UK Civil Research Articles

‘Give us the numbers!’: sovereign capture and the undermining of shared situational awareness in the UK’s COVID-19 response

ABSTRACT Shared situational awareness is advanced as a solution to the problem of collaborative decision-making in multi-agency emergency responses. By harnessing information and communication technologies to construct and distribute a common understanding of the event, shared situational awareness promises to optimise, distribute and devolve decision-making, thus improving the overall speed and efficiency of emergency responses. However, in the context of actual emergencies shared situational awareness is found to routinely breakdown. This paper draws upon 41 interviews conducted with emergency responders on their experience of using ResilienceDirect to manage shared situational awareness in the UK COVID-19 response. We argue that while shared situational awareness attempts to technologise the problem of sovereign decision-making in emergencies, UK emergency response frameworks contain a latent potential for sovereign capture. As the COVID-19 response demonstrates, an atmosphere of distrust; desire for secrecy and control; and the ubiquity of hierarchies throughout UK Civil Contingencies permitted the reactualisation of sovereign modes of control to frustrate and displace bottom-up modes of emergency organisation meant to guide UK emergency responses. Elucidating the impediments to achieving shared situational awareness within actual response raises urgent questions regarding the robustness of shared situational awareness to political interference within major emergency events.

Civil society elites: managers of civic capital

The article takes the first steps towards a general theory of civil society elites, a concept not fully developed in either elite or civil society research. This conceptual gap hampers academic and public understanding of the dynamics at the top of civil society. To address this, the authors rely on the theoretical framework of Pierre Bourdieu to build a theory of civil society elites as managers of civic capital. This role is illustrated through examples from the differently institutionalised UK and Nordic civil societies. The first part of the article introduces the notion of civic capital and its emergence during the 19th century. The second part focuses on elite positions in civil society fields, demonstrating how civil society elites, as managers of civic capital, navigate between their constituents and other elite groups. These elites wield the power to consecrate social relations while misrecognising their own symbolic and economic gains. Recent scandals in the climate movement and UK and Nordic civil societies shed light on the symbolic aspects of the positions of civil society elites. This comprehensive analysis contributes to elite and civil society research and enriches public discussions about the role of civil society leaders in society.

Educating a civil service that is fit for purpose: perceptions from UK stakeholders

IMPACT Universities and public sector organizations need to work together to develop a civil service fit for the future. This article highlights several challenges associated with the development, design, and delivery of public administration (PA) programmes, such as university structures, the elevation of business management programmes, higher education’s focus on international markets and a disconnect between sectoral requirements and PA programme provision. Findings point to a strong demand for specialized public sector education. Yet, they also suggest that public administration academics should do more to promote their programmes and work more closely with professionals, so that a greater understanding of demand and supply can be achieved. To shape the future of the UK civil service, the authors recommend that universities should consider developing more bespoke programmes that better meet the needs of the UK public sector.

“Don’t bring race into it”: white ignorance, UK counterterrorism and the impact agenda

ABSTRACT Based on interviews with UK civil servants working on counterterrorism, this article examines how racialised and gendered organisational norms govern the production and circulation of knowledge in government departments. It further reflects on their implications for policymakers and academics seeking to introduce critical perspectives into counterterrorism policymaking. Mobilising Charles W. Mills’s concept of white ignorance, I explore how routinised practices serve to suppress knowledge about the racialised impacts of UK counterterrorism, and particularly the Prevent programme, within policymaking spaces. The article outlines eight practices that effect the suppression or delegitimisation of testimony substantiating critiques of counterterrorism policies as racist: framing accusations of racism as misunderstandings; focusing on intentions over impacts; self-silencing; limiting what counts as evidence; framing critics as emotionally-oriented; decisions concerning who participates in these policy discussions in the first place; the siloing of discussions about racism in dedicated spaces; and efforts to frame analyses of structural racism as breaking civil servants’ obligation to political neutrality. I conclude that, because the persistence of colonial counterterrorism practices is, fundamentally, not a problem of knowledge but a problem of power, it will not be solved through the kind of policy advocacy scholars are encouraged to undertake to demonstrate “research impact”.

Anaphylaxis onboard commercial aircraft: what can we learn from post event safety reports?

This letter details a review of safety reports submitted to the UK Civil Aviation Authority over a 5 year period relating to severe allergic reactions. No trend of seasonality and evidence of aerosolisation was found. Reports were 4.8 times more likely to be submitted on an inbound flight than an outbound flight.

The effects of post‐saccadic oscillations on visual processing time

Aims/Purpose: Saccadic eye movements enable us to search for a target of interest in a crowded scene, or in the case of goal‐directed saccades, to bring the peripheral target to the fovea. Visual information is processed quickly at the end of each saccade, yet precise measurements of the times involved remain controversial. This research investigates the time needed to process visual information at the end of each saccade.Methods: A new psychophysical test makes it possible to measure eye movement response latencies and visual processing times. When the test is used in conjunction with an eye tracker, each component that makes up the ‘integrated saccade latency’ (ISL) time, from the onset of the peripheral stimulus to the correct interpretation of the information carried by the stimulus, can be measured and the discrete components delineated. We measured ISL times in six subjects in response to Landolt ring optotypes of varying contrast presented peripherally at an eccentricity of 8° and also at the point of regard (0°).Results: We show that the time required to process and encode the stimulus attribute of interest at the end of a saccade is longer than that needed to carry out the same task in the absence of an eye movement. Depending on the stimulus contrast, these time durations ranged between 101–120 ms (15%) and 34–48 ms (75%) when eye movements were involved and 57–35 (15%) and less than 25 ms (75%) in the absence of eye movements.Conclusions: The extended visual processing times measured when saccades are involved may be the result of transient loss of spatial resolution caused by eyeball instability during post‐saccadic oscillations. These results explain why stimuli of high luminance contrast yield best performance in visual tasks when eye movements are involved.Acknowledgements: We acknowledge the UK Civil Aviation Authority for their support.

Leading Cyber Security in the UK Civil Nuclear Sector

Leading Cyber Security in the UK Civil Nuclear Sector

Scoping Potential Routes to UK Civil Unrest via the Food System: Results of a Structured Expert Elicitation

We report the results of a structured expert elicitation to identify the most likely types of potential food system disruption scenarios for the UK, focusing on routes to civil unrest. We take a backcasting approach by defining as an end-point a societal event in which 1 in 2000 people have been injured in the UK, which 40% of experts rated as “Possible (20–50%)”, “More likely than not (50–80%)” or “Very likely (>80%)” over the coming decade. Over a timeframe of 50 years, this increased to 80% of experts. The experts considered two food system scenarios and ranked their plausibility of contributing to the given societal scenario. For a timescale of 10 years, the majority identified a food distribution problem as the most likely. Over a timescale of 50 years, the experts were more evenly split between the two scenarios, but over half thought the most likely route to civil unrest would be a lack of total food in the UK. However, the experts stressed that the various causes of food system disruption are interconnected and can create cascading risks, highlighting the importance of a systems approach. We encourage food system stakeholders to use these results in their risk planning and recommend future work to support prevention, preparedness, response and recovery planning.

UK Polish Saturday Schools and Civil Society During the Covid-19 Pandemic

This article continues a theme recently raised in this journal by Małek (2019) and Krzyworzeka-Jelinowska (2019). It analyses the activism of Polish women living abroad, as headteachers, teachers and parents at Saturday schools, and demonstrates that Polish migrants are not as socially passive as sometimes assumed. We define civil society as ‘a society of active citizens, associating together and working for the collective good’. Our study of seven schools suggests that the Covid-19 lockdown stimulated some schools to broaden their activities as civil society organisations. Although some local links were weakened, for example because Polish Clubs were shut, the schools’ online activities expanded: more networking took place between headteachers UK-wide, and the schools reached out to a range of Polish and non-Polish organisations: locally; elsewhere in the UK; in Poland; and in third countries. Within the schools, the pandemic represented an opportunity to teach children about their civic responsibilities and involve parents more directly in children’s education. However, the lockdown also raised difficulties for all Saturday schools, not just Polish ones, when their credentials as ‘educational’ organisations seemed challenged by both UK government policy and some mainstream schools.

British Contributions to the Law of the Sea and the Protection of the Marine Environment, including its Natural Resources

Abstract This article explores the contribution of the United Kingdom to the development and continued evolution of the law of sea and the establishment of an international legal order for the world’s oceans. The authors consider the rise of the United Kingdom as the pre-eminent naval power until the early 20th century, and its use of international law, including the principle of the freedom of the seas, to further its national interests. Despite the relative decline in the naval power of the UK throughout the 20th century, the UK has continued to be influential in the development of the law of the sea, particularly through its participation in multilateral institutions. For example, the UK was at the forefront of the establishment of the IMO and played a leading role in the successful conclusion of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. The authors identify that it is not only UK officials that have shaped the discipline, but also UK industry, civil society, and academia. The authors conclude their piece by considering the future of the UK’s contribution to the development of the law of the sea after its withdrawal from the European Union, as it resumes its status as an independent coastal state for the first time in four decades. The authors specifically consider the implications of this development for fisheries regulation and the protection of the marine environment.

Investigation of the Effect of Milling Duration on a Ce-Gd Doped Zirconolite Phase Assemblage Synthesised by Hot Isostatic Pressing

Zirconolite is a candidate ceramic wasteform under consideration for the immobilisation of the UK civil PuO2 inventory. In the present work, a baseline dual-substituted zirconolite with the target composition (Ca0.783Gd0.017Ce0.2)(Zr0.883Gd0.017Ce0.1)(Ti1.6Al0.4)O7 was fabricated by hot isostatic pressing (HIPing). In order to optimise the microstructure properties and improve the obtained yield of the zirconolite phase, a range of planetary ball milling parameters were investigated prior to consolidation by HIP. This included milling the batched oxide precursors at 400 rpm for up to 120 min, the pre-milling of CeO2 (PuO2 surrogate) to reduce the particle size and using a CeO2 source with finer particle size (<5 µm). The HIPed zirconolite product consisted of both zirconolite-2M and zirconolite-3T polytypes in varying proportions; however, an additional perovskite phase was obtained in varying quantities as a secondary phase. Ce L3-edge X-ray absorption spectroscopy was utilised to determine the Ce oxidation state. In this study, the ideal milling parameter for the fabrication of zirconolite waste forms was defined as 60 min at 400 rpm.

'Largest-ever' hydrogen plane to begin real-world testing

A hydrogen-powered aircraft has been granted a permit to fly by the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) following a programme of ground tests. ZeroAvia is now able to begin test flights of its 19-seat twin-engine Dornier 228 aircraft, which has been retrofitted in an engineering testbed configuration with the company's prototype 600kW hydrogen-electric powertrain powering the propeller on its left wing.

Correction to: Climbing the Velvet Drainpipe: Class Background and Career Progression within the UK Civil Service

Correction to: Climbing the Velvet Drainpipe: Class Background and Career Progression within the UK Civil Service

A critical analysis of the UK Civil Aviation Authority’s medical appeals process: Assessing the need for an independent medical ombudsman

The aim of this research was to determine how an independent medical ombudsman set up to arbitrate UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) medical appeals would impact on the levels of perceived clarity, transparency, fairness, and logic of the overall CAA medical appeals process. 24 in-depth interviews carried out in 2021 with a mix of stakeholders including Pilots, Air Traffic Controllers (ATC), Cabin Crew, Aeromedical Examiners (AMEs) and Safety Specialists gathered qualitative evidence on the current CAA medical appeals process compared with published evidence on medical appeals processes overseen by other major aviation regulators, namely the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA - US), and the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA - Australia). Stakeholders were then asked to give their views on the possible impact of creating an independent medical ombudsman to arbitrate the CAA medical appeals process. The results revealed compelling evidence that the current CAA process is not as clear, fair, or transparent as it could be with only 21% stating yes to all three elements, lower than views on the currently published CASA and FAA processes, with 83% and 75% supporting them as they are respectively. The easy-to-follow approach of CASA, and its many independent options along with the ability for individuals to make a Statement of Demonstrated Ability (SODA) as part of the FAA process were standout features of the international comparators. The idea of an independent medical ombudsman received high levels of support from respondents (91% in favour) due to its perceived impact on introducing more independence and transparency into the current UK CAA process. The findings of this study support the case for an independent arbitrator of the CAAs medical appeals process, which would align well with the organisation's critical work around Just Culture.

Climbing the Velvet Drainpipe: Class Background and Career Progression within the UK Civil Service

Abstract Although the theory of representative bureaucracy originates from concerns about the class composition of the public sector workforce, questions of class background have been notably absent in subsequent scholarship. In this article, I take advantage of new data on the class backgrounds of UK civil servants (N = 308, 566) to, first, explore descriptively how class shapes the composition of the civil service, both vertically in terms of occupational grade and horizontally in terms of department, location, and profession. I show that those from working-class backgrounds are not only under-represented in the Civil Service as a whole but also this skew is particularly acute in propulsive departments like the Treasury, locations like London and in the Senior Civil Service. This initial descriptive analysis then acts as the staging point for the central qualitative component of my analysis, drawing on 104 in-depth interviews across 4 case-study departments. Here, I identify three unwritten rules of career progression that tend to act as barriers for those from working-class backgrounds; access to accelerator jobs; organizational ambiguity in promotion processes; and sorting into operational (versus policy) tracks that have progression bottlenecks. This analysis highlights the need for more work on class representation, as well as underlining how representative bureaucracy may be impeded by patterns of horizontal as well as vertical segregation, particularly in work areas that have an outsized influence on policy design.

Strengths-Based Performance Coaching: A Randomised Trial in the UK Civil Service

Applying a strengths-based approach to performance management has previously been proposed as an improvement. We present results from a large, randomised workplace trial in the UK civil service of management training in strengths-based performance coaching. The trial sheds new light on the impacts that accrue and changes in the nature of performance conversations. Our findings suggest that a strengths-based approach helps employees develop, but evidence on this translating into improved job performance is weaker. As hypothesised, we observe changes to performance conversations, in that the manager training leads to more developmental and supportive performance conversations. However, we see no significant increase in discussion of job-related challenges and no reduction in discussion of performance assessment. Whilst the strengths-based approach does not change conversations exactly as hypothesised it nonetheless helps them to be purposeful and constructive.

Group processes and interoperability: A longitudinal case study analysis of the UK's civil contingency response to Covid‐19

Our case study explored a Local Resilience Forum's (LRF) civil contingency response to COVID‐19 in the United Kingdom. We undertook 19 semistructured ethnographic longitudinal interviews, between March 25, 2020 and February 17, 2021, with a Director of a Civil Contingencies Unit and a Chief Fire Officer who both played key roles within their LRF. Within these interviews, we focused on their strategic level decision‐making and how their relationship with national government impacted on local processes and outcomes. Using a form of grounded theory, our data describe the chronological evolution of an increasingly effective localized approach toward outbreak control and a growing resilience in dealing with concurrent emergency incidents. However, we also highlight how national government organizations imposed central control on aspects of the response in ways that undermined or misaligned with local preparedness. Thus, during emergencies, central governments can undermine the principle of subsidiarity and damage the ways in which LRFs can help scaffold local resilience. Our work contributes to the theoretical understanding of the social psychological factors that can shape the behaviour of responder agencies during a prolonged crisis. In particular, the implications of our analysis for advancing our conceptual understanding of strategic decision‐making during emergencies are discussed.

UK Civil Nuclear Decommissioning, a Blueprint for Korea’s Nuclear Decommissioning Future?: Part II – UK’s Progress and Implications for Korea

UK Civil Nuclear Decommissioning, a Blueprint for Korea’s Nuclear Decommissioning Future?: Part II – UK’s Progress and Implications for Korea

Investigating Stancetaking in Russian and Chinese

The proposition that stancetaking is pervasive in communication is widely argued (e.g., Halliday, 1978; Ochs, 1990; Englebretson, 2007; Jaffe, 2009). However, as a subject of critical analysis, stance is not typically studied in foreign language courses at UK universities. UK civil servants therefore developed and piloted a course on interpreting stance in Russian and Mandarin Chinese, incorporating Poynton’s (1989 [1985]) extended tenor network and Martin and White’s (2005) Appraisal Framework. Survey feedback from 53 language analysts and instructor observations indicated, inter alia, that the course helped the majority of learners to enhance their awareness of how stance is expressed in their L2. Responses also highlighted perceived merits and demerits of the course and signalled the value of a larger, gradated offering to optimise course benefit. While preliminary, these results have implications not only for civil service language instructors, but also – potentially – those in higher education.

(Not) bringing your whole self to work: The gendered experience of upward mobility in the UK Civil Service

AbstractWomen from working‐class backgrounds face a multiplicative earnings penalty in Britain's elite occupations. In this paper, I explore one driver of this “double disadvantage”; a strong gender divide in who discusses and displays a working‐class identity in the workplace. Drawing on data from the 2019 UK Civil Service People Survey (n = 300,788) and 104 interviews with civil servants, I find that men from working‐class backgrounds are more likely (than women) to identify as coming from a working‐class background, to talk openly about their background, and to feel comfortable displaying embodied markers of their origin. For some men such “origin talk” can even confer advantage, allowing them to resist dominant behavioral codes or “brand” themselves as senior leaders with a unique perspective. In contrast, women from working‐class backgrounds overwhelmingly choose to conceal their backgrounds at work, presuming that such disclosures will only leave them vulnerable to negative judgment. Such suppression often leaves a significant emotional imprint, with many women reporting a lingering sense of shame and inferiority. It can also have implications for their careers; feeling unable to inhabit one's “authentic self” at work often elicits a sense of withdrawal and self‐elimination from the stakes of career progression.