The Committee on Standards in Public Life is responding to the need for scrutiny of ethical standards in local government

On the 10th March on the Democratic Audit blog, Alan Doig argued that the Committee on Standards in Public Life (CSPL) has been ineffective in safeguarding ethical standards across local government. In response, the Chair of the Committee, Lord Bew , describes the role of the committee, its recent activities, and how it contributes to upholding integrity, accountability and standards in British public life

Independent review of Key Stage 2 testing, assessment and accountability: final report (consultation documents, call for evidence and progress reports)

The final report can be found on the *Review of Key Stage 2 testing, assessment and accountability section of our Key Stage 2 review website (http://www.education.gov.uk/ks2review). The panel received nearly 4,000 online responses and about 100 written submissions, and took evidence directly from around 50 stakeholders, during a 12-week call for evidence. Lord Bew is a cross-bench peer, Professor of Irish Politics at Queen's University in Belfast, and a Member of Royal Irish Academy (MRIA). He was a historical adviser to the Saville Inquiry from 1998 to 2001. Membership of the panel in full is: •Lord Bew – chairman •Helen Clegg OBE – executive headteacher, Shiremoor Primary School, North Tyneside •Sally Coates – principal, Burlington Danes Academy, Hammersmith & Fulham •Kate Dethridge – headteacher, Churchend Primary School, Reading •Lubna Khan – headteacher, Berrymede Junior School in Ealing •Ruth Miskin – founder of Read-Write Inc. and former primary headteacher •Miriam Rosen – former executive director, Ofsted •Tim Sherriff – headteacher, Westfield Community School, Wigan •Greg Wallace – executive principal of Best Start Federation, Hackney •Representatives of Ofsted and Ofqual acted as observers

Peri-operative red blood cell transfusion in neonates and infants: NEonate and Children audiT of Anaesthesia pRactice IN Europe: A prospective European multicentre observational study

BACKGROUND: Little is known about current clinical practice concerning peri-operative red blood cell transfusion in neonates and small infants. Guidelines suggest transfusions based on haemoglobin thresholds ranging from 8.5 to 12 g dl-1, distinguishing between children from birth to day 7 (week 1), from day 8 to day 14 (week 2) or from day 15 (≥week 3) onwards. OBJECTIVE: To observe peri-operative red blood cell transfusion practice according to guidelines in relation to patient outcome. DESIGN: A multicentre observational study. SETTING: The NEonate-Children sTudy of Anaesthesia pRactice IN Europe (NECTARINE) trial recruited patients up to 60 weeks' postmenstrual age undergoing anaesthesia for surgical or diagnostic procedures from 165 centres in 31 European countries between March 2016 and January 2017. PATIENTS: The data included 5609 patients undergoing 6542 procedures. Inclusion criteria was a peri-operative red blood cell transfusion. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The primary endpoint was the haemoglobin level triggering a transfusion for neonates in week 1, week 2 and week 3. Secondary endpoints were transfusion volumes, 'delta haemoglobin' (preprocedure - transfusion-triggering) and 30-day and 90-day morbidity and mortality. RESULTS: Peri-operative red blood cell transfusions were recorded during 447 procedures (6.9%). The median haemoglobin levels triggering a transfusion were 9.6 [IQR 8.7 to 10.9] g dl-1 for neonates in week 1, 9.6 [7.7 to 10.4] g dl-1 in week 2 and 8.0 [7.3 to 9.0] g dl-1 in week 3. The median transfusion volume was 17.1 [11.1 to 26.4] ml kg-1 with a median delta haemoglobin of 1.8 [0.0 to 3.6] g dl-1. Thirty-day morbidity was 47.8% with an overall mortality of 11.3%. CONCLUSIONS: Results indicate lower transfusion-triggering haemoglobin thresholds in clinical practice than suggested by current guidelines. The high morbidity and mortality of this NECTARINE sub-cohort calls for investigative action and evidence-based guidelines addressing peri-operative red blood cell transfusions strategies. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov, identifier: NCT02350348