General News
HMRC: People who have suffered bereavement and who need to contact HM Revenue and Customs will find improved & streamlined processes from June 2012. The department has created a dedicated telephone helpline & address box for people who need to contact HMRC about PAYE & Self Assessment matters relating to bereavement.
HMRC has also simplified its guidance & letters to customers and the main form that customers use to finalise the tax affairs of anyone who has died (the R27),has been redesigned to make it easier to complete.
TfL: Millions of Oyster card users are now able to check their accounts online. The new service is available for season ticket or Oyster pay as you go users, and allows them to look back over their journey history & fares paid. Passengers who register for the new system will now find it much easier to check that they have always touched in and out on their journeys.
UKOC: The Vassall Centre is based in Bristol and is a specialist disabilty UK online centre, providing free internet facilities and an internet based workclub for disabled people & carers.
NIA: A newly launched ‘open data’ project by the Northern Ireland Assembly allows data on the work of the Assembly and its Committees to be published in its raw form, increasing the ways in which the data can be used. The data can be copied, published & adapted, as well as collated with other statistics & information to create new products such as web & mobile phone applications.
TfL: Medically trained British Transport Police (BTP) officers are being deployed across the Tube network to help speed up the response when passengers are taken ill on the Underground. The BTP & TfL have worked in partnership to enable 20 BTP officers to receive advanced medical care training who will be patrolling key locations around the network as normal and will also have access to two fast response vehicles.
MoD: A new national Falklands memorial was unveiled at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire recently in the presence of hundreds of serving Armed Forces personnel & veterans. Initiated by the South Atlantic Medal Association 1982, the Falklands memorial has been built to honour the Task Force and remember the 255 UK servicemen and merchant seamen who gave their lives in the Falklands conflict and to inform visitors of this important event in history.
MoD: A new animated video has been released to raise awareness of the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme. It is specifically designed to engage young Armed Forces personnel, complementing the traditional methods of communication used such as PowerPoint presentations and booklets.
FSA: Spar is recalling all of its own-brand pudding rice. The product may be contaminated with rice weevils. If you’ve bought the product, do not eat it. The Food Standards Agency has issued a Product Withdrawal Information Notice.
Defra: The Rural Payments Agency’s (RPA) Independent Agricultural Appeals Panels will continue to operate after a review found they were a valued service for the farming industry.
ACE: Arts Council England has announced the 1,580 schools and other education settings across England that have been successful in achieving an Artsmark award. Artsmark is the national programme that enables schools, further education colleges & youth justice settings to evaluate, celebrate & strengthen a quality arts offer.
HPA: The Health Protection Agency’s specialist commissioned National Poisons Information Service is urging anyone planning on spending time outdoors this summer to take care, respect any wildlife they come across and to leave snakes alone.
When an adder bite does deliver venom it can cause local pain, tenderness, swelling and bruising which can spread. If a child is bitten, effects may be seen across the whole body. Anyone bitten by a snake should seek urgent medical attention.
VSO: Last week in the Houses of Parliament, the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association UK (CPA UK) and international development charity VSO signed a memorandum of understanding which will see the 2 organisations ‘explore opportunities for collaboration to improve governance in Commonwealth countries’.
BIS: Payday lenders have agreed to improve their codes of practice (by 25 July 2012) to increase transparency and better protect vulnerable borrowers. The agreement comes as the Government responds to the BIS Select Committee’s Report into Debt Management and sets out further actions on payday loans, consumer credit regulation and debt management.
TfL: River Bus services from Putney will more than double from October 2012, as Transport for London (TfL) appoints KPMG Thames Clippers to be the new operator of the Putney to Blackfriars route. Thames Clippers will provide a significantly enhanced River Bus service with two-thirds more services on weekdays on modern, fully accessible, high-speed catamarans.
As well as providing more services on the route, the Thames Clippers River Bus will call at more piers and provide easy interchange to River Bus services operating in the east to Woolwich Arsenal. TCRB will also bring Oyster to the route, as they accept pay as you go and offer a reduced fare to passengers with Travelcards.
