WGPlus Archive Newsletter Section

Scottish Executive:  Planning for an Older Future - By 2031 the number of people aged over 50 in Scotland is projected to rise by 28% and the number aged over 75 is projected to increase by 75%.  In response to this challenge, the Scottish Executive has published a long-term strategy - All Our Futures: Planning for a Scotland with an Ageing Population and identified six priority areas for action:

·         improving opportunities & removing barriers

·         forging better links between the generations

·         improving & maintaining health & well being

·         improving care, support & protection for older people

·         developing housing, transport & planning services

·         offering learning opportunities throughout life

 

The Executive has allocated £27m of funding to support the strategy, which includes the establishment of a National Forum on Ageing and a new Scottish Centre for Intergenerational Practice to improve links between young and old

 

Additional funding of £14m in 2007-08 will be made on fuel poverty programmes, including the Central Heating Programme.  Another £10m of funding has also been allocated to help homeowners adapt their homes to meet their changing needs and help older people stay in their homes & communities for longer.

Press release ~ All Our Futures: Planning for a Scotland with an Ageing Population – Summary and Action Plan ~ All Our Futures – Volume Two ~ Closed consultation document ~ Sharing Experience - Scotland's Ageing Population ~ Scottish Executive – Older people ~ Online Interview with Communities Minister on the ageing strategy ~ Future Forum: 'Growing Older and Wiser Together: A Futures View on Positive Ageing' ~ Scottish parliament news release on Future Forum report ~ Central Heating Programme ~ Telecare – JIT (Joint Improvement Team) ~ Age Concern Scotland ~ Black & Minority Ethnic Elders ~ Help the Aged ~ COSLA ~ Scottish Pensioners' Forum ~ Age Positive ~ SPICe Briefing - Aging ~ The Employers Forum on Age ~ The National Care Forum

 

DfES:  Standards from the time they are born - The Department for Education and Skills (DfES) has published a new framework for high quality development, learning & care of all children in their early years.  The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) sets the standards for development, learning & care of all children from birth to five.

 

All registered early years providers and schools will be required to use the EYFS from September 2008, to ensure a high quality experience that supports the child's development in whichever childcare setting parents choose.

 

The framework builds on, and replaces, the non-statutory Birth to Three Matters guidance, Foundation Stage curriculum for 3 & 4 year olds and national standards for day-care.  The government claims that it builds a coherent & flexible approach that removes the artificial divide between learning & care and creates seamless support for children's development from birth to five.

 

The EYFS will also be published as an online tool, with practical demonstrations showing people how they can use the framework in a way that is tailored to the needs of individual children in their care and carry out the planning that will ensure every child benefits from it.

Press release ~ Teachernet, Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) ~ Thomas Coram Early Childhood Centre ~ Sure Start - Capital funding ~ Children's Workforce Development Council ~ QCA: Principles for early years education ~ QCA - Foundation stage 3-5 ~ Early years - The debate on when to start formal teaching ~ Choice for parents, the best start for children – a ten year strategy for childcare ~ Directgov – Early Years ~ Early Years Digest  ~ Early years and childcare - Every Child Matters

 

P&HSO:  Cash strapped PCTs face yet another call on their funding - The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman, Ann Abraham, has reported on the results of her investigation into complaints about the amount of redress received by some elderly & disabled people who had belatedly received NHS funding for their care.

 

Complainants alleged that the amount of recompense they had received from Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) did not compensate them fully for all the financial losses they had incurred while funding their own essential long term care.

 

The Ombudsman found that there was inconsistency in the way PCTs calculated the amount of redress due and was clear that PCTs should compensate any complainants who could provide evidence of financial loss, unless the amount of money involved was small in relation to the total amount due.

 

The Ombudsman recognised that PCTs were acting on advice from the Department of Health and she concluded the Department had been maladministrative in deciding on its formula for redress and in the way it communicated its approach to the Health Service.  Ms Abraham recommended that the Department should develop & distribute properly considered national guidance on continuing care redress.

Press release ~ DH response to report ~ Retrospective continuing care funding and redress ~ Continuing care – Background papers (click on Continuing Care)  ~ Single assessment process ~ DH – Long-term conditions ~ Royal Commission on Long Term Care for the Elderly ~ DH – Older People’s Services ~ National framework for NHS continuing healthcare and NHS funded nursing care in England: Closed consultation ~ Financial care models in Scotland and the UK  ~ OFT: Fair Terms for care ~ Future demand for long-term care in the UK: A summary of projections of long-term care finance for older people to 2051 

 

NAO:  Still much to be done to eradicate rural poverty - More than 1.1 billion people worldwide are living in extreme poverty and around 75% of the world’s poor live in rural areas.  The Department for International Development’s aid programmes have helped the rural poor in developing countries, but poverty in rural areas must be substantially reduced if DFID is to meet its targets, according to a report by the National Audit Office.

 

The Department for International Development has performance targets designed to contribute to the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals, to halve poverty by 2015.  The rural poor tend to be significantly poorer than the poor in non-rural areas and have lower rates of access to services such as education & health. 

 

Despite trends towards urbanisation, two-thirds of the world’s poor will still live in rural areas in 2015 so tackling rural poverty is vital if DFID is to meet these targets.  The report looks at how DFID is addressing rural poverty through its projects & programmes, funding of multilateral institutions and funding of research.

 

The report found that DFID is delivering real benefits to the rural poor.  However, lack of reliable data in many developing countries means that it is hard to assess whether rural areas are receiving their fair share of investment.  The situation is not helped by the fact that there has been a decrease in the number of staff with explicit expertise in rural issues and wide variations in the time spent by DFID overseas staff in rural areas.

Press release ~ Tackling Rural Poverty in developing countries ~ Executive Summary ~ Supporting paper:Staff survey results (64 KB) ~ Supporting paper: DFID - Study on Rural Poverty in Developing Countries (VLF 2Mb) ~ DFID - eliminating world poverty ~ DFID - Millennium Development Goals -Poverty and Hunger ~ United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals ~ Millennium Development Goals report 2006 ~ Better livelihoods for poor people: The role of Agriculture ~ Can Microfinance ‘Halve’Poverty By 2015: A Review By Sirajul Islam ~ Oxfam - Trade - The Rural Poverty Trap ~ International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) ~ Overseas Development Institute - Rural Policy and Governance Group ~ BBC NEWS - Is India's rural poverty plan working?

 

Party Funding Review:  No agreement yet on size of trough and how it will be filled - Stricter limits on the amount of money political parties can spend and on what they can receive in single donations, are among a package of recommendations published by the Review of the Funding of Political Parties undertaken by Sir Hayden Phillips. 

 

In his report, Strengthening Democracy: Fair and Sustainable Funding of Political Parties, Sir Hayden states that the main parties are in broad agreement on a number of the issues, but not yet on two in particular; the nature of a cap on donations and spending limits.  However, Sir Hayden believes that an agreement is however ‘within reach’ and proposes direct talks between the parties to resolve outstanding issues.

 

Among Sir Hayden's recommendations are:

·         the parties should agree voluntarily to binding limitations on donations 

·         the two largest parties should reduce spending by about £20m each over the lifetime of a Parliament

·         public funding should be increased to provide a degree of financial stability & encourage public engagement

·         the Electoral Commission needs to be a swift and nimble-footed regulator

 

Sir Hayden proposes two models for public funding:

·         one, a pence-per-vote scheme based on electoral success, and

·         an internet-based subscriber scheme where a person can give £5, or more, and it is matched by £5 of public funding. 

Press release ~ Standards in Public Life press release ~ Strengthening Democracy: Fair and Sustainable Funding of Political Parties- March 2007 ~ Electoral Commission ~  Public Perspectives: The future of party funding in the UK Interim report - Research Study Conducted for The Electoral Commission/COI 2006 ~ Electoral Commission - Loans ~ Electoral Commission - Donors ~ Hansard – Principles of party funding ~ Constitutional Affairs Select Committee ~ July 1999 Report ~ The Government's proposals for legislation in response to the Fifth Report of the Committee on Standards in Public Life (1999) ~ EC paper from 2004

 

CRE:  Still a question of ‘We know Best’ as far as politicians are concerned? - Initial findings from the CRE's formal investigation into race equality in physical regeneration suggest that it will be important to assess how housing regeneration might affect community cohesion, as evidence from the first stage of the regeneration formal investigation has highlighted a number of concerns, such as:

·         poor housing conditions

·         the shortage of affordable homes, as well as

·         a lack of choice, particularly for ethnic minority communities

 

Key issues brought to the CRE's attention so far include:

·         Feeling from organisations working on the ground of not being supported enough in their work to include ethnic minority communities in the planning, implementation & evaluation of regeneration schemes

·         Concerns that the aspirations & needs of ethnic minority communities are not fully understood

·         Some regeneration schemes are having a disproportionate negative impact on ethnic minority groups

·         Examples of ‘tokenistic’ consultation with ethnic minority communities and their representatives

·         Concerns that the effects of new housing projects and schemes are not being adequately monitored

·         Reports that social or affordable housing in regeneration schemes has not been adequately integrated

 

As part of its current consultation, the CRE is keen to hear from private and voluntary sector organisations involved in all aspects of physical regeneration, including housing, by 31 March 2007.

Press release~ CRE Statutory Code of Practice in Housing ~ Regeneration formal investigation: Private sector call for evidence ~ DCLG – Regeneration ~ British Urban Regeneration Association ~ English Partnerships ~ Scottish Urban Regeneration Forum ~ Regeneration: A simpler approach for Wales ~ The Cave Review of Social Housing Regulation~ Neighbourhood Renewal Unit ~ Effective participation in anti-poverty and regeneration work and research ~ New Deal for Communities ~ New Deal for Communities evaluation

 

 

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DTI:  Chief Scientific Adviser, Sir David King, has challenged scientists to back the Universal Ethical Code for Scientists, in a lecture at Imperial College London, delivered as part of National Science & Engineering Week.

 

The code has three key aims:

·         Foster ethical research

·         Encourage active reflection among scientists on the implications and impacts of their work

·         Support communication between scientists and the public on complex and challenging issues

Press release ~ DTI - Background on the Universal Ethical Code ~ Consultation & responses on code  (scroll down) ~ National Science and Engineering Week ~ Office of Science and Innovation ~ Council for Science and Technology ~ Office of the Chief Scientific Adviser for Scotland

 

DWP:  The Review of the Independent Living Funds has been published as part of the Government's regular review of non-departmental public bodies.  Independent Living Funds enable severely disabled people to live independently in their own homes.

 

The Review recommends that the Funds should remain in their present form until 2009/10, but in the longer term that there should be a smooth transition towards full integration within a system of personalised budgets.

Press release ~ Review of Independent Living Funds  ~ Independent Living Funds website ~ The British Council of Disabled People (BCODP) ~ Carers UK ~ Directgov – Disabled People ~ Assist UK - Practical Solutions for Independence ~ Other related links

 

DTI:  New funding for 19 schools across the country (worth up to £20,000 per school over the next 2 years) for projects to inspire black & minority ethnic school students to get involved in science, technology, engineering and maths has been announced by Alistair Darling, Secretary of State for Trade and Industry.

 

The new funding will go towards projects such as shadowing scientists in a high-tech bioscience lab, researching wind, wave, solar & nuclear energy and the sustainable use of forests.  The Science Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) grants were announced as part of National Science and Engineering Week at an event at the Natural History Museum.

Press release ~ List of schools (scroll down) ~ DTI - Black and Minority Ethnic Interest in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM)  ~ SET and the UK’s ethnic minority population ~ SETNET ~ London Colleges: Science, technology, engineering & maths explained ~ National Science and Engineering Week