Browse by Type of Work

The project is underpinned by the need to evaluate the measures supporting young, displaced Ukrainian people. While young people constitute a large number of arrivals to the UK from Ukraine, there is little data about their experiences including education, employment, housing and social relations in...
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The project is underpinned by the need to evaluate the measures supporting young, displaced Ukrainian people. While young people constitute a large number of arrivals to the UK from Ukraine, there is little data about their experiences including education, employment, housing and social relations in general. Still, most of the young refugees would like to stay in the UK even when it would feel safe to return to Ukraine, as both our study, and the recent data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) demonstrate. Since 2022, many of the young Ukrainians have graduated from school, started higher education (HE) degrees or begun working, and are trying to build their lives in the UK. However, they face challenges from forced displacement, war trauma, and adapting to a new country. Despite their efforts, there is little indication that their social and intellectual contributions are adequately valued. Ukrainians have no certainty of their future life in the UK as neither the Ukrainian Family Scheme nor the Ukrainian Sponsorship Scheme (“Homes for Ukraine”) provide pathways for citizenship.

Trees provide a range of benefits for urban society including biodiversity enhancement, promoting better health and wellbeing, and increasing urban resilience to extreme weather such as heavy rainfall and hot summer temperatures. Quantifying how much of a given area is covered by trees, when viewed ...
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Trees provide a range of benefits for urban society including biodiversity enhancement, promoting better health and wellbeing, and increasing urban resilience to extreme weather such as heavy rainfall and hot summer temperatures. Quantifying how much of a given area is covered by trees, when viewed from above, i.e. the tree canopy cover, provides a proxy for these current benefits and projections can be made for future benefits. Generally, the larger a tree canopy, the greater the ecosystem services provided by the tree. Urban Tree Canopy Cover (UTCC) is expressed as a percentage of the total area or in m2, ha2 or km2.

Transcriptions of seventeen Greek manuscripts of the Pseudo-Oecumenian Catena on Ephesians (CPG C165), consisting of the following New Testament witnesses: GA 075, 91, 627, 1905, 1907, 1916, 1919, 1923, 1932, 1971, 1980, 1982, 1997, 1998, 2011, 2183, 2962. Synopses of the three types of catena scho...
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Transcriptions of seventeen Greek manuscripts of the Pseudo-Oecumenian Catena on Ephesians (CPG C165), consisting of the following New Testament witnesses: GA 075, 91, 627, 1905, 1907, 1916, 1919, 1923, 1932, 1971, 1980, 1982, 1997, 1998, 2011, 2183, 2962. Synopses of the three types of catena scholia: normal, extravagantes, Photiana. Created in conjunction with a doctoral thesis submitted to the University of Birmingham in 2024.

The main aim of this paper is to analyse the accommodation of sustainability considerations within the European Union’s (EU) Internal Market public procurement (PP) system. The paper investigates whether EU PP law can be used as a tool to further sustainability while advancing its main objective of ...
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The main aim of this paper is to analyse the accommodation of sustainability considerations within the European Union’s (EU) Internal Market public procurement (PP) system. The paper investigates whether EU PP law can be used as a tool to further sustainability while advancing its main objective of removing barriers to trade and opening PP markets.

This collection of case studies was brought together to showcase the extent and diversity of research that is supported by the University of Birmingham’s Environment for Academic Research (BEAR). BEAR is a collection of contemporary IT resources designed to help research. The following case studies ...
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This collection of case studies was brought together to showcase the extent and diversity of research that is supported by the University of Birmingham’s Environment for Academic Research (BEAR). BEAR is a collection of contemporary IT resources designed to help research. The following case studies demonstrate how BEAR services such as the Research Data Store (RDS), BEAR software and the University supercomputer BlueBEAR are integral to the progression of important research across disciplines. BlueBEAR is a key component of BEAR, providing compute power and specialist applications free to enable staff and students to delve deeper into their research. Upgraded in 2023, the cluster includes many large memory nodes and a GPU service alongside standard compute nodes. Alongside BlueBEAR, the RDS is a popular choice amongst researchers to securely store their working research data. As of publication, more than 5000 researchers across all five colleges were actively using BlueBEAR and/or the RDS. In this volume, we showcase case studies representing diverse research from every college. From estimating snow coverage to modelling second language acquisition, we show how BEAR services are enabling exciting and important research across the university.

Guidelines for XML transcriptions of New Testament manuscripts created by the International Greek New Testament Project (IGNTP). Version 1.6 (replacing all earlier versions). This version of the guidelines matches the development of the Online Transcription Editor created as part of the Worksp...
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Guidelines for XML transcriptions of New Testament manuscripts created by the International Greek New Testament Project (IGNTP). Version 1.6 (replacing all earlier versions). This version of the guidelines matches the development of the Online Transcription Editor created as part of the Workspace for Collaborative Editing.

This folder contains two documents that are the supplementary materials for the paper entitled "The types of cues that help you learn. Pedagogical implications of a computational simulation on learning the English tense/aspect system from exposure": SupMat 1 is the list of most strongly positively a...
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This folder contains two documents that are the supplementary materials for the paper entitled "The types of cues that help you learn. Pedagogical implications of a computational simulation on learning the English tense/aspect system from exposure": SupMat 1 is the list of most strongly positively associated cues for each TA combination and SupMat 2 contains the teaching guidelines associated with the paper.

This report presents and discusses the results of a survey of 304 disabled Blue Badge holders on their encounters with strangers in accessible parking spaces. The report explores the types of encounters that take place, the factors that may influence the encounters, strategies used by disabled peopl...
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This report presents and discusses the results of a survey of 304 disabled Blue Badge holders on their encounters with strangers in accessible parking spaces. The report explores the types of encounters that take place, the factors that may influence the encounters, strategies used by disabled people to navigate encounters, and the impact they have on disabled people over time. This is followed by a discussion of how stereotypes of disability affect how disabled people can behave in spaces, the impact of anti-austerity discourse, and the cumulative impact of many small-scale encounters over time.

This toolkit provides comprehensive guidance for local authorities planning to introduce a Low Emission Zone (LEZ). It is meant as a resource for local authority officers involved in the LEZ process, comprising consultation and planning processes from the scheme’s inception (Stage 1), implemen...
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This toolkit provides comprehensive guidance for local authorities planning to introduce a Low Emission Zone (LEZ). It is meant as a resource for local authority officers involved in the LEZ process, comprising consultation and planning processes from the scheme’s inception (Stage 1), implementation and evaluation process during the scheme’s lifetime (Stage 2) and final considerations designed to help you reflect on your scheme and its legacy (Stage 3). We supplement this document by signposting to existing guidance and relevant resources, and sharing lessons learned across policy and academic landscapes.

Low Emission Zones – also known as Clean Air Zones – aim to achieve compliance with legal air quality objectives by discouraging the use of highly polluting vehicles in urban areas. This briefing note examines current knowledge as to whether these initiatives work, gaps in our understanding and less...
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Low Emission Zones – also known as Clean Air Zones – aim to achieve compliance with legal air quality objectives by discouraging the use of highly polluting vehicles in urban areas. This briefing note examines current knowledge as to whether these initiatives work, gaps in our understanding and lessons for future place-based air quality solutions.

We are beginning to feel the impact of climate change despite action being taken to mitigate climate change through net-zero and low carbon initiatives. In the UK climate change is causing more frequent and more extreme weather events. These adverse conditions are affecting the reliability and safet...
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We are beginning to feel the impact of climate change despite action being taken to mitigate climate change through net-zero and low carbon initiatives. In the UK climate change is causing more frequent and more extreme weather events. These adverse conditions are affecting the reliability and safety of our transport systems and can have significant costs. We can improve the resilience (resistance, robustness, reliability or recovery) of our transport infrastructure to extreme weather through taking action to adapt to climate change by modifying and improving transport systems. Technological innovations and enhancement schemes can be used to adapt infrastructure. However, fundamental to an increase in the transport industry 19s capacity to adapt to climate change is improving the knowledge and skills of its workforce. This project is working to support the development of the transport industry 19s adaptive capacity through education and training. As part of the first phase of work, this research undertook a survey of transport industry professionals to identify the knowledge, skills and training needs of the transport industry. The outputs of this survey will inform the next phases of this project to develop climate change adaptation training materials for transport industry professionals.

Climate change is creating more extreme weather, and the frequency and severity of both flooding events and droughts is increasing. Sustainable water resource management is essential to mitigate both effects while improving water quality. This guide provides an overview to managing urban water as a...
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Climate change is creating more extreme weather, and the frequency and severity of both flooding events and droughts is increasing. Sustainable water resource management is essential to mitigate both effects while improving water quality. This guide provides an overview to managing urban water as a resource.

This document provides a comprehensive overview of the implications of more stringent PM2.5 targets on air quality and public health in the West Midlands. By examining the sources and levels of PM2.5 pollution, exploring potential air quality scenarios and strategies, and estimating the health burde...
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This document provides a comprehensive overview of the implications of more stringent PM2.5 targets on air quality and public health in the West Midlands. By examining the sources and levels of PM2.5 pollution, exploring potential air quality scenarios and strategies, and estimating the health burden, this document seeks to inform stakeholders and decision makers in their efforts to improve air quality and reduce associated health risks and inequalities.

In this Briefing Note, we summarise recent scientific evidence on air pollution exposure experienced by people travelling by different surface transport modes: including road, rail, and active travel (walking and cycling). We also consider which factors influence pollutant exposure within each mode ...
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In this Briefing Note, we summarise recent scientific evidence on air pollution exposure experienced by people travelling by different surface transport modes: including road, rail, and active travel (walking and cycling). We also consider which factors influence pollutant exposure within each mode and provide recommendations to mitigate against adverse health impacts.

WM Air Briefing Note B34-CS-2023-07, June 2023. Contact: https://wm-air.org.uk; @WMAir_UoB; wmair@contacts.bham.ac.uk WM-Air - Clean Air Science for the West Midlands (wm-air.org.uk) is a NERC funded initiative, led by the University of Birmingham. The programme, in collaboration with over 20 ...
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WM Air Briefing Note B34-CS-2023-07, June 2023. Contact: https://wm-air.org.uk; @WMAir_UoB; wmair@contacts.bham.ac.uk WM-Air - Clean Air Science for the West Midlands (wm-air.org.uk) is a NERC funded initiative, led by the University of Birmingham. The programme, in collaboration with over 20 cross sector partners, applies environmental science expertise to support improvement of air quality, health, environmental and economic benefits, in the West Midlands. Research conducted by WM-Air has quantified the impacts of air pollution in Birmingham on a range of health conditions – including asthma, heart disease, stroke, lung cancer and risk of early death. Calculations were performed using the Air Quality Life Assessment Tool (AQ-LAT) developed within the WM-Air programme. For a detailed description of methods and to download the tool visit https://wm-air.org.uk/project/health/.

Improving air quality by lowering vehicle emissions is important for public health. Limiting vehicle speeds on the UK strategic road network can reduce individual vehicle exhaust emissions, however, there are implications for driver behaviour and traffic congestion patterns. This briefing note exami...
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Improving air quality by lowering vehicle emissions is important for public health. Limiting vehicle speeds on the UK strategic road network can reduce individual vehicle exhaust emissions, however, there are implications for driver behaviour and traffic congestion patterns. This briefing note examines the current evidence for speed limit reduction to benefit air quality and health and provides recommendations for future priority research. Recommended citation: Lacey, S., Zhong, J., Ghaffarpasand, O. and Bartington, S.E. (2023). ‘Speed limits, air quality and health’, TRANSITION Clean Air Network, Birmingham, UK

Freight transport (movement of goods and bulk cargo) plays a fundamental role in supporting supply chains both domestically and internationally. The strategic importance of the UK freight sector was signified by the inclusion of logistics workers as “key workers” during the COVID-19 pandemic [1]. In...
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Freight transport (movement of goods and bulk cargo) plays a fundamental role in supporting supply chains both domestically and internationally. The strategic importance of the UK freight sector was signified by the inclusion of logistics workers as “key workers” during the COVID-19 pandemic [1]. International freight is also vital for the UK economy which is highly reliant on international trade; the trade-to-GDP ratio stood at 55% during the year 2021 [2]. To achieve the UK’s net zero target, the inland freight sector will need to rapidly decarbonise, including modal shift from road to rail and harnessing advances in new technology. This policy briefing note outlines the status of rail freight in the UK, considering benefits of a modal shift from road to rail. It also identifies future interventions that could decarbonise the UK’s freight sector by 2050, with benefits for health and wider society.

Transcriptions of eight Greek manuscripts of the Pseudo-Oecumenian Catena on Romans (CPG C165), consisting of the following New Testament witnesses: GA 91, 627, 1862, 1905, 1919, 1923, 1980, 1997. Synopses of the three types of catena scholia: normal, extravagantes, Photiana. Created in conjunctio...
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Transcriptions of eight Greek manuscripts of the Pseudo-Oecumenian Catena on Romans (CPG C165), consisting of the following New Testament witnesses: GA 91, 627, 1862, 1905, 1919, 1923, 1980, 1997. Synopses of the three types of catena scholia: normal, extravagantes, Photiana. Created in conjunction with a doctoral thesis submitted to the University of Birmingham in 2023.

Key messages 1. Air quality monitoring at healthcare sites can help understand exposure levels, identify local pollution sources, and inform targeted actions to reduce staff and patient exposure to poor air quality. 2. Air pollutant levels may be measured using diffusion tubes (nitrogen dioxide) and...
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Key messages 1. Air quality monitoring at healthcare sites can help understand exposure levels, identify local pollution sources, and inform targeted actions to reduce staff and patient exposure to poor air quality. 2. Air pollutant levels may be measured using diffusion tubes (nitrogen dioxide) and air quality sensors (particulate matter). 3. Appropriate planning and technical support/expert advice for healthcare site monitoring can help ensure that the air quality data generated are useful and usable.

Wood burning stoves and open fires are an increasingly popular form of heating in the UK. In a small proportion of homes they are the main source of heat, but in many households they are a supplementary heat source valued for aesthetic appeal. They are also considered by some to be a greener way of...
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Wood burning stoves and open fires are an increasingly popular form of heating in the UK. In a small proportion of homes they are the main source of heat, but in many households they are a supplementary heat source valued for aesthetic appeal. They are also considered by some to be a greener way of heating the home than the use of fossil fuels (e.g. gas or coal) as wood, when sustainably sourced, can be considered a renewable fuel from a carbon perspective.

Low-cost sensors provide a novel opportunity to monitor air quality at unprecedented spatial resolution. Devices are available at capital costs which are significantly lower than traditional monitoring methods. Whilst such devices allow for greater spatial resolution of air quality data there are a ...
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Low-cost sensors provide a novel opportunity to monitor air quality at unprecedented spatial resolution. Devices are available at capital costs which are significantly lower than traditional monitoring methods. Whilst such devices allow for greater spatial resolution of air quality data there are a number of important things to consider during the procurement and deployment of low-cost sensor networks. This briefing document identifies some key considerations for using low-cost sensor networks based on experiences drawn from the NERC and EPSRC funded WM-Air & Birmingham Urban Observatory projects

Particulate matter (PM) is a term used to describe very small solid and liquid particles suspended in the air. These particles can be of natural or man-made origin and impact human health and the climate.Airborne particles are described by their diameter, with PM10 indicating particles with a diamet...
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Particulate matter (PM) is a term used to describe very small solid and liquid particles suspended in the air. These particles can be of natural or man-made origin and impact human health and the climate.Airborne particles are described by their diameter, with PM10 indicating particles with a diameter of 10 μm or below and PM2.5 indicating a diameter of 2.5 μm or below. Ultrafine particles are those with a diameter of less than 0.1 μm (PM0.1).

This article examines whether and to what extent the Dispute Settlement System (DSS) of the World Trade Organization (WTO) could and should serve as a venue for international climate litigation. The article tackles these questions in three parts. First, it maps the nature and features of a trade-rel...
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This article examines whether and to what extent the Dispute Settlement System (DSS) of the World Trade Organization (WTO) could and should serve as a venue for international climate litigation. The article tackles these questions in three parts. First, it maps the nature and features of a trade-related climate litigation. Second, it considers the prospect of such litigation under existing substantive and procedural rules of the WTO. Third, it investigates whether the WTO DSS should serve as a venue for climate litigation. The article finds that while the prospect of pro- climate litigation remains limited, anti- climate litigation is likely to increase, and that the DSS is an appropriate venue for adjudicating such disputes.

In spite of an increasing reliance on women entrants to the legal profession, women remain under-represented in the higher levels of that profession, not least because many women leave legal practice notwithstanding the strenuous route to qualification. This empirical survey gathered qualitative dat...
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In spite of an increasing reliance on women entrants to the legal profession, women remain under-represented in the higher levels of that profession, not least because many women leave legal practice notwithstanding the strenuous route to qualification. This empirical survey gathered qualitative data on the reasons why women chose to abandon their career in law. The factors behind such a significant decision included: personal reasons based on health, stress; dissatisfaction with the work or the workplace; and the pressures of family life and caring obligations. These factors intersect and overlap and are reflective of wider societal and cultural pressures on women. They provide a basis to question whether, as the proportion of qualified women entrants to the profession continues to rise, failure to better accommodate the needs and aspirations of women lawyers might present a systemic threat to the legal profession.

Taking a breath of air is such an instinctive human reaction that we rarely pause to consider how clean our air is, or how clean it could or should be. The quality of the air we breathe is linked to human and ecosystem health, wellbeing, economic productivity and healthcare costs, climate and enviro...
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Taking a breath of air is such an instinctive human reaction that we rarely pause to consider how clean our air is, or how clean it could or should be. The quality of the air we breathe is linked to human and ecosystem health, wellbeing, economic productivity and healthcare costs, climate and environmental amenity. The latest science is now able to characterise the particles and gases in our air in great detail, but also detect pollutant fingerprints that can unequivocally identify emission sources – and hence inform policies to deliver cleaner air. It can also quantify the burden from poor air quality: around 30,000 premature deaths each year in the UK, and up to 7 million globally. This challenge represents a call for action – one which requires integrating insights ranging from technological interventions to governance solutions. In the follow up from the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26), the University of Birmingham is pursuing research that matters, to address global environmental challenges, including clean air. How clean can our air be? Who is responsible in law – and who is not? Are electric vehicles the solution? How can natural solutions help? What are the secondary consequences of technical interventions? This edited collection offers a comprehensive examination of the nexus between different disciplines that are important in addressing air pollution, as well as discussion on implementing innovative clear air solutions and their policy implications. Covering a diverse range of topics, including outdoor and indoor pollution, trees, vehicle design and compliance with legal rules on air quality, this collection presents contemporary research to inform evidence-based policy actions relevant to audiences beyond academia, in particular policy makers and industry. In this publication, we explore some of these questions and many others. We hope that these briefing papers will not only inform the debate, but will also drive progress towards clean air for all, on scales ranging from the domestic to the global.

Rising environmental concerns require the implementation of appropriate policies to manage environmental risk. One such risk arises from air pollution. As part of the process of air quality management it is important to understand how effective different policies are to determine whether a policy sh...
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Rising environmental concerns require the implementation of appropriate policies to manage environmental risk. One such risk arises from air pollution. As part of the process of air quality management it is important to understand how effective different policies are to determine whether a policy should be, for example, scrapped, changed, or rolled out across different sectors or regions. However, evaluating clean air policies is a challenge because of the complex physical and chemical processes in the atmosphere and other socioeconomic factors that may also be impacting pollution levels. This briefing document outlines a methodological approach that can be used to provide evidence of the success or otherwise of different clean air policies for different geographical areas and time periods.

Overview • Planting mixed woodland enhances tree growth and productivity. Mixed woodland plantations should, therefore, play a key role enabling the UK to meet its 2050 net zero greenhouse gas emissions targets. • Elevated atmospheric CO2 concentrations (eCO2) increase photosynthesis, which ...
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Overview • Planting mixed woodland enhances tree growth and productivity. Mixed woodland plantations should, therefore, play a key role enabling the UK to meet its 2050 net zero greenhouse gas emissions targets. • Elevated atmospheric CO2 concentrations (eCO2) increase photosynthesis, which is necessary (but not in itself sufficient) for increased carbon storage in forests. Remote sensing data have revealed an increased greening of the earth over the last 20 years that is largely due to greater leaf area in forests. Such findings demonstrate that UK forests are effective in carbon uptake in the future, as well as improving soil health. • Undisturbed forests eventually reach carbon balance. They may continue to provide long-term carbon draw-down and storage by building ‘recalcitrant’ soil carbon. To secure and enhance long-term draw-down and storage in the forest canopy above ground, wood products must be taken from the forest and stored long term. Hence, woodland planning must incorporate harvesting for timber and other wood products in order to contribute to long-term carbon budgeting, biodiversity enhancement, and the delivery of societal benefits. • Current afforestation and forest management regulations and guidelines are innovation-averse and highly vulnerable to globalised disease and climate risks. Neither the Nature for Climate Fund1, nor the ongoing series of UK Carbon Budgets2, provide the space for innovation to manage these risks. • Private actors are pathfinding recolonisation and silvicultural portfolio approaches to increase resilience and manage social risks such as ‘carbon colonialism’. • Choosing forest-facing post-16, apprenticeship, and degree training is a direct route to climate action for UK school leavers but this case is not being made to them. • Forest-facing education is tarnished by outmoded and educationally indefensible caricatures of practice-based learning (cf. medicine or veterinary science), severely hindering One Health responses to the climate and nature emergencies and the pandemic. • The benefits of woodland creation are inherently context-dependent, and sensitive to what tree species are used. For example, as sources of nitrogen pollution come under control in the UK, adding nitrogen fixing tree species will enhance woodland carbon sequestration rates under most circumstances.

mixed woodlands, mixed forests, forests, woodlands, forestry, tree growth, carbon sequestration, climate change, diversity, diversification, genetic diversification, tree planting, afforestation, over...
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mixed woodlands, mixed forests, forests, woodlands, forestry, tree growth, carbon sequestration, climate change, diversity, diversification, genetic diversification, tree planting, afforestation, overyielding, phytosanitary

Clean Air policies in the UK and China have substantially improved air quality in recent years. However, reaching the new WHO guidelines on air pollution exposure to protect health remains a major challenge in both countries. Ambitious climate policies have already delivered significant co-benefits ...
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Clean Air policies in the UK and China have substantially improved air quality in recent years. However, reaching the new WHO guidelines on air pollution exposure to protect health remains a major challenge in both countries. Ambitious climate policies have already delivered significant co-benefits to air quality in the past. Future net zero or carbon neutrality policies may offer opportunities to contribute to improved air quality towards meeting the WHO guidelines. However, some climate policies have potentially negative impacts on air quality.

Key messages 1. Trees alone are not the solution to air pollution. They can create a localised positive benefit for air quality by changing the dispersion of pollution, but the amount of pollution deposited onto trees is not significant on an urban scale. 2. Air pollution can damage trees. 3. E...
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Key messages 1. Trees alone are not the solution to air pollution. They can create a localised positive benefit for air quality by changing the dispersion of pollution, but the amount of pollution deposited onto trees is not significant on an urban scale. 2. Air pollution can damage trees. 3. Emissions of VOCs from trees can, under the correct conditions, create ozone pollution. This is only relevant when creating new woodlands.

Urban design influences where air pollution is produced, how it disperses through streets and neighbourhoods, and where, when, and how much people are exposed. This guide explains how good urban design can improve air quality using simple principles that benefit air quality and providing practical g...
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Urban design influences where air pollution is produced, how it disperses through streets and neighbourhoods, and where, when, and how much people are exposed. This guide explains how good urban design can improve air quality using simple principles that benefit air quality and providing practical guidance and illustrations outlining how to implement them in urban areas.

In 2021, colleagues from across the University of Birmingham community were invited to write articles about topics relevant to the COP26 climate change summit. In this series of articles, experts from across many different disciplines provide new insight and evidence on how we might all understan...
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In 2021, colleagues from across the University of Birmingham community were invited to write articles about topics relevant to the COP26 climate change summit. In this series of articles, experts from across many different disciplines provide new insight and evidence on how we might all understand and tackle climate change.

Future summer temperatures are projected to increase, with hotter and more frequent heatwaves. This will increase heat mortality, impact infrastructure performance, and increase demand for air conditioning at a time when councils need to reduce energy demand to meet Net Zero obligations. Urban areas...
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Future summer temperatures are projected to increase, with hotter and more frequent heatwaves. This will increase heat mortality, impact infrastructure performance, and increase demand for air conditioning at a time when councils need to reduce energy demand to meet Net Zero obligations. Urban areas need to be resilient to future warmer summers and increasing overheating risks. This guide explains urban heat, the role of green infrastructure, and how to undertake heat sensitive planning and design.

Key messages • Technological, societal and nature-based solutions should work together to enable systemic change towards a regenerative society, and to deliver net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. • Prioritise research into efficient, low-carbon and carbon-negative solutions for sectors that ...
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Key messages • Technological, societal and nature-based solutions should work together to enable systemic change towards a regenerative society, and to deliver net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. • Prioritise research into efficient, low-carbon and carbon-negative solutions for sectors that are difficult to decarbonise; i.e. energy storage, road transport, shipping, aviation and grid infrastructure. • Each solution should be assessed with respect to GHG emissions reductions, energy efficiency and societal implications to provide a basis for developing long-term policies, maximising positive impact of investment and research effort, and guiding industry investors in safe and responsible planning.

This report provides evidence-based guidelines on how social media use can positively influence behaviours related to physical activity, diet, and overall quality of life. Researchers from the University of Birmingham worked with young people and adults (aged 16-88) to understand if and how social m...
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This report provides evidence-based guidelines on how social media use can positively influence behaviours related to physical activity, diet, and overall quality of life. Researchers from the University of Birmingham worked with young people and adults (aged 16-88) to understand if and how social media use informs health-related behaviour change. Data were collected during the initial COVID-19 lockdown period of 2020 to better understand the key factors that drive social media use for behaviour change.

Green Infrastructure for Roadside Air Quality, ‘GI4RAQ’, is an initiative by Dr James Levine and Prof Rob MacKenzie at the Birmingham Institute of Forest Research (BIFoR), University of Birmingham, to promote and facilitate evidence-based use of green infrastructure to reduce roadside exposure to ro...
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Green Infrastructure for Roadside Air Quality, ‘GI4RAQ’, is an initiative by Dr James Levine and Prof Rob MacKenzie at the Birmingham Institute of Forest Research (BIFoR), University of Birmingham, to promote and facilitate evidence-based use of green infrastructure to reduce roadside exposure to road transport pollution. The GI4RAQ Guidance document describes the development of an evidence-based, albeit qualitative, approach to GI4RAQ with Yvonne Brown, Principal Policy Analyst for Air Quality and Climate Change at Transport for London (TfL). It includes essential guidance on the use of the GI4RAQ Decision Tree – a differential diagnostics approach, visualised using a PowerPoint Show with embedded links. Whilst the approach has been developed for TfL and refers to case studies in London, both this guidance and the GI4RAQ Decision Tree are applicable to roads in all towns and cities, and the authors hope that these resources will find widespread use. The GI4RAQ Decision Tree guides the user through a short series of questions to identify the critical characteristics of the street in which they are seeking to reduce roadside exposure to road transport pollution. Subject to these characteristics, 'robustly beneficial' green infrastructure interventions are identified, as well as ones 'potentially beneficial to some at the expense of others'; the terms in inverted commas will be explained in due course. The accompanying guidance, provided here, builds on the “Reduce, Extend, Protect” concept introduced in the Trees & Design Action Group’s guide, ‘First Steps in Urban Air Quality for Built Environment Practitioners’ (Ferranti et al., 2019): first reduce the emissions of pollutants, then extend the distance between people and the sources of these emissions (i.e., vehicles) and, finally, protect those most vulnerable to their health impacts. This guidance is also consistent with, but elaborates on, that recently published by the Greater London Authority, ‘Using Green Infrastructure to Protect People from Air Pollution’ (GLA, 2019). Within TfL, this evidence-based approach to reducing exposure to road transport pollution supports TfL’s Healthy Streets Approach in putting people and their health at the centre of design decisions and the use of public space; it is also integrated into TfL’s Environmental Evaluation Tool, designed to capture and manage the impacts of projects not requiring a full Environmental Impact Assessment under Town and Country Planning Regulations 2017 (MHCLG, 2017). ‘Clean air’, however, is just one of ten positive outcomes sought via TfL’s Healthy Streets Approach, and green infrastructure contributes to a further eight (see ‘Indicators Explained’ section of Healthy Streets Check for Designers spreadsheet). Likewise, whilst this guidance focuses on improving roadside air quality, we recognise that green infrastructure can (simultaneously) deliver further, major benefits; we will highlight the opportunities for co-benefits throughout the document. Improved air quality is just one benefit of – and one consideration in – the planning, planting and investing in green infrastructure for the long term.

urban forestry, green infrastructure, GI, vegetation, barrier, planting, natural capital, nature based solution, NBS, air quality, air pollution, dispersion, distribution, emission, exposure, impact, ...
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urban forestry, green infrastructure, GI, vegetation, barrier, planting, natural capital, nature based solution, NBS, air quality, air pollution, dispersion, distribution, emission, exposure, impact, nitrogen dioxide, NO2, particulate matter, PM, PM2.5, public health, roadside, road, street, public realm, road improvement, scheme, road transport, vehicle, planning, town planning, urban design

In the next 5-10 years the UK is going to see dramatic changes to many of its large industrial sectors, such as automotive, aerospace, and energy generation, as we move from a fossil-fuel-driven society to an electrically driven one. Many of these industries will be dependent on technology-critical ...
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In the next 5-10 years the UK is going to see dramatic changes to many of its large industrial sectors, such as automotive, aerospace, and energy generation, as we move from a fossil-fuel-driven society to an electrically driven one. Many of these industries will be dependent on technology-critical metals (TCMs), for example, cobalt and lithium for the batteries in electric vehicles and rare-earths used in the magnets for electric motors and wind turbines. Many regions of the world, including the EU, have been developing strategies to access these technology-critical metals for their key industries, while the UK has lagged behind. The challenges already faced around access to key technology metals are potentially complicated for the UK by the nation’s exit from the EU, and the uncertainty that this has created with regard to trading relationships around the globe. It is in this challenging context that the UK must now fashion its own independent policy for access to technology critical metals.

technology critical metals, critical materials, sustainability, recycling, policy, industrial strategy, technology metals, strategic elements, CREAM Network, Birmingham Centre for Strategic Elements &...
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technology critical metals, critical materials, sustainability, recycling, policy, industrial strategy, technology metals, strategic elements, CREAM Network, Birmingham Centre for Strategic Elements & Critical Materials.

This report summarizes the best-available evidence concerning race inequities in the English education system. We outline the scale of race inequity (especially in terms of achievement and exclusions from school) and explore the powerful, and often hidden, operation of institutional racism. Among th...
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This report summarizes the best-available evidence concerning race inequities in the English education system. We outline the scale of race inequity (especially in terms of achievement and exclusions from school) and explore the powerful, and often hidden, operation of institutional racism. Among the key issues we address are: • the complex and extensive role of racism as a factor operating across the system; • the dangers of ‘garbage can’ statistical modelling where statisticians mistakenly imagine that they can identify the separate operation of racism outside the intertwined effects of multiple other factors which are, themselves, shaped by patterns of race inequity. • the myth of the ‘worst’ performing White working class: we show how the misuse of limited data has perpetuated a view of White children as race victims and ignored stark race inequities that impact several minoritized groups, including students of Gypsy/Roma, Black Caribbean, Mixed Race (Black Caribbean/White) and Pakistani heritage. • the operation of racism in schools and classrooms, affecting minoritized children and limiting the chances of minoritized teachers and school leaders. • the need for positive antiracist action across the system, including the role of OFSTED (the schools inspectorate), initial teacher education, and the role of policymakers to finally take seriously the endemic nature of race inequity. The document was submitted to the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities in 2020. We were not contacted by the Commission to discuss our analysis or the evidence that we summarize. Their report, published in March 2021, signals the gulf between the reality of racism in education and official fantasies of White victimhood and a world where Britain is imagined to be a ‘beacon’ of multi-ethnic harmony.

This paper explores the institutional dimension of the implementation of the new generation EU Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) from a fundamental rights perspective. The creation of an institutional architecture of EU FTAs is what makes them operational. It enables the other dimensions to become “alive...
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This paper explores the institutional dimension of the implementation of the new generation EU Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) from a fundamental rights perspective. The creation of an institutional architecture of EU FTAs is what makes them operational. It enables the other dimensions to become “alive” and not to remain words within a text. Given the plethora of entities created by the new generation of EU FTAs, this paper investigates the extent to which the institutional architecture of EU FTAs is adequate to protect and promote fundamental rights. This investigation shows that, despite significant novelties, several limitations remain. Gaps in the mandate and deficiencies in the decision-making processes lead to foresee little consideration of fundamental rights at the implementation stage.

This webpage provides a key to the contents of the catena of Codex Zacynthius (Cambridge, University Library, MS Add. 10062). This is a revised version (June 2020) of the list originally published in January 2020 at http://epapers.bham.ac.uk/3278/ It was produced by the Codex Zacynthius project i...
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This webpage provides a key to the contents of the catena of Codex Zacynthius (Cambridge, University Library, MS Add. 10062). This is a revised version (June 2020) of the list originally published in January 2020 at http://epapers.bham.ac.uk/3278/ It was produced by the Codex Zacynthius project in conjunction with the online edition in the Cambridge Digital Library at https://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/collections/codexzacynthius/1 It has been deposited in epapers in order to be linked from this electronic edition until it can be more fully incorporated in the edition. A printed version of this list is to be found in H.A.G. Houghton and D.C. Parker, ed., Codex Zacynthius: Catena, Palimpsest, Lectionary (Piscataway NJ: Gorgias, 2020) and H.A.G. Houghton, Panagiotis Manafis and Amy Myshrall (ed.), The Palimpsest Catena of Codex Zacynthius: Text and Translation. Piscataway NJ: Gorgias, 2020).

Regulatory cooperation is a complex and multifarious concept. Its multimodality applies not only to the forms it can take but also to the fora where it may appear. Although regulatory cooperation does not constitute a new trend in EU trade, its current state represents an original development. Regul...
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Regulatory cooperation is a complex and multifarious concept. Its multimodality applies not only to the forms it can take but also to the fora where it may appear. Although regulatory cooperation does not constitute a new trend in EU trade, its current state represents an original development. Regulatory cooperation is now treated as a separate phenomenon in the new generation of free trade agreements (FTAs), raising several questions. What is the significance of this change? How does bilateralism as an external relations tool fit into a concept that partially falls under trade and partially under rule-making? Since regulatory cooperation is considered a trade-related concept that views domestic regulation through the prism of a beyond-the-borders dialogue, is bilateralism the best venue, considering the nature and sensitivities of the regulatory activity itself? What is the status of regulatory cooperation activities in the context of multilateralism, which is a de facto extension of bilateralism? This contribution will answer these questions through the concept of the ‘characteristics’ of contemporary regulatory cooperation, as the latter is envisaged in the new generation of European FTAs. The two identifiable characteristics upon which our analysis shall be based are bilateralism and inclusion in an FTA structure.

This paper investigates whether in the context of the Appellate Body crisis and the more developed FTA norms, the dispute settlement mechanisms contained in EU FTAs, particularly CETA and EUJEPA, could emerge as attractive alternative fora for solving trade disputes. The paper will analyze potential...
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This paper investigates whether in the context of the Appellate Body crisis and the more developed FTA norms, the dispute settlement mechanisms contained in EU FTAs, particularly CETA and EUJEPA, could emerge as attractive alternative fora for solving trade disputes. The paper will analyze potential substantive and procedural aspects that would shape the answer to the posed question. It will argue that CETA and EUJEPA dispute settlement mechanisms could become partial attractive bilateral alternatives to solve trade disputes between the parties. However, it will also show that there are certain aspects that will act against these mechanisms.

This webpage provides a concordance to the overtext and undertext folia of Codex Zacynthius (Cambridge, University Library, MS Add. 10062; Gregory-Aland Lectionary 299). Each folio of the palimpsest undertext is constituted by two folios of the overtext. It was produced by the Codex Zacynthius pr...
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This webpage provides a concordance to the overtext and undertext folia of Codex Zacynthius (Cambridge, University Library, MS Add. 10062; Gregory-Aland Lectionary 299). Each folio of the palimpsest undertext is constituted by two folios of the overtext. It was produced by the Codex Zacynthius project in conjunction with the online edition in the Cambridge Digital Library at https://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/collections/codexzacynthius/1 It has been deposited in the ePapers repository in order to be linked from this electronic edition until it can be more fully incorporated in the edition. A printed version of this list is to be found in H.A.G. Houghton and D.C. Parker, ed., Codex Zacynthius: Catena, Palimpsest, Lectionary (Piscataway NJ: Gorgias, 2020).

This webpage provides a key to the contents of the lectionary in Codex Zacynthius (Cambridge, University Library, MS Add. 10062; Gregory-Aland Lectionary 299). It was produced by the Codex Zacynthius project in conjunction with the online edition in the Cambridge Digital Library at https://cudl.l...
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This webpage provides a key to the contents of the lectionary in Codex Zacynthius (Cambridge, University Library, MS Add. 10062; Gregory-Aland Lectionary 299). It was produced by the Codex Zacynthius project in conjunction with the online edition in the Cambridge Digital Library at https://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/collections/codexzacynthius/1 It has been deposited in epapers in order to be linked from this electronic edition until it can be more fully incorporated in the edition. A printed version of this list is to be found in H.A.G. Houghton and D.C. Parker, ed., Codex Zacynthius: Catena, Palimpsest, Lectionary (Piscataway NJ: Gorgias, 2020).

This working paper is a chapter from the forthcoming ‘Clinical Legal Education Handbook’ which is due to be published by the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies (IALS) in spring 2020. It outlines the impact that the changes to the regulation of solicitors, which are due to come into force with the i...
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This working paper is a chapter from the forthcoming ‘Clinical Legal Education Handbook’ which is due to be published by the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies (IALS) in spring 2020. It outlines the impact that the changes to the regulation of solicitors, which are due to come into force with the introduction of the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s Standards and Regulations on 25 November 2019, may have on solicitors working and volunteering in university legal advice clinics. Given that many solicitors working in university law clinics will need to address their minds to this before the Clinical Legal Education Handbook is published, IALS have kindly given permission for this chapter to be published early. The Clinical Legal Education Handbook is intended to act as a good practice guide and practical resource for those engaged in the design and delivery of clinical legal education programmes at university law schools. It has been written by lawyers, clinicians and third sector partners and will be available as an open access, online resource.

Over the last decade the EU faced numerous calls to engage with the Customs Union between Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan set up in 2010 and its successor, the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), found in 2015. While proponents differ in terms of their justification and desired scope of cooperation, they...
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Over the last decade the EU faced numerous calls to engage with the Customs Union between Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan set up in 2010 and its successor, the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), found in 2015. While proponents differ in terms of their justification and desired scope of cooperation, they share the view that it should take place on a region-to-region basis, thus representing an important departure from the EU's approach to the post-Soviet countries. The EU's reluctance to embark on such a course so far has been attributed to the political crisis of EU-Russia relations, especially in the aftermath of the annexation of Crimea and the war in Eastern Ukraine. In this context, for some, a mega-deal contains not just the promise of economic cooperation and connectivity, but also represents the means to improve relations with Russia and restore peace and stability in Europe. This paper argues that while these are worthy objectives, the utility of a region-to-region engagement with the EAEU should be premised on a realistic assessment of the nature of Eurasian integration as well as informed by the priorities in EU's external economic relations following its 2006 Global Europe strategy, more generally. To this end, the paper examines the EAEU against three particular dimensions: the extent to which it represents a unified regional actor, its trade liberalisation credentials and its ability to meet the EU's values conditionality. It concludes that the EAEU's institutional set up and practice exhibits fundamental problems in all of them. This means that the expected benefits of a regional mega-deal with the EAEU are highly uncertain, but also that moving away from a bilateral mode of engagement will entail significant departures from EU's principles and approach to external relations more generally.

The World Trade Organization (WTO) Dispute Settlement System (DSS) is in peril. The Appellate Body (AB) is being held as a ‘hostage’ by the very architect and the most frequent user of WTO DSS, the United States of America. This will bring the whole DSS to a standstill as the inability of AB to revi...
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The World Trade Organization (WTO) Dispute Settlement System (DSS) is in peril. The Appellate Body (AB) is being held as a ‘hostage’ by the very architect and the most frequent user of WTO DSS, the United States of America. This will bring the whole DSS to a standstill as the inability of AB to review the appeals will have a kill-off effect on the binding value of Panel rulings. If the most celebrated DSS collapses, the members would not be able to enforce their WTO rights. The WTO-inconsistent practices and violations would increase and remain unchallenged. The rights without remedies would soon lose their charm, and we might witness a higher and faster drift away from multilateral trade regulation. This is a grave situation. This piece is an academic attempt to analyse and diffuse the key points of criticism against AB. A comprehensive assessment of reasons behind this criticism could be a starting point to resolve this gridlock. The first part of this Article investigates the reasons and motivations of the US behind these actions as we cannot address the problems without understanding them in a comprehensive manner. The second part looks at this issue from a systemic angle as it seeks to address the debate on whether WTO resembles common or civil law, as most of the criticism directed towards judicial activism and overreach is “much ado about nothing”. The concluding part of this piece briefly looks at the proposals already made by scholars to resolve this deadlock, and it leaves the readers with a fresh proposal to deliberate upon.

First Steps in Valuing Trees and Green Infrastructure is an introductory guide that provides the context for valuing trees and green infrastructure in urban areas. It presents a range of common valuation scenarios and available tools. It describes how to approach valuation to ensure it delivers a ch...
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First Steps in Valuing Trees and Green Infrastructure is an introductory guide that provides the context for valuing trees and green infrastructure in urban areas. It presents a range of common valuation scenarios and available tools. It describes how to approach valuation to ensure it delivers a change for the better in the way that policy, investment, design and management decisions affect environmental assets. Understanding the purpose of the valuation, and which stakeholders can act on valuation results is critical for success.

The Research Skills Team in the Library at the University of Birmingham is a unique formation of librarians, a postgraduate skills officer and postgraduate teaching assistants. The team’s clear focus is the researcher themselves, and their ‘lived experience’, from the moment of registration on ...
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The Research Skills Team in the Library at the University of Birmingham is a unique formation of librarians, a postgraduate skills officer and postgraduate teaching assistants. The team’s clear focus is the researcher themselves, and their ‘lived experience’, from the moment of registration on a PhD course, through post-doctoral early career posts, to lecturer and professor level. The team’s mission is to be a seamless interface to the research services offered by the library, to demystify the increasingly complex scholarly communication system, and to advocate for initiatives such as open research. By taking a holistic approach to the researcher experience and orienting services accordingly, and by safeguarding staff time to finesse an ongoing suite of training opportunities, the library is demonstrating an ongoing commitment to facilitate high quality research.

Abstract We take a fresh look at firms’ innovation-productivity linkages, using novel data capturing new aspects of innovative activity. We combine UK administrative microdata, media and website content to develop experimental metrics – new product/service launches – for a large panel of SMEs. ...
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Abstract We take a fresh look at firms’ innovation-productivity linkages, using novel data capturing new aspects of innovative activity. We combine UK administrative microdata, media and website content to develop experimental metrics – new product/service launches – for a large panel of SMEs. Extensive validation and descriptive exercises show that launches complement patents, trademarks and innovation surveys. We also establish connections between launches and previous innovative activity. We then link IP, launches and productivity, controlling for media exposure and firm heterogeneity. Launch activity is associated with higher SME productivity, especially in the service sector. High-quality launches and medium-size firms help drive this result. Keywords: innovation, productivity, ICT, data science JEL: C55, L86, O81

Carnarvon was offline due to a shutter motor failure, and a computer failure. The shutter motor and reduction gearbox was replaced with the spare from the on-site shipping container. A new computer was installed. Further work was completed on the Jabba fibre conversion to resolve some ongoing issues...
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Carnarvon was offline due to a shutter motor failure, and a computer failure. The shutter motor and reduction gearbox was replaced with the spare from the on-site shipping container. A new computer was installed. Further work was completed on the Jabba fibre conversion to resolve some ongoing issues and return the instrument performance and data quality to expected levels.

It is well known that the working language of the CJEU is French. For many years, the status of French was unquestioned, but this is now changing. This article considers how French came to be chosen as the CJEU’s working language; the effect of that choice on the CJEU’s judicial method; and the feas...
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It is well known that the working language of the CJEU is French. For many years, the status of French was unquestioned, but this is now changing. This article considers how French came to be chosen as the CJEU’s working language; the effect of that choice on the CJEU’s judicial method; and the feasibility and desirability of a change in the CJEU’s language practices. Has French become an impediment to the CJEU’s capacity to communicate effectively with its stakeholders? Should French be replaced or supplemented? If so, by what? Would any potential benefits that might accrue from changing the CJEU’s language practices be outweighed by the disruption that would be caused? Or do the political sensitivities in play simply make reform impossible?

Air pollution is the biggest environmental risk to health. Globally, nine out of ten people live in a city that does not comply with WHO air quality standards. Within the UK, poor outdoor air quality is linked to 50,000 deaths each year. The most vulnerable are children, the elderly, or those with p...
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Air pollution is the biggest environmental risk to health. Globally, nine out of ten people live in a city that does not comply with WHO air quality standards. Within the UK, poor outdoor air quality is linked to 50,000 deaths each year. The most vulnerable are children, the elderly, or those with pre-existing medical conditions. The design of our urban infrastructure – including Green Infrastructure (GI) such as trees, parks, and green walls – determines where air pollution is produced, and how it disperses. Built environment professionals should consider air quality at all stages of urban design and development.

This study presents evidence from five dynamic, city region-based climate innovation clusters. Here businesses, academics, communities and government work together to deliver low-carbon innovation. We believe this concentration of resources, expertise and initiative is our best chance of meeting the...
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This study presents evidence from five dynamic, city region-based climate innovation clusters. Here businesses, academics, communities and government work together to deliver low-carbon innovation. We believe this concentration of resources, expertise and initiative is our best chance of meeting the Paris climate targets while also reaping social and economic benefits that come with the development and delivery of cleantech solutions. Climate-KIC’s ConnectedClusters project is an alliance of five city regions – Birmingham, Edinburgh, Frankfurt, London and Valencia – committed to sharing, replicating and scaling what works in developing innovation ecosystems for delivering effective climate action. Between now and 2020, the project will work hard to accelerate and enable transformation of the places we live into clean, prosperous and thriving cities and regions by developing new collaborative approaches to technology, procurement, investment and training. ConnectedClusters will help inform a transition away from product and technology innovation in isolation, towards a systemic, regionally-embedded approach to climate innovation. Paris shows that for our continued prosperity, transformation on a scale never witnessed before is imperative. Only by working together can we achieve that change.

The toroidal transformer power supply in the weather module failed and was replaced. The transformer failure caused the supply fuse for the main electronics rack to blow, additionally removing power from all other modules including the thermocouple sensor amplifiers within the Hannibal spectrometer....
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The toroidal transformer power supply in the weather module failed and was replaced. The transformer failure caused the supply fuse for the main electronics rack to blow, additionally removing power from all other modules including the thermocouple sensor amplifiers within the Hannibal spectrometer. Whilst the sensors were without power, the vapour cell oven became overheated and caused damage to the vapour cell. The cell was replaced with the last available spare. The two UPS devices were tested and both found to require new batteries.

Using high-quality administrative microdata spanning 2011-2013, this paper develops new routines to compare creative economies using the creative trident framework, and applies them to the UK and US national and regional contexts. We find the UK creative economy is larger in workforce shares, and gr...
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Using high-quality administrative microdata spanning 2011-2013, this paper develops new routines to compare creative economies using the creative trident framework, and applies them to the UK and US national and regional contexts. We find the UK creative economy is larger in workforce shares, and grows faster over the study period; the US’ is absolutely larger, and is distributed more evenly across industries. Regional results are shaped by deeper differences in national urban systems. The paper highlights possibilities for widely varying national configurations of creative economies, considers potential mechanisms driving differentiation, and reflects on the usefulness of the creative trident approach. Keywords creative industries, creative trident, cities, labour markets, occupations, cross-country analysis

This study was based on the production and analysis of a cultural probe research project that was completed by 10 Postgraduate Taught (PGT) students. This cultural probe, structured around a diary format, contained 10 tasks for participants to complete, each lasting under 30 minutes and to be comple...
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This study was based on the production and analysis of a cultural probe research project that was completed by 10 Postgraduate Taught (PGT) students. This cultural probe, structured around a diary format, contained 10 tasks for participants to complete, each lasting under 30 minutes and to be completed over 10 days. The tasks were made as open as possible so that the data is user guided rather than entering the research project with any preconceptions or clear aims. This differs from common surveys that often have narrow questions. We can learn a huge amount about how our users experience (and feel about) services, spaces and products by adopting rich qualitative and quantitative research methods that come under the umbrella term ‘UX’ (User eXperience). Crucially UX research explores user behaviours and needs, not just what users say they want. UX research is becoming more important as higher education is being forced to adapt to the increased importance of students as high paying ‘customers’ of the university.

This paper examines the role of political alignment and the electoral business cycle on municipality revenues in Greece for the period 2003-2010. A panel dataset combining local and national elections with local budgets is used to run a fixed-effects econometric model. The findings suggest that muni...
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This paper examines the role of political alignment and the electoral business cycle on municipality revenues in Greece for the period 2003-2010. A panel dataset combining local and national elections with local budgets is used to run a fixed-effects econometric model. The findings suggest that municipalities which are politically aligned to the national government receive more funds in the run-up to elections. This is evidence of electoral considerations in the allocation of resources and calls for policy changes promoting greater fiscal decentralisation to reduce pork-barrelling and rent-seeking, as well as the dependency between the local and national government levels.

On the 11th September 2018 a Reimagining Health Law Workshop took place at the Birmingham Law School. The Workshop aimed to explore the discipline of health law from a range of perspectives: doctrinal/historical/critical. Health law is a relatively young discipline, which has emerged from a backdrop...
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On the 11th September 2018 a Reimagining Health Law Workshop took place at the Birmingham Law School. The Workshop aimed to explore the discipline of health law from a range of perspectives: doctrinal/historical/critical. Health law is a relatively young discipline, which has emerged from a backdrop of “Medical” and “Health Care “ law and has developed rapidly in recent decades. The purpose of the meeting was to consider the disciplinary interface within and outside law, i.e. health law’s connection to other legal fields, its relationship with bioethics, humanities, and social sciences, and their impact on the health law methodology. In particular the speakers addressed a number of pressing questions that have influenced the field in the past and will shape it in future.

Ongoing political uncertainty in Europe, as a result of, inter alia, Brexit, the rise of populism and nationalism, places the fundamental principles of democracy, rule of law and human rights under threat across the entire continent. The European Commission, in seeing certain EU Member States adopti...
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Ongoing political uncertainty in Europe, as a result of, inter alia, Brexit, the rise of populism and nationalism, places the fundamental principles of democracy, rule of law and human rights under threat across the entire continent. The European Commission, in seeing certain EU Member States adopting national policies that severely compromise the state of the rule of law within the Union and in an effort to compel them to honour their international legal obligations, has recently proposed to make access to EU funds conditional on the respect for the rule of law. In critically analyzing this proposal, this paper presents a series of skepticisms on the wider human rights situation within Europe. Particularly, the paper questions whether the current juridical paradigm for human rights protection has been proven ineffective, whether alternative methods of protection are needed and whether funds could promote the rule of law and human rights in Europe. The paper concludes by suggesting that a paradigm shift, from a rights-based to a policy-based system, which includes diplomatic and economic incentives, could be an effective and appropriate response to the rule of law backsliding in the EU and a plausible alternative for the protection of human rights across Europe.

This checklist provides an inventory of manuscripts which include a 'catena' type of commentary on the Greek New Testament. It covers manuscripts of the Gospels, Acts and Epistles. Some, but not all, have been allocated Gregory-Aland numbers. It was prepared for the CATENA project by Dr Georgi Pa...
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This checklist provides an inventory of manuscripts which include a 'catena' type of commentary on the Greek New Testament. It covers manuscripts of the Gospels, Acts and Epistles. Some, but not all, have been allocated Gregory-Aland numbers. It was prepared for the CATENA project by Dr Georgi Parpulov, and represents an updating of the preliminary checklist published as: H.A.G. Houghton and D.C. Parker, “An Introduction to Greek New Testament Commentaries with a Preliminary Checklist of New Testament Catena Manuscripts” in H.A.G. Houghton (ed.), Commentaries, Catenae and Biblical Tradition. (Texts and Studies 3.13). Piscataway NJ: Gorgias, 2016 (pp. 1–35). It is expected that this checklist will be updated as the CATENA project continues to run in 2018–23. See further www.birmingham.ac.uk/catena The CATENA project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement no. 770816.

Jabba was offline due to an internal water leak destroying the main power and signal pass-through PCBs at the rear of the spectrometer. Repairs were completed, including new PCBs and cabling, to bring Jabba back online. The aft starboard Peltier-effect thermoelectric coolers were replaced. Mark-V an...
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Jabba was offline due to an internal water leak destroying the main power and signal pass-through PCBs at the rear of the spectrometer. Repairs were completed, including new PCBs and cabling, to bring Jabba back online. The aft starboard Peltier-effect thermoelectric coolers were replaced. Mark-V and Jabba were removed from the mount. Mark-V has been moved into storage, and Jabba reinstalled in the electronics area at the rear of the dome fed by an optical fibre where it no longer requires water cooling. Additional repair work was completed to the mount RA drive transmission including replacing the stepper motor and gearbox, and also replacing the RA potentiometer encoder and signal cable. A new UPS was installed. Ongoing issues with the fibre conversion require further work.

In September 2017, 45 land law enthusiasts (both teachers and practitioners) attended a workshop at the University of Birmingham to discuss current and emerging approaches to teaching this core area within the law degree. This report is a summary of the presentations and discussions that resulted fr...
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In September 2017, 45 land law enthusiasts (both teachers and practitioners) attended a workshop at the University of Birmingham to discuss current and emerging approaches to teaching this core area within the law degree. This report is a summary of the presentations and discussions that resulted from the day.

The Peltier thermoelectric modules were replaced in the starboard scattering detector. The port detector modules were tested and confirmed operational. The water-coolant pump was found to have failed. A position encoder failed during the site visit, and temporary repairs were completed allowing norm...
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The Peltier thermoelectric modules were replaced in the starboard scattering detector. The port detector modules were tested and confirmed operational. The water-coolant pump was found to have failed. A position encoder failed during the site visit, and temporary repairs were completed allowing normal operation. Replacements for both the pump and encoder will be sent from Birmingham.

Air pollution is the biggest environmental risk to health. Globally, nine out of ten people live in a city that does not comply with WHO air quality standards. Within the UK, poor outdoor air quality is linked to 50,000 deaths each year. The most vulnerable are children, the elderly, or those with p...
[ more ]

Air pollution is the biggest environmental risk to health. Globally, nine out of ten people live in a city that does not comply with WHO air quality standards. Within the UK, poor outdoor air quality is linked to 50,000 deaths each year. The most vulnerable are children, the elderly, or those with pre-existing medical conditions. The design of our urban infrastructure – including Green Infrastructure (GI) such as trees, parks, and green walls – determines where air pollution is produced, and how it disperses. Built environment professionals should consider air quality at all stages of urban design and development.

Air pollution is the biggest environmental risk to health. Globally, nine out of ten people live in a city that does not comply with WHO air quality standards. Within the UK, poor outdoor air quality is linked to 50,000 deaths each year. The most vulnerable are children, the elderly, or those with p...
[ more ]

Air pollution is the biggest environmental risk to health. Globally, nine out of ten people live in a city that does not comply with WHO air quality standards. Within the UK, poor outdoor air quality is linked to 50,000 deaths each year. The most vulnerable are children, the elderly, or those with pre-existing medical conditions. The design of our urban infrastructure 13 including Green Infrastructure (GI) such as trees, parks, and green walls 13 determines where air pollution is produced, and how it disperses. Built environment professionals should consider air quality at all stages of urban design and development.

The West Midlands is uniquely positioned to lead the UK in taking advantage of the economic opportunities arising from the global transition to a clean energy system. The region’s strengths include: strong and coherent political leadership committed to sustainability; the diversity of economic needs...
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The West Midlands is uniquely positioned to lead the UK in taking advantage of the economic opportunities arising from the global transition to a clean energy system. The region’s strengths include: strong and coherent political leadership committed to sustainability; the diversity of economic needs and scale of demand required to build competitive markets to support radical innovation; a world-class concentration of both academic and commercial expertise in the low-carbon energy sector; a massive programme of public and private investment in infrastructure planned for the next decade, and above all, the determination to secure long-term economic benefit from clean energy innovation. This report makes the case for the creation of a small number of Energy Innovation Zones (EIZs) across the region, acting as pathfinders for an approach that might subsequently be adopted across the country as a whole. EIZs enable barriers – such as powerful institutional silos separating transport, digital, planning and energy – to be overcome within designated geographies. They create a risk-managed and commercial-scale context for the development of new local clean energy markets. They also provide a practical mechanism to help attract investment and muster local political support. At a national level, they can help ensure innovation is built into the government’s strategic sector deals and other large scale public investment projects.

Problems with the mount encoder position values and the RA drive were investigated and found to be caused by corrosion around the encoder header connectors on the PCB, and general dirt brought in by the cooling fan. The mount controller and RA motor were replaced with spares from Birmingham, resolvi...
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Problems with the mount encoder position values and the RA drive were investigated and found to be caused by corrosion around the encoder header connectors on the PCB, and general dirt brought in by the cooling fan. The mount controller and RA motor were replaced with spares from Birmingham, resolving all faults. The delta-B module was decommissioned.

This report details the findings from the Everyday Decisions research project. This research was funded by the British Academy and the University of Birmingham, and carried out by Professor Rosie Harding (r.j.harding@bham.ac.uk) and Dr Ezgi Tascioglu. The project explored disabled people's experienc...
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This report details the findings from the Everyday Decisions research project. This research was funded by the British Academy and the University of Birmingham, and carried out by Professor Rosie Harding (r.j.harding@bham.ac.uk) and Dr Ezgi Tascioglu. The project explored disabled people's experiences of supported decision-making, and care professionals approaches to and experience of supporting decision-making.

This paper discusses the law of the European Union (EU) on public procurement by providing an overview of both the primary law principles and foundations emanating from the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) and the detailed rules of a set of secondary procurement Directives. The...
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This paper discusses the law of the European Union (EU) on public procurement by providing an overview of both the primary law principles and foundations emanating from the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) and the detailed rules of a set of secondary procurement Directives. The latter have to be transposed into the national laws of the 28 Member States and are then applied by their contracting authorities and entities. The analysis also includes the relevant case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) and a short evaluation of the principles applying to contracts falling outside the field of application of the procurement Directives.

Innovative, high-technology activities are seen as motors of development, with knock-on effects throughout their local economies. Such activities tend to organise networks that span beyond atomized firms, creating ‘ecosystems’ of mutual dependence as well as competition. However, such ecosystems rem...
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Innovative, high-technology activities are seen as motors of development, with knock-on effects throughout their local economies. Such activities tend to organise networks that span beyond atomized firms, creating ‘ecosystems’ of mutual dependence as well as competition. However, such ecosystems remain poorly understood, which in turn constrains the effectiveness of any policy response. This first-steps paper uses the unique, user-generated Crunchbase dataset to fill some of these gaps. With rich information on founders, workers, products and early stage investment activity, Crunchbase has great potential for ecosystem understanding. Like many ‘big data’ resources, however, Crunchbase requires cleaning and validation to make it suitable for robust analysis. We develop a novel approach to gapfill location data in Crunchbase, exploiting DNS/IP address information, and run a series of tests on a raw sample of 225,000 company-level observations covering the US, UK and Canada. We provide initial descriptive results, and set out steps for further research.

The requirement to adopt minimum labour standards is now standard practice in free trade agreements negotiated by major trading powers such as the EU and US. However, such practice has historically been contested by developing countries, who contend that the requirement to increase labour and social...
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The requirement to adopt minimum labour standards is now standard practice in free trade agreements negotiated by major trading powers such as the EU and US. However, such practice has historically been contested by developing countries, who contend that the requirement to increase labour and social protection standards is designed to remove one of the few competitive advantages that developing countries have over developed countries in attracting foreign investment. More recently, the EU and the US have also sought to use so-called ‘mega-regionals’ to promote labour standards. This was a significant development in that their proponents were keen to stress that these agreements would set the benchmark for labour protection provisions in FTAs, readily admitting that one of the central aims pursued by such agreements was to redefine the rules of the global trading system. The paper aims to assess the labour standards provisions included in EU and US FTAs, determine the rationale behind the inclusion of such provisions, and examine the extent to which mega-regionals such as the TTIP and the TPP marked a significant departure from past practice.

A new fibre-based spectrometer was commissioned from 2017 May 8 to May 26. The system was initially commissioned using the light feed from the secondary cœlostat on the lower-level platform in the main observing room of the solar pyramid building. Limited operational time was achieved in this phase ...
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A new fibre-based spectrometer was commissioned from 2017 May 8 to May 26. The system was initially commissioned using the light feed from the secondary cœlostat on the lower-level platform in the main observing room of the solar pyramid building. Limited operational time was achieved in this phase due to bad weather. At the end of the site visit the whole system was moved into the apex of the pyramid sharing light from the primary cœlostat with the Mark-I spectrometer, and remains running in this configuration. Data from the spectrometer suffers from poor low- and high-frequency noise that are thought to be caused by the size of the solar image formed on the end of the fibre. The guiding performance of the Skywatcher mount was tested when operating via a Raspberry Pi single-board computer, and results are consistent with earlier tests at Mount Wilson. No issues are expected with the use of the low-power system.

The new fibre-based spectrometer was updated from 2017 September 1 to 11. The detector electronic noise and atmospheric scintillation noise were both measured. The scintillation noise was found to be approximately 105 times higher than the electronic noise, and so the system is dominated by atmosphe...
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The new fibre-based spectrometer was updated from 2017 September 1 to 11. The detector electronic noise and atmospheric scintillation noise were both measured. The scintillation noise was found to be approximately 105 times higher than the electronic noise, and so the system is dominated by atmospheric noise. It is unlikely that the LCD-based system switching polarisation states at 5 Hz will be able to equal the performance of a typical Pockel’s-cell-based system switching at 100 Hz. An overall reduction in noise power by a factor of almost 5 times is required to match the performance of Fred in Sutherland. This difference is of the order difference in scintillation noise between 5 Hz switching and 100 Hz switching. Two fibre-feeds were trialled. A 30 mm focal length lens to replace the exiting 80 mm, and so focusing a smaller image of the Sun onto the end of the fibre, and a telescope arrangement coupling quasi-parallel light into the fibre. The shorter focal length lens resolves both the low- and high-frequency issues experienced since initial commissioning. The quasi-parallel telescope fibre-feed suffers some Doppler-imaging problems and also produces higher noise levels due to the lower light throughput. The primary cœlostat mirror was replaced, and resulted in an increase in counts for Mark-I by approximately 3%. The PMT HV-PSU was replaced, removing a temporary 2kV unit and reinstating the normal 3kV supply resulting in a further increase in counts for Mark-I by approximately 18%.

This paper investigates whether altruistic punishment when cooperation norms are violated is sensitive to gender effects. Our framework is a one-shot social dilemma game with third-party punishment in which subjects are informed of the others’ gender within their group. This allows us to test whethe...
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This paper investigates whether altruistic punishment when cooperation norms are violated is sensitive to gender effects. Our framework is a one-shot social dilemma game with third-party punishment in which subjects are informed of the others’ gender within their group. This allows us to test whether third-party punishment depends on the punisher’s as well as on the contributors’ gender. We include treatments where the contributors have either the same or different gender from that of the third-party punishers. Our findings indicate that the assignment of altruistic punishment is gender sensitive. While third-party punishment is assigned similarly when contributors have the same gender as third-party punishers, this is not the case when the gender of the contributors and third-party punishers is different. Third-party male punishers sanction significantly harsher female contributors and earn significantly less relative to third-party female punishers when matched with male contributors. Overall, our results have important implications for the design of teams in the presence of free-riding incentives.

This paper critically explores an initiative by the Legal Services Board to create data sets for easier identification of inequalities in gender, race and class. It examines its origins and development;evaluates its scope and effectiveness; and considers the LSB diversity reporting rule as the first...
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This paper critically explores an initiative by the Legal Services Board to create data sets for easier identification of inequalities in gender, race and class. It examines its origins and development;evaluates its scope and effectiveness; and considers the LSB diversity reporting rule as the first step in addressing issues of inequality, notwithstanding its over-reliance on numbers.

The requirement to adopt minimum labour standards is now standard practice in free trade agreements negotiated by major trading powers such as the EU and US. However, such practice has historically been contested by developing countries, who contend that the requirement to increase labour and social...
[ more ]

The requirement to adopt minimum labour standards is now standard practice in free trade agreements negotiated by major trading powers such as the EU and US. However, such practice has historically been contested by developing countries, who contend that the requirement to increase labour and social protection standards is designed to remove one of the few competitive advantages that developing countries have over developed countries in attracting foreign investment. More recently, the EU and the US have also sought to use so-called ‘mega-regionals’ to promote labour standards. This was a significant development in that their proponents were keen to stress that these agreements would set the benchmark for labour protection provisions in FTAs, readily admitting that one of the central aims pursued by such agreements was to redefine the rules of the global trading system. The paper aims to assess the labour standards provisions included in EU and US FTAs, determine the rationale behind the inclusion of such provisions, and examine the extent to which mega-regionals such as the TTIP and the TPP marked a significant departure from past practice.

Spurious regression analysis in panel data when the time series are cross-section dependent is analyzed in the paper. We show that consistent estimation of the long-run average parameter is possible once we control for cross-section dependence using cross-section averages in the spirit of the common...
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Spurious regression analysis in panel data when the time series are cross-section dependent is analyzed in the paper. We show that consistent estimation of the long-run average parameter is possible once we control for cross-section dependence using cross-section averages in the spirit of the common correlated effects approach in Pesaran (2006). This result is used to design a panel cointegration test statistic accounting for cross-section dependence. The performance of the proposal is investigated in comparison with factor-based methods to control for cross-section dependence when strong, semi-weak and weak cross-section dependence may be present.

The Caribbean has figured prominently in narratives of security, mobility and transnational connections. Referred to as the 'Third Border' in US foreign policies, and inhabiting contradictory geopolitical spaces between North and South America, the region also negotiates narratives of inbetweenness ...
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The Caribbean has figured prominently in narratives of security, mobility and transnational connections. Referred to as the 'Third Border' in US foreign policies, and inhabiting contradictory geopolitical spaces between North and South America, the region also negotiates narratives of inbetweenness and in/security in relation to more 'leisurely' pursuits, notably tourism. In this working paper, I begin an exploration of the ways in which representations of in/security and mobililty have framed media images of Caribbean tourism by revisiting the critically acclaimed documentary film, Life and Debt (2001). While geopolitics and tourism studies have largely tended to remain distinct areas of research, this particular film—and the conversations within and around it--illustrate the usefulness and urgent need to exhume the interdependency of both. I argue that media representations, Caribbean literature and policy decision-making are part of ongoing conversations that illustrate the limitations of over-generalised notions of time, security and space. Drawing on Benítez-Rojo’s (1992) concept of ‘repeating islands,’ I discuss the ways in which re-examining representations of mobility as part of a series of interconnected and multi-layered conversations, opens up new possibilities for interrogating the ways in which tourism narratives have reinforced, recreated, and stifled opportunities for diverse, secure and inclusive social spaces.

In this working paper I draw attention to the varying ways underlying forces of economic globalization and global environmental change have been threatening the livelihood security of farmers throughout the Caribbean. The paper also sheds light on some of the local-scale implications of these wider ...
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In this working paper I draw attention to the varying ways underlying forces of economic globalization and global environmental change have been threatening the livelihood security of farmers throughout the Caribbean. The paper also sheds light on some of the local-scale implications of these wider changes, and highlights the fact that the impacts are likely to produce uneven vulnerability outcomes mediated largely around differences in the social and economic landscapes in which individual farmers operate. While the paper draws strongly on the growing body of regional analyses of vulnerability and resilience, I also seek to move the discourse beyond the usual binary and mutually exclusive representations of these two concepts. Instead, I argue that farmers in the Caribbean are neither fully vulnerable nor fully resilient to these global forces. And in fact, their resilience may at times create the very conditions that engender new forms of vulnerability. The paper therefore calls for a critical rethinking (and even decentering) of these two dominant frameworks, if we are to arrive at a better understanding of the root causes and overarching forces shaping regional farmers’ insecurities to global change.

This working paper explores representations of security and policing in popular Jamaican music, offering an initial survey of themes and a preliminary analysis of this music as a creative negotiation of insecurity emerging from some of the Caribbean’s most precarious urban spaces. In the context of...
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This working paper explores representations of security and policing in popular Jamaican music, offering an initial survey of themes and a preliminary analysis of this music as a creative negotiation of insecurity emerging from some of the Caribbean’s most precarious urban spaces. In the context of consistently high levels of violent crime, Jamaica has seen a pluralization of security professionals, with private security companies, neighborhood watches and informal “dons” complementing or supplanting state security forces. Drawing on an analysis of reggae and dancehall songs, this paper examines how these different policing agents are represented in reggae and dancehall lyrics, and specifically how their relationship to the urban poor is narrated. I build on previous analyses of urban violence and real or metaphorical gunplay in Jamaican popular music (e.g. Hope 2006; Cooper 2007) by emphasizing representations of security provision and protection rather than of aggression or “badmanism” per se, although these emphases are of course not mutually exclusive.

This report was commissioned for the ‘HearWell Collaboration’ – an international collaboration with the aim of developing a comprehensive and relevant research portfolio in the areas of prevention, ultra-early detection and treatment of Noise Induced Hearing loss (NIHL) and tinnitus. The report ...
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This report was commissioned for the ‘HearWell Collaboration’ – an international collaboration with the aim of developing a comprehensive and relevant research portfolio in the areas of prevention, ultra-early detection and treatment of Noise Induced Hearing loss (NIHL) and tinnitus. The report outlines the existing evidence for a range of issues relating to NIHL and tinnitus pertaining primarily to a military population. The report covers: • The prevalence and incidence of NIH and tinnitus • The detection of NIHL and tinnitus • The impact of NIHL and tinnitus on Quality-of-Life (living with HL) • The impact of NIHL and tinnitus on the ability to work of military personnel. • The cost implications of NIHL and tinnitus and the cost-effectiveness of screening and prevention programmes For each of these issues, the volume and nature of the existing secondary evidence (e.g. systematic reviews) and primary evidence was ascertained and key findings and methodological issues reported. This report aims to inform decisions about future research priorities.

EU-Russia relations are in desperate need of legislative and institutional reform given the fragmented legal infrastructure regulating energy trade between these two powers. The paper will argue that the energy partnership is a highly strategic relationship that has profound implications for the int...
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EU-Russia relations are in desperate need of legislative and institutional reform given the fragmented legal infrastructure regulating energy trade between these two powers. The paper will argue that the energy partnership is a highly strategic relationship that has profound implications for the international arena as far as energy security and stability are concerned, for which a solid over-arching legal framework is required. Other simmering issues include the absence of reciprocity in energy market access and the lack of coherence in external EU energy relations which has resulted in bilateralism emerging as the default approach of engagement. These issues are interrelated and closely affiliated to the need for a revised bilateral and international legal framework, as diverse positions and a lack of cooperation amongst Member States undermine collective EU actions and legislative initiatives. In this respect the paper advocates that the Energy Union may be a comprehensive solution to these challenges, by implementing a cohesive and fully functioning energy policy that will strengthen EU solidarity and coherence in the Union’s external relations, thereby bolstering EU energy security.

A Skywatcher HEQ5-Pro motorised mount and Starlight Express Superstar CCD guide camera with OpenCV image processing were tested in use as a solar tracker. The best performance in RA and declination respectively was 0.00 ± 6.15 arcseconds and −1.32 ± 6.62 arcseconds. This compares favourably with dat...
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A Skywatcher HEQ5-Pro motorised mount and Starlight Express Superstar CCD guide camera with OpenCV image processing were tested in use as a solar tracker. The best performance in RA and declination respectively was 0.00 ± 6.15 arcseconds and −1.32 ± 6.62 arcseconds. This compares favourably with data captured on the standard BiSON mount in Carnarvon where the RA precision was measured to be 0.158 ± 8.434 arcseconds and declination −0.066 ± 3.823 arcseconds. The spectrometer was temporarily modified to accept a fibre-feed from the new mount. A low-frequency "footprint" was present in the data residuals that was not resolved, but otherwise results were as expected and comparable to the standard network performance. Two WiFi access points were installed, providing coverage over the whole tower.

In the first working paper of this series, Patricia Noxolo outlined the research network’s perspective on security as created across different scales and by bottom-up as much as top-down processes. Equally, the project’s recognition of the history of in/security in the Caribbean over a longue durée,...
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In the first working paper of this series, Patricia Noxolo outlined the research network’s perspective on security as created across different scales and by bottom-up as much as top-down processes. Equally, the project’s recognition of the history of in/security in the Caribbean over a longue durée, and particularly the significance of slavery within this longer history, calls for some engagement with the postemancipation period. With the advent of emancipation, followed by the slower process of changing socio-economic relations within plantation societies, the nineteenth century proved an important testing ground for everyday struggles.

Witnesses and defendants are able to give evidence by live link provided that they meet the vulnerability criteria set out in the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act (1999). Findings from interviews undertaken with 18 criminal practitioners indicate that, even when a defendant is sufficiently v...
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Witnesses and defendants are able to give evidence by live link provided that they meet the vulnerability criteria set out in the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act (1999). Findings from interviews undertaken with 18 criminal practitioners indicate that, even when a defendant is sufficiently vulnerable to qualify for the use of live link, the provision is rarely invoked. Drawing on this data, this article identifies a series of barriers which contribute heavily to the inaccessibility of the live link provision to vulnerable defendants giving evidence in their trials.

In his essay ‘The Politics of Power and Violence: Rethinking the political in the Caribbean’ Anthony Bogues contends that thinking of ‘power as a field of force’ which ‘exists in other ways than in conventional state forms’ can be productive in understanding ‘geographical spaces of violence and deat...
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In his essay ‘The Politics of Power and Violence: Rethinking the political in the Caribbean’ Anthony Bogues contends that thinking of ‘power as a field of force’ which ‘exists in other ways than in conventional state forms’ can be productive in understanding ‘geographical spaces of violence and death’ and ‘re-mapping sovereignty’ (Bogues, 2007: 198-199). He argues that doing so forces the rethinking of ‘the relationship between violence and power’, cracks ‘open homogeneous conceptions about subaltern counter-hegemonic practices’ and allows us ‘to interrogate the nation state in its postcolony iteration while thinking differently about the meaning of the political and sovereignty’. This working paper contributes to these debates about the relations between the political and questions of in/security with a particular focus on the spaces through which subaltern counter-hegemonic practices have been shaped and articulated. It develops these problematics through discussion of struggles over the terms on which maritime labour organisers from the Caribbean contested the ‘white labourism’ of the National Union of Seamen in British ports in the 1930s.

This working paper exists as part of a Leverhulme funded network that attempts to re-theorise the everyday negotiation between security and insecurity (in/security) in the Caribbean, connecting it with the forms of everyday creativity that are so much a feature of Caribbean life. The project conceiv...
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This working paper exists as part of a Leverhulme funded network that attempts to re-theorise the everyday negotiation between security and insecurity (in/security) in the Caribbean, connecting it with the forms of everyday creativity that are so much a feature of Caribbean life. The project conceives of in/security in a broad interdisciplinary sense, including everyday experiences of violence, conflict and criminality at a range of scales (in the home, neighbourhood, nation and region), but also including environmental, livelihood and, most broadly, human security.

If Kamau Brathwaite’s more recent work has been concerned with contemporary questions of security — such as 9/11 in his poem “Hawk” (2005), urban crime in his book Trench Town Rock (1994a) or various forms of death and dying in his Elegguas 2010) — a turn to Brathwaite’s wider body of writing and hi...
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If Kamau Brathwaite’s more recent work has been concerned with contemporary questions of security — such as 9/11 in his poem “Hawk” (2005), urban crime in his book Trench Town Rock (1994a) or various forms of death and dying in his Elegguas 2010) — a turn to Brathwaite’s wider body of writing and his scholarship also reveals a broader concern with questions of in/security. His work usefully demonstrates what Pat Noxolo and David Featherstone have discussed as “a longer historical perspective and a wider global perspective” on in/securities which “unsettles the newmillennial, US-centric quality of post-9/11 security preoccupations” (2014, p.604). While Noxolo and Featherstone focus on the Plantation as a particular site for mapping this historical view of in/security and theorize “slavery as in/security”, in this paper I want to use the concept of maroon in/securities as another way of engaging histories of in/securities (2014, p.604). In turning to marronage, I want to trace relational spaces of colonial in/securities not singularly bound to, although indeed not separate from, the operations and brutalities of the Plantation. Instead, I use Maroon practices, strategies and spaces as important narrative sites that afford another perspective on the violence of plantation life and its insecurities.

A major leak on the water-cooling loop inside the spectrometer caused serious damage to the printed circuit boards inside the rear connections box. The dome azimuth drive had problems with a damaged gearbox output shaft. Peltiers failed in two detectors. The linear polariser failed resulting in almo...
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A major leak on the water-cooling loop inside the spectrometer caused serious damage to the printed circuit boards inside the rear connections box. The dome azimuth drive had problems with a damaged gearbox output shaft. Peltiers failed in two detectors. The linear polariser failed resulting in almost zero ratio. Repairs were completed sufficiently to get the site back online and operational, but significant work is still required. The water-cooling loop can not be reactivated without major repairs to the spectrometer chassis. The data now show a strong low-frequency footprint caused by the use of a lens from a pair of polarising sun-glasses as a substitute polarising filter. A CCD-based guider monitor was used to assess the guiding performance of the mount.

This record consists of the electronic data for the published website of the apparatus for the Gospel of John, comprising 236 Greek manuscript witnesses in the form of a negative apparatus. Full documentation is provided on the opening pages of the website archived here, which is also available o...
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This record consists of the electronic data for the published website of the apparatus for the Gospel of John, comprising 236 Greek manuscript witnesses in the form of a negative apparatus. Full documentation is provided on the opening pages of the website archived here, which is also available online at www.iohannes.com/ECMgreek Links are provided to transcriptions outside this site, online at www.iohannes.com

Recent events unfolding in the European Union have taught us that responsibility-sharing under the current Dublin Convention and Regulations (the “Dublin System”), has long failed its lofty goals. To adequately address the ongoing needs of massive influx of asylum claimants into EU member states, ...
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Recent events unfolding in the European Union have taught us that responsibility-sharing under the current Dublin Convention and Regulations (the “Dublin System”), has long failed its lofty goals. To adequately address the ongoing needs of massive influx of asylum claimants into EU member states, a centralized system processing these claims is necessary, instead of allowing individual member states to interpret their own compliance with non-refoulement obligations. A larger role should be played by the European Court of Human Rights (“ECtHR”) and Court of Justice of the European Union (“CJEU”) in order to curtail EU member state sovereignty to champion the rights of individual asylum claimants. Now more than ever, the right against refoulement must be safeguarded amidst internal strife on the political front. In order to achieve true uniformity and harmonization by adhering to non-refoulement obligations, the Dublin System as it is must be reformed to include a forum for the individual asylum claimants to be heard, an enlarged role of the ECtHR and CJEU in the adjudication of cases involving state discretion, as well as a centralized distribution system that processes asylum applications through a pooling of resources from EU member states.

The 60-foot tower services were restarted for the summer. The mechanical actuator for the east/west axis on the second flat had almost seized, and so this was disassembled and cleaned. Some diagnostic work was performed on the guider module which indicated a fault due to loose interface cards, parti...
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The 60-foot tower services were restarted for the summer. The mechanical actuator for the east/west axis on the second flat had almost seized, and so this was disassembled and cleaned. Some diagnostic work was performed on the guider module which indicated a fault due to loose interface cards, particularly the guider level threshold cards for both axes. No attempt has yet been made to secure the cards and improve their reliability.

This paper studies the welfare properties of competitive equilibria in an economy with incomplete markets subject to idiosyncratic and aggregate shocks. We focus on the role of securitization, whereby borrowers can reduce idiosyncratic asset risk, which enables increased leverage and investment. In ...
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This paper studies the welfare properties of competitive equilibria in an economy with incomplete markets subject to idiosyncratic and aggregate shocks. We focus on the role of securitization, whereby borrowers can reduce idiosyncratic asset risk, which enables increased leverage and investment. In the absence of frictions in the securitization process, we show that the ability to securitize assets completes markets. When there are frictions in the market for securitized assets, requiring originators to hold some skin-in-the-game, markets remain incomplete and risk-sharing is limited. In this case, fire-sales are required to repay debt and finance new investments when the economy is hit by a negative shock. Moreover, the equilibrium may be constrained inefficient due to the existence of a pecuniary externality that can result in over or under-investment. We examine policies to correct over-investment and find that a leverage ratio restriction generates a Pareto improvement, while forcing originators to hold additional skin-in-the-game reduces welfare. Both policies reduce leverage and raise prices in a fire-sale, however tightening skin-in-the-game also directly reduces the resources available to those who most need them, which dominates the positive effect of higher prices.

Since the 1980s, financial crises have tended to reoccur with increasing frequency and growing intensity. They are endogenously generated by the established OTD (Originate-To-Distribute) model within the new finance-growth paradigm. Good finance fosters the correct allocation of financial resources,...
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Since the 1980s, financial crises have tended to reoccur with increasing frequency and growing intensity. They are endogenously generated by the established OTD (Originate-To-Distribute) model within the new finance-growth paradigm. Good finance fosters the correct allocation of financial resources, the fair redistribution of wealth and positive economic growth (the virtuous cycle), whereas bad finance captures part of the created wealth and, thanks to a highly technologically advanced financial system with the ability to create money ex nihilo, over time it drags the economy down to recession or negative growth, destroying wealth and consequentially social welfare (the unvirtuous cycle). Therefore, structural factors are at the foundation of the persistence of instability and thus of what we define as the unvirtuous cycle, which can generate what we label the wealth trap. A VUC index has been developed by us to capture the status quo of the finance-growth relationship. A cross country analysis for the US, UK and Euro area economies has been made in order to verify the validity of the index. A core variable is identified: the degree of financial innovation. This is an endogenous variable within the endogenous money/credit creation process; its identification is of crucial importance, as it is the key to full understanding of the finance-growth relationship and is the element of originality in this field of studies. The VUC index for all countries shows clearly the exponential effect of the degree of financial innovation over time. It is important for scholars and policymakers to understand the mechanism underpinning the finance-growth relationship and that it is their responsibility to return the economic system to what we will call the virtuous cycle.

We show that the Value Function Iteration (VFI) algorithm has difficulties approximating models with jump discontinuities in policy functions. We find that VFI fails to accurately identify both the location and size of jump discontinuities while the Endogenous Grid Method (EGM) and the Finite Elemen...
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We show that the Value Function Iteration (VFI) algorithm has difficulties approximating models with jump discontinuities in policy functions. We find that VFI fails to accurately identify both the location and size of jump discontinuities while the Endogenous Grid Method (EGM) and the Finite Element Method (FEM) are much better at approximating this class of models. We further show that combining value function iteration with a local interpolation step (VFI-INT) is sufficient to obtain accurate approximations. Differences between policy functions generated by VFI and these alternative methods are economically significant. We highlight that these differences across methods cannot be identified using Euler equation errors as these are not a sufficient measure of accuracy for models with jump discontinuities in policy functions. As a result, speed comparisons across methods that rely on Euler equation errors as a measure for accuracy can be misleading. The combination of computational speed, relatively easy implementation and adaptability make VFI-INT especially suitable for approximating models with jump discontinuities in policy functions.

The Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act came into force in April 2013 and heralded fundamental changes to the legal aid system in England and Wales. This paper is a first pass analysis of interview data from a study focusing on the impact of the changes on those delivering, and tho...
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The Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act came into force in April 2013 and heralded fundamental changes to the legal aid system in England and Wales. This paper is a first pass analysis of interview data from a study focusing on the impact of the changes on those delivering, and those needing advice and representation, in the field of family law.

The signal to noise performance of spectrometer-J (Jabba) has been deteriorating since it was installed in 2009 July. The fault was identified as being a failed Schott KG4 short-pass infra-red filter. Since KG4 has been discontinued and no spares are available, it was decided to simply remove the fi...
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The signal to noise performance of spectrometer-J (Jabba) has been deteriorating since it was installed in 2009 July. The fault was identified as being a failed Schott KG4 short-pass infra-red filter. Since KG4 has been discontinued and no spares are available, it was decided to simply remove the filter and run with only the Schott RG9 coarse red pre-filter installed. Additional work identified a failed rain detector which was removed and returned to Birmingham, with a replacement to be shipped out as soon as possible. The batteries in the UPS were also replaced.

Observed macroeconomic forecasts display gradual recognition of the long-run growth of endogenous variables (e.g. output, output per hour) and a positive correlation between long-run growth expectations and cyclical activities. Existing business cycle models appear inconsistent with the evidence. Th...
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Observed macroeconomic forecasts display gradual recognition of the long-run growth of endogenous variables (e.g. output, output per hour) and a positive correlation between long-run growth expectations and cyclical activities. Existing business cycle models appear inconsistent with the evidence. This paper presents a model of business cycle in which households have imperfect knowledge of the long-run growth of endogenous variables and continually learn about this growth. The model features comovement and mutual influence of households' growth expectations and market outcomes, which can replicate the evidence, and suggests a critical role for shifting long-run growth expectations in business cycle fluctuations. JEL classifications: E32, D84

The overriding principle of the guidance provided by the RCUK Common Principles on Data Policy is that research data produced using public funds is in the common public good and should be made openly available in a timely manner; access should be available with as few restrictions as possible. With ...
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The overriding principle of the guidance provided by the RCUK Common Principles on Data Policy is that research data produced using public funds is in the common public good and should be made openly available in a timely manner; access should be available with as few restrictions as possible. With this as a central guiding principle, a data management plan is set out below. Best practices are set out by the UK’s Digital Curation Centre; this is a “world-leading centre of expertise in digital information curation with a focus on building capacity, capability and skills for research data management across the UK's higher education research community.” Ultimately data will be published in appropriate scientific journals that permit free and open access to the general public; this is compliance with RCUK’s requirements all partners involved in the project (including Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute) will agree to comply with common practices of data management, storage and management, as outlined in this document.

Antidumping (AD) is the most widely used contingent protection measure. In the United States, key decisions on AD are delegated to the International Trade Commission (ITC), an independent agency composed of six non-elected commissioners. Using a newly collected dataset, I study the determinants of a...
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Antidumping (AD) is the most widely used contingent protection measure. In the United States, key decisions on AD are delegated to the International Trade Commission (ITC), an independent agency composed of six non-elected commissioners. Using a newly collected dataset, I study the determinants of all final ITC votes on AD during the 1980-2010 period. Contrary to the view that ITC commissioners are bureaucrats who simply follow technical rules, I find that their decisions crucially depend on which party has appointed them (the selection effect) and on the trade policy interests of key senators in that party (the pressure effect): whether (Democratic) Republican-appointed commissioners vote in favor of AD depends crucially on whether the petitioning industry is key (in terms of employment) in the states represented by leading (Democratic) Republican senators. JEL: D72, F10, F13, F14, P16

This report constitutes a scoping literature review that identifies and critically examines the evidence base surrounding health and wellbeing programmes conducted in the workplace and their impact on employees and their employing organisations. The review drew on a broad range of sources covering m...
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This report constitutes a scoping literature review that identifies and critically examines the evidence base surrounding health and wellbeing programmes conducted in the workplace and their impact on employees and their employing organisations. The review drew on a broad range of sources covering multiple sectors. However, the report additionally highlights evidence that relates specifically to the retail and construction industries. The review offers an analysis of the current evidence base and discusses the implications of implementing different types of workplace health and wellbeing schemes. Some recommendations for supporting and promoting the health and wellbeing of employees in organisations are made on the basis of this review and, where gaps in knowledge are identified, recommendations for further research are made.

Although there are many stock market anomalies which the Efficient Market Hypothesis (EMH) finds difficult to explain, it also has its strengths, and so far no alternative hypothesis has been developed which can explain what the EMH explains but which can also do a better job in explaining the pheno...
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Although there are many stock market anomalies which the Efficient Market Hypothesis (EMH) finds difficult to explain, it also has its strengths, and so far no alternative hypothesis has been developed which can explain what the EMH explains but which can also do a better job in explaining the phenomena with which it struggles. It is argued that the way forward is to postulate that the stock market can be in one of three states: a fundamental state, in which share prices are determined as in the EMH, a bubble or bull market state, in which share prices are above their fundamental levels but continue to rise because asset holders expect to sell the shares at even higher prices in the future, and a bear market state, in which shares are held exclusively by 'irrational' agents and rational agents cannot exploit the overvaluation because of short-selling constraints. It is also argued that heterogeneous rational expectations may help explain some features of stock market behaviour.

This paper discusses the Court’s reasoning in interpreting the EU Charter, using recent case law on horizontal effect as a case study. It identifies two possible means of interpreting the provisions of the Charter: firstly, an approach based on common values (e.g. equality or solidarity) and, second...
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This paper discusses the Court’s reasoning in interpreting the EU Charter, using recent case law on horizontal effect as a case study. It identifies two possible means of interpreting the provisions of the Charter: firstly, an approach based on common values (e.g. equality or solidarity) and, secondly, an approach based on access to the public sphere. It argues in favour of the latter. Whereas an approach based on common values is more consonant with the development of the case law so far, it is conceptually problematic: it involves subjective assessments of the importance and degree of ‘sharedness’ of the value in question, which can undermine the equal constitutional status of different Charter provisions. Furthermore, it marginalises the Charter’s overall politically constructional character, which distinguishes it from other sources of rights protection listed in Art 6 TEU. The paper argues that, as the Charter’s provisions concretise the notion of political status in the EU, they have a primarily constitutional, rather than ethical, basis. Interpreting the Charter based on the very commitment to a process of sharing, drawing on Hannah Arendt’s idea of the ‘right to have rights’ (a right to access a political community on equal terms), is therefore preferable. This approach retains the pluralistic, post-national fabric of the EU polity, as it accommodates multiple narratives about its underlying values, while also having an inclusionary impact on previously underrepresented groups (e.g. non-market-active citizens or the sans-papiers) by recognising their equal political disposition.

This study highlights both the significance and impact of the developing changes in the last decades around Europe, the notion-related adjustments that remain to be carried and in parallel to provide a more general explanation concerning the institution of sovereignty in relation to the process of E...
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This study highlights both the significance and impact of the developing changes in the last decades around Europe, the notion-related adjustments that remain to be carried and in parallel to provide a more general explanation concerning the institution of sovereignty in relation to the process of European integration. The main questions that this article seeks to answer are the following: Who governs who within the EU? How does the European nexus of institutions and governance affect sovereignty? Which are the main consequences of the Maastricht’s framework in relation to sovereignty? In order to provide an answer to the above questions, we intend to analyze the relationship of the institution of sovereignty and the ability of exercising independent economic policy within the EMU as well as reexamine the development of this relationship in close regard to the process of European integration. The major contribution of this research is that offers a complementary study in order to understand better the relationship between European integration and state sovereignty. This research integrates sovereignty in the current debates, and provides an exegesis not only for the main factors that affect the transformation of the EMU but also for the limits of the European integration.

The EU is founded on the rule of law enshrined in Article 2 TEU. Nevertheless, recent developments within certain Member States demonstrate that not all Member States are able to keep up with the high standards of the rule of law during their membership. The EU has several tools at its disposal to a...
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The EU is founded on the rule of law enshrined in Article 2 TEU. Nevertheless, recent developments within certain Member States demonstrate that not all Member States are able to keep up with the high standards of the rule of law during their membership. The EU has several tools at its disposal to act against non-compliant Member States, such as the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism for Romania and Bulgaria, the nuclear option of Article 7 TEU, and the original infringement procedure under Article 258 TFEU. The European Commission has established a new EU Rule of Law Framework in 2014, which is applied for the first time for Poland. This suggest that the EU is not able to enforce the compliance of the rule of law effectively by using its original legal framework. The question, thus, raises whether the new mechanism will enable the EU to enforce effectively the compliance of the rule of law by the Member States. Based on an extensive assessment of the original legal framework and the EU Rule of Law Framework, the state of play of the EU to enforce the compliance of the rule of law will be analysed.

The main purpose of the two Committees is to engage participation from citizens in order to ensure that EU laws are geared to economic, social and regional conditions. In their core, the Committees are advisory bodies whose purpose is to give interest groups a formal say on EU legislative proposals....
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The main purpose of the two Committees is to engage participation from citizens in order to ensure that EU laws are geared to economic, social and regional conditions. In their core, the Committees are advisory bodies whose purpose is to give interest groups a formal say on EU legislative proposals. Moreover, the CoR has a legal mechanism (an action for annulment) to control the EU legislation. Thus far, there has been much criticism about the effectiveness of their work and the irrational costs that the two Committees produce. However, they represent the decrease of the democratic deficit, which seems to be one of the EU’s incurable diseases. In order to reach a conclusion on the necessity and effectiveness of the two Committees, this paper shall focus on their influence in the legislative procedure and try to determine whether the influence is visible and valuable. Finally, the paper shall assess the effectiveness of the single judicial instrument for control: an action for annulment that the CoR can bring before the CJEU. In accordance with the research results, the paper shall propose one of the possible solutions for the Committees’ future: status quo, the merger of the EESC and CoR into a more effective body or their complete abolition.

A European Army featured at the very beginning of the European integration process. In the early 1950s the ‘Plan Pléven’ proposed to establish a European Defence Community comprising inter alia of an integrated European Defence Force. However, the plan failed and the notion of a European army disapp...
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A European Army featured at the very beginning of the European integration process. In the early 1950s the ‘Plan Pléven’ proposed to establish a European Defence Community comprising inter alia of an integrated European Defence Force. However, the plan failed and the notion of a European army disappeared from the European agenda for a long time. While the creation of a European army is controversial and not very likely in the short term, the (Common) European Security and Defence Policy developed since the late 1990s might well lead to a permanent European military force in the medium or long term. However, so far EU military missions (in Bosnia, the DRC, Mali, or the Horn of Africa), while based on a permanent intergovernmental framework and EU military bodies, have been conducted by forces made up of national Member State forces formed on an ad hoc basis. The paper will examine the legal and policy arguments for a European army and discuss how the existing legal framework under the Treaty of Lisbon would need to be reformed to permit the establishment of such an entity.

The debate over the Muslim headscarf has become an arena of fervent discussion in Europe. Much of the debate reveals an attempt to explain the issue in binary terms, between modern, ‘secular’, universal and ‘religious’, traditional, local values. In this context, the hijab has become the symbol and ...
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The debate over the Muslim headscarf has become an arena of fervent discussion in Europe. Much of the debate reveals an attempt to explain the issue in binary terms, between modern, ‘secular’, universal and ‘religious’, traditional, local values. In this context, the hijab has become the symbol and mirror of the so called ‘clash of civilisations’. Through the analysis of two cases sentenced by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), my argument is that the passionate debate over the veil is a false one as the hijab emerges as a visible symbol of a clash between two legal-political systems, similar but contingently dissimilar: in fact, both Islamists and liberals aim at establishing a singular, universal (positivized) law within the same territory through women’s body. Thus, what the analysis of the ‘hijab cases’ reveals, is not only the emergence of a specific fixed and monolithic Christian/secular/liberal law’s subject, but also that the universality of western thought has precluded the possibility of imagining different forms of humanities and, along with it, a legal pluralism able to deal with a new multi-religious Europe.

This paper proposes a novel approach, based on probit framework, towards measuring business cycle synchronization for 9 eurozone economies. We find strong cross-country synchronization in both business cycles and financial cycles. Moreover, financial synchronization dominates business cycle synchron...
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This paper proposes a novel approach, based on probit framework, towards measuring business cycle synchronization for 9 eurozone economies. We find strong cross-country synchronization in both business cycles and financial cycles. Moreover, financial synchronization dominates business cycle synchronization in the eurozone, especially after the introduction of the single currency. For some peripheral country pairs, we even find some evidence of "de-coupling" business cycles relative to the core countries but the majority of marginal business cycle effects do not change much over time. The former observation supports the often heard plea for more Europe-wide macro-prudential regulation whereas the latter observation gives ammunition to those economists that always stressed that the euro zone architecture is unfinished business and that the conditions for an optimum currency area are not fulfilled. JEL Classification: C25, E32, F44

‘Choice’ is increasingly pursued as a goal of social policy. However the degree to which choice is exercised when entering an informal care role is open to debate. In this study of UK carers, we examined whether caring was perceived as a free choice, and what the consequence of choice was for carers...
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‘Choice’ is increasingly pursued as a goal of social policy. However the degree to which choice is exercised when entering an informal care role is open to debate. In this study of UK carers, we examined whether caring was perceived as a free choice, and what the consequence of choice was for carers’ wellbeing. Our data were derived from responses to a postal survey conducted in a large British city. One thousand one hundred respondents reported providing care to a close person and of these, 72% answered a further set of questions about caregiving and about their own well-being. We found that informal care was generally perceived to be a free choice, albeit in most cases, a choice that was constrained by duty, financial or social resources. Having a sense of free choice in entering care was strongly and positively associated with wellbeing. The positive impact on wellbeing persisted across different measures of wellbeing and when controlling for socio-demographic characteristics and the nature of the caring role. Further work is needed to better understand the modifiable aspects of choice for carers. Nonetheless, this study suggests that enabling individuals to have more choice in their caring roles may improve their lives.

This paper investigates whether investors are compensated for taking on commonality risk in equity portfolios. A large literature documents the existence and the causes of commonality in illiquidity, but the implications for investors are less well understood. In a more than fifty year long sample o...
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This paper investigates whether investors are compensated for taking on commonality risk in equity portfolios. A large literature documents the existence and the causes of commonality in illiquidity, but the implications for investors are less well understood. In a more than fifty year long sample of NYSE stocks, we find that commonality risk carries a return premium of around 2.6 per cent annually. The commonality risk premium is statistically and economically significant, and substantially higher than what is found in previous studies. It is robust when controlling for illiquidity level effects, different investment horizons, as well as variations in illiquidity measurement and systematic illiquidity estimation.

We analyze the consequences of a monopolistic, non-partisan, profit-maximizing media on policy divergence. The media undertakes costly coverage that may reveal the quality of an office-seeking political challenger only if quality-conscious voters pay an access fee. Voters are ideologically homogenou...
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We analyze the consequences of a monopolistic, non-partisan, profit-maximizing media on policy divergence. The media undertakes costly coverage that may reveal the quality of an office-seeking political challenger only if quality-conscious voters pay an access fee. Voters are ideologically homogenous and the incumbent politican is a populist with known quality. We show that while media absence implies a populist challenger, media presence yields platform extremism: it creates demand for information about quality and provides incentives to the media to invest in coverage that are exploited by high-quality challengers to signal strength. JEL Classifiers: C72, D72, D82

This paper performs a mixed-methods analysis of place-branding strategies developed in the ‘Tech City’ cluster initiative in Inner East London, drawing on ethnographic material, semi-structured interviews and visual content. Using Jessop’s concept of the spatial imaginary, we explore key foundation...
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This paper performs a mixed-methods analysis of place-branding strategies developed in the ‘Tech City’ cluster initiative in Inner East London, drawing on ethnographic material, semi-structured interviews and visual content. Using Jessop’s concept of the spatial imaginary, we explore key foundational geographies, trace the emergence of the ‘Silicon Roundabout’ and Tech City concepts between 2008 and 2014, then discuss Tech City’s governance and progress, highlighting both day-to-day challenges and more basic tensions. We contrast this experience with that of ‘Here East’, a new regeneration space across the city in the Olympic Park.

The shutter motor keeps tripping out, and causing the dome to become stuck open. The dome and shutter motors were swapped over to eliminate a fault with the motor. It was discovered that there was no keyway on the shutter motor shaft which was allowing the motor to slip. A second fault was found on ...
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The shutter motor keeps tripping out, and causing the dome to become stuck open. The dome and shutter motors were swapped over to eliminate a fault with the motor. It was discovered that there was no keyway on the shutter motor shaft which was allowing the motor to slip. A second fault was found on one of the SSR relays in the relay box. A keyway was installed, and the faulty SSR bridged out. The shutter now operates correctly. Additional work was done on the weather arm, replacing the rain detector and repairing the anemometer.

The Jubilee Centre’s new report, Virtuous Medical Practice, examines the place of character and values in the medical profession in Britain today. Its findings are drawn from a UK-focused multi-methods study of 549 doctors and aspiring doctors at three career stages, first and final year students an...
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The Jubilee Centre’s new report, Virtuous Medical Practice, examines the place of character and values in the medical profession in Britain today. Its findings are drawn from a UK-focused multi-methods study of 549 doctors and aspiring doctors at three career stages, first and final year students and experienced doctors.

The subject of gratitude has gained traction in recent years in academic and popular (eg, media) circles. However, limited attention has been devoted to understanding what laypeople understand by the concept of gratitude; the meaning of which tends to have been assumed in the literature. Furthermore...
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The subject of gratitude has gained traction in recent years in academic and popular (eg, media) circles. However, limited attention has been devoted to understanding what laypeople understand by the concept of gratitude; the meaning of which tends to have been assumed in the literature. Furthermore, while intrapersonal and interpersonal benefits of gratitude have been extolled in this growing body of research, there has been little assessment of the value laypeople place on gratitude themselves, or whether and how they think it might be fostered. Since September 2012, our Attitude for Gratitude research project has been engaged in examining precisely how gratitude is conceptualised by the British public, what British people are grateful for, the value they place on gratitude, what kinds of people tend to be grateful, and whether and how they think gratitude might be promoted in British society. The project has incorporated a variety of methods to examine these questions, conceptually and empirically, canvassing the opinions of over 10,000 people in the UK. A key issue for our research has been to represent the views of British people across a range of ages, ethnicities and backgrounds that are representative of Britain today. We are strongly committed to the view that researchers should engage with laypeople to avoid superimposing a meaning and value on gratitude that does not reflect the views of the people the research purports to study. To this end, and to throw light on what British laypeople understand by the concept of gratitude, we carried out a series of empirical studies that complement the definitions of philosophers and psychologists with more everyday definitions of laypeople5. To examine the perceived value of gratitude we surveyed British people directly, making no prior assumptions about where gratitude might be evaluated in relation to other values and virtues. Finally, we sought to elicit suggestions from the British public themselves about how gratitude might be fostered in British society. Much recent research on gratitude has originated in the USA and therefore a further aim of the project was to assess the degree to which the understanding and evaluation of gratitude may differ between the USA and the UK. We sought to target the British public with these questions:

This report is the culmination of research carried out between March-December 2014 with youth social action providers and young people. The purpose of the report is to explore the link between character, virtues and youth social action. Through textual analysis of youth social action providers’ ...
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This report is the culmination of research carried out between March-December 2014 with youth social action providers and young people. The purpose of the report is to explore the link between character, virtues and youth social action. Through textual analysis of youth social action providers’ websites and communications, interviews with senior leaders of these providers, as well as young people who experience their programmes, this research aimed at a better understanding of the link between character development and youth social action. This research has been undertaken with considerable input from interested stakeholders since its inception – in particular, members of Step Up To Serve’s crosssector Data and Quality Assurance group and the sub-group on character. These groups have provided invaluable advice in shaping this project. In addition, the initial findings from this research were presented at a consultation held at St George’s House, Windsor, in September 2014 (Jubilee Centre for Character and Virtues, 2014a). Representatives from government departments, education, academia, and the voluntary and corporate sectors participated and their comments have also informed this report.

The research project described in this report represents one of the most extensive studies of character education ever undertaken, including over 10,000 students and 255 teachers in schools across England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales. Research techniques consisted of a mixture of survey...
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The research project described in this report represents one of the most extensive studies of character education ever undertaken, including over 10,000 students and 255 teachers in schools across England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales. Research techniques consisted of a mixture of surveys, moral dilemmas and semi-structured interviews. This report explores: - The current situation in character education, both in the UK and internationally - How developed British students are with respect to moral character and the extent to which they are able to understand and apply moral virtues, especially those aged 14 and 15 - How teachers in the UK understand their role in terms of students’ moral and character development - What helps or hinders the development of children’s characters according to teachers in UK schools

Cold has been much neglected in the energy debate. Governments are developing strategies and policies to green everything from electricity to transport to heat, but the energy and environmental impacts of cooling have so far been largely ignored. This is a serious oversight, since making things cold...
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Cold has been much neglected in the energy debate. Governments are developing strategies and policies to green everything from electricity to transport to heat, but the energy and environmental impacts of cooling have so far been largely ignored. This is a serious oversight, since making things cold is energy intensive and can be highly polluting, and demand for cooling in all its forms is booming worldwide – especially in developing countries. According to one projection, by the end of this century global demand for air conditioning alone could consume the equivalent of half our worldwide electricity generation today – and most of the increase will come in developing markets. The ‘greening’ of cold is clearly an urgent global problem – but it may also offer Britain a massive business opportunity. Cold may have been ignored but is vitally important to many aspects of modern life. An effective cold chain, for example, is essential for tackling problems such as food waste, food security, water conservation and public health. Cooling is also critical for many less obvious but essential functions: data centres couldn’t operate without it, nor for example MRI scanners in medicine or superconductors in power electronics. Cooling also provides modern levels of comfort in hot countries – and can make the difference between some regions being habitable or not. At the same time, vast amounts of cold are wasted – for instance during the regasification of LNG – which could in principle be recycled to satisfy some of this demand and start to reduce the environmental damage caused by cooling. Such a system-level approach – which starts by asking what energy services we need, and what is the least damaging way to provide them, rather than accepting existing practices as a fait accompli – has recently been coined the ‘Cold Economy’. It is clear the Cold Economy could unleash a wide range of innovative clean cold technologies and provide energy resilience, economic growth and environmental benefits, but there is an urgent need to develop a system-level analysis of this problem and the potential solutions to inform both industry and policymakers. The Birmingham Policy Commission: Doing Cold Smarter was convened to start this work.

Report detailing the Jubilee Centre for Character and Virtues' impact, influence and reach. This report features figures and infographics for the different areas of the Centre’s work to date. Since launching in May 2012, the Jubilee Centre has conducted rigorous research into how character and virtu...
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Report detailing the Jubilee Centre for Character and Virtues' impact, influence and reach. This report features figures and infographics for the different areas of the Centre’s work to date. Since launching in May 2012, the Jubilee Centre has conducted rigorous research into how character and virtues impact on individuals and society. During this time, the Centre has engaged with the British public in a range of different ways and has sought to make a significant difference to how character and virtues are perceived. This new report, From Gratitude to Service, demonstrates the influence the Centre has achieved on the ground in a short period of time and the wide variety of channels through which the Centre has promoted and applied its research evidence. The report explores all aspects of the Centre’s work including research, influence and engagement with policy, partnerships and international collaborations, its work with schools and the community.

This report outlines a project that explored the relationship between gratitude (giving thanks) and service (giving back) in three schools in the cities of Birmingham and Coventry. Looking at pupils of different ages, ranging from seven to eighteen, the project explored key questions such as how wel...
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This report outlines a project that explored the relationship between gratitude (giving thanks) and service (giving back) in three schools in the cities of Birmingham and Coventry. Looking at pupils of different ages, ranging from seven to eighteen, the project explored key questions such as how well gratitude is understood, what young people are grateful for, and whether gratitude acts as a motivation for community service.

An initial analysis of research undertaken on the people and institutions who provide access to the solicitors' profession. The findings are based on a series of in-depth interviews with Graduate Recruitment professionals and partners in a range of law firms, exploring the competencies and attribute...
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An initial analysis of research undertaken on the people and institutions who provide access to the solicitors' profession. The findings are based on a series of in-depth interviews with Graduate Recruitment professionals and partners in a range of law firms, exploring the competencies and attributes assessed in the application process.

Zip file containing the following documents: (1) Memorandum: Changes to University Regulations and Codes of Practice from 1 August 2015 (2) Codes of Practice: (2a) Code of Practice on admission of students (2b) Code of Practice on adjusted regulations and Bachelor's degrees (2c) Code o...
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Zip file containing the following documents: (1) Memorandum: Changes to University Regulations and Codes of Practice from 1 August 2015 (2) Codes of Practice: (2a) Code of Practice on admission of students (2b) Code of Practice on adjusted regulations and Bachelor's degrees (2c) Code of Practice on adjusted regulations and undergraduate Masters degrees (2d) Code of Practice on the assessment and award of higher doctorates (2e) Code of Practice on the assessment and award of PhD by publication (2f) Code of Practice on the assessment of research degree theses (2g) Code of Practice on the conduct of centrally co-ordinated formal written examinations (2h) Code of Practice on discipline in residences (2i) Code of Practice extenuating circumstances (2j) Code of Practice on the External Examiner system for taught programmes (2k) Code of Practice on freedom of speech (2l) Code of Practice on leave of absence (2m) Code of Practice on Misconduct and Fitness to Practise Committee (2n) Code of Practice on Personal Tutoring (2o) Code of Practice on Placement Learning (2p) Code of Practice on plagiarism (2q) Code of Practice on primary appeals procedures (2r) Code of Practice on Pursuant to requirements of the Education Act 1994 (2s) Code of Practice reasonable adjustments for students (2t) Code of Practice for research (2u) Code of Practice on split location study for postgraduate research students (2v) Code of Practice on student attendance and reasonable diligence (2w) Code of Practice on student concerns and complaints procedure (2x)Code of Practice on student representation system (2y)Code of Practice on student visas (2z) Code of Practice on the supervision and monitoring progress of research students (2ai) Code of Practice on suspension from study on health grounds (2aii) Code of Practice on taught programme and module assessment (2aiii) Code of Practice on the teaching and academic support of undergraduate and postgraduate taught students by postgraduate teaching assistants and undergraduates (3) Guidance: (3a) Guidance on Attendance Monitoring (3b) Guidance on e-mail in relation to data protection (3c) Guidance on student grievances to Council (3d) Guidance to students on outside employment (3e) Guidance on Alternative Modes of Delivery (4) Policies: (4a) Accommodating student's religious observances policy (4b) Collaborative provision policy (4c) Policy on consulting students about major changes (4d) Drugs and alcohol policy (4e) Policy on graduate certificates and diplomas (4f) Harassment and bullying policy (4g) Policy on professional, statutory and regulatory bodies (4h) Policy on the use of animals in research (5) Regulations: (5a) Full University Regulations excluding Library Regulations (5b) Section 1 - definitions and interpretation (5c) Section 2 - organisation and governance (5d) Section 3 - human resource matters (5e) Section 4 - estates matters (5f) Section 5 - admission and registration (5g) Section 6 - programmes of study (5h) Section 7 - assessment, progression and award (5i) Section 8 - student conduct (5j) Section 9 - documents supplementary to the University legislation (5k) Code of Ethics

First draft of a paper which now appears in the journal 'Legal Ethics' Volume 18(2) This paper considers the individual CSR policies of the top 100 English Law firms (as ranked by the trade publication 'The Lawyer'), what the firms categorise as constituting CSR activity and the public disclosures ...
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First draft of a paper which now appears in the journal 'Legal Ethics' Volume 18(2) This paper considers the individual CSR policies of the top 100 English Law firms (as ranked by the trade publication 'The Lawyer'), what the firms categorise as constituting CSR activity and the public disclosures they make. The research highlights that few firms explain why they are committed to CSR and the quality of disclosures varied so widely that meaningful comparison was not possible.

This report describes research focusing on virtues and character in teaching, by which we mean the kind of personal qualities professional teachers need to facilitate learning and overall flourishing in young people that goes beyond preparing them for a life of tests. The ‘good’ teacher is someone w...
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This report describes research focusing on virtues and character in teaching, by which we mean the kind of personal qualities professional teachers need to facilitate learning and overall flourishing in young people that goes beyond preparing them for a life of tests. The ‘good’ teacher is someone who, alongside excellent subject knowledge and technical expertise, cares about students, upholds principles of honesty and integrity both towards knowledge and student–teacher relationships, and who does good work (Campbell, 2011, 2013; Sockett, 2012; Gardner, Csikszentmihalyi and Damon, 2001; Damon and Colby, 2014). In the Framework for Character Education (Jubilee Centre for Character and Virtues, 2013), we considered the character of teachers to be a crucial ingredient in the development of flourishing children. This new report describes research that examined how teachers thought about, and drew upon, character strengths and virtues in their daily professional lives.

The Jubilee Centre’s new report, Virtuous Character for the Practice of Law, sets about trying to examine the place of character and values in the legal profession in Britain. The report draws its findings from a UK focused survey of 966 lawyers and aspiring lawyers at varying stages of their career...
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The Jubilee Centre’s new report, Virtuous Character for the Practice of Law, sets about trying to examine the place of character and values in the legal profession in Britain. The report draws its findings from a UK focused survey of 966 lawyers and aspiring lawyers at varying stages of their careers. It is one of the largest pieces of research carried out in Britain focusing on issues of character and virtue within a specific industry sector.

The first toolkit for the identification and assessment of new and emerging health technologies was developed by members of the EuroScan International Network and published in 2009. Five years later this revised toolkit continues to focus on methods that are integral to an early awareness and alert ...
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The first toolkit for the identification and assessment of new and emerging health technologies was developed by members of the EuroScan International Network and published in 2009. Five years later this revised toolkit continues to focus on methods that are integral to an early awareness and alert (EAA) system. It is once again a collaborative piece of work to which all members have contributed with new information based on their experiences being added. The main stages involved in EAA systems continue to be: identification of information on new and emerging technologies (horizon scanning); filtration and prioritisation of the identified information; and assessment of the technology or group of technologies. The toolkit provides guidance on these stages and highlights the various approaches that can be taken at each of these stages depending on the context of the EAA system and resources available.

The paper presents a model of housing and credit cycles featuring distorted beliefs and comovement and mutual reinforcement between house price expectations and price developments via credit expansion/contraction. Positive (negative) development in house prices fuels optimism (pessimism) and credit ...
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The paper presents a model of housing and credit cycles featuring distorted beliefs and comovement and mutual reinforcement between house price expectations and price developments via credit expansion/contraction. Positive (negative) development in house prices fuels optimism (pessimism) and credit expansion (contraction), which in turn boost (dampen) housing demand and house prices and reinforce agents' optimism (pessimism). Bayesian learning about house prices can endogenously generate self-reinforcing booms and busts in house prices and significantly strengthen the role of collateral constraints in aggregate fluctuations. The model can quantitatively account for the 2001-2008 U.S. boom-bust cycle in house prices and associated household debt and consumption dynamics. It also demonstrates that allowing for imperfect knowledge of agents, a higher leveraged economy is more prone to self-reinforcing fluctuations.

This paper studies the interaction of agents' collateral price beliefs, credit constraint and aggregate economic activity over the business cycle. Learning strengthens the role of collateral constraints in aggregate fluctuations. Under heterogeneous learning rules, numerical simulations illustrate t...
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This paper studies the interaction of agents' collateral price beliefs, credit constraint and aggregate economic activity over the business cycle. Learning strengthens the role of collateral constraints in aggregate fluctuations. Under heterogeneous learning rules, numerical simulations illustrate that bankruptcy on the part of borrowers arises sooner as they track the economy faster.

We analyze the impact of prosecutor elections on case backlogs. Previous evidence has shown that re-election pressures result in more cases going to trial. Since trials require time and resources, one can expect an effect on the queue. Two competing theories are developed: one of signaling quality ...
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We analyze the impact of prosecutor elections on case backlogs. Previous evidence has shown that re-election pressures result in more cases going to trial. Since trials require time and resources, one can expect an effect on the queue. Two competing theories are developed: one of signaling quality in an asymmetric information environment and one of effort exertion, each of which can explain increased trials before election, but differ in their predictions regarding the impact on backlogs. A district-level, panel data set of caseload flows in North Carolina is analyzed. Evidence is presented that contested re-elections are associated with a decrease in the number of cases handled and an acceleration of the growth of the backlog. This suggests that retention concerns lead to signaling which causes distortions, re-allocating resources from disposing cases to prosecuting cases at trial.

The work within this case study was brought together to publicise the different types of work that was done on the University’s high performance computer called BlueBEAR2 and on the many systems that help researchers. This computer system is part of the University of Birmingham’s environment for aca...
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The work within this case study was brought together to publicise the different types of work that was done on the University’s high performance computer called BlueBEAR2 and on the many systems that help researchers. This computer system is part of the University of Birmingham’s environment for academic research (BEAR), which helps staff and students of the University delve deeper into their research than has been done before. Traditional research has always been to experiment or theorise, BlueBEAR is used to deliver a third option, computer based modeling. Computer based modeling is used to underpin the physical and theoretical research. Sometimes computer based modeling is the only way (e.g. colliding galaxies, nuclear explosions), where safety and cost is prohibitive. This is a small set of case studies taken from the vast research that is being done on BlueBEAR2 and generally around the University. BlueBEAR2 is the next generation of hardware from BlueBEAR and includes large memory, GPGPU, database and data mining services.

Studies of the 2007-09 credit crisis and the resulting recession have revealed the inadequacy of the predominant theoretical frameworks and their failure to propose adequate policy solutions. The presence in the economy of “bank money” and a financial system (not only constituted by banks) character...
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Studies of the 2007-09 credit crisis and the resulting recession have revealed the inadequacy of the predominant theoretical frameworks and their failure to propose adequate policy solutions. The presence in the economy of “bank money” and a financial system (not only constituted by banks) characterized by financial innovation and speculation fundamentally changes the nature of credit creation. As J.A. Schumpeter (1934) and other scholars (such as Shackle, 1967) have recognized the central role of credit creation in the economic system, a new perspective on the financial role in defining the growth path needs to be developed by filling the gaps in New Growth Theory (NGT) (Aghion and Howitt, 1998) and Evolutionary Theory (ET) (Nelson and Winter, 1982) - which we call the two Sons of Schumpeter - and in some way combining them. The financial instability of the economy seems to depend on the financial structure. The goal of this survey is to explain the main hypothesis of the historical passage of the economy from a virtuous to a bad cycle and to show the existence of what we label the wealth trap: that is, the consequence of the presence of a technologically advanced and greedy financial system within the economic system. This new point of view can help to answer some important questions that in the literature remain unsolved. Future extensions of this survey will develop a quantitative ABM (Agent-Based Model) able to demonstrate the existence of the “two cycles” and will finally undertake experiments to build policy proposals for the restoration of the virtuous cycle and to prevent this cycle from becoming a bad one again.

Huw Beynon’s Working for Ford achieved celebrity when published in 1973. An assessment 40 years later identifies the lasting value of the book. Though written from a clearly stated point of view, it did not present a biased account, and it included much information permitting alternative assessments...
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Huw Beynon’s Working for Ford achieved celebrity when published in 1973. An assessment 40 years later identifies the lasting value of the book. Though written from a clearly stated point of view, it did not present a biased account, and it included much information permitting alternative assessments. It is also possible to construct an explanation of why the situation was as it was; this explanation turns on the technology of car plants, distinctive strategies adopted by Ford management, and the active role of workers. Though the particular events analysed in the book were of their time, the book is of more than historical interest. Its lasting value is four-fold: it explains how and why workers engage in immediate battles for control of the workplace; it indicates that workers do not choose such battles willingly and are often aware of wider concerns while lacking the means to pursue them; it points to substantial areas of continuity with the contemporary organization of labour and struggles for workers’ dignity; and it permits reflection on the possibilities of organized alternatives to current forms of work organization.

Frontline voluntary and community organisations are often argued to need capacity building support of various kinds, but, in a context of austerity, how should this be organised and funded? Policy makers and many funders are rethinking the ways in which such support might be delivered. There is incr...
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Frontline voluntary and community organisations are often argued to need capacity building support of various kinds, but, in a context of austerity, how should this be organised and funded? Policy makers and many funders are rethinking the ways in which such support might be delivered. There is increasing interest in ‘demand-led’ capacity building, where frontline organisations choose and purchase the support they require from a range of providers. In what seems to be a far cry from previous models of support during the ‘golden age’ of infrastructure investment, a market for capacity building looks like it is in the making. However we know very little about how this extending market is being constructed and how it works. This paper is the outcome of a short piece of applied research on three ‘demand-led’ capacity building initiatives in practice: the BIG Assist programme, and local schemes in Sheffield and Worcestershire. It considers the challenges involved in designing the architecture for an emerging market in capacity building, and for working within it. Although the three schemes are clearly a departure from existing models of infrastructure support, the study concludes by questioning whether ‘demand-led capacity building’ is an appropriate label given the opaque but important role played by funders and programme operators in the capacity building process.

Global value chain (GVC) analysis (e.g. Gereffi, 1994) has been developed to understand the potential for developing countries and companies to upgrade production processes and capture value. Theoretically pluralist, it provides a methodological framework for posing research questions about the nat...
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Global value chain (GVC) analysis (e.g. Gereffi, 1994) has been developed to understand the potential for developing countries and companies to upgrade production processes and capture value. Theoretically pluralist, it provides a methodological framework for posing research questions about the nature of globalisation. For Industrial Relations scholars it raises questions about the role of lead companies in setting standards amongst suppliers in the value chain, the influence of private labour codes and standards, Corporate Social Responsibility policies, forms of supranational regulation, and the role of civic society organisations in pressing for labour standards. New research questions are raised which require looking beyond the traditional components of the Industrial Relations system - the state, employers and unions - requiring inter-disciplinary engagement with debates in Development Studies and Economic Geography, and with researchers from the 'global South'.

Could brands associated with mostly negative information-those with poor reputations-be perceived as superior to unrecognized brands? A reasonable consumer should value reputation; however, it is also sensible to put a heavyweight on brand recognition. To investigate this question, the authors stu...
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Could brands associated with mostly negative information-those with poor reputations-be perceived as superior to unrecognized brands? A reasonable consumer should value reputation; however, it is also sensible to put a heavyweight on brand recognition. To investigate this question, the authors study consumers' inferences about brand quality for products in three domains. Results suggest that brands associated with predominantly negative information are indeed perceived as of higher quality than unrecognised brands. In addition, when consumer inferences are predicted based on different memory cues, the frequency of encountering a brand dominates what people profess to know about it. The authors explore the ecological rationality of this strategy by studying the environmental relationship between expert-judged quality and consumer knowledge.

A competing risk hazard model is employed to examine the reasons for Hong Kong's Growth Enterprise (GEM) companies transferring to the Main Board (MB) in the period 2000-2012. In our sample during the period 21 companies or 15% of the original stock moved up to the MB. The modal life expectancy of...
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A competing risk hazard model is employed to examine the reasons for Hong Kong's Growth Enterprise (GEM) companies transferring to the Main Board (MB) in the period 2000-2012. In our sample during the period 21 companies or 15% of the original stock moved up to the MB. The modal life expectancy of a GEM company was about eight years. Companies that did not move up to the MB were at a small risk of delisting due to long term suspension or liquidation, but the great majority just remained where they were. Regarding the factors behind transfer to the MB, of the 129 companies listed on the GEM in the period, we find that companies with higher net profit and greater product market power were more likely to graduate in the following year. However, companies with lower growth, higher financial risk and those audited

APRC minutes 2012-13 Meeting of 23 November 2012 APRC.12.11.00 Agenda for 23 November 2012 meeting APRC.12.11.01 Membership and Terms of Reference APRC.12.11.02 Minutes of Last Meeting (June 2012) APRC.12.11.03 Proposed amendments to Codes of Practice on Primary Appeals Procedures, Senate Revi...
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APRC minutes 2012-13 Meeting of 23 November 2012 APRC.12.11.00 Agenda for 23 November 2012 meeting APRC.12.11.01 Membership and Terms of Reference APRC.12.11.02 Minutes of Last Meeting (June 2012) APRC.12.11.03 Proposed amendments to Codes of Practice on Primary Appeals Procedures, Senate Review, Student Concerns and Complaints Procedure and the Guidance Note on Student Grievances to Council APRC.12.11.04 Introduction of Degree of Master of Fine Arts APRC.12.11.05 Proposed Amendment to Code of Practice on Extenuating Circumstances and Fit to Sit Procedure APRC.12.11.06 Progress and Awards Board - Membership and Terms of Reference APRC.12.11.07 Policy of Professional, Statutory and Regulatory Bodies APRC.12.11.08 Report on Chair's Actions APRC.12.11.08a Appendix A to Report on Chair's Actions APRC.12.11.08b Appendix B to Report on Chair's Actions APRC.12.11.08c Appendix C to Report on Chair's Actions Meeting of 11 February 2013 APRC.13.02.00 Agenda for 11 February 2013 meeting APRC.13.02.01 Minutes of Last Meeting (November 2012) APRC.13.02.02 Amendments to Legislation Arising from Non-School Programmes APRC.13.02.03 Credit Accumulation APRC.13.02.04 Classified Degrees for those Not Likely to Complete APRC.13.02.05 Credit Requirements for Undergraduate Masters Degrees APRC.13.02.06 Joint Honours Programmes - Proposals for Greater Flexibility APRC.13.02.07 Report from the Progress and Awards Board APRC.13.02 AOB Exemption from Regulation 6 - Programmes of Study Meeting of 16 May 2013 APRC.13.05.00 Agenda for 16 May 2013 Meeting APRC.13.05.01 Minutes of the Last Meeting (February 2013) APRC.13.05.02 Amendments to the Code of Practice on Plagiarism APRC.13.05.03 Amendments to Regulations on Student Conduct APRC.13.05.04 Amendment to the Code of Practice on Procedures for Misconduct and Fitness to Pratise Committee APRC.13.05.05 Amendments to the Code of Practice for Assessment of Research Degree Theses APRC.13.05.06 Criteria for Appointment of Examiners APRC.13.05.07 Amendment to Student Representation System Policy APRC.13.05.08 Failure in Assessment (Amendments to Regulations) APRC.13.05.09 Wednesday Afternoon Timetabled Teaching Policy APRC.13.05.10 Approval of Student Charter for 2013/14 APRC.13.05.11 Amendments to/Exemptions from Regulations (MRes Students) APRC.13.05.12 Amendments to/Exemptions from Regulations (MSci students in Chemistry) APRC.13.05.13 Delgation of Powers APRC.13.05.14 Chair's Action since the last meeting of the committee APRC.13.05.15 Proposed Amendment to Code of Practice on Procedures for Misconduct and Fitness to Practise Committee (MBChB students) Meeting of 16 June 2013 APRC.13.06.00 Agenda for 16 June 2013 meeting APRC.13.06.01a Minutes of Last Meeting (May 2013) APRC.13.06.01b Code of Practice on Plagiarism (incorporating changes following last meeting) APRC.13.06.02 Code of Practice on Complaints APRC.13.06.03 Amendments to the Code of Practice on Primary Appeals Procedures APRC.13.06.04 Amendments to Regulations and Codes of Practice for Supervision and Monitoring Progress of Postgraduate Researchers and for Assessment of Research Degree Theses APRC.13.06.05 Amendments to the Code of Practice on Senate Review and Guidance Note on Consideration of Student Grievances to Council APRC.13.06.06 Amendments to Code of Practice on External Examining (Taught Provision) APRC.13.06.07 Code of Practice on Adjusted Regulations and Undergraduate Masters Degrees APRC.13.06.08 Examinations and Results Processing Period Amendment to the Regulations APRC.13.06.09 Amendment to the Code of Practice on Procedures for Misconduct and Fitness to Practise Committee APRC.13.06.10 Master of Fine Arts: Addition to Regulations APRC.13.06.11 Timetabling and Teaching Space Policy - Revisions for 2013/14 APRC.13.06.12 Exemption from Regulation 6: Duration of Programmes (ACF programmes in MDS)

Fifty at Fifty (50 at 50) combined longitudinal quantitative data from the 1958 British Birth Cohort Survey, i.e. the National Child Development Study (NCDS), with qualitative biographical interview data from the associated Social Participation and Identity Study (SPIS) to investigate long term patt...
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Fifty at Fifty (50 at 50) combined longitudinal quantitative data from the 1958 British Birth Cohort Survey, i.e. the National Child Development Study (NCDS), with qualitative biographical interview data from the associated Social Participation and Identity Study (SPIS) to investigate long term patterns of participation and volunteering.

Participation, volunteering, non-participants, longitudinal research, mixed methods, motivations, barriers, life-course, pathways, National Child Development Study, Social Participation and Identity S...
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Participation, volunteering, non-participants, longitudinal research, mixed methods, motivations, barriers, life-course, pathways, National Child Development Study, Social Participation and Identity Study, panel data

Calls have been made recently for the renewal of public and private virtues, not least because of the serious scandals that have beset our banks, political system, as well as our health and social welfare provisions. The public appear to want people to be of good character, and so improve the qualit...
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Calls have been made recently for the renewal of public and private virtues, not least because of the serious scandals that have beset our banks, political system, as well as our health and social welfare provisions. The public appear to want people to be of good character, and so improve the quality of public life. And yet Britain today is a pluralistic society in which our values and virtues appear to be constantly changing and where children are exposed to a variety of perspectives on moral right and wrong. We seem to regard identifying with any set of virtues to be problematic and we often appear to lack any clear conception of what virtues are, which virtues are to be promoted, as well as knowledge of how to promote them.

In recent weeks both Michael Gove (03/02/2014) and Tristram Hunt (12/02/2014) have begun to identify their key policy objectives for the forthcoming election cycle. The speeches made within two weeks of one another contain elements which mirror one another and interestingly highlight character devel...
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In recent weeks both Michael Gove (03/02/2014) and Tristram Hunt (12/02/2014) have begun to identify their key policy objectives for the forthcoming election cycle. The speeches made within two weeks of one another contain elements which mirror one another and interestingly highlight character development as a central tenant upon which both of the major political parties intend to build their campaigns. These two speeches stressed the importance of high academic standards and the need for character education within schools, but offered a radically different interpretation of the concept.

It seems obvious that resilience is a quality that we ought to develop among young people. It is a favoured term, too, in many different settings ranging from social work and health all the way through to the United States Army (Seligman, 2011). Even so, resilience has its limits. After persisting f...
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It seems obvious that resilience is a quality that we ought to develop among young people. It is a favoured term, too, in many different settings ranging from social work and health all the way through to the United States Army (Seligman, 2011). Even so, resilience has its limits. After persisting for years through multiple injuries to win two Olympic gold medals Dame Kelly Holmes recently disclosed her on-going struggle with post-athletic life and her deliberate self-harm. Similarly, in cycling, Sir Chris Hoy announced on retiring that he has used up 'every last ounce of energy and effort at London 2012', adding that despite wanting to go on for another year to win a seventh gold medal, he realised that he could not do so (BBC, 2013). It seems as if resilience can come and go; it can run out; and it can resist transfer from one domain of life to another even for the most talented and toughest.

There is a growing consensus in Britain on the importance of character, and on the belief that the virtues that contribute to good character are part of the solution to many of the challenges facing modern society. Parents, teachers and schools understand the need to teach basic moral virtues to ...
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There is a growing consensus in Britain on the importance of character, and on the belief that the virtues that contribute to good character are part of the solution to many of the challenges facing modern society. Parents, teachers and schools understand the need to teach basic moral virtues to pupils, such as honesty, self-control, fairness, and respect, while fostering behaviour associated with such virtues today. However, until recently, the materials required to help deliver this ambition have been missing in Britain. The Knightly Virtues Programme, devised by the Jubilee Centre for Character and Virtues, aims to help solve this challenge. The programme, designed for 9 to 11 year olds, draws on selected classic stories to help teach moral character in schools. This approach has proved to be popular with children and teachers, with more than 5,000 pupils from one hundred schools having participated in the programme so far. Fifty-five of these schools (including thirty Catholic and Church of England) and 3,272 pupils (1,517 of which attended a Church school) were directly involved in different stages of the research. Based at the University of Birmingham, the Jubilee Centre houses leading academics dedicated to researching the various ways in which good character, which underpins the building blocks of society, can be developed. Recent research from the Centre has shown that the qualities that make up character can be learnt and taught, and suggests that we need a new emphasis on their importance in schools and in professional education. This report from the Centre into the use of classic literature within schools sets out the ways in which the Knightly Virtues Programme is able to develop the virtue literacy of school pupils, and the extent to which an understanding and awareness of good moral character can make positive changes to behaviour. The impact of the programme has been tested using several rigorous research methods, detailed in this report alongside their findings, which provide substantial empirical evidence for the effectiveness of using stories to develop virtue literacy.

Zip file containing the following documents: (1) Memorandum: Changes to University Regulations and Codes of Practice from 1 August 2014 (2) Codes of Practice: (2a) Code of Practice on admission of students (2b) Code of Practice on adjusted regulations and Bachelor's degrees (2c) Code o...
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Zip file containing the following documents: (1) Memorandum: Changes to University Regulations and Codes of Practice from 1 August 2014 (2) Codes of Practice: (2a) Code of Practice on admission of students (2b) Code of Practice on adjusted regulations and Bachelor's degrees (2c) Code of Practice on adjusted regulations and undergraduate Masters degrees (2d) Code of Practice on the assessment and award of higher doctorates (2e) Code of Practice on the assessment and award of PhD by publication (2f) Code of Practice on the assessment of research degree theses (2g) Code of Practice on the conduct of centrally co-ordinated formal written examinations (2h) Code of Practice on discipline in residences (2i) Code of Practice extenuating circumstances (2j) Code of Practice on the External Examiner system for taught programmes (2k) Code of Practice on Distance Learning (2l) Code of Practice on freedom of speech (2m) Code of Practice on leave of absence (2n) Code of Practice on Misconduct and Fitness to Practise Committee (2o) Code of Practice on Personal Tutoring (2p) Code of Practice on Placement Learning (2q) Code of Practice on plagiarism (2r) Code of Practice on primary appeals procedures (2s) Code of Practice on Pursuant to requirements of the Education Act 1994 (2t) Code of Practice reasonable adjustments for students (2u) Code of Practice for research (2v) Code of Practice on split location study for postgraduate research students (2w) Code of Practice on student attendance and reasonable diligence (2x) Code of Practice on student concerns and complaints procedure (2y)Code of Practice on student representation system (2z)Code of Practice on student visas (2ai) Code of Practice on the supervision and monitoring progress of research students (2aii) Code of Practice on suspension from study on health grounds (2aiii) Code of Practice on taught programme and module assessment (2aiv) Code of Practice on the teaching and academic support of undergraduate and postgraduate taught students by postgraduate teaching assistants and undergraduates (3) Guidance: (3a) Guidance on Attendance Monitoring (3b) Guidance on e-mail in relation to data protection (3c) Guidance on student grievances to Council (3d) Guidance to students on outside employment (4) Policies: (4a) Accommodating student's religious observances policy (4b) Collaborative provision policy (4c) Policy on consulting students about major changes (4d) Drugs and alcohol policy (4e) Policy on graduate certificates and diplomas (4f) Harassment and bullying policy (4g) Policy on professional, statutory and regulatory bodies (4h) Policy on the use of animals in research (5) Regulations: (5a) Full University Regulations excluding Library Regulations (5b) Section 1 - definitions and interpretation (5c) Section 2 - organisation and governance (5d) Section 3 - human resource matters (5e) Section 4 - estates matters (5f) Section 5 - admission and registration (5g) Section 6 - programmes of study (5h) Section 7 - assessment, progression and award (5i) Section 8 - student conduct (5j) Section 9 - documents supplementary to the University legislation (5k) Code of Ethics

Zip file containing the following documents: (1) Memorandum: Changes to University Regulations and Codes of Practice from 1 August 2016 (2) Codes of Practice: (2a) Code of Practice on admission of students (2b) Code of Practice on adjusted regulations and Bachelor's degrees (2c) Code o...
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Zip file containing the following documents: (1) Memorandum: Changes to University Regulations and Codes of Practice from 1 August 2016 (2) Codes of Practice: (2a) Code of Practice on admission of students (2b) Code of Practice on adjusted regulations and Bachelor's degrees (2c) Code of Practice on adjusted regulations and undergraduate Masters degrees (2d) Code of Practice on the assessment and award of higher doctorates (2e) Code of Practice on the assessment and award of PhD by publication (2f) Code of Practice on the assessment of research degree theses (2g) Code of Practice on the conduct of centrally co-ordinated formal written examinations (2h) Code of Practice on discipline in residences (2i) Code of Practice extenuating circumstances (2j) Code of Practice on the External Examiner system for taught programmes (2k) Code of Practice on Alternative Modes of Delivery (2l) Code of Practice on freedom of speech (2m) Code of Practice on leave of absence (2n) Code of Practice on Misconduct and Fitness to Practise Committee (2o) Code of Practice on Personal Tutoring (2p) Code of Practice on Placement Learning (2q) Code of Practice on plagiarism (2r) Code of Practice on primary appeals procedures (2s) Code of Practice on Pursuant to requirements of the Education Act 1994 (2t) Code of Practice reasonable adjustments for students (2u) Code of Practice for research (2v) Code of Practice on split location study for postgraduate research students (2w) Code of Practice on student attendance and reasonable diligence (2x) Code of Practice on student concerns and complaints procedure (2y)Code of Practice on student representation system (2z)Code of Practice on student visas (2ai) Code of Practice on the supervision and monitoring progress of research students (2aii) Code of Practice on suspension from study on health grounds (2aiii) Code of Practice on taught programme and module assessment (2aiv) Code of Practice on the teaching and academic support of undergraduate and postgraduate taught students by postgraduate teaching assistants and undergraduates (3) Guidance: (3a) Guidance on Attendance Monitoring (3b) Guidance on e-mail in relation to data protection (3c) Guidance on student grievances to Council (3d) Guidance to students on outside employment (4) Policies: (4a) Accommodating student's religious observances policy (4b) Collaborative provision policy (4c) Policy on consulting students about major changes (4d) Drugs and alcohol policy (4e) Policy on graduate certificates and diplomas (4f) Harassment and bullying policy (4g) Policy on professional, statutory and regulatory bodies (4h) Policy on the use of animals in research (5) Regulations: (5a) Full University Regulations excluding Library Regulations (5b) Section 1 - definitions and interpretation (5c) Section 2 - organisation and governance (5d) Section 3 - human resource matters (5e) Section 4 - estates matters (5f) Section 5 - admission and registration (5g) Section 6 - programmes of study (5h) Section 7 - assessment, progression and award (5i) Section 8 - student conduct (5j) Section 9 - documents supplementary to the University legislation (5k) Code of Ethics

The aim of the My Character project was to develop a better understanding of how interventions designed to develop character might enhance moral formation and futuremindedness in young people. Futuremindedness can be defined as an individual’s capacity to set goals and make plans to achieve them. Es...
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The aim of the My Character project was to develop a better understanding of how interventions designed to develop character might enhance moral formation and futuremindedness in young people. Futuremindedness can be defined as an individual’s capacity to set goals and make plans to achieve them. Establishing goals requires considerable moral reflection, and the achievement of worthwhile aims requires character traits such as courage and the capacity to delay gratification. The research team developed two new educational interventions – a website and a hard-copy journal – with the specific aim of developing future-mindedness. After development, the website and journal were piloted over a one-year period by over 1,000 11–14 year olds in six schools across England. Various research methods, including group interviews and case studies, were implemented to assess impact. In addition, a pilot RCT was conducted to assess the feasibility of using experimental methods to measure character. The main findings from the research are that: - Students benefit from opportunities in school to think about future-mindedness; this can be successfully taught through character education. - Harnessing new technology, such as the Internet, offers exciting opportunities for character education. - It is beneficial to investigate the impact of new character education resources in order to bring greater clarity about ‘what works’. The most useful approach is a mixed methods one that allows for triangulation of evidence. - It is possible to run RCTs and other experimental research in schools to assess developmental projects of this kind, but applying the method in schools and creating suitable outcome measures present challenges for researchers. - A positive indicator of the success is that five out of the six pilot schools have embedded My Character into their curriculum. In addition, many new schools, both in Britain and internationally, have started to use the website and / or journal. This report describes the research, analyses the impact of My Character and concludes with recommendations for policy makers, practitioners and researchers embarking on similar projects. These recommendations include: i) advocating that schools create space in the curriculum to teach future-mindedness through character education; ii) enhancing traditional character education teaching methods with opportunities brought by Internet technologies; iii) evaluating character education interventions using triangulated evidence drawn from a mixture of research methods.

The role of virtues in general decision-making is not only relevant to people and their lives, but also to business decisions. Organisations often state the values which guide their behaviour and make these accessible to external stakeholders through mission, vision and values statements. This paper...
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The role of virtues in general decision-making is not only relevant to people and their lives, but also to business decisions. Organisations often state the values which guide their behaviour and make these accessible to external stakeholders through mission, vision and values statements. This paper presents introductory thoughts on the values statements adopted by largely UK-based organisations, some international, across a range of industries with a particular focus on the differences in approaches to mission, vision and values statements, the role such statements play in public relations and the impact of the linguistic content.

A report on the September 2014 CEPLER Workshop, which brought together representatives of higher education institutions with practitioners to consider the place, content and structure of criminal law courses and the need to adapt to the changing demands of fee paying students through regular review ...
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A report on the September 2014 CEPLER Workshop, which brought together representatives of higher education institutions with practitioners to consider the place, content and structure of criminal law courses and the need to adapt to the changing demands of fee paying students through regular review of the content, aims and outcomes of our modules. Given the increasing external regulation and the contentious issue of 'core modules' in the context of discussions regarding the value of a law degree, this is even more pertinent for those who teach criminal law.

The issue of teaching character, which until now has mainly been debated within the ivory towers of academia, is suddenly all the rage in policy circles in the UK, in the wake of the report by the All-party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on social mobility, and Shadow Education Secretary Tristram Hunt’s...
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The issue of teaching character, which until now has mainly been debated within the ivory towers of academia, is suddenly all the rage in policy circles in the UK, in the wake of the report by the All-party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on social mobility, and Shadow Education Secretary Tristram Hunt’s latest speech (http://www.governmentworld.com/schooling-for-the-future-speech-by-tristram-hunt/). The report suggests that teaching ‘character and resilience’ should be an essential part of every school’s ambition, and Hunt argues, in a similar vein, that character and resilience are vital components of a rounded education, a good preparation for a career – and that instilling them in young people ‘should not be left to chance’.

An introductory talk given to Birmingham Law School PGR students as part of their annual PGR Conference, held at the University of Birmingham in June 2014. Anthony Arnull traces the transformations in Legal Education and the impact of the economic climate on student expectations and standards of tea...
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An introductory talk given to Birmingham Law School PGR students as part of their annual PGR Conference, held at the University of Birmingham in June 2014. Anthony Arnull traces the transformations in Legal Education and the impact of the economic climate on student expectations and standards of teaching.

An introduction to and critical commentary on the edition of "Musiche concertate" by Giovanni Valentini, Venice, 1619, including a brief biography of Valentini, a description of the original source, texts and translations. Contents: Acknowledgments The Madrigals of Giovanni Valentini Perform...
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An introduction to and critical commentary on the edition of "Musiche concertate" by Giovanni Valentini, Venice, 1619, including a brief biography of Valentini, a description of the original source, texts and translations. Contents: Acknowledgments The Madrigals of Giovanni Valentini Performance issues The Source Texts and Translations Editorial Method Critical Commentary

The UK has been a high profile policy innovator in welfare-to-work provision that has led in the Coalition government's Work Programme to a fully outsourced, ‘black box’ model with payments based overwhelmingly on job outcome results. A perennial fear in such programmes is providers’ incentives t...
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The UK has been a high profile policy innovator in welfare-to-work provision that has led in the Coalition government's Work Programme to a fully outsourced, ‘black box’ model with payments based overwhelmingly on job outcome results. A perennial fear in such programmes is providers’ incentives to ‘cream’ and ‘park’ claimants and the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) have sought to mitigate such provider behaviours through Work Programme design, particularly via the use of claimant groups and differential pricing. In this paper we draw on a qualitative study of providers in the programme, alongside quantitative analysis of published performance data to explore evidence around creaming and parking. The combination of the quantitative and qualitative evidence suggests that creaming and parking are widespread and systematically embedded within the Work Programme and we argue that they are driven by a combination of intense cost-pressures and extremely ambitious performance targets, alongside overly diverse claimant groups and inadequately calibrated differentiated payment levels.

Personalisation was a key element in reform to the Adult and Social Care system in England exploring long-term funding options in response to demographic change where people are increasingly living longer with complex conditions and needs (Department of Health, 2007). Personal budgets are central to...
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Personalisation was a key element in reform to the Adult and Social Care system in England exploring long-term funding options in response to demographic change where people are increasingly living longer with complex conditions and needs (Department of Health, 2007). Personal budgets are central to this reform to enable recipients of social care to choose and commission their own services. Reform was not expected to require structural reorganisation but local authority leadership to promote genuine partnerships between social care providers, users and their carers as well as the wider community. However, there is potential for a shift in power to service users which goes beyond collaboration, especially where there is scope to build long-term relationships around long-term needs. This study is based on one local authority partner’s innovative development of local communities’ social capital around personal budgets for vulnerable adults, which took up the challenge that “personalisation has the potential to deliver services in new and different ways that are nearer to what service users and their carers want and need”. One of the gaps in research regards the crucial role of carers, which is fundamental to the personalisation agenda reaching its real objectives. Taking an asset-based approach to informal care via social networks, the local authority was able to empower a community-run organisation in one of its most deprived and diverse wards by brokering support for vulnerable residents and embracing a neighbourhood perspective to examine collective as well as individual solutions.

There is a growing interest in methods of impact measurement as a means of demonstrating the achievements of third sector organisations (TSOs) (Ógáin et al, 2012). A large number of different tools have been developed to support third sector impact measurement work and organisations are faced with t...
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There is a growing interest in methods of impact measurement as a means of demonstrating the achievements of third sector organisations (TSOs) (Ógáin et al, 2012). A large number of different tools have been developed to support third sector impact measurement work and organisations are faced with the challenge of selecting an approach that is compatible with their budget, expertise, time, organisational size and purpose. The availability of both generic and sub-sector specific tools, as well as a drive towards ‘shared measurement’ (Ógáin et al., 2013), add further layers of complexity to decisions faced by TSOs. In response to this, several publications and online guides have been developed to encourage and advise TSOs engaging in impact measurement work. This paper examines these recent developments and provides an overview of some of the sources of information available to TSOs about impact measurement. It assesses the potential value of available guides and summaries of impact measurement tools – including an Online Marketplace prototype currently being developed by Inspiring Impact (2013a) - and examines the ways in which such guidance can help the user to create a shortlist of tools suited to their size, budget and capacity. The paper draws on some of the extant academic literature on evaluation and methodology to identify some of the wider factors that could potentially inform third sector decision-making about the approaches to impact measurement most appropriate for their organisations.

This study uses data from the 2005 and 2007 Citizenship Survey to map broad differences in levels of volunteering and social capital between ninety different types of place in England, characterised by their regional location and level of deprivation. A measure of social capital in each type of plac...
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This study uses data from the 2005 and 2007 Citizenship Survey to map broad differences in levels of volunteering and social capital between ninety different types of place in England, characterised by their regional location and level of deprivation. A measure of social capital in each type of place is constructed using a multivariate multilevel statistical model and the association with rates of volunteering is then examined. The results show a positive association at the area level between the level of formal volunteering and informal volunteering and the level of social capital. The rate of both formal and informal volunteering was, however, unrelated to the level of social capital after controlling for area deprivation. These results raise concerns about the ability of volunteering to change the social characteristics of deprived areas independently of their material circumstances. Communities have strengths primarily in areas concerned with maintaining social order rather than creating economic growth. Policies to tackle area deprivation need to concentrate on linking deprived areas up to economic opportunities in more affluent surrounding areas rather than on local strategies based on self-help.

This paper examines the concept of ‘social value’, emphasized in the recently implemented Social Value Act. It argues that evaluations can play an important role in advocating the status of social value. Evaluations highlight priorities and interests and can offer an important way of evidencing and ...
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This paper examines the concept of ‘social value’, emphasized in the recently implemented Social Value Act. It argues that evaluations can play an important role in advocating the status of social value. Evaluations highlight priorities and interests and can offer an important way of evidencing and promoting social value in order that it becomes an active ingredient in decision-making in the commissioning of public services. This is essential, since the implementation of the Social Value Act is made difficult by the fact that social value is hard to define and that commissioners are presented with goals and priorities that may compete with a focus on social values. This paper elaborates on a set of themes that can help us explore evaluation frameworks with a view to highlighting where and how evaluations can endorse social values, such as social inclusion, as a feature of how public services are delivered by third sector organisations. This, we argue, will be crucial for the Social Value Act to become a meaningful addition to the way public services are procured and commissioned, and for third sector organisations to secure continued public service contracts based on arguments and values that play on their presumed advantages over other service deliverers.

The Black and Minority Ethnic Voluntary and Community Sector (BME VCS) in the UK has largely emerged and developed since the 1950s. This paper raises questions about the nature and coherence of a distinctive BME sector, if indeed it exists as such, and considers its voice and influence. The present ...
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The Black and Minority Ethnic Voluntary and Community Sector (BME VCS) in the UK has largely emerged and developed since the 1950s. This paper raises questions about the nature and coherence of a distinctive BME sector, if indeed it exists as such, and considers its voice and influence. The present political and economic climate has provided significant challenges for many third sector organisations, so this paper is about exploring how BME organisations are faring in this context. Key elements of the current context are the economic downturn and the introduction of austerity measures which have impacted on funding opportunities, particularly from statutory sources as support from local authorities, in particular, has been adversely affected. Many organisations in the sector were originally funded, and subsequently maintained, through a range of Area Based Initiatives (ABI) funding streams such as the Inner City Partnership and successor programmes. Such funding streams have been completely curtailed. Additionally, the current political context has made many managers and employees in BME organisations feel their work is less valued than previously. For example initiatives such as the Single Equalities Act, have led to many in the BME VCS feeling their effective contribution has been constrained and diluted, through being one of a range of equalities covered by the Act, rather than being covered by specific legislation, as was the case previously. The aim of the research was to test out how the BME VCS was faring in relation to voice and influence in the current context by interviewing a range of staff of BME voluntary and strategic organisations. Specifically the research set out to identify:  whether there is a BME Sector as such and, if so, its characteristics;  the extent of differences between longer established BME communities and those formed by more recently arrived refugees and migrants;  the perceived extent of the voice and influence of the BME organisations, both within the Community and Voluntary Sector and wider policy circles;  the resilience of BME organisations in the face of the current economic and political challenges. What strategies are they using to survive develop or influence?

Chair's Action APRC.12.02.09 Chair's Actions taken between November 2011 and February 2012 APRC.12.04.07 Chair's Actions taken between February and April 2012 APRC.12.06.08 Chair's Action taken in May 2012 Meeting of 2 February 2012 APRC.12.02.00 Agenda for 2 February 2012 meeting APRC.12.02...
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Chair's Action APRC.12.02.09 Chair's Actions taken between November 2011 and February 2012 APRC.12.04.07 Chair's Actions taken between February and April 2012 APRC.12.06.08 Chair's Action taken in May 2012 Meeting of 2 February 2012 APRC.12.02.00 Agenda for 2 February 2012 meeting APRC.12.02.01 Confirmed minutes of 28 November meeting APRC.12.02.02 Proposal for New Code of Practice on Placement Learning APRC.12.02.02 Appendix 1 - Draft Code of Practice on Placement Learning with mark-ups APRC.12.02.02 Appendix 2 - Draft Code of Practice on Placement Learning APRC.12.02.03 Request for Amendment to University Legislation pertaining to Dual Degrees APRC.12.02.04 Request for amendment to the Code of Practice on Misconduct and Fitness to Practice Committees APRC.12.02.05 Request for Extension for a series of exemptions for PhD with Integrated Study in Physical Science of Imaging in the Biomedical Sciences APRC.12.02.06 Request for exemption from the Code of Practice on Assessment of Research Degree Theses, section 5.2.2 for the MRes Biomedical Research APRC.12.02.07 Request for exemption from the Regulations for a suite of programmes in Communications, Electronics and Computing APRC.12.02.08 Request for Exemption from Regulation 7.4.2(d) for PhD in Creative Writing Meeting of 2 April 2012 APRC.12.04.00 Agenda for 2 April 2012 meeting APRC.12.04.01 Confirmed minutes of 2 February 2012 meeting APRC.12.04.02 Proposed new Code of Practice on External Exmining (Taught Provision) APRC.12.04.03 Request for amendment to Regulation 6.1.3 (a) (viii) relating to the Professional Doctorate Awards APRC.12.04.4 Request for amendment to the Regulations pertaining to language of thesis APRC.12.04.05 Request for amendment to Section 8: Student Conduct of University Regulations APRC.12.04.06 Request for immediate amendment to Section 8: Student Conduct of University Regulations Meeting of 17 May 2012 APRC.12.05.00 Agenda for 17 May 2012 meeting APRC.12.05.01 Confirmed minutes of 2 April 2012 meeting APRC.12.05.02 Proposed new Code of Practice on Distance Learning APRC.12.05.02 Appendix 1 - Draft Code of Practice on Distance Learning APRC.12.05.02 Appendix 1, Annex 1 - Background to Distance Learning PhD APRC.12.05.02 Appendix 2 - Principles and guidance for the development of distributed learning (including e-learning) APRC.12.05.02 Appendix 3 - Distance learning checklist APRC.12.05.03 Outcome of the Moderation working group APRC.12.05.04 Minor revisions to the Student Representative System Policy APRC.12.05.04 Appendix 1 - Student Representation System Policy with tracked changes APRC.12.05.04 Appendix 2 - Student Representation System Policy clean version APRC.12.05.05 Request for amendment to the Code of Practice on Student Attendance and Reasonable Diligence APRC.12.05.05 Appendix 1 - Code of Practice on Student Attendance and Reasonable Diligence with tracked changes APRC.12.05.06 Request for amendment to the Code of Practice on Discipline in Residences APRC.12.05.06 Appendix 1 - Proposed Code of Practice on Discipline in Residences APRC.12.05.06 Appendix 2 - Current Code of Practice on Discipline in Residences APRC.12.05.07 Revisions to the Timetabling and Teaching Space policy APRC.12.05.07 Appendix 1 - Proposed Timetabling and Teaching Space policy APRC.12.05.07 Appendix 2 - Current Timetabling and Teaching Space Policy APRC.12.05.08 Proposed changes to Codes of Practice relating to Postgraduate Research Degrees APRC.12.05.08 Appendix A - Code of Practice on Admission of Students APRC.12.05.08 Appendix A - Revised Terms of Reference for Graduate School Management APRC.12.05.08 Appendix B - Changes to Code of Practice on Supervision and Monitoring Progress of Postgraduate Researchers APRC.12.05.08 Appendix C - Changes to Code of Practice on the Assessment of Research Degree Programmes APRC.12.05.08 Appendix C - Nomination of Examiners form APRC.12.05.08 Appendix C - Draft version of Thesis Submission Declaration Form APRC.12.05.08 Appendix D - Recommended actions resulting from the Woolf Report APRC.12.05.08 Appendix E - PGR Thesis plagiarism checking process flow diagram APRC.12.05.08 Appendix E - PGR Thesis plagiarism check process draft APRC.12.05.09 Proposed Student Charter APRC.12.05.10 Request for exemption from the Regulations for a series of programmes in Biosciences APRC.12.05.11 Paper for discussion on the progression criteria for three MSci programmes in Biosciences Meeting of 1 June 2012 APRC.12.06.00 Agenda for 1 June 2012 meeting APRC.12.06.01 Confirmed minutes of 17 May 2012 meeting APRC.12.06.02 Proposed revision to the Ordinances for the Birmingham Foundation Academy Certificate APRC.12.06.03 Guidance Notes: Language other than English APRC.12.06.04 Revisions to Legislation and the Code of Practice on Misconduct and Fitness to Practice Procedure and the Code of Practice on Suspension on Health Grounds APRC.12.06.04 Appendix A - Proposed changes to Regulations Section 1. Definitions and Interpretation APRC.12.06.04 Appendix B - Proposed changes to Regulation 5 APRC.12.06.04 Appendix C - Proposed changes to Regulation 7 APRC.12.06.04 Appendix D - Proposed changes to Regulations Section 8: Student Conduct APRC.12.06.04 Appendix E - Proposed changes to Code of Practice on Misconduct and Fitness to Practice Procedure APRC.12.06.04 Appendix F - Proposed changes to Code of Practice on Suspension on Health Grounds APRC.12.06.05 Paper outlining amendments to Regulations and Codes of Practice APRC.12.06.05 Appendix A - Recommendations for changes to Regulations from 2012-13 APRC.12.06.05 Appendix B - Recommendations for changes to the Code of Practice for Supervision and Monitoring Progress of Postgraduate Researchers APRC.12.06.06 Amendments to Regulation 7.4.2 (d) APRC.12.06.07 Amendment to the Code of Practice on Plagiarism Papers tabled at meeting - 1 June 2012 APRC.12.06.04 Appendix 2 - Amendments to Regulation Section 5 APRC.12.06.04 Appendix 4 - Amendments to Regulation Section 8 APRC.12.06.04 Appendix 5 - Amendments to Code of Practice on Procedures for Misconduct and Fitness to Practise Committee

There has been limited attention to the internationalization of SMEs as a decision, and how the application of contrasting decision modes is associated with different information use and patterns of network attachment. This paper offers a new and systematic analysis of the likely associations betwee...
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There has been limited attention to the internationalization of SMEs as a decision, and how the application of contrasting decision modes is associated with different information use and patterns of network attachment. This paper offers a new and systematic analysis of the likely associations between decision modes, information use, and network attachment among internationalizing SMEs. The analysis is applied to three categories of SME, identified in terms of their knowledge domain. By focusing on the relation between a relatively neglected subject – decision modes – and other issues that have been more centre-field, the paper contributes to an analytic synthesis in the field of SME research.

The object of this paper is to reconceptualise cultural intermediaries and cultural intermediation in a way that may not only allow a coherent understanding of the various functions associated with these actors, but may also enable systematic empirical analyses of their effects on other cultural, so...
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The object of this paper is to reconceptualise cultural intermediaries and cultural intermediation in a way that may not only allow a coherent understanding of the various functions associated with these actors, but may also enable systematic empirical analyses of their effects on other cultural, social and economic phenomena. This paper employs a value chain approach to develop a typology of cultural intermediation that may enable a more systematic analysis of cultural intermediaries and cultural intermediation. It presents maps of cultural intermediation in England as well as the three major cities: London, Birmingham and Manchester.

Organizational neuroscience (ON) is a rapidly emerging sub-field. Criticisms of its reductionism are common. Yet it is possible for practitioners and critics to engage. Such engagement is facilitated by realism. It agrees with the practitioners of ON that brain functions can in principle be measured...
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Organizational neuroscience (ON) is a rapidly emerging sub-field. Criticisms of its reductionism are common. Yet it is possible for practitioners and critics to engage. Such engagement is facilitated by realism. It agrees with the practitioners of ON that brain functions can in principle be measured and that causal influences can be identified. It agrees with the critics in stressing the centrality of context and the emergent nature of social processes. The claims and potentials of ON can best be grasped through realist principles.

This paper argues that it is crucial to take account of both home and host country contexts in order adequately to understand their implications for Chinese enterprises investing into foreign countries. This calls for an analysis that is sensitive to both home and host country contexts, and that tak...
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This paper argues that it is crucial to take account of both home and host country contexts in order adequately to understand their implications for Chinese enterprises investing into foreign countries. This calls for an analysis that is sensitive to both home and host country contexts, and that takes into account how the institutions and political systems in those contexts establish institutional and resource capital needs for the overseas-investing firm. We discuss and illustrate three different conjunctions of Chinese and host country characteristics, and the firm-level learning and adaptation required in the light of the relevant capitals likely to be available to Chinese firms. The analysis draws upon insights from resource-based, institutional and political perspectives. While it is developed with specific reference to China, we also suggest that this form of analysis can be applied more generally to the implementation of outward foreign direct investment from any country.

The third sector, understood as a diverse group of charities, voluntary organisations, community groups and social enterprises, is facing a radical upheaval in its multiple political and economic environments. Drawing on data from Real Times, a qualitative longitudinal study of third sector organisa...
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The third sector, understood as a diverse group of charities, voluntary organisations, community groups and social enterprises, is facing a radical upheaval in its multiple political and economic environments. Drawing on data from Real Times, a qualitative longitudinal study of third sector organisations, this paper explores how different case study organisations are affected by and have navigated this shifting context. We explore these questions using a ‘field’-based theoretical perspective on social and organisational life (Bourdieu 2005, Emirbayer and Johnson 2008, Fligstein and McAdam 2012). Fields are seen as arenas within which actors convene to advance their interests and purposes amidst evolving rules and understandings about what the field is, how it operates and what is at stake. Fields are overlapping and nested; constituted at different levels from the third sector, through vertical policy domains down to individual organisations. We explore how our case study organisations enact various strategies and tactics in order to manage this period of economic and political change and maintain or advance their position in a field; a struggle for ‘room’. We focus on three interrelated issues – staff redundancies and organisational restructuring; mergers and acquisitions; and repositioning and branding – and examine how these shed light on the contested nature of fields and the tensions at the heart of organisational change and reproduction.

Despite a largely indifferent and otherwise sceptical public reception, the ‘Big Society’ has remained a central feature of the Conservative-led Coalition’s project, with David Cameron referring to it as his passion. However, the Big Society has been a rather elusive concept. Academics and commentat...
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Despite a largely indifferent and otherwise sceptical public reception, the ‘Big Society’ has remained a central feature of the Conservative-led Coalition’s project, with David Cameron referring to it as his passion. However, the Big Society has been a rather elusive concept. Academics and commentators seek to understand what it means, what it signals, and what it might imply. It is viewed by critics as providing political cover for the Coalition’s deficit reduction programme and as a Trojan horse for privatisation. Others argue that it represents a significant recasting of the relationship between citizens and the state, as well as providing new opportunities and spaces for voluntary and community activity, recast as social action in civil society. This paper asks what the Big Society might mean for the ‘third sector’ of voluntary organisations, community groups and social enterprises, and in particular how the changing relationship with the state might be understood. The previous Labour government’s approach has been characterised as the development of a closer ‘partnership’ between state and the third sector. Whilst there are important continuities from this time, a partial decoupling may now be underway in the new political and economic context. Theoretically, this might signal a shift away from the idea of interdependence between the state and the third sector, and towards a model involving separate spheres: from partnership to an emergent ‘trial separation’. To explore this dynamic the paper draws on Friedrich Hayek’s theory of ‘spontaneous order’, suggesting that the Big Society involves some implicit Hayekian assumptions. It concludes by considering the implications of regarding the third sector in such terms.

This paper reviews emerging evidence about how the UK third sector is measuring its performance and impact. Impact measurement has become an increasingly important activity for third sector organisations in recent years, yet impact – and how to measure it – remain contested issues in policy, researc...
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This paper reviews emerging evidence about how the UK third sector is measuring its performance and impact. Impact measurement has become an increasingly important activity for third sector organisations in recent years, yet impact – and how to measure it – remain contested issues in policy, research and practice. By examining what we think we know about how third sector organisations undertake impact measurement and identifying areas for further research, this paper therefore aims to contribute to the ongoing discussion and debate about whether, and how, organisations should measure their impact. This review examines five key questions: how is impact and its measurement understood in existing research, policy and practice? what do we know about who is undertaking impact measurement in the sector? why are organisations measuring their impact? what practices and approaches organisations are using to measure impact? and key challenges and implications of impact measurement for the sector. Research on impact measurement is at an early stage, and has thus far tended to be boosterist in nature; nevertheless this review reveals a growing concern that requirements and demands for impact data from third sector funders are taking precedence over the requirements and needs of beneficiaries and service users. In this context, approaches which focus on organisational learning are being developed from within the third sector.

Personalisation is the latest dynamic in the long and complex relationship between the third and public sectors who work within the field of social care. It has been seen as both an opportunity for third sector organisations (TSOs) to have the freedom to deliver the more flexible and holistic suppor...
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Personalisation is the latest dynamic in the long and complex relationship between the third and public sectors who work within the field of social care. It has been seen as both an opportunity for third sector organisations (TSOs) to have the freedom to deliver the more flexible and holistic support that they aspire to, but also a potential financial challenge due to the need to compete for more individualised purchasing of care. In this paper we respond to calls to move beyond seeing personalisation as a ‘blanket’ approach and experience, through exploring the impacts within the particular field of carer support. Building on a literature review and a stakeholder event, semi-structured interviews were undertaken with those working in the third sector, and those in related policy and commissioning roles within the public sector. These interviews highlighted the fact that despite different perspectives on the scale and nature of change required, the move towards more personalised support was seen as a positive development for carers. Benefits that were reported included opportunities to pursue personal interests, to have regular breaks from caring and to improve the relationship with the ‘cared for’. However, such impacts were seen to be reduced through lack of public sector funding, complicated and lengthy assessment and financial procedures, and carers’ personal ability and capacity to take up the potential opportunities. The aspiration of personalisation (that is, more individualised and flexible support determined and led by the recipients) was seen by most interviewees as being in line with the values of TSOs who work in this sector. In principle this would mean that TSOs are well placed to respond to carers through a personalised model of care which would therefore be of benefit to carers and TSOs. However, there were also concerns that through their emphasis on quality and fair wages for staff, TSOs may struggle to compete with other providers if carers act as ‘individual consumers’ seeking to get the most service possible from their personal budget allocation. Other interviewees viewed many TSOs as having become complacent and no longer responsive to the changing needs and aspirations of carers, and for them these competitive pressures would either force the existing organisations to change or lead to their decline. Personalised support for carers reflects debates in broader public policy regarding the distinctiveness (or not) of the third sector, and the most beneficial approach through which the public sector should engage with and provide funding to TSOs. Furthermore the connected market pressures will arguably test out in practice if carers do value and will therefore pay for services provided by TSOs. Ultimately though, if personalised support for carers relies on discrete public sector funding, then the chances of significant progress being made in a time of austerity seems unlikely. Success will depend on TSOs being able to identify and draw upon other funding routes (including carers purchasing services out of their own resources) and mainstream services embracing the needs of carers alongside that of the cared-for.

This study explores the impact of information asymmetry between lenders and borrowers on loan syndicate structure. Using a sample of 17,839 loans raised by 8,701 US firms between January 1986 and August 2007, we confirm existing evidence that lead arrangers form concentrated syndicates when borrower...
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This study explores the impact of information asymmetry between lenders and borrowers on loan syndicate structure. Using a sample of 17,839 loans raised by 8,701 US firms between January 1986 and August 2007, we confirm existing evidence that lead arrangers form concentrated syndicates when borrowers require intense monitoring and due diligence. We provide new evidence regarding the roles of borrower reputation, lead arranger reputation and the bank-borrower relationship. First, lead arranger reputation can reduce information asymmetry but only for the most reputable lead arrangers. Second, borrower reputation, measured by the borrower’s past access of the loan market, reduces the problem of information asymmetry, with higher reductions for more recent and more regular borrowers. Third, our results regarding the past relationship between the borrower and the lead arranger support the moral hazard aspect of information asymmetry for all borrowers. We also find evidence for the adverse selection aspect of information asymmetry but only for opaque borrowers. The effect can, however, be overcome by the most reputable lead arrangers, as their behavior is strongly influenced by a fear of loss of reputation

A multi-paradigm literature review methodology, ‘interplay’, is applied to alternative explanations of megaproject governance and performance. A two-fold categorisation of explanations, functionalist and interpretivist, is employed. The key insight is that despite important differences in epistemolo...
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A multi-paradigm literature review methodology, ‘interplay’, is applied to alternative explanations of megaproject governance and performance. A two-fold categorisation of explanations, functionalist and interpretivist, is employed. The key insight is that despite important differences in epistemological orientation these two categories of explanation are essentially ‘performative’, which is expressed through a shared acceptance of the notion of actor farsightedness. This means that governance in megaprojects is primarily understood as static, convergent and patterned forms of organization (made order), while governance as discontinuous, divergent and fluctuating micro-processes of organizing is ignored. Having identified this explanatory gap, the article concludes with a call to refocus project governance research to include proper consideration of the multiple processes of organizing through which actors use, reproduce and transform governance as made order.

The present work identifies the relationship between sharing photographs with different depictions in Facebook on relationship quality, which varies depending on the type of target sharing the photographs. With over 1 billion active users, disclosure on Facebook is frequent, considered a norm of onl...
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The present work identifies the relationship between sharing photographs with different depictions in Facebook on relationship quality, which varies depending on the type of target sharing the photographs. With over 1 billion active users, disclosure on Facebook is frequent, considered a norm of online interaction, and actively encouraged by site providers. The extant academic literature identifies Facebook as an effective tool to connect with known and unknown others, and identifies the differences in sharing behaviour when users are aware of their audience. Operating within a lowest common denominator approach to disclosure on Facebook, the present work identifies the potential consequences to personal relationships when sharing day-to-day information. Results found from a sample of 508 Facebook users suggests individuals should actively adjust their privacy settings to ensure that even amongst flattened information – i.e. that deemed appropriate for release to all target types – disclosure does not harm current and potential relationships. Implications for, users, academic theory and disclosure practice are discussed.

The paper reviews the progress of the sociology of work in Britain since 1945. It identifies two long-standing influences, Marxism and Weberian analysis, and a third more recent approach shaped by post-modernism. It disputes claims associated with the last, that the field suffers from fragmentation ...
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The paper reviews the progress of the sociology of work in Britain since 1945. It identifies two long-standing influences, Marxism and Weberian analysis, and a third more recent approach shaped by post-modernism. It disputes claims associated with the last, that the field suffers from fragmentation and lack of integration in mainstream sociology. It demonstrates, by contrast, a continuing ability to address the changing nature of work, reflected in constructive debate between the first two approaches. The definition of the field has also broadened considerably. Future challenges include the analysis of developments at the top of the class structure, that is a sociology of managers and of capital, and those at the bottom, notably the effects of migration on work and employment.

We analyse the motives and market valuation of various forms of stock market delisting. We show that firms that delist voluntarily are likely to have come to the market to rebalance their leverage rather than to finance their growth opportunities. During their public life, their leverage remained ve...
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We analyse the motives and market valuation of various forms of stock market delisting. We show that firms that delist voluntarily are likely to have come to the market to rebalance their leverage rather than to finance their growth opportunities. During their public life, their leverage remained very high, they could not raise equity capital, and their profitability, growth opportunities, and trading volume declined substantially. Their stock prices decrease significantly on and before the announcement date. These results hold even after controlling for agency, asymmetric information, and liquidity effects, and suggest that firms delist voluntarily when they fail to benefit from listing.

This paper examines the transfer, replication and adaption of knowledge, assets and capabilities in MG Rover from the British workforce to the new Chinese owners and employees at Nanjing Automotive Corporation (NAC). The study explores the intra-organisational processes adopted to integrate knowledg...
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This paper examines the transfer, replication and adaption of knowledge, assets and capabilities in MG Rover from the British workforce to the new Chinese owners and employees at Nanjing Automotive Corporation (NAC). The study explores the intra-organisational processes adopted to integrate knowledge, innovation-related routines and networks. We identify distinctive mechanisms for both ‘discrete’ transfers and ‘cumulative’ flows of knowledge and capabilities, with different kinds of impact on the innovative capacity of the recipient firm. With the more recent take-over of NAC by SAIC the MG-NAC restructuring is examined as part of the broader evolution of a large, innovative and multinational Chinese car firm. The study also provides insights into the changing complementarities between Western and Chinese manufacturers and lessons for managers regarding effective alignment with evolving competitors

This paper explores whether nonprofits are increasingly adopting mixed revenue strategies, and the sustainability of these strategies over time. We constructed a panel using NCCS (National Centre for Charitable Statistics) data from 1998 and 2007, and divided nonprofits into three groups: commercial...
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This paper explores whether nonprofits are increasingly adopting mixed revenue strategies, and the sustainability of these strategies over time. We constructed a panel using NCCS (National Centre for Charitable Statistics) data from 1998 and 2007, and divided nonprofits into three groups: commercial, donative and mixed revenue. We found no evidence that nonprofits are increasingly adopting mixed revenue strategies. Mixed revenue strategies appeared less sustainable over time than predominately commercial or predominately donative strategies. Our results suggest that for most nonprofits, relying predominately on either commercial or donative revenue is a more stable equilibrium than attempting to achieve a balanced revenue mix. Exceptions may be those nonprofits, such as arts organisations, where there is a natural alliance between donors and customers.

This paper examines different understandings of the emotional role played by activist or ‘grass-roots’ participants for those involved in policy-making. Drawing on findings from an ethnographic study of an interrelated cluster of anti-poverty policy-making forums in Scotland it considers both what i...
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This paper examines different understandings of the emotional role played by activist or ‘grass-roots’ participants for those involved in policy-making. Drawing on findings from an ethnographic study of an interrelated cluster of anti-poverty policy-making forums in Scotland it considers both what informants understand by ‘emotion’ and its role in policy-making from the point of view of informants themselves. In particular it focuses on discussions and observations from the inception phase of this research project in which the nature of emotion was considered and some of the explicit and tacit ‘rules’ about who may be ‘emotional’, when they may do that and how emotion is to be expressed socially. This paper looks at two key aspects of informants’ practice; the special expectations policy forum participants have of activists and community organisation representatives around behaviour and language associated with ‘the emotional’; and participants’ understandings of the relationship between emotion, authenticity and legitimate decision-making when making policy. It concludes by considering how this examination of grassroots emotionality could assist in conceptualising emotional practice and power in policy-making and suggesting some key challenges for both researchers and practitioners.

There is considerable support in the literature for the idea that volunteering helps improve employability and acts as a route to employment. Policy initiatives are consistent with this message. We analysed longitudinal evidence from the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS) to test this theory. Our...
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There is considerable support in the literature for the idea that volunteering helps improve employability and acts as a route to employment. Policy initiatives are consistent with this message. We analysed longitudinal evidence from the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS) to test this theory. Our analysis found that volunteering has a significant, but weak, effect on employability in terms of entry into work. The frequency of volunteering, however, makes a difference to its effects on employment outcomes. The effects also vary according to demographics. The evidence on job retention is weaker, and volunteering appears to have zero or even negative effects on wage progression. While the BHPS has limitations for this kind of analysis, we suggest that too much has been made of the link between volunteering and employability, and indeed that intention is infrequent among volunteers.

This paper focuses on the potential for deliberation and partnership between Roma communities and Roma civil society, national governments and European institutions and the research community. The authors argue that inclusive community development can have transformative potential by promoting a ‘So...
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This paper focuses on the potential for deliberation and partnership between Roma communities and Roma civil society, national governments and European institutions and the research community. The authors argue that inclusive community development can have transformative potential by promoting a ‘Social Europe’, a vision of society based on solidarity, equality, social justice and internationalism. It is hoped that the paper will facilitate discussion in the lead up to a conference on Roma Empowerment to be held in Budapest on 31 May 2013, which will be hosted by the Corvinus University, University of Bristol and Roma civil society groups including the Roma Education Fund.

This paper explores two sector-based case studies of social innovation in community-led housing that have taken root in the last ten years: community land trusts (CLTs) set up to ensure access to affordable homes in perpetuity and self-help housing organisations set up to bring empty homes back into...
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This paper explores two sector-based case studies of social innovation in community-led housing that have taken root in the last ten years: community land trusts (CLTs) set up to ensure access to affordable homes in perpetuity and self-help housing organisations set up to bring empty homes back into use. These innovations benefit from a groundswell of support, as their specialised local focus and people-centre approach to housing has strong resonance with policy agendas of localism and community empowerment in England. Yet to take root such innovations need more than rhetorical support; they require practical and ideological strengthening to secure flows of resources and legitimacy required for survival alongside professionalised and better resourced forms of organisation. This paper compares the forms of support provided by intermediary organisations that have been used to facilitate the growth and diffusion of these community-led housing models. It describes how the CLT sector has scaled up to create a formal institutional framework operating at different spatial scales to support locally-rooted community groups and considers the implications of this for the self-help housing sector, which has shown a preference for ‘viral’ solutions that focus on small-scale projects and community leadership. While intermediary support is clearly of importance, there are tensions in its provision, as sectors that scale up may begin to question local independence and dilute community ethos, while viral solutions may face challenges in accessing technical skills and resources without becoming overburdened or diverted from initial objectives. The paper concludes that while partnerships with technical experts that act as intermediaries may be crucial for the diffusion and expansion of CLTs and self-help housing, there are tensions in accessing technical skills and resources in a manner that maintains the local scale, accountability and unique added value of community-led housing.

Previous research suggests for patients who are able and willing, it is cheaper and better health-wise to do their haemodialysis at home than for it to be done by nurses in a centre. Patients doing some of their own dialysis in centres (self management) could be a stepping stone to dialysing at home...
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Previous research suggests for patients who are able and willing, it is cheaper and better health-wise to do their haemodialysis at home than for it to be done by nurses in a centre. Patients doing some of their own dialysis in centres (self management) could be a stepping stone to dialysing at home. The aim of this study was to investigate whether the way nurses care for, educate and train patients encourages self management and home haemodialysis. Interviews were undertaken in three hospital and four satellite units across two hospital Trusts in the West Midlands. A total of 75 people were interviewed: 30 patients, 1 consultant, 6 nurse managers and 38 staff nurses. The main findings were: 1) All nurses do a great job caring for their patients. Some enthusiastically encourage independence and home haemodialysis, but most do not. There is no education or training specifically for this. 2) Most nurses educate patients by giving dietary and lifestyle advice; for those training to dialyse at home, the focus is on mastering the complex technique. Initially this is probably good, but can lead to superficial, fragmented knowledge and doesn’t help patients take control. However, some staff want to develop patient independence to increase their confidence, feeling of usefulness and understanding of their illness. This rehabilitation role is stressful, goes against the caring culture, but is needed to encourage patients to look after themselves. 3) Decisions are made by the doctors and nurses, but shared decision making is needed to help patients look after themselves e.g. by interpreting monthly bloods or suggesting dialysis parameters before the nurse does. 4) Some patients are understandably frightened of dialysing on their own, so they should gradually learn to do this safely monitored by nurses before being asked whether they want to dialyse at home. 5) In several centres, patients expect to be passive: this needs to change. If all patients do what they can, then more will slowly become independent.

In this paper we examine the effect of Y, Yb doping in Ba2In2O5, examining the solid solution range and effect on the conductivity and CO2 stability. The results showed that up to 35% Y, Yb can be introduced, and this doping leads to an introduction of disorder on the oxygen sublattice, and a corres...
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In this paper we examine the effect of Y, Yb doping in Ba2In2O5, examining the solid solution range and effect on the conductivity and CO2 stability. The results showed that up to 35% Y, Yb can be introduced, and this doping leads to an introduction of disorder on the oxygen sublattice, and a corresponding increase in conductivity. Further increases in Y, Yb content could be achieved through co-doping with phosphate. While this co-doping strategy led to a reduction in the conductivity, it did have a beneficial effect on the CO2 stability, and further improvements in the CO2 stability could be achieved through La and P co-doping.

Employment services, in the UK as elsewhere, are increasingly delivered outside of the traditional public sector, by organisations from the third, private and even by other constituent parts of the public sector. The Work Programme was launched in a policy environment in which the role of the third ...
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Employment services, in the UK as elsewhere, are increasingly delivered outside of the traditional public sector, by organisations from the third, private and even by other constituent parts of the public sector. The Work Programme was launched in a policy environment in which the role of the third sector was particularly promoted by ministers, yet at the same time concerns about the sector’s role and its perceived marginalisation in large scale high-risk contracts have dogged the Programme. There remains a lack of evidence about what, if anything, is genuinely distinctive about the experiences of third sector organisations compared to providers from other sectors. This paper seeks to explore the experiences of different providers and begins by outlining how the third sector’s role in welfare to work has evolved from 1997 and highlights the emergence of particular issues associated with the third sector organisations (TSOs) delivering employment services. It then draws on interviews with key informants and subcontractors from all sectors in the Work Programme to explore issues around the squeezing out of TSOs, low flows of clients to subcontractors and the ‘creaming and parking’ of hard to help customers. Ultimately it concludes that sector is not the most important factor in accounting for providers’ experiences of the Work Programme, and that it is intersected by providers’ size, the types of services they provide and crucially, the tier in which they sit in the supply chain.

The Big Society agenda has generated a great deal of critical comment in the media, in the third sector and amongst think tanks, and has stimulated some early analysis from the academic community. Despite strong backing from the Prime Minister, it has an unsettled presence and an uncertain future in...
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The Big Society agenda has generated a great deal of critical comment in the media, in the third sector and amongst think tanks, and has stimulated some early analysis from the academic community. Despite strong backing from the Prime Minister, it has an unsettled presence and an uncertain future in political debate and the policy process. The third sector is seen as a key agent of change in the Big Society vision, yet there is precious little evidence of how members of third sector organisations understand and assess the idea, nor of the extent to which they embrace it. This paper assesses the changing fortunes of the Big Society as a narrative, and explores how it has been received in third sector circles. Drawing on data from a qualitative longitudinal study of third sector organisations, two contrasting responses emerge: overwhelming scepticism, combined with an awareness of potential opportunities ahead, and a need for participants to ‘position’ their organisations and activities in relation to the Big Society.

There is a growing interest in social networks and the potential that exploring them brings to understanding development and change in communities. Equally, there has been substantial investment over the past decade in community capacity building aimed at enabling communities to have a voice in deci...
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There is a growing interest in social networks and the potential that exploring them brings to understanding development and change in communities. Equally, there has been substantial investment over the past decade in community capacity building aimed at enabling communities to have a voice in decision making processes, establishing independent organisations to meet local needs, or developing communities’ ability to manage local assets and services. These themes, of voluntary action, community organising and asset transfer, influence policy across both the New Labour and Coalition administrations. Indeed, if anything, the Localism Bill and Open Government White Paper places even higher expectations on communities in terms of local governance and the delivery of services. Yet, little is known about how those active in small, below the radar, community groups gain the skills, knowledge and resources they need to meet their goals and objectives, whether political or service driven. Indeed, the assumption which has underpinned ‘capacity building’ initiatives, and remains a core element of the Community Organisers Programme, has been that skills are best developed through formal training and education. In this context, the following working paper, based on a series of pilot interviews with 15 community groups that began their activities as informal or ‘below the radar’ community organisations, aims to explore: • What types of resources, social networks and skills do communities harness to reach their goals? • How do they acquire those skills and resources? • What can exploring the social networks involved in delivering community actions tell us about how community groups emerge, develop and evolve? • What kinds of policy and practice is needed to support access to the kinds of social networks, resources and skills that community groups need to get on in their local contexts?

Zip file containing the following documents: (1) Memorandum: Changes to University Regulations and Codes of Practice from 1 August 2013 (2) University Charter (3) Codes of Practice: (3a) Code of Practice on admission of students (3b) Code of Practice on adjusted regulations and Bache...
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Zip file containing the following documents: (1) Memorandum: Changes to University Regulations and Codes of Practice from 1 August 2013 (2) University Charter (3) Codes of Practice: (3a) Code of Practice on admission of students (3b) Code of Practice on adjusted regulations and Bachelor's degrees (3c) Code of Practice on adjusted regulations and undergraduate Masters degrees (3d) Code of Practice on the assessment and award of higher doctorates (3e) Code of Practice on the assessment and award of PhD by publication (3f) Code of Practice on the assessment of research degree theses (3g) Code of Practice on the conduct of centrally co-ordinated formal written examinations (3h) Code of Practice on discipline in residences (3i) Code of Practice extenuating circumstances and fit to sit procedure (3j) Code of Practice on the External Examiner system for taught programmes (3k) Code of Practice on Distance Learning (3l) Code of Practice on freedom of speech (3m) Code of Practice on leave of absence (3n) Code of Practice on Misconduct and Fitness to Practise Committee (3o) Code of Practice on Personal Tutoring (3p) Code of Practice on Placement Learning (3q) Code of Practice on plagiarism (3r) Code of Practice on primary appeals procedures (3s) Code of Practice reasonable adjustments for students (3t) Code of Practice for research (3u) Code of Practice on Senate Review (3v) Code of Practice on split location study for postgraduate research students (3w) Code of Practice on student attendance and reasonable diligence (3x) Code of Practice on student concerns and complaints procedure (3y) Code of Practice on the supervision and monitoring progress of research students (3z) Code of Practice on suspension from study on health grounds (3ai) Code of Practice on taught programme and module assessment (3aii) Code of Practice on the teaching and academic support of undergraduate and postgraduate taught students by postgraduate teaching assistants and undergraduates (4) Guidance: (4a) Guidance on e-mail in relation to data protection (4b) Guidance on student grievances to Council (4c) Guidance to students on outside employment (5) Policies: (5a) Accommodating student's religious observances policy (5b) Collaborative provision policy (5c) Policy on consulting students about major changes (5d) Drugs and alcohol policy (5e) Policy on graduate certificates and diplomas (5f) Harassment and bullying policy (5g) Interim timetabling and teaching space policy (5h) Policy on professional, statutory and regulatory bodies (5i) Student Representation System policy (5j) Policy on the use of animals in research (6) Regulations: (6a) Full University Regulations excluding Library Regulations (6b) Section 1 - definitions and interpretation (6c) Section 2 - organisation and governance (6d) Section 3 - human resource matters (6e) Section 4 - estates matters (6f) Section 5 - admission and registration (6g) Section 6 - programmes of study (6h) Section 7 - assessment, progression and award (6i) Section 8 - student conduct (6j) Section 9 - documents supplementary to the University legislation (6k) Code of Ethics

There is much rhetoric concerning the need for collaboration and partnership both from policy makers and those within the sector who see the social enterprise model as being more collaborative than the private sector. However, there is limited understanding of the processes by which trust is built u...
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There is much rhetoric concerning the need for collaboration and partnership both from policy makers and those within the sector who see the social enterprise model as being more collaborative than the private sector. However, there is limited understanding of the processes by which trust is built up and maintained in these contexts. The paper examines the relationships between commissioners and providers, users/beneficiaries/customers (vertical relationships) and relationships between providers (horizontal relationships). The paper will go beyond assumptions concerning how organisations are expected to behave, and will examine the economic and social institutional contexts in which their actions are embedded. In particular attention will be given to how organisations build relationships in ‘quasi markets’ and in an environment of emerging competition for the delivery of public services. These issues are explored by looking at the case of self-employment support provision in the UK.

Students completing their Initial Teacher Education talked about inspirational teachers: They had an enthusiasm for education and a love of learning which translated across to the children, they worked well as a team and created a positive working environment...they used creativity to create a varie...
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Students completing their Initial Teacher Education talked about inspirational teachers: They had an enthusiasm for education and a love of learning which translated across to the children, they worked well as a team and created a positive working environment...they used creativity to create a varied and interesting curriculum. They are engaging, give fun yet challenging lessons for their pupils but also they demonstrate character in how they interact outside the lessons, in corridors, on the playground, always being fair, thoughtful and interested in the students they work with. Every child in the class feels valued. The classroom feels a happy and vibrant place to be.

In recent years fictional doctors with unappealing character traits have become a trope of television depictions of medical settings: the eponymous Dr House who misanthropy extends to both patients and colleagues. Dr Cox of the hospital-set comedy Scrubs who bitter tirades reduce his subordinates to...
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In recent years fictional doctors with unappealing character traits have become a trope of television depictions of medical settings: the eponymous Dr House who misanthropy extends to both patients and colleagues. Dr Cox of the hospital-set comedy Scrubs who bitter tirades reduce his subordinates to tears, and the curmudgeonly 'Doc Martin', a rural GP whose gruff demeanour perplexes and offends his patients, to give a few examples. But despite their objectionable behaviour, these characters are simultaneously presented as brilliant doctors whose diagnostic wizardry and cool-head in a medical crisis more than makes up for their lack of a pleasing bedside manner. In reality we are less compromising, and while technical knowledge and clinical competency are of course crucial attributes of the good doctor, we are also concerned with doctors' manner and behaviour - with their character.

An introduction to and critical commentary on the edition of "Secondo libro de Madrigali" by Giovanni Valentini, Venice, 1616, including a brief biography of Valentini, a description of the original source, texts and translations. Contents: Acknowledgments The Secondo libro de Madrigali of 161...
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An introduction to and critical commentary on the edition of "Secondo libro de Madrigali" by Giovanni Valentini, Venice, 1616, including a brief biography of Valentini, a description of the original source, texts and translations. Contents: Acknowledgments The Secondo libro de Madrigali of 1616 in context The Source Texts and Translations Editorial Method Critical Commentary

An introduction to and critical commentary on the edition of Monteverdi's Scherzi Musicali, 1632, including a brief biography of Monteverdi, a description of the original source, texts and translations. Contents: Acknowledgments The Scherzi Musicali of 1632 in context The Source Texts an...
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An introduction to and critical commentary on the edition of Monteverdi's Scherzi Musicali, 1632, including a brief biography of Monteverdi, a description of the original source, texts and translations. Contents: Acknowledgments The Scherzi Musicali of 1632 in context The Source Texts and Translations Editorial Method Critical Commentary

This working paper summarises the findings of a research project into third sector partnerships for public service delivery. Earlier findings from an evidence review were reported in Working Paper 60. Partnership working in and with the third sector in the context of public service delivery reflects...
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This working paper summarises the findings of a research project into third sector partnerships for public service delivery. Earlier findings from an evidence review were reported in Working Paper 60. Partnership working in and with the third sector in the context of public service delivery reflects a longer history of the opening up and fragmentation of public services and the increasing complexity that has been associated with the shift to more ‘networked’ governance. The emphasis on partnership was given an extra boost by the policies of New Labour, and looks set to continue to be relevant under the Coalition. The research was based on five case studies of organisations involved in public service delivery in different policy fields including housing, welfare, and employment services, preceded by a period of scoping research with national interviewees. Overall the research aimed to explore three main themes – the forms of partnership working that exist, partnerships, strategic alliances and mergers within the sector, and innovation and learning from partnership working. The case studies were very diverse, and this paper synthesises the main findings across the cases in four logical sections: meanings of partnership; structures, drivers and barriers; processes and organisational change, and impacts of partnership. Finally, we draw the findings across the cases together in a reflective section on learning before moving on to the main academic and policy messages in a brief conclusion and discussion section.

Claims for the distinctiveness of third sector organisations are a relatively widespread and familiar feature of third sector commentary and analysis. This paper reviews relevant theoretical and empirical research to examine the idea of distinctiveness, arguing that such claims remain inconclusive. ...
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Claims for the distinctiveness of third sector organisations are a relatively widespread and familiar feature of third sector commentary and analysis. This paper reviews relevant theoretical and empirical research to examine the idea of distinctiveness, arguing that such claims remain inconclusive. Informed by a view of the third sector as a contested ‘field’, and drawing on Bourdieu’s notion of ‘distinction’, the paper suggests that research attention should focus additionally on the strategic purpose of claims for distinctiveness, rather than simply continue what might be a ‘holy grail’ search for its existence. The paper uses this argument to complicate and extend the idea of the third sector as a ‘strategic unity’, and concludes by suggesting some further lines of enquiry for third sector research.

This report sets out the results of an in-depth review in the first half of 2010 of the evidence in the academic, policy and government literature on current approaches to the commissioning of services to establish which ‘models’ were currently in use, the evidence (up to that time) on what their ef...
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This report sets out the results of an in-depth review in the first half of 2010 of the evidence in the academic, policy and government literature on current approaches to the commissioning of services to establish which ‘models’ were currently in use, the evidence (up to that time) on what their effects had been, and what changes to commissioning models were in the pipeline or were being considered for the future by government departments. The report was commissioned by the National Audit Office (NAO) to support its work in investigating the value for money of government bodies, programmes and services.

Over late 2009 and early 2010 the Below the Radar work stream at the Third Sector Research Centre undertook a range of interviews with national network groups, practitioners and academics to explore the role and nature of small community groups (Phillimore and McCabe: 2010). These sessions also exam...
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Over late 2009 and early 2010 the Below the Radar work stream at the Third Sector Research Centre undertook a range of interviews with national network groups, practitioners and academics to explore the role and nature of small community groups (Phillimore and McCabe: 2010). These sessions also examined the contexts in which ‘below the radar’ groups became established and their perceived role in the delivery of Government policy. Following the general election in May 2010, further work involving workshops, focus groups and seminars explored the impact of the change in administration on community groups and activities. At this point, prior to the implementation of the Localism Act and the Open Public Services White Paper, the conclusion was that, whilst the emergency budget of June 2010, and subsequent Spending Review in October, raised concerns over funding for the voluntary sector as a whole and community groups in particular, it was ‘too early to tell’ what the full impact of change might be. The following working paper draws on a second round of interviews and focus group activity between February 2011 and January 2012 to essentially explore ‘Big Society – a further year on’: how has policy towards ‘community’ changed? What have been the impacts of change? How have below the radar groups and community sector network organisations responded? What might be the implications of current trends for the future?

This paper presents an evaluation of the experiments for knowledge exchange using social media during TSRC’s Beyond the Radar knowledge exchange work. Launched in July 2011, the “#btr11” experiment sought to trial, and learn from, new ways of engaging with people around ‘below the radar’ issues usin...
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This paper presents an evaluation of the experiments for knowledge exchange using social media during TSRC’s Beyond the Radar knowledge exchange work. Launched in July 2011, the “#btr11” experiment sought to trial, and learn from, new ways of engaging with people around ‘below the radar’ issues using a range of online platforms. The paper introduces the project and the evaluation approach, before describing the project in greater detail. The approach is then contextualised within digital knowledge exchange literatures, and justification is provided for using social exchange theory as the evaluation’s underlying framework. Next, the paper uses this framework to generate some learning from #btr11, through a thematic discussion around accepted practices, shared values and exchange relationships. It concludes with a summary and a set of lessons and insights that could be helpful for future experimentation with social media platforms. Hyperlinks have been provided where possible to provide readers with direct links to all the resources used for the evaluation – other resources are given in the bibliography. A short glossary of abbreviations and terms is also provided in Appendix 1 for those who may want clarification on social media concepts, a list of figures is available in Appendix 2, and for those interested in learning more about social exchange theory, a brief outline can be found in Appendix 3.

This paper seeks to give an overview of the origins and development of Tenants and residents’ associations (TRAs) amongst Gypsies and Travellers. As well as identifying good practice it outlines recent legal events which may stimulate further TRA development on Gypsy and Traveller sites. This Workin...
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This paper seeks to give an overview of the origins and development of Tenants and residents’ associations (TRAs) amongst Gypsies and Travellers. As well as identifying good practice it outlines recent legal events which may stimulate further TRA development on Gypsy and Traveller sites. This Working Paper aims to contribute to a wider debate between the tenants and residents of Traveller sites, those involved in their management and others active in the promotion of tenants empowerment in the wider housing sector.

This discussion paper is linked to a TSRC Working Paper which gives an overview of the origins and development of tenants and residents’ associations (TRAs) amongst Gypsies and Travellers (TSRC Working Paper 84). This TSRC discussion paper discusses the obstacles which may impede community developme...
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This discussion paper is linked to a TSRC Working Paper which gives an overview of the origins and development of tenants and residents’ associations (TRAs) amongst Gypsies and Travellers (TSRC Working Paper 84). This TSRC discussion paper discusses the obstacles which may impede community development but outlines how these may be overcome and the valuable role TRAs could play in the empowerment, economic and social inclusion of this minority. This discussion paper aims to contribute to a wider debate between the tenants and residents of Traveller sites, those involved in their management and others active in the promotion of tenant empowerment in the wider housing sector.

This paper explores processes of change and development within asylum seeker and refugee-led associations in Glasgow. I argue that adopting a life-cycle approach to association emergence and continuity (Werbner 1991a: 15) provides a more rounded and sophisticated understanding of not only the factor...
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This paper explores processes of change and development within asylum seeker and refugee-led associations in Glasgow. I argue that adopting a life-cycle approach to association emergence and continuity (Werbner 1991a: 15) provides a more rounded and sophisticated understanding of not only the factors giving rise to such groups, but also of processes of change within groups. By problematising the ‘refugee community organisation’ label, I suggest that the focus on ‘refugeeness’ fails to attend to internal diversity, specifically relating to changing and differentiated immigration status within such associations. Exploring an externally constructed fictive unity using Werbner’s framework provides one way to challenge these effects. Rather than see this framework as made up of linear stages, I argue that groups move through and between stages of associative empowerment, ideological convergence and mobilisation simultaneously and that features differentiating stages may be co-present. This paper is relevant for policy-makers, practitioners and third sector organisations and can aid thinking about how to move beyond labels in approaching broader questions, practices and experiences of ‘settlement’, integration, belonging and social cohesion.

This Working Paper updates the analysis of the Coalition government’s Big Society policy agenda first published in 2010. It explores the policy context for the Big Society initiative and the key features of the policy programme developed by the Coalition since 2010. It then outlines some of the cont...
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This Working Paper updates the analysis of the Coalition government’s Big Society policy agenda first published in 2010. It explores the policy context for the Big Society initiative and the key features of the policy programme developed by the Coalition since 2010. It then outlines some of the contradictions and challenges within this policy programme, and for the relations between the third sector and the state more generally. It is also pointed out that the Big Society is an English political discourse with different policy developments now taking place within the devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. An earlier version of this paper was published in Voluntary Sector Review, Vol. 1, No. 3, pp. 379-90. This version will also be published as a chapter in The Welfare State Reader, 3rd edition, F. Castles, I. Nauman and C. Pierson (eds.) Polity Press, 2012.

The recession of 2008/09 threatened a crisis for the third sector and its beneficiaries. Amidst mounting concern for the sector’s future, national and horizontal infrastructure and government worked together to minimise potential impacts. This research report, based on media scoping, literature revi...
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The recession of 2008/09 threatened a crisis for the third sector and its beneficiaries. Amidst mounting concern for the sector’s future, national and horizontal infrastructure and government worked together to minimise potential impacts. This research report, based on media scoping, literature review and key informant interviews, seeks to explore the evolving third sector policy environment and the discourses and relationships that animated it during this period. It outlines the shift from the initial rhetoric of crisis to a ‘mixed picture’ discourse which accommodated a lack of evidence for substantial impacts while providing the basis for continued infrastructure/government support. Exploring the diversity of sector interests highlighted by responses to the OTS’ third sector action plan, Real Help for Communities, suggests the continued importance of vertical and local channels of communication with and support from government for groups within the sector. Finally it traces how sector leaders talked about the recession having lagged effects or being a phoney war. They looked with trepidation to the ‘real crisis’ predicted to hit the sector in 2010/11: a period of financial uncertainty brought about by the convergence of the spending review, the end of several large public sector contracts and the impending general election.

This report summarises the initial findings of an evaluation regarding the development of stroke groups in Gloucestershire in relation to the impact on stroke survivors and their carers. From this research it appears that stroke survivors in Gloucestershire derive significant benefits from being mem...
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This report summarises the initial findings of an evaluation regarding the development of stroke groups in Gloucestershire in relation to the impact on stroke survivors and their carers. From this research it appears that stroke survivors in Gloucestershire derive significant benefits from being members of stroke groups.

Abstract Research has long shown that non-profit sector employees report a higher level of job satisfaction than workers in other sectors. This paper investigates trends in job satisfaction using longitudinal data from the British Household Panel Survey (1992-2008), through models which contain det...
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Abstract Research has long shown that non-profit sector employees report a higher level of job satisfaction than workers in other sectors. This paper investigates trends in job satisfaction using longitudinal data from the British Household Panel Survey (1992-2008), through models which contain detailed information on individual, job and organisational characteristics. A Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition is used to provide an in-depth study of the differential in levels of job satisfaction across sectors, obtained from regression analyses. The results suggest a reduced non-profit premium in job satisfaction over time; the decomposition still confirms the ‘warm glow’ theory for workers within the non-profit sector, underlining relevant differences between sectors in job satisfaction even after controlling for substantive individual, job and organisational differences.

The third sector is experiencing a radical shift in its political and economic environment. It is possible that it may be undergoing a significant transformation in its shape, its role and its relationship with the state. However, much of the third sector’s conversation appears to be focused on ques...
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The third sector is experiencing a radical shift in its political and economic environment. It is possible that it may be undergoing a significant transformation in its shape, its role and its relationship with the state. However, much of the third sector’s conversation appears to be focused on questions of organisational survival and resilience. There seems to be precious little overall discussion of the deeper question of what the sector is in the process of becoming, or what role it should play through and beyond the contemporary politics of austerity. There appears to be no sustained sector-wide conversation about the potential transformation underway. Drawing on academic literature on leadership, this paper outlines a version of third sector leadership as involving strategic narrative, as discursive intervention to frame and shape the direction of debate. The paper calls for a more open and vigorous conversation about the role and future of the third sector, and the potential for developing a big narrative for the third sector and civil society.

These case studies have been brought together to publicise the different types of work that have been carried out on the University of Birmingham’s high performance computing facility, known as BlueBEAR. This computer system is part of the Birmingham Environment for Academic Research (BEAR), which ...
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These case studies have been brought together to publicise the different types of work that have been carried out on the University of Birmingham’s high performance computing facility, known as BlueBEAR. This computer system is part of the Birmingham Environment for Academic Research (BEAR), which helps both staff and students of the University of Birmingham delve deeper into their research than has been possible before. Traditionally researchers have always had to experiment or to theorise; BlueBEAR can deliver a third option, computer-based modelling. Computer-based modelling is used to underpin experimental and theoretical research. Sometimes computer-based modelling is the only option (e.g. colliding galaxies, nuclear explosions) when safety and cost are prohibitive. This set of case studies represents only a small part of the vast amount of research that is being done on BlueBEAR and, more generally, around the University of Birmingham as a whole.

The public administration literature uses the concept of hybridity to describe situations where policy designs involve the interaction of government, business, civil society, and not-for-profits. Yet the concept lacks a theoretical context and poses the empirical problem of distinguishing between h...
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The public administration literature uses the concept of hybridity to describe situations where policy designs involve the interaction of government, business, civil society, and not-for-profits. Yet the concept lacks a theoretical context and poses the empirical problem of distinguishing between hybrid and non-hybrid forms. This paradox – a concept that is widely used but seems to play no useful function in theory building or advice to policy-makers – is explored through a discussion of five theories. Transaction cost economics, management theory, archetype theory, and institutional theory begin to resolve the theoretical and empirical problems, but significant difficulties remain. Cultural theory offers a productive solution to the paradox by understanding hybridity as a process through which new possibilities for public administration and governance can emerge within a diverse and plural society.

Research by TSRC, in partnership with BIG, has explored the role and impact of BIG in the third sector. The Big Lottery Fund (BIG) represents a significant source of funding for the third sector. During the current period of public sector cuts its significance is likely to increase. BIG’s mission...
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Research by TSRC, in partnership with BIG, has explored the role and impact of BIG in the third sector. The Big Lottery Fund (BIG) represents a significant source of funding for the third sector. During the current period of public sector cuts its significance is likely to increase. BIG’s mission is to ‘bring real improvements to communities and the lives of people most in need’, rather than to achieve outcomes for the third sector itself. But given its scale of funding, it is likely to have had considerable - albeit unanticipated - outcomes and impacts on the sector. The research highlights BIG's influence on the sector, not just as a result of its direct funding but also its philosophies, its strategies, and its processes. It has contributed to the establishment, continuation, diversification, expansion and capacity of third sector organisations. It has contributed to a move towards outcomes thinking across the sector, to partnership working, user involvement and the growth of local voluntary action. BIG’s impact on the sector, however, is not as consistent or significant as it might be, and is not always positive. At the sector level, BIG is more likely to be seen a ‘facilitator’ than a ‘leader’ of change. The potential for BIG to shift its relationship with the sector raises opportunities and challenges, for them and the sector. More generally, it exposes the significance of funders as policy actors within the third sector. The report offers five questions and potential strategies for BIG and the third sector to address - about engagement, transparency, intelligence, independence, and the extent to which BIG is or could be an active policy actor within the sector.

The policy context surrounding the work of third sector organisations in employment services has undergone major changes since 1997. This review outlines the major developments in the field and collates the evidence pertaining to the third sector's experiences. It finds that the current situation ...
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The policy context surrounding the work of third sector organisations in employment services has undergone major changes since 1997. This review outlines the major developments in the field and collates the evidence pertaining to the third sector's experiences. It finds that the current situation can be seen as a major acceleration of the previous government’s policy model. This model is based upon a small number of large government contracts, greater flexibility for providers and payment contingent on results. The review explores the main areas of controversy arising from these developments. These include fears that the third sector is being squeezed out of employment services provision, reports of unfair relationships between third sector subcontractors and prime providers, and concern that the hardest to help individuals are not sufficiently provided for by current policy. The review concludes by highlighting areas of missing knowledge about third sector employment services that future research needs to address.

Partnership working has been driven by the policy of the last Labour administration, which aimed to make the third sector more efficient and aligned to the delivery of a range of public services. Since the election of a coalition government in 2010 these drivers have not lessened but have been re-as...
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Partnership working has been driven by the policy of the last Labour administration, which aimed to make the third sector more efficient and aligned to the delivery of a range of public services. Since the election of a coalition government in 2010 these drivers have not lessened but have been re-asserted. Interest in externalisation has been reinforced by the drive for efficiency, made more pressing by the financial crisis, deficit reduction programme and resulting public spending cuts in 2010-2011. The current government has been in many respects radical in its approach to service delivery, with the promotion of a ‘Big Society’ involving new and expanded roles for third sector organisations (TSOs) in public service delivery, expanded roles for mutuals and co-ops (particularly in health), and the ‘community right to challenge’. These all have implications for the way in which TSOs enter into partnerships, with each other, public and private organisations. The working paper is based on a full evidence review. It considers the main forms of partnership working, governance and accountability, and looks at outcomes and evaluation. Key emerging directions are the growth of the commissioning agenda, an increasing emphasis on TSO/private sector partnerships as part of a supply chain, and greater application of outcome-based approaches linked to payment by results.

Zip file containing the following documents: (1) Regulatory framework (overview of legislation) (2) Memorandum: Changes to University Regulations and Codes of Practice from 1 August 2012 (3) University Charter (4) Codes of Practice: (4a) Code of Practice on admission of students ...
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Zip file containing the following documents: (1) Regulatory framework (overview of legislation) (2) Memorandum: Changes to University Regulations and Codes of Practice from 1 August 2012 (3) University Charter (4) Codes of Practice: (4a) Code of Practice on admission of students (4b) Code of Practice on adjusted regulations and Bachelor's degrees (4c) Code of Practice on adjusted regulations and undergraduate Masters degrees (4d) Code of Practice on the assessment and award of higher doctorates (4e) Code of Practice on the assessment and award of PhD by publication (4f) Code of Practice on the assessment of research degree theses (4g) Code of Practice on the conduct of centrally co-ordinated formal written examinations (4h) Code of Practice on discipline in residences (4i) Code of Practice extenuating circumstances and fit to sit procedure (4j) Code of Practice on the External Examiner system for taught programmes (4k) Code of Practice on Distance Learning (4l) Code of Practice on freedom of speech (4m) Code of Practice on leave of absence (4n) Code of Practice on Misconduct and Fitness to Practise Committee (4o) Code of Practice on Personal Tutoring (4p) Code of Practice on Placement Learning (4q) Code of Practice on plagiarism (4r) Code of Practice on primary appeals procedures (4s) Code of Practice reasonable adjustments for students (4t) Code of Practice for research (4u) Code of Practice on Senate Review (4v) Code of Practice on split location study for postgraduate research students (4w) Code of Practice on student attendance and reasonable diligence (4x) Code of Practice for student development and support in Schools (4y) Code of Practice on the supervision and monitoring progress of research students (4z) Code of Practice on suspension from study on health grounds (4ai) Code of Practice on taught programme and module assessment (4aii) Code of Practice on the teaching and academic support of undergraduate and postgraduate taught students by postgraduate teaching assistants and undergraduates (5) Guidance: (5a) Guidance on e-mail in relation to data protection (5b) Guidance on peer observation of teaching (5c) Guidance on programmes delivered in a language other than English (5d) Guidance on student maternity (5e) Guidance to students on outside employment (6) University Ordinances (7) Policies: (7a) Accommodating student's religious observances policy (7b) Collaborative provision policy (7c) Policy on consulting students about major changes (7d) Drugs and alcohol policy (7e) Policy on graduate certificates and diplomas (7f) Harassment and bullying policy (7g) Interim timetabling and teaching space policy (7h) Policy on professional, statutory and regulatory bodies (7i) Student Representation System policy (7j) Policy on the use of animals in research (8) Regulations: (8a) Full University Regulations excluding Library Regulations (8b) Section 1 - definitions and interpretation (8c) Section 2 - organisation and governance (8d) Section 3 - human resource matters (8e) Section 4 - estates matters (8f) Section 5 - admission and registration (8g) Section 6 - programmes of study (8h) Section 7 - assessment, progression and award (8i) Section 8 - student conduct (8j) Section 9 - documents supplementary to the University legislation (8k) Library regulations (9) University Statutes (10) Student Concerns and Complaints Procedure

‘Real Times’ is the Third Sector Research Centre’s qualitative longitudinal study of third sector organisations, groups and activities. Over a three year period the study is following the fortunes, strategies, challenges and performance of a diverse set of fifteen ‘core’ case studies of third sector...
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‘Real Times’ is the Third Sector Research Centre’s qualitative longitudinal study of third sector organisations, groups and activities. Over a three year period the study is following the fortunes, strategies, challenges and performance of a diverse set of fifteen ‘core’ case studies of third sector activity, and their relations with a number ‘complementary’ case studies. This report introduces the core case studies through summary sketches, and provides a descriptive account of the research up to the end of the first wave of fieldwork.

This paper reports on research to develop and implement an innovative methodology to find and map what lies beneath the third sector radar. By using and adapting tools used in the 1990s for the well-recognised work of LOVAS (Local Voluntary Activity Surveys) we sought to identify all community activ...
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This paper reports on research to develop and implement an innovative methodology to find and map what lies beneath the third sector radar. By using and adapting tools used in the 1990s for the well-recognised work of LOVAS (Local Voluntary Activity Surveys) we sought to identify all community activities in two small local areas of England. This revealed a diverse range of 58 self-organised activities going on in and around 11 streets of England – groups that do not appear on regulatory listings and thus tend not be included in wider statistical trend analyses on the third sector. Six ‘types’ of below-groups were identified from the study. Most were embedded into their local community and operated within a very specific socio-cultural context delivering services to their immediate local communities. Our findings also revealed a combination of ways in which groups obtain resources from their own users by ‘tapping in’, and obtaining resources from others, ‘tapping out’. In addition, the work shows that several of these groups are also distributing resources to others, ‘giving out’. The findings also highlight the importance of the opportunities arising from publically shared-spaces and the support from paid and unpaid staff operating in the buildings that they use.

Over 2009-2010, the Third Sector Research Centre (TSRC) undertook work to identify the current state of knowledge on small, below the radar, community groups and activities. This highlighted the lack of research into the contribution of grass-roots or amateur arts organisations make in communities....
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Over 2009-2010, the Third Sector Research Centre (TSRC) undertook work to identify the current state of knowledge on small, below the radar, community groups and activities. This highlighted the lack of research into the contribution of grass-roots or amateur arts organisations make in communities. This gap in knowledge is substantial, given that there are an estimated 49,000 such groups in England. In partnership with the Universities of Exeter and Glamorgan as well as Voluntary Arts, and with financial support from the Arts and Humanities Research Council’s Connected Communities programme, the Centre undertook a scoping study to assess the lessons from the academic and grey literature across the arts, social sciences and voluntary sector. This identified a range of different impacts and outcomes in terms of amateur arts groups. For individuals, participation in arts based activities ‘for their own sake’ could promote their mental health and wellbeing. Some involved, particularly young people, made the transition from amateur arts to paid employment in the creative industries. Improvements in educational attainment and functioning in the work-place were also reported as positive outcomes in some of the literature. Claims were also made about the economic role such activities play in communities: through the hire of village halls, the management of local assets, equipment hire or the employment of professional artists in, for example, preparing for performances. However in this, and other areas, there was a lack of empirical evidence exploring or quantifying the exact nature of impact. The measurement of the impact of amateur arts was explored further with members of grass-roots arts networks at a day conference in October 2011 at Cecil Sharp House (Conference Report – Growing the Grassroots: the contribution of amateur arts to communities). It is the hope of the current partners that further research can be undertaken over 2012 to develop a practical toolkit for assessing the outcomes of amateur arts activities in communities.

Much has been written about the reasons for and impact of marketisation on charities, their clients, and wider civil society. A central component of the marketisation thesis is that charities are substituting grants and donations with commercial revenue. However there is no consensus in the existing...
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Much has been written about the reasons for and impact of marketisation on charities, their clients, and wider civil society. A central component of the marketisation thesis is that charities are substituting grants and donations with commercial revenue. However there is no consensus in the existing literature as to whether the two sources of revenue are substitutes or complementary. This paper shows that between 2003 and 2007 there was a significant increase in the proportion of overall revenue attracted from commercial sources by charities in England and Wales. Using our preferred Generalised Method of Moments (GMM) estimation model we show that the annual persistence of commercial revenue over time was 44%. In particular, a +10% change in grants and donations was associated with a -3.1% change in commercial revenue. Thus commercial revenue is an inelastic substitute for grants and donations. We therefore conclude that charities are succumbing to market forces.

The aim of this part of the project is to develop a Community of Practice (CoP). It is to build upon the Designing for Enquiry Based Learning (DiBL) event design and related activities and will explore learner independence through enquiry. Part of the intention is to create a range of assets (digita...
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The aim of this part of the project is to develop a Community of Practice (CoP). It is to build upon the Designing for Enquiry Based Learning (DiBL) event design and related activities and will explore learner independence through enquiry. Part of the intention is to create a range of assets (digital and print) that can be used to support and maintain this and other CoPs. These assets (case study resources) would include examples, learning designs, lessons learnt, project leaders, related staff and student voice. The CoP would provide one ongoing support mechanism for staff to aid in their enhancement activities around independent learning through enquiry. The staff targeted would include PGCert participants and those staff who are willing to engage with the L&T strategy but require ongoing support and up skilling. This proposal to create and sustain a CoP is designed to contribute to the plans that existing in the L&T strategy re creation and sustaining L&T CoPs (APOD lead) within UoB.

The key aim of the project was to help establish independent learning in new students and to give them a sound start in the skills required to be independent learners. An initial evaluation of new students’ understanding of independent learning was undertaken through questionnaires and focus grou...
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The key aim of the project was to help establish independent learning in new students and to give them a sound start in the skills required to be independent learners. An initial evaluation of new students’ understanding of independent learning was undertaken through questionnaires and focus groups. The project then developed academic skill development modules within the School of Education based upon these results and focus groups held with staff. The modules have been successfully used in the first semester of year one to assist students in making the academic transition to University work. One of the key elements that the modules aim to develop is students’ ability to reflect upon their work. This is developed in the modules through a structured reflective journal within webCT which is built upon in other modules on the programmes. The reusable learning objects and module webCT section have been adapted and used throughout the College of Social Sciences

LIP,Learner independence project, independent learning, new students, skills,independent learners, learners choosing method, embedding, student curriculum, research skills, group working, peer asses...
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LIP,Learner independence project, independent learning, new students, skills,independent learners, learners choosing method, embedding, student curriculum, research skills, group working, peer assessment, initial evaluation, questionnaires, focus group, academic transition, transition, reflect upon work, reflection, reusable learning objects, RLO, portfolio, webCT, module webCT,

This literature review assesses the available academic and policy-oriented literature on social movements in fragile and conflict-affected contexts. It examines who becomes involved in collective action and why, the barriers to mobilisation and, where social movements do emerge, how these are able t...
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This literature review assesses the available academic and policy-oriented literature on social movements in fragile and conflict-affected contexts. It examines who becomes involved in collective action and why, the barriers to mobilisation and, where social movements do emerge, how these are able to sustain mobilisation and broaden their membership base to reflect the interests of the wider community. Evidence from this review suggests the importance of considering the interplay of movement activity and state stability, and of taking into account existing state-society relationships. Donors could focus on creating a supportive environment for social movements.

The transition from school/college to university life is one of the most challenging events in a student's life and can often mean the difference between successful completion of their studies and early withdrawal from studies. Therefore we must take student induction seriously and where possible im...
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The transition from school/college to university life is one of the most challenging events in a student's life and can often mean the difference between successful completion of their studies and early withdrawal from studies. Therefore we must take student induction seriously and where possible improve on current practice. Many students withdraw from higher education during the first few weeks of study. This suggests the importance of starting to build institutional and disciplinary engagement and commitment as early as possible. This can be achieved by helping students to understand the programme they are able to participate in, developing communities of learners and encouraging the formation of friendships and social networks’ (Crosling, 2007:173). This paper will consequently report on work we have done over two years to redesign how we approach the early induction process for Computer Science students at Birmingham.

student induction transition, induction, transition, institutional, disciplinary, engagement, communities of learners, formation of friendships, social networks, transition, independent, enquiry bas...
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student induction transition, induction, transition, institutional, disciplinary, engagement, communities of learners, formation of friendships, social networks, transition, independent, enquiry based, ebl, learning, Welcome Week, early academic and social engagement of students, learn how to learn, attendance monitoring, PDP, buddy systems, personal tutoring, Learner Independence,

This project is split into two facets: The first involved a teaching assistant working to develop a system that employs the University's iVLE as much as possible for getting into contact with students before they join the University. This consists of information explaining what the students can e...
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This project is split into two facets: The first involved a teaching assistant working to develop a system that employs the University's iVLE as much as possible for getting into contact with students before they join the University. This consists of information explaining what the students can expect once they come to Birmingham, and advice on how to prepare for this experience (aspects of student life addressed: student life, academic work (specific to Computer Science), and study skills (learner independence)). The teaching assistant also followed a focus group of first-year students to evaluate the effectiveness of this element in the induction process. An additional task was to review material developed by other schools for this purpose and integration or adaptation of this into web pages. The second part of the project examined feedback, a second teaching assisted worked with specific lecturers of first-year modules to develop mechanisms for more effective and timely feedback. Possible ways for improving feedback are on-line self-assessment questionnaires, interfacing with the University's >>Progress>> system, and others. An important element of this work involved working with the students concerned so that they became aware of the feedback mechanisms that exist and that are being newly developed. Via the standard questionnaire described above, monitoring of the success of these mechanisms was enabled.

transition, retention, feedback, technical nature, standardised questionnaire, teaching assistant, iVLE, getting into contact with students, information explaining,Computer Science, study skills, focu...
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transition, retention, feedback, technical nature, standardised questionnaire, teaching assistant, iVLE, getting into contact with students, information explaining,Computer Science, study skills, focus group, evaluate, induction process, effective timely feedback, improving feedback, Progress,

Zip file containing the following: Chair's Action APRC. 10.10.07 Chair’s Actions taken between June and September 2010 APRC.11.02.09 Chair’s Actions taken between October 2010 and February 2011 APRC 11.05.13 Chair's Actions taken between February 2011 and May 2011 APRC.11.06.12 Chair’s Actio...
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Zip file containing the following: Chair's Action APRC. 10.10.07 Chair’s Actions taken between June and September 2010 APRC.11.02.09 Chair’s Actions taken between October 2010 and February 2011 APRC 11.05.13 Chair's Actions taken between February 2011 and May 2011 APRC.11.06.12 Chair’s Actions taken in May 2011 Meeting of 6th October 2010 APRC.10.10.00 Agenda for 6th October 2010 meeting APRC.10.10.01 Membership and Terms of Reference APRC.10.10.02 Confirmed Minutes of 26 May 2010 APRC.10.10.03 Revisions to the Student Complaints Procedure coversheet APRC.10.10.03 Appendix 1 - Student Concerns & Complaints Procedure for APRC APRC.10.10.04 Change to MD APRC.10.10.05 Request for Exemption from Specified Regulations for the PhD with Integrated Study in Physical Science of Imaging in the Biomedical Sciences Meeting of 17th November 2010 APRC.10.11.00 Agenda for 17th November 2010 meeting APRC.10.11.01 Clarifications to Profiling & Rounding Requirements APRC.10.11.01 Appendix 1 - Code of Practice on Taught Programme and Module Assessment (Extract) APRC.10.11.01 Appendix 2 - Code of Practice on Taught Programme and Module Assessment (Extract) APRC.10.11.02 Changes to the Code of Practice on the External Examiner System for Taught Programmes Meeting of 3rd February 2011 APRC.11.02.00 Agenda for 3rd February 2011 meeting APRC.11.02.01 Confirmed Minutes of 6th October meeting APRC.11.02.02 Confirmed Minutes of 17th November meeting APRC.11.02.03 Clarification to CoP Student Development and Support in Schools and Taught Programme and Module Assessment APRC.11.02.04 Collaborative Provision Change to Regulations APRC.11.02.05 Internal Hurdle BIRMS APRC.11.02.06 Cross-College misconduct committee membership APRC.11.02.07 Request for Exemption for the proposed PhD Practice-based Research - Playwriting APRC.11.02.08 MD maximum period of study exemption Meeting of 19th May 2011 APRC.11.05.00 Agenda for 19th May 2011 meeting APRC.11.05.01 Confirmed Minutes of 3rd February meeting APRC.11.05.02 Clarification to the Codes of Practice on Student Development and Support in Schools and Taught Programme and Module Assessment APRC.11.05.03 Request for Amendment to Regulation 6.1.3 (a) (viiI) relating to the Professional Doctorate awards APRC.11.05.04 Proposed amendments to the Regulations in relation to the admission of students to the degrees of DDS and MD APRC.11.05.05 Revisions to the Student Representation System Policy APRC.11.05.05 Appendix 1 - Revisions to the Student Representation System Policy APRC.11.05.05 Appendix 2 - Revisions to the Student Representation System Policy APRC.11.05.06 Proposed Changes to Regulations and Code of Practice for Postgraduate Research Degrees APRC.11.05.06 Appendix A - Amendments to Code of Practice on Higher Doctorates APRC.11.05.06 Appendix A - Nature of Referral (higher doctorates) APRC.11.05.06 Appendix A - Amendments to Regulations 7.6.2 and Code of Practice on Higher Doctorates APRC.11.05.06 Appendix B - Amendments to Code of Practice on Assessment and Award of PhD by Publication APRC.1.05.06 Appendix B - Nature of Referral (PhD by Publication) APRC.11.05.06 Appendix B - Amendments to Regulations for PhD by Published Work APRC.11.05.06 Appendix C - Amendments to Code of Practice on Supervision and Monitoring Progress of Research Students APRC.11.05.06 Appendix D - Amendments to Code of Practice for Assessment of Research Degree Theses APRC.11.05.06 Appendix D - Amendments to Regulations 7.4.4 Examiners APRC.11.05.06 Appendix D - Amendments to Regulations 7.4.5 Oral Examinations APRC.11.05.06 Appendix D - Amendments to Regulations 7.4.7 APRC.11.05.06 Appendix E - Amendment to Code of Practice for Split Location Study for Postgraduate Research Students APRC.11.05.06 Appendix F - Addition of a new Regulation 7.4.8 (d) transfer from a postgraduate taught degree to a postgraduate research degree APRC.11.05.07 Proposed changes to the Research Progress and Awards Sub Panel Terms of Reference and Membership APRC.11.05.07 Appendix 1 - Research Progress and Awards Sub Panel Terms of Reference APRC.11.05.08 Revisions to the Student Concerns and Complaints Procedure APRC.11.05.09 Code of Practice for Leave of Absence Procedures APRC.11.05.09 Appendix 1 - Code of Practice for Leave of Absence Procedures APRC.11.05.09 Appendix 2 - Example of an Academic Plan APRC.11.05.10 Request for Exemption from Regulations 7.3.1 (d) for the Intercalated BMedSc APRC.11.05.11 Request for Exemption from the Code of Practice on Taught Programme and Module Assessment for the MBChB APRC.11.05.12 Multiple exemptions for a suite of MRes programmes in LES Meeting of 6th June 2011 APRC.11.06.00 Agenda for 6th June 2011 meeting APRC.11.06.01 Confirmed Minutes of 19th May meeting APRC.11.06.02 Proposed Code of Practice on Extenuating Circumstances and Fit to Sit Procedures APRC.11.06.02 Appendix 1 - Code of Practice on Extenuating Circumstances and Fit to Sit Procedures APRC.11.06.02 Appendix 2 - Extenuating Circumstances Form APRC.11.06.02 Appendix 3 - Grading Criteria for Assessing Extenuating Circumstances APRC.11.06.03 Proposed Code of Practice on Reasonable Adjustments APRC.11.06.03 Appendix 1 - Code of Practice on Reasonable Adjustments for Students (Version 16) APRC.11.06.03 Appendix 2 - Code of Practice on Reasonable Adjustments for Students (Version 16a) APRC.11.06.04 Revisions to Section 8 of the Regulations of the University - Student Conduct APRC.11.06.04 Appendix 1 - Tracked changes version of Revised Section 8 of the Regulations of the University - Student Conduct APRC.11.06.04 Appendix 2 - Final Revised Section 8 of the Regulations of the University - Student Conduct APRC.11.06.05 Amendments to Code of Practice on Misconduct and Fitness to Practise Committees APRC.11.06.05 Appendix 1 - Tracked changes version of the Code of Practice on Misconduct and Fitness to Practise Committees APRC.11.06.05 Appendix 2 - Final version of the Code of Practice on Misconduct and Fitness to Practise Committees APRC.11.06.06 Revisions to the Code of Practice on Plagiarism APRC.11.06.06 Appendix 1 - Revised Code of Practice on Plagiarism APRC.11.06.06 Appendix 2 - Existing 2010-11 Code of Practice on Plagiarism APRC.11.06.07 Proposed Changes to the Codes of Practice for Supervision & Monitoring Progress of Researchers & Assessment of Research Degree Theses APRC.11.06.08 Request for Amendment to the Code of Practice on the Conduct of Centrally Co-ordinated Formal Written Examinations APRC.11.06.09 Report on changes to the PGCert Academic Practice APRC.11.06.10 Request for Exemption from Regulations Governing Maximum Periods of Study for the Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice APRC.11.06.11 Request for a Regularisation of Exemptions from Specified Regulations for BPhil Social Work with Children and Young People and BPhil Social Work with Adults APRC.11.06.13 Student Concerns and Complaints Procedure Reports to Senate SEN.10.11.12 Report to Senate SEN.11.03.10 Report to Senate

The project will result in the creation of a skills suite using WebCT, designed for use in conjunction with face-to-face learning in individual modules as appropriate, or as a supplement to conventional teaching contexts such as seminars and lectures. The project has successfully assessed the cur...
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The project will result in the creation of a skills suite using WebCT, designed for use in conjunction with face-to-face learning in individual modules as appropriate, or as a supplement to conventional teaching contexts such as seminars and lectures. The project has successfully assessed the current skills and pre-induction provision. It has gone on to create a complete the generic skills resource Skills4Arts, made available to students in October 2008. In addition, the project has created discipline-specific skills materials in information retrieval, with the collaboration of the library’s subject specialists. As the project attempted to engage with specific departments, it became clear that the focus should be shifted from an all-encompassing approach to a narrower focus on specific disciplines and modules, where there were both need for the material but also collaboration on the part of academic staff.

Much has been written about personalisation and the potential that this agenda holds for change within welfare services. Although carers have been identified as an important group in translating personalisation into practice we know very little about how the third sector might support carers in orde...
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Much has been written about personalisation and the potential that this agenda holds for change within welfare services. Although carers have been identified as an important group in translating personalisation into practice we know very little about how the third sector might support carers in order to make personalisation effective. In this paper we examine the literature to identify the existing evidence base available to examine the impact of personalisation on carers. We find that this evidence is limited at best and therefore set out those areas of further research which we argue are required to inform third sector practice. We illustrate these areas of further research via some real-life case studies in order to root these examples in everyday practice.

This paper explores the development of the UK Gypsy and Traveller third sector and details factors which have impeded development. This includes a lack of resources and skills but also illustrates how in recent years important progress has been made in community development. The paper concludes that...
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This paper explores the development of the UK Gypsy and Traveller third sector and details factors which have impeded development. This includes a lack of resources and skills but also illustrates how in recent years important progress has been made in community development. The paper concludes that the current cutbacks and reduction in resources for community development, combined with new policies that Gypsies and Travellers perceive as being hostile towards them, could undermine progress made. The paper argues that ’positive action’ combined with greater community involvement in service delivery could strengthen the Gypsy and Traveller third sector and foster intercultural dialogue and promote inclusion. Processes evident in other branches of the third sector (McCabe et al., 2010). The paper is relevant to a number of TSRC work streams, particularly ’Below the Radar’ which explores the role, function, impact and experiences of small community action groups or organisations.

Chapters 3 & 4 of a tutorial created for volunteer transcribers for the International Greek New Testament Project. This continues Chapters 1 & 2 which are to be found at: http://epapers.bham.ac.uk/774/ and is continued by Chapters 5 & 6 (also on epapers). This is the revised version (25.8...
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Chapters 3 & 4 of a tutorial created for volunteer transcribers for the International Greek New Testament Project. This continues Chapters 1 & 2 which are to be found at: http://epapers.bham.ac.uk/774/ and is continued by Chapters 5 & 6 (also on epapers). This is the revised version (25.8.2011).