular, was on the engagement of so-called ‘hard to reach’ students, and the programme included: investigation into the term ‘hard to reach’ and a consideration of which students are characterised in this way; a formal research project looking at links between student engagement, retention and attainment; and a development programme as a collaboration between fifteen UK universities. Outcomes from each of these were disseminated at a final conference at the University of Winchester in May 2017, where practice and findings from the programme as a whole were shared. The programme also included the creation of a website of case studies and tools for use by the sector. The programme was funded by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) and was formally evaluated by an external team from GuildHE.

Online Peer Mentoring and Collaborative Reflection: A Cross-institutional Project in Sports Coaching

In recent years, calls have grown for the use of digital technologies to transform coach education and enhance student learning; however, empirical research evidence for their efficacy is lacking. This paper describes our initial experiences of a Higher Education Funding Council for England funded project, designed to facilitate online peer mentoring and collaborative reflection between bachelor degree students at two separate UK universities. So far, the pedagogical approach has been differentially effective, with three categories describing our current perceptions of successful and/or unsuccessful student engagement in it. Namely, students require an adequate knowledge base, an appropriate technological and personal skillset, and the attitudinal dispositions to deploy them effectively.

The “Power Curve” of Victim Harm: Targeting the Distribution of Crime Harm Index Values Across All Victims and Repeat Victims over 1 Year

Is the vast majority of crime harm in one police force area over 1 year suffered by a small percent of all known victims, with many of those most-harmed victims suffering repeated and perhaps preventable crimes if more police resources were to be invested in them? All 30,244 crimes recorded as committed against all 25,831 persons with one or more known victimization reported between 1 June 2015 and 31 May 2016 in Dorset, UK. Each criminal event was weighted by the Cambridge Crime Harm Index (CHI) method, using the number of days of imprisonment recommended by the Sentencing Council for England and Wales as the “starting point” for sentencing offenders convicted in each crime category. Regardless of whether an offender was detected or convicted, each crime was coded with the starting point penalty. The total number of days assigned was then summed across all crimes in Dorset and individually for each victim, with the victims rank-ordered from highest to lowest number of total days of recommended imprisonment assigned to each (the Cambridge CHI value). Under 4% of victims (968) suffered 85% of the CHI value of total days of recommended punishment for the crimes against all victims, with sex offences and robbery contributing almost two thirds of total CHI harm (63%).Almost one third (29%) of the harm were committed against repeat victims, including their first victimization within the 1-year period. Slightly over half of the harm against those repeat victims (57% of the harm across 4211 victimizations against repeat victims) occurred after their first victimization, equal to 15% of total harm to all victims that year. Just 256 repeat victims, comprising 1% of all victims, suffered 26% of total victim harm, ranging from 2 to 14 victimizations per person. The mean CHI value for each of these repeat victims was 1396 days (∼4 years) of recommended imprisonment for the totals of anywhere from 2 to 14 crimes against each member of this beleaguered 1%. The overall concentration of harm in a tiny fraction of all victims forms a “disproportionality ratio” of 15:1, with the “power few” most-harmed 4% of victims suffering 15 times more harm than expected if all victims suffered equal harm, with the highest disproportionality ratios of any offence types, 19 to 1 for sex offences and 5 to 1 for robbery. Conversely, the total CHI value of thefts was 0.143:1 or only one seventh of what it would have been with an equal distribution of harm across all criminal events. The ratio for burglary was 0.25:1, and even for violence (0.67:1), there was 33% less harm than expected for equal harm by crime type. The vast majority of crime harm in one UK police force area over 1 year was suffered by a small percent of all known victims, with 15% of total harm occurring as repeat victimizations. This finding demonstrates the value of better algorithms for predicting repeat victimizations to allocate prevention resources, starting with the Cambridge CHI value of each first offence against each victim.

Precise measurements of the dipole moment and polarizability of the neutral exciton and positive trion in a single quantum dot

J.D.M. would like to thank the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), the Cambridge Common- wealth Trust (CCT), and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) of Canada for financial support.

Insight workflow: Systematically combining human and computational methods to explore textual data

Analyzing large quantities of real‐world textual data has the potential to provide new insights for researchers. However, such data present challenges for both human and computational methods, requiring a diverse range of specialist skills, often shared across a number of individuals. In this paper we use the analysis of a real‐world data set as our case study, and use this exploration as a demonstration of our “insight workflow,” which we present for use and adaptation by other researchers. The data we use are impact case study documents collected as part of the UK Research Excellence Framework (REF), consisting of 6,679 documents and 6.25 million words; the analysis was commissioned by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (published as report HEFCE 2015). In our exploration and analysis we used a variety of techniques, ranging from keyword in context and frequency information to more sophisticated methods (topic modeling), with these automated techniques providing an empirical point of entry for in‐depth and intensive human analysis. We present the 60 topics to demonstrate the output of our methods, and illustrate how the variety of analysis techniques can be combined to provide insights. We note potential limitations and propose future work.