Salaries of Members of Congress: A List of Payable Rates and Effective Dates, 1789-2008

Congress is required by Article I, Section 6, of the Constitution to determine its own pay. Prior to 1969, Congress did so by enacting stand-alone legislation. From 1789 through 1968, Congress raised its pay 22 times using this procedure. Congressional salaries initially were $1,500. By 1968, they had risen to$30,000. Stand-alone legislation may still be used to raise Member pay, as it was most recently in 1982, 1983, 1989, and 1991, but two other methods — including an automatic annual adjustment procedure and a commission process — are now also available. Under the annual adjustment procedure, Members were scheduled to receive a 2.7% increase in January 2008. The increase was revised to 2.5%, resulting in a salary in 2008 of $169,300, to match the percent increase in the base pay of General Schedule (GS) employees. By law, Members may not receive an increase greater than the increase in the base pay of GS employees. Congress voted to deny the scheduled January 2007 adjustment. Members last received a pay increase (1.9$165,200

Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation: Implications for land acquisition and population relocation

In response to the challenge of climate change, governments of developing countries are evolving adaptation and mitigation programmes for which they are seeking international financing. This paper presents the findings of a review of national action programmes and other interventions to assess their likely societal impacts with an emphasis on land-use change, future land acquisitions, population displacement and resettlement. Evidence presented suggests there is likely to be additional and large-scale resettlement related to adaptation and mitigation investments in the coming decades. It describes such climate change-related projects as infrastructure development projects and the population displacement they may generate as a form of development-created involuntary resettlement. The article considers the policy and development challenges such involuntary resettlement will pose and assesses the robustness of current governance arrangements to manage that resettlement. It is argued that the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change process presents opportunities for improving the national and international management of land acquisition and resettlement, particularly in least developed countries and small island states, but cautions that, at present, the financing arrangements do not prioritise the legal protection of affected populations

Fighting Ebola in Sierra Leone: the experience of frontline NHS workers

A group of UK trainees find themselves face-to-face with one of the most catastrophic health crises in recent times

Using Geographic Information Systems to investigate variations in accessibility to ‘extended hours’ primary healthcare provision

There are ongoing policy concerns surrounding the difficulty in obtaining timely appointments to primary healthcare services and the potential impact on, for example, attendance at accident and emergency services and potential health outcomes. Using the case study of potential access to primary healthcare services in Wales, Geographic Information System (GIS)‐based tools that permit a consideration of population‐to‐provider ratios over space are used to examine variations in geographical accessibility to general practitioner (GP) surgeries offering appointment times outside of ‘core’ operating hours. Correlation analysis is used to explore the association of accessibility scores with potential demand for such services using UK Population Census data. Unlike the situation in England, there is a tendency for accessibility to those surgeries offering ‘extended’ hours of appointment times to be better for more deprived census areas in Wales. However, accessibility to surgeries offering appointments in the evening was associated with lower levels of working age population classed as ‘economically active’; that is, those who could be targeted beneficiaries of policies geared towards ‘extended’ appointment hours provision. Such models have the potential to identify spatial mismatches of different facets of primary healthcare, such as ‘extended’ hours provision available at GP surgeries, and are worthy of further investigation, especially in relation to policies targeted at particular demographic groups

Blue remembered skills : mental health awareness training for police officers

The Bradley Report (Bradley, 2009) has raised a number of important questions regarding the treatment of individuals who are experiencing mental health problems and find themselves in the criminal justice system. One of the key recommendations is that professional staff working across criminal justice organisations should receive increased training in this area. This paper explores the experiences of two professionals, a mental health nurse and a social worker, involved in providing training for police officers. It goes on to consider the most effective models of training for police officers

The challenges facing public libraries in the Big Society: The role of volunteers, and the issues that surround their use in England

The use of volunteers in English public libraries is nothing new, however their use is becoming ever greater and one may argue that we are increasingly seeing a mixed economy of public library provision, in the wider arena of the Big Society. This paper presents the findings of a Delphi Study of 15 library managers undertaken as part of a Professional Doctorate exploring the challenges facing public libraries in England today, particularly focusing on volunteer use. An overview of relevant supporting literature is provided to help contextualize the research, particularly focusing on concepts such as the political background surrounding policy development, community engagement, the Big Society, and volunteering. Explanation of how the Delphi Study was conducted is given, together with a discussion of the key findings. Results show that opinions of library managers cover a broad spectrum. Although volunteer use is generally viewed by the respondents as a good thing, with potential to further enhance a service and aid community engagement, there are also a number of concerns. These concerns particularly relate to the idea of the volunteer as a replacement to paid staff rather than an enhancement to the service. Other key concerns relate to the quality of service provision, the rationale behind volunteer use, and the capacity of communities to deliver. Volunteer use in public libraries on this scale is a new phenomenon, and the longevity of such a development is largely unknown. This raises the question as to whether this is simply a large scale ideological experiment, or a move to even greater community engagement

Skill competency development strategies by a contractor

Construction skills are one of the vital aspects of construction work which is growing in importance due to skill gaps and skill shortages during different economic cycles. The aim of this study was to investigate competence development strategies by a traditional construction company within its own pool of skill resources and among its supply chain members. The study was carried out via literature review, empirical studies involving a focus study, analysis of documentary evidence supported by unstructured interviews and a report of skill development/supply chain conference. The study demonstrates how long-term skill development can be achieved through: (a) strategic capacity planning which allows high retention, continuous training, and balanced construction demand and contractor’s supply capacity over the long term; (b) updating and upgrading the knowledge base of the supply chain through conferences and training schemes; (c) strategic investment in the workforce through training, vocational and higher degrees; and (d) acquaintance with different sources of finance. This study will assist small traditional firms in building competencies in skill development and improvement. It will assist an international audience who may face similar issue with their construction firm

A model of meta-population dynamics for North Sea and West of Scotland cod - the dynamic consequences of natal fidelity

It is clear from a variety of data that cod (Gadus morhua) in the North Sea do not constitute a homogeneous population that will rapidly redistribute in response to local variability in exploitation. Hence, local exploitation has the potential to deplete local populations, perhaps to the extent that depensation occurs and recovery is impossible without recolonisation from other areas, with consequent loss of genetic diversity. The oceanographic, biological and behavioural processes which maintain the spatial population structures are only partly understood, and one of the key unknown factors is the extent to which codexhibit homing migrations to natal spawning areas. Here, we describe a model comprising 10 interlinked demes of cod in European waters, each representing groups of fish with a common natal origin. The spawning locations of fish in each deme are governed by a variety of rules concerning oceanographic dispersal, migration behaviour and straying. We describe numerical experiments with the model and comparisons with observations, which lead us to conclude that active homing is probably not necessary to explain some of the population structures of European cod. Separation of some sub-populations is possible through distance and oceanographic processes affecting the dispersal of eggs and larvae. However, other evidence suggests that homing may be a necessary behaviour to explain the structure of other sub-populations. Theconsequences for fisheries management of taking into account spatial population structuring are complicated. For example, recovery or recolonisation strategies require consideration not only of mortality rates in the target area for restoration, but also in the source areas for the recruits which may be far removed depending on the oceanography. The model has an inbuilt capability to address issues concerning the effects of climate change, including temperature change, on spatial patterns of recruitment, development and population structure in cod