General News

CBI: The UK economy will continue to grow throughout this year, with GDP growth expected to pick up in 2014, according to the CBI’s latest economic forecast.  But while recent economic data have been more promising, clear challenges remain both at home & abroad, the UK’s leading business group warned. The CBI is forecasting GDP growth of 1% in 2013 and 2% in 2014
Press release & links
 
ScotGov: A further 660 insulin pumps will be available for people with type 1 diabetes in Scotland as part of a £3m investment announced recently. The funding will be used to purchase the small medical devices that attach to a person’s body and administer the correct amount of insulin needed, removing the need for insulin injections and making the condition easier to manage. 

The moves come as ScotGov has reaffirmed its commitment to ensure that 25% of under-18s with type 1 diabetes have access to the pumps.
Press release & links
 
UKOC: Although it’s still a few months away, at UK online centres HQ, they are starting to make plans for Get online week 2013 (14 – 20 October 2013) - and they need your help!
 
This year, they want the theme of their campaign to mean as much to potential learners as possible - so they are asking you for your ideas. They are looking for a great tagline that tells everyone exactly how brilliant the internet can be and encourages them to get online this Get online week!
Press release & links
 
WAG: Natural Resources Minister, Alun Davies, has set out which communities across Wales will be protected by an additional £10m investment in flood & coastal defences
Press release & links
 
DfTA tunnel on the proposed route of Britain’s High Speed 2 rail network could be extended to enable plans for a major development next to East Midlands Airport to progress, it was announced last week.
Press release & links
 
TfL: Applications for the Apprentice Oyster photocard opened last week on the Transport for London website. The concession, available to all apprentices over 18, living in London and in the first year of an approved apprenticeship course, will allow apprentices to get 30% off adult rate Travelcards and Bus & Tram Passes.
 
The concession is expected to benefit around 40,000 apprentices per year and could save them up to £660 a year on the cost of an annual Travelcard.  It is part of the Mayor of London's on-going campaign to boost employment opportunities for young Londoners.
Press release & links
 
ScotGovNew Ambulance Technicians are set to start work across Scotland following a £6.8m investment. The increase of 150 staff is to allow a change in working hours that ensures ambulance workers get planned rest breaks in their shift, but are still able to attend emergency calls when required. All of the Scottish Ambulance Service 2,685 front line posts have now moved to the new system.
Press release & links
 
HEFCE: Some of England’s leading universities will benefit from a £50m investment in cutting-edge research & innovation projects to drive growth. 16 schemes at institutions across the country have been allocated a share of the money from Higher Education Funding Council England’s Catalyst Fund, to work with businesses & support the UK’s economic recovery.
Press release & links
 
NIA: The Assembly's Employment and Learning Committee has welcomed a move to officially integrate the Open University into Northern Ireland's higher education system. The move came as funding for the OU transferred from Westminster to the Department of Employment & Learning which already funds the other Northern Ireland based universities.  

Some 4,500 local students currently study over 5,000 modules using flexible distance learning techniques. The cost of completing an OU degree comes in at between £4,200 & £5,700.
Press release & links
 
HO: The Home Office’s first same day visa service has launched in Delhi & Mumbai. The super priority visa service, which was announced by the PM on his recent visit to India, has been designed with frequent & valued business travellers in mind.
Press release & links
 
DFID
The Smart Water Systems project has recently released a short video on a new electronic device which monitors usage of hand pumps throughout Kenya. Handpumps provide a vital source of safe drinking water for many rural communities across Africa, but the construction of the pump is only the first hurdle in providing fresh, clean water.
 
Maintenance is crucial and around one third can be out of action at any one time. Communities often have no means of contacting a skilled mechanic, but the device is able to monitor the amount of water being withdrawn and when a handpump stops transmitting evidence of usage the project workers in Nairobi can assume it is out of action and thus send out an engineer.
Press release & links
 
Unite: Health professionals, including health visitors, paramedics and school nurses, could be paying up to £1,200-a-year for their own public indemnity insurance, if they wish to work, under government proposals. Unite, the union, which represents 100,000 members in the health service, said that as women make up 70% of the NHS workforce, the proposals ‘smack of inequality’.
 
Unite said that “Our members increasingly tell us that employers are refusing to provide them with cover and are insisting that they take out their own at their own cost.  Consequently, our members are finding themselves in a position of not being fully covered. We do not agree that it should be the responsibility of healthcare professionals to have to demonstrate that they have an indemnity arrangement in place as part of their registration.”
Press release & links
 
ScotGovScotland’s international cricket team are urging more people from Scotland’s South Asian communities to join the NHS Organ Donor Register. Latest figures show that only just over 1% of Scots registered are from black, asian & minority ethnic backgrounds.  Yet those from these communities are 3 to 4 times more likely to need a kidney transplant due to being more prone to developing diabetes or high blood pressure.
 
As a result they are also likely to wait nearly twice as long as a white person for a kidney to become available as donated organs need to be carefully matched to ensure blood & tissue groups are compatible. The likelihood of a close match being found & the transplant being successful is increased if the patient is from the same ethnic group.
Press release & links
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