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Financial compensation by the UK courts for injuries or fatalities caused by the fault of another is provided as a lump sum that represents a revenue stream of lost future earnings over the claimant's lifetime. Calculating this revenue stream requires an assessment of potential future worklife activity. The Ogden Tables are recognised by the UK courts for this purpose. Research by City University London academics identified a new and more accurate approach to the calculation of compensation, focusing on the key factors of age, gender, employment state, educational attainment and prior disability. The Ogden Tables have incorporated these improved calculations and methods since the 6th Edition in 2007 (and they were retained in the current 7th Edition, published in 2011). The revised Tables were used in most court cases involving personal injury claims between 2008 and 2013 so this research has impacted on the judiciary and other legal professionals who advise claimants in compensation cases, the claimants who benefit from fairer levels of support to meet their needs, particularly where disability is involved and the families and carers of the claimants who also benefit from the support provided.
This case study describes the impact of research on improving employment outcomes for disadvantaged groups by influencing Government policy on employability. The case study focuses on the contribution to national employment policy from research conducted by the Employment Research Institute (ERI) at Edinburgh Napier University. Impacts outlined in this case study describe research that has been applied in the public policy field to address the issue of improving employment outcomes for those with complex barriers to employment.
The Centre for Management Buyout Research (CMBOR) pioneered a unique live platform that has informed and influenced the work of UK, European and International government agencies, industry, policy makers, practitioners and researchers. For the first time, CMBOR provided systematic research evidence on private-equity buyouts which is an area that is often misunderstood among policy makers and the wider public. The provision of extensive data on over 30,000 European private equity buy-out transactions and quarterly reports / analyses on buy-out activity has served to enhance government, industry and the wider public's understanding and inform the development of policies and practice on a strategic and operational level in the UK, Europe and US.
Research by Professor Ian Cunningham and Professor Dennis Nickson has influenced policy and practice with regard to a range of employment relations issues in the voluntary sector. Sector-level lead bodies, such as the Coalition of Care and Support Providers Scotland (CCPS) and individual trade unions (e.g. Unison and UNITE) and union confederations such as the Scottish Trade Union Congress (STUC) have adopted the research results and recommendations to campaign and influence public policy. The research has enabled Unison to establish a separate 'service group' (a term used to describe the union's key industrial sector). Research work on re-tendering in the voluntary social care sector (VSSC) has also been a key influence for the Scottish Government according to the Director of the CCPS, resulting in the formulation of specific guidance on social care procurement. Some research findings are cited in an influential report that has resulted in the establishment of a Scottish Government National Steering Group on joint strategic commissioning. The research on the impact of recession on VSSC has also led to joint lobbying between the STUC and employer organisations to campaign on worker terms and conditions, and training.
There has long been concern about the large number of people claiming incapacity benefits in Britain. Repeated policies to reduce the caseload have had little effect. Professor Richard Berthoud has addressed the issues by exploring the interaction between disabled people's impairments and employers' expectations. He has been continuously engaged with policymakers and has influenced the policy debates about these benefits. He has made presentations to the Department for Work and Pensions and social security adjudication judges, and has provided research and advice for the Office for Disability Issues, the Equalities Review and the National Equalities Panel, and the Citizens Advice Bureau.
Research by Professors Alan Bogg and Anne Davies was influential in reforming the judicial approach to the interpretation of contracts of employment. For many years, English courts construed contracts of employment primarily by reference to the written agreement between the parties. This permitted a form of abuse called `sham self-employment', in which employers draft contracts in such a way as to create the false impression that individuals are self-employed, rather than employees or workers, so that they are not entitled to statutory employment rights. Work by Bogg and Davies was heavily relied upon by the Supreme Court, which, in a key decision in Autoclenz, acknowledged the problem, and held that courts and tribunals should henceforth be more alert to situations in which the written agreement between the parties does not reflect the true nature of their relationship. The ruling affects working people throughout the jurisdiction and in all sectors of the economy. Bogg and Davies' research thus made it more difficult for employers to use these unfair, `sham', arrangements to abuse workers.