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General News
DH: Holiday bargain hunters travelling in Europe are being urged to check their European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) expiry date before they travel to avoid them having to pay out unnecessarily for medical costs that could be covered by a valid EHIC.
With more Brits cutting back on vital holiday preparations (such as taking out travel insurance) and 50% not knowing the EHIC has a shelf life, the DH is urging them to check their EHIC expiry date and take out adequate travel insurance to avoid putting their health at risk and getting into financial trouble when abroad. The EHIC can be renewed online or over the phone and will be delivered within 10 days; it can also be renewed up to six months in advance of expiry.
MoJ: Ms Sara Payne has agreed to take on the new post of Victims' Champion - a new independent public voice for victims of & witnesses to crime. She will work with existing victims' groups as well as with the Government's 60 neighbourhood Crime and Justice Coordinators, based around England & Wales.
Press release ~ Crime and Justice Coordinators ~ Multi Agency Protection Arrangement (MAPPA) ~ Victim Support
NA: Free talks at The National Archives during February offer a wealth of help & ideas to family historians, from DNA testing to tracing elusive ancestors. Other talks include:
* Locality, land and livelihood - medieval & early modern sources for local history
* Finding company records - accessing the various repositories & less obvious resources
* George Ives – a look at the diary of the early homosexual law reformer
Most talks & lectures will be made available as podcasts soon after they have taken place.
DfT: To make life easier for pregnant, elderly, or disabled passengers the Mayor and London Underground are launching two new Tube maps:
* A Tube Toilet map which stations have male, female and accessible toilets for wheelchair users, whether they are inside or outside the ticket gates, and whether they have baby changing facilities.
* A Step-free Tube Guide gives information about the step & gap between the train and platform at step-free stations and gives information about the stations where you can change between lines without encountering steps or escalators. This guide will also help passengers with heavy luggage or those with children’s buggies.
Press release ~ Independent Disability Advisory Group ~ Search for accessible routes ~ Accessibility guides
LSN: The Learning and Skills Network, on behalf of the Learning and Skills Improvement Service is offering all post-16 providers and networks the opportunity to request free in-house briefings to help people get started with the implementation of Progression Pathways within the Foundation Learning Tier (FLT).
Post-16 providers and provider groups or networks who are not currently delivering Progression Pathways can request a free in-house briefing session to help their organisations prepare for the implementation of Progression Pathways within the FLT.
Press release ~ LSN ~ Learning and Skills Improvement Service ~ Foundation Learning Tier (FLT) (scroll down)
LLUK: Lifelong Learning UK is about to commence the first annual collection of workforce data developed specifically for work based learning and adult & community learning providers. The need for a better understanding of the whole of the further education sector workforce was identified in ‘The Workforce Strategy for the Further Education Sector in England.
Press release ~ Workforce Data Collection ~ The Workforce Strategy for the Further Education Sector in England
DfT: Thousands of passengers will benefit from more convenient rail services thanks to a new 'greener' railway station designed to get drivers out of their cars and into trains. East Midlands Parkway station will be served by more than 100 trains a day travelling across the region with up to three or four services to London an hour.
The new £25.5m station, which has been built by Network Rail, will serve as a park & ride facility for commuters, relieving road congestion by reducing the number of car journeys into Nottingham city centre. Meanwhile travellers will benefit from a dedicated shuttle bus from East Midlands Parkway station to Nottingham East Midlands Airport with services running every 30 minutes between 7am and 11.30pm.
FDA: The FDA (First Division Association) has urged politicians in all political parties to consider seriously the National Association of Pension Funds’ report on the UK’s pension schemes. The report - Pension Provision and the Economic Crisis - reveals that 1,000 (52%) of open private-sector defined-benefit schemes are set to close to new members over the next five years.
Jonathan Baume, FDA General Secretary, said: “It is time for a new political consensus to halt the rapid deterioration in pension provision for millions of people working in the private sector. Too many people in work feel that they are being abandoned and fear that they will face poverty in retirement. Politicians must work together to find new ways to support employers to make decent pension provision a reality once more."
FDA: The FDA (First Division Association) has acknowledged the importance of financial literacy at senior levels in the civil service. Responding to proposals from the Conservative Party published last week, Jonathan Baume, FDA General Secretary, said:
“It is important that everyone at senior levels in the civil service is financially literate and understands the importance of sound financial management of government spending. This is especially critical given the scale of the economic crisis facing the UK and the long term implications for public spending……. It is however important to emphasise that such discipline should also apply to ministers. Cost overruns and perceived waste are not about individual decisions but usually a consequence of political imperatives”.
HEFCE: The Higher Education Funding Council for England HEFCE has launched the Economic Challenge Investment Fund (ECIF) to enable higher education to respond rapidly to the needs of employers & individuals during the economic downturn.
Universities and colleges in England are being invited to take part in a £50m scheme to help individuals & businesses through the recession. The ECIF will enable universities and colleges to provide tailored training, development and professional support to vulnerable groups.
ScotGov: A new online service providing practical advice to people worried about home heating bills has been launched to back up a helpline already provided by the Energy Retail Association. The new website is fund by Britain’s six major energy suppliers.
MoD: HMS Daring, the first of the new Royal Navy's Type 45 destroyers, entered Portsmouth & berthed for the first time in her home port, witnessed by hundreds of well-wishers. The occasion marks a major milestone in the programme's development. The six Type 45 destroyers, of which HMS Daring is the first of class, will form the backbone of the Royal Navy's Air Defence capability for the 21st Century.
HMS Daring is extremely versatile and able to undertake a broad range of missions from combat to humanitarian assistance. She can operate a number of helicopters, including the Chinook, providing greater operational flexibility than other ships of her size.
TfL: As part of the continuing drive to improve the safety of motorcyclists in the capital, Transport for London (TfL) has hosted a 2-day summit of experts from four other major European cities. The eSUM (European Safer Urban Motorcycling) Project brings together 4 major motorcycling cities; London, Paris, Barcelona and Rome.
The aim of the project is to identify the best ways of improving the safety of motorcyclists on city roads. Other partners in the project include universities in Athens & Florence, motorcycle manufacturers BMW & Piaggio and ACEM, the organisation that represents the motorcycle industry in Europe.
TfL is a major partner in the project, which is part of the European Commission’s drive to halve the number of fatalities on EU roads from 54,000 to 27,000 between 2001 and 2010. As part of the project TfL will contribute to a tool kit that brings together the best schemes to reduce motorcyclist casualties from cities in Europe and across the globe.
Press release ~ eSUM (European Safer Urban Motorcycling) Project ~ TfL - Motorcycle safety ~ 'Enhanced Rider Scheme' (ERS) ~ Driving Standards Agency (DSA) - Motorcyclists ~ Motorcycle Industry Association ~ Government Motorcycling Strategy ~ National Motorcycle Council ~ SHARP - the Safety Helmet Assessment and Rating Programme ~ Bikesafe - Motorcycle Rider Safety ~ Motorcycle Rider Training Association (MRTA) ~ ACEM
DSA: The Driving Standards Agency (DSA) is introducing a new 2-part motorcycle test:
* Module 1 will contain the specified manoeuvres element of the test including exercises designed to assess the rider's ability to control their machine safely, including avoidance and emergency stop exercises.
* Module 2 will include an eyesight test and at least 30 minutes of on road riding, assessing the rider's ability to safely interact with other road users.
Bookings will be taken from the 30 March 2009 at the latest, with the first tests taking place on 27 April 2009.
Press release ~ Driving Standards Agency (DSA) - Motorcyclists ~ SHARP - the Safety Helmet Assessment and Rating Programme ~ Bikesafe - Motorcycle Rider Safety ~ Motorcycle Rider Training Association (MRTA)
LDcic: The winners of the Land Data Local Land Charges Industry Awards, have been announced. The winners were honoured across 6 categories covering marketing innovation, customer satisfaction, best NLIS Local Land Charges Department, Local Land Charges Officer of the Year and a special tribute award.
Press release ~ Land Data Local Land Charges Industry Awards Land Data ~ NLIS ~ Severn Trent Searches ~ Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC) ~ Law Society ~ Local Land Charges Institute (LLCI) ~ IDOX Group
LDA: A year after the service was introduced, more than 16,000 London businesses have signed up to an ‘online dating agency’ for 2012 and local government contracts. CompeteFor, which now carries 1,700 contract opportunities, was designed by the LDA working closely with the London Business Network and London 2012.
It allows companies to register as potential suppliers online and then notifies them of contracts as they are put out to tender, allowing them to apply quickly & easily. More than 45% of contracts awarded so far have gone to London companies, with many more opportunities coming online now the service is established.
Press release ~ CompeteFor ~ London 2012 Business Network ~ London Development Agency (LDA) ~ Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) ~ London Organising Committee (LOCOG)
DCMS: Darwin's home & workplace, Darwin's Landscape Laboratory, has been chosen as the UK's 2009 nomination to become a World Heritage Site. 2009 is the bicentenary of Darwin's birth and the 150th anniversary of the publication of his seminal work - 'On the Origin of Species'.
The Laboratory, situated in the LB of Bromley, comprises Charles Darwin's house, experimental garden and the 7km of countryside immediately around his property. It was used for Darwin's important scientific investigations for 40 years after his round-the-world voyage on HMS Beagle in the 1830s. It was here that Darwin developed & demonstrated his theory of evolution by natural selection through the study of plants & animals in natural settings and under human management.
Press release ~ Darwin at Downe ~ Darwin200 ~ World Heritage List ~ UK Tentative List ~ Draft Heritage Protection Bill ~ Historic Scotland ~ Cadw ~ 'Identifying, protecting and promoting our world heritage' (consultation closes 25 February 2009)
OGC BS: Organisations throughout the public sector will have simpler access to a wider range of good value learning & development solutions through a new framework agreement launched by OGCbuying.solutions.
The Learning and Development and eLearning Solutions framework agreement, sponsored by Government Skills - the Sector Skills Council for central government - will deliver solutions for the public sector across 22 key competency areas ranging from communications, marketing & customer service to working with ministers, management, leadership and policy skills.
Press release ~ Learning and Development and eLearning Solutions framework agreement ~ Government Skills - the Sector Skills Council for central government
MoJ: The financial entitlement for someone whose spouse or civil partner has died without leaving a Will has been doubled, with the potential to reach £450,000. This comes in parallel with the biggest overhaul of the Coroners system in 100 years, as the Coroners and Justice Bill takes forward the Government's commitment to providing more & better support to the bereaved.
At present, a spouse or civil partner with children automatically gets £125,000 from the estate of someone who has died without leaving a will. Where someone leaves not only a spouse or civil partner but also parents or siblings, but no children, they get £200,000. From 1 February 2009 the amounts will increase to £250,000 and £450,000 respectively.
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