Daily List 118

Indicators for sustainable aquaculture in Mediterranean and Black Sea countries: guide for the use of indicators to monitor sustainable development for aquaculture.

Studies and reviews 93.

Corporate Author:

Food and Agriculture Organization

Mediterranean and Black Sea aquaculture plays an important social and economic role in the GFCM region. The sustainability of the sector is increasingly challenged by old and emerging issues which require innovative measures to address the economic, social, environmental and governance aspects involved. An appropriate way of measuring and monitoring progress towards the sustainability of the sector is the use of indicators. This guide on the application of indicators for sustainable aquaculture in Mediterranean and Black Sea countries attempts to meet the need for a decision support tool for monitoring the sustainable development of aquaculture in all its dimensions, based on a set of practical indicators and reference points. It draws elements from the literature, from the outputs of the "Indicators for Sustainable Development of Aquaculture and Guidelines for their use in the Mediterranean" (InDAM project) carried out in support to the GFCM CAQ Working Group on Sustainability in Aquaculture (WGSA) and funded by the European Union, as well as from other recent regional initiatives. The guide covers a wide range of topics related to aquaculture sustainability, including its general background, purpose, main target users and inspiring principles. After an introduction to aquaculture and to the main issues linked to the concept of sustainability and its dimensions from an aquaculture perspective, it presents the definition and use of indicators in aquaculture within a sustainability analysis framework and describes the participatory process to identify, select and use indicators as well as the methodology applied for assessing and displaying the values of indicators. The guide also provides an overview of other uses of indicators within the aquaculture sector. Finally, it provides as a reference a glossary of the main technical terms as well as a minimum set of regional indicators to assess and monitor the sustainable development of aquaculture in the GFCM area.

• ISBN: 9789251074831
• £20.50

Changing banking for good: first report of session 2013-14. Vol. 1: Summary, and conclusions and recommendations.

House of Lords papers (2013-14) - 27-I. House of Commons papers (2013-14) -175-I.

Author:

Andrew Tyrie (chairman)

The Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards was established in July 2012, in the wake of the LIBOR scandal, to conduct an inquiry into professional standards and culture in the UK banking sector and to make recommendations for legislative and other action. This final report from the Commission contains a package of recommendations to raise standards, including: making senior bankers personally responsible, reforming bank governance, creating better functioning and more diverse markets, reinforcing the powers of regulators and making sure they do their job. Key recommendations include: A new Senior Persons Regime, replacing the Approved Persons Regime, to ensure that the most important responsibilities within banks are assigned to specific, senior individuals so they can be held fully accountable for their decisions and the standards of their banks in these areas; a new licensing regime underpinned by Banking Standards Rules to ensure those who can do serious harm are subject to the full range of enforcement powers; a new criminal offence for Senior Persons of reckless misconduct in the management of a bank, carrying a custodial sentence; a new remuneration code better to align risks taken and rewards received in remuneration, with much more remuneration to be deferred and for much longer; a new power for the regulator to cancel all outstanding deferred remuneration, along with unvested pension rights and loss of office or change of control payments, for senior bank employees in the event of their banks needing taxpayer support, creating a major new incentive on bankers to avoid such risks.

• ISBN: 9780108551062
• £13.50

Sandwich bars and similar food service outlets: food industry guide to good hygiene practice.

Corporate Author:

Food Hygiene Working Group

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) Food Industry Guide to Good Hygiene Practice: Sandwich Bars and Similar Food Service Outlets, provides advice on achieving the principles of 'best practice' during the preparation of sandwiches. The primary objective of the hygiene rules is to ensure a high level of food safety to protect customers. It covers the activities carried out by foodservice sandwich outlets that prepare and sell sandwiches open-served to be consumed directly by customers or wrapped and pre-packaged before they are sold

• ISBN: 9780117082007
• £10.00

Compendium of food additive specifications: Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives: 76th meeting 2012.

FAO JECFA monographs 13.

Corporate Author:

Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives. Food and Agriculture Organization. + World Health Organization.

This volume of FAO JECFA Monographs contains specifications of identity and purity prepared at the 76th meeting of the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA), held in Geneva on 5 - 14 June 2012. This document contains food additive specifications monographs, analytical methods and other information, prepared at the seventy-fourth meeting of the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA). The specifications monographs provide information on the identity and purity of food additives used directly in foods or in food production. The main three objectives of these specifications are to identify the food additive that has been subjected to testing for safety, to ensure that the additive is of the quality required for use in food or in processing. This publication contains information that is useful to all those who work with or are interested in food additives and their safe use in food.

• ISBN: 9789251075050
• £25.50

Building capability in the Senior Civil Service to meet today's challenges.

House of Commons papers (2013-14) - 129.

Corporate Author:

National Audit Office.

The Government now accepts the urgent need for a leadership group that can think across departmental boundaries and lead change but there is still a long way to go to change the long-standing culture of the Senior Civil Service. The NAO watchdog welcomed the ambition of the Civil Service Reform Plan and emphasised the urgent need to make progress, given that the plan underpinned the Government's chances of achieving further efficiency savings. At present there are significant skills shortages, particularly in the areas of commerce, project management, digital delivery and change leadership. In December 2012, only four out of 15 Permanent Secretaries at major delivery departments had significant operational delivery and commercial experience. The 24 professional networks in the civil service lack influence across departmental 'silos' and may not be the right groupings to meet the needs of the modern service. The Government intends to open up the service, with more internal transfers and free flow of skills to and from the private sector, and build on an approach already in place for the top 200. But the proportion of new recruits from the private sector fell in 2009-10 as departments cut spending, and has yet to recover. Promotion to the Senior Civil Service is becoming so financially unattractive as to put off talented people. The NAO warns that the latest moves to increase pay flexibility and offer incentives for business critical roles may not be enough to recruit, motivate and retain the right people.

• ISBN: 9780102983746
• £16.00

Department for Work and Pensions: responding to change in jobcentres: fifth report of session 2013-14: report, together with formal minutes, oral and written evidence.

House of Commons papers (2013-14) - 136.

Corporate Author:

Committee of Public Accounts

Author:

Margaret Hodge (chairman)

On its own, the number of people who stop claiming benefits is a flawed measure of how effective jobcentres are. The DWP needs to be clear how it will measure the performance of jobcentres under Universal Credit and understand what happens to claimants. The Department needs this information to see whether its interventions are achieving a long-term reduction in the number claiming benefits. At present 40 per cent of individuals reclaim benefit within 6 months with 60 per cent reclaiming within 2 years. Claimants who don't look for work should face consequences. But there is a risk that sanctions unfairly penalize the most vulnerable claimants, particularly those with mental health problems. Those at risk of sanctions should be given a written warning. The Department also needs to monitor by claimant group and jobcentre how many claimants are being penalized. Information is needed on how different jobcentres are managing their caseloads so that good practice can be identified and disseminated. Local flexibility also opens up the possibility that harder to help claimants, such as those with disabilities, get 'parked'. The Department needs to look closely at its ability to support disabled claimants, particularly given that these groups suffer poor outcomes under the Work Programme. Jobcentres will have to cater for new claimant groups as a consequence of the introduction of Universal Credit. People will also increasingly manage benefit claims and job searches online. Some claimants will inevitably struggle, which will increase the burden on third parties such as libraries and Citizens Advice which are themselves under severe pressure

• ISBN: 9780215058966
• £12.00