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In principle, it is possible for a couple to get married in a register office in England or Wales for £127 (including the cost of giving notice and a certificate). In this article, we draw on empirical research to show how limited this option is in practice. Its availability is constrained by the scarcity of register offices limited slots for weddings, and the addition of other fees not provided for in the regulations. Its accessibility is often not obvious from local authorities' websites, and the administration of such a wedding varies hugely, with some local authorities treating it as a no-frills legal procedure, and others regarding it as a significant ceremony that is incomplete without music or a reflective introductory speech by the superintendent registrar – even if the couple wanted neither. With significant numbers of couples having a register office wedding because the marriage ceremony they choose to have to reflect their beliefs is not legally binding, there is a need to address these issues of availability, accessibility and administration so that couples are not put off or discriminated against. Further research is also needed to explore how these issues impact those with limited means. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recording of Guardbridge Paper Mill was a joint field recording initiative between the Royal Commissions on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland and of Wales (RCAHMS and RCAHMW), to coincide with the centenary year of both organisations. Its aim was to foster an exchange of approaches to, and techniques of, site recording, in particular industrial process recording, and to explore the practicality of making a worthwhile record of operations of a large, complex working site within limited field time. The paper mill at Guardbridge was chosen for recording as it fulfilled several criteria: the works was considered to be of historical importance as it had been in existence on the same site since the 1870s; there were many and varied buildings and structures illustrating the continuous development of the site; it was easily accessible and relatively compact and it was still active manufacturing its original product. The site was unique, and it was decided that a record should be made on those grounds alone, yet typical in that standard items of plant were used here as elsewhere. The machinery in use spanned a wide date-range and, although everyone is familiar with the finished product and the process is broadly understood in general, it is a much more complex process than at first perceived and thus worth recording from an archaeological perspective so that others may use the results to identify features at similar types of site. As is so often the case with industrial sites, the buildings are generally of secondary importance to the processes carried on within and this should be reflected in the type of recording undertaken. In particular, full advantage should be taken of any opportunity to record while operations are still active. The RCAHMS has carried out surveys at large sites such as at the ICI Nobel's Explosives Factory, Ardeer, Ayrshire; the Lady Victoria Colliery at Newtongrange; Nairn's Linoleum Works, Kirkcaldy; and at Lochaline Silica Mine, Morvern, Argyll, with varying emphasis on process recording dependent on the time available for survey. The RCAHMW has made records of live industrial processes at several sites in Wales, for example, Taff Merthyr Colliery, Merthyr Tydfil; Cooke's Explosives Works, Penrhyndeudraeth, Gwynedd; Esgairmwyn Lead Re-processing Works, Ceredigion; Gywnfynydd Gold Mine, Gwynedd; Alwen Water Treatment Works, Conwy; and a partial record at Cwm Coking Works, Rhondda Cynon Taff. It was considered an appropriate time to share these experiences and techniques in the field. Terms in bold are explained in the glossary; numbers refer to structures and areas shown in Figure 7. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discusses the need to reform the law relating to shared housing in England and Wales. History of the Law Commission project; Law affecting home-sharers; Consequence of cohabiting relationship.

Information about several papers discussed held at the Drawing Symposium at Swansea Metropolitan University in Swansea, Wales, on November 18, 2011 is presented. Speakers included the artists Mary-Ann Kokoska, Robert Newell and Natasha Mayo. Various aspects of drawing practice and technique are also discussed.

South Asians constitute Britain's largest ethnic minorities, yet very little is known about their migration history in the prewar era. Recent literature has begun to challenge the widely held view that South Asian migration to Britain was a post-war phenomenon in response to Britain's need for labour as it emerged from two costly wars. The literature has demonstrated that the South Asian presence in Britain can be traced back to the seventeenth century. This paper adds to that literature by analysing the occupation distribution and mobility of South Asian-born migrants during the early twentieth century. Regression results from the 1901 and 1911 Censuses of England and Wales suggest that relative to other foreign-born and British-born, South Asian-born immigrants were primarily employed in white-collar jobs, a position they largely retained until at least 1911. These results suggest that the South Asian diaspora was economically well assimilated into the British economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores whether children and young people (CYP) with additional learning needs (ALN) are at a systemic disadvantage regarding Welsh language opportunities. Justification pertaining to why this should be on the radar of educational psychologists (EPs) in Wales is provided. Congruent with critical realism, quantitative and qualitative research is reviewed, examining micro, eco and macrosystems. A systemic lens illuminates the context and process factors that CYP with ALN and their families may encounter regarding Welsh language opportunities. This paper is informed by the bioecological Person Process Context Time (PPCT) model, and the Constructionist Model of Informed and Reasoned Action (COMOIRA). Limitations demarcating interpretation of identified issues are highlighted, without negating their significance. Implications for EPs are offered, contemplating their role in facilitating inclusion through supporting the development of greater cohesion between Welsh Government (WG) legislation (macrosystem), and the systemic realities of CYP with ALN in Wales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Motivated by demand prediction for the custodial prison population in England and Wales, this paper describes an approach to the study of service systems using infinite server queues, where the system has non-empty initial state and the elapsed time of individuals initially present is not known. By separating the population into initial content and new arrivals, we can apply several techniques either separately or jointly to those sub-populations, to enable both short-term queue length predictions and longer-term considerations such as managing congestion and analysing the impact of potential interventions. The focus in the paper is the transient behaviour of the M t / G / ∞ queue with a non-homogeneous Poisson arrival process and our analysis considers various possible simplifications, including approximation. We illustrate the approach in that domain using publicly available data in a Bayesian framework to perform model inference. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper employs data from the 2021 UK census to initially explore sub-state (English, Welsh) national identities among minority ethnic groups. This shows that these identities remain much more exclusive of people in minority groups than is a British identity, and that this exclusion is particularly marked with respect to English identity. The analysis then builds on this observation using similar data to examine English identification among the White British ‘majority’ in a ‘superdiverse’ city – London. Attributes which are typically shared by London boroughs in which identification as English deviates most from the national average, and multi-variable analysis which considers the ethnic structure of the borough in which an individual lives alongside other key factors (age, education, social class) suggest differences in identification between people living in boroughs that are characterised by more established and extensive ethnic diversity and those in boroughs transitioning from a previously more homogeneous (white) ethnic structure. In exploring how the articulation of a specific national identity might relate to ethnically-diverse or ‘superdiverse’ contexts, the paper uniquely contributes to recent research which calls for a stronger focus on how people who do not belong to migrant-minority groups might respond to living in such contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the transformative potential of inward investment on cluster development. It undertakes this through the lens of the evolving semiconductor cluster in South Wales (UK) and within a context whereby the semiconductor industry is under pressure with government interventions to improve prospects being implemented at a time of increasing global tension in the industry. The paper reveals the potential of inward investors as agents of regional economic change and cluster development. It shows that the emerging South Wales cluster distinguishes itself in terms of investment motivation, commodities and services produced. These factors result in growing embeddedness in relation to elements such as joint research with higher education and intra-firm collaboration to develop new products and processes. The paper concludes that investments based on risky and fast-changing technologies in industries such as the semiconductor sector necessarily create challenges for policy makers. These are best managed by placing greater emphasis on developing the conditions to satisfy the needs of such knowledge-intensive industries in relation to labour market conditions, factor conditions and market access. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Policy classifies and shapes people/subjects in particular kinds of ways. Focusing on the context of Health and Physical Education (HPE), this paper analyses policy documents from Australia, the United States of America (USA) and Wales. We pay particular attention to how learners are represented within and across the three policy documents, and we apply Bacchi's 'What's the Problem Represented to be?' approach to guide the analysis. For us, problematization is a fruitful and positive process that enables educators to engage with a critical dialogue regarding the policies they are expected to enact. Our analysis highlighted that common across the policies were overlapping discourses of idealism, neoliberalism, healthism, and individualism, which serve to reinforce deficit language and a focus on what learners 'lack'. The problem of 'learner as lacking' is represented within the policies via at least three subject positions: 'the sedentary learner', 'the un-educated learner' and 'the naïve learner'. The findings suggest that the three policies were producing an ideal and perhaps impossible learner (subject) whilst at the same time representing the learner as a problem that the policy could 'fix'. This paper is important because it: (i) demonstrates how certain discourses and voices are amplified and silenced within curriculum policy documents and policy work more broadly; (ii) makes educational and health politics visible; and (iii) creates space for the profession to develop greater critical consciousness related to policy. In terms of future directions, we urge curriculum policy writers and other stakeholders to carefully consider how learners are categorised, represented and governed in and through policy. If curriculum policies, by their very nature, need to produce problems – in this case, the (im)possible subject - we invite educators to engage in critical conversations regarding the policies they are expected to enact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The dominant arrangement for governance in many States which are party to international human rights treaties is decentralisation. This puts implementation of human rights in the hands of institutions which are geographically closer to intended beneficiaries. Decentralisation to different levels of government introduces complexity, risk and opportunity to the governance of human rights. In response, UN Treaty Monitoring Bodies focus on State responsibility for implementation of human rights. The Committee on the Rights of the Child has emphasised the State as the coordinating body responsible for children's rights under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). In this paper, Wales is used as an example of a jurisdiction where decentralisation is a feature of children's rights, which has enabled a progressive approach to implementation. It explains the principled Children's Rights Approach which provides public authorities in Wales with a coherent framework to give effect to international children's rights policy planning and service delivery. As the contours of decentralisation in Wales are typical of arrangements in many States parties to the CRC, insights from Wales will be transferable to other jurisdictions. This experience is also relevant to other areas of human rights implementation in the context of decentralisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses a gap in the literature on youth justice in England and Wales by examining disaggregated patterns of juvenile court processing (i.e. proven offences) and custody. It provides new evidence to show that gendered effects are best observed over time. Looking at juvenile justice data over time allows us to see the effects of policy that are obscured in the short-term. This is especially important when considering small and specific populations, such as girls. It is often assumed that policy impacts smaller groups in the justice system (in this case, girls) in the same way as the larger group (in this case, boys), with boys' experiences representing the norm. In this paper, we call into question that assumption by considering female and male proven offences and juvenile custody over time in England and Wales and show why gendered impacts should be given proper consideration. We also examine changes in the gender gap in proven offences and juvenile custody over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on the creative group and individual interviews with young people aged 11–18 years old in England and Wales in 2018, this paper assembles data that addresses the changing nature of intimacies in young people's digitally-networked lives. Informed by Lauren Berlant's work (2008, viii), it maps how platforms such as Instagram and YouTube circulate certain 'fantasies of the good life' that orient young people towards heteronormative future imaginaries. It argues that publicising intimate relationships on social media works to both reify and unsettle fantasies of monogamy, marriage and domesticity by highlighting their inherent precarity. It also illustrates how smart technologies such as the virtual personal assistants Alexa and Siri reconfigure the good life fantasy. Moving beyond simplistic moral panics that seek to discipline young people's digital intimacies, this paper aims to engage with the nuances of young people's digital sexual cultures. Overall, this paper argues that attending to this complexity can enable practitioners to better attune to and support young people to navigate contemporary digital relationships and sexuality issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recruiting high-quality teachers is critical in supporting the delivery of an effective education experience for learners in schools. This paper examines how a new flexible two-year postgraduate teaching qualification is contributing to addressing the challenges of teacher recruitment in Wales. There is a shortage of teachers able to teach mathematics and science. It is also challenging to recruit Welsh-medium teachers, teachers from minority ethnic backgrounds and to fill vacancies in rural schools. To widen access to teacher education and diversify the teaching workforce, individuals with an appropriate undergraduate degree are offered the opportunity to train to teach via a flexible blended distance learning route, which is either part time or salaried. Early indications show that the flexibility of the programme has attracted career changers, who bring important transferable skills to their teaching practice. Although this is a relatively small-scale case study, it is apparent that offering a more flexible opportunity to those wishing to train to teach is of benefit to individuals, schools and the wider education system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper draws on the retrospective accounts of eight LGBT+ students aged 18–21 attending a university in Northern England. Using interpretivist methodology, qualitative research was conducted to explore how their sex and relationships education impacted upon their needs as a sexual and/or gender minority. An under-researched aspect of experience was also investigated: namely, how LGBT+ people learned about sex and relationships if not in a formal school setting. Two focus groups were used to examine these areas of interest and similar patterns in both groups were apparent. Themes such as the impact of heteronormative value systems, pornography as an educational resource, and the use of online Blogs and search engines as a source of alternative education were highlighted. Findings demonstrate how participants' experiences of sex and relationships education were largely non-inclusive and irrelevant to their needs. The paper concludes with practical suggestions to ensure subsequent generations of LGBT+ pupils receive a more inclusive educational experience, supported by approachable teachers who are comfortable and competent teaching the subject. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Child well-being is regarded as an important part of early childhood education but little is known about the meaning of well-being and how it is operationalised in a curriculum context. The paper examines how practitioners in Wales assess the well-being of 3- to 7-year-olds. The case study involves two schools and the paper discusses findings from six focus groups and fourteen interviews. Practitioners are uncertain about how to assess child well-being and therefore draw upon what they do in other subject areas and use criterion-referenced assessment. Practitioners also report various difficulties in assessing well-being which suggests that placing well-being in curriculum policy is problematic. Findings indicate that well-being is understood as an abstract concept where practitioners attempt to transform it into a concrete form in order to assess it. Questions linking to rationale, concept, enactment and assessment need to be discussed when considering well-being as a subject area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2019, the reported cost of policing football, according to an infographic on South Yorkshire Police's website, was £48 million per season with £5.5 million being recovered by the police from football clubs. These figures were discussed in Parliament and deemed accurate by politicians. Chief Constable Mark Roberts, the National Police Chiefs' Council lead for football policing, says police forces cannot continue to subsidise a multi-billion-pound industry. This research uses Freedom of Information requests submitted to all police forces in England and Wales to establish the true cost of football policing. The results demonstrate that previous data is unreliable, as the actual amount recovered through Special Police Services from football clubs averaged £10 million per season between 2015 and 2019. This paper shows that police forces do not have a grasp of how much is spent on football policing, and the £48 million headline figure is likely overestimated, raising concerns about the lack of transparency over the data in the South Yorkshire Police infographic. Finally, the paper calls for further research to establish the exact cost of football policing and consideration of more efficient methods of football policing that can help to reduce costs and prevent disorder, not only in England and Wales but across Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a case study of finger rings and pendants from England and Wales from the period 1400–1700, which have been recorded with the Portable Antiquities Scheme, and that feature the shape of the heart or inscriptions of the word 'heart'. The paper explores how these objects can inform us about the embodied experience, perception and expression of love and other emotions in the period in question, and how this reflects contemporary medical and popular ideas held about the heart. It also discusses more generally how objects actively communicated and invoked emotion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a lack of definition in policy of the term co-design, and yet local authorities and developers are increasingly using it. To avoid that this term becomes meaningless, it is essential to define how to run co-design processes ethically. Building on case studies, professional experience, collaborations with communities, and a Participatory Action Research approach, this paper defines a set of principles on how to run a co-design process ethically and genuinely including communities in decision-making. Departing from the legal Principles for Fair Consultation in England and Wales, the paper expands them and results into ten ethical principles for co-design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Police education and training, in common with education at all levels, was seriously affected by the onset of lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic. Police organisations in England and Wales sought to cope by moving training and education programmes online, almost overnight. This paper presents findings from interviews conducted with Learning and Development leaders in 17 police forces in England and Wales to gauge the capacity of organizations to provide blended learning (BL) in the pre COVID period and plans for the future. Findings indicated that although there are challenges, the appetite and capacity to adopt BL methods in forces range on a spectrum. The paper and makes recommendations to support the rollout and use of BL in police education generally and proposes a theory of change to assist the introduction of BL in police organisations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Child neglect is a problem that presents many challenges to learning and teaching in schools. Children are unable to learn if their basic needs are not met. Neglect is the second most common reason for a child to be on a child protection plan in Wales. Given the universal nature of their provision within the community, and the prevalence of neglect, schools are well-placed to notice and intervene early and provide support to children that promotes their health and wellbeing. In fact, staff in schools have the opportunity to observe children's behaviours, and their interactions with other pupils and family members up to five days a week over an extended period of time. However, little is known about the specific ways in which staff in schools respond to neglect and what factors help them to provide effective school-based support to families. This paper presents findings from thirty interviews with staff in six mainstream primary and secondary schools in Wales. Findings identify three factors that support neglect-practice within the school-setting (i) a whole-school proactive approach to child neglect; (ii) a positive learning and development environment for staff members; and (iii) relationships between staff and the child(ren)'s family. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This discussion paper explores the development and implementation of a new flexible route into the teaching profession. This flexible route is offered within an education system in the midst of wide reform, which has partnership working between universities and schools at the centre of its Initial Teacher Education. Key elements of the new programme examined include how student teachers acquire the knowledge they need, with interconnectivity, immersive practice and blended learning of significance. This case study illustrates the importance of flexibility in the development of the student teacher's personal construct and communities of practice. The programme's adaptive learner-centred approach is delivering an alternative, flexible route into the teaching profession, broadening the experience base of the future teaching workforce and beginning to successfully address key government policy drivers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite more than 20 years of Welsh democratic devolution, the Welsh Government, and Welsh Ministers particularly, have not generally been an object of academic study. There has been little systematic historical analysis of the new institution of the Welsh Government, its structures, operations and practices. In recent years, a variety of insider accounts by former Welsh Ministers and former First Ministers have started to appear in print, and 1997 Cabinet papers relating to the making of devolution policy have been released. This paper performs two functions. It will explore the learning so far, examining the limited 'insider accounts' which have appeared in the context of the documentary evidence, and the light that they shine on everyday life in Welsh Government, its hidden wiring and emergent cultural practices, addressing questions such as internal power structures, the governance innovations of the Welsh Government, and the continuities and contrasts with Westminster and Whitehall traditions. The paper also attempts a contextual, integrated and thematic overview of the making of Welsh Government over this period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores research findings regarding the possibilities offered by remote attendance at council meetings as implemented during the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, and reflects upon how this may improve women local councillors' experiences, as well as women's political participation and the accessibility of Welsh local government going forward. Influenced by feminist institutionalist theory, this paper examines how councils' formal organisational norms and practices pre-pandemic privileged presenteeism, and explores participants' perceptions and experiences of the accessibility of local councils, especially for younger women with families and/or in other forms of employment. Presenting data from 19 semi-structured interviews with women local councillors in Wales (UK), both in-person and subsequently online during the pandemic, the paper discusses how remote attendance in local council meetings was considered an enabling shift in formal organisational practices, especially for rural councils. Despite some dissenting opinions and voiced dubiousness (mostly concerning future hybrid implementation), through easing the time costs of being a local councillor, particularly for women balancing a gendered 'triple duty' of the political, personal, and professional, remote meeting attendance is an organisational solution, albeit somewhat forced in implementation, which presents clear means of improving women's political participation and representation in local government. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers the concept of 'religion' in Katherine Philips's poems to her close women friends – Mary Aubrey ('Rosania') and Anne Owen ('Lucasia') – in the early 1650s, poems that find Philips adding a religious dimension to her more usual language of Platonic friendship. The paper argues that she does so in response to the religious conflict that embroiled her and her husband amidst Parliament's efforts to propagate the gospel in Wales. The paper adds new historical information about the effects of the Propagation on Philips and about the marriage of Mary Aubrey, an event that Philips characterized as 'apostasy'. If the Propagation set Philips to thinking about friendship between women as an alternative to sectarian conflict, Aubrey's 'apostasy' obliged her to think in more nuanced ways about ecclesial power. Philips thus contributes to the archive of ecclesiological imagination that emerged from the 1650s. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With sustainability orientation and opportunities provided for economic growth, the circular economy is much promoted by the Welsh government in recent years. In this region, Communities of practice (CoP) are cultivated to link various industry sectors together, sharing knowledge and creating a practical solution to circular economy related challenges. While current literature provides the framework of a regional innovation ecosystem in the form of Triple Helix, the role of CoP is underexplored. The key research question of this paper is 'how can the CoP approach cultivate regional circular economy innovation?' Through an in-depth case study of the Communities of Circular Economy Innovation (CEIC) project in East Wales, the paper identifies the construct of CoP, its dynamic lifecycle, and the interaction between CoP and Triple Helix. Findings reveal that whilst universities and government play a leading role in innovation at early stages by deliberately establishing the CoP, the self-governance of CoP at later stages results in active influence on industry changes and policy designs. The paper contributes to the literature on micro-relations among regional innovation actors by highlighting the role of CoP in creating emerging new knowledge and tools. It also provides practical implications to industry and policy makers to promote a regional circular economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper critically analyses deaths in prison in England and Wales. It focuses on how the state's 'truth' about the nature and extent of these deaths has been challenged and develops an alternative perspective which situates these deaths in the context of a system built on violence and systemic indifference and where state agents are protected by a culture of immunity and impunity. It also illustrates the often-abysmal treatment of the families of dead prisoners and the struggles they have engaged in, alongside the charity INQUEST1, to establish the actual truth about the deaths of their relatives and to hold to account those responsible for these deaths, many of which were preventable. The paper concludes by outlining a range of radical alternatives to the current baleful situation including humanising prisoners and removing the stigma of less eligibility which has prevailed for 200 years and has legitimated the pain and punishment inflicted on them by the state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper evaluates an Environmental Education programme where the barriers and opportunities for professional development, access to specialist resources, provision through technology and partnership are considered within the context of Wales and the demands of a new curriculum. The findings reflect on the first three years of an education programme that uses a Theory of Change framework to plan for learning with 9–11 year olds in Wales, UK. Drawing on qualitative individual and group interviews with teachers and pupils across six schools, the successes and challenges of this framework are presented. I suggest that combining a Theory of Change framework with a Capability Approach—focussing on values and agency—offers a more useful planning tool for curriculums developing strategies where teacher agency is encouraged—compared to using one approach alone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When an individual is suspected or accused of committing a criminal offence, they are brought into the realm of the criminal process. This process can be complex and alien, and the accused person may not understand – or be able to engage with – elements thereof. This paper examines how experiences of the criminal process are framed by lawyers, drawing from interviews conducted with lawyers (N = 36) as part of a larger project on the experiences of criminal justice in (south) Wales. Lawyers, when discussing the experiences of the accused, made frequent distinctions between "first timers" and "regulars". Whilst this distinction has been touched-upon in previous studies, it has not yet been subject to much exploration and interrogation. Within this paper, we explore and critique the how and why of this distinction, querying the utility and limits of such a distinction. We argue that whilst an accused's experience should be accounted for, it is unhelpful to frame "regulars" as not needing – or being undeserving – of attention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines police and national probation service (NPS) practitioners' experiences of utilising a dynamic risk management tool with registered sexual offenders (RSOs) in the community. The Active Risk Management System (ARMS) was designed as a multi-agency tool providing police with a dynamic tool for use with RSOs and the NPS with a sexual offender specific tool to support their original dynamic risk tool OASys (Offender Assessment System). Based on both quantitative and qualitative research with every police force and every NPS division in England and Wales, this paper highlights that despite a comprehensive adoption of ARMS within policing practice, the theoretical benefits of the ARMS tool have unfortunately not been realised. The resource implications of the tool's utilisation, the different needs and siloed working practices of the police and NPS as well as a staggered implementation of the tool across both agencies has presented challenges for the practical use of ARMS in both single and joint agency offender management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on the Colleges of Advanced Technology (CATs), specialist providers of advance science and technology which existed in England and Wales for ten years after the 1956 White Paper Technical Education. Its central argument is that recasting the CATs as broader-based universities following the 1963 Robbins Report was a significant error which attenuated the progress of science and technology, and prevented the Colleges' development as viable providers of higher education (HE) outside the university sector. This decision, it is argued, was shaped by typically English views about the relative value of different forms of learning, the nature and purpose of HE, and particular beliefs about the primacy of the university. It also conflated the general desire to increase participation in higher education with the wish to promote science and technology in particular. A bolder option, it is proposed, would have been to build the CATs up as prestigious institutes of technology, along the lines of those found in the USA and continental Europe – although this, it is recognised, would have entailed a substantial shift in the role of the state and reduced the individual and collective autonomy of HE institutions in England and Wales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2008 Joe Calzaghe (from Wales) fought Bernard Hopkins (from the USA) in a light-heavyweight boxing match. Prior to the fight Hopkins had taunted Calzaghe with the refrain that he would never lose to a white boy. This paper assesses the interplay of discourses surrounding race and nation in the build-up to the contest between the two boxers. The analysis highlights how simplistic binaries are used to perpetuate notions of difference and considers how this accentuates divides in contested racial and national terrains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the impact of the UK's racialized asylum system on mothers and their children. Asylum-seeking mothers in the UK are treated with hostility and suspicion and prohibited from basic socio-economic rights such as employment yet must also raise their children within this hostile environment. In this paper, based on a Thematic Narrative Analysis of interviews with refugee and asylum-seeking mothers in Wales, we argue that legalized hostility and exclusion are systemic coercive control. Using theories of social reproduction and coercive control, we explore the emotional and psychological impact of coercion on four women and show how this systemic coercive control leads to both the fracturing of families and the fracturing of motherhood. Through the analysis of asylum-seeking mothers' experiences, we show that the coercion exerted on the women has direct and indirect impacts on their children through deprivation, isolation and fractured relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the effectiveness of liberalization policy on the intercity coach market in England and Wales and evaluates its impact in promoting competition and enhancing welfare. The paper adds to the current literature by assessing this policy focusing on natural monopolies, deriving a structural model of the industry and using web-scraped key market-level data in the study. Regression analysis and descriptive statistics suggest peripheral routes with a small market size are natural monopolies, where passengers pay higher prices. We estimate a structural model, currently absent from the literature, which shows that these routes are characterized by lower welfare levels. The model allows us to simulate a policy promoting competition on such routes showing that a regulator could generate net welfare gains by implementing a more competitive equilibrium on these routes. This paper confirms the dominant conclusion that unregulated coach industries detrimentally consolidate, as demonstrated in other European markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous research has examined geographical variations in SME access to external finance, especially bank loans. Rather less attention has been paid to how far SME equity access difficulties in more peripheral regions, and cities within these regions, is a demand or supply side issue, and how far equity investments are concentrated in specific urban areas in peripheral regions. This paper examines these topics through an analysis of small firm equity deals across the UK regions, before focusing on the case of the Welsh economy. In the case analysis a low equilibrium for small business equity investment in Wales is identified, with low demand and poor supply of equity, but with a relatively high concentration of equity deals in the Cardiff urban area. The paper examines the potential implications of a low equity equilibrium and provides a challenge for further research in the area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The findings presented here derive from a wider study that sought to establish a baseline understanding of mental health and wellbeing among the agricultural community in England and Wales. This paper focuses on selected questions that investigated levels of anxiety and associated stress factors among farm women, a group which has been relatively neglected within previous research on farming mental health in the United Kingdom. A questionnaire survey was widely distributed to members of the agricultural community in England and Wales (n = 15,296) in both paper and online formats. The survey included a number of standardised instruments to assess mental health and wellbeing, including the Generalised Anxiety Disorder-7 scale (GAD-7). Focusing on a sub-sample of female respondents (n = 3487), this paper details the findings from the GAD-7, alongside those from a selection of other questions investigating sources of stress, loneliness and perceived business viability. A significant proportion of female respondents were experiencing anxiety at the time of survey completion, with 23.3% reaching the threshold for clinically relevant anxiety based on their GAD-7 scores (medium or severe anxiety, scores≥10). A further 34.6% were classified as experiencing mild anxiety (scores 5–9) whilst 42.1% were not suffering from anxiety (scores 0–4). Medium/severe anxiety was identified as being associated with a number of stress factors, feelings of loneliness and pessimistic perceptions of farm business viability. There were important age-based differences, with working-aged women identified as more likely to suffer from anxiety, loneliness and certain stressors than older women. The findings reported here indicate concerning levels of anxiety among farming women and this should be seen as a call to action. There are clear associations between anxiety and a range of stressors and, although we cannot ascertain causality, these point to issues that demand attention in efforts to improve mental health within this social group. The factors contributing to anxiety are, however, multiple and complex and farm women may be affected by particular gender-based challenges that have not yet been explicitly explored in relation to mental health. Further research is needed to investigate and understand these issues in greater depth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores and theorises education-based workshops delivered in secondary schools in support of a relationships and sex education curriculum that aims to bring forth more positive understandings and experiences of gender and sexuality. We cast this work as a form of sexual health activism, with our paper deepening understanding of how the motivations of those engaged in this form of activism interface with the decision to invest time in this work. Based on interviews with 40 workshop facilitators in England and Wales we argue that this form of sexual health activism is motivated by facilitators' life experiences as well as the desire to make the world a better place. As such, this form of work can function as a means of 'caring for' both past selves and future generations, thus functioning simultaneously as a form of self-care and a form of 'societal care work'. Ultimately, these activities may be understood as a form of 'extra-clinical' healthcare practice, with leading gender and sexual health workshops serving as an important means of solidifying health students' identities as both healthcare providers and activists for social change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is focused on the emergence of new institutional structures and geographies within the context of complex processes of state rescaling characterized by 'hollowing out' and 'filling in'. It explores the regionalization of transport policy within Wales post-devolution and examines the potential of Haughton et al.'s concepts of 'soft' and 'hard' spaces as useful tools in furthering our understanding of state rescaling. The paper suggests that the case of transport policy in Wales post-devolution provides a useful example of the evolution of 'soft spaces' through processes of hardening and softening, and that 'stickiness' of regional spatial imaginaries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An ambitious reform programme in the UK to digitalise the justice system has been underway since 2016. The recent report carried out for the Administrative Justice Council (AJC) by the authors Digitisation andAccessingJustice in theCommunity, described how prepared advice providers were for giving digital assistance concerning welfare benefits, and found that organisations were unable to meet the demand for services across all levels of social welfare law, and that there was a high level of demand for digital assistance. This paper then adds data from the follow up Welfare Advice Survey carried out for the JUSTICE/AJC benefits reform working party by the authors, which examines the technical capability of the advice sector to provide remote social welfare advice delivery after the onset of the pandemic (see fns 1 and 3 below). The paper describes how advice providers have been working during the first seven months of the pandemic in 2020 and how the migration to remote advice delivery has changed their services and impacted on their clients. A conceptual framework of needs is then developed and offered as a lens through which to think about the new sets of demands on advisers and clients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 2008 Global Financial Crisis and subsequent austerity drive across Europe and North America has been particularly felt at a local government level. Wales presents a valuable case study through which to explore the impact of austerity on local government: it is a small country with a devolved government that is philosophically opposed to austerity, yet where cuts to local government have been drastic. Drawing on interviews with Welsh councils and key stakeholders, this paper explores three approaches councils have taken to managing austerity – efficiency, investment, and retrenchment – and finds that councils were already at a financial 'tipping point' before the pandemic. This paper concludes by considering the lessons that could be applied to the new challenge of recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The right to informed consent (IC), as established in the Supreme Court judgment in Montgomery v Lanarkshire Health Board [2015] UKSC 11, I claim involves a 'journey of love' between clinicians and patients. The latter entails a process of dialogue and support between the parties, concerning disclosure of risks, benefits and alternatives to medical treatment(s). In this paper, I first claim that IC, in the light of the spirit of Montgomery, is predicated upon two pillars, namely patients' autonomy and medical partnership. I will then explore a case study: the case of legal abortion in England and Wales. Regarding this case, the progressive reduction of medical involvement has meant that little opportunity has been provided for this 'journey' to be unpacked in a medical context. I will ultimately claim that more needs to be done to safeguard IC as a 'journey of love' through valuing both patients' autonomy and medical partnership. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current police recruitment research is often focused on disproportionate outcomes based upon identity-based categories such as race, ethnicity, or gender. National government statistics and political discourse support this research agenda, indicating a significant recruitment gap in representation in England and Wales. This gap has resulted in the design and use of 'in-house' positive action initiatives for police recruitment, with little examination of their impact or otherwise. To understand this research gap, this paper applies a labour market lens to police recruitment. This study contributes to existing research by exploring how police recruits navigate the recruitment process using their social resources. It represents 27 in-depth, participant-led, long-form interviews within an English Constabulary, informed by the theory of Social Embeddedness. It explores how candidates who did not receive positive action navigated and perceived their recruitment process, whilst using their friends, family, and acquaintances for both instrumental and pastoral support. This is contrasted against those candidates that utilised positive action initiatives. The results illustrate developed social embeddedness within police recruitment in the researched constabulary. Recruits who drew heavily upon social contacts experienced instrumental and pastoral support throughout the recruitment process. Some stages of recruitment were more socially embedded than others, resulting in some specific, instrumental advantages. The nature of this social support evidences how disproportionality can be generated in police recruitment. Candidates using positive action initiatives experienced negative, pastoral social support, and temporal instrumental support – illuminating a very different journey during their presocialisation into policing. This finding underpins evidentially informed positive action interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, I argue that a new term, ‘thematic discretion’, can help us understand police decision-making in cases of youth image-based sexual abuse (YIBSA). YIBSA can be defined as harmful image-sharing practices amongst young people, inclusive of the non-consensual sharing of private sexual images, upskirting and cyberflashing, alongside other actions. I will be drawing on findings from a doctoral research project investigating YIBSA, which utilised a mixed methods approach, comprising of quantitative analysis of freedom of information requests from 40 police forces in England and Wales, as well as 26 qualitative interviews with police and non-police practitioners, also based within England and Wales. Research findings established that YIBSA is highly complicated, and as a result, police officers utilised discretion at a considerable rate, alongside crafting their own guidelines to direct their decision-making, which is argued to be steeped in sexist and victim-blaming narratives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Amgueddfa Cymru’s National Museum Cardiff in Cardiff, Wales, houses fine arts, natural science, and archaeological collections in a Grade I-listed historic building. With over 50 individual air handling units in addition to the original building-wide ventilation system, critical examination of how to create sustainable spaces and reduce energy consumption has been a goal of the museum for two decades. This paper will present the evolution of two techniques, and discuss their successes and limitations. The first – system shutdowns – has been successful, and has been taken further by switching some spaces entirely to passive control by blocking ductwork; preventing inappropriate conditions from entering the room via HVAC has led to an improvement in these specific cases. The second technique of seasonal set points required regular manual programming of the set points and was not responsive to short-term varying conditions, often resulting in high RH; a set of four basic guidelines was then developed to change the HVAC programming to better address this risk throughout the year. The impact of both techniques was analyzed using the widely available Microsoft Power BI™ program, whose focus on data visualization makes generating and modifying graphs easier than in Microsoft Excel. Following some of the tenets of sustainable environmental management including the value of a cross-disciplinary team, commitment to an ongoing process, and thorough data analysis, this work has allowed for preservation and energy efficiency beyond initial gains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In England and Wales, fee-charging independent schools can be legally classified as charities and, therefore, receive associated benefits, the most obvious being taxation advantages. The high fees charged by many of these schools create financial exclusivity, which, it will be seen, confers significant social and cultural capital to those who can meet the economic barrier to entry. High fees lead to increased wealth for the schools, which is augmented by their charitable fiscal benefits. In exchange for receiving these charitable benefits, one might expect charity law to place significant social contribution requirements on these schools. However, this paper will argue that this is not the case: the law, in fact, requires very little from charitable independent schools. In practice, charity law cannot mitigate inequalities within elite education nor justify their taxation advantages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Across the four UK jurisdictions, there are distinct disparities in exclusion rates of school students. Northern Ireland, alongside Scotland and Wales, has demonstrated over time, lower rates of permanent exclusions and temporary exclusions compared with England. This paper examines these disparities from the perspectives of representatives from various system-level educational bodies and third sector organisations representing children and families who experienced the exclusion process. The paper will also present policy and legal frameworks associated with exclusion in Northern Ireland. We interviewed 9 stakeholders, associated with practices of school exclusion in Northern Ireland, from a range of system-level education bodies and advocacy groups. Findings include positive strategies perceived to keep exclusion levels low, types of obstacles or resistance to anti-exclusion policy, participants' perspectives on unofficial exclusion practice, and perspectives on official exclusion data. What emerges from interviews is a series of tensions between implementing a child-centred approach and diminishing support services and resources. We conclude that those working within the Northern Ireland education system, are committed to an inclusive approach. However, the development and implementation of effective supporting frameworks take time and consultation, and there is evidence of tension between the perceptions of those working at a system-level and those working in schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the new multi-level relationships that exist in the UK postdevolution. In focusing on Wales, it uses two case studies to test some key propositions around system weaknesses; namely, poor intelligence and inadequate collaboration and communication between the ‘centre’ and the devolved nations. The paper suggests that this has resulted in unbalanced relationships and underdeveloped policy learning between the nations of the UK. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Drawing on discussions of pilgrimage as a landscape-based practice, this paper explores understandings and experiences of the recently developed North Wales Pilgrim's Way (Taith Pererin Gogledd Cymru). A focus on this new trail considers how a walking pilgrimage combines physical activity, personal and spiritual encounters, and natural and spiritual landscapes Accounts of pilgrim experiences and photographs demonstrate how journeys on the North Wales Pilgrim's Way enable participants to forge connections with the natural environment and local heritage, as well as the emotional-spiritual aspects of their lives. The paper finds that meaning is generated by participants in performing the path, highlighting the distinct role of walking pilgrimages in human-landscape interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is renewed optimism about the development of policy and practices related to promoting health in prison settings, driven by the epidemiological data which suggests that the health of people in prison remains very poor. In England and Wales, the focus of this paper, independent prison inspections, conducted by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Prisons for England and Wales (HMIP), form a critical element in how prisons are assessed. This includes efforts within prisons to promote health and well-being. This paper, using content and thematic analysis, analyses one year (2018) of inspection reports in 38 male prisons. Analysis demonstrates that a 'whole-prison approach' to promoting health and well-being is poorly understood, with only 41% of prisons showing characteristics of this approach. Of the male prisons inspected in 2018, there was good availability of disease prevention activities and screening programmes (88%) and smoking cessation support (94%). The provision of peer support mechanisms, access to condoms and access to health information was highly variable across prisons. The paper makes several conclusions about the state of health promotion in prison and moreover the current criteria adopted by HMIP to assess health and well-being which seems to offer a very narrow biomedical perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we use a UK case study to explore how the COVID-19 pandemic affected the mental health (emotional, psychological, social wellbeing) of farmers. We outline the drivers of poor farming mental health, the manifold impacts of the pandemic at a time of policy and environmental change, and identify lessons that can be learned to develop resilience in farming communities against future shocks. We undertook a survey answered by 207 farmers across the UK, focusing on drivers of poor mental health and the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic. We also conducted 22 in-depth interviews with individuals in England, Scotland and Wales who provide mental health support to farmers. These explored how and why the COVID-19 pandemic affected the mental health of farmers. These interviews were supplemented by 93 survey responses from a similar group of support providers (UK-wide). We found that the pandemic exacerbated underlying drivers of poor mental health and wellbeing in farming communities. 67% of farmers surveyed reported feeling more stressed, 63% felt more anxious, 38% felt more depressed, and 12% felt more suicidal. The primary drivers of poor mental health identified by farmers during the pandemic included decreased social contact and loneliness, issues with the general public on private land, and moving online for social events. Support providers also highlighted relationship and financial issues, illness, and government inspections as drivers of poor mental health. Some farmers, conversely, outlined positive impacts of the pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic is just one of many potential stressors associated with poor farming mental health and its impacts are likely to be long-lasting and delayed. Multiple stressors affecting farmers at the same time can create a tipping point. Therefore, there is a need for long-term support and ongoing evaluation of the drivers of poor mental health in farming families. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]