Government News May 2008

• The Dept for Work and Pensions has published a report on the Pathways to Work Support pilot scheme. The scheme is a government initiative to act as a new incentive and reassurance to Incapacity Benefit claimants entering employment. The report says that the Pathways to Work Support wasn’t the only or even primary source of support for most customers, that the Jobcentre Plus staff were inconsistent in referring people, and finally that providers of the service saw funding as inadequate. For more details see Pathways to Work on our publications section.
  
• A report published by think-tank the New Local Government Network has warned that Town Halls could face an acute staff shortage. The report says that over the next ten years a third of its staff are due to retire, with the problem being particularly acute in local government as two thirds of employees are over 40. For more details see Leading Lights: Recruiting the Next Generation in Local Government on our website.
  
• The Competition Commission has published a report on the groceries market which took two years to research. The Commission recommends that the Government applies a competition test to proposed new stores and extensions which will favour new entrants and grocery retailers other than those which already have a significant local market share, and that retailers should be required to relinquish control of landsites in highly concentrated markets. For more details visit see the Groceries Market Investigation Report 2008
  
• The Institute for Public Policy Research has published a report entitled Floodgates or Turnstiles. The study aims to provide as definitive a picture of migration flows to and from the UK as possible. The report claims that 665,000 people from Eastern Europe live in the UK, but predicted that the flow would subside as Eastern Europe’s economies caught up with the UK. For more details visit our publications section – Floodgates or Turnstiles.