Friday, September 14, 2012
Striking and problematic role of KIBS in policy framing
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2012/sep/12/private-firms-disability-assessment-regime?newsfeed=true
"This week the sixth International Forum on Disability Management, IFDM 2012, takes place at Imperial College London. It is sponsored by some of the world's largest medical insurance companies, Unum among them, and speakers include DWP chief medical adviser Dr Bill Gunyeon and Professor Sir Mansel Aylward, formerly DWP chief medical adviser and director of the Centre for Psychosocial and Disability Research at Cardiff University, which was sponsored by Unum from its inception in 2003 until 2009.
Unum's website states that during this sponsorship period "a series of papers was published, identifying the range of factors that determine why some people become long-term absentees". The Cardiff papers advocated a "biopsychosocial model" of disability which Unum says "informed its approach to medical underwriting". It is the same approach upon which the current Atos work capability assessment (WCA) is based. Concomitantly, the company were advising the UK government on welfare reform.
On 4 September, during an emergency debate on Atos and the WCA held in parliament, Labour MP Kevin Brennan demanded to know if DWP minister Chris Grayling was as concerned as he was "that Atos's chief medical officer is one Professor Michael O'Donnell, who was previously employed as chief medical officer by the American insurance company, Unum, which was described by the insurance commissioner for California, John Garamendi, as an 'outlaw company' that has operated in an unlawful fashion for many years, running (disability) claims denial factories."
We condemn the Royal Society of Medicine's decision to host IFDM 2012. By so doing, it has lent an aura of legitimacy to a pseudo-scientific approach to disability that is as far from evidence-based medicine as it is possible to imagine. It is an approach that continues to devastate the lives of patients, scores of whom are tragically no longer with us as a direct result.
These for-profit corporations should never have been permitted to sequester such power and influence over public health and social policy. There may be clear conflicts of interest at stake, and the public interest now demands an urgent and thorough independent public inquiry into the relationships between, and roles played by, senior Unum, Atos and DWP staff in the creation of the current government disability assessment regime.
John McArdle and Dr Stephen Carty Black Triangle Campaign and 449 co-signatories (see http://bit.ly/Pi4z4D)"
This comes in the wake of a Guardian story about civil service unease in the role of a leading figure in the consultancy foresee in poliicy discussions where clients of the firm have interests:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2012/sep/11/climate-change-minister-links-adviser
"A government minister has become embroiled in questions over his relationship with an adviser after meeting corporate clients of her private consultancy.
Greg Barker, the climate change minister, worked with the energy consultant Miriam Maes when in opposition and she was hired as a departmental consultant soon after the coalition came to power.
But newly released documents show Maes made repeated efforts to encourage Barker to meet representatives from Air Products, a multinational energy-from-waste supplier and one of her clients.
She also accompanied Barker on official visits in place of civil servants and was cautioned by officials against overstepping the boundaries of propriety or conflicts of interest.
The disclosures, made under the Freedom of Information Act, will once again raise questions about the blurred lines between ministers, their advisers and civil servants.
They follow the resignations of Liam Fox over his close working relationship with the lobbyist Adam Werritty, and Adam Smith, special adviser to then culture secretary Jeremy Hunt, for his close relationship with News International.
Maes, a Dutch-born businesswoman who runs the climate change consultancy Foresee, was paid £29,400 on her first government contract and issued with government business cards and an access pass to the Department for Energy and Climate Change (Decc) office.
She initially described herself as an adviser to Barker but, following inquiries from the Guardian in October 2011, Decc said she served solely as an adviser to the department and not the minister.
However, the new documents show that Maes and Barker were close. One email sent directly to Barker in February 2011 said: "This week we discussed briefly the request by one of my clients Air Products to meet with you … I will send a formal request in through [redacted] but could you give it a gentle nudge if needed?"
Air Products was seeking a 45-minute meeting with Barker to discuss their plans to build "the first large-scale renewable electricity plant in the UK".
Barker replied: "Of course, let's get it in the diary but let's have a chat rather than email."
A follow-up email from Maes early in March noted Air Products was "delighted" with the meeting and looked to arrange a follow-up in Philadelphia with the company's "top guys" next time Barker was in the country.
Further correspondence in March asked Barker if he had been "able to discuss the Air Products' situation with [redacted] from the Environmental Agency?", to which he replied: "I did!"
Barker was later photographed on several occasions with Air Products equipment. Air Products received planning permission for its plant in June 2011, and sought – and received – a supportive quote for its press release from Barker.
References to Maes's work with Air Products, and her role as an adviser to Decc, were removed from her company's website shortly before her email correspondence was released under FoI.
A spokesman for Air Products said on Tuesday that it employed Maes as a consultant and that, "as part of this process", company representatives met Barker in March 2011, followed by a second meeting in the US and a third at the Conservative party conference in October 2011.
Maes promoted other clients in communications with Barker.
In September 2011, she proposed executives from the European energy provider Elia, on whose board she serves as a non-executive director, to serve on a Decc round table.
Several other emails released under the FoI request discuss meetings or drinks functions that were either arranged by Maes or which she attended. However, owing to the heavy redactions it is not possible to discern who the companies were or whether they were clients of Maes's business.
Owing to the fact that Maes held a role as a Decc adviser, Barker did not disclose his contacts with her on registers of external meetings or other disclosure logs.
In another email sent to Barker on 3 March 2011, Maes asked him to intervene in the renewal of her contract with the department.
She wrote: "I have been asking [redacted] to push Moira [Wallace, the thenpermanent secretary of Decc] to at least agree my contract renewal for the 10% project (Max value £10k).
"[Redacted] has called Moira yesterday, he told me, to get it agreed whilst we are reviewing other options. No response yet. It now needs probably you reminding Moira to sign it imminently, whilst we are working on alternative solutions."
Barker responded: " Of course, will give it a very big nudge."
Barker also attempted to extend Maes's role beyond the remit of her contract, against the plans of civil servants.
Maes complained in an email to Barker: "Despite the fact that I had told him clearly that you wanted me to continue to take the lead on the implementation plan of the Whitehall District Heating Scheme, HE set up a Steering Group and called a meeting, WITHOUT CHECKING WITH ME AT ALL."
Barker responded quickly, forwarding a note he had sent to civil servants. "I wanted Decc Delivery Advisor Miriam Maes to chair this project. So I was extremely concerned that this was not happening," he wrote.
"Please rectify this with immediate effect. This project may be relatively small but is nevertheless a ministerial priority."
Caroline Flint, the shadow climate change minister, demanded a full explanation from the ministry about Barker's relationship with Maes and Air Products.
"Greg Barker is risking a repeat of the Fox-Werritty affair. That should have taught government ministers a lesson on becoming too close to outside advisers.
"No outside advisers to ministers should be able to use their position to get preferential treatment for their clients. Greg Barker must detail quickly and clearly what his links were to Miriam Maes and whether he allowed her clients privileged access to the heart of government," she said.
A spokesman for Decc said that Maes was under contract to Decc for two periods – September 2010 to May 2011 and July 2011 to the end of March this year.
"On both occasions, the decision followed a competition. She made a valuable contribution to the government's 10% energy reduction campaign and to the early work of the Energy Efficiency Deployment Office."
Asked if Barker had declared to any government official that Maes' clients included Air Products, the spokesman said: "Decc officials were informed, though no formal record was held by the contract manager.
Decc has since improved arrangements around declarations by contractors."
He said that Barker made informal inquiries into Maes's contract negotiations but that decisions over contracts were not taken by him.
"Mrs Maes also provided additional views pro bono on related matters to the department and to the minister.
"Ministers frequently seek the views of external experts. The permanent secretary and officials in Decc were aware that the minister greatly valued Miriam Maes's views," he said.
Maes said on Tuesday that she was open at all times with the ministry and the minister and provided a full list of clients. "I declared the clients I had in Foresee, of which Air Products was one," she said."
"This week the sixth International Forum on Disability Management, IFDM 2012, takes place at Imperial College London. It is sponsored by some of the world's largest medical insurance companies, Unum among them, and speakers include DWP chief medical adviser Dr Bill Gunyeon and Professor Sir Mansel Aylward, formerly DWP chief medical adviser and director of the Centre for Psychosocial and Disability Research at Cardiff University, which was sponsored by Unum from its inception in 2003 until 2009.
Unum's website states that during this sponsorship period "a series of papers was published, identifying the range of factors that determine why some people become long-term absentees". The Cardiff papers advocated a "biopsychosocial model" of disability which Unum says "informed its approach to medical underwriting". It is the same approach upon which the current Atos work capability assessment (WCA) is based. Concomitantly, the company were advising the UK government on welfare reform.
On 4 September, during an emergency debate on Atos and the WCA held in parliament, Labour MP Kevin Brennan demanded to know if DWP minister Chris Grayling was as concerned as he was "that Atos's chief medical officer is one Professor Michael O'Donnell, who was previously employed as chief medical officer by the American insurance company, Unum, which was described by the insurance commissioner for California, John Garamendi, as an 'outlaw company' that has operated in an unlawful fashion for many years, running (disability) claims denial factories."
We condemn the Royal Society of Medicine's decision to host IFDM 2012. By so doing, it has lent an aura of legitimacy to a pseudo-scientific approach to disability that is as far from evidence-based medicine as it is possible to imagine. It is an approach that continues to devastate the lives of patients, scores of whom are tragically no longer with us as a direct result.
These for-profit corporations should never have been permitted to sequester such power and influence over public health and social policy. There may be clear conflicts of interest at stake, and the public interest now demands an urgent and thorough independent public inquiry into the relationships between, and roles played by, senior Unum, Atos and DWP staff in the creation of the current government disability assessment regime.
John McArdle and Dr Stephen Carty Black Triangle Campaign and 449 co-signatories (see http://bit.ly/Pi4z4D)"
This comes in the wake of a Guardian story about civil service unease in the role of a leading figure in the consultancy foresee in poliicy discussions where clients of the firm have interests:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2012/sep/11/climate-change-minister-links-adviser
"A government minister has become embroiled in questions over his relationship with an adviser after meeting corporate clients of her private consultancy.
Greg Barker, the climate change minister, worked with the energy consultant Miriam Maes when in opposition and she was hired as a departmental consultant soon after the coalition came to power.
But newly released documents show Maes made repeated efforts to encourage Barker to meet representatives from Air Products, a multinational energy-from-waste supplier and one of her clients.
She also accompanied Barker on official visits in place of civil servants and was cautioned by officials against overstepping the boundaries of propriety or conflicts of interest.
The disclosures, made under the Freedom of Information Act, will once again raise questions about the blurred lines between ministers, their advisers and civil servants.
They follow the resignations of Liam Fox over his close working relationship with the lobbyist Adam Werritty, and Adam Smith, special adviser to then culture secretary Jeremy Hunt, for his close relationship with News International.
Maes, a Dutch-born businesswoman who runs the climate change consultancy Foresee, was paid £29,400 on her first government contract and issued with government business cards and an access pass to the Department for Energy and Climate Change (Decc) office.
She initially described herself as an adviser to Barker but, following inquiries from the Guardian in October 2011, Decc said she served solely as an adviser to the department and not the minister.
However, the new documents show that Maes and Barker were close. One email sent directly to Barker in February 2011 said: "This week we discussed briefly the request by one of my clients Air Products to meet with you … I will send a formal request in through [redacted] but could you give it a gentle nudge if needed?"
Air Products was seeking a 45-minute meeting with Barker to discuss their plans to build "the first large-scale renewable electricity plant in the UK".
Barker replied: "Of course, let's get it in the diary but let's have a chat rather than email."
A follow-up email from Maes early in March noted Air Products was "delighted" with the meeting and looked to arrange a follow-up in Philadelphia with the company's "top guys" next time Barker was in the country.
Further correspondence in March asked Barker if he had been "able to discuss the Air Products' situation with [redacted] from the Environmental Agency?", to which he replied: "I did!"
Barker was later photographed on several occasions with Air Products equipment. Air Products received planning permission for its plant in June 2011, and sought – and received – a supportive quote for its press release from Barker.
References to Maes's work with Air Products, and her role as an adviser to Decc, were removed from her company's website shortly before her email correspondence was released under FoI.
A spokesman for Air Products said on Tuesday that it employed Maes as a consultant and that, "as part of this process", company representatives met Barker in March 2011, followed by a second meeting in the US and a third at the Conservative party conference in October 2011.
Maes promoted other clients in communications with Barker.
In September 2011, she proposed executives from the European energy provider Elia, on whose board she serves as a non-executive director, to serve on a Decc round table.
Several other emails released under the FoI request discuss meetings or drinks functions that were either arranged by Maes or which she attended. However, owing to the heavy redactions it is not possible to discern who the companies were or whether they were clients of Maes's business.
Owing to the fact that Maes held a role as a Decc adviser, Barker did not disclose his contacts with her on registers of external meetings or other disclosure logs.
In another email sent to Barker on 3 March 2011, Maes asked him to intervene in the renewal of her contract with the department.
She wrote: "I have been asking [redacted] to push Moira [Wallace, the thenpermanent secretary of Decc] to at least agree my contract renewal for the 10% project (Max value £10k).
"[Redacted] has called Moira yesterday, he told me, to get it agreed whilst we are reviewing other options. No response yet. It now needs probably you reminding Moira to sign it imminently, whilst we are working on alternative solutions."
Barker responded: " Of course, will give it a very big nudge."
Barker also attempted to extend Maes's role beyond the remit of her contract, against the plans of civil servants.
Maes complained in an email to Barker: "Despite the fact that I had told him clearly that you wanted me to continue to take the lead on the implementation plan of the Whitehall District Heating Scheme, HE set up a Steering Group and called a meeting, WITHOUT CHECKING WITH ME AT ALL."
Barker responded quickly, forwarding a note he had sent to civil servants. "I wanted Decc Delivery Advisor Miriam Maes to chair this project. So I was extremely concerned that this was not happening," he wrote.
"Please rectify this with immediate effect. This project may be relatively small but is nevertheless a ministerial priority."
Caroline Flint, the shadow climate change minister, demanded a full explanation from the ministry about Barker's relationship with Maes and Air Products.
"Greg Barker is risking a repeat of the Fox-Werritty affair. That should have taught government ministers a lesson on becoming too close to outside advisers.
"No outside advisers to ministers should be able to use their position to get preferential treatment for their clients. Greg Barker must detail quickly and clearly what his links were to Miriam Maes and whether he allowed her clients privileged access to the heart of government," she said.
A spokesman for Decc said that Maes was under contract to Decc for two periods – September 2010 to May 2011 and July 2011 to the end of March this year.
"On both occasions, the decision followed a competition. She made a valuable contribution to the government's 10% energy reduction campaign and to the early work of the Energy Efficiency Deployment Office."
Asked if Barker had declared to any government official that Maes' clients included Air Products, the spokesman said: "Decc officials were informed, though no formal record was held by the contract manager.
Decc has since improved arrangements around declarations by contractors."
He said that Barker made informal inquiries into Maes's contract negotiations but that decisions over contracts were not taken by him.
"Mrs Maes also provided additional views pro bono on related matters to the department and to the minister.
"Ministers frequently seek the views of external experts. The permanent secretary and officials in Decc were aware that the minister greatly valued Miriam Maes's views," he said.
Maes said on Tuesday that she was open at all times with the ministry and the minister and provided a full list of clients. "I declared the clients I had in Foresee, of which Air Products was one," she said."
Monday, September 03, 2012
Innovation for Sustainability in Railways
Innovation as an Enabler for Sustainable Development in the Rail Industry in Great Britain
Francis How (Railway Industry Association) and Axel Kappeler (Arthur D. Little) - July 2012
on behalf of the Railway Industry Association’s Sustainable Development Working Group
"There is now a widespread recognition in the rail industry that innovation is a key enabler for the
long-term sustainability of the railways in Great Britain, particularly in terms of economic
sustainability. Whilst some progress has been made in bringing innovative technical solutions into
the railway, focusing innovation efforts on technology alone will not be enough to achieve the level
of cost reduction required to make the rail industry sustainable in the longer term.
This paper supports and builds on an emerging consensus that in order to achieve a sustainable
railway, the industry needs to adopt a more sophisticated and broader approach to innovation. This
approach will involve: firstly the application of innovative thinking to operating processes and
business models as well as to technology; secondly making innovation a central feature of the way
we do business; and thirdly moving to a position where innovation."
Discusses innovation maturity stages, enablers of innovation, some "case studies".
Innovation as an Enabler for Sustainable Development in the Rail Industry in Great Britain
Francis How (Railway Industry Association) and Axel Kappeler (Arthur D. Little) - July 2012
on behalf of the Railway Industry Association’s Sustainable Development Working Group
"There is now a widespread recognition in the rail industry that innovation is a key enabler for the
long-term sustainability of the railways in Great Britain, particularly in terms of economic
sustainability. Whilst some progress has been made in bringing innovative technical solutions into
the railway, focusing innovation efforts on technology alone will not be enough to achieve the level
of cost reduction required to make the rail industry sustainable in the longer term.
This paper supports and builds on an emerging consensus that in order to achieve a sustainable
railway, the industry needs to adopt a more sophisticated and broader approach to innovation. This
approach will involve: firstly the application of innovative thinking to operating processes and
business models as well as to technology; secondly making innovation a central feature of the way
we do business; and thirdly moving to a position where innovation."
Discusses innovation maturity stages, enablers of innovation, some "case studies".
