BSA: Army works on both physical and educational fitness of trainees - The Army’s basic skills initiative – developed in partnership with the Basic Skills Agency – has been endorsed by the Skills for Life Strategy Unit and the National Skills Envoy, as a model of good practice for other major employers in raising skills standards.
The Army’s achievements in raising literacy, numeracy & language skills, and the ‘lessons learnt’ from its 5-year initiative are detailed in a report – Army basic skills provision: whole organisation approach, lessons learnt – and a survey published by the Basic Skills Agency.
Up to 50% of the 12,000 recruits entering the Army each year have literacy or numeracy skills at levels at or below those expected of a primary school leaver – of these about 8-9% have Entry Level 2 skills (the standard expected of 7-8 year olds).
A recent survey revealed that 62% of Army line managers ‘often’ or ‘sometimes’ encountered incidents where poor literacy hindered or stopped soldiers from carrying out the day-to-day tasks expected of them and 59% had had the same experience with poor numeracy skills.
The Army’s current target is for all personnel to reach at least Level 1 literacy & numeracy standards (equivalent to GCSE grades D to G) within three years of joining.
Across the Army’s e-learning Centre network alone, almost 12,000 soldiers have taken over 24,000 ICT-based learndirect basic skills programmes from 2003 to 2006. Achievement rates (87-97%) in literacy & numeracy over the same three year period have been impressive and well above the norms for Further Education - with almost 12,300 Level 1 and Level 2 awards being achieved.
Press release ~ Army basic skills provision: whole organisation approach, lessons learnt ~ A survey of Army learners and managers ~ The Basic Skills Agency ~ The Army’s Directorate of Educational and Training Services – DETS(A) ~ The Leitch report: - Prosperity for all in the Global Economy: World Class Skills ~ The Train to Gain Scheme ~ DfES: Read Write Plus ~ Skills for Life Links ~ DfES - Get On
ALI: Some progress but spectre of Deepcut still hangs over armed forces training - The Adult Learning Inspectorate (ALI) has published its follow-up report to Safer Training, the independent assessment of the armed services’ training establishments. Two years on, the MoD and the armed services have ‘made extraordinary strides forward’, but there are still ‘areas of concern’.
Safer Training was commissioned in response to the Surrey Police Inquiry into the deaths of four young soldiers at Deepcut barracks. It reported widespread failings in the armed forces’ management of training & duty of care and concluded that the risks to recruits & trainees were too high.
Better Training highlights progress made against those recommendations and its main findings are:
· Very substantial improvements have been made in all aspects of initial training & welfare as a result of focused effort & investment by the MoD and the armed services
· Management of the risks associated with bullying & harassment, self-harm & suicide and access to firearms & ammunition have been amongst the greatest achievements
· BUT there are still some areas where too little progress has been made and which remain of concern
ALI press release ~ MoD press release ~ Better Training – Managing Risks to the Welfare of Recruits in the British Armed Services: Two Years of Progress ~ Safer Training ~ Government's Response to the Deepcut Review ~ Deepcut Review ~ Facts on Deepcut and Army training ~ The Army Training and Recruitment Division
Defra: Government achieving only slow delivery on sustainability - Responding to the Sustainable Development Commission's annual report on how the Government was meeting its sustainable operations objectives, Mr Miliband has acknowledged progress was slower than he would like and is not adequate to meet the increasing pace of change that was needed.
Press release ~ Sustainable Development Commission's annual report ~ Government response and action plan ~ Carbon Trust - Carbon Management Programme ~ BioRegional ~ One Planet Living
Defra: And promises to try harder - The Government has announced a package of actions it claims will deliver the step change needed to ensure that supply chains and public services will be increasingly low carbon, low waste & water efficient, respect biodiversity and deliver wider sustainable development goals.
The UK Government Sustainable Procurement Action Plan, allied to the Treasury's recent ‘Transforming Government Procurement’ report, forms the key response to the business-led Task Force report.
In June, the Government also set a series of sustainable operations targets for the Government office estate, including: a pledge to go carbon neutral by 2012 and to reduce carbon emissions by 30% by 2020
The Action Plan is intended to put in place clear lines of accountabilities & reporting and to develop plans to raise the standards & status of procurement practice in Government.
Alongside the Action Plan, Government is also publishing an updated set of mandatory environmental product standards that will hopefully ensure Departments procure the most sustainable commodities.
Press release ~ Sustainable Procurement Action Plan ~ Updated set of standards document / Quick wins 2007 ~ Procurement Task Force ~ SPTF 2006 report ~ Transforming government procurement ~ Office of Government Commerce ~ Government Procurement Service ~ OGCbuying.solutions - Sustainable Solutions ~ Forum for the Future ~ IDea – Sustainable Procurement – Making it happen ~ Sustainable operations on the Government estate: targets
DH: It is not only Global Warming that impacts on the whole world - The Chief Medical Officer, Sir Liam Donaldson, has made the case for concerted action on global health and for developing a strategy that will benefit the health of the
Health Is Global: Proposals for a
The Chief Medical Officer is inviting key stakeholders and interested parties across government to discuss (between now and 25th May) what the strategy should focus on.
Press release ~ Health Is Global: Proposals for a UK government-wide strategy ~ The Lancet have published an article by the Chief Medical Officer on this issue ~ Global health partnerships: The UK contribution to health in developing countries ~ Oxfam - Cutting the Cost of Global Health ~ DH – International Health ~ Wellcome Trust ~ Global Health Council ~ WHO - Global Health Atlas ~ ODI briefing paper ~ Global Health Watch ~ Global Polio Eradication Initiative (PEI) ~ The UN Millennium Development Goals ~ Global Health Security Initiative (GHSI) ~ Global Health, Security and Foreign Policy ~ London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine ~ World Health Organisation’s ‘Health as a Bridge for Peace’ programme ~ Global Health Workforce Alliance ~ World Health Report of 2006 on human resources for health
DCLG: Forced to leave home at 16 - Housing Minister Yvette Cooper has voiced concerns at the persistent problem of young people who are forced to leave the family home and end up staying with a succession of friends or relatives. She has announced a new package of measures to help reduce & prevent youth homelessness, including a new target to end the use of bed & breakfast accommodation for 16 and 17 year olds by 2010.
More than a third of new cases of homelessness last year were young people aged under 25. Just under a quarter of people who became homeless over that period were forced to leave their last home because parents were no longer willing to accommodate them.
The package of announcements include:
· A new partnership with YMCA England and Centrepoint to deliver a National Youth Homelessness scheme
· Setting up a committee of formerly homeless young people, who will advise Ministers
· Establishing a new Centre of Excellence in every region
· A new National Homelessness Advice Service in partnership with Shelter and the Citizens Advice Bureau
The minister also launched 'Foundations for Life', a new project between Centrepoint and LandAid that will see the transformation of hostels into learning centres, which will provide young homeless people with opportunities for work & training.
Press release ~ Tackling Youth Homelessness - Policy Briefing 18 ~ Homelessness statistics ~ Sustainable Communities: settled homes; changing lives ~ DCLG – Tackling Homelessness ~ Preventing Homelessness - a Strategy Health Check ~ Sustainable Communities: Homes for All ~ 'Foundations for Life' ~ Centrepoint ~ LandAid ~ YMCA England ~ National Homelessness Advice Service ~ Shelter ~ Citizens Advice Bureau ~ Homeless Link ~ Homeless UK - Information about services that help homeless people
Scottish Executive: Encouraging victims to report racist crime - A new 15-minute DVD has been launched to increase the confidence of ethnic minority communities in the Scottish criminal justice system and to encourage victims of racist crime to report incidents to the police. It also provides details of the services available to victims & witnesses, including support services to help reduce the trauma of attending court.
There is footage from a real case, which graphically illustrates the negative impact that racist crime can have on victims (the footage shows a shocking verbal racist attack by two teenage girls on the staff in a takeaway restaurant involving acts of vandalism on the premises).
Press release ~ Video (scroll down for various versions) ~ Victim Information and Advice ~ Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) ~ Victims & Witnesses of Racist Crime ~ Witnesses in Scotland
Forthcoming Event: Next month sees Midlands-based charity Aquarius marking its 30th year as a provider of innovative alcohol services, with a conference – Making a Difference on
Featuring speakers of national repute (Pip Mason, Prof Jim Orford and Prof Richard Velleman), the conference will be of benefit to Service Managers, Commissioners and to anyone involved in the planning and provision of alcohol services through DAATs, PCTs and Community Safety Partnerships.
Aquarius has a long-standing reputation for taking its specialist knowledge and services into non-specialist settings, including:
· Structured programmes for offenders in partnership with the Probation Service
· Provider of drink-driver rehabilitation courses on behalf of the Dept for Transport
· Delivering brief interventions to adult offenders whose offence is alcohol-related
· Researching into delivering alcohol interventions in primary care settings
· Surveying the knowledge and attitudes of professionals in contact with older people and subsequently piloting and producing training materials for social care workers
Full details ~ Home Office - Alcohol-related crime ~ DH – Alcohol Misuse ~ Choosing Health summaries alcohol ~ Guidance for PCTs as responsible Authorities ~ Alcohol Concern website ~ Other useful links ~ The law and being drunk ~ Alcoholics Anonymous in England, Scotland & Wales ~ Alcohol Harm Reduction Strategy ~ DCMS - Alcohol ~ JRF: Alcohol strategy and the drinks industry: a partnership for prevention? ~ JRF: Underage 'risky' drinking: motivations and outcomes
For information on other forthcoming public sector events please click HERE to visit the WGPlus Events Calendar
For Industry News please click HERE
DH: The Department of Health has launched a
campaign to boost the number of people taking up a career in social care, as
the sector needs to attract thousands of new recruits each year.
The adverts on TV, radio & press show
real-life relationships between social carers and the people they are caring
for, with a campaign theme of '1+1=3' to highlight how the sum of the
carer/client relationship is greater than the individual parts.
Real-life carers and people who use social
care services have been used to create the scenarios which show a wheelchair
user using a skate park, an elderly lady whose care worker is supporting her in
her home and a young man with autism whose carer is teaching him the route he
will be using when he starts his new job.
Press release ~
Social Care and Social Work Careers Information website ~ <
FONT color=#0000ff>Fashion 30" ~
DH: Following ‘discussions’ with the
medical Royal Colleges and the BMA, the Department of Health has announced a
review into Round One of Modernising
Medical Careers (MMC) recruitment and selection into specialist training,
made through the Medical Training and
Application Service (MTAS).
It is clear that there have been a number of
‘problems’ with MTAS and that the process as a whole has created a high degree
of insecurity amongst applicants and, indeed, more widely in the
profession.
The review will be led by Professor Neil
Douglas, Vice President of the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges and President
of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh and will be completed by the end of
March (see ‘latest press release’ for findings), so that any changes can be made in time for Round Two, which begins on
28
April 2007.
First Press release ~ Latest press release ~ Modernising Medical Careers website ~ Sir Liam Donaldson's Unfinished
Business report ~ Modernising Medical Careers Specialist Training
Programme ~ BMA - MMC update 6 March 2007 ~ BMA - MMC – BMA welcomes specialist post increase, but concerns remain,
press release, December 2006 ~ Medical Training and
Application Service (MTAS)
LPC: The Low Pay Commission has welcomed the Government's confirmation
that (from
October 2007) the:
·
adult minimum wage rate will
rise to £5.52
·
Youth Development Rate will
rise to £4.60, and
·
minimum wage for 16-17 year
olds will be increased to £3.40
The Chairman of the Low Pay Commission, Paul Myners said:”
"The bite of the minimum wage has
clearly increased and this year the economic indicators and labour market data
presented a rather more mixed picture than in previous years. There has been a small fall in
the number of jobs in the low-paying sectors, for the first time since the
introduction of the minimum wage. Given these and other factors, we concluded that a cautious
approach to our recommended minimum wage upratings was advisable”.
Press release ~ Low Pay
Commission ~ Directgov – National Minimum Wage ~
Defra: As of
Chief Veterinary Officer Debby Reynolds
said: "Although this marks the end of our active
disease control measures in the affected area, there is still much work to be
done. We will continue to
investigate the source of the virus introduction and endeavour to learn from
this outbreak to help us prevent and manage similar situations in the
future. Bird keepers should
continue to practice good biosecurity and remain vigilant for signs of
disease."
Statutory obligations under The Avian Influenza and Influenza of Avian
Origin in Mammals (
Press release ~
Defra - Avian Influenza ~
Defra - Avian Influenza - Latest
situation
DWP: A
review of the welfare system has been welcomed by Prime Minister Tony Blair,
Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown & the Secretary of State for Work
and Pensions John Hutton. The
recommendations in David Freud's report, Reducing Dependency, Increasing
·
Greater use of private and
voluntary sector resources & expertise
·
A new focus on long term
mentoring to tackle the problem of repeat benefit
claimants
·
Greater rewards for
organisations that are successful in helping claimants find & stay in
work
·
Greater personalisation of
employment support
·
Retaining Jobcentre Plus's role in helping
customers during the early stages of their period on benefit and creating a new
role for the organisation to assess how much support individual claimants are
likely to need before they are ready to return to work
·
Rebalancing rights &
responsibilities in the welfare system including placing greater
responsibilities on lone parents with older children to look for work once
their youngest child reaches 12, rather than 16
Press release ~
Reducing Dependency, Increasing Opportunity: options for the
future of welfare to work ~ Hutton’s speech announcing the review ~
Home Office: ‘Blocking the benefits of
The strategy is claimed to be ‘focused on fairness & enforcing the
rules’, as it will allow the Immigration and Nationality Directorate (IND) to progressively deny
work, benefits & services to those here illegally by working in partnership
with tax authorities, benefits agencies, Government Departments, local
authorities, police and the private sector.
Measures include:
·
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the creation of
immigration crime partnerships to detect those here illegally & block their
access to benefits
·
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regional
partnerships with workplace enforcement teams to track down & punish
unscrupulous bosses
·
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joint work with
LAs to use fines of up to £20,000 against private sector landlords to tackle
overcrowding
·
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the creation of a
‘watch list of illegal migrants’
·
FONT>
pilots in 3 NHS
trusts to help ensure overseas visitors not entitled to free access, pay for
health care
·
FONT>
reviewing how the
driver licensing system can be used to identify & combat illegal
immigration
·
FONT>
piloting how
·
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ensuring
individuals do not overstay their visas by texting reminders to their mobile
phones
Press release ~
DCMS: A vision of a unified & simpler
heritage protection system, with ‘more
opportunities for public involvement, and set firmly within the wider planning
system’, has been unveiled for consultation (closes
The white paper - Heritage Protection for the
21st Century - includes proposals to:
·
FONT>
create a single
system for designating historic places and devolving responsibility for the
designation system in
·
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open up the system
to greater public consultation and create a single new Register of Historic Buildings
·
FONT>
introduce
'interim protection' for historic assets while they are being
considered for designation and create new appeals procedures against
designation
·
FONT>
streamline
regulation by merging listed building consent & scheduled monument consent
and conservation area consent with planning
permission
·
FONT>
clarify &
strengthen protections for World
Heritage Sites and enhance protection for archaeological remains in the
marine environment and on cultivated land
Press release ~ White paper - Heritage Protection for the 21st
Century ~ DCMS – Historic Environment ~ English
Heritage ~ UK World Heritage Sites ~ UNESCO World Heritage
Centre
Defra: The Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) pledged to review, revoke
& re-make the Veterinary Medicines
Regulations annually following their introduction in 2005.
This year's review has identified the
need for amendments to provide increased clarity and to ensure that the
regulations remain fit for purpose.
The consultation on these proposed changes will close on
Press release ~
Consultation documents ~ Veterinary Medicines Regulations
2006
Home Office: The sale, import & hire of samurai
swords could be banned by the end of the year. Banning Offensive
Weapons - A Consultation (closes
Those who breach the prohibition would face up to 6 months in prison
& a maximum fine of £5,000.
Carrying a samurai sword in a public place already carries a maximum
jail sentence of 4 years. There
have been approximately 80 serious crimes involving imitation samurai swords in
The consultation proposes exemptions for groups such as the To-ken
Society of Great Britain and the British Kendo Association. In addition these exemptions would
cover genuine collectors' swords made in
Press release ~
CC: The Competition Commission (CC) has published (for consultation –
closes
In its provisional findings report published
in October last year, the CC concluded that lack of clarity on charges and
unduly complex charging structures & their application, combined with a
reluctance among customers to switch providers, were restricting competition in
this market.
Along with the report, the CC also set out
for consultation a number of possible remedies to increase competition in the
market. Since then the CC has been
discussing these remedies with the banks, consumer groups, the Banking Code Standards Board, the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) and other
interested parties. The Group
expects to publish its final report, including its final decisions on remedies,
in May
2007.
Press release ~
Provisional Decisions ~ Competition Commission ~ Previous summary of Provisional Findings
~ Notice of Possible Remedies ~ Banking Code Standards Board ~ Office of Fair Trading (OFT)
~ Consumer Credit Act 2006
DH: Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt invited
views (to be submitted via the Forum link below) on working arrangements in the Commissioning Framework of Health and
Wellbeing that the government hopes will ‘bring local councils and the NHS closer together to deliver better care
for their local communities’.
The proposals could see services delivered in new ways, such
as:
·
the NHS paying for air
conditioning facilities in the homes of people with chronic lung disease that
may be worsened by hot weather and
·
GPs prescribing anger
management classes for children with behavioural problems
Key issues
in the consultation include:
·
Increasing choice for
patients to all services (not just elective care) and giving patients a louder
voice in determining the type of care available
·
The new duty for NHS &
local government to provide a strategic needs assessment
·
Wider use of flexibilities
of Practice Based Commissioning
·
Redesigning local health
services based on people's needs, and convenience
Press release
~ DH: Commissioning framework for health
and well-being ~ Commissioning Framework for Health and Wellbeing
Forum ~ DH - Commissioning ~
Practice Based
Commissioning ~ Welcome to
NHS Networks Commissioning pages ~ Your Health, Your Care, Your Say ~
Our health, our
care, our say: a new direction for community services ~
Commissioning – A patient
led NHS ~ A Stronger Local Voice: A Framework for Creating A Stronger Local
Voice in the Development of Health and Social Care
Services ~
Government response to 'A
Stronger Local Voice' ~ Practice Based Commissioning: achieving
universal coverage ~
Practice based commissioning: practical
implementation: What does this mean for practices? ~ National Association of
Primary Care ~ Improvement Foundation ~ NHS
Primary Care Contracting Team
DfES:
Proposals for continued stability for schools
to plan their long-term finances & plans to shape early years'
provision to fit parental demand have been published for consultation (closes
The consultation sets out proposals to refine
the current school funding architecture and establish clear funding
arrangements for early years and 14-16 education for 2008-11. The overall level of funding available
will be announced later this year in the Comprehensive Spending Review
Settlement 2007.
Press release ~
<
FONT color=#800080 size=2>Consultation documents ~
Teachernet – School Funding ~ How school funding works ~
TPO: The Patent Office has launched a
consultation (closes
The new litigation procedures are just one
area of proposed change. Others
include new provisions to reflect modern working practices such as the
electronic filing of patent applications, digital libraries of patent documents
available over the internet and the Office’s recent move to electronic
case-files for patent applications.
It is hoped that the new Rules will take effect on
Press release ~ Patents Rules 2007 – a new Rules
package ~ Patents Act 1977
CC: Every charity must show it is for the
public benefit, the Charity Commission has announced, as it publishes a
consultation (closes on
DCMS: A vision of a unified & simpler
heritage protection system, with ‘more
opportunities for public involvement, and set firmly within the wider planning
system’, has been unveiled for consultation (closes
DH: Improving Access to Audiology Services in
organisations, including the Royal National Institute for the Deaf (RNID).
The document aims to help audiology services
deliver the following:
·
FONT>
By December 2008 all
patients with hearing or balance problems that require care from a hospital
consultant will be treated within 18 weeks
·
FONT>
All other patients
with routine hearing loss should be assessed within 6 weeks by March
2008 and it is also good practice for the
subsequent hearing aid fitting to be carried out soon after or at the same time
as assessment
Press release ~
Improving Access to Audiology
Services in England ~ Royal National Institute for
the Deaf (RNID) ~ British Society of
Audiology ~ NHS Direct - Health encyclopaedia -
Hearing tests
Acas: Acas has launched a new free online course to help employers avoid discrimination in
the workplace on the grounds of religion or belief,
which:
·
FONT>
defines religion
or belief
·
FONT>
explains the legal
aspects of the religion or belief regulations
·
FONT>
explains how the
regulations affect recruitment and existing
employees
·
FONT>
looks at the
day-to-day impact the regulations might have on your
business
Acas also provides good practice guidance,
including the booklet Religion or belief
and the workplace.
Press release ~
Acas - Religion and belief audit tool ~ Login to e-learning ~ Religion or belief and the workplace ~
DfES: Draft guidance on planning &
developing provision for children with Special Educational Needs (SEN) has been sent to local authorities and SEN groups for further
comment (closes 6 April 2007). It sets out a new improvement test for
local authorities who might be considering reorganising their SEN provision in
future, including changing special school
provision.
The draft guidance, which is also being sent
to the Schools Adjudicator, the Special
Educational Consortium and the National Parent Partnership Network and other organisations, also
sets out a number of key factors that local authorities must consider
in order to improve special educational
provision.
The draft is not available on the DfES
website as the guidance is aimed at parenting organisations and local
government associations rather than individuals. Individual views should be expressed through these groups.
Press release ~ Education
and Skills Select Committee's report into Special Educational
Needs ~ Government’s response ~ Special schools - Every Child Matters ~ Special
Educational Needs (SEN) - Teachernet ~ Teacher Training Resource Bank SEN Sub Portal ~
Schools
Adjudicator ~ Special Educational Consortium ~ National Parent
Partnership Network ~ Special educational needs (SEN) -
ParentsCentre ~ National Association for Special educational needs ~
Removing Barriers to
Achievement ~ Special
educational needs: a step-by-step approach : Directgov ~
National Audit of Support, Services and Provision for
Children with Low Incidence Needs
~ Special Needs Support websites
DH: A new Safer Practice in Renal Medicine
toolkit, presented by the new Renal Tsar on World Kidney Day, advises staff on the steps they can take to
minimise the risk of MRSA bloodstream infections in renal dialysis. Renal dialysis patients are one of the
groups at high risk - currently, approximately 8% get an MRSA bloodstream
infection.
Endorsed by the British Renal Society, it will help
guide NHS staff working hard to improve quality & safety for renal dialysis
patients and contribute to halving MRSA bloodstream infections by
2008.
Press release ~
Safer Practice in Renal Medicine ~ DH:
Reducing MRSA and other healthcare associated infections in renal
medicine ~ NHS Infection Control Training Programme ~ World Kidney
Day ~ Inspector of
Microbiology ~ British Renal Society ~ Hospital Infection Society ~ Third Prevalence
Survey of Healthcare Associated Infections (HCAIs) in Acute
Trusts
DCMS:
Culture Secretary, Tessa Jowell, claims that
a new report shows how the UK has become the world's creative hub, with the
arts in all their forms enjoying a renaissance, record numbers of the public
attending and British artists & performers winning awards & acclaim all
over the world.
Press release ~
Culture and Creativity
2007
Scottish Executive: The first annual report on
In the first
year we have increased investment in renewable technology, met our renewable
energy target for 2010 ahead of schedule, set out the contribution we expect
forestry to make and delivered a sustainable National Transport Strategy. We will shortly publish proposals to
make
Press release ~
Scotland’s Climate change Programme:
Annual Report 2007 ~ Through Changing Our Ways: Scotland's Climate Change
Programme ~ SE information on climate
change ~
NAO: The NAO has concluded in a new report
that the tendering process for PFI projects needs improvement as, during
2004-2006, PFI projects took an average of almost three years (34 months) to
tender. The report focuses on the
process for tendering & agreeing a deal and how this might be
improved.
The report looks at all central government
department PFI deals finalised between April 2004 and May 2006 and follows up a
2003 report by the Public Accounts
Committee which found that PFI tendering did not, in all cases, follow good
practice and was potentially risking value for money.
The report describes the measures taken by
the Government to improve the PFI tendering process: including the development
& enforcement of standardised contractual guidance and, in the schools
sector, the creation of Building Schools
for the Future, a programme which brings together all future PFI school
projects.
Recommendations in the NAO report add to
these, calling for the introduction of testing target times backed up by
improvements in project management and better use of existing expertise across
government.
Press release ~
Improving the PFI tendering Process ~ Executive Summary ~ Committee of Public Accounts: Delivering better value for money from the
Private Finance Initiative ~ HM Treasury: PFI:
Strengthening Long Term Partnerships ~ Unison: The Private Finance Initiative – A policy
built on sand ~ Building Schools
for the Future ~ NAO: The Termination of the PFI contract for the National
Physical Laboratory ~
NAO
PFI & PPP/Privatisation Recommendations website ~ NAO: Update on PFI
debt refinancing and the PFI equity market ~ HM Treasury - PFI
~ DCLG –
PFI ~ BBC
News - Is the NHS PFI empire crumbling?
CEL: The Centre for Excellence in Leadership (CEL) funded 38 practitioner
research projects on leadership-related themes in the two years to 2006 and has
published an edited volume compiled from nine of the final reports, produced by
those working in the learning and skills sector.
The volume is organised into three primary
sub-themes: Leading quality
improvement, Developing middle
leadership and Leading
diversity.
Selected from the first two phases of CEL
research, the nine papers highlight a number of key messages for policy &
practice in the areas of communication, quality improvement and succession
planning. They also clarify key challenges still facing
the sector in terms of diversity & equality, developing middle managers and
the need to create a research culture in further
education.
Press release ~
Researching Leadership in the Learning and Skills
Sector: By the Sector, On the Sector, for the Sector ~
Centre for
Excellence in Leadership (CEL) ~ Inde
pendent Study into School Leadership (2.8Mb) ~ National Standards for Headteachers
Ofsted: Ofsted’s first major survey of the
Foundation Stage since 2001, The
Foundation Stage: A survey of 144 settings, found that most of the
settings visited provided effective education and
care.
Children are achieving well in most of the
early learning goals, but in one third of settings, standards in communication, language & literacy are
lower than expected and speaking & listening skills are
weak.
Standards were:
·
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higher than expected
in personal, social, emotional & physical
development
·
FONT>
within expected levels for knowledge & understanding of the world, creative development,
and mathematical development
·
FONT>
but there are weaknesses in calculation skills
Press release ~
The
Foundation Stage: A survey of 144 settings ~ Transition from the Reception Year to Year 1: an evaluation by
HMI ~
ESRC: When searching for health advice
online, consumers often reject websites with high quality medical information
in favour of those with a human touch, according to new research funded by the
Economic and Social Research Council
(ESRC).
Faced with a minefield of information of
variable quality, health consumers subject websites to an initial weeding-out
process that will eliminate most NHS and drug company websites from the search
within a matter of seconds.
People are looking for advice from
like-minded people and are drawn to sites such as the charity based DIPEx and
ProjectAWARE where they can read about the experiences of other people who have
the same problems and concerns.
Press release ~ ‘Bodies Online – Information and Advice Seeking
in the Health and Fitness Domain’ ~ ESRC Society Today ~ DIPEx ~ ProjectAWARE ~ NHS
Direct
Home Office: The sale, import and hire of samurai
swords could be banned by the end of the year. Banning Offensive
Weapons - A Consultation (closes
Those who breach the prohibition would face up to six months in prison
and a maximum fine of £5,000. Carrying a samurai sword in a public place already carries a
maximum jail sentence of four years.
There have been approximately 80 serious crimes involving imitation
samurai swords in
The consultation proposes exemptions for groups such as the To-ken
Society of Great Britain and the British Kendo Association. In addition these exemptions would cover
genuine collectors' swords made in
Press release ~
DCLG: Communities Secretary Ruth Kelly has
published new regulations bringing forward practical new protections from
discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation. As with the regulations that came into force in
These regulations come into force on
Press release ~
Part 2 of the Equality Act ~ Getting Equal: Government response to
consultation ~ Getting Equal: Equality Impact
Assessment ~ Getting Equal: Regulatory Impact
Assessment
Scottish Executive: Implementation of the Crofting Reform Act will be taken forward in two stages following
Royal Assent, it was announced recently.
Measures to allow for the creation of new crofts, address neglect or
misuse of crofts and ensure that crofters are able to take full advantage of
the economic benefits of securing croft land will commence in June this
year.
Further measures covering the regulatory work
of the Crofters Commission and information held on the register of crofts will
commence in January 2008.
Press release ~ SE
– Crofting ~ Crofters Commission ~ Scottish Crofting Foundation ~ Scottish Executive Agriculture website ~ The crofting community right to buy ~
The Croft House Grant (Scotland) Regulations
2006
Defra: The UK Manifesto on the EU Emissions Trading Scheme has been signed by
over 40 businesses & NGOs and it sets out how the
·
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Long term clarity
for business to enable it to judge the scale of investment required and to make
the right, low carbon, investment decisions
·
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In the long run,
for all business activities to be exposed to the full cost of
carbon
·
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Governments to set
out the path to this fully costed carbon economy
·
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Further
harmonisation of rules throughout the EU - essential to create a fair &
level playing field for industry
Press release ~
Manifesto ~
Cabinet Office: The European Council has agreed to
follow the
At their meeting in Brussels, EU Heads of
Government agreed a target to reduce administrative burdens by
25% by
2012, in 13 priority policy areas:
Company Law; Pharmaceutical Legislation; Working Environment/Employment
Relations; Tax Law (VAT); Statistics; Agriculture and Agricultural Subsidies;
Food Safety; Transport; Fisheries; Financial Services; Environment; Cohesion
Policy; and Public Procurement, which have been identified by the European
Commission as imposing the largest administrative burdens on
business.
Press release ~
EU Better Regulation ~ EC's Action Programme for Reducing Administrative
Burdens in the European Union of 24 January 2007 ~ Better Regulation Commission ~ Joint UK / Dutch / German
paper
CC: Every charity must show it is for the
public benefit, the Charity Commission has announced, as it publishes a
consultation (closes on
The Act gives the Commission, as the
independent regulator, responsibility for raising awareness about the public
benefit requirement and carrying out public benefit checks on
charities.
Consultation on Draft Public Benefit Guidance
explains the Commission's approach to public benefit, and sets out the four key principles of public benefit
it has identified:
·
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There must be an
identifiable benefit
·
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Benefit must be to
the public, or a justifiable section of the public
·
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People on low
incomes must be able to benefit
·
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Any private
benefit must be incidental
Alongside the consultation they have
published some Citizens' Standards
on Public Benefit. Although
they are not a legal requirement for trustees, they help demonstrate the
public's expectations of charities.
The Charity Commission has also issued a
report, Public perceptions of public
benefit.
Press release ~
Consultation documents ~ Public perceptions of public benefit ~
FSA: The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has set up a reporting system
designed to reduce the level of financial crime in the insurance industry. Under the new system insurance firms
& intermediaries are being called on to inform the FSA when they suspect
criminal behaviour, so that the FSA can decide whether to investigate further.
This may arise when an insurer terminates an
agency agreement with an intermediary where they see doubtful practice or
suspect misconduct. It may also
arise where an insurance intermediary has concerns about another intermediary
they do business with.
Examples of possible financial crime
involving insurance fraud include:
·
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Misappropriation
of client money or money held under risk transfer
agreements
·
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Failure to pass on
premiums, refunds or claims
·
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Falsifying
customer details to obtain insurance business that would otherwise be turned
down or be more expensive and
·
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Issuing false
cover notes or false certificates of insurance.
Press release ~
Reporting system for insurance
firms ~
HMRC: Revenue
& Customs Brief 21/07
This Brief gives details of
an article concerning : Interim Penalties for 2005 - 06 PAYE Returns.
HMRC: Revenue
& Customs Brief 20/07
This Brief gives details of
an article concerning New Form R185 (Trust Income) for 2006-
07.
HMRC: Revenue & Customs Brief
19/07
This brief contains a
technical note detailing a change to the proposed legislation to tackle
avoidance based on abuse of sideways loss relief announced on 2 March 2007
HMRC: Revenue
& Customs Brief 18/07
This brief contains a
technical note detailing proposed legislation to tackle avoidance based on
abuse of sideways loss relief.
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