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Hereward College is the UK National Residential College for students with physical and sensory disabilities. It offers a full range of further education courses combined with study support and 24‐hour care and medical support. It provides 120 residential places for disabled students and 300 day places for disabled or able‐bodied students. A range of teaching strategies is employed including open learning through the Supported Self Study Centre, which has all day tutor support.

Describes one area of the Custom & Excise organization and its introduction of a competency‐based approach for its staff. Looks at the problems involved in trying to use competences where the highly‐trained staff show an adverse reaction to it. Ultimately, because of this, it was adandoned for a more flexible personal development plan (PDP). This is now running successfully and the staff voluntarily involve themselves in the scheme as it would appear more relevant to them than the competence model. Trainers must conclude that flexibility is the key when using training methods for staff.

Presents the results of a survey of 501 traditionally‐built residential properties in the East Midlands which identified and analysed the causal mechanisms of 844 specific structural defects to establish why each mechanism was allowed to develop. Reveals that only 16.9 per cent of the structural defects analysed were unavoidable, the remainder being attributed to ignorance, negligence and false economy on the part of designers, builders and owners. Reports that, although recent legislation has reduced the likelihood of some defects occurring as often in the future, there are still many bad practices which need to be eliminated. Confirms the importance of implementing a sensible programme of preventive maintenance for each building.

In May 2016, Aleks Eror’s op-ed article ‘Dear fashion industry: Stop making up bogus subcultures’ on the HighSnobiety website accuses the fashion industry of creating ‘quasi-subcultures’, such as Normcore, Seapunk and Health Goth to promote specific fashion trends via the Internet. Eror argues that these fashion subcultures do not exist in resistance to mainstream culture (as he understands subcultures), but instead offer the specific fashions and their designers cache for being associated with a counterculture and connecting with alternative trends. Setting aside Eror’s narrow understanding of subcultures, he raises questions of authenticity and the current state of virtual fashion subcultures.

Still, there is evidence of these subcultures online and growing in substantial numbers regardless of their inception. Furthermore, persons identifying themselves with these groups practice alternativity, which delineates their scenes, artefacts, and practices from those of mainstream Western society. I pursue questions of authenticity regarding these recent fashion subcultures who appear to emerge in close proximity to the launch of specific fashions. The author explores the ways in which these fashion subcultural experiences differ from known subcultures. The author investigates notions of constructed resistance and perceived alternativity and marginalization, as well as how that positionality manifests into a fashion subculture identity.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a framework of excellence for the development of an online press office at Cardiff Council.

The paper presents an analysis of key issues of public relations theory as they apply to the provision of an online press office. This is supported by a survey of journalists who have used Cardiff's media service and enhanced by assessment of examples of existing best practice across local authorities in the UK.

The result is a suggested framework of nine core elements for excellence, which draws on theory and practice and could be applied by other local authorities. The study shows that provided these guiding principles are followed, a basic site can be as successful as one with all the bells and whistles.

The paper makes a substantial contribution to the evidence base for the implementation of local authority online press offices in the UK.