WGPlus Archive Newsletter Section

DH:  Allowing people to grow old gracefully – The government have launched a national campaign to place dignity & respect at the heart of caring for older people, backed by a £67 million grant to improve the environment of care homes across the country.  The campaign, designed to raise the profile of respecting people's dignity, also features:

·         The Dignity Challenge - a 10-point plan of what constitutes a service that respects dignity

·         A network of local champions of dignity - volunteers working to raise the profile of dignity in care locally

·         The Dignity in Care Practice Guide designed to help front-line workers & commissioners, as well as older people themselves and their carers, to take up the Dignity Challenge

·         a review of national policies including: safeguarding vulnerable adults, complaints reforms, training & registration of the workforce and improving the care environment

 

On 8 November 2006 the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act received Royal Assent.  The Act lays the foundation for a new vetting & barring scheme which will be phased in from Autumn 2008.

 

The campaign includes two further Dignity in Care network events in Birmingham (January 2007) and Leeds (March 2007), as well as the introduction of a Beacon Council Award for Dignity in Care.

DH press release ~ HC press release ~ Vetting and barring ~  Healthcare Commission report on services for older people  ~ National dignity in care campaign ~ DH – Dignity in Care ~ The Dignity Challenge ~ Local champions of dignity ~ Dignity in Care Practice Guide ~ DH - Vulnerable Adults ~ Action on Elder Abuse (AEA)  ~ Age Concern

 

Home Office:  Just in time to provide ‘fair’ justice for missing Christmas ‘pack(ages)’?  - New legislation to enable the most serious & complex fraud trials to be heard by a judge alone has been published in the Fraud (Trials without a Jury) Bill. 

 

At present, in some of the most serious & complicated fraud cases, it is not possible for defendants to be tried on charges that adequately reflect the full scale of the accusations against them.  This is because in cases that involve a multitude of different offences & defendants, it is necessary to limit the amount of evidence that is put before a jury.

 

In spite of attempts to keep trials within reasonable grounds, complex and serious cases can often drag on for months - imposing an intolerable burden on jurors.  At times these trials collapse, wasting millions of pounds and failing to ensure justice for victims.

 

Existing legislation (section 43 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003) allows the prosecution in a complex & serious fraud case to apply to the judge for the trial to take place without a jury.  However, the Act requires that these provisions cannot be implemented until an affirmative resolution is passed by both Houses.

 

The new Bill would remove the requirement for an affirmative resolution.  It would also require the application and the trial itself to be dealt with by a High Court judge if the application is successful.

Press release ~ Fraud (Trials without a Jury) Bill ~ Serious Fraud Office ~ Guide to Witnesses in SFO Trials ~ Fraud Advisory Panel’s views ~ Control and Management of Heavy Fraud and other complex criminal cases ~ Related news item ~ The Fraud review

 

DfES:  Scratching the surface of adult mathematical skills - Skills Minister Phil Hope paid tribute to the numeracy skills of the nation's 46,000 stallholders when launching a partnership with the National Market Traders Federation at London's Church St market to deliver the DfES’s numeracy drive from its Get On campaign.

 

'Get On' branded plastic shopping bags will be given away by stallholders together with scratch cards to help customer's agility totting up sums.

 

The 2003 Skills for Life National Needs and Impact Survey of Literacy, Numeracy and IT skills, estimated that in England:

·         5.2 million adults aged 16-65 have literacy levels below Level 1 (the level expected of 11 year olds)

·         14.9 million have numeracy skills below this level

Press release ~ The importance of basic skills for adults  ~ National Market Traders Federation (NMTF) ~ Church Street and Bell Street Markets ~ Skills for Life Strategy (VLF 1.3Mb) ~ Get On campaign ~ Skills for Life National Needs and Impact Survey of Literacy, Numeracy and IT skills ~ National Institute for Economic and Social Research (NIfESR) - Impact of skills for Learning ~ Basic Skills Agency ~ Sector Skills Councils ~ Quick Reads ~ World Book Day ~ Adult Learners Week ~ The Vital Link ~ RAW (Reading and Writing campaign) ~ DfES White Paper: Skills Getting on in business, getting on at work ~ Widening adult participation in learning: A systematic review of strategies

 

Met Office:   Met Office gives a précis of what the future holds - Hard on the heels of Prof. Sir Nicholas Stern's report into the economic cost of climate change, Met Office Hadley Centre scientists were in Nairobi recently to meet colleagues from around the world, to discuss current research.

 

One area of the Met Office's work this year has been to investigate the impacts of climate change on developing countries, where worldwide damage to the environment could be most acutely felt.  A report titled Effects of climate change on developing countries summarises these findings.

 

Extreme drought is likely to increase from under 3% of the globe today to 30% by 2100 - areas affected by severe drought could see a five-fold increase from 8% to 40%.  However, there are some likely positive effects of climate change; for example, reduced drought & potential increased crop yield in a limited number of places.

 

Many of the detailed results were produced by scientists from around the world using PRECIS, a regional climate modelling system developed by the Met Office to run on personal computers.  Over 190 users in more than 60 countries currently use the system.

Press release ~ Effects of climate change on developing countries ~ PRECIS ~ Hadley Centre: climate change reports ~ United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change ~ Energy Saving Trust ~ UK Climate Impacts Programme ~ WWF UK Climate change website ~ United Nations Development Programme – Energy & the environment ~ Climate Change Mitigation in Developing Countries: Brazil, China, India, Mexico, South Africa, and Turkey ~ Defra: Working with developing countries - China ~ Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change

 

Defra:  Proof that males are cooler than females! - The UK-funded international report, Migratory Species and Climate Change: Impacts of a changing environment on wild animals, says unprecedented changes in climate will affect wildlife and their habitats - both directly through changes in temperature & precipitation and indirectly through disturbances such as fires, hurricanes and storms.

 

On average, many species have moved 6.1km per decade towards the poles or 1 metre per decade in elevation, while spring events like flowering and leaf flushing are occurring on average 2.3 days earlier per decade - in turn affecting seasonal movement of wildlife.

 

Winter green species like English holly could double their range by 2050, while marine turtles in the Asia Pacific region need nest temperatures of 25-32C to breed successfully and within that range their sex is determined by the temperature.

 

Cooler beaches produce more male turtles, while warmer sands result predominantly in females.  Conservation managers are applying innovative measures to reduce the effects of the warmer climate on turtles, including using lighter coloured sand to reduce the effect of rising temperatures.

Press release ~ Migratory Species and Climate Change: Impacts of a changing environment on wild animals (VLF 2.5Mb) ~ Defra - Bonn Convention on Migratory Species  ~ CoMS website ~ UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in Nairobi

 

CRE:  The best years of your life? - The Commission for Racial Equality has submitted its views to the Good Childhood Inquiry, focusing on issues which disproportionately affect children from ethnic minority communities.

 

The CRE is strongly urging the Inquiry to look specifically at the experiences of ethnic minority children when exploring the conditions for a good childhood and the obstacles to those conditions.

Press release ~ Good Childhood Inquiry ~ Good Childhood Inquiry: CRE submission

 

For Industry News please click HERE

 

For information on forthcoming public sector events please click HERE to visit the WGPlus Events Calendar

Defra:   The Government has called on the egg industry and retailers to ensure that the eggs they are selling are correctly labelled following investigations by Defra into alleged illegal practice in the egg industry involving the incorrect labelling of eggs, including the labelling of non-free range eggs as free range.

 

From inspections carried out by Defra, under the EC Egg Marketing Regulations, the Department had become concerned about possible illegal practice in the egg industry.  The investigation is targeted on the collection & supply of eggs; not the original production.

Press release ~ Defra – Eggs & Poultry ~ Egg Marking ~ British Egg information service ~ Laid in Britain ~ British Free Range Egg Producers Association ~ News Item

 

Met Office:  People suffering with respiratory illness are set to benefit this winter from a pilot scheme being introduced by the Met Office, designed to improve patient well-being. 

 

Chronic Pulmonary Obstructive Disease (COPD) is a debilitating condition that causes suffering for thousands in the UK.  Symptoms include breathlessness & coughing and, for people with more severe COPD, normal activities can become difficult.  Sometimes, especially in the winter, many people with COPD find that their symptoms become worse.

 

This link between cold weather and COPD forms the basis of the innovative service (from 17 November 2006) developed by the Met Office and funded by Cornwall Adult Social Care, which will provide up to 1,000 patients registered at 10 practices across Cornwall with an automatic telephone messaging & monitoring service.  

Press release ~ Met Office - COPD Forecasting Service ~ World COPD Day ~ Living with COPD ~ Medixine ~ Cornwall Adult Social Care

 

Scottish Executive:  Scotland is delivering on an international agreement to address climate change, an international conference in Nairobi, Kenya, was told last week.

Press release ~ SE information on climate change ~ Video - It's Our Future ~ Montreal Declaration

 

TfL:  Transport for London (TfL) has responded to the PPP Arbiter's Metronet Annual Report, which concluded that over the first three years of the London Underground PPP, Metronet has not performed in an economic & efficient manner or in line with Good Industry Practice.

 

The PPP Arbiter's Report followed London Underground's annual PPP report published in August this year, which showed that Metronet's maintenance & renewal activities are behind schedule and its costs are escalating.

Press release ~ LU’s third annual PPP report ~Arbiter’s Press release ~ Arbiter’s Report ~ TfL PPP contracts

 

Defra:  The critical role played by supermarkets in helping consumers to reduce the environmental impact of their weekly shopping came under the spotlight when the UK's top 13 grocery retailers met with Defra and WRAP (the Waste & Resources Action Programme).

 

Reporting on progress to date against WRAP's Courtauld Commitment, which aims to reduce the amount of packaging & food waste that ends up in everyone's bins, the retailers outlined a range of actions they have taken over the past year, including; Minimised packaging, and innovations that keep food fresher for longer and so cut the amount that is thrown away.

 

The retailers suggested follow up action on three issues: Food waste, Biopolymers & compostable packaging and Consistent on-pack recycling information for consumers

Press release ~ Waste Resources Action Programme ~ Courtauld Commitment ~ Envirowise ~ Business Resource Efficiency Waste (BREW) programme ~ Booklet:  The Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations 2005 - Is your business complying ~ Defra Packaging website ~ DTI Packaging website ~ EU Packaging website ~ Defra: recycling & waste ~ Waste Implementation Programme ~ Industry Council for Packaging and the Environment

 

Homeless Link:  Welcoming Ruth Kelly’s recent speech about Government plans to tackle homelessness, Jenny Edwards, chief executive of Homeless Link which this month launched a campaign to end homelessness in the UK by 2022, said:

“We warmly welcome a move to ensure that hostels nationally become places of change - providing programmes of positive activities including skills and learning.  This builds on and supports the excellent work many of our member organisations are already doing.

 

We also welcome the important pledge to take young people out of unsuitable Bed and Breakfast accommodation and into more supportive lodgings.  These and the sort of family mediation schemes now proposed by the Government have already proven their value where they are currently offered”.

Press release ~ Ruth Kelly’s full speech  ~ Homeless Link ~ DCLG – Tackling Homelessness ~ Mayor supports challenge ~ Ending Homelessness: from Vision to Action ~ Andy Ludlow Awards  ~ Barker Review  ~ Shelter ~ Supporting People programme ~ Alone in London ~ Look Ahead ~ Hostels Capital Improvement Programme ~ The Training for Life ~ Working Future  ~ Cardboard Citizens

HMRC:  HM Revenue & Customs is to begin a programme of consultation intended to ‘deliver a more effective service to local businesses and individuals’.  The series of consultations on the future shape & direction of the department in Northern Ireland will begin in June 2007 and are designed to progress the consolidation of the HMRC estate and the co-location of staff nationwide, following the April 2005 merger of the former Inland Revenue and HM Customs & Excise.

 

HMRC has a government target of 12,500 net staff savings by April 2008, which it ‘is on its way to meet’, and is working towards a target to reduce annual estates costs by £30 million by then.

 

The FDA, the union representing senior public servants, including the majority of senior staff in HM Revenue and Customs, have expressed its concerns about 'change overload' and the need to avoid disruption to delivery.  Of particular concern to the FDA is the fact that the proposals were drawn up without consultation.

HMRC press release ~ FDA press release  ~ HMRC Change programme ~ FDA

 

TfL:  The Mayor of London, has announced the start of detailed consultation (closes 2 February 2007) by TfL on the proposed London-wide Low Emissions Zone, aimed at reducing emissions from the most polluting diesel engine lorries, coaches, buses, heavier vans and minibuses.

 

From 2008, diesel engine lorries, coaches and buses that fail to meet a minimum pollution standard face having to pay a charge if they drive within Greater London.  Such a charge would be designed to act as an effective incentive for operators to modify or replace dirty vehicles.

Press release ~ Transport for London: Low Emissions Zone ~ Consultation documents  ~ Taxi Emissions Strategy ~ Mayor's Transport Strategy  ~ Air Quality Strategy ~ Transport and Air Quality Strategies ~ Air Quality Archive ~ The Air Quality Strategy for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland ~ Quantification of the Effects of Air Pollution on Health in the UK ~ Nitrogen Dioxide in the United Kingdom ~ Expert Panel on Air Quality Standards

 

DTI:  New technology in the home, so you can track the energy you use, and clearer more understandable energy bills are part of a consultation (closes 6 February 2007) that has been launched by the DTI.

 

The Energy Review said that saving energy must be the starting point for cutting carbon and the Government has been asking energy suppliers to improve the information in customers' bills.  Consideration is also being given to providing households with gadgets which show how much energy a household is using, as improved energy billing & metering could help customers make better informed decisions about their energy use.

Press release ~ Energy Review ~ 'Energy billing and metering: Changing customer behaviour' ~ Energy Efficiency Commitment ~ European Environment Agency ~ Market Transformation Programme ~ Energy Savings Trust ~ EU Renewable Energy Unit ~ Intelligent Energy Europe

 

MCA:  The MCA have presented amendments to the Large Yacht Code at the first Global Super yacht Forum at the Amsterdam RAI Exhibition Centre, as part of a consultation process (closes 15 December 2006) on helicopter landing areas on board large yachts.  

 

This consultation follows two years of development through meetings with a study group of industry representatives, outlining the technical standard required of helicopter landing areas for large commercial yachts certificated to the Large Yacht Code (LY2). 

 

It is intended that the Helideck Certification Agency (HCA) will carry-out surveys for helicopter landing areas on board commercially operated large yachts as the UK's aviation inspection body and shall fulfil the role of "competent body" with regards to landing area limitations.

Press release ~ The Large Commercial Yacht Code (LY2) Proposed Additions and Changes on Helicopter Landing Areas ~ Helideck Certification Agency (HCA) ~ International Superyacht Society

 

Highways Agency:  Road users and other interested groups are being invited to make their views known as the Government reviews its guidance for motorway service areas, trunk road service areas, lay-bys and lorry parks.

The provision of picnic facilities alongside trunk roads and motorways is also under consideration.

 

The consultation (closes 8th February 2007) seeks views on the:

·         location of motorway service areas; determining the need for such sites and the spacing interval

·         type of facilities, how they are signed and their standards

·         service areas on trunk roads

·         motorway picnic facilities

·         lorry parking

·         provision & use of lay-bys

Press release ~ Policy for service areas and other roadside facilities on Motorways and All-Purpose Trunk Roads in England ~ Roads Circular 1/94 ~ About 5 minutes away ~ Use and Opinions of Motorway Service Areas

 

Scottish Executive:  A consultation (closes 7 February 2007) has been launched on proposals to make it an offence to sell a range of non-native animal and plant species in Scotland, including Parrot's feather, the highly destructive Japanese knotweed and giant hogweed. 

 

It is also proposed to make it an offence to release from captivity, (or in the case of plants, allow to grow in the wild) certain animals including wild boar, the domestic European ferret, the Chinese mitten crab plus certain species of parakeets, cotoneaster and crayfish.

 

Non-native species can compete with native wildlife by predation, degradation of habitats, introduction of new parasites and hybridization.  The species listed in the consultation are either already causing considerable damage to Scotland's natural environment or are considered likely to do so.

Press release ~ Consultation on proposals to amend Schedule 9 and the use of an order made under Section 14A of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 ~ Horticultural Code of Practice ~ What are invasive non-native species? ~ Review of Non-native Species Policy ~ UK Biodiversity Action Plan Website ~ Scotland's Biodiversity It's In Your Hands ~ Cornwall Knotweed Forum ~ A Cost-Benefit analysis of introducing the non-native species signal crayfish ~ European Platform for Biodiversity Research Strategy (EPBRS) ~ Convention on Biological Diversity