Comprehensive performance assessment and public services improvement in England? A case study of the benefits administration service in local government

The purpose of this paper is to independently evaluate the impact of the Comprehensive Performance Assessment regime on one particular public service, namely the provision of Council Tax and Housing Benefits distributed by local authorities throughout the course of the regime. This service was assessed in every iteration of the CPA methodologies and it included one of the few key performance indicators (KPIs) where the definition of the performance indicator, the means of collection and the public reporting of its results, remained the same throughout the CPA period between 2002 and 2008

Estimating Government Discretion in Fiscal Policy Making

Varieties of Capitalism (VoC) is a relatively new approach to describe macroeconomic differences across countries, classifying them into coordinated market economies (CMEs) and liberal market economies (LMEs). VoC already had a significant impact on the field but has been criticised for its lack of linkage to political systems. Recent studies focused on the similarities between CMEs and the Lijphartian consensus political systems, and LMEs and majoritarian political systems. One of the practical consequences of this classification is that governments in LMEs should enjoy more discretion over fiscal policy while governments in CMEs are more constrained in their decisions. In this paper we evaluate this proposition in two LME states -- Ireland and the UK -- where the latter is an example of a pure majoritarian state while the former bares several institutional characteristics of the consensus state (e.g. electoral system and coalition governments). We show that governments in both states enjoy relatively high degrees of discretion over fiscal policy, but that in Ireland policy outcomes are more well balanced in respect to interests represented by social partners. We thus provide empirical evidence that supports the classification proposed in the VoC approach. However, we also demonstrate that the context of decision-making has a crucial impact on the discretionary power of government, and that such context effects can change over time, even within the same system type.fiscal policy, computerised text analysis, EU Structural Funds, budgetary process

It’s the talk: A study of involvement initiatives in secure mental health settings

Background: A study of involvement initiatives within secure mental health services across one UK region, where these have been organised to reflect alliances between staff and service users. There is little previous relevant international research, but constraints upon effective involvement have been noted. Objective: To explore and evaluate involvement initiatives in secure mental health settings. Design: A case study design with thematic analysis of qualitative interviews and focus groups. Setting and participants: Data collection was carried out between October 2011 and February 2012 with 139 staff and service users drawn from a variety of secure mental health settings. Findings: Our analysis offers four broad themes, titled: safety and security first?; bringing it all back home; it picks you up; it’s the talk. The quality of dialogue between staff and services users was deemed of prime importance. Features of secure environments could constrain communication, and the best examples of empowerment took place in non-secure settings. Discussion: Key aspects of communication and setting sustain involvement. These features are discussed with reference to Jurgen Habermas's work on communicative action and deliberative democracy. Conclusions: Involvement initiatives with service users resident in secure hospitals can be organized to good effect and the active role of commissioners is crucial. Positive outcomes are optimized when care is taken over the social space where involvement takes place and the process of involvement is appreciated by participants. Concerns over risk management are influential in staff support. This is germane to innovative thinking about practice and policy in this field

The Work Programme: factors associated with differences in the relative effectiveness of prime providers

The Work Programme is delivered by 18 private, public and voluntary sector organisations, working under contract to DWP. These organisations are known as prime providers, or "primes", and operate within a geographical Contract Package Area (CPA). Each CPA has either two or three primes and individuals entering the Work Programme are randomly assigned to one of these. Comparing the outcomes of individuals assigned to each prime within a CPA provides robust estimates of relative effectiveness. Overall, there are 40 contracts across Britain, allowing 26 within-CPA comparisons. An interim report confirmed both that randomisation had worked well and that there was statistically significant variation in outcomes between primes. This report extends the interim analysis to relate the variation in outcomes to differences in the services offered by primes. By doing so, it aims to understand what makes some primes more effective than others. The results provide evidence of certain aspects of service being more associated with better outcomes than others and that much of this is concentrated among particular subgroups. Several relationships have been revealed which could provide some clues as to what is driving the variation in provider performance. However, the analytical approach provides evidence of an association only and does not enable us to establish whether these relationships are causal in nature. In addition, much of the variation in performance is not associated in a statistically significant way with the provider characteristics that we have been able to measure. This may suggest that the key characteristics have not been taken into account

The early British Communist leaders, 1920–1923: a prosopographical exploration

The members of its governing Executive Committee constituted the national leadership of the Communist Party of Great Britain. Prosopographical analysis which employs both quantitative and qualitative methods is utilized to explore the origins; age; education; occupations; experience and affiliation; party career; and destination of 47 of 48 members of the committee who held office between 1920 and 1923. The survey presents, in many cases for the first time, details of their background and activity. Against previous assertions of youthfulness and Scottish and Welsh influence, it demonstrates the majority were born in England before 1890 and that while almost two-thirds were skilled workers or miners, a fifth worked in white-collar occupations. There were high rates of turnover and discontinuity: more than 80% of representatives served briefly and 73% were never re-elected after 1923. Up to half were no longer in the party by the end of the decade and only four remained in its leadership after 1932. Mini-biographies of the 33 Communists whose leading role was restricted to ‘the long foundation period’ confirm the weakness and frequently ineffective and confused nature of its leadership as well as the significant difficulties faced by early British Communism

The impact of external audit and use of resources assessment on local authorities : a study on Yorkshire and the Humber region of England.

External audit has a long history and used to be one of many inspection activities performed on local authorities. It has been used to provide assurance concerning the reliability of the accounts of an authority and on the legality of the underlying transactions. However, since the 1980s, it has been used in a variety of contexts which include new and intense accountgiving and verification requirements. Governments resort to auditing to secure local authority accountability to their various stakeholders. External auditors' work for local authorities in England is extended beyond certification audit to cover the Use of Resources assessment, a component included in the Comprehensive Performance Assessment (CPA) regime. The inspection activities were performed by auditors even though the coverage of inspection goes beyond traditional definitions of auditing. The assessment regime of UoR gone through various changes and alterations every year since it was first introduced in 2002 and subject to greater alterations for assessment in 2009. Many researchers have highlighted the issues of extensive and high cost external audit but not many have attempted to discover what is going on in the field. This study fills the gaps found in literatures, exploring what is going on at local authorities and their perception on the external audit performed on them. Published data were analysed before developing structured interview questions. Responses were received from the Director/Head of Finance from 20 local authorities in Yorkshire and The Humber region and 19 were interviewed. This research contributes to the understanding and designing of assessment process covered in external audit practice at local authorities. It helps analyse the impact, perceptions and expectations of local authorities as to how much the external audit has helped and in what ways it could be improved. Different views were shared among the local authorities on the benefit of external audit and how it could be better performed. To conclude, the extensive assessment bears some positive drivers for improvement but should be more carefully designed to include feedback from the auditees and provide a longer time period for one assessment regime to help local authorities to fully respond and adapt its processes. These would help local authorities to reflect the improvement at their organisation rather than in numbers alone

An internet survey of psychiatrists who have a particular interest in cognitive behavioural therapy: what is the place for the cognitive behavioural model in their role as a psychiatrist?

A survey of psychiatrists with a special interest in CBT was conducted by email correspondence to answer two main questions: ‘What are the uses and the usefulness of the cognitive behavioural model within the day-to-day practice of psychiatrists?’ and ‘What are the most important roles of the consultant medical psychotherapist who has specialized in CBT?’ Despite the constraints of a low response rate the results still reflected the views of 46 psychiatrists who were particularly experienced in the area of CBT. They reported that the cognitive behavioural model was useful in general psychiatric settings, in particular in the engagement of patients, improving client's insight, adherence to medications, and for trainee supervision. The responders reaffirmed previously held views about the role of the consultant medical psychotherapist (CBT), in particular the roles of the assessment and management of complex cases, of taking responsibility for patients with a combination of medical and psychological issues and of teaching CBT to psychiatrists and other mental health professionals. The challenges of translating CBT competencies into generic non-CBT psychiatric settings are discussed, with the important potential role of the medical psychotherapist in this respect. The key skill of formulating cases in secondary care is emphasized

Study protocol: cross-national comparative case study of recovery-focused mental health care planning and coordination (COCAPP).

BACKGROUND: The collaborative care planning study (COCAPP) is a cross-national comparative study of care planning and coordination in community mental healthcare settings. The context and delivery of mental health care is diverging between the countries of England and Wales whilst retaining points of common interest, hence providing a rich geographical comparison for research. Across England the key vehicle for the provision of recovery-focused, personalised, collaborative mental health care is the care programme approach (CPA). The CPA is a form of case management introduced in England in 1991, then revised in 2008. In Wales the CPA was introduced in 2003 but has now been superseded by The Mental Health (Care Co-ordination and Care and Treatment Planning) (CTP) Regulations (Mental Health Measure), a new statutory framework. In both countries, the CPA/CTP requires providers to: comprehensively assess health/social care needs and risks; develop a written care plan (which may incorporate risk assessments, crisis and contingency plans, advanced directives, relapse prevention plans, etc.) in collaboration with the service user and carer(s); allocate a care coordinator; and regularly review care. The overarching aim of this study is to identify and describe the factors that ensure CPA/CTP care planning and coordination is personalised, recovery-focused and conducted collaboratively. METHODS/DESIGN: COCAPP will employ a concurrent transformative mixed methods approach with embedded case studies. Phase 1 (Macro-level) will consider the national context through a meta-narrative mapping (MNM) review of national policies and the relevant research literature. Phase 2 (Meso-level and Micro-level) will include in-depth micro-level case studies of everyday 'frontline' practice and experience with detailed qualitative data from interviews and reviews of individual care plans. This will be nested within larger meso-level survey datasets, senior-level interviews and policy reviews in order to provide potential explanations and understanding. DISCUSSION: COCAPP will help identify the key components that support and hinder the provision of personalised, recovery-focused care planning and provide an informed rationale for a future planned intervention and evaluation

'The Trojan Horse': Communist entrism in the British Labour party, 1933-43

Entrism – the infiltration of political organisations by competitors – is typically associated with Trotskyism. Large-scale Communist entrism in the British Labour Party has been neglected by historians and reference in the literature is slight and impressionistic. Archival material permits reconstruction of a sustained attempt by the Comintern and British Communists to subvert Labour Party policy between 1933 and 1943. Documenting the development and dimensions of Communist entrism, this article establishes that, by 1937, 10 per cent of Communist Party (CPGB) members were operating secretly inside British Labour, campaigning to change its policy on affiliation and engineer a popular front. Biographies of fifty-five such Communists provide new data and permit a typology of entrist activity. The episode sheds new light on popular front initiatives and the extent of genuine support for them within Labour. It illuminates the conspiratorial side of Stalinist activity at a time when the CPGB presented itself as a conventional British party

The Comintern, Communist women leaders and the struggle for women's liberation in Britain between the wars: a political and prosopographical investigation, part 2

This is the second part of an article which explores and contextualises in revolutionary theory and practice the lives and careers of a highly unusual group of women, many hitherto hidden from history, who took a leading part in the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) between 1920 and 1939. The first instalment discussed the historiography and outlined a prosopographical approach to the subject. It traced the theory of women's liberation which informed the early Comintern and its national affiliates from its roots in the work of Engels, the German Social Democratic Party and the Second International; outlined developments in CPGB policy on the question over two decades; and presented a statistical analysis of 15 of the 18 women who figured in the party leadership between the wars. This second instalment provides mini-biographies of these Central Committee (CC) members. It examines their origins, ethnicity, religion, education, occupation, previous affiliations, political attitudes and career in the CPGB. Recuperation confirms that the group as a whole embraced Communism as a break with earlier women's politics – including those with direct experience of the suffrage movement. They rejected feminism but exhibited little interest in Marxist theory beyond Comintern pronouncements. Committed to the party and the policies of the Soviet Union as it moved from Lenin to Stalin, they were practical organisers and agitators who, on the whole, respected conventional gender roles. They exercised the right to be politically active, even in the face of domestic commitments, and engaged in the general activities of the party as well as specialist work with women. But they offered no explicit critique of the family, prevailing sexual mores or the subordination of women members within the CPGB