WIREDGOV NEWSLETTER ARCHIVE

Most jobs DON’T & WON’T require a Degree, but they will be ‘backed’ by qualifications

To mark VQ Day 2014, a new report from the Institute of Public Policy Research has investigated the changing landscape of the workforce.  It says that - by 2022 - 9 out of 10 most in-demand occupations of the future will be attained by completing vocational qualifications.  It has been estimated that 3.6m vacancies will become available over the next decade and many of the jobs expected to drive economic growth & mobility will be accessible with a vocational qualification. 

The most in-demand occupations will all be in health & care as a result of our ageing population with the report revealing that an additional 3m more health & care workers are going to be needed to look after people in hospitals, care homes & the community.  And nearly a quarter of a million jobs for ‘associate professionals’ people with level 4 qualifications such as Foundation Degrees and Higher Apprenticeships.

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Accreditation: Delivering Confidence in the provision of energy

Download the brochure now....

Yesterday (9th June 2014) marked World Accreditation Day, an initiative to promote the benefits of standards and accreditation to policy makers and regulators around the world.  The focus this year is on the role accreditation plays in providing confidence in the provision of energy.

A brochure has been produced to show how standards and accreditation are being used to deliver policy objectives in both traditional and renewable sources of energy.

Download the brochure to find out how policy makers have been able to:

  • reduce costs by targeting inspections more reliably and effectively.
  • moderate the need for additional legislation, as well as reducing the risk of unintended consequences.
  • verify the accurate calculation of taxation revenue.
 
Basically its GBH with a knife

Home Secretary Theresa May has announced a new poster campaign which urges mothers & carers who suspect a girl in their community is at risk of FGM to call the NSPCC’s dedicated helpline for advice & support.  Over 20,000 girls under the age of 15 could be at high risk of FGM in England & Wales each year with nearly 66,000 women having experienced FGM.  FGM is illegal and it is child abuse.

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With more female than male university graduates one should see more equal representation in the boardroom

The Women’s Business Council (WBC) has published its ‘One Year On’ report, calling for a ‘fundamental change in mind-set from business leaders, to help remove the final barriers to women’s equality’.  The report concludes that male leaders are important, ‘as visible agents of change, to ensure women are not held back in reaching their full potential in the workplace’.

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We want to see ‘capacity’ turned into ‘reality’

The new inspections of children’s services have the capacity to drive forward positive improvement for children, young people & families, according to a report published last week.  Ofsted’s evaluation of the first 11 inspections - with independent analysis from Professor Eileen Munro - finds widespread endorsement of and support for the framework among the social care sector, which Professor Munro describes as a 'major achievement'.

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A helping hand & guidance through the legal minefield

Children’s charity Barnardo’s is to deliver trials of new child advocates for victims of child trafficking.  Under the Home Office funded scheme, child victims will be allocated a specialist advocate trained in the unique needs facing these children.  The advocates will provide each child with a single point of contact to guide them through children’s services and the criminal justice & immigration systems.

In a separate press release; people caught with documents that contain practical advice on how to commit sexual offences against children will face tough sentences.  So-called ‘paedophile manuals’ will be outlawed by the creation of a new criminal offence with a maximum penalty of 3 years in prison.

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More contributions to the Referendum debate

More news, opinions, documents, claims & counter-claims;

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EVERYONE is at risk to some degree, not just Businesses

The NCA is urging members of the public to protect themselves against powerful malicious software (malware), which may be costing UK computer users £ms.  Action taken by the NCA to combat the threat will give the UK public a unique opportunity to rid & safeguard themselves from 2 distinct but associated forms of malware known as GOZeuS and CryptoLocker.

 Members of the public can protect themselves by making sure security software is installed & updated, by running scans and checking that computer operating systems & applications are up to date.   Get Safe Online is providing advice, guidance & tools on its website at www.getsafeonline.org/nca to help internet users understand more about the malicious software and how to protect themselves and their computers from attacks.  A number of cyber security companies have supplied remediation tools, which can be accessed via Get Safe Online, to help clean up infected machines.

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Datasets too big to be ‘earthbound’

STFC and NERC recently celebrated the completion of a major upgrade to the JASMIN data analysis infrastructure that plays a key role in the assessment & evaluation of huge sets of environmental data produced by the UK scientific community.

Many datasets, particularly model data, are too big to be easily shipped around.  JASMIN enables scientists to bring their processing to the data.  With JASMIN, the UK will be well placed to exploit the wealth of earth observation data coming from the European Space Agency and elsewhere over the next decade.

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Renew it or risk losing it

HMRC is sending out 5.8m tax credits renewals packs which will arrive by 30 June 2014.  Over 3m of these claims need to be renewed before the deadline for claimants to continue receiving tax credits.  Last year some 650,000 claimants had their money stopped because they did not renew by the 31 July deadline.

Claimants must tell HMRC about any changes to their circumstances that they haven’t already reported, including changes to working hours, childcare costs & income, or if a partner has moved in.  This year, as well as being able to renew by post and by phone, claimants with no changes to report are also able to renew online, via GOV.UK.

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Could you ‘sacrifice’ a bit of time to keep the memory of their sacrifices ‘alive’ for future generations?

Following the online release of almost 10,000 unit war diaries earlier this year, The National Archives are now conserving, sorting, digitising & itemising thousands more diaries from the WO 95 series as part of our First World War 100programme - and they need your help.

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And they usually arrive just when one is in the middle of doing something!

The ICO is asking for consumers’ help after a spike in nuisance calls selling boilers, insulation and solar panels.  The automated calls appear to be coming from 0161 or 0191 numbers, but initial investigations suggest the caller is using a false number.  The number may also show up as being international on some phones.  Anyone receiving a call is asked to report it to the ICO.  Text messages promoting green energy initiatives and so-called ‘scrappage schemes’ were responsible for 42% of concerns raised with the ICO between January & March 2014.

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