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This chapter explores the policy changes which occurred in English higher education since 2011 which resulted in new or private higher education (PHE) providers engaging in the sector with the same regulatory requirements as established institutions (the ‘level playing field’). This chapter begins by exploring some challenges in defining and understanding PHE in England and the United Kingdom and presents some international literature to frame the English sector against PHE developments in other countries, suggesting that England’s PHE sector is distinct from international examples as it did not emerge due to an inability on the part of the incumbent sector to provide sufficient diversity of opportunity to study in England, instead emerging through a perceived need for greater competition and efficiency in the sector. The policy development of the level playing field is outlined through a review of key policy statements and reviews. A review of a sample of Access and Participation Plans submitted by PHE providers in England is used to provide some contextual data around some of the challenges presented for small, specialist PHE providers engaging with and enacting national-level widening participation (WP) policy in England. Such challenges typically include small data sets which hamper thorough analysis of interventions, under-developed information technology (IT) and record systems, and a lack of specialist expertise. These findings provide some challenge to the idea that PHE or alternative providers are inherently good at recruiting and teaching WP students as many institutions appear to have limited capacity for the data analysis and evaluation required by the Office for Students (OfS) to support such claims.

Widening participation (WP) has increasingly become part of the normal ‘business’ of English higher education (HE) providers during the last 25 years. WP entered the policy mainstream for the entire HE sector following the Dearing Review (NCIHE, 1997) and the election of a new Labour government wedded to notions of social justice but also concerned with ‘lifelong learning’ in the name of human capital growth. This book employs a dual usage of the term ‘business’ in relation to WP policy, practice and culture in the context of the marketised English HE system. The first, figurative, usage explores the ways in which WP has been drawn into institutional positionality as HE providers are encouraged to differentiate themselves in the market. The second, literal, usage explores the ways in which the business of WP has become ‘business as normal’ for the sector and institutions, increasingly intertwined with other activities and which play out variously, often in response to regulatory demands of the state. This introductory chapter first contextualises these developments with a brief overview of the evolution of the HE sector in England before proposing a multilevel model – the HE policy enactment staircase – as a way of thinking about how policy is made, enacted and implemented within the sector. This chapter then draws upon this model to acts as a structure for this book. It does this by moving from a macro-level exploration of ideological levels of policymaking, through National/Sectoral level right down to the issues at an institutional and operational levels. In doing so, this chapter creates a framework from which to understand how the various elements and levels of the business of WP play out within the English HE sector.

The complexity of modern policing requires an accountable police service to operate in a diverse society, where support/trust must be earned by action and deed. The article examines the potential of market orientated strategies in facilitating policing initiatives, such as community policing and enhanced service quality. The work reviews the concept of market orientation and adopts a case study approach to research. Market orientated/customer focused strategies are examined in a range of public, private and international sectors. Findings outline a three‐stage “turnaround” process to enhance service quality and highlight the importance of market orientation in counteracting the concept of “unwilling/reluctant customers”. Draws on case studies from Inland Revenue, Richer Sounds plc and the New York Police Department.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the practical and legal complexities associated with tele-homeworking arrangements in light of the recent COVID-19 pandemic. In particular, the study focusses on organisational practices and outcomes relating to the monitoring and surveillance of employees. Drawing on relevant UK legislation and illustrative case law examples, the study demonstrates the challenges and legal implications associated with tele-homeworking.

This study is based on a review of the literature and an examination of the EU and UK laws applicable to various employer and employee concerns that stem from tele-homeworking.

Tele-homeworking can be advantageous to both employers and employees, however, there are a number of growing concerns surrounding the monitoring of such workers. Developing technologies can act as a catalyst for legal disputes and the advances in workforce monitoring and surveillance reveal the complex challenges faced by both employers and employees. The indiscriminate monitoring of staff can result in claims of violations to the privacy rights of workers, breach of contract and discrimination claims. Several policy implications associated with monitoring tele-homeworkers surface from the analysis, including the need to ensure that any proposed surveillance is legitimate, proportionate and transparent.

The paper is beneficial in providing legal insights into the topical and continuing complexities associated with the monitoring of tele-homeworkers. The exogenous shock of COVID-19 has demanded the reorganisation of work. The extensive and developing capabilities that employers have at their disposal to engage in employee monitoring, give rise to a greater possibility of legal challenges by workers. The study serves to draw attention to various surveillance concerns and highlights the importance of employers undertaking an evaluation of their monitoring practices and complying with the legal framework.

The aim of this pilot audit study is to develop and test a model to examine existing adult patient database (APD) data quality.

A database was created to audit 50 records per site to determine accuracy. The audited records were randomly selected from the calendar year 2004 and four sites participated in the pilot audit study. A total of 41 data elements were assessed for data quality – those elements required for APACHE II scoring system.

Results showed that the audit was feasible; missing audit data were an unplanned problem; analysis was complicated owing to the way the APACHE calculations are performed and 50 records per site was too time‐consuming.

This is the first audit study of intensive care data within the ANZICS APD and demonstrates how to determine data quality in a large database containing individual patient records.

Examines the introduction of PRP into occupations like nursing. Essentially a literature review, examines the theoretical case for and practical problems of PRP in its “natural setting” in the private sector and highlights the issues of performance measurement, motivation and control in nursing. Generally concludes that any attempt to force individualized PRP into nursing that does not recognize the contingencies of particular trusts and those who work in them is likely to prove counter‐productive. Neither the theoretical justification nor the empirical evidence supporting PRP is sufficiently strong to warrant wholesale adoption. Instead, trusts which wish to bring about a focus on a more performance‐oriented culture would be better advised to refine performance measures and consider group‐based schemes.

ON AVERAGE FIGURES, all coutries in the developed world (but, regrettably, not in the third world) are able to increase their national output year by year. Examined in isolation, statistics associated with such growth (e.g. output per worker) demonstrate a comforting trend — even though the vertical scales of graphics might have been selected with that purpose in mind! The simple step of making cross‐country comparisons can, however, quickly remove some of the complacency.