Non-departmental Public Bodies Research Articles

Funding of research agendas about the global south in Latin America and the Caribbean: lexicometric and content analysis in Latin American scientific production

ABSTRACT The Global South has increasingly become a recurring research agenda, often originating in the Global North. There is a need to understand what these research agendas consist of and what role Latin America and the Caribbean play in defining and/or reproducing them. The purpose of this study is to understand the agendas of the Global South supported by northern agencies, based on a methodological proposal that combines lexicometric analysis of abstracts, grant data-based content analysis on scientific production, and funding data. The study identified four central agendas in the literature: (1) State role and the strength of non-western countries cooperation; (2) Decolonial research, citizen, and feminist perspectives; (3) Academic Collaboration and Education in circuits of science production and (4) Developmentalism in underdeveloped Global South countries. We identified different types of northern organizations, such as non-departmental public bodies, philanthropic and charitable foundations, guiding an agenda based on precariousness, poverty, and underdevelopment, while Latin America and the Caribbean reinforce an agenda taking the South as an example that can be applied in the North. We highlight an emergence of a multipolar world and the need to strengthen research in Latin America and the Caribbean in this context.

Protecting and improving the environment to protect and improve health: public health on the Board of environmental Non-Departmental Public Bodies.

Protecting and improving the environment to protect and improve health: public health on the Board of environmental Non-Departmental Public Bodies.

Controlling UK national museums and galleries: the pursuit of conflicting politico-economic and socio-cultural objectives

UK national museums and galleries (MaGs) are organised as non-departmental public bodies to enable them to pursue their desired socio-cultural objectives with minimal interference from the government. This study examines how the UK government controls heterogenous UK national MaGs to insidiously influence their objectives. It uses data collected from published sources and from interviews conducted with sponsors, trustees and senior managers of national MaGs located in London. The findings highlight that the government influences the domain of arts and culture by appointing trustees with similar ‘political’ and ‘business-thinking’ mindsets, using accounting mechanisms, and through direct intervention. When the government's politico-economic desires collided with the decision of the trustees and curators, the government directly intervened to protect its interest. The reduction in government funding and its desire to make MaGs financially independent have resulted in MaGs demanding greater autonomy over spending their self-generated funding to pursue their artistic objectives, potentially shifting accountability relationships and creating new possibilities.

Physical activity in paid work time for desk-based employees: a qualitative study of employers\u2019 and employees\u2019 perspectives

BackgroundPoor physical and mental health of employees create significant problems in the workplace. Physical activity (PA) has been shown as an effective strategy for preventing and treating numerous physical and mental health issues as well as work performance outcomes. However, there are many barriers to taking part in PA (such as lack of time) with participation rates typically low. Providing PA in paid work time might be a way to overcome these issues, yet employers’ and employees’ opinions of this concept are unknown. The aim of this study was to explore employee and employer perspectives of PA in paid work time.MethodsWorkplaces were recruited through existing contacts on the research team. Focus groups and interviews were conducted with employees and managers at one University and two executive non-departmental public bodies in central Scotland with mainly desk-based employees. Both managers and employees were involved to gain perspectives throughout the organisational hierarchy and were interviewed separately to reduce social desirability bias. All discussions were digitally recorded and transcribed verbatim. Data were analysed thematically for both managers and employees but due to significant overlap in themes between the groups, these are reported together in the results.ResultsThree out of five organisations approached took part in this qualitative study. Two individual interviews were held with strategic managers, five focus groups with middle managers (n = 16) and nine with employees (n = 45). Benefits were anticipated by managers and employees for both employees themselves and the organisation and included improved mental health, productivity and more favourable perceptions of the employer. Despite these widely acknowledged benefits, significant barriers were identified and included the structure and nature of the working day (high workload, front line job requirements), workplace culture and norms (resentment from colleagues, no break culture) and organisational concerns (cost of lost time, public perceptions).ConclusionThis study suggests that there are significant barriers to PA in paid work time. Whilst numerous anticipated benefits were conveyed by both employees and managers, PA in paid work time is unlikely to become common place until changes in attitudes and the culture towards movement at work occur.

The inevitability of digital transfer

PurposeThis paper aims to assess how prepared public bodies are for the transfer of born-digital records to the National Archives (TNA) of the UK in line with the reduction in the transfer rule from 30 to 20 years.Design/methodology/approachThe change in the transfer rule means that records of UK public bodies will be transferred to TNA for permanent preservation at 20 years as opposed to 30 years old. This move, which has been described as a major change that is going to be introduced in a manageable and affordable way (20-year rule, The National Archives), will inevitably witness the transfer of born-digital records to the archives much earlier than would have been the case if the change in the transfer rule had not been made. This paper reports on research carried out in the winter of 2017 on the extent to which UK public bodies are prepared for the transfer of born-digital records to TNA. Research was based on a survey of 23 public bodies which included ministries, charities and non-departmental public bodies. The target population was predominantly public bodies that had the highest level of transfer of records to TNA. The justification for this lies in the fact that these bodies, amongst others, transfer the most records to TNA, thus it would be interesting to gain an insight into how prepared these relatively larger public bodies are with regard to born-digital transfer. The remaining public bodies were chosen randomly amongst non-ministerial departments. The primary areas under analysis are plans of public bodies for the transfer of born-digital records, processes for transfer to be undertaken such as selection, appraisal etc., the use of technology in sensitivity review and the trigger date for the transfer of records.FindingsAn analysis of the research findings found that while a few UK public bodies surveyed had transferred datasets within the framework of the TNA Government Datasets (NDAD) initiative or as part of an inquiry, only one public body had transferred other born-digital records to TNA. The findings also reveal that most public bodies are yet to plan for, or to adjust, their current archival processes to take into account the different mind-set and skills required for the transfer of born-digital records. The level of preparedness is therefore limited primarily because public bodies have yet to undertake a transfer of born-digital records to the archives. The research findings also revealed that public bodies had not as yet made adjustments or changes to current practice to take into account the issues relating to the processing of born-digital records prior to transfer.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings of the research at hand are based on a survey submitted electronically to twenty-three public bodies with the aim of assessing how prepared they are for the transfer of born-digital records to the National Archives (TNA). The survey was sent to 27 public bodies with responses received by 23 public bodies. The survey sent to these bodies comprises eight questions that were deemed to be important in the current digital landscape with regard to the processes involved in the transfer of records, beginning from their creation. Thus, an element of subjectivity exists with regard to the outcome of the research, as the public bodies chosen were guided in prioritising any issues about digital transfer through the questions posed. The research carried out is also limited in that it focuses primarily on ministerial departments (14 of the 23 surveyed) and also constitutes a very small sample of UK public bodies overall. However, the originality of the data obtained through the study carried out by far outweighs the limitations of the research methodology.Originality/valueThis paper highlights that the transfer of born-digital records through original research amongst the 23 public bodies surveyed is not widespread, and that processes and procedures specifically for the management of processes for born-digital records are yet to be implemented. The study concludes that long-term planning for the transfer of born-digital records is yet to be undertaken and that public bodies are more likely to deal with the issue when their digital records are closer to reaching the point of transfer.

The complicity of digital technologies in the marketisation of UK higher education: exploring the implications of a critical discourse analysis of thirteen national digital teaching and learning strategies

National strategies play a crucial role in framing how digital technologies are enacted in Higher Education (HE). This paper draws on some of the findings of a Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) of thirteen digital teaching and learning strategies issued by government departments and non-departmental public bodies in the UK between 2003 and 2013. It demonstrates that, across the strategies, digital technologies are depicted as tools for advancing the marketisation of UK HE. Rather ironically, the strategies are also fraught with contradictions and paradoxes with respect to the claimed relationships between digital technologies, learning, and markets. I argue that this problematic portrayal of digital technologies makes them complicit in the neoliberal erosion of UK HE.

Enhancing NDPB accountability: improving relationships with upward and downward stakeholders

ABSTRACTThis paper examines the relationship between Northern Ireland Non-departmental Public Bodies (NDPBs) and two key stakeholders, sponsoring government departments and service users, and outlines how this relationship can impact on a NDPB discharging its accountability responsibilities effectively. After discussing the concept of accountability, the paper presents the findings of a survey of, and interviews with, NDPB board members. Whilst the consensus was that NDPBs were effective in discharging accountability, there was frustration with an apparent absence of an arms’ length relationship with certain sponsoring departments and limited engagement with service users.

The development of facilities and estate management in the Scottish central government civil estate 1989-2015

Purpose The paper aims to examine how Scottish facility and estate managers have developed estates and facilities management strategies to ensure that the Scottish government civil estate has remained fit for purpose in a period of rapid social, economic and technological change, and political development covering the devolution period. Design/methodology/approach This paper examines the development of the policy frameworks within which facility mangers have worked and how they have adapted the asset portfolio to meet the demands of modern working practices and the budgetary disciplines resulting from economic change. Findings The period 1989-2015 has shown major changes. It commenced with a highly centralised model driven by the Whitehall Department of the Treasury and run by the Property Services Agency. Just before and during devolution, there was administrative decentralisation of activity to agencies and non-departmental public bodies, and this was reflected in decentralised property management first to departments and then to the agencies and non-departmental public bodies. During this time, profound changes occurred in working practices, e-mail, e-records, mobile telephones and open-plan layouts; remote working changed the ways buildings were used. Public sector property was used to promote distribution of jobs to outer areas. Towards the latter end of the period from 2008 onwards, the economic difficulties have led to acute budget pressures, and from 2011 onwards, there has been a trend both in Whitehall, and the Scottish devolved administration towards greater corporate management of the estate to drive down costs and promote more modern ways of working which may lead to a model similar to the one which prevailed at the start of the period. Research limitations/implications The paper explains the development of the management framework and changes on the estate itself to inform the debate between policymakers, academic researchers and FM practitioners interested in the efficient use of central government assets. Practical implications The paper will help academics and practitioners understand the historic context within which they are working. Social implications The paper indicates how the Scottish Government has adapted its property assets to meet the needs of users. Originality/value The paper is an historic exposition of how public sector facility managers have adapted the management of the Scottish Government estate in Scotland to meet the needs of central government staff and the public to whom it provides wider services and considers how this illuminates wider FM issues.

Local government reform: Community planning and the quality of life in Northern Ireland

Abstract Local government in Northern Ireland has undergone a significant reform process in terms of both the number of councils (from twenty-six to eleven) and their functional responsibilities. Councils in Northern Ireland have always been regarded as the ‘poor relation’ of central government or non-departmental public bodies which deliver many of the services performed by local government in other parts of the UK (education, social services, housing). The reforms in Northern Ireland, while devolving relatively minor additional functions, offer councils a significant role in community planning – the legal power to hold central departments to account for services provided by them in local areas. This paper argues that councils can use this power to improve the quality of life of their inhabitants.

Agency Termination in the UK: What Explains the ‘Bonfire of the Quangos’?

In October 2010, the UK’s Coalition Government announced a radical reduction in the number of public bodies in the UK. This research tests the impact of three factors identified in the termination literature as affecting agency survival: political turnover, age and agency type. The research found that advisory Non-Departmental Public Bodies were five times more likely to have been identified for abolition or merger than other agency types. The research also found that agency age was a factor, but that political turnover was not significant.

Credibility and Agency Termination under Parliamentarism

We investigate the life span and risk of termination of 723 arm’s length agencies in the United Kingdom between 1985 and 2008, an under investigated question in parliamentary systems. We hypothesize that termination risk depends on three groups of factors: (1) factors relating to the rationales for initial delegation of responsibility to the arm’s length agency; (2) factors relating to the political and economic position of the government; and (3) factors relating to the institutional form of the agency. We find that agencies intended to generate credible commitments in regulation are less likely than others to be terminated in any given year. Agencies operating under right-wing governments and under heavily indebted governments are more likely to be terminated, although left-wing governments are more sensitive to the effects of debt. Agencies structured as executive non-departmental public bodies and non-ministerial departments are also longer lived than others. Contrary to expectations about arm’s length agencies in parliamentary systems with single-party government, partisan change does not affect the risk of termination.

School food cost-benefits: England.

To estimate the costs per relevant unit (pupils and meals) associated with improvements to school food and the potential economic and health gains that may result. Calculation of costs per relevant unit (pupils and meals) based on (i) Department for Education expenditure to support improvements in school food, 2005–2011 and (ii) measures of the changes in the number of pupils taking school lunch and the number of meals served over the same time period; plus examples of the use of linked data to predict longer-term economic and health outcomes of healthier eating at school. England. Local authorities, government departments and non-departmental public bodies. Analysis of investment over a 6-year period indicates that costs of setting up and maintaining a change organization such as the School Food Trust were low in relation to short-term benefits in nutrition and behaviour. Models that predict long-terms gains to the exchequer and to quality-adjusted life years need further elaboration. Modest levels of government investment in the delivery and promotion of healthier school food is likely to yield both short-term and long-term benefits in relation to nutrition, learning, economics and health.

Better Re-Use of Public Sector Information: Evaluating the Proposal for a Government Data Mashing Lab

The report aims to isolate and examine the socio-institutional barriers to better re-use of Public Sector Information (PSI). It assesses the draft proposal for a Data Mashing Lab (DML) (see: Appendix 2) and is intended for a specialized audience of government policy makers. The findings are informed by key informant interviews. The interviews were conducted on a non-attributable basis in the period 14 September to 6 October 2006 and are supported by the literature review outlined in the opening two chapters, and the insights of four workshops also attended in May-September 2006. We thank the workshop and interview participants for their full and frank contributions to this research project. The stakeholders interviewed included experts from: academia, Non-Departmental Public Bodies (NDPBs), Trading Funds, private entrepreneurs, corporations, standards bodies, and government policy officials with both domestic and international responsibilities. The schedule of interviews and workshop programmes are contained in Appendix 1.

Was the reprieve of the Youth Justice Board a good thing?

The Youth Justice Board (YJB) was one of a number of non-departmental public bodies due to be culled in the Public Bodies Bill last year. However, following opposition in the House of Lords, plans ...

Bidding for international sport events: how government supports and undermines national governing bodies of sport

Over the last 20 years bidding for the rights to host sport events has become increasingly competitive. While a range of factors underpin successful bids, political support, particularly in the context of bidding for mega sport events such as the Olympics or the FIFA World Cup, is essential. This has resulted in an increasingly politicized bidding process. The role of government policy and the impact on sport-event bidding therefore plays a key role in determining whether a national governing body of sport (NGB) is competitive during the bid process. Two central issues are considered within this article. First, it considers the ways in which the UK government is supportive of NGBs during the bidding process. Second, it focuses specifically on government taxation policy and discusses how the tax environment in the UK has the potential to undermine the competitiveness of UK NGBs when bidding to host sport events. Drawing on semi-structured interview data from 10 individuals representing nine national governing bodies of sport and six other stakeholders involved in the bidding process, the article illustrates that NGBs receive bid support from central government through the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, from local government, in addition to non-departmental public bodies including regional development agencies and UK Sport. The interview analysis also illustrates that this support is offset by the adverse impact of income tax and VAT policy of HM Treasury. The article concludes with the identification of four key issues which require further research. First, should HM Treasury introduce legislation to relinquish the right to tax a percentage of worldwide endorsement income from overseas sports people? Second, when bidding for one-off sport events, should HM Treasury provide exemptions from player tax and HMRC guarantee that they will not pursue the tax liability? Third, is there a need for HM Treasury to create a specialist sports events unit, and fourth, should a reduced VAT rate of 5% on spectator entry fees be introduced.

Institutionalized Governance: The Case of the National College for School Leadership

The article is based on data from the Knowledge Production and Educational Leadership Project (funded by the UK Economic and Social Research Council RES‐000-23-1192) where we investigated the relationship between the state and public policy and knowledge in England during the New Labor governments from 1997. The relationship between the state and civil society is one of institutionalized governance where the public institution in the form of the national ministry and the establishment of Non-Departmental Public Bodies remain important in policymaking but is increasingly inter dependent with networks of advisors and private consultants who “enter” government as policy designers and deliverers. We intend to develop this through using the National College for School Leadership as a case study based on primary documentation and interview data.

The Public Sector’s Use of Agencies: A Dynamic Rather than Static Scene

It is an occupational hazard in the study of organizations that we tend to view them as static arrangements, as though what is observed and reported today tells us all we need to know about them. But organizations are dynamic rather than static phenomena, being constantly affected by adjustments to meet the effects of fading past arrangements or approaching new arrangements. Simple “snapshots” taken at a particular moment in history are never likely to reveal all the relevant nuances. This article comments on this problem as it affects non-departmental public bodies often described loosely as “agencies”, by (a) drawing attention to some relevant theoretical contributions to the political science and organization theory literature, and (b) giving some examples of changes in the style of agency formation and operation over the years, mostly drawn from the Australian public sector.

Credible Governance? Transparency, Political Control, the Personal Vote and British Quangos

This article claims that special-purpose independent agencies such as quangos provide an avenue for understanding the ‘personal vote’ and political control of administrative policy making in Britain. Quangos make policies that directly influence particularistic concerns in an MP's constituency, generating incentives for MPs to meddle with their independence in order to capture the personal vote. A division of labor within the governing party relies on back-bench MPs to sound ‘fire alarms’ when their constituents find fault with quango activities. Once the alarms are sounded, the government has the incentive to manipulate quangos' independence, for example, by making their decision making transparent to provide information for the fire alarm mechanism in the future. This manipulation draws from the government's stock of political capital gained from a supportive electorate. Statistical analysis of transparency in British executive non-departmental public bodies from 2002 to 2005 suggests that increases in back-bench salience (personal vote) and public satisfaction with government (government strength) increase the transparency by which quangos make decisions, thus decreasing their independence. Public satisfaction with the status quo of public service provision, by contrast, decreases transparency, increasing independence. These results suggest that far from being fully independent, quasi-governmental organizations are subject to political control.

Devolution and quangos in the United Kingdom: the implementation of principles and policies for rationalisation and democratisation

Much attention has been paid to the asymmetrical features of devolution between Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland but the relationship of non-departmental public bodies and other quangos to the new devolved institutions presented a largely similar challenge and produced a degree of convergence in policies. This article examines why quangos and their position in the distribution of governance was a particularly salient issue in the context of devolution and led to the adoption of similar policies aimed at a rationalisation and democratisation of quangos. The article focuses on the implementation of these policies and identifies the limited outcomes, the constraints on a more comprehensive redistribution of the functions of quangos in the three countries and the possibility of achieving some of the policy objectives without radical restructuring. It also examines the difficulties in formulating principles to determine which functions are appropriate for delegation to quangos within devolved systems of government.

Disaggregation, autonomy and re-regulation, contractualism

The spread of semi-autonomous organizations for the execution of public functions has attracted academic interest. There seem to be two main research agendas, one investigating broad issues of autonomy and control of Non-Departmental Public Bodies, another one focused on the narrower phenomenon of executive agencies. Especially the latter may benefit from the operationalization of commonly used concepts like: disaggregation, autonomy and re-regulation, contractualism. The article adopts an analytical framework based on these concepts to investigate executive agencies in Italy. Findings of interest for the international scholarly debate include: the limitations to the consideration of contractualism as an autonomous unit of analysis; the influence of the politico-administrative context on the actual utilization of performance contracting; the (apparently limited) role of re-regulation, and its sensitivity to the context; the importance of considering a wide range of factors in a combined way in explaining agency form; the consideration that ‘modern’ agencies are varied and not standardized solutions; the limitations that apply to the use of the so-called ‘tripod’ model of agency.