DCA: Can we trust the government? - The government has set out its commitment to sharing information between public services, claiming it will expand opportunities for the most disadvantaged, fight crime and provide better public services.
The information-sharing statement is said to go hand-in-hand with the government’s recently announced Social Exclusion Action Plan and sets out how information could be shared in the future to ‘achieve the Government's goal of better public services - delivering better results for citizens, for businesses and for society as a whole’.
However, with public perception becoming increasingly aware of the amount of data organisations hold on a person and its potential positive and negative uses, Information Rights Minister Baroness Catherine Ashton attempted to issue reassurance, re-emphasisng how important it is that people ‘are confident that their personal data is kept safe and secure’; although she did not state how this would be done.
A comprehensive plan for information-sharing across the public sector will be published in April 2007.
Press release ~ Information sharing vision statement ~ DCA: Datasharing ~ Social Exclusion Action Plan ~ Information Commissioner ~ Dca: Data Protection Act 1998 ~ Council for Science and Technology: 'Better use of personal data in an information-rich society - opportunities and risks ~ Research into the use of personal datasets held by public sector bodies ~ IMPACT – nation police datasharing ~ Code of Practice on the Management of Police Information
CRE: Is it the local community or developers who benefit the most from Regeneration? - The hidden human cost of regeneration projects will come under scrutiny, the Commission for Racial Equality recently announced, with the start of a formal investigation, which will examine the impact physical regeneration projects can have on communities.
The investment brought into areas through regeneration projects can bring benefits to the communities involved, but it is when these communities are not consulted or even considered that the CRE wants to investigate.
Badly planned projects can lead to increased segregation, with communities being even further removed from each other or potentially displaced. A lack of consultation & transparency during project development can also increase local tensions with a perception that some parts of the community are reaping greater benefits.
The Commission is concerned that for all the social and economic good intended by these projects those involved in delivering them may not be considering fully the effects that schemes may have on different racial groups.
The investigation will also be looking for good practice in developing regeneration projects that can benefit the whole community.
Press release ~ CRE Regeneration Investigation ~ Urban Regeneration Companies ~ English Partnerships ~ Scottish Urban Regeneration Forum ~ JRF - Engaging faith communities in urban regeneration ~ JRF - Creating effective community networks in urban regeneration
DH: Addressing the safety issues of treating Mental Health patients in the community - An initiative to protect mental health patients from the risk of hurting themselves or other people has been announced by the Department of Health. A Risk Management Programme has been set up to improve the way that professionals assess risk, ensure that lessons are learnt from past incidents and make sure that information is shared between agencies to help prevent any future incidents.
Every year approximately 55-60 homicides are committed by mental health patients and 1,000 people who have been in contact with mental health services commit suicide. The new amending Mental Health Bill will introduce supervised treatment in the community to ‘ensure’ that patients who have been discharged from compulsory treatment in hospital continue to comply with treatment.
The Department also announced that it was undertaking a review of its wider Care Programme Approach, which will look at how community care can better target patients with the highest needs, such as parents with a severe mental illness or those who have a drug problem.
Also published by the DH was an independent review of homicides committed by people with severe mental illness, carried out by Professor Tony Maden of Imperial College London, which examines what went wrong in each individual case and makes recommendations to prevent further tragedies.
Press release ~ Review of Homicides by Patients with Severe Mental Illness ~ Risk Management Programme ~ Mental Health Bill ~ DH – Mental Health website ~ Care Programme Approach ~ Care Services Improvement Partnership (CSIP)
DH: Good Policy but will the health professionals be available to implement it? - Health Minster Rosie Winterton has launched a scheme to encourage families with young children in disadvantaged areas to get into the habit of brushing their children's teeth regularly with fluoride toothpaste.
The Brushing for Life initiative will see health visitors (and other health care professionals with appropriate training) distribute free 'Brushing for Life' packs containing a Colgate toothpaste, toothbrush and a leaflet on oral hygiene to families with young children when they are visiting their local health centre.
Colgate is planning to invite Primary Care Trust's to attend two conferences at venues in Bolton and in London in November of this year, with the principal aim being to discuss implementation of the DH’s oral health plan 'Choosing better Oral Health'. Colgate will also be supplying the toothpaste and toothbrush products for the 'Brushing for Life' kits for the next 3 years.
Press release ~ Choosing Better Oral Health ~ Brushing for Life packs (scroll down) ~ Colgate Professional ~ BASCD ~ DH Dental Services website ~ British Dental Health Foundation ~ Dental Health services Research Unit ~ Oral Health Specialist Library ~ Children’s Dental Health ~ British Dental Association ~ Amicus ‘Who Cares?’ campaign ~ Contact for Colgate conferences contact:: Roxy Kalha / Emily Field, Shine Communications on roxy.kalha@shinecom.com / Emily.field@shinecom.com 0207 553 3333
Ofsted: Ofsted makes a difference in childcare - Ten thousand previously inadequate childcare places for children are now satisfactory or better as a result of Ofsted inspection and intervention, according to a new report - Making a difference: how Ofsted inspections improved inadequate care for children - published by the Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted).
The report reveals that the large majority of providers, judged to be inadequate between April 2005 and June 2006, had improved by the time of their re-inspections.
Over those 15 months, 1,100 of the 32,000 providers inspected by Ofsted were judged to be inadequate (3%), but by the end of June 2006, they had re-inspected 490 previously inadequate providers. The large majority (87%) had successfully carried out the actions set by Ofsted and this time they were judged to be ‘satisfactory or better’.
The remaining 13% (61) of providers re-inspected by June 2006 remained inadequate and Ofsted took immediate action to secure improvement, while 180 inadequate providers resigned their registration ahead of re-inspection and Ofsted also cancelled the registration of 11 inadequate providers.
Press release ~ Making a difference: how Ofsted inspections improved inadequate care for children ~ What to Expect from the Regulation of Childcare Services: Parents' guide leaflet ~ What to Expect from the Regulation of Childcare Services: Providers' guide leaflet ~ How Ofsted regulates childcare ~ Childcare Approval Scheme ~ Childcare Act ~ Ofsted Childcare Register consultation ~ Early Years Foundation Stage ~ Surestart
Defra - An end to croquet on the lawn? The quintessential English garden and lawn is under threat with the struggles faced by gardeners over the ongoing 18-month drought and July's heatwave expected to become commonplace in the future, warned.
Speaking at the Royal Botanic Gardens,
The time lag between when carbon is released into the atmosphere and when the effects are felt is around 30-40 years, meaning that we are already locked into a certain amount of climate change.
Detailed research points to some very profound changes in the way our plant life, both in the natural environment and in gardens, is already changing. Findings include the growing season for a plant is a month longer than it was 100 years ago and there are changes in dates of leaf emergence, flowering and appearance of many species of butterflies in spring.
Mr Pearson said preparing for such changes now would make it easier for gardeners to cope in tomorrow's hotter, drier conditions and is supporting the recent Waterwise campaign that recommends the use of watering cans or using drip irrigation systems.
Press release ~ Gardening in the Global Greenhouse ~ RHS: Climate change ~ bbc.co.uk: Gardening and climate change ~ Plant Talk (contains useful links) ~ UK Climate Impacts Programme ~ Defra - Environmental Protection - Climate Change ~ Defra: Adapting to climate change - Adaptation Policy Framework ~ Waterwise
Forthcoming Event: Are you getting your share? – Did you know that ‘90 million hours of formal voluntary work takes place each week’ and that ‘the economic value of formal volunteering has been estimated at over £40 billion per year’?
Well if you don’t think that you are tapping in to your fair share of assistance from voluntary workers perhaps you should attend some regional seminars being run by Homeless Link.
These events, which are supported by Volunteering England, OSW and do-it.org, will be practical in nature and will help organisations:
· that currently don’t involve volunteers, to identify potential volunteering opportunities and what policies & procedures need to be put in place
· already involving volunteers to look at new ways of involving, developing and retaining them
· wanting to explore the potential of encouraging former service users to volunteer
Full details ~ Homeless Link ~ Volunteering England ~ Off the Street and into work (OSW) ~ do-it.org ~ Office of the Third Sector ~ See also Cabinet Office item in Charity and Voluntary Sector in this week’s website version of the newsletter.
For information on other forthcoming public sector events please click HERE to visit the WGPlus Events Calendar
For Industry News please click HERE
Acas: Acas
Chair Rita Donaghy has recently warned that time is running out for
organisations to get to grips with the new age discrimination rules
and what they will mean in practice.
Acas held a fringe meeting at the TUC conference where key speakers from
the employment world debated the issues surrounding the new rules that come
into effect on
Press release ~
Acas
- Age discrimination
~ Q&A ~ Summary ~ Age
Positive ~ Employers
Forum on Age ~ Age Partnership Group
Dstl - Scientists at the Defence Science and Technology
Laboratory (Dstl) are looking into alternative techniques to
administer antibodies against plague, and have potentially identified a simple
spray
delivery system which could replace the more conventional means of
treatment by injection.
The new method of treatment, via inhalation of a spray, would make it
easier for anyone infected to rapidly and effectively treat
themselves.
Plague is an endemic disease found throughout the world, for which the
World Health Organisation reports about 1,000 to 3,000 naturally occurring cases
every year.
The research is currently in very early stages, but early indications
are promising, supporting the future development of a self-administrable
antibody-based treatment for plague.
Press release ~
Dstl ~
World
Health Organisation: Plague ~ Health Protection Agency: Plague ~
National Travel Health Network and Centre:
Plague ~ DH -
Plague
DCLG: An
extended package of freedoms & flexibilities has been developed by DCLG
following consultation with central and local government, which the government
claims reflects the new 'Harder Test' in the Comprehensive Performance
Assessment, an annual measurement of councils’ organisational capacity &
services.
In recognition of improved performance, local authorities will be able
to take advantage of:
·
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An extension of non DfES ring fencing
freedoms (excluding Supporting
People funding) to 4 and 3 star authorities
·
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The ability to spend Fixed Penalty Notice for
authorities with a 4,3 and 2 star
·
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The ability to trade, in effect setting
themselves up as companies - for councils with 4, 3, 2 and 1
stars
Press release ~
Responses to consultation ~
Related Research reports ~
DCLG – CPA ~ CPA – The Harder test ~
IDEA – Communicating the New CPA
Scottish Executive - The devolved government for
Subscribers can choose to receive audio podcasts of First
Minister's Questions in the Scottish Parliament at Holyrood every Thursday,
or video
podcasts of various Ministerial events as & when they
happen.
Press release ~
Scottish Executive podcasts: Sign up
now ~ 10
Downing Street podcasts ~ Wikipedia: Podcasting ~ Podcast
directory ~ Podcast software ~ bbc.co.uk: Podcasts
Defra: An
agreement to establish a UK-China
climate change working group has been signed by Environment Secretary David
Miliband and the Chinese Minister for National Development and Reform
Commission Ma Kai.
The working group is intended to help feed into & shape discussions
and activities under the Gleneagles Dialogue, the EU-China Partnership on
Climate Change and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate
Change.
Press release ~
UK-China Climate Working
Group ~ Sustainable Development Dialogues ~ Renewable Energy and Efficiency Partnership (REEEP) ~ Stern Review
into the international economics of climate change
~ United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change
HM Treasury:
Following public consultation earlier this year, the Government has
published the secondary legislation to bring home reversions and Ijara home
purchase plans into regulation.
The changes, which will take effect from
Press release ~
Regulatory Impact Assessment
~ Consultation ~ FSA: Regulation of Home Reversion and
Home Purchase Plans ~ Islamic Banking in the
UK ~ Regulatory impact assessment for Shari’a compliant financial
products
DH: The
Department of Health and Partnerships UK
(PUK) have announced that the Department is set to become the sole owner
(by December
2006) of Partnerships for
Health (PfH), the public private partnership set up to encourage investment
in GP premises and health centres.
The decision follows the ‘completion’ of the third wave of the
Government's £1 billion NHS Local
Improvement Finance Trust (LIFT) programme to improve primary &
community healthcare facilities and is claimed to be in line with PUK's
mission to pioneer new models and initiatives with public and private sector
bodies.
The seven schemes in the fourth wave of NHS LIFT will continue as
planned, with the department providing all investment and support to
PfH.
Press release ~
Partnerships UK (PUK) ~ Partnerships for Health
(PfH) ~ NHS Local Improvement Finance Trust
(LIFT) programme
OGC - OGCbuying.solutions, the trading arm of the Office of Government Commerce (OGC), has announced an improvements to the
terms of its 'Memorandum of Understanding' (MoU) with the software
giant Microsoft.
The discount is set to reduce license fees for public sector users by
over £1
million per year and comes as a result of the number of Microsoft
licenses issued across the public sector now exceeding 1.5
million.
The MoU between Microsoft and OGC provides discounts on desktop software
under
OGCbuying.solutions has a number of MoUs including the one with
Microsoft, which helped contribute to the £412 million savings delivered by the
organisation last year.
Press release ~
OGCbuying.solutions ~ Office of Government
Commerce (OGC) ~ Microsoft
UK ~ Catalist framework agreements and Managed Services
website ~ OGCbuying.solutions – Sustainable Solutions
OFT: The
OFT has announced the conclusion of its review of the UK school uniform market,
which sought to establish the degree to which schools restrict the supply of
uniforms by requiring them to be bought from designated retailers or from the
schools themselves, and whether this causes financial detriment to parents.
It found that 84% of schools that require students to have a uniform
impose restrictions on choice of supplier for at least one item of the
uniform. Compulsory items
purchased from designated retailers or schools were found to be on average 23%
more expensive than in uniform retailers generally and 150% more expensive than
in supermarkets.
Some schools claimed that these restrictive arrangements benefited
parents in terms of convenience and the quality of
uniforms.
Press release ~
Full report (VLF 2.5Mb) ~ Summary
version ~ Teachernet – school uniforms ~
Applying for help with cost ~
EOC – School uniform FAQs ~
Parents centre ~ QCA
Defra:
Forestry Minister, Barry Gardiner, has been in
Run by GLOBE International
and the Com+ Alliance of Communicators
for Sustainable Development, the Dialogue will draw together senior
legislators, responsible timber industry representatives, civil society
organisations, and opinion leaders from the G8, China, India and other key
timber producing and consuming countries.
The World Bank estimates the annual global market value of losses from
illegal logging at over US$10 billion, and annual loses in government revenues
of approximately US$5 billion.
Press release ~
G8 and illegal logging ~ Defra – illegal logging ~ G8
Illegal Logging Dialogue ~ GLOBE
International ~ <
FONT color=#800080 size=2>Com+ Alliance of Communicators for Sustainable
Development
DCLG - A major action plan to tackle
barriers to women's achievements in the workplace and transform the culture in
The Government's action plan responds to recommendations made by the
Women and Work Commission. The measures aim to improve
opportunities for women to get on at work and encourage a culture change within
those companies and organisations still failing to see the huge economic
potential of their female workforce.
Measures include:
·
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A major new 'Exemplar Employer
Initiative'.
·
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The roll-out of new 'Equality Reps'
across
·
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A new 'Equality
Check'.
·
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A national education standard in
schools.
·
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A new half a million pound fund to support
companies and organisations.
Setting the precedent, Minister for Women Ruth Kelly announced that all
jobs in her own department will now be advertised as available on a flexible or
part time basis.
Press
release ~ Government action plan - Implementing the Women and Work Commission
Recommendations ~ Women and Work Commission report -
Shaping a Fairer
Future ~ WEU - Women and Work Commission ~
Equal
Opportunities Commission ~ Women in
Business - UK Directory ~ Women doing Business (NI) ~ Women’s Business
development agency ~ Women into the network
Ofsted - The Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted) has published its Race Equality Scheme (RES), setting out
the methods it intends to use to help to eliminate discrimination, foster good
race relations and promote equality of opportunity both within the inspectorate
and in the institutions it inspects or regulates.
Ofsted is making arrangements to gather & use more up-to-date
information about race equality and educational outcomes for disadvantaged
groups through regional works and in the development of local intelligence,
working closely with local authorities, other inspectorates and agencies in
order to identify and promote good practice in regard to race
equality.
Overall 9% of staff at Ofsted are from minority ethnic groups which is
above
average for the civil service (8%). Key challenges for Ofsted include improving further the
proportion of Her Majesty’s Inspectors (HMI) and senior managers from minority
ethnic groups and addressing the small numbers of additional inspectors from
Black and Minority Ethnic groups (BME).
Press release ~
Ofsted Race Equality Scheme
(RES) ~ Ofsted ~ Commission for Racial
Equality (CRE) ~ Race Equality
Foundation ~ Home Office: Race relations ~
Dfes Standards Site: Race equality ~ Teachernet: Equality ~ Civil Service Racial
Equality Network (CSREN) ~ Civil Service Diversity
DTI:
Better protection for vulnerable workers and a fair deal for good
employers are claimed to be at the heart of two pilot projects recently
announced by Employment Relations Minister Jim
Fitzpatrick.
The pilots, which will launch early next year and will run for a
two-year period, have their origin in Success at Work published in March 2006, which committed Government
to piloting a new partnership approach to helping vulnerable
workers.
The Employment Law Simplification Review is intended to reduce the
compliance costs & complexity for business of employment law, without
diluting employee and trade union rights and protection.
Press release ~
Success at
Work ~ Initial Regulatory Impact Assessment ~ Employment
Status Review: Summary of Responses ~ How Have
Employees Fared? Recent UK Trends ~ The
Employment Law Simplification Review 2005 ~ Draft
Simplification Plan 2005 ~ DTI ~ Cabinet
Office's Better Regulation Executive
DfES: The
government claims that more than 22,000 individuals and 6,000 employers have
already been helped by its new £1 billion national training programme in the
build up to full national roll out of the scheme across England this
month.
They say that Train to Gain
will ‘help 50,000 employers and 350,000
employees every year get the skills they need to boost productivity &
competitiveness and improve life chances for low-skilled employees’.
The service, managed & delivered by the Learning and Skills Council, gives
employers access to a free Skills Broker service, offering
independent & practical advice to match training needs with training
providers.
DCA - The Government has published a consultation paper
seeking the views of interested parties on the Rules to apply to the operation of the
Gambling Appeals Tribunal.
The rules are primarily functional, setting out the procedures to be
followed, and will be administered by the Tribunals Service.
Responses should be sent by
Press release ~
Consultation paper ~ Gambling Act 2005 (Section 140 of the Act
establishes a Gambling Appeals Tribunal) ~ Tribunals
Service ~ Gamblers
Anonymous ~ Gaming Board for
Great Britain ~ GamCare
~ Society for the Study of Gambling ~ International Gaming Research Unit
DCA: The Lord Chancellor has published a
consultation paper (closes on
The consultation paper seeks views on:
·
The length of restriction
necessary on the provision of advocacy services by former
judges
·
Whether a quarantine period
is necessary
·
Whether there should be a
minimum period of judicial service before returning to
practice
·
How any agreed safeguards
should be publicised & enforced
Press release ~
Consultation documents ~ Chancellor speech to Woman Lawyers Forum, 5 March 2005 ~
Chancellor speech to the Commission for Judicial Appointments, 2
November 2005 ~ Judicial Appointments Commission ~ DCA judicial diversity ~ Judicial Diversity strategy ~ Step up to a Judicial Career booklet ~ Increasing Diversity in the Judiciary closed
consultation
The Government is consulting on its proposals across
Press release ~
Increasing the holiday entitlement- The initial consultation
2006 ~ Holiday Entitlements ~ DTI: Further consultation links ~ Success at Work ~ DTI Time Work Regulations ~
Contract of Employment info
ESRC: A
new, ‘joined up’ approach is required to tackle the on-going problem of
workplace ill-health in the UK, as occupational ill health and injury in the UK
have high financial and personal costs for employers and
employees.
A booklet ‘Health and Well-being of Working Age People’,
published jointly by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), the DH,
the DWP and the HSE:
·
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highlights some current evidence on health,
work and well-being
·
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identifies key areas for future research and
·
FONT>
explores potential interventions to improve
workplace health from the perspective of employers, employees & those
currently out of employment
Press release ~
Health and Well-being of Working Age People
~ ESRC Society Today ~ Is work good for your health & well-being? ~ Health, Work and
Well-being Strategy ~ Pathways to work ~ HSE - Managing sickness absence & return
to work
DH: A
recently published guide - Help is at
Hand - brings together information on practical & emotional issues, as
well as sources of support for people bereaved by suicide or other sudden,
traumatic death of a friend, relative or acquaintance.
It is designed both for people bereaved by suicide or other sudden,
traumatic death and for those professionals (e.g. in prisons, hospitals, the
police, funeral directors etc) who come into contact with people bereaved in
this way
The booklet, produced by the DH, was developed by the Centre for Suicide Research,
Press release ~ Help is at Hand Cruse
Bereavement Care ~ Samaritans ~ Bullying and Suicide ~ Centre for Suicide Research, Oxford ~
Compassionate Friends ~ National
Children's Bureau: Young People and Self-harm
(UK) ~ Coroners' Officers Society ~ Funeral Directors
Association ~ Depression
in children and young people: identification and management in primary,
community and secondary care ~
Young
Minds
~ Reaching Out report ~ Preventing suicide
Toolkit
DCA: A new
national police protocol has recently been announced, which will put into place
a system for police information to be shared with courts for use in family law
proceedings.
The new system is intended to cut delays in the process by disclosing more accurate
& timely information to the courts through the lawyers involved
in family cases, which should enable judges to make better informed judgments
on custody & access issues for parents and their children.
Many family cases have previously been delayed due to a lack of
clarity and shared understanding between the courts, lawyers working
in the family sector and the police.
Press release ~
Pilot Evaluation: Disclosure of Police Information in Family
Proceedings ~
Metropolitan Police Protocol ~
Explanatory Memorandum ~ DCA: Family links ~ Promoting inter-agency working in the family justice
system - consultation ~ The Family
Mediation Association ~ NATCEN (the National
Centre for Social Research)
DfES - The government
claims that the Organisation for
Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has confirmed that the
UK's education system is performing strongly and
has continued to improve in recent
years, with progress in tackling historically low post-16 staying-on rates – an
improvement of four places compared to last year.
The OECD's annual Education at
a Glance - OECD Indicators 2006 also
finds that the
·
continues high levels of
investment in education as a proportion of GDP
·
tops the 30 OECD nations in
'educational expectancy'
·
is in the top five OECD
nations for successful completion of degree courses
The government attributes much of the increase in post-16 stay-on rates
to the introduction of a strong education element in
Apprenticeships, and now has its
highest ever numbers of 16-18 year olds in education and training - over 1.5
million at end 2005.
Press release ~
OECD report: Education at a Glance 2006 - Briefing Note:
United Kingdom ~ Organisation for
Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) ~
Learning and Skills Council - Apprenticeships ~
National Foundation for Educational Research: Post-16
education ~ QCA:
post-16 guidance
CSPL: The
Committee on Standards in Public Life
has published its second
national survey, which expands on the first, published two years ago, to also
give a breakdown of public attitudes in
The findings confirm there are worryingly low levels of trust among the
public in our national politicians:
·
FONT>
again less than one in four of people trust
government ministers to tell the truth and
·
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only one in three people say they trust the
truthfulness of MPs in general, but as in 2004
·
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doctors, head teachers, judges and the police
are the most trusted
The public still expect high standards of conduct from our public
office-holders, but there remains a gap between the standards they desire and
what they believe is the reality.
Press release ~
Committee on Standards in Public Life ~ Survey of public attitudes towards conduct in public
life 2006 ~ First Survey
report
CIOB - The Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) has published a new report,
‘Inclusivity: The Changing Role of Women
in the Construction Workforce’, aimed at raising the debate about the
‘inclusivity’ of women in the industry and assesses the real barriers faced by
women today.
With almost 200,000 women making up just 10% of those employed
within the built environment, construction was an industrial sector highlighted
by the Equal Opportunities Commission as a no-go area for
women.
Press release ~
CIOB report - Inclusivity: The Changing Role of Women in the Construction
Workforce (VLF 4.9Mb) ~
Change the face of Construction ~ National
Association of Women in Construction ~ Promoting
Women in Construction The Centre for the Built Environment ~ Professional Women in Construction
DfES:
Children, Young People and Families Minister Beverley Hughes has urged
local authorities to ‘come up to the
standard of the best’, as she set out the Government's plans to bring
down teenage pregnancy rates.
The variation in success between statistically similar areas shows that
local delivery is important and Teenage
Pregnancy: Accelerating the Strategy to 2010 calls on areas that
haven't made progress to learn from those which have.
It also highlights that parents can have the biggest influence on a young
person's behaviour, so they must now be better engaged &
supported to talk about sex and relationships with their
children.
Press release ~ Teenage Pregnancy: Accelerating the Strategy to
2010 ~ Teenage Pregnancy Next Steps: Guidance for Local
Authorities and Primary Care Trusts ~ Sexuality Education: Our Current Status, and an Agenda for
2010 ~ Teenage
Pregnancy Unit ~
UR
Thinking About It?: Sex advice ~ Like It Is: Sex
advice ~ NHS Direct – Pregnancy and Childbirth ~
Sexual Health & Well-being links
Defra: The
latest Pesticide Residues
Committee's (PRC) quarterly report found that 61.7% of the 366 samples
of seven different foods tested had no detectable residues, and 36.4% contained
levels below the maximum residues level (MRL) - the legally permitted level.
Seven of the samples (1.9%) contained residues above the maximum
permitted levels however none of these residues were likely to cause concern
for people's health and all the milk samples contained no
residues.
Dr Ian Brown, chairman of the Committee, said:
"The results should reassure
consumers that the food they eat continues to be safe. It is important to stress that the
positive effects of eating fresh fruit and vegetables as part of a balanced
healthy diet far outweigh any concern about pesticide
residues."
Press release ~
Pesticide Residues Committee's (PRC) ~
Quarterly report ~
Pesticides Safety Directorate ~ The Blue Book ~
Countryside Agency: The UK’s approximate 6.2 million dogs and their 15 million
owners are the focus of a new report - ‘Understanding the Psychology of Walkers with Dogs: new approaches to
better management’ - launched by the Kennel Club, Hampshire County Council and the Countryside Agency,
which ‘identifies the psychological
factors affecting the behaviour and attitudes of dog walkers’.
Dr Victoria Edwards, from the Faculty of Environment
(
Data was analysed and a number of psychological principles were applied
in order to develop a number of management measures relevant to people walking
with dogs.
Having ‘talked the walk’, the
results will go towards making sure dogs and their owners are able to ‘walk the walk’ with
confidence.
Press release ~
‘Understanding the
Psychology of Walkers with Dogs: new approaches to better management’
FONT> (VLF 3Mb) ~ The
Countryside Agency – Access ~ Defra - Dogs ~ Kennel
Club
Healthcare Commission: The Healthcare
Commission has publishing performance results for all 303 primary care
trusts in
The Commission praises NHS trusts in the most deprived areas of
The review showed that PCTs are getting the basics right, with no trusts
scoring the lowest rating of “weak”, a third (33%) of trusts scoring the
highest rating of “excellent”, and 56% scoring “good”, while 11% were
“fair”.
Press release ~
Improvement review into tobacco control ~
Healthcare Commission: The annual
health check ~ SCOTH ~ NHS –
Giving up Smoking
DfT - A new law has come into force this week (Monday 18
September) requiring drivers to ensure that all children under 135cms
(4' 5") or age 12, whichever they reach first, use an
appropriate car restraint when travelling in their vehicle. The changes that are expected to save
up to 2,000 child casualties per
year.
Halfords, Mothercare and Toys R Us, and other stores have been
supporting the DfT's THINK! road safety campaign and the change in the law
by providing special offers on car seats and booster seats
from July to September 2006.
Parents unsure whether their children must use a child restraint should
consider the following:
·
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Check the height of your
child.
·
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Before you buy or use any child restraint,
check the label to make sure it is suitable for the child's
weight.
·
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Check that any restraint is securely
fitted.
·
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Get expert advice.
Penalties for offenders will be a £30 fixed penalty notice or a maximum fine of £500 if a case goes to
court.
Press release ~
THINK! Road safety website ~ Halfords advice centre -
understanding the law ~ Mothercare - car seats legislation ~ Toys R Us - car seats
new law ~ Child Car
Seats ~ the AA: Child Safety ~ Child Safety ~ Child Accident
Prevention Trust (CAPT) ~ DfT FAQ
DTI:
Consumer Minister Ian McCartney has recently moved to ban imports of
dangerous novelty lighters in order to prevent young children from playing with
cigarette lighters, which are the ignition source for one in five of the child
deaths from house fires in the
Fire experts have warned that not only are most disposable lighters not
child resistant, but novelty lighters such as those in the shape of teddy
bears, animals or cartoon characters are especially dangerous to young children
because of their appealing design.
The import ban will take place from March 2007 followed by a full ban on
sales in March 2008.
The current Commission Decision requires the placing on the market of
'non-compliant' lighters to be prevented from
Press release ~
EU - Safety Risks posed by
Lighters ~
Child Accident Prevention Trust ~
Decision requiring
Member States to take measures to ensure that only lighters which are child
resistant (2006) ~
Child-resistant lighters: Commission gets go
ahead to adopt new decision
~
European Child Safety Alliance ~ Victim's mother backs RoSPA plea to EU on
"killer" lighters (6 February 2006)
Cabinet Office - The government has pledged £1.1
million of funding to Office of the
Third Sector's flagship GoldStar
programme, which provides funding for third sector organisations to spread
good practice around recruiting, managing and retaining volunteers and mentors
from social groupings such as people with disabilities or long-term illnesses,
black and minority ethnic groups and those at risk of social
exclusion.
Speaking at the GoldStar national conference, Ed Miliband
said:
“Voluntary organisations have
the ideas and skills to help overcome social exclusion and can enable people
who might otherwise have felt on the margins to use their experiences to
empower others.”
A third of the grant will be spent on sharing experiences with other
voluntary organisations with the remaining two-thirds to be spent on the
projects themselves.
Press release ~
GoldStar programme ~ Office of the Third Sector ~ Institute for Volunteering Research ~ Community Service
Volunteers (CSV) ~ Volunteer Scotland ~ Volunteering
England ~ Voluntary work in Wales ~ do-it.org.uk:
volunteering opportunities
FSA: The
Tripartite annual market wide business continuity exercise for 2006 will assess
how the Authorities and the financial services sector are prepared to manage a
flu pandemic. Over 60
organisations from the sector have been invited to participate in the exercise
which will run from 13 October to 24 November.
The overall objective for the Authorities is to improve its own and the
sector's preparedness by providing an opportunity to review, test &
update plans for managing a pandemic threat.
The exercise will require participants to review the continuity of their
own business operations as a result of substantially reduced staffing levels.
Participants will also have to
think about the impact on them of disruption to key dependencies such as
transport, power, telecoms etc.
Press release ~
FSA financial stability ~
UK Financial
Sector Continuity ~ London Prepared - London Resilience
~ Information needed on firms in a financial crisis: ‘Factbooks’
FONT> ~ Tripartite
Authorities ~ KPMG ~ Crisis Solutions
Limited – Exercise Blue Sand ~ London
Emergency.nhs.uk website ~ DH Pandemic Flu website ~
Preparing for Emergencies
FSA:
The FSA has published its response to the Government's White Paper
on pension reform.
Press release ~
Response ~ White
paper on Pension reform ~ Pension Commission portal page ~
FSA Pensions
Calculator
HMRC: VAT
Business Brief 14/06
Contents
·
FONT>
VAT: proposed reverse charge accounting for
businesses trading in mobile telephones, computer chips and certain other
goods: update on timetable and dialogue with business
·
FONT>
Business Briefs are changing, so tell us what
you need in future
Press release ~
Business Briefs
2006 (it sometimes takes time to appear
here)
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