Insights
by Alexander Shea
Policy Update 22.05.20
Only 17 of Englandās 151 local authorities to advise June 1st reopening Throughout the Covid-19 crisis, events on the European continent have offered a window to the UKās future. From the āclap for carers,ā which found itself prefigured in the banging of pots and pans on Italyās balconies a fortnight before, to the crisis in … Continued
Read MorePolicy Update 22.11.19
BESAās ongoing analysis of school expenditure data continues to raise alarming findings. In 2018, in 92 of Englandās 152 local authorities, average resource spending per pupil was lower than the 2005 national average. If we compare 2018 expenditure to 2007 levels, the results are even more grim. In 2018, resource spending in 115 local authorities was lower than the 2007 national average. In all eight of the DfE regions, average resource spend was lower than the 2007 national average.
Read MorePolicy Update 23.08.19
After the UK leaves the EU, any firm that wishes to import from, or export to, an EU member state will need an Economic Operator Registration and Identification (EORI) number to comply with custom rules, or face their goods being stuck at the border. October 31st is fast approaching, yet the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) reported in early August that only 32% of Britainās 255,000 businesses have applied for their EORI number.
Read MorePolicy Update 23.10.20
As more pupils self-isolate, ministers reframe crisis as a social pandemicĀ Ā In 2017,Ā Svenn-ErikĀ Mamelund, a member of the World Bankās āGlobal Influenza Pandemic Crisis Response Platform,ā authored a cautionary paper in which he warned that the next global disease contagion would sit at the interval between a public health and a social crisis.Ā Ā Reviewing evidence from … Continued
Read MorePolicy Update 25.09.20
As Govt considers ācircuit breakerā lockdown, schools ask DfE to pull the plug on GCSEsĀ Never has the value of schoolĀ attendance for pupilsĀ been more apparent.Ā On Monday afternoon, as the Prime Minister unveiled a winter of Covid-19 restrictions, researchers at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven publishedĀ findingsĀ from what appears to be the first study that captures actual student … Continued
Read MorePolicy Update 25.10.2019
Johnson appoints education advisers to author election manifesto A move away from āeat your greensā and being fiscally mean In 2017, the Conservatives held the infamous āPickles Reviewā into their disastrous performance in that yearās June election. Headed up by the former Education Minister Edward Timpson- who, as we will see has been in the … Continued
Read MorePolicy Update 26.06.20
DfE to outline new āflexibleā social distancing guidelines to schools In a late-night meeting with members of Parliamentās 1922 Committee of backbench Conservative MPs yesterday evening, Gavin Williamson is understood to have said that the DfE will issue new guidance next week on social distancing requirements within schools. Previous government guidance had identified two āpinch … Continued
Read MorePolicy update 26.07.19
Not so much a re-shuffle as a new government. Within an hour of Boris Johnson having commenced his tenure as Britainās 55th Prime Minister, 11 cabinet ministers had been sacked whilst another six had resigned. It is common for new leaders to make changes, but not on this scale. The previous standard bearer for ruthless reshuffles was Harold MacMillanās ānight of the long knivesā, when he dismissed seven members of his cabinet in one night.
Read MorePolicy Update 27.03.20
A week into the UKās national lockdown, and it is clear that we are living through a period of āthickened history.ā Transformations to systems of government that would, in normal circumstances, take decades to achieve have been effected in a matter of days. As the crisis makes a bonfire of political orthodoxies and exposes the limitations of unfettered markets, there is a sense that time is being compressed, that the recent past is already a foreign country.
Read MorePolicy Update 27.09.2019
Students in schools that are subject to centralised government inspections systems perform, on average, 16 percentage points higher than students in countries which do not have uniform inspection systems. These findings from a 2009 OECD study, which compared schooling arrangements across 16 different jurisdictions, show that successful schooling and accountability go hand in hand.
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