WIREDGOV NEWSLETTER ARCHIVE
AUK: Little dignity or safety in old age for many - Age UK last week published a damning report, which shows the depth of the crisis in social care and its consequent human cost. The report - 'Care in Crisis: Causes and Solutions' - provides the evidence to prove that care & support for older people in England has reached breaking point.
800,000 people who currently need care receive no formal support from either the state or private sector agencies. That figure may well rise to 1m people within 4 years as a result of estimated cuts to already threadbare social care budgets.
The report also shows that by 2014, England will be spending £250m less on older people’s care than a decade previously (in real terms). Even before the cuts began spending was only £40m higher than in 2004.
Yet at the same time the number of people aged over 85 who most often need care has risen by 630,000. The number of people receiving local authority funded care at home has been slashed from 489,000 in 2004/05, to 299,000 in 2009/10.
Yet at the same time the number of people aged over 85 who most often need care has risen by 630,000. The number of people receiving local authority funded care at home has been slashed from 489,000 in 2004/05, to 299,000 in 2009/10.
Press release ~ Subsequent Press release ~ Care in Crisis report ~ Care in Crisis - key issues ~ AUK Care in Crisis campaign ~ The Dilnot Commission ~ CQC statement on Panorama’s investigation ~ Panorama: Care home 'abuse' caught on film ~ Cutting Supporting People programme would be ‘dangerous and counter-productive’, says Centre for Social Justice ~ Handypersons Evaluation: Interim key findings ~ Sharing the burden - how the older generation should suffer its share of the cuts ~ The Lottery of Dignified Care ~ Equality Act 2010: Ending age discrimination in services, public functions and associations - A consultation ~ Age Review in health and social care 2009 ~ Age equality resource pack ~ EHRC response ~ Dignity in Care Campaign ~ Comic Relief – UK Study of Abuse and Neglect ~ Protection of Vulnerable Adults (POVA) scheme in England and Wales for adult placement schemes, domiciliary care agencies and care homes: a practical guide (2009 edition) ~ Government to seek legislation to protect society’s most vulnerable people ~ Government to seek legislation to protect societys most vulnerable people ~ Government to seek legislation to protect societys most vulnerable people ~ Action on Elder Abuse ~ DH: No secrets: guidance on developing and implementing multi-agency policies and procedures to protect vulnerable adults from abuse ~ World Elder Abuse Awareness Day
Socitm: Still striving for a brave new world of e-government - Socitm has published the full version of Planting the Flag: the Strategy for ICT-enabled local public services reform following launch of the summary version at the Socitm Spring Conference on 11 May 2011.
Planting the Flag is a Local CIO Council initiative led by Socitm's Futures group. It sets out how technology can enable public service reform across the whole range of local services and deliver significant savings & better outcomes for people where they live & work.
The full version of Planting the Flag is for CIOs, Heads of ICT, ICT specialists and private sector ICT suppliers to local public services:
* Section one of the document sets out 3 core principles for reform of local public services - collaborate, redesign and innovate
* Section two sets out 6 strategic capabilities (leadership, governance, organisational change, strategic commissioning, shared services and professionalism)
* Section three, 6 key I&T issues that will determine success.
Publication of the full document marks the beginning of Planning the Route, the second phase in the development of the Strategy that will involve working with partners at the regional & sub-regional levels to develop more detailed plans to turn the vision into practical reality on the ground.
Press release ~ Planting the Flag: the Strategy for ICT-enabled local public services reform ~ Digital Agenda: more EU citizens benefiting from online public services ~ e-Society: the full report (ONS) ~ Social media: why ICT management should lead their organisations to embrace it
Newswire – Oxfam: If there isn’t enough food & water everything else is irrelevant - Oxfam has launched a global Grow campaign so everyone has enough to eat, warning that average prices of staple crops will more than double in 20 years if urgent action is not taken to change the international food system, which is already failing to feed nearly a billion people a day.
New research published in Oxfam’s report, ‘Growing a Better Future’, forecasts that average international prices of key staples, such as maize, will increase by between 120 - 180% by 2030, with up to half of this increase due to climate change. The world’s poorest people, who spend up to 80% of their income on food, will be hit hardest.
Every week in the Philippines, people pay more than four times the proportion of their income on food than we do in the UK. In India, people spend more than twice we do in the UK. As a proportion of their income, Indian people pay the equivalent of £10 for a litre of milk and £6 for a kilo of rice.
Press release ~ Growing a Better Future ~ Food 2030 & related documents (scroll down) ~ UK food security ~ BIS - GOS: Food ~ Sowing the seeds of scuba rice ~ Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) ~ BBSRC: Food Security ~ Climate Change & Food Security: Health Risks and Vulnerabilities of the Poor in Bangladesh ~ Livelihoods and Food Security Trust Fund ~ The Role of Relevant Basic Education in Achieving Food Security and Sustainable Rural Development ~ Assessing Water Risk: A Practical Approach for Financial Institutions ~ Bread and protests: the return of high food prices ~ Report: Common Agricultural Policy after 2013 ~ Parliament: Agriculture & food security ~ The World Food Programme and Global Food Security ~ Foresight: Gobal Food and Farming Futures ~ Foresight: Land Use Futures ~ UK Cross-Government Strategy for Food Research and Innovation ~ EFRA Committee report on securing food supplies up to 2050 ~ Ensuring UK food security in a changing world ~ United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation ~ FAO - Special programme for food security ~ Chatham House - UK Food Supply in the 21st Century: The New Dynamic ~ Eldis – Food Security ~ Oxfam: Rethinking Food Security in Humanitarian Response ~ Global Food Trends - Overview ~ FIVIMS - Food Insecurity and Vulnerability Information and Mapping ~ Christian Aid: Fighting food shortages – Hungry for Change ~ Action Aid: Failing the Rural Poor ~ Mapping and Analysis of the Resilience of the Food Supply Chain in Scotland ~ ScotGov: Food and Drink information ~ Food Security: The Role for the Scottish Government in Ensuring Continuity of Food Supply to And Within Scotland and Access to Affordable Food ~ One World – Food Security
Ofsted: Too busy speaking to listen - Last week the Children’s Rights Director, Dr Roger Morgan, published the Messages for Munro report which finds that children in care feel social workers must do more to listen and consider their views. It sets out the evidence collated from consultations with 179 children & young people in care and care leavers which fed into the Munro Review of Child Protection.
Only 50% of children in care who responded felt their social worker or caseworker took notice of their wishes & feelings. And 53% thought their wishes & feelings did not usually or never made a difference to the care decisions made about them.
Yet the law states that children should be able to voice their views when major decisions are made about their lives and have them properly taken into account. As one child explains; ‘I kind of wonder what happens when we tell them things’.
Yet the law states that children should be able to voice their views when major decisions are made about their lives and have them properly taken into account. As one child explains; ‘I kind of wonder what happens when we tell them things’.
The Office of the Children’s Rights Director is also publishing a Young People’s Guide to the Munro Review report.
Press release & links ~ Messages for Munro ~ Young People’s Guide to the Munro Review report ~ Children's Views Report on Family Justice
Forthcoming Event: The Future of Electronic Information and Records Management in the Public Sector - Workshops, Conference and FREE Exhibition 6th - 7th July 2011 - New technologies such as social networking and cloud computing are changing the way electronic content is created and managed and posing technical challenges for corporate information and records management. Cut backs in public sector budgets are causing information and records managers to rethink current practices and devise innovative solutions.
Cimtech’s 2011 conference run in partnership with the National Archives explores new approaches to information and records management, new standards and codes of practice, latest thinking on digital preservation and techniques for content classification and email management. We offer all-day workshops on SharePoint and Information Governance. We present several case studies from organisations implementing solutions and pushing the boundaries of IRM in the public sector.
With contributions from the TNA Chief Executive, Information Commissioner's Office and experts from central and local government, health and education, this year’s conference is a unique opportunity to update your knowledge and catch up with colleagues in the IRM field.
Click here for full details, conference programme and online booking form.
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