Guidance Notes and Best Practice Guides
Acas: With holiday entitlements increasing by 4 days from 1 October 2007, employment relations service Acas has launched a new guide offering free advice to help employers introduce the changes. The Acas guide Holidays and holiday pay is available free online to businesses & employees and it offers advice on:
* holiday rights for full & part-time workers and
* guidance on how to calculate holiday pay
Statutory holiday entitlement increases to 4.8 weeks (24 days if you work a five day week) and to 5.6 weeks (28 days if you work a five day week) from 1 April 2009. Employers will need to inform all employees in writing of the increased entitlement and ensure that all new written statements of employment feature the updated holiday & holiday pay entitlements
Press release ~ Acas guide Holidays and holiday pay ~ Increasing the holiday entitlement: a further consultation. Summary of responses and Government response to the consultation ~ DTI - Holiday entitlement
CLG: Housing and Planning Minister Yvette Cooper has called on developers to refocus their efforts to deliver the eco homes of the future as Communities and Local Government published revised guidance to help the construction industry respond to the challenge of meeting the zero carbon homes target.
The guidance, which responds to comments & feedback from industry, provides greater clarity in a number of areas including the future eligibility of different energy sources and the method for calculating anticipated water consumption.
Press release ~ Code for Sustainable Homes – Technical guide ~ Building a Greener Future: Towards Zero Carbon Development - Analysis Report of Consultation Responses ~ UK Green Building Council ~ Low Carbon Buildings Programme (LCBP) ~ Domestic Installation of Microgeneration Equipment: Final report from a Review of the Permitted Development Regulations ~ Code for Sustainable Homes ~ Micropower Council ~ Green Alliance ~ Energy Savings Trust ~ Centre for Sustainable Energy ~ Strategic Forum for Construction
DCSF: Schools should make every effort to limit the cost of school uniforms or risk enforcement action, according to new advice issued by the government.
The guidance, which was published following a 3-month consultation, urges all schools to have a school uniform, but warns that any set policy must be affordable, non-discriminatory and sensitive to the needs of pupils. In particular, the guidelines warn that schools that have exclusive contracts with suppliers may be subject to enforcement action under the terms of the Competition Act.
Overly expensive uniform policies may also fall foul of the School Admissions Code, which places a statutory duty on all governing bodies to ensure that their policies & practices do not disadvantage any children.
Press release ~ Teachernet – Affordable school uniforms ~ School Admissions Code ~ Uniforms - ParentsCentre ~ Directgov - School uniforms ~ OFT review
Monitor: In a unique link-up for the NHS, Cass Business School, London, is to deliver a new Strategic Finance Leadership Programme for NHS Finance Directors. The 2-week tailored executive education programme will run over the next two years and will draw on Cass’ significant expertise in finance & management, with support & input from a number of key stakeholders in the NHS.
The programme – which was initiated by Monitor, the Independent Regulator of NHS Foundation Trusts – is sponsored by the NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement and supported by the Department of Health. It will cover a range of subjects, including corporate governance, risk management, strategic planning and treasury management.
Press release ~ Strategic Financial Leadership Programme ~ Monitor ~ Cass Business School, London ~ NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement
DH: The Department of Health has announced the names of fourteen organisations appointed to offer support services to the NHS through a new agreement, known as the Framework for procuring External Support for Commissioners (FESC).
The framework is comprised of organisations, which have undergone a pre-qualification process, and will offer a menu of services such as data analysis and contract management expertise to Primary Care Trusts (PCTs). The organisations on the FESC will not deal with the delivery of direct patient care.
Although a number of PCTs already seek external support in undertaking their commissioning activities, it is expected that the framework will provide easy access to a bank of specialist expertise. The FESC suppliers have been appointed by the Department of Health on the basis of their technical and commercial ability to deliver a range of appropriate services.
