Scottish Executive: Held responsible at last? - Once again it looks like Westminster is being left behind with regards to progressive social law making, as an ‘Expert Group’ - set up by the Scottish Executive to review the law on corporate homicide in Scotland - has recommended creating a new offence of corporate killing through recklessness.
Under the proposed new offence, organisations whose actions or failure to put policies, practices & systems in place to ensure the health & safety of its employees & the public, could face prosecution if these actions result in death.
This differs from the Home Office’s proposals which will essentially build on the English common law of manslaughter, with an organisation being found guilty if the way in which its senior managers managed or organised its activities caused a person’s death through gross breach of a duty of care.
The Group considered that those proposals would not translate easily into Scots law and could retain the problems associated with identifying a ’controlling mind’ - the main difficulty with the current law of culpable homicide as it applies to organisations.
Other recommendations from the Expert Group include a new stand-alone offence to deal with directors and others who are directly responsible for the death of employees or the public and a secondary offence for directors or senior managers whose actions/omissions significantly contributed to the new offence of corporate killing being committed.
Press release ~ Report ~ Expert Group ~ Unison Scotland ~ CBI Scotland Submission ~ T&G Response to report ~ STUC response ~ ALARM website ~ HSE – Risk Management ~ ROSPA ~ Crown prosecution Service ~ Basis of Liability ~ Centre for Corporate Accountability
HSE: Legal ‘costs’ of RSI - A new database expanding & updating existing information on Court judgments in repetitive strain injury (RSI) cases, will be of direct & immediate benefit to the Health and Safety Executive who funded it and to legal and health professionals working in the field RSI, trade unions, insurers & designers.
The work related upper limb disorder (WRULD) database has free access to users who register and provides details of judgments including the factors that Courts considered important in reaching their decisions, degree of care exercised by employers and amount of damages awarded to claimants
It is estimated that in 2004/05 375,000 people in Great Britain suffered from a musculoskeletal disorder(MSD) mainly affecting the upper limbs or neck that was caused or made worse by their current or past work.
Press release ~ HSE Musculoskeletal disorders website ~ RSI database ~ HSE research report RR010 ’How the Courts are interpreting HSE guidance and health and safety regulations: An exploratory study of Court Judgements in personal injury claims for WRULDs’. ~ HSE Musculoskeletal Disorders Programme ~ RSI-UK Mailing list ~ RSI Association ~ Aching arms (or RSI) in small businesses: Is ill health due to upper limb disorders a problem in your workplace? ~ NHS Direct Online
ippr: Healthy. Wealthy and Demanding - Reforms to patient choice in the NHS could help reduce health inequalities according to new research published by the Institute for Public Policy Research (ippr), which says the government’s current choice agenda advantages the healthy, wealthy & demanding.
The report recommends a set of measures to make health care choices effective for the worst off social groups, which are currently prevented from exercising full choices by lack of information & knowledge, language problems, inadequate access to transport and IT, or disability.
Examples of health inequality highlighted include the fact that hip replacements were 20% lower among lower socio-economic groups, despite roughly a 30% higher need and that around 1.4 million people miss, turn down or do not seek healthcare because of lack of access to transport.
The ippr has also published its report, which explores what choice means for people over age 65 and examines the Government’s proposals on individual budgets.
Press release ~ Equitable Choices for Health (scroll down for free summary) ~ A Mature Policy on Choice ~ Pfizer in the Community ~ Patients Forum – White Paper: Choosing health ~ RCN – Real choice in health service ~ Indices of deprivation ~ Kings Fund – Health deprivation
WG Newswire: Proving white collar crime – If your organisation was asked to produce reliable evidence of what has happened in a white collar crime, or to resolve a legal dispute – how well would it respond?
Well, help is at hand, as the Information Assurance Advisory Council has published a Guide to Digital Investigations and Evidence. Nearly all organisations underestimate how often they may be called on to produce reliable evidence of what has happened in & around their ICT systems and they also underestimate the demands that the legal system makes in terms of ensuring the admissibility and reliability of digital evidence.
Unless an organisation has developed a detailed planned response to typical risk scenarios, much potential evidence will never be collected or will become worthless as a result of contamination.
Moreover, during an investigation, the organisation will be constantly faced with a dilemma: Cut service provision when essential systems are switched off so that evidence can be properly preserved; or be profoundly ‘handicapped’ in proving your case because evidence cannot be produced.
The first part of this guide is directed at major decision-makers and their senior advisers, including lawyers, while the second part of the guide is for those who will have to implement policy such as information security staff, computer security incident response staff and those tasked with dealing with the sharp end of an investigation.
Press release ~ Information Assurance Advisory Council ~ Director’s and Corporate Advisor’s Guide to Digital Investigations and Evidence ~ Information Systems Integrity Group, London School of Economics ~ National Hi-Tech Crime Unit (NHTCU) ~ Scottish NHTCU
Defra: Pets Abroad – With an Englishman’s ‘home’ just as likely to be in Spain, France, Greece, Cyprus, etc. these days, many more people than before are concerned about whether they have to leave their pet(s) in kennels, while they spend perhaps months abroad.
Historically, the
By February 2007, the EU is due to carry out a review of some of the requirements to the EU-wide system and Defra, therefore, considers that the time is right to carry out an evidence based review of rabies import policies, which will cover import requirements for rabies-susceptible mammals including dogs, cats, rabbits and rodents, but not for animals, such as birds.
Defra has written to interested parties, providing them with an opportunity to comment (by
Press release ~ Consultation on review of rabies disease import control policy ~ Contact details for Animal Health Divisional Offices (AHDO) and State Veterinary Service ~ Defra – Bringing pets into the UK ~ Dog and Cat Travel and Risk Information Scheme (DACTARI) ~ European pet movement regulation ~ Defra Rabies Factsheet ~ Health Protection Agency on Rabies ~ DH Rabies website
The awards, which were developed by SustainIT – an initiative of the
The awards cover a wider remit than that of the government’s current targets for e-enabling of access to public service, including projects which make use of ICT to reduce the environmental impacts of energy, water & resource use and ICT projects or applications which encourage more efficient & flexible ways of working.
It is also looking for voluntary sector projects that use ICT to enhance access to services & opportunities for socially excluded individuals & groups and entries focusing specifically on enhancing ICT access & services for elderly or disabled people.
Full article ~ SustainIT ~ UK CEED ~ BT Environment & CSR Campaign ~ UK Phenology Network ~ Woodland Trust ~ Centre for Ecology and Hydrology. ~ South Witham Broadband (SWB)
Neil Stewart Associates: Is the NHS equality ready? - Diversity policy is one of the biggest challenges facing hospitals and health services in the coming two years with new duties to promote disability & gender equality and forthcoming start-date for legislation on age equality. On top of the requirement for NHS bodies to have renewed their Race Equality Schemes in May 2005 is an obligation to develop Disability and Gender Equality Schemes.
The interaction of these extended legal frameworks will generate a new round of cases and demand higher standards of practice & sensitivity. Also most of the new standards apply not just to employment law but in goods & services, the conduct of the whole organisation, how it delivers its services, monitors its performance and conducts its relationship with suppliers, partner organisations, contractors and PFI partners.
The new duties will present particular contract & professional problems which must be addressed now and not left until the last minute as their solution will take time, leaving some organisations open to legal action by default.
The conference - Promoting Disability, Gender and Age Equality (02/12/2005) - will set out how the NHS and other healthcare providers can roll out policies, which not only promote better employment practices, but exceed the standards being demanded by law in all areas of activity.
Further details ~ DH Race Equality website ~ Department of Health Race Equality Scheme 2005-2008 ~ Race and Diversity strategy ~ Mental Health Bill - Consultation on Race Equality ~ DTI Age Discrimination ~ Acas Equality & Diversity website
Home Office: Security
does not appear to come cheap these days as, fees for a new standard 10-year
adult passport are going to rise by £9 to £51, effective from 1
December 2005. This 21% rise actually forms part of a 70% rise in just 3
years, as passports in October 2003 cost just £30.
The rise is
required to ‘reflect the cost of
implementing key anti-fraud measures to combat the rapidly growing threat of
passport fraud and forgery’ and the UKPS are seeking a further fee review next
year.
Some of the
additional funding was used to introduce the secure delivery of passports scheme (reducing losses during
delivery by over 80%) and to launch a database of lost & stolen
passports.
Press release ~ Briefing note on the UKPS current programme of work ~
Personal Identity Project – interim report of Glasgow
pilot ~ Hansard report of Consular Fees ~
UKPS –
Biometric Passports
CIOB: Due to the
increasing demand for places on the Chartered Institute of
Building’s Graduate Diploma Programme, the CIOB will be inviting
other accredited universities to express their interest in developing &
delivering this programme.
The Diploma was designed to meet the needs of
employers who want to recruit non-cognate graduates to construction-related
jobs, not only to meet the current shortfall, but also to supply the different
skills & approaches that are currently needed.
Press release ~ CITB-ConstructionSkills ~ bConstructive ~ National Construction College ~ Promoting Women in
Construction
ODPM: Home Information Packs, which are being introduced by Government to
reform the home buying & selling process, will become mandatory from
It is
expected this scheme will be operating by the summer of 2006 and a ’dry run’ will follow
later in the year designed to provide assurance to the industry and the public
in advance of mandatory introduction.
Press release ~ ODPM HIP
website ~ Current
consultation on HIP Draft Regulations ~ Getting a Home Inspector
Qualification
Cabinet Office: The Cabinet Office has announced the
relocation of a grand total of 30 staff to Birchwood in the North West of
England from the Cabinet Office’s e-Government Unit (eGU. The move is designed to establish a shared service centre with closer &
improved interaction with the UK IT profession. The relocation will begin in January 2006 and take
place in phases over the course of 2006
The
relocation is an integral part of Cabinet Office’s response to the Lyons
Review, which aims to relocate 20,000 civil service posts away from
Press release ~ Birchwood
Park ~ Lyons Review ~ e-Government Unit (eGU) ~ British Chamber of Commerce Response to Lyons Review ~
Choosing Locations for Government Business ~ OGC – Relocation FAQs
Defra: New
targets to increase recycling of magazines have been formally agreed by the
government and the Periodical Publishers
Association (PPA), who represent some 90% of all magazine publishers in the
Press release ~ Defra Producer Responsibility website ~ Voluntary Agreements ~ Local Authorities Recycling
Advisory Committee (LARAC) ~ WRAP (the Waste and Resources Action Programme) ~ Periodical Publishers Association (PPA) ~ Paper recycling - exposing the
myths
Defra: Some of the
Since 1970 there has been an 84% decline in sulphur
dioxide emissions (from 3.8 million tonnes to 1 million tonnes in 2002) and a
37% decline in emissions of nitrogen oxides.
Press release ~
’Future of Britain’s Upland Waters’ ~ Defra Freshwater
Umbrella research programme ~ UK Acid Waters
Monitoring Network ~ EU Clean
Air and transport ~ United
Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Acidification, Eutrophication
and Ground-level Ozone Protocol (the Gothenburg Protocol) ~ National Emissions Ceilings Directive (NECD)
(2001/81/EC) ~ Large Combustion Plants Directive (LCPD) (2001/80/EC)
~ IPPC
Directive (96/61/EC)
HSE: The £1m
Worker Safety Adviser (WSA)
Challenge Fund third round is now open to small businesses that show a
commitment to improving worker involvement in H&S, offering grants of up to
£100,000 per application.
The aim of the fund is to inspire organisations to
work together on projects that encourage & promote employees and their
employers to co-operate in driving forward improvements in managing health
and safety. Closing date for
applications is
Press release ~ Application forms
~ Award Winners for 2005 - 06 ~ Project North East
(PNE)
DfES: Parents could
obtain discounts & free child places on family breaks taken during the
school holidays as the Government joins forces with the travel industry to
launch Every Lesson Counts, yet
another drive to tackle absence from schools.
The Government also confirmed it is expanding the ’Fast Track to Attendance’ programme to
target over 10,000 ’serial truants’ who account for 1 in 5 of all instances of
truancy across the country, with their parents facing a penalty notice or court
prosecution unless their child’s attendance improves.
Press release ~ Pupil Absence in Schools in England: 2004/2005
(Provisional) ~ Every Lesson Counts ~ Federation
of Tour Operators ~ Evaluation of Fast Track to Prosecution for School
Non-Attendance Research Information ~ Teachernet – Beating Truancy ~ Truancy Sweeps
Defra: The
government has claimed that communities at risk from flooding have more to gain
from flood management than simply acquiring better protection against rising
water and efforts to maximise the benefits to the environment, to people &
to local economies should be an integral part of measures to reduce flood
risk.
A new fund has been launched as part of the Making space for water programme and
£1.5m is available over three years for the development of flood & coastal
erosion risk management projects which deliver a range of environmental, social
and economic benefits. The closing date
for proposals to reach Defra is
Press release ~ Making space for water ~ Defra Flood Management website ~ Institute of Civil Engineers – Engineering skills for flood risk
management ~ National Flood forum ~ Preparing for Floods ~ National Appraisal of Assets at Risk of Flooding and Coastal
Erosion in England and Wales ~ Flood
Ranger ~
DH: The
government has launched the Oral Health Plan for
Press release ~ Choosing Better Oral Health ~ BASCD ~ Personal Dental Services (PDS) pilots ~ DH Dental Services website ~ British Dental
Health Foundation ~ Community Dental Health ~ Dental Health services
Research Unit ~ Oral Health
Specialist Library ~ <
FONT color=#800080>Adult Dental Health Survey ~ Children’s Dental Health ~ British dental
Association
Home Office: The Government has set out how its Drug Intervention Programme (DIP) will
ensure that women and those from minority ethnic groups receive the treatment
they need.
The Race and Diversity strategy is intended
to localise treatment by commissioning services to meet local needs, continue
to develop a workforce which responds appropriately & sensitively to
different needs and increase community engagement in the development &
delivery of local services.
Press release ~ Drug Interventions Programme ~ Drug
Strategy ~ Race and Diversity strategy ~ Drug Action
Teams ~ National Treatment Agency for
Substance Misuse (NTA) ~ DH Substance Abuse website ~ Treatment Works
website ~ Staff development toolkit for
drug and alcohol services
Home Office: The government is claiming that
communities will have a
bigger say in future how crime and anti-social behaviour are dealt with and
will be able to
trigger local action by police & local authorities
to tackle the most persistent problems.
The measure
was one of a number of initiatives outlined in the National Community Safety Plan (NCSP),
which sets out the Governments key priorities for improving the safety of
our communities in the next
three years and is being put forward as a new holistic approach to community safety,
which joins up work across central government, including contributions from
the ODPM, DfES, DH and DfT.
Also
published is the fourth annual National
Policing Plan (as an annexe to the NCSP), which sets out national
priorities for policing in
Press release ~ see following APA Press release ~ National Community Safety Plan 2006 - 09 ~ Previous Nation Policing Plans ~ Association of Police
Authorities (APA ) ~ Home Office Communities website ~ Together We Can Action Plan ~ Safe Stronger Communities Fund
(SSCF)
Pensions
Regulator: A consultation document (closes 12
December 2005) on the Pensions Regulators approach to
implementing the requirements on cross-border schemes has been published, which
sets out the regulators overall approach to operating the cross-border
requirements. These will come into force at the end of the year.
Press release ~
Defra: Given the
extremely large number of individuals who list ‘fishing’ as their hobby, Defra
should get a large response to their current consultation (closes 8
February 2006) on proposals to increase the number of mature bass
around the coast of England, by increasing the minimum landing size (MLS) of
bass from 36cm to 45cm.
The Bass
Anglers Sportfishing Society presented Defra with a Bass Management
Plan, outlining how they wished to see bass stocks managed in the
This plan proposed a range of measures including the
introduction of a bass licence, carcass tags, bag limits for recreational
anglers, a closed season, an increase in the MLS, enhanced bass nursery area
protection, net restrictions within 1 mile of the coast and near shore netting
restrictions.
Press release~ Consultation ~ Net Benefits ~ Bass Anglers
Sportfishing Society ~ Management plan ~ British Marine
Life Study society
DCMS:
The
government has announced a package of support to help police and local
authorities effectively tackle alcohol-fuelled disorder. It is intended to ensure that
enforcement authorities are able to make the most of the new powers to deal
with alcohol-related problems contained in the Licensing Act 2003.
The package consists
of a
’How To’ guide setting out how councils and the police can use the
new powers in the licensing act to crack down on alcohol fuelled disorder and
details of a phone line to offer local authorities advice on implementing the
new act (020 7072 7447), which will be live by 24th
November.
Press release ~ Summary of The ’How To’ guide ~ DCMS Alcohol & Entertainment website ~ The Law and Being Drunk ~ Alcoholics
Anonymous
DH: The
government has announced a new guide for the NHS that is intended to put new
focus on older people’ mental health, including delirium, dementia &
depression. The new service
development guide - ’Everybody’s
business. Integrated mental health services for older adults: A service
development guide - sets out the key components of a modern older people’s
mental health service.
The guide will be supported by a mapping programme
that will collect information on older people’s mental health services, their
availability and how they are staffed. Information from the mapping programme will help
managers and commissioners develop services and bids for resources and also
help support performance management.
Press release ~ ’Everybody’s business. Integrated mental health services for
older adults: A service development guide’ ~ www.everybodysbusiness.org.uk ~ DH Mental Health website ~ Care Services Improvement Partnership ~ Healthcare Commission ~ Commission for Social Care
Inspection ~ National Institute for Mental Health in England ~
Redesigning Mental Health Day
Services
Defra: A new website has been launched to
provide information & advice on how legal and sustainable timber can be
purchased, in line with the UK Government’s timber procurement policy. The Central Point of Expertise on Timber Procurement (CPET) website
will be maintained by ProForest,
which has wide experience in responsible purchasing.
Buyers &
suppliers will find advice on how to specify legal and sustainable timber, how
to assure themselves they are getting what they ask for, background information
on how these practical solutions were developed, and under what criteria
evidence should be assessed
Press release ~ Central Point of
Expertise on Timber Procurement (CPET) website ~ ProForest ~
ERM website ~ UK Timber Trade Federation ~ Environmental Audit Committee Report: Buying Time for Forests: Timber Trade and
Public Procurement
Defra: All Single
Payment Scheme applicants in
It also includes information that may be particularly
relevant to growers of short rotation coppice and Miscanthus or other permanent
crops grown on set-aside for non-food uses, who have until 16
December to amend their SPS application forms, to take advantage of
recent changes to the eligibility rules for claiming the Single Payment on land
growing permanent crops, multi-annual crops and energy crops.
Press release ~ Rural
payments Agency ~ SPS publications ~ October 2005 Update ~ Farm Business Advice
Service (FBAS) flyer for "knowing your options"
service
Home Office: New guidance to protect children using chatrooms and
search engines has been published by the Home Office. Internet service providers have helped develop the guides to
create a safer online environment for children when they use moderated chat
services or search engines.
The guidance says that providers
should:
·
offer
users a way of reporting material that is illegal or potentially harmful to
children;
·
offer
content filtering on search engines;
·
manually
review and approve websites included in search services aimed at
children;
·
consider
whether they need human or automatic moderation for
chatrooms;
·
ensure
where necessary staff who come into contact with children have had relevant
Criminal Records Bureau checks.
Press release ~ search safely document ~ Home Office’s Internet Task Force for
child protection ~ Internet Watch
Foundation ~ Internet Crime Forum ~ Virtual
Global Taskforce
DTI:
Match Winners, a guide to
encourage collaboration between the private sector & social enterprises has
been launched as part of the first ever Social Enterprise Day in this year’s
The Match
Winners guide, which has been developed in partnership with the Community Action Network (CAN) explores
the outcomes of existing partnerships between social enterprise & private
sector business and offers some new practical guidance on how to benefit from
commercial collaboration.
Press release ~ Enterprise Week ~ Enterprise
Solutions Award ~ Social Enterprise Coalition ~ Community Action
Network (CAN) ~ FRC Group ~ The Cresco
Trust ~ Charlton Football Club ~ Greenwich Leisure ~ Pack-it ~ Small Business Service – Social Enterprise ~ Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship at the Said Business
School, Oxford ~ Copies of Match Winners can be ordered by
telephone on 029 2048 6000 or by email at Matchwinners@pack-it.com
DfES: The Foster review of Further Education (FE)
colleges has called for a ’sharper focus to improve students’ employability and
supply economically valuable skills’.
Press release ~ Foster Report and review website ~ From little acorns: Towards a strategy for spreading good
practice ~ National Skills Academies Prospectus
2005/6: An innovative approach to meeting employers’ needs for
training ~ LSC document:
Priorities for Success - Funding for Learning and
Skills ~ DfES White Paper: Skills Getting on in
business, getting on at work ~ White Paper: 14-19 Education and
Skills ~ National Employer Training
programmes
NAO: A
National Audit Office report - Reducing Brain
Damage: Faster access to better stroke care - says that
the priority afforded to stroke care by the Department of Health and the wider
health service can be increased, given its impact & cost.
The report recommends further improvements in preventing,
treating & managing stroke patients, in line with recent evidence,
which would reduce the number of deaths, improve recovery rates, increase NHS
efficiency and lead to significant financial savings.
NAO Press release ~ DH Press release ~ Reducing Brain Damage: Faster access to better stroke
care: Executive Summary ~ Full Report (1.4Mb) ~ Economic analysis ~ Report on GP activity in line with the Quality and
Outcomes Framework ~ Different
Strokes website ~ The Stroke
Association ~ Health
Education Board for Scotland ~ Portable Scanners (news
item) ~ DH Stroke website
NAO: The
National Audit Office has published a report on the complexity of the benefits
system. An appropriate degree of
complexity exists where there is a balance between the system being detailed
enough to meet the needs of a wide range of different individuals in various
circumstances, yet straightforward enough to run efficiently - According to the NAO, the DWP has not yet
achieved this balance.
Press release ~ Dealing with the complexity of the benefits
system: - Full Report (1.2Mb) ~
Executive Summary ~ Social Security Advisory Committee ~ DWP Five Year Strategy ~ Available Benefits ~ Disability
Allowance
DTI: The
government has published an extensive study of the
The research, conducted by Oxford University’s
Environmental Change Institute for the DTI, analysed hourly wind speed records
collected by the Met Office at 66 locations across the UK since
1970.
Press release ~ Wind Power
and the UK Wind Resource (Scroll down for other links) ~ DTI
Wind Power ~ National
Energy Foundation
Cabinet Office: Baroness Fritchie has published an internal view report
charting the development of the Office
of the Commissioner for Public Appointments (OCPA) since its establishment
in 1995. The report is based
largely on documentary evidence but also includes some commentary from key
players who were involved in some way in OCPA’s development.
Baroness Fritchie said: "In January this year
the Graham Committee on Standards in Public Life report ’Getting the Balance
Right: Implementing Standards of Conduct in Public Life’ made a number of
recommendations which may have a major impact on the work of my Office. I look
forward to seeing the Government’s response to this
report."
Press release ~ Internal Research Project examining the role and development of
the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments [VLF 1.3Mb, 233 pages] ~
Home Office: Responding to the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs’
I> report and recommendations on methylamphetamine, the Home Secretary, Charles Clarke said:
"Methylamphetamine is a dangerous drug that has
had a major impact on communities in countries such as the
Press release ~ Advisory
Council on the Misuse of Drugs ~ Methylamphetamine report & summary (scroll
down)
Defra:
The epidemiology report on the case
of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) H5N1 in a quarantine facility in
Essex has now been received from the National Emergency Epidemiology Group and been published by Defra
and its main findings are:
·
Within
the species documented as coming from
·
Infection with H5N1 was transmitted between the Mesias, but there is no
evidence of transmission to other species in the facility including the
sentinel birds.
Press release ~ epidiomological report on avian influenza
in a quarantine premises in Essex ~
Defra Avian Flu website
Defra: New changes
to waste regulations are intended to help reduce the thousands of tonnes of
household waste being fly-tipped each year. From Monday, November 21, all householders in
Registered waste carriers, other than the local
council, can now be found online thanks to a new ’waste carrier register’, set
up by the Environment Agency.
Press release ~ Waste
Duty of Care Regulations ~ Defra Duty of Care website ~ Defra Fly tipping website
DCA: Richard Brook
has been appointed as the Public
Guardian (designate) and Chief Executive of the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG). The post of Public Guardian was
established by the Mental Capacity Act
2005 and will be created by the transition of the current Public Guardianship Office (PGO) into
the new Office of the Public Guardian
(OPG).
The OPG will go beyond the current remit of the PGO
which deals with financial matters for people who lack capacity, to regulating
all decision-makers (Lasting Powers of Attorney and Deputies) who are appointed
to make the whole range of finance, health and welfare decision for people who
lack capacity.
The new organisation will not be formally launched before early
2007, although it will run in transition mode for a year beforehand.
Richard Brook will take up his appointment in February
2006.
Press release ~ Mental
Capacity Act 2005 ~ Public Guardianship
Office (PGO) ~ Mind website
DCA: The Legal
Services Complaints Commissioner, Zahida Manzoor, has urged the Law Society’s
complaints handling arm to make every effort to meet the targets included in
its Plan. Speaking, as she
published her Interim Report, ’Pushing
for Change’, on the Law Society’s performance over the first half of this
year, Ms Manzoor said:
"However, on current performance trends it is likely that the Law
Society will only meet four out of seven of the targets included in its plan.
It needs to make every effort to meet these targets, which would bring its
service a step closer to being effective and efficient. At the end of the
financial year I will have to decide if the Law Society has handled complaints
in accordance with its Plan or not, and, if not, to consider if a penalty is
appropriate."
Press release ~ ’Pushing for
Change’ ~ Legal Services Complaints Commissioner (LSCC) ~ Law Society ~ Consumer complaints service ~ Consumer Complaints
Board
DTI: The European
Union has announced a new competition to ‘recognise & reward outstanding initiatives that have supported
entrepreneurship in villages, towns and cities across
The Awards were set up at the suggestion of the
Press release ~ European Enterprise Awards ~
Home
Office: The
Government has set out a package of measures which it hopes will help foster a
more generous society.
It has committed funding of up to £9 million for a series of new
projects, which include the development of a network of School Charity Accounts, the extension of the successful Giving Nation curriculum programme to
primary schools and the launch of a partnership with the Institute of Fundraising to encourage
and support charities to make better use of existing tax efficient fundraising
schemes.
Press release ~ Home office Charitable Giving website ~ Report A Generous
Society (1Mb) ~ Charities Aid
Foundation ~ Giving Nation
~ Year of the Volunteer ~ Institute of Fundraising
Home Office: Home Office Minister Paul Goggins has
announced that the government is boosting Volunteering, Mentoring &
Befriending projects with the launch of a new flagship programme - the GoldStar Volunteering and Mentoring
Exemplar Programme, which will fund nearly 50 projects with proven track
records of good practise, with £5 million guaranteed until 2008.
GoldStar
projects will receive small grants of which at least 1/3 must be spent on promoting
good practice, while the remainder can be spent on the project
itself. The grants will be rolled
out between April 2006
and January 2007.
Press release ~ Volunteering
England ~ National Mentoring and Befriending Foundation ~ Mentoring Fund ~ Tribal
Group ~ Yorkshire and the Humber Regional
Forum
HSE: A serious injury to a young warehouse
employee has prompted the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) to emphasise a
number of important safety issues to employers in the warehousing and
commercial storage sectors. These include supervision of inexperienced workers,
planning work at height and ensuring safety procedures are maintained outside
normal working hours.
Provisional
figures for 2004/5 show that 53 workers died after falling from height and
nearly 4,000 suffered major injuries. Falls from height are the most common
cause of fatal injury at work and account for 13% of all major
injuries.
CABE: 94% of new
private housing built over the last three years in the north of
CABE reviewed the design quality of 93 schemes by the
10 largest volume housebuilders in the North East, North West, Yorkshire and
Humber, revealing that 24% of the schemes were judged ’poor’, with a further
70% are ’average’ and only 6% are ’good’ or ’very good’.
For many homebuyers, CABE believes the design of new
housing in both the North and the South of England is not as good as they
deserve and a similar picture is painted by the residents
themselves
In a separate independent survey, 241 residents from
11 of the audited housing schemes were asked to rate the design of the place
where they live. The resulting report, What it’s like to live there, revealed that the overwhelming
majority consider where they live to be ’average’.
Both reports highlight three key
weaknesses: Parking, poor layout and frequent failure to create
places with a real sense of character and identity. All of which issues are due to be discussed this week at a
3-day forum of organisations involved in the huge housing expansion planned for
the ‘Thames Gateway’, which will be looking at a design initiative drawn up by
Essex County Council.
Full
article ~ CABE ~
Housing audit:
Assessing the design quality of new homes in the North East, North West and
Yorkshire & Humber (VLF 2Mb) ~ What it’s like to live
there (VLF 1.4Mb)
~ Housing Audit: Assessing the Design Quality of New
Homes (VLF) ~ What home buyers want:
Attitudes and decision making among consumers (VLF 1Mb)
~
Building for
Life ~ Essex Design Initiative ~ ODPM –
Greening the Gateway
For other articles please click HERE
& nbsp; &nb sp;   ; & nbsp; &nb sp;   ; & nbsp; &nb sp;   ;
Date:
Venue: London
Organiser: Capita Conferences - Implementing
The government
wants to have reduced re-offending rates by 5% in 2008,
compared to 2003.
Since re-offending takes
place in local communities and impacts local people, housing associations,
local councils & partner agencies are at the sharp end of providing
solutions. This conference will examine how your organisation can work with
mainstream services to develop and implement an appropriate local
solution.
It is intended to generate
debate on how to break the re-offending cycle and give hands-on examples of
effective multi-agency approaches and community solutions.
The conference features a multi-agency panel
session showcasing Brent council’s local efforts to reduce re‑offending,
providing you with a rare opportunity to hear from senior level council,
police, probation service and primary care trust representatives in
Brent.
Further details ~ Brent Crime and Disorder Reduction & Community
Safety Strategy (VLF 1.4Mb) ~ Brent Youth Justice Plan
(VLF) ~ The Built
Environment (VLF) ~ Restructuring Probation to Reduce Re-offending - NOMS
Consultation Document ~ Nacro – A better
alternative ~ Scottish Executive – Review of Youth Crime ~ Making Sense of Sentencing ~ Sentencing Guidelines Council
For information other events please
click HERE
WGPlus would like to make it
clear that the commentary & links provided, in
respect of any particular item, are published in its capacity as an
independent non-government funded organisation and reflect the editorial
team’s need to both précis & re‑format the content of news
releases.
Any views
expressed are therefore entirely those of the WGPlus
editorial team and independent of any sponsor, government organisation or
political party.
For the
official view of a source organisation, readers should click
on the ‘press release’ that is the first link attached to each
item.
While every care is
taken to ensure that all links ’work’ in the newsletter (including checking
just before publication), WGPlus cannot guarantee that websites will not make changes that
will nullify individual links, especially over a period of
time.