Policy Statements and Initiatives
DIUS: A future consultation to open up opportunities for towns and cities to bid for new university campuses and centres of higher education has been announced. The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) will lead the consultation into expanding the programme (no dates as yet).
Since 2003 17 new higher education centres have been opened or have had funding committed. The Government wants to accelerate the pace of development and expects to have 20 more opened or agreed over the next six years. Filled to capacity, the new 20 centres could provide study places for up to 10,000 students.
DH: Health and Care Minister Ivan Lewis has invited local authorities to bid for £80m of funding to build extra care housing that would allow older people and those with long-term conditions to live in a home of their own. People who are unable to continue to live in their own homes have traditionally had their choices limited to care homes creating a number of problems including couples finding they can no longer live together, a loss of autonomy and not having their own space.
Extra Care Housing offers a real solution to these problems as it gives people a home of their own where wide ranges of care and support services are provided on site. Tenants enjoy greater privacy & independence, couples can stay together and social & leisure opportunities can be enjoyed at the resident's convenience. In addition, homeowners may be able to keep some of the equity in their property.
Press release ~ DH: Extra Care Housing ~ DH: Extra Care Housing Fund: bidding guidance 2008-2010 ~ JRF: Promoting social well-being in extra care housing ~ Extra care housing
CLG: Speaking at a regeneration conference in central London, Hazel Blears unveiled plans for a new White Paper focused on empowering citizens. Her ‘radical plans’ are meant to ‘unlock talent in local communities and give people a real say on improving local services and promoting active citizenship’.
The White Paper, which is expected to be published in the summer, will be built around four key pillars:
* improving deprived areas through regeneration and promoting work and enterprise
* encouraging active citizenship and reviving civic society and local democracy
* improving local public services
* strengthening local accountability
A launch document Unlocking the Talent of our Communities outlines the opportunities for people to contribute their views on policy development either by email, letter or through an online discussion forum. There is no specific date by which comments should be sent in, but the on-line forum closes on 10 April 2008.
Press release ~ The White Paper Launch document Unlocking the Talent of our Communities ~ Unlocking the talent of our communities - an overview ~ People Participation
Home Office: The Home Secretary has announced that the identity card scheme will start with non-EEA foreign nationalsin November 2008; initially starting with categories most at risk of abuse, which include foreign nationals seeking to enter or remain in the UK as a student or on a marriage visa. Fingerprints will be collected before they are issued with a card, which will show the details of the holder's immigration status and entitlements - whether they are allowed to work or access benefits and how long they can stay in the UK.
From the second half of 20092009, the scheme will be extended to those working airside in the country's airports.
From 2010 young people will be able, on a voluntary basis, to get an identity card, which will assist them in proving their identity as they open their first bank account, take out a student loan or start employment. Later that year the scheme will be opened to voluntary applicants of any age. British citizens enrolled on the National Identity Register will be able to choose whether to have a passport or an ID card or both.
Press release ~ National Identity Scheme Delivery Plan 2008 ~ Introducing Compulsory Identity Cards for Foreign Nationals ~ Compulsory identity cards for foreign nationals - consultation on the code of practice about the sanctions for non-compliance with the biometric registration regulations ~ UK Borders Act 2007: Code of practice about the sanctions for non-compliance with the biometric registration regulations ~ National Identity Scheme Tracking Research - Wave 3: February 2008 ~ The Identity and Passport Service – Identity Cards
ScotGov: Finance Secretary John Swinney has welcomed the results of Procurement Scotland, which was officially launched last week. An online auction last December for IT hardware for public sector bodies saved over £1.2m, compared to an earlier auction at the start of 2007.
Procurement Scotland, initially set up and known as the National Centre of Procurement Expertise, is a core part of the Scottish Government and will implement national strategies for buying common goods & services used by the public sector, from electricity to office equipment, from paper to professional services.
WAG: A unique survey that asked thousands of people across Wales about their experiences of services like health, local government and education has found that between 70-90% of the Welsh public have positive views about the public services they use.
The results of the Living in Wales Survey – which is thought to be the first of its kind in the UK - were made public last week.
Press release ~ WAG: Citizen Survey (part of the Living in Wales survey) ~ WAG – Improving services ~ WAG - Living in Wales survey
ScotGov: Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning, Fiona Hyslop, has confirmed that the Schools of Ambition scheme is to be supported with £11.5m over the next three years. Under the programme, schools are supported through a three-year transformational programme, each receiving around £300,000 funding and additional support and challenge throughout.
The schools are a mix of already high performing schools wanting to reach even higher and those that need to improve after poor inspection reports. Participating schools are encouraged & supported to share emerging learning with their immediate colleagues and are committed to sharing with the wider community. A series of conferences, seminars and publications will be used to promote the lessons learned.
