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This paper has attempted to chart and analyze the process whereby police legitimacy came to be constructed and de-constructed in Great Britain. The achievement of widespread consent to the police institution in Britain by the 1950s was partly the product of particular police organizational policies. But these were only successful because of the background context in which the working class came to be incorporated into the key political and economic institutions of the social order. Particular police policy choices were however, crucial in this virtuous circle. These policies were not absolutely determined by the political or social character of Britain, but were more or less conscious choices between perceived options. Basic to the "new" police idea was the establishment of a full-time force of professional police officers, organized into a bureaucratic hierarchy. This was itself part of a broader process of rationalization of social control in the same period. The bureaucratic organization of law-enforcement replaced a motley assortment of part-timers, entrepreneurial thief-takers and amateur volunteers. Adherence to the "rule of law" was a major aspect of the internal discipline laid down by the first Commissioners, and subject to intense judicial scrutiny in the Metropolitan Police's formative years.

This paper documents the impact of welfare states that provide alternative sources of income on stratification outcomes in Great Britain, West Germany and Sweden for the post-World War II period. The paper gives a detailed individual-level analysis of alterations of market based income. The magnitude of policy effects along with the policy mix available to individual households and the extent of reliance on the market as a result of that policy mix have been compared. This paper directly challenges the logic of industrialization approach as an explanation of welfare policy development. The paper analyses a set of welfare policies that intervene in the market-determined consumption of privately produced income goods and services in Great Britain, West Germany and Sweden. Due to various developments in the post-World War period the state no longer simply provided legal, physical and political supports to market actors but began to intervene directly in altering market based distributional outcomes. The paper stresses on shifting sociological study of the welfare state away from analyses of expenditure levels or policy events.

This paper discusses the transformations occurring in the economic, political and social spheres of most older industrial countries and the fundamental changes in the social and spatial relations of cities. New patterns of consumption and forms of social division have been recognized and have been accompanied by debates on the emergence of the "new poor" in the "multiply-divided" city. Within the framework of Regulation theory, this paper will consider processes of social marginalization and discrimination and their spatial manifestation in the post-Fordist city. By focussing on the construction of the boundaries of citizenship and the interrelation between the social relations of class, race and gender it is possible to highlight the multidimensional nature of inclusion and exclusion occuring over time and across national boundaries. This paper will concentrate on developments in Britain and Germany. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper seeks to explain variations in acute inpatient length of stay in the National Health Service in England. A model is proposed in which the length of stay is allowed to vary according to patient characteristics, the local supply of NHS care, the local pressure on NHS resources, other non-NHS health care supply factors, and local policy effects. Length of stay data are obtained from the 1991/1992 Hospital Episode Statistics. They are standardized for age, sex and broad specialty group, and are aggregated to the level of small areas with populations of about 10,000. Explanatory variables include socio-economic data from the 1991 Census of Population, health status data, waiting time data, measures of access to inpatient and GP services, and measures of local private health care provision. The paper finds that variability in length of stay is greatest in the over-65 age group. The most important determinants of variations in length of stay are access to NHS hospitals, access to private hospitals, waiting times for elective surgery, indicators of poverty, and indicators of the availability of informal care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the changing face of the British churches. Several recent studies of religion in Britain during the post-war years seem to have made much of the decline of institutional religion. Attempting to measure changes in church life within Great Britain is a nightmare for the statistician, for two main reasons. First, the statistics that really matter have not been routinely and systematically collected. Second, the statistics which are readily available are subject to a number of problems concerned with interpretation and comparability across time and between denominations. In spite of these recognized difficulties have made a valiant attempt to chronicle the statistical patterns of church membership in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ire land between 1975 and 1992, and to model projections for 1995. In the present paper we plan to draw on these data and projections to map the changes taking place during these two decades. For some of the newer Christian churches, and for some of the other faith groups, these changes reveal growth and expansion.

This paper explores how an imagining of the countryside as an idealised place in which to grow up is constructed, mobilised and contestedby rural parents in their accounts of their children's lives. It begins by considering how parents mobilise popular understandings of therural idyll in their accounts of the opportunities for children in the village of Wheldale. It then goes on to explore how parents simultaneously challenge this imagining of the rural in their accounts of their children's safety, contradicting popular constructions of the rural as a safe, harmonious place, and contesting assumptions about theidyllic nature of rural childhood. Finally the paper considers how in order to justify their claims about the relative safety of the village as a place to grow up, in the face of their own descriptions of the dangers it may hold, parents further mobilise another ingredient of the 'rural idyll' -- community. The paper concludes by considering the importance of recognising that places, like people, can have multiple meanings and identities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agri-environmental policies have become increasingly prominent measures in the farm sector of England and Wales. This major development has not escaped the attention of agricultural geographers, but little work has emerged which overtly explores the geographical consequencesof agri-environmental policy on land use patterns and countryside conservation. Understanding this geography is important in the evaluation of the unevenness of post-productivist processes in the countryside. Using different 'scales' of analysis and specific examples, this paper examines published literature, secondary and primary data to tease out the geographical impacts of agri-environmental policy. Each scale of analysis informs the interpretation of agri-environmental policy impacts in different ways, A national scale analysis provides a general impression of farmers' interest in conservation and their receptiveness to agri-environmental schemes. However, numbers of farmers enrolled gives little idea of the quality of environmental practices undertaken and any subsequent modifications to land use patterns. Moving to a regional scale permits greater sensitivity to interactions between scheme characteristics and factors peculiar to farming in a locality. A wide variety of agri-environmental policy outcomes emerge, demonstrating that a meso-scale analysis is a useful aid to detailed research into the geography of agri-environmental policy. Farm and field scale approaches show that existing studies concentrate on processes of adoption and less on outcomes 'on the ground'. However, a selection of complex patterns at these scales are highlighted. Micro-scaleaspects of agri-environmental policy deserve far more attention fromagricultural geographers, although integrative research which draws upon insights gained from each scale is advocated to understand fullythe geographical impacts of agri-environmental pol icy on land use patterns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses the evidence of research conducted in North-West England to explore the extent to which parents consider that there are adequate public facilities and play opportunities in their neighbourhoods for their children, and it considers whether children's experiences of outdoor play is changing, by comparing contemporary children's play with both previous academic studies of children's independent use of space and with parents' accounts of their own childhoods. The findings presented suggest that the vast majority of parents are dissatisfied with the public provision of play facilities in their neighbourhood. Temporal and spatial changes also appear to have occurred in patterns of children's outdoor play over the last three decades. Fewerchildren are playing outdoors and the location of most outdoor play is now closed centred on the home rather than the street. There appears to be no link between play patterns and play provision; children are no more likely to play outdoors, or play further away from home ifthere are adequate opportunities provided within their neighbourhood. Rather, the evidence of this paper is that the most significant influence on children's access to independent play is not the level of public provision of play facilities but parental anxieties about children's safety and the changing nature of childhood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper considers opportunities for institutional development within the UK fishing industry that aim to engender a more meaningful incorporation of fishermen's organisations within the policy system. Special attention is given to the location of responsibility within the policy process. This involves an exploration of an alternative approach to consultation and the scope for delegation of management responsibilities to fishermen's organisations. Mechanisms to improve coordination among fishermen's organisations and to strengthen their internal architecture are also considered. The analysis raises important questions to inform the continuing debate over the development and structure of devolved management systems, in particular regarding the assumptions underlying user participation and the representativeness, capabilities and aspirations of fishermen's organisations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Farmers are continually adjusting their business enterprises in response to the shifting economic, political and social pressures which affect each aspect of their production. These adjustments may include structural changes, agronomic (production) changes or moves into 'diversification' enterprises, and are manifest at different scales, fromthe farm unit to changes in a country's or region's agricultural structure. One factor influencing future changes in agriculture is likely to be climate change ('global warming') which will after the physical environmental conditions of production. The consequences of this might include a change in the crop species cultivated in different areas. This paper examines the responses of farmers in part of southern Britain to the possibility of growing navy beans, a crop used for baked bean manufacture and obtained almost wholly from North America, asa response to a warmer climate. The paper seeks to explore the network of relations at the farm, national and international scales which will determine the likelihood of commercial adoption of the crop occurring in the U.K. Through discussion of the results of interviews with farmers, food processing companies and associated agencies it is concluded that there are significant structural barriers to the adoption of navy beans as a diversification option on U.K. farms as a resultof international trade restraints and a measure of inertia and risk aversion within the processing companies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper has two foci. Firstly, it profiles the evolving internationalisation and diversification strategies of leading computer service providers since 1990, and secondly, it considers how such dynamics are affecting the spatial networks of these transnational firms through the window of the UK industry. Nine of the top twelve computer service providers in the UK market are used as case studies. In responseto the demands of multinational clients and increasingly open and competitive markets, it appears that nationally oriented subsidiaries are being superseded by more responsive, internationally oriented structures. In particular, R&D and marketing operations are increasingly being co-ordinated at the continental or global scale. Simultaneously, firms are diversifying into new computer service markets in order to offer a wider variety of services. However, the exact nature of therestructuring undertaken and its spatial outcome varies both betweendifferent types of computer service firms and different growth strategies. A key distinction is that firms actively seeking growth in theIT outsourcing market appear to be undergoing more spatially extensive growth, while the remaining firms are consolidating their operations in core regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper examines the impact of re-regulation of the British building society industry, between 1986 and 1997. Re-regulation of retail financial markets has split the building society movement between those, mainly large societies, which regard regulation as too restrictiveand have decided to become more broadly-based public-limited companies, and the remaining, predominantly medium and smaller-sized building societies, that intend to continue to focus on personal savings andmortgage business. Both sets of companies are pursuing a strategy ofconsolidation in response to the more competitive environment promoted by regulatory change. The analysis of this restructuring provides a different perspective on the British financial sector, because unlike most of the financial sector, the building society movement is northern-based. Nevertheless, analysis of branch networks suggests that large societies are being attracted to the South East by the higher levels of income and wealth in that area. In contrast, branch closureshave been mainly in smaller urban centres, in the north and west of Britain. It seems, however, in the short term at least, that this rationalization is unlikely to be on the scale found in the banking sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Minimisation is the top priority of the waste management hierarchy, which is one of the guiding principals for national solid waste management planning throughout the developed world. As such it should be encouraged as a means for reducing wastes which require treatment and disposal, whether they be household, commercial or industrial in source. This paper suggests that minimisation is not being given the necessary policy frameworks or legislation within which to develop in theUK, and questions whether minimisation is being afforded the respectand attention, from all levels, that is due the most preferable waste option according to the hierarchy. This theme is investigated by surveying the county councils of England as a representative sample of waste disposal authorities in England, and former waste regulation authorities. They are responsible for guiding local and district waste policy and are the regional waste planners in the UK. If they are notseriously taking on board the message of minimisation, then there islittle chance that it will succeed without further legislative developments. Some 59% of English counties have a minimisation policy, whilst only 47% have participated in and supported a minimisation programme or trial within their region. The majority of these developments have occurred within the last three years, and 78% of counties who have participated in a programme have found it a successful venture. By1999 79% of English counties will have been actively involved in a minimisation programme in their region, which is a positive scenario. This trend must continue if waste minimisation is to become the key theme of future sustainable waste management in the UK as was intendedby declarations at the Rio '92 conference and in subsequent UK Government policy and strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At the core of the internal market reforms of the National Health Service (NHS) in the Great Britain as of October 1997 is the vertical separation of the roles of purchaser and provider. While this has inevitably led to an increase in the administrative cost burden, this cost may be justified in terms of the improved incentive structure which accompanies the sharing of risks between purchasers and providers. Instruments by which risk-sharing arrangements are implemented are the contracts as negotiated between purchasers and providers. However, it is simplistic to assume that the adoption of a contractual rhetoric on its own will achieve these aims. The nature of contractual arrangements are crucial. The paper attempts to explore empirically the choice between different contractual risk-sharing arrangements in the new managed health care market of Great Britain. Contractual types available within the post-reform NHS can be classified according to their sensitivity to the actual workload provided by the hospital.

The report of the Scott Committee on Land Utilisation in Rural Areas, in August 1942, constituted the first comprehensive review of ruralissues in England and Wales. Never before had agriculture and land-use planning been considered in such an integrated, yet detailed, manner. Through contemporary archival evidence, the paper appraises the circumstances in which the Committee was convened, the preoccupations brought to its deliberations by the Chairman, Stamp and Dennison, andthe manner in which Government departments, and most obviously the Ministry of Agriculture, sought to manipulate both the Committee's appointment and findings to their own advantage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the United Kingdom responsibility for the management of national catch quotas has since 1984 been extensively devolved to producers' organizations, institutions created by the European Community in orderto implement the common organization of the Community market for fish. The paper describes the development of the UK quota management system and the approaches adopted by different producers' organizations to the internal management of their quota allocations. Because of changes in the UK fishing vessel licensing rules as well as developmentsin the quota allocation system, there is an emerging market in quotas at both individual and collective levels. The implications of thesedevelopments are discussed, including the possible evolution, largely through industry-led innovation, of some sort of individual transferable quota (ITQ) system for the UK. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses the issue of overlapping fisheries regulations by multiple authorities for coastal fisheries in the United Kingdom. It examines one particular case study of the oyster fishers of the Isle of Wight, focusing on resource management regulations, fishermen'sstrategies to deal with ambiguous legislation, and the response of the various management authorities. The case study forms the basis on which to discuss institutional implications for effective operationalmanagement of the UK's coastal fisheries resource. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses contracts to keep down costs while maintaining quality of health services when patient demand does not reflect quality. There is then a natural role for forms of contract that have emerged during the reforms of the NHS in Britain that differ from pure fixed price or cost reimbursement contracts. The optimal form depends on whether the provider is entirely self-interested or benevolent in having genuine concern for patient welfare. With fully benevolent providers there are roles for block and cost and volume contracts. With partially benevolent providers, some degree of cost sharing is typically optimal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There has been an increasingly noticeable silence at the centre of contemporary rural studies concerning the ways in which rural areas are governed. This is in sharp contrast to other areas of the social sciences, where issues of governance have recently assumed major prominence. This paper sets out to explore this rather curious neglect, initially by examining the governance literatures now found across the social sciences, and then through using these to identify and delineate some important research questions for those concerned with under standing contemporary rural change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since 1979 the local state in Britain has experienced a period of considerable restructuring in which the power of elected local government has been severely diminished. As a new system of local governance,characterized by self-organising networks transcending the state, private and voluntary sectors, has emerged, so elected local governmenthas had to re-imagine its role. This paper suggests that one strategy that has been adopted has been to re-position local councils as 'pressure groups', lobbying external actors on behalf of local interests. Furthermore, it is argued that in rural areas the restructuring of the local state has coincided with a wider social and economic restructuring and hence an intensified contesting of rurality. As such, it is argued that rural local government has become concerned not only with advocating local interests, but with advocating particular discourses of rurality. These assertions are discussed in the context of a case study concerning strategic planning for housing development in the district of Taunton Deane in Somerset. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new form of rural governance is emerging in more peripheral parts of the UK. As European Structural Fund monies come to play a greater role in financing development projects, so new ways of making decisions about rural development are being initiated. The rural developmentcomponent of the Structural Funds (Objective 5b) requires that development objectives be prioritized by means of a 'programming approach'which brings together a wide range of actors in new institutional arrangements. This reconfiguration of rural development is examined in this paper using case study material from the Northern Uplands the largest Objective 5b area in England. The paper concludes by drawing out a set of further research questions the Objective 5b programme raises regarding the tensions between centralization and localization, the role of rural communities in their own governance, and the new techniques and technologies of rural governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent government policy statements emphasize the importance of community participation in rural areas. Likewise the literature on governance emanating from the urban studies' field stresses that partnerships and coalitions are now central features of the governing process and the new partners often include community organizations. In this paper we examine critically the concern with community participation and argue that in certain policy sectors there is still a requirement for the state to impose a dominant strategic line. We examine the construction of such a line in the housing field and show that calculations of housing demand flow from the central to the local state and in the process tend to sideline local views of development. We conclude that although the shift to governance may open up scope for communityinvolvement in certain arenas, in others strategic policy still overrides local demands and hierarchical relations between the centre andlocalities still exist. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since April 1996, Wales has possessed one principal tier of local government: 22 unitary authorities. Below this tier of administration, a second level exists: community and town councils. The statutory duties of these authorities are severely limited but they do perform a valuable advisory and consultative role with the principal authorities, particularly in rural areas. The recent reorganization of Welsh local government has prompted commentators to reconsider whether community councils could be afforded more statutory powers in rural governance. This paper discusses the potential for enhancing their role within one service area, namely the planning process. Planning is a function of local government where changes to responsibilities could be enacted. The paper discusses the findings of two research projects: first, a survey of senior planning officers in Wales towards awarding planning powers to community councils; and secondly, a more detailed examination of the perceptions of community councils in rural mid-Wales towards their powers and duties, their planning links with the principal authorities, and their duties within local communities to generate public involvement in rural policy-making. It argues that allocating planning responsibilities to community and town councils lacks the support of both planning professionals and community council representatives themselves. However, in the dual-push for unitary councils tooperate both strategically and locally, there is further scope for areorientation of rural policy-making and for local planning authorities to provide more extensive consultation opportunities to the councils. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Community participation through direct action at both local and national levels has been widely encouraged during the last decade by policy makers and citizens engaged in voluntary initiatives. A range of complementary and competing discourses on the nature, value and purpose of community participation is apparent. To date, the intent, success and justification for contemporary community participation have received limited critical evaluation, however, given the complexity of its implicit agenda, it is worth closer scrutiny. This paper reviews the underlying assumptions and academic evaluation of community participation in local action and highlights the complexity and multi-faceted nature of the discourse. An examination of the chronology of the implementation and integration of community participation in rural Wales explores the extent to which the process has become embedded and naturalized within the development agenda. This raises questions aboutthe nature and momentum of different discourses of local engagement and outlines a range of research issues that need exploration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reflects on the nature of the EU LEADER I local (participative) rural development programme using two empirical case studies. The two initiatives are analysed temporally as they moved from the construction of a territorial rationale, through the establishment of local structures of participation and finally into a philosophy and modus operandi in the implementation phase. The central argument of thepaper is that this style of approach reflects the basic principles of the local, territorial policy approach and that evaluation methods need to evolve to be able to focus on process, structures and interpretation/learning rather than on the measurement of concrete activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores some connections between the 'cultural turn' in recent social theory, and the emergence of new models of local and regional development which have potential importance for the pursuit ofsustainable rural development. Two particular examples of attempted cultural engineering, centred on ideas of 'enterprise culture' and of'corporate culture', are reviewed and both shown to be flawed by their weak conception of culture. A more convincing account of its importance is derived from work on regional development which emphasises the role of social networks and institutional thickness in enabling the growth of confidence and trust as preconditions for success. It is noted that these institutional conditions show some surprising similarities to traditional social features of rural areas, and so help explain the shift from failed strategies of rural development towards more integrated approaches. A number of examples of contemporary development practice in rural Wales are described, to support the suggestion that the attainment of sustainable economic and social development in rural areas depends upon creating social and institutional networks which embed change within the prevailing social and cultural resources of rural populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Taking the differentiating countryside as a major feature of rural spatial change, this paper explores some of the key development spheres which are influencing the process of differentiation with referenceto the British case. Combinations of local and non-local networks, supply chains and regulatory systems incorporate different rural spaces. Four particular development spheres: mass food markets, quality food markets, agriculturally related changes and rural restructuring implicate, in their different combinations, the different rural spaces.This analytical framework raises some important concerns for the governance of differentiating rural space in its regional context. In particular, it suggests that notions of integration and holism of ruralspaces will be difficult to achieve; and that governance and regulation becomes highly variable according to the relative significance oflocal/non-local networks. In conclusion, the implications of the analysis are examined in relation to the growing rural development policy discourse. This suggests the need for more regionally and spatiallyorientated policy which is more customized to the internal and external conditions different regional--rural spaces experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increasing quantities of waste produced by society have implications not only for waste management but also for the social and environmental impacts that these activities generate. This paper examines the impacts that a well-established United Kingdom (UK) landfill site has on the people who live around it and uses a stated preference choice experiment to estimate the magnitude of these impacts in monetaryterms. It is found that many residents experience minimal impacts having learnt to live with the landfill site. Willingness to pay for reducing impacts is relatively low and any reduction in landfill operations is likely to have little effect on the amenity of local people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This scheme addressing analytical quality in marine chemistry has been established within the UK. The National Marine Analytical Quality Control (NMAQC) scheme is primarily intended to underpin the co-ordinated National Monitoring Programme established in 1993/1994. In this paper we review the progress of the scheme during its first 4 years of operation with respect to the determination of concentrations of organochlorine compounds in aqueous samples, and relate performance in the exercises undertaken to date with the requirements of the NMP. The further development of the NMAQC scheme in respect of these determinands is also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Without public contributions, recycling from domestic waste would not be possible. In order to support recycling projects it is importantto try to understand who recycles, how they recycle, and why they recycle. This paper presents the results of a structured survey of 500 members of the public served by schemes to collect plastics waste forrecycling. Data were gathered on the characteristics, behaviours andmotivations of recyclers. The authors also sought to discover how the public perceive plastics compared to other materials, and as a recyclable material. Responses were collected in such a way that the awareness of the recyclability of materials could be compared with the recycling behaviour of respondents. An element of comparison was introduced between those served by a system of bottle banks (bring scheme) and those covered by a household collection (collect scheme). The survey results are reported and their implications for the management ofpost-consumer plastics waste collection schemes are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increasing pressure on the world's coastal resources highlights the need for more integrated approaches to their management. Such integration needs to be both vertical and horizontal. The resulting interdisciplinary approach that is required calls for the development of new skills and broader understanding. There is a need, therefore, forinterdisciplinary training and education in coastal and marine resource management. This paper examines the response of the University ofPortsmouth, England, to this challenge. It comments on the appropriateness of its location for research in this field and discusses how asuccessful interdisciplinary Masters level course has been developedin coastal and marine resource management. In considering the lessons learnt, it identifies some of the difficulties of working across traditional subject boundaries but suggests that it also offers many opportunities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research into the adoption of Environmental Land Management Schemes (ELMS) has typically sought to identify the defining characteristics of participants and the 'barriers to entry' that dissuade others fromjoining. More recently, attention has focused on the motivation of participants and non-participants in helping to understand patterns ofparticipation. This paper compares the pattern of participation in two distinct schemes operating in South East England. Indirect evidence suggests that scheme design and implementation is influencing the type of farmer joining and their motivation for doing so. Results froma survey of farmers also support the idea that the schemes are recruiting from different sections of the farming community. ESA farmers are largely motivated by financial gain, whereas those enrolling land in the Countryside Stewardship Scheme have more clearly defined conservation motives. Although there is also a 'core' of resistant non-participants, further changes to the design and delivery of policy couldencourage a large number of 'potential enrolers' to join. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 1989 reforms of the UK National Health Service introduced competition in supply within a tightly regulated framework. The paper examines whether this competition affects the prices posted by sellers of medical services. We argue that despite regulation market forces may have an impact on price. We test this using the posted prices for one of the two types of buyer, General Practice Fundholders. We find the regulatory rules are not observed, and some evidence of the impact of market forces on price. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Concern has existed for some time that the decline of the British shipping industry is resulting in the UK economy losing its maritime skills base. The effects of this loss could extend beyond the shipping industry because former seafarers are employed in other maritime related businesses ashore besides shipping. A study undertaken during 1995 and 1996 identified the economy's requirement for people with seafaring experience in land based jobs and assessed the implications of ashortfall in supply of seafarers to fill such jobs. This paper is concerned with the demand aspects of that study. (c) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Environment Act imposes a legal requirement for plastic packaging to be recycled. Recycling of post-consumer polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and high-density polyethylene (HDPE) bottles is expected to make a significant contribution to the Environment Act's national target of 15% recycling of plastic packaging waste by 2001. This paper summarises the findings of a national surveyof local authority post-consumer plastic bottle recycling schemes conducted at the end of 1997, establishing an overview of UK activity. Areas investigated include; the type, distribution and efficacy of schemes. Survey results are considered in the light of experience in the UK and abroad. Whilst plastic bottle recycling has grown rapidly since 1990, projections based on current recycling rates and local authority plans suggest that further assistance will be required. for the2001 target to he met. (c) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Concern has existed for some time that the decline of the British shipping industry is resulting in the UK economy losing its maritime skills base. The effects of this loss could extend beyond the shipping industry because former seafarers are employed in other maritime related businesses besides shipping ashore. A study undertaken during 1995 and 1996 identified the economy's requirement for people with seafaring experience in land based jobs and assessed the consequences of ashortfall in supply of seafarers to fill such jobs. This paper is mainly concerned with the supply aspects and policy implications of that study. (c) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper looks at recent developments in Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM). It considers the influence of global and international instruments on national policies and it takes the United Kingdom as an illustration of contemporary commitments of a European country to ICZM. It further reflects on how recent initiatives may change the perception of the role of coastal sciences and management in decisionmaking. It looks at the entanglement of legal frameworks at various levels, including the role of government departments and agencies andnon-governmental organisations (NGOs). NGOs are considered, here, asimportant agents on the international stage. The availability and the reliability of scientific information are recognised to be the critical factor, which can influence public opinion. In particular, it isshown that there is a great need for ecological interdisciplinary studies, which would provide material for rational action. Despite new policies, it is made clear that concrete actions are still to be taken in order to achieve sustainable development and avoid natural resources destruction or degradation. The need for a holistic approach to ICZM, including education and the dissemination of scientific information, is emphasised. (c) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers alternative means for assessing the success of 'agri-environmental' policy (AEP), which has become an increasingly-important aspect of agricultural and environmental policy throughout Europe, and which has probably developed more extensively in the UK than elsewhere. After a brief description of the main elements of AEP in the UK, we consider two broad classes of assessment method, those based on efficiency and those based on effectiveness. The latter classof methods has dominated appraisal so far in the UK, primarily through participation measures. We outline the limitations of these, and then consider evidence of policy efficiency gained through cost-benefit analysis techniques. Finally, we suggest how a combined approach could be used to appraise three possible changes to UK agri-environmental policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper applies a reading of the wider theoretical understanding of rural restructuring to the reform of agricultural holdings legislation over the last century. In charting the shifting legal basis of agricultural tenancies in England and Wales, from 'black letter' positivism to a more cultural form and system of regulation, the paper theorises that the underlying political imperative has been allied to the changing significance of property ownership and use. Rather than reflecting a long-term desire to maintain the let sector in British agriculture, however, the paper argues that this process has had other aims. In particular, it has been about an annexation of law to legitimise the retention of landowner power while presenting a 'democratisation' of farming, away from its plutocratic associations and towards anew narrative of 'depersonalised' business. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is a review of the problems and contradictions inherent in land use policies aimed at delivering urban intensification in England. Urban intensification is seen in land use planning as a way of delivering sustainable development: it optimises the use of previouslydeveloped land, reduces travel demand and revitalises and repopulates cities. However, by drawing on existing research and data some contradictions and complexities within both the content of intensification policies and their means of implementation are revealed. The paper reviews the origins of, and theory behind, compact city policies. It then illustrates how urban intensification policies have been included in planning policy in England, and reflects on the divergence between theory and practice. The aim of the paper, in revealing weaknessesin intensification policies, is not to discredit the compact city idea, but to draw attention to potential policy failures in order to identify issues which need to be addressed by policy-makers, implementers and researchers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recent Haven, Braer, Aegean Sea and Sea Empress incidents have highlighted the need for protective measures against the risks posed by the shipping industry to the UK coast. This is particularly the case in the vicinity of environmentally sensitive areas. The principal objectives of this paper are to investigate the state of environmentalmanagement of tanker traffic in the UK by putting the geography of shipping into its environmental context. Regional traffic levels, accident rates, oil spills, and their potential consequences upon the environment have been summarised via a risk assessment which also considers coastal sensitivity. An assessment of measures available at international level then sets the scene for a review of marine traffic management schemes in operation around the UK. The state of management and its approaches are also discussed and a number of recommendations put forward during marine conferences in the last twelve months are considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ability to comply fully with the discharge requirements set out in the MARPOL 73/78 Convention depends upon the availability of adequate facilities on land for the reception of shipgenerated waste. Thispaper considers ways of ensuring adequate provision of reception facilities, and discusses the approach taken by the UK to reduce the amount of pollution entering the marine environment from the deliberate discharge of waste from ships. Arguably, the most significant of the measures adopted by the UK is the requirement for all ports and harbours to prepare port waste management plans. Disincentives to the use of port waste reception facilities are examined, together with the benefits and shortcomings of various financing arrangements, and compulsory discharge of waste in ports. The paper concludes that the statutory approach to improving the provision and use of waste facilities should be supported by an appropriate awareness campaign to educate shipowners about the need to discharge waste legally to port reception facilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the development of the offshore oil and gas industry on the United Kingdom Continental Shelf (UKCS) and particularly the role played by science and technology in that development. An historical perspective is taken in the first instance to place recent developments in context, before exploring the role of science and technology in the 1990s. Three areas of key importance form the basis of the discussion: the maintenance of production from the traditional provinces, the development of new provinces and the mitigation of environmental impacts. The paper demonstrates the crucial role that scienceand technology plays in each of these areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The first section of this paper deals with the development of marineinformation systems relating to the marine environment, uses and industries. The second section considers the organisational scales of information management based on the types of organisation and their geographical scales of operation. Key issues arising from the use and handling of marine information in a digital environment are discussed. The use of the Internet for 'on-line' pointers to the existing marineinformation and as a platform for exchange of ideas and information is reviewed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent research has highlighted the nature of spatial inequalities in health experience in the UK providing evidence of increasing spatial polarisation. However, these studies have tended to be largely concerned with variations in health in urban settings. Recent economic trends, particularly in the agricultural sector, have focused attentionon the socio-economic status of rural populations. With a number of notable exceptions, relatively few studies have been concerned explicitly with issues of rural health. The aims of this paper are to firstly, review recent research which has begun to challenge the notion that rural populations are necessarily healthier than their urban compatriots and secondly, to identify a number of possible explanations for the trends identified in these studies. Variations are examined in relation to methodological problems, socio-economic trends in rural areas, changing accessibility to primary and secondary health care andlifestyle/behavioural factors. A research agenda is presented whereby these types of factors can be further investigated through an integrated approach to studying health variations within rural areas. Finally, the paper concludes by suggesting that more research is needed to investigate the main determinants of health experience and health status in a range of rural settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The UK waste strategy is based upon the central concept of the hierarchy of preferable options for the treatment and disposal of waste. Minimisation is placed at the top of the hierarchy and the Government seeks to encourage its uptake by industry and commerce as well as householders. It has been accepted that previous waste management policyand practice have not delivered the hoped for movement up the hierarchy. Within the UK, landfill still predominates as the option most commonly used to deal with waste. Movement towards more sustainable waste management practice has been identified as a priority, in the UK, by the present Labour Government. To that end, they have recently produced a series of consultation papers on sustainable issues that set out their vision and confirm waste minimisation as a key strategy forthe future. In an attempt to stimulate the uptake of minimisation methodology by industry, waste minimisation clubs have been developed across the UK. There have been around 60 such clubs and they receive support and guidance from a range of organisations, including the Environment Agency and the ETBPP. These clubs have demonstrated that a significant reduction in waste arisings can occur when minimisation methodology is applied. Minimisation strategies often lead to improved resource efficiency and this is reflected in clear financial savings, e.g. the Leicester Waste Minimisation Initiative recorded mean savings, at the end of year one, of 0.26% of joint turnover. The median, however, better reflects the actual savings and it is apparent that even within a successful club there can be a wide range of performance by companies. Not all clubs have been successful and there has been little attention to the causes of failure in the UK. There are marked regional variations in club distribution and the proposed Regional Development Agencies, working with the Environment Agency, need to quickly establish strategies for minimisation uptake. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the extent to which recent observations about the declining power of landowners signals the arrival of a post-feudal structure in world agriculture. Using the findings of a desk study oflease arrangements across four continents, the paper shows that, although there are substantial cultural and customary differences in theways in which agricultural leases have developed, three broad systems can be delineated. These are characterised as: the `feudal' system,in which landowners remain dominant; a neo-feudal system which, while underwriting private landowning, attempts to combine commercial agriculture with the maintenance of an open and vibrant lease sector; and a post-feudal system, based on improving the financial and technical efficiency of the farming industry. Using this classification, the paper explores the key determinants of the types of lease system which have emerged. It suggests that the suitability of any given system is a function of the overall policy objectives established for the sector. On this basis the paper rejects western constructs of a linear progression from feudalism to post-feudalism. Rather, it suggests that, as both extreme systems are open to exploitation, long-term stability and flexibility is most likely to occur under a neo-feudal regimein which government assumes a pivotal role in supporting both landowners and tenants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the light of the significant role played by corporate interviews in the construction of contemporary economic geographies, this paper suggests that the practices of corporate interviewing in the researchprocess demand critical reflection. These practices are reflected upon in the context of a comparative study of retailer/manufacturer power relations in the UK and USA. In particular, attention is paid to the ways in which corporate interviews actively construct knowledge ofcontrasting own-brand supply relationships in these national economies. To do this, the paper addresses the following issues: (i) the embeddedness of corporate interviews in a transforming economic geography; (ii) the processes of identifying, and gaining access to, own-brand supply networks in the UK and USA; (iii) the use of materials resulting from corporate interviews to produce nuanced understandings of own-brand supply relationships; (iv) the adoption of an appropriate textual strategy for writing such interview-based material into economic geography. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Waterfront revitalisation in naval ports involves economic restructuring, socio-political reorientation and the re-use of highly specialised facilities made redundant by far-reaching changes in national andinternational defence strategies. Not least because of the opportunities and challenges presented by naval heritage resources, these changes are comparable to, but significantly different from, those associated with commercial ports. This paper explores methodological approaches to the problem of evaluating strategies based on the waterfront in three major British naval ports. Critical analysis of outcomes andissues is employed to propose an evaluative framework for heritage-based revitalisation in naval cityports in a wider context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT: Building on nearly 20 years of research experience, this paper reflects on the collection and use of both qualitative and quantitative data in a longitudinal study of aging conducted in the United Kingdom. Specifically, it focuses on the identification of the Wenger support network typology and the ways in which the interaction between the different types of data informed the study. Subsequently, it (1) draws attention to the fact that the typology would not have emerged in the way it did without intensive qualitative study, but shows how quantitative data made it possible to test hypotheses raised in the intensive study; and (2) shows how the use of qualitative data led to different interpretations of the quantitative data in the analysis over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]