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Policy Statements and Initiatives
ScotGov: The latest Scottish Government economic assessment demonstrates the UK Government was wrong to withdraw its stimulus package and ignore cross party pleas for accelerated expenditure, Finance Secretary John Swinney has claimed.
DH: Health Minister, Ann Keen, has claimed that the NHS is ‘on track’ to virtually eliminate mixed-sex accommodation from hospitals across England. The announcement follows the publication of a Taskforce report - Delivering same-sex accommodation – the story so far – which highlights that trust improvement schemes supported by the Department of Health’s £100m ‘Privacy and Dignity Fund’ will be completed by June 2010.
All trusts are expected to provide same-sex accommodation and, by 2010, any trust that fails will be subject to financial sanctions.
All trusts are expected to provide same-sex accommodation and, by 2010, any trust that fails will be subject to financial sanctions.
Press release ~ Delivering same-sex accommodation progress report: the story so far ~ DH – Same-sex accommodation (see links to left of page) ~ Privacy and Dignity - A report by the Chief Nursing Officer into mixed sex accommodation in hospitals ~ Patients Association ~
MoJ: Justice Minister, Maria Eagle, recently announced a commitment to reduce women's prison places by 400 before March 2012, so funding can be diverted for specialist services in the community. She claimed that the majority of women offenders have multiple & complex needs that commonly include mental health problems, drug & alcohol misuse, sexual & domestic abuse and concerns about their children's welfare and that these needs can be better met in the community to address their offending behaviour and divert them from crime.
In the last couple of years, since Baroness Corston's report was published on women in the criminal justice system, there has already been a reduction in the number of women in prison and an increase in the use of community orders for female offenders.
Press release ~ Government's strategy for diverting women away from crime ~
DCSF: Children’s Secretary Ed Balls has accepted all of Sir Roger Singleton’s recommendations to make sure that the Government’s Vetting and Barring scheme draws the line in the right place and protects children without getting involved in private arrangements between parents & friends. It is estimated that once these adjustments have been put in place, the number of people who will be required to register will fall from 11m to 9m.
In Sir Roger Singleton’s report, Drawing the Line, he recommends that private arrangements between parents & friends should continue to remain outside the scheme. But where an organisation makes the decisions on which adults should work with their children then the requirement to register will apply.
Press release ~ Drawing the line – A report on the Government’s Vetting and Barring Scheme ~ Written Ministerial Statement ~ Ed Balls to Sir Roger ~ Survey by the National Confederation of Parent Teacher Associations ~ Letter from Ed Balls to Barry Sheerman ~ Vetting and Barring Scheme Guidance
DfT: Within the next 5 years passengers on public transport in England's major urban areas will be able to travel without a paper ticket, Transport Secretary Andrew Adonis has claimed. England's 9 largest urban areas will receive £20m to bring smart & integrated ticketing to the greatest number of people most quickly, through the recently launched Smart and Integrated Ticketing Strategy.
The strategy also sets out the Government's goal for every area of England to have access to smart ticketing by 2020 and contains nearly 30 Government commitments to help make this happen. To incentivise bus operators to install smart ticketing systems, the Government has also announced an 8% increase in the Bus Service Operator Grant (BSOG) if they have ITSO smartcard infrastructure on their buses.
DCSF: On the second anniversary of the Children’s Plan, Children’s Secretary Ed Balls and Culture Secretary Ben Bradshaw announced that Sarah Thane (former chair of the Royal Television Society and former advisor to Ofcom) will review the 40 year old rules governing child performance.
The review comes after informal discussions with a wide range of interested parties, including children’s organisations, broadcasters, producers and local authorities, found that existing regulations are clearly outdated and that there is also a case for conducting a broader review of the overall framework.
Press release ~ Child Performance review ToR ~ The Impact of the Commercial World on Children's Wellbeing ~ Children’s Plan 2 Years On: A progress report ~ New Children’s Plan website
DfT: New proposals to allow councils to put in place 20 mph schemes over groups of streets without the need for traffic calming measures (such as speed humps) have been announced by Road Safety Minister Paul Clark. In the past, councils wanting to implement 20 mph schemes on groups of roads have had to do so in ‘zones’, which require traffic calming measures such as speed humps. 20 mph limits without traffic calming were only recommended on individual roads.
However, following a successful city-wide trial in Portsmouth which suggested it is possible to significantly reduce speeds on residential streets without speed humps or other traffic calming measures, the Department for Transport plans to allow 20mph limits to be used across more streets where traffic speeds are already low without the need for such measures.
The Government is also reiterating its call for councils to carry out speed limit reviews of their rural roads by 2011, focussing on National Speed Limit single carriageway ‘A’ and ‘B’ roads where 41% of fatalities occur.
Press release ~ Update of guidance on setting local speed limits ~ A Safer Way: Consultation (closed) on Making Britain's Roads the Safest in the World ~ Interim Evaluation of the Implementation of 20 mph speed limits in Portsmouth ~ BMJ: Effect of 20 mph traffic speed zones on road injuries in London, 1986-2006: controlled interrupted time series analysis
BIS: The Government response to the Risk and Regulation Advisory Council (RRAC) report: Response with Responsibility: Policy-making for public risk in the 21st century has been published by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. The Government accepted in part the RRAC’s 3 main recommendations and agreed to build on the RRAC’s work, aiming to embed its approach within the culture of policy making.
Press release ~ Response with Responsibility: Policy-making for public risk in the 21st century ~ Government response ~ Risk and Regulation Advisory Council (RRAC)
MoD: Defence Secretary Bob Ainsworth has announced the creation of a new military airworthiness authority to ensure aviation safety standards are of the highest order at all times. The Military Aviation Authority (MAA) has been created as part of the MOD's full response to the Nimrod Review by Charles Haddon-Cave QC, following the deaths of 14 service personnel onboard Nimrod XV230 on 2 September 2006. The MAA (which will be in place by 5 April 2010) will include an independent body to audit & scrutinize air safety activity.
Press release ~ Nimrod Review by Charles Haddon-Cave QC ~ Ainsworth apologises for loss of Nimrod XV230 ~ Board of Inquiry published into loss of Nimrod XV230
WAG: A new strategy to improve access to high quality services for patients with lymphoedema has been announced by Health Minister, Edwina Hart. Lymphoedema – the chronic swelling of the limbs – is a chronic debilitating condition and affects individuals physically, psychologically & socially. It is estimated that around 6,000 people in Wales have lymphoedema.
Currently there is a wide variation in the organisation & delivery of services across Wales, with many sufferers unable to access appropriate diagnosis & treatment and some only being able to access services as a result of having cancer. The new strategy calls for a collaborative approach, with Wales’ 7 Health Boards working together to ensure a consistent service is provided to patients.
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