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The purpose of this article is to evaluate employee perceptions of pay practice in civil service executive agencies in the wake of changes in the established institutions of pay determination.

A survey design drawing original data from 1,057 civil servants, all members of the IPMS (now merged with EMA to form Prospectus), the union representing scientific, technical and professional occupations in the civil service.

The study distinguishes four distinctive pay practice systems. Pay satisfaction is found to be positively related to two principles: a clear effort‐reward link and an understanding of pay criteria. However, employees are more satisfied with pay when their organisational pay system accords with traditional rather than newer practices. This suggests that embedded norms continue to exert a powerful influence over employee perceptions of pay.

Whilst the respondent profile accurately reflects those working in the scientific, professional and technical grades (predominantly male, white, full‐time workers), aspects of this profile do not accurately reflect the civil service as a whole.

Old habits “die hard”. A sobering message for those practitioners who readily assume that forced change in pay systems will elicit “desired” employee responses.

Against a backdrop of fundamental changes in the character of pay determination in the civil service, this study presents employee perceptions of pay practices, shows how they combine in ways that reflect a distinct set of pay systems and reveals the impact associated with these systems on attitudes and behaviours.

The mammoth proportions of Public Expenditure, its accountability, its control, must be one of the biggest problems any government has had to meet. Despite all its counselling to the public spenders, its massive efforts to scale down the spending, there is extremely little to show for it. The Departments and State Services have become so large, they have outgrown government control; they are in fact forms of government in themselves. When a body established with a definite role becomes so big and powerful, as many of the authorities in the country have become, they tend to resent any form of control over them. History has many such examples in one form or another. Where an ocean divides them, the subordinate power may seek a separate nationhood for itself, as the American colonies did a couple of centuries or more ago. They chose the right moment to rebel when the home government sought to pass on extra levy on the importation of tea, which the Colonists turned into a slogan “no taxation without representation”. The truth, however, was they had outgrown the mother country and saw themselves as a new nation in a new land immensely rich in natural resources, riches all theirs for the taking. Much of the old country understood their aspirations and in the final settlement, the British were more than generous to them.

Fumes, grit, dust, dirt—all have long been recognized as occupational hazards, their seriousness depending on their nature and how they assail the human body, by ingestion, absorption, inhalation, the last being considered the most likely to cause permanent damage. It would not be an exaggeration to state that National Insurance (Industrial Injuries) provisions, now contained in the Social Security Act, 1975, with all the regulations made to implement the law, had their birth in compensating victims of lung disease from inhalation of dust. Over the years, the range of recognized dust disease, prescribed under regulations, has grown, but there are other recognized risks to human life and health from dusts of various kinds, produced not from the manufacturing, mining and quarrying, &c. industries; but from a number of areas where it can contaminate and constitute a hazard to vulnerable products and persons. An early intervention by legislation concerned exposed foods, e.g. uncovered meat on open shop fronts, to dust and in narrow streets, mud splashed from road surfaces. The composition of dust varies with its sources—external, atmospheric, seasonal or interior sources, uses and occupations, comings and goings, and in particular, the standards of cleaning and, where necessary, precautions to prevent dust accumulation. One area for long under constant scrutiny and a subject of considerable research is the interior of hospital wards, treatment rooms and operating theatres.

Earlier in the year, during the national steel industry strike, the House of Lords overturned a judgment of Lord Denning, MR, that sections of the industry unaffected by the trade dispute could be regarded as outside the Act and its amendments and that unions could be restrained in their application of immune activities to those firms. The decision apart, their Lordships in delivering judgment reaffirmed that only Parliament had power to make the Law; it was not the function of Judges to do this, their's to interpret and apply the Law. In strict legal terms and applying to statutes and statutory instruments, this is true; but in the widest sense, judges have been making law for centuries. Otherwise, from whence cometh the Common Law, one of the wonders of the world, if not from the mouths of H.M. Judges. Much of it is now enshrined in statute form, especially Criminal Law, but initially it was all judge‐made. In most systems of human control and function, complete separation is rarely possible and when attempted the results have not been conspicuously successful.

The findings of the Steering Group on Food Freshness in relation to the compulsory date marking of food contained in their Report, reviewed elsewhere in this issue, has brought within measurable distance the Regulations which were, in any case, promised for1975. The Group consider that the extension of voluntary open date marking systems will not be sufficiently rapid (or sufficiently comprehensive) to avoid the need or justify the delay in introducing legislation.

EACH September the eyes of the aeronautical World turn towards the S.B.A.C. Air Display and Exhibition with interest unequalled by any other event. It is fitting that the Display is now held each year at the airfield of the Royal Aircraft Establishment, one of the world's most prominent aeronautical research centres. This interest becomes increasingly keen too, as the preview day comes closer, because new prototypes of unorthodox designs often appear a short time before the Show to illustrate the results of years of careful planning, development and research of the particular company. These designs often mould the path of progress for smaller countries without the economic resources to forge the way ahead alone. Most British citizens are very proud of their country's place in aviation today, both in the military and civil fields. This is understood by most foreigners because it is clear that Britain has won a place in aeronautical development second to none.

This study presents findings on the spatial distribution of vandalism and the nature and extent of vandalism within Manenberg, a residential township in the Western Cape province of South Africa. The focus of the study is on the impact of the design of the built environment on vandalism. Design factors of the built environment, most notably, the distribution and type of buildings and open spaces are examined as possible influences on the incidence of vandalism, and population density, type and size of household, and property ownership are considered as relevant demographic variables. The methodology adopted for the study involves the collection and interpretation of official police statistics of vandalism over a seven‐year period (1992‐1999). The statistical data are combined with the 1996 population census for the area. The statistical data are examined and presented in three focus areas: the frequency of vandalism, the nature of vandalism, and the location of vandalism. The study then examines the association between the design of the built environment and vandalism levels. In conclusion, the likely cost implications of vandalism are discussed.

The term “learning community” is in common usage but appears to mask significant variation in practice. This article begins with a description of the “peer learning community” model within the MSc in Change Agent Skills and Strategies at the University of Surrey, UK. Tosey and Gregory have proposed five criteria as distinguishing this specific, designed model from more general usage of the term “learning community”. From this basis, it is argued that the effectiveness of learning programmes (such as action learning) will be greatly influenced by the framework and context within which they take place. The peer learning community is an example of a contextual design that could be applied within both business and higher education. As such it has relevance to the concept of the “learning organisation”. The presence or absence of conditions such as the five proposed may crucially impact on the effectiveness of programmes of learning. The article concludes by raising critical questions about the peer learning community model.

The need for developing new entrepreneurial ways of thinking and acting has been in the agenda for the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and the European Union countries. In line with their agenda, the Nordic Council of Ministers has been preoccupied with the development of entrepreneurial mindsets among the adult population. Seeking to meet the urgent need for developing entrepreneurial thinking, the Nordic Network for Adult Learning, together with the Nordic Council of Ministers, has elaborated and tested a Scandinavian model for stimulating entrepreneurial mindsets through the transformative learning circles. Based on the study of the TLC pilot project, this chapter explores the process of facilitation of entrepreneurial learning. The literature on entrepreneurial learning and education emphasises on the importance of facilitation; however, this issue is yet to be addressed in-depth. This chapter seeks to fill in this gap and contribute to our understanding of the role that facilitators play in the entrepreneurial and transformative learning processes. Drawing on the social constructionist approach to learning, this chapter discusses how facilitators and learners (entrepreneurs) become co-creators of knowledge and learning experiences.

This article presents an application in organizational consulting of a model that utilises the concept of “energy”. This model has its roots in an ancient framework, the chakra system. The approach is emergent, and to date has proved insightful for managers and others in settings such as higher education, coaching, and consultancy. The article describes a specific application of the framework in an organizational consultancy project. The consultant used the framework to guide a collaborative inquiry by organizational participants into their experience of the organization, leading to formulation of intended changes. Issues for practice and for critical reflection are raised.