Central-Local Relations in an Era of Multi-Level Governance: The Case of Public Participation Policy in England, 1997-2001

The election of a 'New Labour' UK government in 1997 promised a new era of central-local relations facilitated by a programme of local government reform which recognised local government's 'community leadership' role. Other aspects of the agenda supported the development of multi-level governance, for example, the establishment of sub-national institutions such as the Scottish Parliament and the promotion of neighbourhoods as key sites for action. Despite these actions this paper will argue that in England the central state retains considerable influence over the key agents of local governance. Using the example of public participation policy, and drawing on the findings of a recent study in two English cities, the paper will explore how national policy aspirations were reflected locally. It concludes that while local action generally complemented national priorities, there were important points of contrast, and that localities' capacity to act in their own interests is supported by the opportunities presented in a multi-level governance environment.     

PARENT EDUCATION AS A DISTINCT FIELD OF PRACTICE

The proliferation of educational programs for separated and divorcing parents has created an emerging field of practice. This article examines core questions of professional responsibility, accountability, standards, and practices that must be addressed to advance the development of the field.     

Quality Control and Contracting Out of Legal Aid

This article reports on an evaluation of a pilot project in the tendering out of legal aid defence services for criminal matters in the Queensland District Court. Comparisons were made on quality and cost between the assignment of matters through competitive contracting and conventional assignment to private practitioners through a panel and scale fee system. Results show no significant differences in case outcomes and client perceptions of quality. In the interests of further cost reductions, any extension of tendering would need to focus on relatively simple, high-volume areas of prescribed crime, where there is less risk that competitive pricing will reduce the quality of service delivery. In addition, the evaluation indicated that greater savings might in future be obtained by enhanced utilisation of in-house (salaried) legal aid practitioners.     

Capillary electrophoretic analysis of phosphorus species in clandestine methamphetamine laboratory samples

The clandestine manufacture of methamphetamine is a spreading epidemic. Manufacturing methods are constantly changing, necessitating the implementation of new analytical tools to identify materials from these labs. Characterization of phosphate, phosphite, and hypophosphite ions is necessary to distinguish the various phosphorus-iodine manufacturing methods that are popular methods for reducing pseudoephedrine to methamphetamine. This work describes a capillary electrophoresis method to separate acetate, azide, bromide, carbonate, chlorate, chloride, chromate, fluoride, hypophosphite, iodide, nitrate, nitrite, perchlorate, phosphate, phosphite, sulfate, sulfite, and thiocyanate. The CElixerOA 8.2 dynamic coating system was modified by lowering the capillary temperature to 15 degrees C and using an acid flush between runs to remove adsorbed materials. This allows detection of ions down to between 10 and 30 parts per million with percent relative standard deviations of normalized migration times under 0.1%. This method is a valuable tool for the characterization of phosphate, phosphite, and hypophosphite in routine analysis of clandestine methamphetamine manufacturing evidence and has a broader application in other areas of forensic analysis.     

Journal Publishing, Journal Reputation, and the United Kingdom's Research Assessment Exercise

Many academic lawyers believe that the Research Assessment Exercise has encouraged writing for academic journals, often at the expense of other forms of scholarly discourse. Moreover, it is widely perceived that the reputation of the journal in which research is published affects how that research is assessed in connection with the RAE. In this article, the authors report data gathered from a large-scale study measuring the perceptions of academic lawyers concerning the journal publishing process, how the RAE has affected journal quality generally, and how specific journals rank in terms of academic quality and their perceived importance to the RAE process.     

SUPERFUND FINANCING ALTERNATIVES

In 1980 Congress created the Superfund to pay for the selective cleanup of hazardous waste disposal sites. The original Superfund program was financed by earmarked "feedstock" taxes on petroleum and 42 chemicals, and by a "waste-end" tax on hazardous waste received a t disposal facilities. Budgetary authority for the program expired in September 1985. Over a year elapsed before Congress renewed budgetary authority for the program by expanding the feedstock taxes, suspending the waste-end tax, and imposing a new broad-base tax on corporate income. This paper examines the efficiency and equity effects of the current and several alternative Superfund tax policies. Special emphasis is given to the administrative and compliance costs associated with each tax, and the capacity of each to complement EPA regulation of hazardous waste externalities.