A qualitative study of satisfaction and dissatisfaction with Jobcentre Plus; an exploration of issues identified in the 2007 Customer Satisfaction Survey with a particular focus on those most likely to be dissatisfied

This report presents the findings of qualitative research undertaken with Jobcentre Plus staff and customers to further understand the findings of the 2007 Customer Satisfaction Survey. The research took place in all 11 regions/countries between September and December 2008 and involved interviews with staff from jobcentres and Benefit Delivery Centres, and follow-up telephone interviews and focus groups with customers. The report identifies differences in the drivers of satisfaction and dissatisfaction between different benefit groups. It also explores customer satisfaction with different services and contact channels, identifies what is seen as good customer service and puts forward some suggestions for how this may be improved

Jobcentre Plus Jobseeker's Allowance off-flow rates: Key Management Indicator Post-Implementation Review

N/

Researching Bradford: A review of social research on Bradford District

A synthesis of findings from social research on the District of Bradford. This report synthesises the findings from a wide range of social research undertaken on the District of Bradford, primarily between 1995 and 2005. The researchers reviewed almost 200 pieces of work. The key results are summarised under thematic headings: - The social, economic and institutional context - Community cohesion - Housing, neighbourhoods and regeneration - Business and enterprise - Health, disability and social care - Children and young people - Education, skills and the labour market - Crime and community safety It also identifies a future research agenda. The main purpose of the review was to provide the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and local organisations in Bradford with a firm basis upon which to build future work in the District

National Evaluation of the Capacity Building Programme in English Local Government: Evaluation of the National Programmes: Annex 2: Evaluation of the National Programmes

The report is one of a series of outputs from the national evaluation of the CBP, being undertaken by a team of researchers at the Policy Research Institute (PRI) at Leeds Metropolitan University and the Cities Research Unit at the University of West of England. The Capacity Building Programme for local government was launched in 2003 as a joint Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) / Local Government Association (LGA) initiative to support capacity building and improvement activities within local authorities in England. The evaluation of the Capacity Building Programme has been underway since late 2004. A scoping phase was conducted until May 2005, including a short evaluation of the Pilot Programmes. The main phase of the evaluation commenced in September 2005 and encompassed four main phases (see Section 1.3: p10)

Genomic identification of a novel co-trimoxazole resistance genotype and its prevalence amongst Streptococcus pneumoniae in Malawi

Objectives This study aimed to define the molecular basis of co-trimoxazole resistance in Malawian pneumococci under the dual selective pressure of widespread co-trimoxazole and sulfadoxine/pyrimethamine use. Methods We measured the trimethoprim and sulfamethoxazole MICs and analysed folA and folP nucleotide and translated amino acid sequences for 143 pneumococci isolated from carriage and invasive disease in Malawi (2002–08). Results Pneumococci were highly resistant to both trimethoprim and sulfamethoxazole (96%, 137/143). Sulfamethoxazole-resistant isolates showed a 3 or 6 bp insertion in the sulphonamide-binding site of folP. The trimethoprim-resistant isolates fell into three genotypic groups based on dihydrofolate reductase (encoded by folA) mutations: Ile-100-Leu (10%), the Ile-100-Leu substitution together with a residue 92 substitution (56%) and those with a novel uncharacterized resistance genotype (34%). The nucleotide sequence divergence and dN/dS of folA and folP remained stable from 2004 onwards. Conclusions S. pneumoniae exhibit almost universal co-trimoxazole resistance in vitro and in silico that we believe is driven by extensive co-trimoxazole and sulfadoxine/pyrimethamine use. More than one-third of pneumococci employ a novel mechanism of co-trimoxazole resistance. Resistance has now reached a point of stabilizing evolution. The use of co-trimoxazole to prevent pneumococcal infection in HIV/AIDS patients in sub-Saharan Africa should be re-evaluated

Skills needs in the Greater Lincolnshire Agri-food sector

This report aims to identify the Greater Lincolnshire agri-food sector’s skills needs and how these skills issues act as barriers to business growth. To fulfil the aims of the project the research approach consisted of a succinct review of relevant existing literature, an analysis of core official national datasets and an online survey of 20 agri-food businesses located in Greater Lincolnshire

A Psychometric Evaluation of the Body Image Questionnaire Child and Adolescent Version

Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) typically develops during adolescence, but there has been little research evaluating assessment tools for BDD in youth. This study sought to provide a comprehensive psychometric evaluation of a brief self-report questionnaire of BDD symptoms, the Body Image Questionnaire Child and Adolescent version (BIQ-C), in both clinical and non-clinical adolescent samples. Properties of the BIQ-C were examined in 479 adolescents recruited through schools and 118 young people with BDD attending a specialist clinic. Sensitivity to change was additionally examined in a subgroup of the clinical sample who received treatment (n = 35). Exploratory factor analysis indicated that a two-factor structure provided the best fit for the data in the non-clinical sample. The two-factor solution was corroborated through confirmatory factor analysis as the best solution in the clinical sample, although it did not fulfil predefined fit thresholds The first factor encompassed preoccupation and repetitive behaviours, while the second included items assessing functional impairment. The BIQ-C showed good internal consistency across both samples, and convergent validity with other measures of BDD. Among those in the clinical sample who received treatment, BIQ-C scores decreased significantly, and BIQ-C change scores were highly correlated with change scores on the gold-standard clinician-rated measure of BDD symptom severity. These findings indicate that the BIQ-C is a suitable tool for assessing BDD symptoms in young people and measuring change during treatment

Psychometric Evaluation of the Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale Modified for Body Dysmorphic Disorder for Adolescents (BDD-YBOCS-A)

The Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale Modified for Body Dysmorphic Disorder for Adolescents (BDD-YBOCS-A) is a clinician-rated measure of BDD symptom severity in youth. Despite widespread use in both research and clinical practice, its psychometric properties have not been formally evaluated. The current study examined the factor structure, reliability, validity, and sensitivity to change of the BDD-YBOCS-A in 251 youths with BDD attending two specialist clinics. A principal component analysis identified two factors, explaining 56% of the variance. The scale showed good internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.87) and adequate convergent and divergent validity. In a subgroup of participants receiving BDD treatment (n = 175), BDD-YBOCS-A scores significantly decreased over time, demonstrating sensitivity to change. BDD-YBOCS-A change scores over treatment were highly correlated with severity changes measured by the Clinical Global Impression – Severity scale (r =.84). The study provides empirical support for the use of the BDD-YBOCS-A in children and adolescents with BDD

Environment and Rural Affairs Monitoring & Modelling Programme ERAMMP Report-28B: Welsh Mountain, Moor and Heath (MMH) Condition Account

1. Natural Capital Accounts for woodland, farmland and freshwater broad habitats were produced by ERAMMP in collaboration with the Office of National Statistics in 2017. These accounts estimated the combined partial asset value for these habitats to be £30.5 billion for 2014. A new monetary account has now been created for Mountain, Moor and Heath (MMH) habitat. This account estimates the MMH asset value to be £3 billion for 2018. 2. It is noted in all the reports produced that Office for National Statistics produced Natural Capital accounts remain experimental and future publications will be subject to methodological improvements. Also, it should be noted that all accounts only represent partial or a minimum valuation as methods are not available for all services. 3. This partial asset value for MMH is a relatively small asset figure – but it underlines how cheaply the products of the environment are rather than how important they are. The price is an important signal of levels of trade. If we are to decouple economic production and growth from environmental impact then the raw price ought to remain low with most value added upstream in the supply chain. If we were to look at the final consumer value of products from Welsh upland agriculture, it would be significantly higher. 4. For all of these accounts, the condition of the various broad habitats are not included explicitly as these are not typically represented in the reporting of many natural capital accounts by the Office of National Statistics. This means the rich set of condition data from the GMEP and ERAMMP National Field Survey and many other sources have not been exploited. These condition data are particularly important for assessing the underpinning resilience of ecosystems to sudden shocks. In addition, as standalone indicators these condition metrics help us to track the outcomes of policy (and other) interventions in improving the health of our ecosystems. 5. To test out the value of assessing condition data, this report presents a condition account for the Mountain, Moor and Heath (MMH) habitat. This is an important habitat for many cultural, provisioning and regulating services in Wales. The methodology used was informed by, but deviated to some extent, from the internationally accepted standard to increase the relevance for Welsh policy needs. 6. A first step was to agree which data would provide efficient, robust and repeatable information representative of the habitat condition. A participatory approach was taken to achieve this involving a range of actors to select the indicators which had greatest consensus as being appropriate and understandable to a broad audience. It was agreed, the relevance of these indicators to the delivery of a range of services and benefits should be the priority. A decision relating to a reference point was also needed i.e. how does current condition compare to either a theoretical ‘intact’ ecosystem, a reference year, or a policy target? A pragmatic approach was taken and the final selected reference point was based on the year(s) from which most historic data is available. 7. In summary, the trends reported for the final selected list of indicators in MMH since the 1990s (2010s only for some indicators) reported are: a) Water quality – a general improved in quality has been observed since the 1990s b) Soil quality - no change has been observed in 2 selected soil indicators since the 1990s c) Moorland Bird index – a decline has been observed which has stabilised since 2009 d) Habitat Connectivity - status but no trend data is available e) Protected sites – most are in unfavourable condition with little improvement observed over time f) Wildfires – increases have been observed since the 2010s g) Access – no trend data are available h) Visitor satisfaction – a high satisfaction rating is reported but no trend data is available 8. The monetary accounts for MMH suggest the value has been relatively stable over the time period for which we have enough data (2009-2018). This would seem to concur with these condition accounts where overall there is no ongoing decline but there is also only limited improvement observed. 9. In conclusion, there is a complex mix of drivers and policies interacting on the selected indicators. This is further confounded by different sensitivity of indicators to these drivers and variability in historic data sources. However there are some clear policy messages with respect to policy outcomes: a) major policy success (e.g. MMH water quality recovering from acidification) b) partial policy success halting decline (e.g. Moorland Bird Index; stability in soil indicators) c) outstanding policy needs (e.g. no improvement in status of protected sites; increase in wildfire frequency). 10. Availability of new sources of data will allow improvement going forward in any future condition accounts. For example not all sources of GMEP/ERAMMP data were explored due to lack of availability of ONS staff resources due to their heavy engagement in the covid response. One recommendation is to increase engagement with the ONS team to ensure more effective use of Welsh data streams going forward even in the creation of UK accounts. A priority going forward is to develop methods to better embed these condition indicators in the monetary accounts