Published Tuesday, 21st June 2005 Cabinet Office / NSG: Government goes back to School - Cabinet Secretary Sir Andrew Turnbull has launched the National School of Government, which is intended to help strengthen leadership, increase professionalism, improve delivery and achieve efficiency in the Civil service. The NSG will be based at
The
This new role will be supported by the establishment of the Sunningdale Institute, under the Chairmanship of Professor Cary Cooper from Lancaster University, which will make available the expertise of National School Fellows as an ‘intellectual and development resource at the highest level and offer original thinking on current issues and find ways of tackling the challenges that face government’.
National School Principal David Spencer commented (précised):
‘By developing strategic relationships we will become an essential resource helping them achieve their business and policy objectives.
We will work with universities, business schools, and other public sector academies, such as Warwick University, the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard, Henley Management College, Kingston University Business School, Ashridge and Birmingham University, to design, deliver and broker solutions.
We are also currently working with to deliver the cross-sectoral Leaders
Internationally, in the autumn there will be the first of a potential series of seminars run jointly with ENA in
We intend, unashamedly, to cherry-pick from the best in the world to bring to us new insights and approaches to public service management, while avoiding duplication and co-coordinating the dissemination of best practice & innovation across the whole of the public sector’.
Welsh Assembly / Wales Office: Governing Wales - The government took the Welsh devolution process to its next stage with the launch of a White Paper Better Governance for Wales, which “shows the way forward to build on the success of the past six years of devolution” according to First Minister Rhodri Morgan.
The White Paper proposes legislation over three key issues:
· Enhanced legislative powers for the Assembly;
· A formal separation between the Assembly and the Welsh Assembly Government to avoid confusion & to improve effective scrutiny; and
· To allow losing candidates in Assembly constituency elections to become Assembly members through the regional list under the Additional Member Voting System.
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The government’s plan is that, instead of a new Welsh Bill & referendum, the Assembly will bid to implement a new policy, which will be determined by a vote in both Houses after a just a 1½ hour debate. This is the procedure under which Parliament decides Orders in Council and these would give the Assembly new powers, in specified areas of policy, to modify the provisions of Acts of Parliament, as they affect Wales, or to make new provision.
This process would then avoid any potential for embarrassment from either a referendum or subsequent full parliamentary debate, something that any government would be wary about following the recent EU referendum,
Those wishing to comment on these proposals should write to Zenny Saunders, Wales Office, Gwydyr House, Whitehall, London SW1A 2ER or email wales.office@walesoffice.gsi.gov.uk by Friday, September 16, 2005.
Press release ~ Press release ~ Wales Office White Paper – Better Governance for Wales ~ Richard Commission on the powers of the National Assembly for Wales ~ Evaluation of Richard Commission ~ The role of the Welsh Assembly Government in European Governance
There is no doubt but that the whole system is beginning to creak as ‘temporary’ demands on the services take on every indication of permanence. The question remains just how long the three branches of the armed forces (and especially the Navy and Air Force) can continue to ‘rob Peter to pay Paul’ in their attempts to maintain fighting equipment by cannibalising some ships and planes to maintain others.
Has the government learnt from its earlier exploits at being the world’s policeman one wonders?
Perhaps the most worrying aspect of all though is the cutback on training, which not only reduces skill levels, but also put lives at risk.
But for ’facts’ rather than just commentary, click through to the links, which include a look back to a previous
Press Release ~ Full Report ~ Executive summary ~ NAO Defence Value for Money website ~ NAO report 2003/04 on Operation Telic – UK military operations in Iraq ~ NAO report 2003/04 – MoD: The rapid procurement capability to support operation ~ Operations in Iraq: Lessons for the Future ~ First Reflections
Defra: Environment Minister Elliot Morley has urged all those
planting or managing trees to take action now to cope with the unavoidable
climate change impacts that the
Press release ~ Forestry Commission - Climate Change ~ The UK Climate Impacts
Programme (UKCIP) ~ The Tree Council ~ Forest
Research ~ Notcutts ~ Royal Horticultural Society.~ Presentations and papers
from the scientific symposium on "Avoiding Dangerous
Climate Change", (Feb 2005) ~ “Gardening in the Global Greenhouse: The Impacts of Climate Change
on Gardens in the UK"
Defra: The Agricultural Wages Board for England and Wales
met on 7, 8 and 9 June 2005 for the 2005 annual pay negotiations. The Board has
proposed introducing a new Wages Order that would come into force on
Press release ~ Defra Agricultural employment website
DTI: Applications for the
Press release ~ licensing regime ~ PILOT
website ~ United Kingdom Continental Shelf (UKCS). ~ UK Offshore Operators
Association, (UKOOA) ~ DTI Oil &
Gas website
OGC: A deal with high street retailers, a
money-saving travel initiative and an eSourcing service are three of the new
tools to help the public sector buy smarter to be showcased at the government’s
official FREE procurement conference and exhibition - ’Procurement Solutions
2005 - ’on 21 and 22
June.
Press release ~ OGCbuying.solutions ~ Procurement
Solutions ~ Improvement and Development Agency
(IDeA)
F&CO: The US Department of Homeland Security announced a one-year
extension of its Visa Waiver Programme (VWP) to 26 October 2006 for British citizens with machine-readable passports but without a
digital photo as long as their passport was issued before the previous 26
October 2005 deadline.
The
Press release ~ Visiting the
United States ~ Biometric British Passports
Planning Portal: The
dozen UK locations short-listed as possible sites for a deep underground
radioactive waste depository have been named after most were kept secret for 15
years.
Press release ~ The Safety of Radioactive Waste Management: New Steps Forward in
the Law ~ The Joint Convention
on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste
Management ~ Defra Radioactivity website - Nirex ~ AEA Regulations on the transport of
radioactive material
Main consultation paper closing date:
22 July
2005.
RAE: The Royal Academy of
Engineering’s annual Summer Soirée at the National Oceanography Centre,
Southampton (NOCS), is being held on Monday 27 June (hosted by the
Press release ~
The Royal Academy of Engineering ~ National Oceanography
Centre
HA:
Motorway safety lessons will be given to
Surrey children this term as part of a new initiative by the Highways Agency,
who will also be trialling a teaching pack -Just a Stone’s Throw - (not available for general release yet),
stressing the dangers of dropping objects from motorway bridges, is to be used
at children’s safety events being run throughout the county in the next two
months.
Press release ~ LASER
(Learning About Safety by Experiencing Risk) schemes ~ Hampshire Junior Citizen
Programme
Defra:
Views are being sought on proposed new legislation aimed at
consolidating and updating existing transmissible spongiform encephalopathy
(TSE) law, which are being updated in line with EU legislation and are intended
to help clarify the scope of some existing controls in domestic
legislation.
The consultation document (closes
Press release ~ consultation document
DCA: Tourists who
buy faulty goods abroad will be able to seek redress in this country under new
EU proposals, which are published for consultation (closes 27 July).
Businesses will also be able to use the new procedure where they are
owed money by someone in another Member State.
MCA: The Maritime
and Coastguard Agency has announced a consultation (closes
5 September 2005) of its newly refreshed National Contingency Plan (NCP) for Marine
Pollution from Shipping and Offshore Installations.
Press Release ~ MCA ~ NCP for
Marine Pollution ~ WWF Marine
Act campaign ~ WWF Marine pollution website ~ Convention on marine pollution ~ Related
Links ~ UK Riversnet
DH: Public Health Minister Caroline Flint
launched a consultation (ends on 5th September) on how
legislation on smoke-free enclosed public places and workplaces would work in
practice. The consultation will lead to a Bill being introduced in the Autumn.
Press release ~ Choosing Health White Paper ~ consultation
document ~ HDA Smoking website ~ Clearing the Air website ~ ASH Scotland website ~ Irish
Anti-smoking Legislation
OGC: A deal with high street retailers,
a money-saving travel initiative and an eSourcing service were three of the new
tools to ‘help the public sector buy smarter’ showcased at the
governments official procurement conference and exhibition -
Procurement Solutions 2005, which was held on 21 and 22 June.
Press release ~ www.ogcbuyingsolutions.gov.uk ~ www.procurementsolutions.gov.uk
HSE: New
EU-based noise & vibration regulations come into force in Great Britain from July
2005 and noise regulations will be updated in early 2006. The HSE and the EEF (the
manufacturers organisation) will jointly be running a series of roadshows
across Great Britain in September and October 2005 to advise employers of
the changes taking place.
Press release ~ HSE Noise
website ~ HSE Vibration website ~
EEF
FSA:
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has launched 14 sector-specific
tailored Handbooks of its rules and guidance for small firms. The new
publications are 90% smaller than the full Handbook and provide the most
relevant information for each industry segment.
Press release ~ Tailored Handbooks
DH: A joint report by the Department of
Health and Diabetes UK on patient education provides the NHS with guidance on
equipping patients with the knowledge they need to manage their condition
effectively.
The document includes new ideas, examples of good
practice, and details of patient education programmes, which will support the
delivery of high-quality education and from January 2006, all Primary Care
Trusts (PCTs) will need to implement NICE recommendations by providing all
people with diabetes with high quality, structured
education.
Press release ~ Diabetes UK ~
DAFNE (Dose Adjustment
for Normal Eating) website ~ DESMOND (Diabetes
Education and Self Management for Ongoing and Newly Diagnosed) ~ NICE
guidance on Patient Education Models in Diabetes ~ DH Diabetes website
Defra: Defra has published its annual report
which includes a new emphasis on environmental leadership, caring for rural
England and delivering a sustainable future for farming
Press Release ~ Annual report ~ CPRE website ~ A fair deal for rural England ~ Setting the agenda: environmental leadership for the UK presidency of the
EU~ Defra sustainable farming website
Home Office: The Home Office have published their annual report, which includes
progress against 10 Public Service Agreement (PSA) targets (page 8) and a
Corporate Plan, which sets out the Departments vision for ‘building
strong, safe communities in which there is respect for all’.
Press release ~ Annual Report 04/05 ~ Corporate plan ~ Departmental Investment Strategy ~ Third Report from the Home Affairs Committee Session
2004-05 on Home Office Target-Setting
DWP: The
Department has published research designed to explore effective ways of
communicating information about pensions and saving for retirement. As part of
the Informed Choice programme, the findings will be used to ensure Government
communications on pensions are as clear and effective as
possible.
Press release ~ DWP Research Report No. 239
DWP: The
role of work in low income families explores the experiences and longer-term impact of
work on families with children, following an initial transition from benefits
into work.
Press release ~ Report No. 245
LSDA: The LSDA has published a report -
Effective entry to work-based learning - that claims that the image of
work-based learning needs to overhauled in order to attract school
leavers. The report calls for
better marketing of job-related options for school leavers, a simpler
recruitment process into apprenticeship programmes and a concerted effort to
end the association of work-based learning with
under-achievers.
Press release ~ Effective entry to work-based learning
Defra: A new report on particulate matter - ’Particulate Matter in the United Kingdom’
I> - has been published by the Air Quality Expert Group, which concludes that
although particulate matter levels have been decreasing over the past few
decades background levels are still very high and more work needs to be done to
ensure that national targets for reducing particulate matter are
met.
Press release ~ Particulate Matter in the United Kingdom
~ Air Quality Expert Group
Home Office: The government has responded to the Home Affairs Select
Committee on police reform.
Press release ~ Home Affairs Committee report and Government’s
response ~ police reform website
DTI: The Government response to the report by the House of
Commons Science and Technology Select Committee: "The Work of Research Councils UK (RCUK)" has been
published.
Press release ~ Select Committee report ~ Government response ~ RCUK
website
NAO: The NAO have reported on the Environment Agency’s water
resource management services, saying that there is scope to improve efficiency
and realise net savings of some £450,000 a year on its activities in England,
with a further potential saving of between £1 million to £2 million as a result
of internal cost reallocation.
Press Release ~ Full Report ~ Executive Summary ~ Environment Agency ~ Land Use and water resources
research ~ The Water Page ~ Water Resource
Systems Research Laboratory
ODPM: New powers have come into force enabling local
authorities in
DTI: The government has released details of a plan to tackle
climate change, by capturing CO2 from power plants and storing it safely in
depleted North Sea oil & gas fields and of its new Hydrogen Strategy.
Press release ~ A Strategy for Developing Carbon Abatement Technologies for
Fossil Fuel Use ~ A
Strategic Framework for Hydrogen Energy in the UK plus government response ~ E4Tech ~ International Partnership for
the Hydrogen Economy ~ Sustainable Energy Policy Network
website
DTI: A new scheme to protect consumers from
cowboy builders is open for business and ready to take its
first applications. It
will go
live in the autumn when consumers will be able to use
TrustMark to help them source a reputable firm for a wide range of
work.
Press release ~ TrustMark
website
Welsh Assembly: The
Welsh Assembly Government has announced ambitious plans to raise standards
across the public services in Wales in an action plan: Delivering the
Connections, which is
intended to challenge public service organisations such as Government
departments, local authorities, the NHS and quangos to find new ways of working
together to deliver services geared to the needs of individuals.
Press release ~ Action Plan ~ Making the Connections: Delivering Better Services for
Wales ~ Summary of the Action Plan Vision ~ Making the connections website
DfES: The government is trying to encourage more girls into IT
careers and the sector skills council for the industry, e-skills UK, will establish a Computer
Clubs for Girls network under its first Sector Skills Agreement.
Press release ~ CC4G ~ e-skills UK ~ Sector
Skills Agreement for IT
~ Women in IT website ~
Equalitec
~ Promoting SET for Women Unit
~ Women in the IT Industry: Towards a business case for
diversity
DfT: Aviation
Minister Karen Buck has welcomed the launch of Sustainable Aviation strategy
for commercial air transport, which was developed ‘voluntarily’ by the industry
and led by the Airport Operators Association (AOA), the British Air Transport
Association (BATA), National Air Traffic Services (NATS) and the Society of
British Aerospace Companies (SBAC).
Press release ~Sustainable
Aviation website ~ Sustainable Aviation Strategy Summary ~ Background ~ QinetiQ - Sustainable aviation for
2020 ~ FOE - Sustainable aviation = demand management
~ FOE – Impact on climate change ~ EU sustainable aviation Policy - Lost in the
translation? ~ White Paper: The Future of Air
Transport
ODPM: Government funding to support the Cornish language, to the
tune of up to £80,000 a year for three years, has been
confirmed.
Press release ~ Part II of the
European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. ~ Cornish Language Strategy ~ Government Office for the
South West
HMRC: Number 12/05
·
Motor and heating fuels: Revised Public Notice
179
·
International Trade: Imposition of additional
ad-valorem duty on certain products originating in the USA
·
VAT: Aligning VAT accounting
periods
·
VAT: Clarification of the VAT position of share
issues following the EC Court of Justice decision in
Kretztechnik
·
VAT: Landlord inducements to tenants entering
leases