Welsh Perspective Research Articles

High‐cost drugs – the Welsh perspective

High‐cost drugs – the Welsh perspective

Effective working relationships between audit committees and internal audit—the cornerstone of corporate governance in local authorities, a Welsh perspective

This research looks at the working relationship between audit committees and the internal audit function within Welsh local government. The focus is primarily on the working relationship from the perspective of the head of internal audit, also known as the Chief Audit Executive or Chief Internal Auditor [Head of internal audit will be used synonymously with that of Chief Audit Executive and Chief Internal Auditor]. Is it a marriage of convenience or a working relationship where the two can capitalise on what they both bring to the corporate governance arena? Reluctance by local government in Wales to embrace the merits of audit committees in the late 1990s means that local government is playing catch up with other public sector organisations. This in turn affects the recognition of the benefits of an effective audit committee capable of working with the internal audit function to promote sound corporate governance. Published guidelines by the UK public sector accountancy body in 2005 on the implementation of audit committees within local government made those organisations yet to establish an audit committee to rethink the situation, and were encouraged by the seemingly positive benefits of audit committees. Wales was no exception, and the 22 local authorities considered embracing the concept of audit committees. Consequently, this placed the internal audit function and head of internal audit under the spotlight in terms of the expectations of the audit committee members. Audit committees roles and responsibilities mean that they should assist councils and officers to ensure they undertake their responsibilities with probity and effectiveness, especially in respect of financial control. It is imperative that committee chairs and internal audit can function as a working team in order to be effective. Audit Committees have a role to assess the performance of the internal audit function, appoint heads of internal audit, support and promote the audit function within the organisation. It is therefore important that the heads of internal audit have confidence and respect for the audit committee and its chair in terms of the skill and knowledge it has of the audit role in relation to the financial and non-financial aspects of the organisation. Laura Spira (2003) comments on how very little research has been undertaken in relation to the audit committee activities, within the private sector, consequently very little is known about what they actually do, let alone how effective they are in undertaking their role. In a similar vein, the same is true of the public sector audit committee activities, especially when they have tended to adopt the private sector audit committee as a blue print to their own audit committee development.

Achieving potential through research and development: a Welsh perspective.

The guiding vision for the Welsh Assembly Government's strategic agenda, Wales: A better country ( WAG 2003 ), was for a fairer, more prosperous, healthier and better educated country.

The Human Rights Act: A Success Story? Introduction

The Human Rights Act 1998 is still an infant: a child whose first five years have been marked by momentous ± and potentially damaging ± experiences. The papers in this volume seek to assess its health and prospects for a full and well balanced development. Sir Stephen Sedley introduces the collection with a wide ranging review of the progress and pitfalls that have marked these early years. In his opinion there is much positive to report concerning this `historic constitutional project' although much inevitably remains to be done. The Act is but one strand of a constitutional reform programme that includes devolution and the reform of the Lord Chancellor's role. As to devolution, Professors Tom Mullen, Jim Murdoch, and Alan Miller, and Sarah Craig report on their research concerning the use of Convention law in the Scottish courts. Professor Christine Bell and Johanna Keenan then take the analysis across the water to gauge the post-Belfast Agreement Northern Irish experience through a case study on the right to life. The Welsh perspective is provided by Ruth Costigan and Professor Philip Thomas with an account of their research at the `coal face' in the deprived south Wales valleys' communities. Their conclusions are bleak: that the area is largely an `HRA-free zone', not least as a consequence of the restructuring of legal aid. Roger Smith describes the process by which the reform of the Lord Chancellor's role has surfaced as a key constitutional issue. He considers the `appallingly handled' upheavals that led to the decision to abolish the LCD and the challenges that are yet to be addressed. Foremost amongst these is the establishment of a Commission with power to enforce the fundamental provisions of the Act. The need for such an institution is considered by Anthony Lester (Lord Lester of Herne Hill, a principal architect of the Act) and Lydia Clapinska. Two issues above all others have dominated the public's perception of the Act: terrorism and asylum. Professor Conor Gearty analyses the extent to which the laudable aims of the Act have been subverted by the government's response to the September 11 attacks. As to the latter, Shami Chakrabarti

New Approaches to UK Legislative Drafting: The Welsh Perspective

The Government of Wales Act 1998, which established the National Assembly for Wales, provides a unique framework for the making of subordinate legislation on devolved subjects in relation to Wales. Instruments corresponding to those made by Ministers in England, which are subject to limited parliamentary scrutiny, are made, in the Assembly, by an affirmative vote in plenary session. They are subject to pre-enactment scrutiny and may be amended. Assembly subordinate legislation is also made bilingually, with the Welsh and English texts having equal legal standing. The article examines the way in which these procedural and linguistic requirements have begun to influence the drafting of Welsh subordinate legislation. In particular, the effect on the form of legislation which stems from the requirement of bilingualism is discussed and the use in Welsh of co-drafting techniques which draw heavily on Canadian experience is explained.

CAL and FE: a Welsh perspective

CAL and FE: a Welsh perspective

Research and practice development in Wales.

This month's report from the RCN R&D Co-ordinating Centre is about how the centre is used from the Welsh perspective. Angela Perrett, RCN Wales Librarian and Information Services Manager, writes about the co-ordinating centre's development in Wales, and Helen Nethercott, a practice development nurse at the Pembrokeshire and Derwen NHS Trust, recounts her experience of the interactive Internet workshop.

Developing quality in agro‐food supply chains: A Welsh perspective

This paper describes the challenges facing the agro‐food sector in Wales as it searches for a more sustainable future than that provided by the productivist post‐war food regime. Growing concerns for food quality, coupled with the potential for wider regional spin‐offs from quality foods have highlighted the opportunities for Wales to exploit environmental quality in its food production. At present, however, Wales has a complex array of supply chains with a varying emphasis on quality. This paper compares and contrasts two models of supply chain development in Wales—mainstream meat commodity production and organic foods—for purposes of focusing questions on the development of quality agro‐food production. The paper concludes by identifying critical opportunities for and constraints upon the wider embodiment of quality in regional food supply chains.

Religion and Ecology: a Welsh perspective

(1997). Religion and Ecology: a Welsh perspective. Journal of Beliefs & Values: Vol. 18, No. 1, pp. 83-92.

Coastal zone management in wales: The information gaps

In 1994 the Countryside Council for Wales, the government nature conservation and countryside advisor in Wales, published a consultation document on marine and coastal policy, and also commissioned research into the status of coastal zone management (CZM) in the Principality. The research, undertaken by the University of Wales Cardiff, investigated CZM from an international, national (U.K.) and Welsh perspective, concentrating on detailed case studies of three areas (including both urban and rural coasts). Policy makers, managers, practitioners and users from all sectors were included in the study which established current activity, identified problems and reviewe future plans. Interviews and questionnaire returns highlighted vital information gaps at all levels. These ranged fom a lack of basic data (including scientific and technical), to a breakdown in communication both within and between organisations, as well as a policy vacuum in both regional and central government.

Factories or Warehouses? A Welsh Perspective on Japanese Transplant Manufacturing

MUNDAY M., MORRIS J. and WILKINSON B. (1995) Factories or warehouses? A Welsh perspective on Japanese transplant manufacturing, Reg. Studies 29, 1–17. Critics of Japanese direct manufacturing investment have argued that the Japanese transplant manufacturing sector (TMS) represents an attempt to circumvent trade barriers rather than a genuine globalization of Japanese capital, and that host regions will find themselves with warehouses or low value-added final assembly plants rather than fully integrated manufacturing operations which will contribute significantly to the development of the local economy. This paper presents a detailed study of the economic impact of Japanese manufacturing in Wales, a region within the UK which has one of the highest concentrations of Japanese manufacturing investment in Europe. It finds that there are some problems with Japanese investment, but although Japanese companies do appear to operate their businesses in different ways to other inward investors, many of these are be...

Managing the knowledge base of health care: a Welsh perspective, 25 July 1994, University of Wales College of Medicine, Cardiff

Managing the knowledge base of health care: a Welsh perspective, 25 July 1994, University of Wales College of Medicine, Cardiff

The Lost Key: Secure Accommodation and Juvenile Crime: An English and Welsh Perspective

This paper discusses aspects of a study of children in secure accommodation conducted in the United Kingdom in the late 1980s. Secure accommodation is analysed as an ambiguous disposal designed to hold both offenders and other youngsters causing concern. Reflecting a western cultural tendency to assume the existence of a technical solution to every problem, professional responses to the uncertainty accompanying ambiguity include the pursuit of more knowledge to identify the “key” to the problems the youngsters present. Some implications of this approach for the youngsters themselves are discussed, and it is suggested that rather than focussing predominantly on system input, reformist endeavour might concentrate on what children have to do to be discharged.