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Applying tenets of legal origin theory, this paper traces the origins of banking financial accountability resting behind paragraphs 78 to 82 of the First Schedule of the Companies Act 1862 (UK), where the timely disclosure of a balance sheet and statement of income and expenditure to stakeholders are scrutinised. Comparative legal analysis of 503 banking enactments of the US, Canada and England during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries reveals that expectations of formal accounts raised by the Companies Act 1862 (UK) were informed by the Colombia Banking Act 1817 (CO) in the US, the Canadian Mauritius Regulations 1830 and the Joint Stock Banks Act 1844 (UK). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: ‘Creative learning conversations’, are methodological devices developed in two co-participative qualitative research projects exploring creativity and educational futures at the University of Exeter in England. Sources of evidence: Framed by Critical Theory, the projects, one on dance education partnership, the other on student voice and transformation, sought to open space between creativity and performativity to initiate emancipatory educational change. This was undertaken over the course of five years in English primary and secondary schools, prioritising humanising, wise creativity. Purpose: This paper re-analyses data and methodological processes to characterise and theorise creative learning conversations in terms of social spatiality and dialogue. The characteristics are: partiality, emancipation, working from the ‘bottom up’, participation, debate and difference, openness to action, and embodied and verbalised idea exchange. Main argument: This re-analysis theoretically adapts Bronfenbrenner's ecological model (The ecology of human development; Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1979) to situate layered engagement. Utilising Lefebvre's conceptualisation of lived space (The production of space; Wiley-Blackwell, 1991) and Bakhtin's work (Problems of Dostoevsky's poetics; ed. and trans. Caryl Emerson; Minneapolis: University of Michigan Press, 1984) on open-ended dialogue, the paper theorises creative learning conversations as producing living dialogic spaces. Conclusions: Creative learning conversations are a way of contributing to change, which moves us towards an education future fit for the twenty-first century. From a living dialogic space perspective, a creative learning conversation is the ongoing process without forced closure of those in the roles of university academic, teachers, artists, students co-participatively researching and developing knowledge of their ‘lived space’ together. Given traditional lethargy in the educational system as a whole commitment to changing education for better futures demands active involvement in living dialogic space, where our humanity both emerges from and guides our shared learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The paper plots some shifts in educational policy between 1988 and 2009 in England that launched the rhetoric of a ‘gender gap’ as a key political and social concern. The rhetoric was fuelled by a rise in the importance of quantification in technologies of accountability and global comparisons of achievement. A focus on boys and attainment emerged, along with new requirements for measuring educational achievement in the context of debates about standards and the growing marketisation of education following the 1988 Educational Reform Act (ERA) in England and Wales. Purpose: Theoretically, the paper explores the effect of ‘gender gap’ rhetoric on pedagogy. The arguments about pedagogy presented here are based on the premise that sex-group is different from gender. Sex-group is a form of labelling and categorising persons as either male or female with reference to a biological classification that focuses on genitalia and reproductive organs. The emergence of ‘gender gap’ rhetoric is investigated within a temporal perspective, through an overview of guidance to teachers about pedagogy published between 1932 and 2007. This temporal lens becomes a heuristic for presenting the main point of the paper, which is that technologies of measurement construct reified representations of the learner. This is used to demonstrate how gender, as a sociocultural and political phenomenon, morphed into sex-group, a biological categorisation, and how this has had unintended effects of pedagogy. Sources of evidence: Analysis of three landmark educational documents focuses on changes in representations of society, the learner and pedagogy. The documents are the Hadow Report (1931), the Plowden Report (1967) and a guidance document for teachers called ‘Confident, Capable and Creative: supporting boys’ achievements’ (Department for Children, Schools and Families 2007,http://www.foundationyears.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Confident_Capable_Boys.pdf). Main argument:Analysis demonstrates the way that technologies of measurement construct reified or ‘ideal’ representations of the learner and how technologies used for measuring sex-group difference have changed across time. Shifts in representations of the learner, from the ‘bone child’ to the ‘gene child’ and eventually to the ‘masculine child’ were detected. These shifts represent a gradual decline in the emphasis on pedagogy as nurture, towards a heightened focus on the supposedly innate characteristics of individuals, in line with neoliberalism. Conclusions:The discussion points to some of the unintended effects on pedagogy and practice that take place when gender becomes sex. If teachers are constantly presented with the message that boys and girls learn differently due to innate genetic make-up, they may assume that whatever pedagogic strategies they employ, these will be ineffective in the face of what some educational consultants tell them are boys’ and girls’ innate genetic features. In effect, teachers are being told that biology controls learning and that social and cultural contexts, and thus their own classroom environments, cannot counter the forces of nature. Some methodological implications of studying gender as opposed to sex-group are discussed. The conclusion advocates a shift back to the study of gender as a historical, sociocultural phenomenon. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper addresses some recent changes in the landscape of state education in England. In particular, it focuses on the way in which Academies, state-funded independent schools introduced by New Labour and now being drastically extended and taken further by the Coalition government, are contributing to the ongoing and increasing blurring of the welfare state demarcations between state and market, public and private, government and business; and are pointing up the shift in the role of the state from ''directing bureaucracies'' to ''managing networks'' (Smith 1999). Academies have been contracted out to a wide range of sponsors (entrepreneurs, business, charities, faith groups) and removed from local authority control (they are funded directly by central government). They involve a deliberate attempt to promote a new set of values and modes of action in public education, enterprise and competitiveness in particular. The paper will look closely at the case of one multi-academy sponsor, the charity Absolute Return for Kids (ARK), which was founded by a group of hedge fund managers and is rapidly expanding its involvement in state education in England (and in the USA, India and Uganda), taking up positions and roles previously reserved for the state itself and bringing new practices and methods to bear upon education problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite there being significant numbers of state maintained Catholic schools in England, they have, until recently, proved to be of interest only to a minority of researchers. Government initiatives to promote greater scrutiny and accountability through the publication of school test and examination results have generated interest in their academic performance from proponents and critics. Early attempts by government to compare school performance using 'raw' examination and test scores were severely criticised. Newly introduced 'Contextualised Value Added' measures, when correctly applied, have largely overcome the deficiencies of earlier datasets. This paper presents new CVA performance data provided by Ofsted that may help the debate about Catholic school effectiveness to progress. Possible reasons for the CVA findings are explored and further areas for research are suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The wetlands of medieval Britain represented a valuable regional resource, and contributed to the success of some of the wealthiest monasteries in Britain. Drainage systems and transport mechanisms created an interdependent regional economic environment that needed administrative elites to manage and maintain its resources and ensure the continued survival of urban communities. This paper will compare recent excavations at Swavesey and Burwell and demonstrate that, while the letter of Wittfogel's classification of a 'hydraulic society' is not applicable to medieval England, aspects of it can be used to understand regional communities and wetland environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper problematises the official discourse of economic competitiveness and social inclusion used by the 2007 Education and Skills Bill to justify the proposal to extend compulsory participation in education and training in England to the age of 18. Comparisons are drawn between this attempt to raise the age of compulsion and previous attempts, which took place in a significantly different socio-economic context. It is argued that the needs of those most likely to be affected by the current proposal – young people not in education, employment or training (NEET) – are subordinated to the needs of an English economy that is increasingly based upon low-skill, low-pay work relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Avebury is one of the largest Neolithic monuments in the British Isles. Enormous earthworks define a vast enclosure on the Wessex chalkland, and within its boundaries are settings of standing stones which reach into the sky. The sheer size of this place is difficult to comprehend on the ground, and to enter the enclosure is to move into a space that contrasts entirely with the surrounding landscape. On one level, Avebury is a monument of chalk and stone. On another, these materials served to define spaces and create experiences which are less often the subject of archaeological analysis. This paper will consider how an appreciation of aesthetics might begin to dissolve these differing approaches to the material evidence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT. This paper discusses some well-known legends and hagiographic stories, and explores the context of their production and consumption. From an examination of Welsh foundation legends and Cornish hagiographical accounts, we focus on the methods by which versions of history were used in the Middle Ages to provide a context for fundamental changes in the way in which society was organised. It is found that, far from abandoning traditional versions of history, accounts of the past were promoted that sought to couch newer territorial notions of organisation within existing constructions of identity and mediations with the past. In an examination of the production and reception of these popular stories, we attempt to relate the legends to the generation of communal identity and memory. Consequently, drawing on Bourdieu's notion of habitus, we argue that pre-existing beliefs and customs were an important part in the development of newer institutional structures. Rather than initiating new practices that had no grounding in any particular past, institutional developments gained social currency by being inherently grounded in existing facets of cultural identity. In essence therefore, changing societal and institutional structures were unintentionally couched in the language and understandings of existing structures, so that in many ways a concept of continuity was at the very heart of actual change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Monitoring and predicting river floods have always been of concern for hydrologists. Anomalies in flow patterns alert us of upcoming events. The effect of such anomalies on the multifractality and nonlinear dynamics of the river flow is investigated in this research. The river flow of the River Trent in England from 2018 to 2019 was dissected using the multifractal, power spectrum, and phase space reconstruction techniques. Results show a reduction in multifractality strength before the anomalies in the time series. Moreover, receding trajectories from the attractor in the phase space and augmentation of the power spectrum confirmed a decline in flow multifractality due to anomalies. A compliance comparison of multifractality reduction before anomalies in river flow leads to predicting river floods approximately 12 days in advance. Furthermore, if the multifractal strength does not return to its equilibrium, this is a warning that floods are expected in the near future (less than 10 days). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Conservative-led Coalition government in Britain is strongly committed to a programme of austerity. In the short term, this is a programme which makes more difficult the country's exit from a period of recession and slow growth; in the longer term, it threatens cuts and privatisation which call into question the welfare state. Yet, politically, the Coalition has managed the post-2008 crisis more effectively than other European governments. Focusing on education, where the government's right-wing radicalism is strongly evident, this article explores possible reasons for its political success. It looks particularly at the Coalition's policies for teachers, and for the extension of private influence over schooling, as well as at the way it justifies its policies with reference to a reconceptualisation of 'equal opportunity'. It suggests that these are the culmination of more than 40 years of discursive elaboration and programme-building, which have weakened opposition to a point which makes the immediate costs of policy implementation quite low. It suggests, however, that the Conservative achievement is an unstable one, more likely to sharpen long-term political and social tensions than to resolve them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The remnant of once-famous “London Stone” stands almost unnoticed today in Cannon Street, in the City of London. Speculation about its origin began as early as the sixteenth century. This paper considers in particular the identification of the Stone as London's talisman (a view embodied in an invented “ancient saying” that linked it to the city's legendary Trojan foundation), or as a prehistoric “fetish stone” set up when London was first settled. The mythologising of London Stone continues, and at the turn of the twenty-first century it is regarded by some as an essential element in London's indefinable “sacred geometry.” [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In England and Wales, criminal prosecutions for recklessly causing serious bodily harm by transmitting HIV have occurred since 2003. Understanding how people respond to the application of criminal law, will help to determine the likely impact of prosecution. As part of a wider qualitative study on unprotected anal intercourse amongst homosexually active men with diagnosed HIV in England and Wales, 42 respondents were asked about their awareness of criminal prosecutions for the sexual transmission of HIV, and how (if at all) they had adapted their sexual behaviour as a result. Findings demonstrate considerable confusion regarding the law and suggest that misunderstandings could lead people with HIV to wrongly believe that how they act, and what they do or do not say, is legitimated by law. Although criminalisation prompted some respondents to take steps to reduce sexual transmission of HIV, others moderated their behaviour in ways likely to have adverse effects, or reported no change. The aim of the criminal justice system is to carry out justice, not to improve public health. The question addressed in this paper is whether desirable public health outcomes may be outweighed by undesirable ones when the criminal law is applied to a population-level epidemic. En Angleterre et au Pays de Galles, la transmission du VIH fait l'objet de poursuites pénales pour dommages corporels par imprudence depuis 2003. Comprendre comment la population réagit à l'application du droit pénal aidera à déterminer l'impact probable des poursuites. Dans le cadre d'une étude qualitative plus large sur les rapports anaux non protégés entre homosexuels actifs avec une infection à VIH diagnostiquée en Angleterre et au Pays de Galles, on a demandé à 42 répondants s'ils savaient qu'ils risquaient des poursuites pénales pour transmission sexuelle du VIH et comment (le cas échéant) ils avaient adapté leur comportement sexuel en conséquence. Les conclusions révèlent une confusion considérable quant à la loi et suggèrent que des malentendus pourraient amener des personnes séropositives à penser à tort que ce qu'elles font et ce qu'elles disent ou non est légitimé par la loi. Bien que la criminalisation ait incité quelques répondants à prendre des mesures pour réduire la transmission sexuelle du VIH, d'autres ont modéré leur comportement de façons qui auront probablement des effets négatifs, ou n'ont pas indiqué de changements. L'objectif du système pénal est de rendre la justice, pas d'améliorer la santé publique. Cet article se demande si les conséquences indésirables ne risquent pas de l'emporter sur les résultats souhaitables de santé publique quand le droit pénal est appliqué à une épidémie au niveau de la population. En Inglaterra y en Gales, desde 2003 se interpone acción penal por imprudencia temeraria al causar graves daños corporales mediante la transmisión del VIH. Entender cómo las personas responden a la aplicación del derecho penal ayudará a determinar el probable impacto de la acción judicial. Como parte de un estudio cualitativo más amplio sobre el coito anal sin protección entre los hombres homosexualmente activos diagnosticados con VIH, en Inglaterra y Gales, 42 entrevistados fueron interrogados respecto a su conocimiento de la acción penal por la transmisión sexual del VIH, y cómo (o si) habían adaptado su comportamiento sexual por consiguiente. Los resultados demuestran considerable confusión respecto a la ley e indican que los malos entendidos podrían llevar a las personas con VIH a creer erróneamente que la forma en que actúan y lo que digan o dejen de decir, son legitimados por la ley. Aunque la penalización motivó a algunos entrevistados a tomar medidas para reducir la transmisión sexual del VIH, otros moderaron su comportamiento en formas que probablemente tendrán efectos adversos, o no informaron ningún cambio. El propósito del sistema de justicia penal es hacer cumplir la justicia, no mejorar la salud pública. La interrogante tratada en este artículo es si los resultados deseables para la salud pública pesan menos que los indeseables cuando el derecho penal se aplica a una epidemia a nivel poblacional. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Addressing the 'the social class attainment gap' in education has become a government priority in England. Despite multiple initiatives, however, little has effectively addressed the underachievement of working-class pupils within the classroom. In order to develop clearer understandings of working-class underachievement at this level, this small research study focused on local social processes by exploring how secondary school teachers identified and addressed underachievement in their classrooms. Our analysis shows how teachers' identifications of underachieving pupils overlapped with, and were informed by, their tacit understanding of pupils' social class position. While many teachers resisted the influence of social class, they used stereotypes to justify their practice and expectations, positioning pupils within educational and occupational hierarchies. This, we conclude, suggests the need for more systematic attention to the micro-social processes that provide the conditions through which working-class underachievement is produced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dust samples from a residential area next to the Dee estuary saltmarsh, north-west England, UK, were collected at two heights and analyzed to investigate the potential for transporting radioactive dusts inland from the saltmarsh via an eolian pathway. 137Cs activities were found in the range from 20 ± 4 to 794 ± 113 Bq kg−1, with mean of 193 Bq kg−1 and from 15 ± 4 to 252 ± 8 Bq kg−1, with mean of 109 Bq kg−1 in dusts at 2 m and 0.3 m heights, respectively. The total annual effective doses were found as 1–41 µSv y−1 and 2–95 µSv y−1 for minimum and maximum occupancy, respectively. The maximum value of 41 µSv y−1 for the minimum outdoor occupancy falls below the world average value of 70 µSv y−1 but the maximum value of 95 µSv y−1 for the maximum occupancy is 36% higher than the world average value and is non-negligible. The collected dust samples were about 75% organic and 25% mineral particles. During sampling period at 2 m height, mean and maximum wind speeds were found 5-8 m s −1, and 16–22 m s −1, respectively. Detailed examination of radionuclide, grain size and wind data during dust collection period reveal that the estimated threshold wind speeds (5-23 m s −1) over the saltmarsh are sufficient to entrain radioactive dust particles (63–4 µm diameter) to be transported and deposited in inland, and hence poses potential health risks to coastal populations. Copyright © 2021 American Association for Aerosol Research [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents a response to an article written by Charles Batteson, which focused on the 1976 Ruskin College Speech, delivered by James Callaghan, which was regarded as the moment of British politics of 1976. Contention that the New Right Speech was instrumental in pivoting the direction of Labour policies for school reform; Origin of the Ruskin Speech; Significance of the Ruskin Speech to New Right education policies.

Evaluates the research study on the effect of religious and state schools on the moral education of English secondary school students. Four scales derived to measure general religious attitudes, specific Catholic and Jewish beliefs and secular morality; Role of religion as a partner to normative values; Measure of secular moral attitudes; Results of the study and discussion.

The article presents a calendar of events relevant to comparative education worldwide from 1976 to 1977. A conference titled "Third World Conference of Comparative Education Societies" will be hosted by the Comparative Education Society in Europe (CESE) in London, England, from June 27, 1977, to July 2, 1977. The Sixth National Education Congress will be held at the University of Madrid in Spain from October 30, 1976, to November 2, 1976. The 11th annual conference of the British Section of the CESE will be held at the University of Leeds from September 17, 1976, to September 20, 1976.

Background:This article considers the impact of pupils studying for entry-level qualifications on their intentions of remaining in education. Such qualifications are intended to re-engage young people who are performing below expected levels and give them the opportunity to learn at a pace that suits them. Purpose:This article specifically attempts to estimate the impact of entry-level qualifications on a group of 14–16-year-olds approaching the end of compulsory schooling in England. The central research questions addressed in this article were; how do the aspirations and post-16 destinations of young people who have taken such qualifications compare with other similar young people who have taken more traditional qualifications, and is there any evidence of such qualifications being beneficial to those young people with lower levels of prior attainment? Sample:Roughly 10,000 students surveyed longitudinally within the Longitudinal Study of Young People in England (LSYPE). Design and methods:Initial data regarding the aspirations of young people was collected from the young people at age 13 or 14 in 2004. Details of the qualifications studied and achieved over the next two years were then collected from the National Pupil Database (NPD). At the end of two years, information regarding their aspirations was collected again. Data collections in subsequent years detailed whether young people had actually continued in education after the end of compulsory schooling at age 16. Multilevel modelling was used to examine the relationship between the qualifications studied by young people and their subsequent aspirations and destinations. Results:Overall, there were no differences between the outcomes of young people taking entry-level qualifications and similar young people who did not. However, the models revealed a statistically significant interaction between taking entry-level qualifications and prior attainment, suggesting a positive association between such qualifications and outcomes for those with low levels of prior attainment. Conclusions:There is some evidence that entry-level qualifications may be useful in re-engaging low-achieving young people in education. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The relative efficiency of producer co-operatives is investigated through an examination of the financial performance of a group of cotton spinning firms that emerged from the spread of co-operative ideals after the mid-nineteenth century. Reflecting such influences these firms adopted two particularly important aspects of democratic governance: use of low denomination partly paid shares to encourage wide share ownership among local working class operatives, and the use of a one shareholder one vote rule at company meetings. Prior literature, much of which predicts the failure of producer co-operatives due to incentive problems, has not specifically examined these aspects of democratic control. Moreover because the case study utilises samples of stock market quoted companies, there is an opportunity to quantify the financial performance effects of these governance mechanisms. The case study therefore offers a unique insight and important contribution to the wider literature. The results show that both aspects of democratic governance contributed to the economic success of the companies that adopted them, enabling them to satisfy the high demand for cash dividends that characterised investor requirements. However, the cyclical nature of the cotton industry and the stock market booms and slumps that resulted led to redistributions of wealth through time that in the long run undermined the co-operative project. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In-migrants played an important role within port-city merchant communities, but the contribution of German-born merchants to Liverpool's development in the nineteenth century has been largely ignored. This article has four interrelated objectives. First, it establishes the size and composition of the German merchant community in terms of the place of birth, occupational classification, length of residence, and relative wealth of German-born merchants. Secondly, it measures the degree of acculturation and integration based on a range of indicators including choice of bride, child- and house-naming practices, the employment of fellow nationals, and the acquisition of British citizenship. Thirdly, it analyses their role within Liverpool society, focusing on their involvement in the city's associational networks, their participation in voluntary and charitable associations, and their entertainment profile. Finally it assesses how the growth of German nationalism after 1871 and the institutional role of the German Protestant Church reinforced ethnic identity, influenced decisions relating to citizenship and settlement, and affected business networking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Explanations for the rapid turnover rates of small businesses during the early years of British industrialisation are usually framed in terms of mismanagement or misfortune. More recently, the short lifespans of family businesses have been presented in the context of family ambitions and priorities. Whilst these explanations are persuasive, such studies tend to describe a reluctance to continue the family firm after the death of the head of household. By utilising evidence of both formal and informal methods of post-mortem estate disposal in Liverpool and Manchester we argue that the petite bourgeoisie of the early Industrial Revolution were more likely than has been thought to continue family businesses and to treat them as valuable going concerns. Moreover, we identify a degree of freedom on the part of those who inherited that allowed them to use their own judgements about the best interests of surviving family members. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Liverpool surpassed Bristol as Britain's premier slave trading port in the mid-eighteenth century, but the reasons for Liverpool's eventual dominance remain debated. This article utilises the theoretical framework of entrepreneurship and notions of capital applied within associational networks to determine whether or not Liverpool merchants had a ‘particular spirit of enterprise’ which enabled their success. An analysis of the trends in investment patterns of Liverpool slave voyages demonstrates that Liverpool merchants managed voyages in comparatively larger investment groups. Thus, they had greater access to knowledge, skills and resources, which allowed for more competitive advantages to their trade. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Commercial bazaars were a short-lived retail innovation of the first half of the nineteenth century, mainly in London. Rather like fairs had done earlier, they offered a wide range of clothing, household and fancy goods and entertainment. Like fairs they were about both shopping and leisure. But, unlike fairs, they were a controlled environment, permanent and fashionable. The norm was for counters to be let out daily, but some bazaars were essentially large shops. Traders in bazaars were often female, and at least some used bazaars as secondary outlets. Shop retailers complained about the unfair competition offered by bazaars, but many bazaars struggled commercially. Nevertheless they can be seen as precursors of department stores and covered market halls. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the Lancashire cotton textile industry, mule spinners were prone to a chronic and sometimes fatal skin cancer (often affecting the groin). The disease had reached epidemic proportions by the 1920s, which necessitated action by the government, employers, and trade unions. In contrast to previous accounts, this article focuses on the government's reaction to mule spinners' cancer. Using official records in the National Archives, the slow introduction of health and safety measures by the government is explored in detail. Although obstructionism by the employers played a key role, one of the reasons for government inaction was the ambiguity of scientific research on engineering oils. On the other hand, prolonged scientific research suited a government policy that was framed around self regulation - a policy that had proved largely ineffective by the 1950s. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article re-examines the recent claim that the economic position of bank clerks was stable or improving during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Using rich data from Williams Deacon's Bank, Manchester and Liverpool District Bank, and Sheffield and Rotherham Bank, it is shown that real salaries were declining between the 1890s and World War I. For some groups of clerks, this decline was considerable. In addition, promotion to higher levels, such as branch manager, was becoming more difficult and the returns to promotion were declining. The economic position of banking staff only recovered in the 1920s and 1930s. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the urban ideology of justice developed by English civic authorities in the period from c. 1350 to c. 1500, using evidence from the custumals and court records of provincial towns. It considers how contemporary images of just rule were adapted by town leaders for the urban setting and how religious rhetoric influenced their decisions when presiding in the local courts. Discussion focuses particularly on the sanctions used to enforce urban by-laws, analysing the use of fines, mutilation, imprisonment and shame rituals in the borough setting. Incarceration, it is argued, had a definite punitive purpose in late medieval towns; it was not simply used for holding suspects prior to trial. This was particularly evident in cases involving high-status offenders and the article examines how the treatment of wrongdoers was affected not only by the nature of their misconduct but also by their social standing within the community. Finally, the article highlights the methods used by the civic authorities to reintegrate at least some offenders into the urban community and provides discussion of the use of ritualized submission and public displays of mercy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

'Incorporation' in Further Education in England and Wales centralised policy control and implemented a per-pupil funding formula that promoted equity, in that colleges were paid more for enrolling 'disadvantaged' students, and for performance, in that funding was contingent on retention and student success rates. This article analyses the impact of funding policy on student success rates for adults in general further education colleges using five years of student-level administrative data from 1998/99 to 2002/03. Results from descriptive statistics show that student success rates rose by 10% during the five-year period, with the largest gains made by ethnic minorities, adult basic education students, and students from disadvantaged neighbourhoods. Logistic regression results mirror the descriptive statistic results but find especially strong gains for adult basic education students and students receiving additional learning support funding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the British policy in the Middle East from the end of World War II until the Six-Day War of June 1967. It is said that many books cover pre-Suez period and use Foreign Office files at the National Archives in London, England. Some of the accounts provide an analysis of the data about Anglo-American initiatives to solve the conflict between Egyptians and Israelites during the 1950s. The book "Suez: Britain's End of Empire in the Middle East," by Keith Kyle, discusses the policy-making process of the British Government.

Although church-related universities in England gradually became more secular throughout the twentieth century, a group of nine teacher education colleges with church foundations have recently developed into full fledged universities. This article draws upon documentary and site-based research to evaluate the relevance of the Christian identity for these institutions in light of recent scholarship on the subject. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the economic implications of cleaning in response to the flow of visitors through historic houses. The section reflects on work carried out in properties of the National Trust for England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, which is the largest accredited museum authority in the U.K., with 175 furnished properties open to visitors for seven months each year, on average five days per week and four to five hours a day. According to the study, although it describes how control of dust influences property management and housekeeping policies in the National Trust, the outcomes are applicable to historic properties in general and to museums and galleries where significant interiors and collections are exposed to dust.

This article reports research in three Nottingham schools, concerned with (1) ‘The school as fertile ground: how the ethos of a school enables everyone in it to benefit from the presence of artists in class’; (2) ‘Children on the edge: how the arts reach those children who otherwise exclude themselves from class activities, for any reason’ and (3) ‘Children's voices and choices: how even very young children can learn to express their wishes, and then have them realised through arts projects’. The research methodology was rooted in two modes of inquiry, philosophical investigation and action research. The article draws on this research to argue that arts-based work in school has helped disadvantaged and/or disaffected children to engage in activities (both arts-based and others), and to be able to lay the groundwork for exercising voice and agency as they did so. If social justice is to flourish there is a need for particular kinds of public spaces and a need to create conditions such that children can learn to participate in those spaces, whether or not they are comfortable with the usual settings for ‘rational argument’ or ‘deliberative democracy’. It is suggested that arts-based education, in some forms, is one good way of creating these conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From the earliest British colonization of Australia, draughtsmen and watercolourists were eager to depict their new home. A demand for paintings in the more permanent and prestigious medium of oil was met by many of these first artists, even though most were not trained in this medium. In the first 40 years, artists often depended on personal patrons and friends in Britain for the supply of painting materials. The problems of shortages led to some improvisation and substitution of materials. By the 1830s the number of professionally trained British artists who had emigrated to Australia had increased, and the supply of artists' materials had also become more reliable. This early period, greatly dependent on irregular supplies from England, was followed by rapid commercial development of the colonies and faster shipping which ensured that new materials and techniques from England quickly appeared in the Australian colonies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discusses survey results of the reading habits of 12-13-year-old students in Southern and Central England. Decrease of the amount of fiction read by boys within the age range; Changes in the quality of preferred fiction by girls; Concern over the decline in reading modern classic fiction.

Claims to be democratising the governance of public policing has a long trajectory in the UK, the most recent manifestation of which is the introduction of elected Police and Crime Commissioners (PCC) across 41 police force areas in England and Wales – see thePolice Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011 (Part 1). The electoral basis of PCC appointments underpins their democratic credentials. The Act also establishes Police and Crime Panels in each force area to provide regular, public scrutiny of the PCC. In her ministerial foreword, the Home Secretary, Theresa May, claimed that this signalled ‘the most radical change to policing in 50 years…we will transfer power back to the people’ (Home Office, 2010). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author discusses a conference entitled "The Poverty of Punishment," that was organized by the Crime and Conflict Research Centre at the Middlesex University in London, England on March 30, 2012. He provides information that the penal policies of Great Britain which directs at punishing the poor were discussed in the conference. He reflects that topics relating to rehabilitation, impulses of revenge, and social defence and deterrence were also presented

The author discusses the concerns relating to bringing reforms in the penal system of Great Britain in context to "Big Society," a political note given by a former England's Prime Minister David Cameron. He presents information on the issues concerning of localism, monopoly of the state, and social entrepreneurs. He emphasizes on a point that the ownership of the penal policy that delivers punishment in particular societies need to be changed.