Home Office: Hello, Hello, Hello, what progress on Bichard? - The Home Office has published its second progress report on the work underway to implement the 31 recommendations made by Sir Michael Bichard, following the independent public inquiry into the events surrounding the murders of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman. Next update to Parliament - spring 2006.
The IMPACT programme (information management, prioritisation, analysis, co-ordination and tasking) is intended to deliver great benefits to the police service & greatly reduce the risk of the kind of failings in information sharing which formed part of the background to the Soham murders.
For example, the new technology that will enable better information sharing between police forces will begin rolling out to their child abuse investigation units by the end of this year.
Press release ~ Government’s second progress report (plus related documents & links) ~ PITO website ~ Bichard implementation Team ~ Internet Watch foundation ~ National Crime Squad Paedophile Online Investigation Team (POLIT) ~ Society for the Policing of Cyberspace (Polcyb)
DH: The Nurse will see you now - The government claims that patients will be able to get quicker & more efficient access to medicines thanks to extensions to nurse & pharmacist prescribing. From spring 2006, qualified Extended Formulary nurse prescribers and pharmacist independent prescribers will be able to prescribe any licensed medicine for any medical condition - with the exception of controlled drugs.
Obviously the vastly increased dispensing resource could prove useful in national emergencies such as a bird flu epidemic, but apart from the fact that no one has mentioned paying the nurses any more money for taking on the additional responsibility, one wonders just how much truth there is in the media speculation that the real agenda is to facilitate the government’s recently ‘announced’ initiative for GP’s surgeries to be open 24/7, but without, possibly, GPs actually being present?
Press release ~ DH Nurse Prescribing website ~ Nurse Prescribers’ Extended Formulary (NPEF) June 2005 ~ Association of Nurse Prescribing ~ Supplementary Prescribing
English Nature: We’ve been invaded - The number of non-native species in
Researchers discovered there are 2,721 non-native species and hybrids in the wild in
The vast majority of non-native species don’t cause any environmental or economic problems but some species can cause considerable damage. Japanese knotweed, for example, can grow through concrete, damage property and destroy habitats by swamping the other plants.
The report identifies 19 species which have strongly negative environmental impacts, but also points out that some non-native animals and plants have beneficial effects.
Press release ~ Audit of non-native species in England (VLF) ~ UK Biodiversity Action Plan Website ~ English Nature ~ Defra’s Non-Native Species website ~ Framework for Sustainable Development on the Government Estate ~ Biodiversity Scotland website ~ Working with the grain of nature: a biodiversity strategy for England ~ Planning: PPS9: Biodiversity and Geological conservation ~ The Horticulture Code of Practice ~ Cornwall Knotweed Forum ~ A Cost-Benefit analysis of introducing the non-native species signal crayfish ~ Climate Change and Migratory Species ~ European Platform for Biodiversity Research Strategy (EPBRS) ~ Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (CEH) ~ Convention on Biological Diversity
DCMS: Treasured images of our past - More than 67,000 archaeological items and 427 pieces of treasure have been discovered by members of the public over the past year. The details of the finds have been revealed in two new reports launched by the Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS).
The PAS, which is run by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council, is the country’s largest community archaeology project. Its database allows public assess to 112,000 records of 166,000 objects and 79,000 images of finds as diverse as prehistoric flints to post-medieval buckles.
Items discovered go back to the Prehistoric period and include a first century nail cleaner, an ornate Roman oil lamp, a mystery seventh century head, beautiful jewellery and a stunning coin which proves the existence of the little known Roman Emperor Domitian II.
Press release ~ Portable Antiquities Annual report 2004/05 ~ DCMS Treasure Annual Report 2003 ~ Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA) ~ The Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) ~ Treasure Act ~ Portable Antiquities Scheme’s Finds Database ~ National Council for Metal Detecting
WG Newswire: Feeling flush this Christmas? - Christian Aid is launching its gifts catalogue www.presentaid.org with a spoof Christmas single on 17 November 2005 to help tackle sanitation problems such as ‘flying toilets’ which affect many people in third world slums.
The single is a remix of the Christmas carol We Three Kings of Orient Are. No musical instruments are used. Instead the carol is composed of unusual sounds associated with gifts from the Present Aid catalogue and the ‘musicians’ include a mosquito choir, a chorus of cows, sheep, and goats as well as toilet flushes.
The term ‘flying toilets’ might sound funny but it’s deadly serious as, in some African slums, up to 15,000 people could be sharing a single block of six toilets. Without running water people are forced to use plastic bags to defecate in. They then throw the bags into the street – and hence are known as ‘flying toilets’.
Press release ~ Download the spoof single (MP3 file) ~ www.presentaid.org
QinetiQ: Time to declare war on waste - QinetiQ has developed a machine that can automatically identify & sort recyclable domestic waste into various packaging groups. By using defence-based technologies, including advanced sensors originally designed for fast jets and tanks, it helps gain the most value & purity from various plastic, metallic and composite packaging collections and reduces the amount of waste sent to landfill.
QinetiQ’s technologists have utilised a broadband colour camera, a hyperspectral imager, a metal detecting array and data fusion & classification software to identify & classify the waste items. These are then individually tracked along the conveyer until they reach the appropriate collection bin, where a series of novel compressed air ejectors remove them into containers.
By automating the sorting process a material reclamation operation can run 24/7, delivering a calculated capacity of over 36,000 tonnes per year. It also has the added advantage of being safer than manual sorting.
Full article ~ QinetiQ environmental services ~ QinetiQ website ~ Defra Recycling & waste website ~ H&S in waste management & recycling ~ Recycling near you ~ Community Recycling network ~ Industry Council for Electronic equipment recycling (ICER) ~ Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP) ~ Landfill Tax Credit Scheme ~ Pollution from landfill
CIPFA: The Public Management and Policy Association 2005 Annual Conference - As our public services settle into the post-election landscape, this event provides an opportunity to think & talk about the crucial issue of how we shape our layers of government in the future:
· Just what is meant by ‘localisation’ and can it revive public interest in the political process?
· Just how ‘free to act’ are Foundation Hospitals?
· Will localisation impede or facilitate the drive for greater efficiency and ‘Gershon’ savings?
· What does the future hold for political structures at EU, National, regional and other levels?
Topics on the agenda include:
· The Future Shape of Government and Governance Across the
· What Has Devolution Delivered?
· The Efficiency Agenda
· Degrees of Freedom
· The Impact on People
· European Responses to Changing Patterns of Government and Service Delivery
The event is being held on
Further details ~ CIPFA website ~ New Local Government Network ~ ESRC Advisory Board – Devolution and Constitutional Change ~ Local Government Association ~ Foundation Trust Network ~ Mori ~ Council of European Municipalities and Regions
Scottish Executive:
The liver is an unusual organ since, when part of it
is removed, it can regenerate. Therefore the right lobe can be removed & transplanted
into a recipient and this is followed by regeneration in both the recipient and
the donor so that the liver has the potential to grow to full size in both
patients.
Press release ~ Human Tissue Authority ~ Human Tissue Act
2004 ~ British Liver Trust
Defra: The
Governments chief vet is urging bird owners to make plans on how their
birds could be moved indoors at short notice, should it be necessary. As part of the Governments
current programme to reduce the risks posed by avian influenza British bird
owners would be required, wherever practicable, to move their birds indoors as
soon as possible if a case of highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza were found
in Great Britain.
Defra has also published its latest Qualitative Risk Assessment
(QRA), which is updated on a regular basis.
Press release ~ Advice to poultry keepers ~
Defra Avian flu website ~ Qualitative Risk Assessment (QRA)
Defra: A revised
statement outlining the continuing availability of flood insurance has been
published by the Association of British
Insurers (ABI). It continues
much of the existing commitment, but also creates a new rolling
commitment to provide flood cover where flood defences are
planned. Previously
this extended only to 2007.
Press release ~ Elliot Morleys Statement to Parliament ~ ABI Flooding & Insurance website
(includes principles) ~ Direct Gov Flooding website ~ Defra Flood management website ~ Repair and
restoration of buildings following flooding ~ Flooding in
Scotland ~ Environment Agency
DH: Thousands of
children across
Press release ~ Youth Sport Trust ~ Choosing Health white paper ~ British Heart
Foundation National Centre for Physical Activity ~ School Sport
Partnership ~ Teachernet –
Physical education and School sport ~ Promoting Walking to School - A Guide
for Primary Schools ~ Walk to
school website ~ Obesity & young
children
DH: Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt has set out new financial
diagnostic checks and the next steps for NHS trusts wanting to apply for
foundation status. The financial diagnostic tool - the Whole Health Community Diagnostic
Programme - will be delivered by SHAs, supported by Monitor and the
Department of Health.
She also announced that two star acute, specialist and mental health trusts will be able to submit applications to achieve foundation status.
Press release ~ List of existing NHS foundation trusts ~ Annual Health check performance rating system ~ Foundation Trust Network ~ Monitor Website
Press release ~ DH - Partnership for Older
People Projects (POPP) ~ Care Services
Improvement Partnership (CSIP) ~ Health and Social
Care Change Agent Team ~ ODPM Social
Exclusion Unit ~ Help the Aged ~ Better Government for Older People ~
Commission for Social
Care Inspection ~ Office of the Strategic Health Authorities (OSHA) ~
Charlie Ratchford Resource Centre ~ National Coalition for Active
Ageing
ODPM: Young people
aged between 15 and 20 from disadvantaged communities are being trained to be
advisers on local decisions affecting them as part of a pilot project, which as
been launched by the ODPM’s
Neighbourhood Renewal Unit.
Each area has selected between four and six young
people aged between 15 and 20 to take part in the project and training will be
provided by the
Press release ~ New Deal for Communities
website ~ ODPM’s
Neighbourhood Renewal Unit ~ Renewal Academy
website (under development) (Tel: 020 7033 2629) ~ Renewal website ~
Learning to
Listen
DfT: Transport
Secretary Alistair Darling has announced new measures to make transport fuels
greener by requiring 5% of all
The move - known as a Renewable Transport Fuels Obligation - will work through a system
of certification, whereby oil companies will receive certificates from an
administrator to demonstrate how much biofuel it has sold. If the company sells
more than its 5% obligation, it would then be able to sell those certificates
to other companies who need more to meet the obligation.
Press release ~ RTFO feasibility study ~ Defra Biofuels website (Scroll down) ~ Biomass Task Force ~ Environmentally Friendly Vehicles Conference ~ Sustainable Travel International
website
DH: A consultation
document (closes
10 February 2006) that lays out proposals for a new role, Medical Care Practitioners
(MCPs), who the government thinks will help doctors &
nurses to treat patients in both primary care and hospital settings (especially
doing ‘ER’ in A&E departments), as Physicians Assistants do in the US.
MCPs will be
a ‘new breed of health professional’
performing similar duties to junior doctors under consultant supervision. The curriculum framework for Medical
Care Practitioners details the national educational & practice standards
and proposed regulatory framework healthcare workers will need to meet before
being able to treat patients.
Press release ~ Consultation
documents ~ Medical Care Practitioners (MCPs) website ~
The American Academy of
Physician Assistants (AAPA) ~ Physician’s Assistant in general
practice presentation ~ NHS Modernisation Agency -
Physician’s Assistants
Defra: Smelly
petrol fumes which escape while you top up the tank could be a thing of the
past, following the publication (consultation closes 7 February
2006) of proposals to control escaping fumes from service stations
and recycle them as fuel. The
fumes, when combined with nitrous oxide, form a key ingredient of summer smog
in cities in calm sunny weather.
Press release ~ Consultation documents ~ Defra – Petrol Vapour recovery web page ~ Written Answer ~ HSE - Petrol Filling Stations - Safety Implications of Leaking Drop Tubes
& Vapour Retention Devices
Defra: Organisations
from the public and private sector are being asked by Defra what actions they
are taking to adapt to the changing climate. The consultation (closes
Press release ~
Defra: The
government has announced a consultation (closes
Press release ~ Report and consultation documents ~ Submission from BGPC
DfT: The Department for Transport has launched a consultation
(closes
The Invitation to Tender will be issued in
March 2006 and the
successful bidder is expected to be announced in Autumn 2006, with the new
franchise will commencing in February 2007.
Press release ~ Consultation documents ~ South Western Franchise ~ South West
Trains ~ Island Line ~ DfT Railways
website
ODPM: The
Government has published (for consultation) its proposed council housing
subsidy allocations for individual housing authorities for 2006-07. Authorities have until 12
December to comment on the draft
determinations and until 2 December to comment on the
data.
Local authorities will set their actual rents in January /
February 2006 taking account of how much subsidy they will get. Actual rents are expected to increase
by an average of 4.7% (double inflation).
Press release ~ Housing Revenue Account
Subsidy and Item 8 Determinations for 2006-2007 ~ 3-Year
Review of Rent Restructuring ~ ODPM: LA
Housing Finance overview
ODPM: The
government has launched a consultation (closes on
The consultation is proposing to use new
powers to make it possible for councils to ask those bodies managing
their housing under s.27 of the Housing
Act 1985 (including Arms Length Management Organisations
and Tenant Management Organisations) to also carry out some
or all of their ASBO functions on their behalf.
Press release ~ Consultation document ~ ODPM ASB
& housing website ~ Arms
Length Management Organisations (ALMOs) ~ Tenant
Management Organisations (TMOs)
DWP: A key series of Regulations governing the Pension Protection Fund (PPF) are being
consulted on (closes
Industry and
stakeholders will be invited to comment on the Regulations that relate to: the
technical aspects of the PPF levies, valuation of the PPF, transferring a
scheme to the Board of the PPF, reviewing decisions made by the Board,
compensation and PPF information and administrative
functions.
Acas: Acas has
launched a new free online learning course to help employers
understand & prevent bullying in the workplace, which has become a major
cause of workplace stress resulting in 18 million days lost every year. The
course shows employers how to recognise & deal with bullying, as well as
harassment and provides good practice advice on the best way to develop clear
& accessible policies.
Press release ~ Acas e-learning
website (register to use) ~ Acas Bullying & Harassment website ~ Andrea Adams
Trust ~ HSE Stress
website ~ Educational Institute of Scotland - Bullying &
Harassment policy ~
HSE:
The Health and
Safety Executive has published the national statistics on work related injuries
and ill health for 2004/2005. These figures show progress on occupational ill
health and the number of RIDDOR reportable injuries, however fatal & major
injuries remain a concern.
Stress & musculoskeletal disorders account for
around two-thirds of occupational ill health and last year an estimated 2
million people (2.2m in 2001/2) suffered ill health that they believe was
caused by a work-related activity.
Press release ~ Health and safety statistics 2004/05 ~ Strategy for workplace health and safety in Great Britain to 2010
and beyond
DH: The Thirteenth Annual Report of the National Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease Surveillance Unit has been
published. The report looks back over the period from May 1990, when the Unit
was set up, to
Also included in the report are details of a study on
the potential risk factors for variant and sporadic CJD and the work of the National Care Team in arranging care
and advice to the families of CJD patients.
Press release ~ National Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease Surveillance Unit ~
13th Annual report ~ vCJD National Care Team ~ Transfusion
Medicine Epidemiology Review ~ DH vCJD website ~ vCJD
Compensation Scheme Trust ~ Health Protection Agency vCJD website ~ Scottish Centre
for Infection and Environmental Health (SCIEH) ~ Report on Leicestershire hot spot
DWP: A report prepared by Sir Gerald Hosker, into the
Occupational Pensions Regulatory Authority’s handling of their investigation
into the Cheney Pension Scheme, has been published.
Press release ~ Report ~ SFO - Cheney £3 million pension fund theft ~
Pensions
Regulator
NCSL:
Headteachers and their teams need more professional support if they are
to make extended schools work, according to a new report jointly commissioned
by National College for School
Leadership (NCSL) and the charity ContinYou.
Taking the Wide View found that although some
heads are making good progress towards building an extended school culture, but many are still
daunted and would benefit from more specialist support.
Press release ~ Taking the Wide View ~ NCSL – Community Leadership
website ~ ContinYou ~ The extended schools support service (TESSS) ~ National Remodelling Team ~ 4Children ~
Demos ~ National Professional Qualification in
Integrated Centre Leadership (NPQICL) ~ School leadership programme ~
DWP:
New research published by the Department for
Work and Pensions investigates the role played by financial intermediaries
(IFAs and financial advisers employed by banks, building societies and
insurance companies) in the provision of advice on saving for retirement.
Financial
intermediaries felt that by far the biggest barrier to the take-up of personal
pensions among people on lower incomes is inertia, underpinned by a loss of
confidence in the pensions industry.
Press release ~ Research Report 289: Advice on
pensions and saving for retirement: Qualitative research with financial
intermediaries – Full Report ~ Summary ~ Choosing a pensions advisor ~ Find an IFA ~
Pensions
Service
Home Office: Proposals for a community-led response to extremism
have been welcomed by Home Office Ministers Hazel Blears and Paul Goggins. The proposals make up the final report
from the seven ’Preventing Extremism
Together’ Working Groups, which were set up following the
Working group conveners presented initial findings to
the Home Secretary at a meeting on 22nd September, including proposals for a National Advisory Council of Imams and
Mosques, a National Forum against
extremism and Islamophobia and a country-wide ’roadshow’ of influential populist religious
scholars.
Press release ~ Working Group reports ~ Faith Communities Capacity Building
Fund
The report will be considered at regional conferences
in North and
Press release ~ Report: 14-19 Learning
Pathways in Wales ~ Learning Wales
website ~ The Learning Country ~ Guidance on 14-19 Learning
Pathways
DCA: Proposals to
make it easier for magistrates, who are in employment, to take time off from
work to sit in court have been published as part of a series of measures aimed
at making magistrates courts more effective. Existing legislation on time off work for magistrates is
unclear and could be misunderstood by employers, so the White
Paper on Supporting
Magistrates Courts to Provide Justice proposes a change to employment
law, giving employers & employees clear & achievable requirements on
how requests for time off can be handled.
Other proposals in the paper include finding
alternative means of dealing with high volume, low level offences (e.g. TV
licences cases and motoring offences).
Press release ~ White Paper ~ Supporting Magistrates to Provide Justice website ~ Supporting Magistrates Courts to Provide Justice response paper ~ Magistrates’ Association ~
DfES: The government has published its Childcare Bill, describing it as a ‘key milestone in the drive to improve
childrens wellbeing and reduce inequalities’.
The Bill will introduce by 2008 a new, legal framework for regulation &
inspection of all early years’ settings.
The
government hopes that this new regulatory framework will also help deliver
their aim that by
2010, all parents of children between 3 and 14 will
have access to a year-round
childcare place open 8am to 6pm through extended schools,
childrens centres and other early years providers.
Initial
reaction to the Bill is not overwhelmingly positive, with many reports seeing
it as being the ultimate in ‘
Press release ~ Childcare Bill (click on ‘C’) ~ Sure start ~
Teachernet - Foundation
Stage ~ Curriculum Online – Foundation stage ~ QCA ~ Foundation stage forum ~ Teachernet – Extended
schools
DTI: Energy
Minister Malcolm Wicks has outlined the Governments broad support for
Mark Lazarowiczs Climate Change
and Sustainable Energy Private Members Bill, which had its second
reading in the Commons last week.
The Government is seeking amendments to the Bill
while adding two new measures. The
first would increase the time period of the power contained in section 185 of the Energy Act 2004,
while the second would simplify
the issue of the Renewables Obligation Certificates for microgenerators, by
removing administrative obstacles.
Press release ~ Climate Change and Sustainable Energy (Click on
‘C’) ~ Microgeneration strategy ~ Adjusting Transmission Charges in the North of
Scotland ~ Section 185 of the Energy Act
2004
DWP: The
European
leaders agreed at a summit in
Press release ~ UK Presidency conference - Improving the Life Chances of Disabled People ~ UK Presidency
website ~ Lisbon Agreement ~ EU eInclusion and eAccessibility website ~ EU i2010 initiative ~ European Disability
Forum ~ Section 508
OFT:
Cheques are the
next area of banking in the
Press release ~
CIOB: The
Government has recently announced a £30million funding, over three years, for
the
At present it is proposed that the programme will
operate for a 6-year period, beginning on
As well as continuing to fund single installations
the programme will focus on supporting large scale developments in the public
and private sectors to act as exemplars and encourage further projects. The
focus on larger developments is designed to engage the construction sector more
widely and to help push microgeneration products towards commercial viability.
(See also Defra APF item in consultation
section above)
Press release ~ Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) ~ DTI Press release ~ Clear
Skies ~ Solar Photovoltaic Major Demonstration
Programme ~ DTI
Renewal Energy website ~ Microgeneration ~ Energy Institute - A response to the DTI’s Microgeneration and
Low Carbon Buildings consultation ~ Planning Policy Statement 22: Renewable
Energy ~
Energy Efficiency: The Government’s Plan for Action ~
Strategy for CHP to 2010 ~ Sustainable Energy Policy Network (SEPN) ~ Energy
Efficiency in Buildings Directive (Parts L&F): Interim publications
2005 ~ Energy Performance of Buildings Directive
~ Low or Zero Carbon Energy Sources - Strategic Guide (Interim
Publication)
 
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For other articles please click HERE
Date:
Venue: London (St pauls)
Organiser: Socitm -
IT and e-Government Services in
2010: What does the future hold?
By the end of 2005, all
government services should be available electronically, local authorities will
have delivered many of the ODPM’s ‘priority outcomes’ for local e-Government
and implementation of the efficiency agenda will be well underway. Some
organisations might even consider that e-Government is ‘done & dusted’.
So how
will things develop after 2005? What challenges will public sector ICT managers
have to meet in the future? How will they and their departments look in 2010?
This event will look
beyond current issues and focus on the following questions:
• What new technologies
will be central to IT strategies in five years time?
• What is the policy
context likely to be beyond online targets and Efficiency?
• What should inform our
2006-2010 IT/e-Government strategies?
• What will the job of IT
managers be by the end of the decade?
• What new skills and
competencies are IT managers and executives going to need?
Full details ~ Cabinet
Office e-Government Unit ~ Transformational Government –
Enabled by Technology ~ ODPM’s
Support and Capacity Programme ~ People in e-government: change, capacity and skills for
e-government ~ Capacity Building: Developing the
potential ~ Local e-Government website ~ Oxford Internet Surveys ~ Breaking barriers to
e-Government ~ BT’s Local Government
division website ~ British Computer Society ~ Strategic Support Unit (SSU): briefing papers ~ IDeA Knowledge website ~ IDeA e-Champions Network
For information other events please
click HERE
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