Policy Statements and Initiatives
DfE: Michael Gove, Secretary of State for Education, has written to the NSPCC, the Musicians Union, Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music and Youth Music in response to their advice to music teachers to avoid any physical contact with children.
DH: The support offered to individuals who contracted hepatitis C in England from NHS blood & blood products in the late1970s & 1980s is to be substantially increased following a 3-month review. There will now be a 3-month window for dependants to make claims on behalf of loved ones who have passed away. Anyone with hepatitis C who may be eligible under the new arrangements can find out more about what they need to do by contacting the Skipton Fund.
Press release ~ Review of the support available to individuals infected with Hepatitis C &/or HIV by NHS supplied blood transfusions or blood products & their dependants ~ Skipton Fund ~ NHS Choices: Hepatitis C
CLG: Communities Minister, Andrew Stunell, has set out how local people can bring back into use empty homes that attract anti-social behaviour and cause misery for neighbours. The Government is offering new incentives for councils to get empty homes lived in again, matching the council tax raised for every empty property brought back into use - which can be spent as they wish.
CLG: Communities Secretary, Eric Pickles, has brought an end to rules that ‘can mean people who leave their house empty for more than six months risk having it seized by their local authority’. In 2006, the previous Government introduced 'Empty Dwelling Management Orders'.
They allow councils to take over properties that have been empty for as little as 6 months. Councils have the right to seize furniture, fixtures and fittings, when the home is taken over, including where the home has been left empty for a period after the owner has died
They allow councils to take over properties that have been empty for as little as 6 months. Councils have the right to seize furniture, fixtures and fittings, when the home is taken over, including where the home has been left empty for a period after the owner has died
DH: Detailed plans to transform cancer care in England and save thousands of extra lives each year have been announced by Health Secretary, Andrew Lansley. Overall these plans will drive up England’s cancer survival rates so that by 2014/15 an extra 5,000 lives will be saved every year.
Improving Outcomes – A Strategy for Cancer, sets out how the Government, NHS and public can prevent cancer, improve the quality & efficiency of cancer services and move towards achieving outcomes which rival the best in Europe. The Strategy – backed with more than £750m over 4 years – sets out a range of actions to improve cancer outcomes.
Defra: UK Fisheries Minister, Richard Benyon, talks about the ways that Defra is working to end fish discards.
WAG: All Community Dental Services in Wales are now delivering the Designed to Smile (D2S) scheme, Health Minister Edwina Hart has announced. Over 30,000 children are now benefiting from the scheme, delivered through 500 schools, improving their oral health and preventing tooth decay.
In the scheme dental health support workers deliver a supervised tooth-brushing programme in schools and provide toothbrushes & toothpaste to school children along with oral health advice. Part of this service is delivered via mobile dental health units that provide specialist preventive care and treatment to schools.
Defra: Sharks, skates & rays under threat of extinction should be given bespoke protection to help them recover faster, according to a new Government conservation planlaunched last week, which outlines how Defra will continue to work nationally & internationally to allow threatened stocks to replenish and to ensure that healthier stocks are fished sustainably.
