Contestability in public services - an alternative to outsourcing

The public don’t like monopolies. And they are suspicious of them in the public sector as well as the private sector. Sometimes there is no other way of organising the production and delivery of goods and services, but we all know from experience that monopolies are generally unresponsive to the needs of customers and service users, and they pay too much attention to the convenience of management and staff. On the other hand, we are also worried about the use of competition and outsourcing in the delivery of public services. The public want social services to be delivered by people who are motivated by a desire to serve. They worry about the profit motive. And they are concerned that public servants may be outwitted by commercially-savvy contractors. This paper argues that there is a middle way between monopoly and market-testing. It is possible to use performance benchmarking and the prospect of prompt intervention in case of underperformance to drive increased efficiency and effectiveness, while also recognising the importance of a public service ethos, and the value embedded in many of the systems, processes and relationships through which these services are currently delivered. That middle way is contestability

Prediction of recirculation zones in isothermal coaxial jet flows relevant to combustors

The characteristics of the recirculation zones in confined coaxial turbulent jets are investigated numerically employing the kappa - epsilon turbulence model. The geometrical arrangement corresponds to the experimental study of Owen (AIAA J. 1976) and the investigation is undertaken to provide information for isothermal flow relevant to combustor flows. For the first time, the shape, size, and location of the recirculation zones for the above experimental configuration are correctly predicted. The processes leading to the observed results are explained. Detailed comparisons of the prediction with measurements are made. It is shown that the recirculation zones are very sensitive to the central jet exit configuration and the velocity ratio of the jets

Aerothermal modeling

The objectives, approach, and status of a program to develop the computational fluid dynamics tools needed to improve combustor design and analysis are outlined. The calculation procedure selected consists of a finite difference solution of the time averaged, steady state, primitive variable, elliptic form of the Reynolds equations. Standard TEACH type numerics are used to solve the resulting equations. These include hybrid differencing, SIMPLE algorithm for the pressure field, line by line iterative solution using the ADI method and the tridiagonal matrix algorithm (TDMA). Convergence is facilitated by using under relaxation. The physical processes are modeled by a two equation eddy viscosity model for turbulence; combustion is represented by a simple, irreversible, one step chemical reaction whose rate is influenced only by the time scale of the turbulence. The model evaluation procedure is also described

Comparing Travel Cost Models and the Precision of their Consumer Surplus Estimates: Albert Park and Maroondah Reservoir.

This study examines different types of Travel Cost Models to estimate and compare the recreational values of two parks in Victoria, Australia: Maroondah Reservoir and Albert Park. Zonal Travel Cost models and a number of different functional forms are used in this study. Standard errors are used to estimate upper and lower bounds for the recreational value estimates, enabling comparison between the precision of the different types of Travel Cost Models and functional forms estimated. The double log functional form city zone Travel Cost Model provides the most precise estimate for Albert Park's recreational value at $19.2 million per year. Maroondah Reservoir's most precise estimate is provided by the double log functional form regional zone Trave Cost Model at a value of$2.2 million per year, considerably less than that of Albert Park. Albert Park is found to have a comparatively larger 'proximity power' (attracting many more visitors) while Maroondah Reservoir exhibited a larger degree of 'pulling power' (a higher proportion of its visitors travel further distances).COSTS ; CONSUMERS ; TRAVEL

Introduction [to Doctrina perpetua: brokering change, promoting innovation and transforming marginalisation in university learning and teaching]

It is arguable that, in addition to brokering change and promoting innovation, contemporary universities have a responsibility to direct their teaching and learning activities at transforming marginalisation. This contention derives from the fundamental and enduring ambivalence attending discussions of the purpose and significance of universities. On the one hand, they can be seen as “ivory towers” and hence as the bastions of privilege and the repositories of “high culture”, overseeing the maintenance of what the elite determines is the best of a nation’s heritage. On the other hand, and by contrast, they can be viewed as the vehicles for progressive social change and as the sites for interrogating current issues in terms of whose voices are heard and whose are silenced in relation to those issues. Given this ambivalence, it is clearly incumbent on universities to find ways of confirming that they contribute to disrupting and subverting sociocultural inequities rather than replicating them. In keeping with the emphasis on diversity and heterogeneity evident throughout this book, the authors of the chapters in this section have been encouraged to deploy a number of conceptual and methodological resources in engaging with the theme of transforming marginalisation in preference to the section editor predetermining a single, fixed definition of “marginalisation” and its “transformation”. At the same time, each chapter identifies particular attributes of groups of learners that might potentially render them at greater risk than other groups of not attaining their educational goals and links those attributes with specific strategies that have been demonstrated through evidencebased practice to reduce that risk—at least for some learners in those groups. What emerges is a picture of considerable complexity, with some strategies proving effective for large numbers of students and conforming to the features of current best practice in university learning and teaching, yet also with some elements of marginalisation remaining remarkably resistant to amelioration and transformation. Understanding this complex and somewhat contradictory picture is crucial to taking up the challenges and opportunities that mark the intersection between doctrina perpetua and transforming marginalisation

THE EFFECTS OF RELATIONS IN FARMING TRADE WITH USA ON EEC AGRICULTURAL POLICIES

Agricultural and Food Policy,

Embedded finite-element solver for computation of brushless permanent-magnet motors

This paper describes the theory underlying the formulation of a “minimum set” of finite-element solutions to be used in the design and analysis of saturated brushless permanent-magnet motors. The choice of finite-element solutions is described in terms of key points on the flux–MMF diagram. When the diagram has a regular shape, a huge reduction in finite-element analysis is possible with no loss of accuracy. If the loop is irregular, many more solutions are needed. This paper describes an efficient technique in which a finite-element solver is associated with a classical $d$– $q$-axis circuit model in such a way that the number of finite-element solutions in one electrical half-cycle can be varied between 1 and 360. The finite-element process is used to determine not only the average torque but also the saturated inductances as the rotor rotates

Obituary: Alan Grahame Lloyd (1926-1999)

Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession,