General News
PCS: A trade union recognition agreement between PCS and the Training and Development Agency for Schools was signed last week. PCS, whilst eager to begin negotiating with the TDA on the whole gamut of workforce matters, will be taking forward immediately members concerns over their planned relocation.
In line with the Lyons Review, the TDA is planning to relocate to central Manchester by April 2010 with a transitional move to another building in central Manchester taking place between April 2009 and March 2010. However, the union believes that the economic situation has changed so radically recently that the costs to the tax-payer of such a move require ‘serious scrutiny’.
DECC: The world's second largest offshore wind farm has been given the green light to be built off the coast of North Wales. Gwynt y Mor Offshore Wind Farm combined with three other nearby wind farms off the North Wales coast will provide enough clean, green electricity to power the equivalent of 680,000 homes.
The 750MW development by Npower Renewables Ltd has been approved by the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC). Comprising of up to 250 turbines, it will lie some eight miles off the coast, ten miles from Llandudno and eleven miles from the Wirral.
Press release ~ Gwynt y Mor Offshore Wind Farm ~ Npower Renewables Ltd - Map ~ Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) British Wind Energy Association ~ WAG – Climate Change ~ Renewable energy centre ~ Energy saving trust
MoD: Actor & presenter Ross Kemp has added his support to the charity uk4u Thanks! Christmas Box campaign. The charity is sending 24,500 boxes full of presents to all Armed Forces personnel serving abroad over Christmas.
Following on from the 1914 gesture from the 17 year-old Princess Mary, who had the idea of presenting a gift from the nation for everyone wearing the King's uniform and serving overseas on Christmas Day, forces charity uk4u Thanks! raises money & sponsorship throughout the year to provide these boxes as a way of saying thank you to our Armed Forces and to let them know that people are thinking of them over Christmas.
Press release ~ uk4u Thanks! Christmas Box campaign - 1914 Christmas Box (click on image to enlarge)
PCS: The PCS union has announced a breakthrough in its pay campaign by reaching a national agreement with the government over pay. Following intensive talks over the past 3 weeks, the union’s national executive committee endorsed the agreement, which means that money from ‘efficiency savings’ will now be released for pay bargaining in individual departments and related public bodies. The government has also said that there is no 2% cap on pay increases.
Whilst the threat of industrial action has been lifted the union’s pay campaign continues and negotiators will be testing the agreement in pay negotiations. There will also be further talks with the government on performance pay, pay progression, regional pay and reducing the number of bargaining areas.
ScotGov: Communities Minister Stewart Maxwell said 10 advisers will offer hands-on support as part of the £500,000 Energy Saving Scotland Home Help service. Advisers carry out home visits, surveys, assistance with planning applications and follow up support once the technology has been installed.
Press release ~ Strathclyde and Central Energy Saving Scotland advice centre ~ Energy Saving Scotland Home Help service ~ Energy Assistance Package ~ Energy Saving Trust in Scotland ~
Monitor: Monitor, the independent regulator of NHS foundation trusts has confirmed the following foundation trusts have been authorised since 1 December 2008, bringing the total to 112 NHS foundation trusts, of which 31 are mental health NHS foundation trusts:
* Warrington and Halton Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (formerly North Cheshire Hospitals NHS Trust)
* Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (formerly Swindon and Marlborough NHS Trust)
* Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh NHS Foundation Trust
CLG: New citizenship lessons challenging the notion that there is any conflict between being a good Muslim and a good citizen are starting to be taught in after school madrassahs or mosque supplementary schools, across the country, as part of government efforts to emphasise shared values.
Around 30 madrassahs in East & West London, Bristol, Bradford/Kirklees, Leicester and Oldham/Rochdale are piloting the new materials. Through class discussion, role play and written exercises, the children aged 7-14 are learning (through Islamic tradition) the importance of tolerance & respect, how to be better neighbours, the importance of volunteering and how to play an active part in their schools & communities.
DH: Leading children's illustrators and the children's laureate Michael Rosen have teamed up to provide a unique artistic contribution to mark the 60th anniversary of the NHS for children. To accompany, the anniversary poem especially written by Michael Rosen called ‘these are the hands’, Axel Scheffler (The Gruffalo), Helen Oxenbury, Tony Ross ( Litttle Princess), Ed Vere ( Mr Big) and Nick Sharatt (Jacqueline Wilson) have provided their own individual visual interpretation of the poem.
HO: A new £1m TV and online FRANK advertising campaign, which shows the dangers of cocaine use, has been unveiled by the Government. The campaign is centred on ‘Pablo the drug mule dog’, who died as he was being used to smuggle cocaine into the country. Waking from the dead, he goes on a mission to find out the truth about the risks & consequences of taking the drug.
The adverts are aimed at 15-18 year olds and signpost young people to the FRANK website.
Press release ~ Talk to Frank ~ Meet Pablo ~ Drugs: protecting families and communities ~ Other materials ~ Chemical reactions
STFC: New images, taken by instruments on board ESA’s Venus Express, provide a unique insight into the windy atmosphere of our neighbouring planet and reveal that global patterns at the Venus cloud tops are the result of variable temperatures and cloud heights.
Using the spacecraft’s ultraviolet and infrared cameras, the Venus Express team, including UK scientists, have been able to compare what the planet looks like at different wavelengths, allowing them to study the physical conditions & dynamics of the planet’s atmosphere.
Press release ~ ESA’s Venus Express ~ Venus in the ultraviolet ~ Venus in the ultraviolet and the infrared ~ Altimetry of the cloud tops ~ Venus’s southern hemisphere ~ Science and Technology Facilities Council ~ British National Space Centre
DH: Patients are being urged to put ‘people power’ into action by rating the service they receive in hospitals using a new tool on the NHS website, which allows patients to review the services they received in hospital and share their experiences with other patients, hopefully empowering patients to directly influence the quality of care they receive.
The five key areas patients are asked to comment on are:
* dignity & respect
* cleanliness
* whether doctors & nurses worked well together
* if patients felt they were involved in decisions around their care
* if they would recommend the hospital to friends & family
As part of the 11 MILLION Takeover Day initiative, 2 young people have been shadowing Care Services Minister Phil Hope. The day aims to get young people more actively involved with the organisations that shape their lives, including the NHS, and to encourage adults to value children more.
DH: The process to select the organisations that will be designated as Academic Health Science Centres (AHSC) has formally opened (closes 12 noon on Friday 16 January 2009). At the same time it has been confirmed that Sir Ian Kennedy has been formally appointed to chair the international panel which will make a recommendation to Secretary of State about which partnerships should be awarded AHSC status.
The NHS Next Stage Review announced the Government's commitment to fostering AHSCs in England. The designation process is intended to allow the Government to identify the University and NHS partnerships best able to realise the synergies between research, education and health services to deliver better patient care.
NE: Helen Phillips, Chief Executive of Natural England, has called on Parliament to seize the ‘once in a lifetime opportunity’ that is being provided to protect England’s marine environment with the Marine and Coastal Access Bill included the Queen’s Speech.
The Bill contains provisions to look after England’s marine environment by introducing a network of protected areas – Marine Conservation Zones (MCZs). In addition, the Bill also promises to transform access around England’s coastline, by empowering Natural England to secure a walking route around the whole coast – at least 30% of which is closed to the public at present.
Press release ~ Film clips of life in England's seas (VLF 7.4Mb) ~ Defra: Key areas covered by the Marine and Coastal Access Bill ~ Marine Protected Areas ~ NE - Coastal Access Scheme ~ Virtual tour of Lundy Marine Nature Reserve (MNR) ~ Bills in Queen’s speech
NE: Some of England’s most beautiful countryside will be more accessible for people with disabilities thanks to a new online facility which maps out the location and terrain of six of England's National Nature Reserves (NNRs).
Using photographs, maps and detailed descriptions, this new online service provides information that everyone will find useful. It will be especially helpful for people with disabilities and their carers, parents with pushchairs to better plan & prepare for a trip to a NNR.
Direct Enquiries Ltd’s assessors walked the six NNRs collating data and mapping each point of accessibility using GPS technology & cameras. The online guides are easy to navigate, offer points of interest and highlight where more information is available on site - such as including Braille signage and voice information boxes, which can be found along the route of the Stiperstones NNR. The guides include details of distances, steps, seating and any boardwalks along the routes.
Press release ~ Online facility ~ Direct Enquiries Ltd ~ UN International Day of Persons with Disabilities
DIUS: A possible UK-led Moon mission involving 'penetrator' darts that would impact into the Moon's surface will be the focus of a technical study to ascertain its feasibility, the British National Space Centre (BNSC) has announced. A tender process will run until March 2009 to award the study contract. The Phase A technical study is expected to take nine months.
Known as MoonLITE (Moon Lightweight Interior and Telecom Experiment), the unmanned mission aims to place a satellite in orbit around the Moon and deploy 4 penetrators to deliver scientific instruments below the surface of the Moon. MoonLITE could create the first network of geophysics instruments to probe the interior structure of the Moon and help answer questions about how it formed.
The satellite orbiter would then act as a telecommunications station between the surface network and the Earth, relaying information to the Earth during the penetrators' one year life on the strength & frequency of Moonquakes and the thickness of the crust and core. It might also determine whether organic material or water is present in the Polar Regions.
Press release ~ International Peer Review Report and Appendices A and B ~ STFC Project Research & Development (PRD) Scheme ~ Global Exploration Strategy ~ British National Space Centre
Defra: A contract that is designed to help Defra buildings achieve sustainability targets and provide workplace services management has been awarded to Interserve (Facilities Management) Ltd. The 15-year Sustainable Built Environmental & Workplace Support services contract has a core-services value of approximately £500m and a potential value for non-core services of £400m. It covers Defra estates throughout England & Wales.
Defra's existing facilities management contracts are due to expire at the end of March 2009 and Interserve will take over in April 2009. During the interim period Interserve will work closely with Defra's current teams to ensure a smooth transition.
NA: The National Archives offers unprecedented access to more than 60 years worth of Cabinet papers with the launch of a new website, revealing how British governments of the past made some of the seminal decisions of the 20th century. More than half a million pages of key government papers, taking readers from the First World War to the welfare state, are available to search and download for free.
The project, funded by the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) digitisation programme, opens up a vast amount of information to people around the world.
Press release ~ Cabinet Papers website ~ Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) digitisation programme
TfL: The Mayor is warning Londoners against the temptation of travelling in illegal cabs with the Christmas party season beginning & increasing numbers of revellers travelling home late at night. Transport for London and the Metropolitan Police Service are intensifying their efforts to crack down on the menace of taxi touting.
PCS: The PCS union have condemned last week’s announcement that HMRC are to go ahead with the closure of 93 offices across the UK and the loss of over 3,400 jobs by 2011. With the economic picture growing ever bleaker, the union warned that the closures would be bad for business, the public & the taxpayer and would lead to the loss of valuable skills and expertise.
The union expressed deep concern that the ability of the department to collect revenues and provide tax advice to the public & local businesses would be further undermined by the closures. Services are already suffering in HMRC with a drive to axe 25,000 jobs and close over 200 offices, leading to backlogs of post & reports that the department can only chase up those who owe £20,000 or more in tax due to a lack of resources.
FSCS: The Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) has contacted almost all 214,713 Icesave customers offering them compensation following the closure of the internet bank Icesave. FSCS sent letters last week to those individuals who are eligible to claim via the online system, but have not yet claimed. The letter informs claimants that they should claim online as soon as they are able following the instructions in the second email.
There were around 17,000 UK Icesave customers who were unable to claim compensation through the online process. Approximately 16,000 of those have been sent an application form and the remaining 1,000 will receive them shortly. FSCS has started processing those application forms that have been returned and aims to complete claims within six weeks of receipt.
The sending of some ISA certificates has been delayed after scheduled pre-print testing identified an issue in relation to certificate data. UK Icesave customers will be able to use the certificates to open new ISAs by 5 April 2009without losing their tax status.
