Policy Statements and Initiatives
Defra: Wood suppliers will soon become responsible for ensuring that they are not selling illegally harvested timber Environment Minister Richard Benyon announced recently. The new rules will enable inspectors from the National Measurement Office, to seize illegally harvested timber and impose penalties of up to 2 years’ imprisonment for those who try to flout the law. The new laws will take effect on the 3 March 2013.
ScotGov: New farmers, who are ineligible for vital European funding, are set to benefit from cash support from the Scottish Government. Rural Affairs Secretary Richard Lochhead has pledged £2m of support for new entrants who are currently excluded from receiving single farm payments. The new entrants who will begin their farming careers from April 2013 on 3 farms located in Aberdeenshire & Dumfriesshire.
NIA: The Assembly Committee for Agriculture & Rural Development last week launched an investigation into Tree Disease. The investigation will examine a number of issues such as:
* DARD's roles & responsibilities for monitoring & preventing tree disease
* plans for tackling plant & tree disease outbreak in Northern Ireland
* biosecurity at ports & airports
HO: The Independent Police Complaints Commission is to be expanded to deal with all serious complaints against the police, the Home Secretary announced last week. The move was revealed as part of series of measures designed to ensure the highest standards of integrity in policing.
Other measures also announced include:
* the College of Policing will publish national registers of chief officers' pay packages, gifts & hospitality, second jobs and their contact with the media
* the College will also publish a new code of ethics to be distributed to officers of all ranks
* a national register of officers struck off from the police will be managed & maintained by the College
* disciplinary hearings against officers who resign or retire will be pursued until their conclusion
* the College will establish a stronger & more consistent system of vetting for police officers
Press release & links ~ College of Policing ~ IPCC response to Home Secretary announcement regarding police integrity ~ IPCC statement on Home Affairs Select Committee report ~ 11th Report: Independent Police Complaints Commission ~ 11th Report: IPCC - Volume II
MO: A programme of world-class research on how to avoid dangerous climate change, led by the Met Office, was hailed as a success recently, as the project reaches completion. AVOID was established by the UK Government in 2009 to provide scientific advice on a series of key questions on the impacts of dangerous climate change and how they can be avoided.
Recently around 100 people gathered in London for the final conference to discuss the key findings of the project, the impact of those findings, and potential for future research. You can read more about the findings from AVOID and see material from the final symposium on the AVOID website.
MOJ: Young offenders should receive better education & training to turn their backs on crime Justice Secretary Chris Grayling announced last week with the publication of a Green Paper. The average cost of a youth custodial place is £100k p.a. (with some as much as £200k) while 73% of young offenders who leave custody re-offend within a year and have literacy levels similar to that expected of a 7 -11 year old.
The Green Paper looks at the Free Schools programme & Academies programmes - which have secured improvements in education standards well above the national average and turned around some of the worst-performing secondary schools in the country.
