Allocating Grant to the UK's Devolved Territories by Needs Assessment: Lessons from School Funding Formulae in England and Scotland

The UK's devolved governments (DGs) receive block grants to finance almost all their expenditure. The Barnett formula used to calculate these grants is often criticised because it does not consider the DGs’ spending needs. However, the feasibility of allocating block grants by needs assessment is often questioned, given the contestability of spending needs. This paper compares the formula used within England to assess the education spending needs of local authorities there with the equivalent Scottish formula, by using each formula in turn to calculate the relative spending needs of the UK territories. The rationale is to consider how similar the two formulae are in how they estimate the territories’ relative spending needs for education, a major responsibility of the DGs. The results show that the English and Scottish education allocation formulae produce similar estimates of the territories’ relative education spending needs. This suggests that it may be more feasible to allocate education resources to the UK's devolved territories based on needs assessment than some have suggested. The results also suggest some inequity in current patterns of education spending across the UK.     

The accountability information needs of key charity funders

Government and philanthropic funders are key charity stakeholders, yet we know little about their accountability information needs. This New Zealand study captures these stakeholders’ perceptions of the background, financial and non-financial performance information they need from charities. It also reveals how, in addition to imposing reporting requirements, these key funders engage in ‘institutional work’ to ensure they receive appropriate accountability information.     

专门用途英语（ESP）研究综述

专门用途英语（ESP）是20世纪60年代发展起来的一种以专业需求为基础的实用型英语教学法,它目的明确,实用性强,深受欢迎。通过总结介绍ESP的涵义、分类、发展以及教学原则等问题,指出了开展ESP的必要性。     

“乡镇政府改革”刍议

近年以"撤并"为主要内容的乡镇政府改革被视为解决县乡财政困难的有效举措.为此,有必要就乡镇政府改革的三大问题进行辨析,即乡镇政府改革是撤并乡镇还是功能重构?是撤并乡镇以做大求规模效益还是注重小政府以求公共服务的质量责任和回应性?是对上(上级政府)负责的压力驱动型体制还是对下(本地居民)负责的需求导向型体制?以此来审视和反思当前我国的乡镇政府改革,结论是:"撤并式"乡镇政府改革效果有限.     

我国森林旅游四个主要领域的研究进展

对我国森林旅游四个主要领域多年来的研究进展进行了述评,包括森林旅游资源、森林公园、森林旅游需求和森林旅游影响四方面。梳理了各领域的研究状况,对其中的代表性研究成果给予了评析,以利于促进我国森林旅游理论与实践研究的进一步发展。     

基于知识型员工需求层次的忠诚管理

知识型员工是企业生存和可持续发展的宝贵资源,知识型员工的非正常流失会给企业带来巨大的损失.知识型员工流失的主要原因在于其缺少对企业的忠诚度,提升知识型员工的忠诚度可以从许多方面着手,而本文在马斯洛需求层次理论的基础上,分析了知识型员工的需求层次特征,并提出了企业提升知识型员工忠诚度的途径.     

农村留守老人宗教皈依背后的社会需求研究——基于罗村的调查

在社会转型期,农村出现了宗教热现象,尤其在老年人群体当中。作者通过在罗村的实地调查,对农村留守老人宗教皈依现象进行了实地追踪,并通过非结构式访谈来找寻留守老人宗教皈依的动因,发现在留守老人宗教皈依的背后,是没有得到满足的健康需求和精神需求、危机干预需求、社会参与和社会交往需求、养老需求。     

Safety and minority ethnic communities A preliminary study on the home safety information needs of the Asian,Chinese and Vietnamese communities living in the UK in the 1990s.

Abstract

This article is about the safety information needs of the Asian, Chinese and Vietnamese communities living in the UK. The author describes the process by which the report Safety and minority ethnic communities was researched and written and details the recommendations arising from that research.

The report itself covered a two-year research project conducted between 1990 and 1992. The work was funded by the Department of Trade and Industry and the Department of Health and carried out by the author.