An Ageing Workforce: the Employer's Perspective
Barnes H, Smeaton D, Taylor R
IES Research Report 468, July 2009

Against a widely recognised background of workforce ageing, skills shortages, an early retirement culture and the prospect of a pensions crisis, prolonging the labour market participation of older workers has become a key policy objective in the UK.

Work-life balance policies and flexible employment can provide the means of prolonging labour market engagement. As Vickerstaff (2003) observes, changes in retirement behaviour will therefore originate primarily from the demand side – ie employers’ policies.

This study assesses the range of schemes introduced to prevent early exit (whether voluntary or involuntary) and to facilitate the employment of staff to pension age and beyond. To what extent is a preventative framework deployed, and under what circumstances do employers struggle to be progressive? The project is designed to explore how effectively and comprehensively different types of employer (eg by size and sector) are responding to workforce ageing. In addition, the study set out to identify progress and ascertain where scope for improvement remains, highlighting whether, where and why employers encounter difficulties, in order to suggest policy solutions.

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Who is Heading for HE?
Young People’s Perceptions of, and Decisions About, Higher Education
Bates P, Pollard E, Usher T, Oakley J
Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), July 2009

This report presents findings from analyses of national longitudinal datasets of young people’s education and career choices in order to better understand potential applicants’ perceptions of, and intentions towards, entering higher education (HE).

It concentrates on young people, aged 16 and 17, at a time when they are making choices about their lives after compulsory education. It is an important study as it makes use of a dedicated set of questions covering attitudes towards and decisions about HE (the HE module) that have been inserted into two large scale face-to-face surveys of young people – the Youth Cohort Study (YCS) and the Longitudinal Study of Young People in England (LSYPE). It therefore provides robust and up to date data on the HE intentions of young people in England. It also provides an opportunity to explore whether decisions about HE amongst young people have changed over time.

The analyses shows who would consider going to university, for what reasons and in what circumstances, what barriers would need to be tackled to raise interest in HE and then to move interest on to real action, and young people’s preferences for HE.

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Research to Shape Critical Mass Pilots to Address Under-Representation in Apprenticeships
Pillai R, Martin R, Oakley J, Bates P, Cox A
Learning and Skills Council (LSC), July 2009

This project informs the development of critical mass pilots to tackle inequalities in the representation of particular groups in apprenticeship programmes. The pilots will offer additional support to assist in the attraction, retention and completion of apprenticeships. This could include the provision of mentors and other specific support recommended by this project. The groups targeted include potential apprentices with disabilities, those who would be gender atypical within an occupation and those from ethnic minority groups.

This project consists of three elements: a literature review, analysis of secondary data, and findings from 24 expert interviews.

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Going into HE
Usher T
Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), August 2009

This report summarises findings from the Going into HE research project. From the outset, the aim has been to develop a clear understanding of:

• the role and importance of finance in the decision-making process of English-domiciled people from different groups who are considering entering full-time Higher Education (HE) in the UK
• the impact of the support arrangements on their decisions.

When taken alongside quantitative studies on HE participation and student finances, also published by BIS, the qualitative research presented here contributes to an overall assessment of current student finance arrangements and will help to inform future developments.

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Evaluation of the Duty to Manage Asbestos
Sinclair A, Tyers C, Hunt W, Oakley J, Pearmain D, Savage J (IES), Bust P, Gibb A (Loughborough University)
Health and Safety Executive (HSE), August 2009

Exposure to asbestos is one of the major causes of occupationally related death from ill-health. To help protect workers from future exposure, the HSE has introduced an explicit Duty to Manage asbestos in non-domestic premises, by including this in the control of Asbestos Regulations (2002).

This research evaluates the impact of this duty so far. Specifically, the research aims to:

• establish levels of compliance with the Duty
• establish the extent to which compliance by dutyholders has brought about improved work practices among maintenance workers
• re-assess the assumptions made in the Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) which accompanied the introduction of the Regulations about costs/benefits of the duty
• identify/investigate factors influencing dutyholders’ compliance with the Duty and examine any barriers to compliance
• determine the proportion of non-domestic and domestic rented premises which contain asbestos and the rate at which this is being removed.

The findings are based on a survey of 1,000 dutyholders, a survey of 500 maintenance workers, face-to-face interviews with dutyholders and maintenance workers, and 20 site visits.

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Small Firms Loan Guarantee (SFLG) Scheme: Early Stage Assessment Report
Cowling M (IES), Greene F (Warwick Business School), Evitts D (Consultant)
Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), September 2009

The UK Small Firms Loan Guarantee scheme (SFLG) was introduced in 1981 to promote the flow of debt finance to smaller firms with viable proposals, but without collateral against which to secure loans, and to encourage banks to expand lending to this sector by demonstrating to them that they are missing out on viable lending opportunities. Since its inception, the SFLG has undergone a series of changes, the most recent being the adoption of many of the Graham Review recommendations post-December 2005.

This review was commissioned to (a) provide an assessment of the impact of the changes introduced to SFLG from 2006 as a result of the Graham Review; (b) to inform the Enterprise Strategy published with the March 2008 Budget – which included the decision to relax the Five Year Rule, the evidence for which is included in this report; and (c) inform the design of a full value for money evaluation of the Small Firm Loan Guarantee.

The review uses evidence from in-depth qualitative interviews with the top six SFLG lenders and other stakeholders including business representative bodies and advisors, academic experts and the officials responsible for SME access to finance in their regions.

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