Download or read book Modernise Or Decline written by Richard Hooper and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2008 with total page 172 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This review (Cm. 7529, ISBN 9780102958393) was established to maintain the universal postal service, that is the collection, sorting, transportation and delivery of letters to all 28 million businesses and residential addresses. It sets out a number of conclusions and recommendations on how the universal service can be maintained. The postal service is seen as having a strong social and economic rationale. Customers place a high value on the affordability of the service, on a uniform tariff, and deliveries on six days per week. The Review states that the post offices provide a vital point of access for residential consumers and small businesses. The universal service is under threat though, with the explosion of digital media - the internet, email, mobile text and broadcasting - which has prompted an unprecedented decline in the letters market. The Review does see a positive future for the postal service, provided that postal companies are able to respond quickly to the changing needs of customers and embrace the opportunities which new technology brings. Although the Royal Mail is the only company currently capable of providing the universal service in the UK, it is much less efficient than many of its European peers and faces severe difficulties. Therefore a radical reform of the Royal Mail's network is inevitable, and the organisation needs to modernise faster. To sustain the universal service, the Royal Mail needs to tackle inefficiency, the pension deficit, and the difficult relationships between the company, unions and regulator. The Review sees two distinct phases to modernisation: (i) Transformation: that is, changing the culture of the organisation, by improving efficiency and reducing costs; (ii) Diversify: that is, finding new sources of revenue either by providing related products or expanding to cover a wider geographical area. The Review believes that the Royal Mail urgently needs commercial confidence, capital and corporate experience to modernise quickly and effectively, and recommends a strategic partnership with one or more private sector companies with demonstrable experience of transforming a major business, ideally a major network business, but that Post Office Ltd should remain wholly within public sector ownership.

Download or read book The Postal Services Bill written by Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Business and Enterprise Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2009 with total page 68 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In "Modernise or decline: policies to maintain the universal postal service in the United Kingdom" (Cm. 7529, ISBN 9780101752923) the Hooper review confirmed that Royal Mail Group was the only company capable of delivering the service and proposed a package to deal with the Group's problems. The state should take responsibility for the historic pension deficit; there should be a new regulatory regime, in which mail services would be regulated as part of wider communications services, and, most controversially, there should be a private sector equity partner in Royal Mail. The Government accepted these proposals (Cm. 7560, ISBN 9780101756020) and introduced the Postal Services Bill (HL Bill 24, ISBN 9780108454530). The Committee supports the proposals on the pension fund and the new regulatory regime. But it does not consider that the case has been made that these two reforms can only be made as part of a package which includes the third reform - the involvement of a private sector equity partner in Royal Mail. The provisions contained in the Bill allowing such a partnership are not necessary or desirable as the Government already has powers to sell shares to enable Royal Mail to participate in a joint-venture. There is a lack of clarity over how much investment is needed or where that investment will come from, while the Government appears to have no business plan and has not indicated the use to which any private sector capital would be put. Given this uncertainty the case must rest on its non-financial benefits, and the Committee poses several questions about the proposed partnership which must be addressed.

Download or read book The Last Neoliberal written by Stefano Palombarin and published by Verso Books. This book was released on 2021-03-23 with total page 193 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Why centrist politics in France is bound to fail This book analyses the French political crisis, which has entered its most acute phase in more than thirty years with the break-up of traditional left and right social blocs. Governing parties have distanced themselves from the working classes, leaving behind on the one hand, craftsmen, shop owners and small entrepreneurs disappointed by the timidity of the reforms of the neoliberal right and, on the other hand, workers and employees hostile to the neoliberal and pro-European integration orientation of the Socialist Party. The Presidency of François Hollande was less an anomaly than the definitive failure of attempts to reconcile the social base of the left with the so-called "modernisation" of the French model. The project, based on the pursuit of neoliberal reforms, did not die with Hollande's failure; it was taken up and radicalised by his successor, Emmanuel Macron. This project needs a social base, the 'bourgeois bloc", designed to overcome the right/left divide by a new alliance between the middle and upper classes. But this, as we have seen recently on the streets of Paris and elsewhere, is a precarious process.

Download or read book Saving the Royal Mail s universal postal service in the digital age written by Richard Hooper and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2010-09-10 with total page 56 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Coalition Government asked Richard Hooper to update the 2008 report "Modernise or decline: policies to maintain the universal postal service in the United Kingdom" (Cm. 7529, 2008, ISBN 9780101752923). He finds the universal postal service still under serious threat, with most of the original causes for concern having got worse: the market and Royal Mail's market share continue to decline; the company has still not modernised sufficiently; the accounting pension deficit has grown from £2.9bn to £8.0bn; the current regulatory regime is not fit for purpose. The 2008 recommendation that private sector capital is required by Royal Mail is reiterated, for several reasons. The company is unlikely to generate sufficient cash to finance the modernisation required. Private sector capital will inject private sector disciplines and reduce the risk of political intervention in commercial decisions. And the state of the public finances means that Royal Mail will find it harder to compete for Government capital against other public spending priorities. But private capital will not be attracted without action on the pension deficit and the regulatory regime. The historic pension deficit should be taken over by the public purse. A new regulatory framework must be created that increases certainly for investors in the postal services sector in general and in Royal Mail in particular. Postcomm has recently consulted on a new framework, and this should be built upon. This update sets out the high level principles that should guide regulation, ensuring the overall burden is reduced.

Download or read book Masters of the Post written by Duncan Campbell-Smith and published by Penguin UK. This book was released on 2011-11-03 with total page 840 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The origins of the Post Office go back to the early years of the Tudor monarchy: Brian Tuke, a former King's Bailiff in Sandwich, was acknowledged as the first 'Master of the Posts' by Cardinal Wolsey in 1512, and went on to build up a network of 'postmasters' across England for Henry VIII. Over the following five hundred years the Royal Mail expanded to an unimaginable degree to become the largest employer in the country, and the face of the British state for most people in their everyday lives. But it also faced the demands of an increasingly commercial marketplace. With the election of Margaret Thatcher in 1979, the possibility of privatising the Royal Mail has prompted passionate arguments - and has added immeasurably to the difficulties of running it. In charting the whole of this extraordinary story, Duncan Campbell-Smith recounts a series of remarkable tales, including how postal engineers built the first programmable computer for the wartime code-breakers of Bletchley Park and how the Royal Mail managed to successfully continue delivering post to the front lines during two world wars, but also how they failed to avert the Great Train Robbery of 1963. He brings to life many of the dominant personalities in the Royal Mail's history - from Rowland Hill, who imposed a uniform penny post and set the great Victorian expansion on its way, to Tony Benn who championed the modernisation of the service in the 1960s and Tom Jackson who led the postal workers' biggest union through fifteen frequently stormy years up to 1982. This is the first complete history of the Royal Mail up to the present day, based on its comprehensive archives, and including the first detailed account of the past half-century of Britain's postal history, made possible by privileged access to confidential records. Today's debate over the future of the Royal Mail is shown to be just the ;atest chapter in a centuries-old conflict between its roles raising revenue and serving the public. Will its employees remain, like Brian Tuke's postmasters, servants of the Crown? This book could hardly appear at a more timely moment.

Download or read book The Economic Decline of Modern Britain written by David Coates and published by . This book was released on 1986 with total page 408 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Theory and Practice written by Harm Jan Smid and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2022-12-16 with total page 323 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book describes and analyses the history of Dutch mathematics education from the point of view of the changing motivations behind the teaching of mathematics over a 200 year period. During the course of the 19th century, mathematics in the Netherlands developed from a topic for practitioners into a school topic that was taught to almost all pupils of secondary education. As mathematics teaching gradually lost its practical orientation and became more and more motivated on the basis of its supposed formative value, the HBS (Hogere Burgerschool), the Dutch variant of the German Realschule, became the dominant school of thought for mathematics pedagogy. This book examines the gradual development of the field, culminating in the country-wide adoption of Realistic Mathematics Education as the new method of mathematics teaching. This book is important for anyone who is interested in the history of mathematics education. It provides an interesting perspective on the development of mathematics education in a country that, in many aspects, went its own way.

Download or read book Postal services in Scotland written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Scottish Affairs Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2011-01-09 with total page 160 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Committee's report considers two key issues: the maintenance of a universal service and the continuation of a sustainable Post Office network across Scotland. The report welcomes assurances that Scotland would not be made exempt from the universal service obligation. Further clarification is needed on Ofcom's power to designate more than one universal service provider. Ofcom should be required to consult with consumers, small businesses and vulnerable users in remote, rural and island communities in Scotland before it recommends any changes to the existing USO. There are considerable advantages to a long, stable and robust relationship between Royal Mail Group and Post Office Ltd and the Committee recommends that a ten year Inter Business Agreement should be reached prior to any sale of Royal Mail. On the Post Office network, the Bill makes no provision for the number of Post Offices and does not set out criteria for access to the network, a matter of concern because the current criteria could be met by 7,500 branches rather than the existing 11,500 branches. This could lead to many closures in Scotland. The Committee recommends that the Government gives assurances to preserving the existing network of branches. Elements of Outreach Post Offices, which replaced 102 Post Office branches in rural and remote parts of Scotland, are not sufficiently robust or reliable to provide an adequate service, according to the Committee, and it fears the new Post Office Local risks downgrading the service further. Improvements should be delivered as a matter of urgency.

Download or read book The Myth Of Decline written by George L Bernstein and published by Random House. This book was released on 2011-05-31 with total page 736 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This history of Britain since 1945 confronts two themes that have dominated British consciousness during the post-war era: the myth of decline and the pervasiveness of American influence. The political narrative is about the struggle to maintain a power that was illusory and, from 1960 on, to reverse an economic decline that was nearly as illusory. The British economy had its problems, which are fully analyzed; however, they were counterbalanced by an unparalleled prosperity. At the same time, there was a social and cultural revolution which resulted in a more exciting, dynamic society. While there was much American influence, there was no Americanization. American influences were incorporated with many others into a new and less stodgy British culture. Contrary to conventional wisdom, this groundbreaking book finds that the story of Britain since the war is marked not by decline but by progress on almost all fronts.

Download or read book Explaining Contemporary Asian Military Modernization written by Sheryn Lee and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2021-04-20 with total page 188 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book proposes a novel theoretical framework of "interactive arming" in order to explain armament dynamics in contemporary Asia. Frequently, the modernisation of contemporary naval forces in Asia is described as an "arms race," with the underlying assumption being that weapons acquisitions and increases in defence expenditure are competitive and bilateral and due to conflicting purposes or mutual fears. This book argues that the concept of an arms race is an unsuitable one for explaining contemporary military modernisation in 21st-century Asia. Instead, it proposes a novel and innovative concept of "interactive arming" and argues that what drives conflict is political rivalry, not weapons acquisitions. Instead of perceiving arming as abnormal behaviour, the book views arming as a natural strategic behaviour of states and military modernisation as a basic requirement for a state’s ability to survive. This book will be of much interest to students of Asian security, strategic studies and international relations in general.

Download or read book Charting Thoughts written by Low Sze Wee and published by National Gallery Singapore. This book was released on 2017-12-31 with total page 487 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A constellation of thoughts by 25 established and emerging scholars who plot the indices of modernity and locate new coordinates within the shifting landscape of art. These newly commissioned essays are accompanied by close to 200 full-colour image plates.

Download or read book Geography written by David Waugh and published by Nelson Thornes. This book was released on 2000 with total page 640 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Plate tectonics - Earthquakes and volcanoes - Weathering and slopes - Glaciation - Coasts - Deserts - Weather and climate - Soils - Biogepgraphy - Population - Urbanisation - Farming and food supply - Rural land use - Energy resources - Manufacturing industries - Transport and interdependence - World development.

Download or read book Intergenerational relations written by Albert, Isabelle and published by Policy Press. This book was released on 2013-06-27 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Population ageing today affects most industrialised countries, and it will have an impact on many facets of the social system. Intergenerational relationships will play a key role in dealing with the demographical and societal change. This book provides innovative views in the multidisciplinary research field of intergenerational family relations in society, with a focus on Europe. Different, but complementary, perspectives are integrated in one volume bringing together international scholars from sociology, psychology and economics. The book's chapters are grouped into three thematic sections which cover conceptual issues, multigenerational and cross-cultural perspectives, as well as applied issues. Implications for research, policy and practice are addressed and suggestions for future directions are discussed. By raising recent discussions on controversial issues, this book will stimulate the current discourse at various levels. Intergenerational relations in society and family will be equally interesting for researchers, advanced-level students and stakeholders in the fields of social policy, population ageing and intergenerational family relationships.

Download or read book The Report Algeria 2013 written by Oxford Business Group and published by Oxford Business Group. This book was released on 2013-11-27 with total page 259 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Considerable oil and gas revenues have provided the Algerian government with sufficient funds to embark on generous public spending programmes in nearly all sectors, leading to improvements in many of the country’s headline indicators. Although hydrocarbons are likely to remain the backbone of the economy for the foreseeable future, with significant state involvement, efforts are being made to diversify the economy and support private sector growth. Since the country gained independence more than 50 years ago, Algeria’s economy has evolved significantly, with oil and gas production reinforcing high levels of state spending. Algeria has been following something of a contrary approach to much of the rest of the world over the past few years. Even as the global economy has struggled, Algeria has continued to sail along fairly smoothly. It has not seen the vertiginous growth rates of emerging markets elsewhere in the Middle East and Africa, but it has seen a steady increase in activity and, through prudential management, has built up its financial reserves to great effect. While the state maintains a heavy presence in the market, the 38m-person country’s fundamentals are very robust, and the capital expenditures and policy reforms being taken to help address its weaknesses offer significant scope for even higher growth in the years to come.

Download or read book Russia s Military Modernisation An Assessment written by The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2020-09-29 with total page 273 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This new IISS Strategic Dossier examines the recent development of Moscow’s armed forces and military capabilities. It analyses the aspirations underpinning Russia’s military reform programme and its successes as well as its failures. The book also provides insights into Russia’s operational use of its armed forces, including in the intervention in Syria, the goals and results of recent state armament programmes, and the trajectory of future developments. This full-colour volume includes more than 50 graphics, maps and charts and over 70 images, and contains chapters on: Russia's armed forces since the end of the Cold War Strategic forces Ground forces Naval forces Aerospace forces Russia’s approach to military decision-making and joint operations Economics and industry At a time when Russia’s relations with many of its neighbours are increasingly strained, and amid renewed concern about the risk of an armed clash, this dossier is essential reading for understanding the state,capabilities and future of Russia’s armed forces.

Download or read book The Core Executive in Britain written by Martin J. Smith and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 1999-01-20 with total page 297 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The study of central government has been dominated by the recurring questions of Prime Ministerial versus Cabinet government and civil service versus ministerial power. Using the idea of 'power dependence' this book challenges these simplicities to provide a definitive assessment of - and introduction to - power and policy at the core of British political life. It undermines traditional approaches by demonstrating that power in the core executive is complex, and flows between actors and institutions. The Prime Minister can only exercise power with the support of the Cabinet, and ministers and officials are often partners rather than competitors.

Download or read book The Modern Romans written by Ambassador College, Pasadena, California. Editorial Department and published by . This book was released on 1971 with total page 93 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: