WIREDGOV NEWSLETTER ARCHIVE
Welcome back from the summer break and we would like to remind all our readers that you can catch up on any ‘missed’ press releases by using our search facilities. Readers should also check the consultation section for un-advertised items published during August.
| Editor’s Commentary: The devil is in the detail with consultations |
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Professional cynics like myself always ponder on the real reason why public sector organisations continue to launch consultations during the holiday periods, when most people are too busy preparing for (or catching up after) vacations / looking after their ‘ I’m bored’ children, to check consultations out in detail & respond appropriately. This summer, I actually responded to one with the ‘informative’ title; HS2 Phase one Supplementary Environmental Statement and Additional Provision 2 (July 2015) Environmental Statement Consultation. To be fair they did send a letter round to local residents and held 2 local meetings (staffed by some very pleasant young people & a helpful press officer). BUT one had to know the right questions to ask and then check out what they claimed as ‘background facts’ in the ‘well-hidden’ consultation document. On page 99 onwards they claimed the proposed route of access for 300 extra 30-tonne lorries per day (a 300% increase) was through ‘well connected’ roads, despite the fact that the ‘rat run’ of large lorries through the village is already the number one topic at local elections. The route also includes a narrow road with multiple tight S-bends at one end (and poor provision of some narrow footpaths), which recently had its speed limit reduced to 40mph and a 7.5-tonne lorry limit imposed. None of this was highlighted in the letter or at the meetings! The proposed traffic increase was officially described as a ‘moderate adverse significant effect’ which we understand will go on for 3+ years. Further ‘googling’ has also shown that their projections have ‘conveniently’ left out the fact that planning consent has recently been granted for a Biomass plant to be located nearby, which will increase large lorry movements by an additional 100+ a day!!!!!! One suspects Sir Humphrey would have briefed his hapless Minister of Administrative Affairs along the following lines: Consultations are used to; *Announce what the government has decided it will do, whatever the public says *Allow them to claim that they did consider the impact of the plans, but that they would only have minor negative aspects (except for the local inhabitants) *Allow them to claim that very few people disagreed with the plans *Allow them to claim they did ask for / put forward other options, but none were better options *Allow them to claim that the ‘majority’ must have agreed to the proposals, due to lack of comments *Finally, to ‘spread the blame’ if it all goes wrong, by ‘assuming most people agreed it was the best solution’, as there were ‘relatively few objections’ So next time you skip over the Consultations section of WiredGov Plus, think again and also remember that most consultations are never publicised with a press release, so do not appear in either the email alerts or WiredGov Plus. Lastly, guess the closing date for ‘my’ consultation – 28 August 2015 – while most of us were still busy with holiday matters, getting children ready for school and young adults for tertiary education / obtaining a first job. |
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| Post-Shoreham |
| Clarification of responsibilities of flying display directors, airshow organizers, heads of establishment, aviation duty holders and accountable managers (military flying) has been published. |
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MoD: Publication of Regulatory Notice (RN) regarding display flying |
| Good headline, but poor analysis? |
| The Lancet has published comments regarding the recent Public Health England (PHE) “landmark review” of evidence about e-cigarettes. |
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E-cigarettes: Public Health England's evidence-based confusion E-cigarettes around 95% less harmful than tobacco estimates landmark review Nicotine “no more harmful to health than caffeine” |
| There are no absolute guarantees of privacy for online personal data |
| Blog posted by Simon Rice, Group Manager for Technology at the ICO: “They say ‘no publicity is bad publicity’, but after spending most of the week trending on Twitter, I wonder if the users of the Ashley Madison site might disagree. |
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ICO: Personal data in leaked datasets is still personal data ICO: Consumers concerned about how their personal details are shared, survey shows |
| Victims include male AND female |
| Local authorities working in partnership with service providers are now able to bid for a share of a £3m fund to support the victims of domestic abuse. In the July Budget a fund for 2015-2016 was announced to address any gaps in the provision of specialist accommodation-based support, and provide support for victims seeking to access these services. Successful applicants must demonstrate how they will support innovative & cost effective proposals to deliver accommodation based services for victims of abuse, and for services to help them access such support. The deadline for bids is 1 October 2015. |
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CLG: New £3.2m domestic abuse fund now open If it wasn’t for Grexit and Tunisia this would be front page news Time to ‘lift the rock & expose the problems’ There is no justification for either male or female domestic violence or abuse |
| Help when you really need it! |
| A new national information service for victims of crime will mean that all victims can go to one place for information & advice about what support is available to them, and how to access it. The new Victims’ Information Service (VIS) includes free online & telephone advice which will signpost victims to local services so that they can get the support they need. This could include emotional support, advocacy services and specialist advice for victims of sexual violence or domestic abuse. |
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| Training has to be paid for by employers |
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Large companies are set to be effected by new levy (the Apprenticeship Levy) which seeks to address skills shortages and meet Government's target for 3m new apprentices by 2020. A survey platform has been launched for responses, together with a consultation paper, which closes on 2 October 2015. It seeks views on:
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| techUK: UK Government announces formal consultation on proposed apprenticeship levy |
| Not Oyster card, but rather ‘Oyster Service’ (i.e. only if there is an ‘R’ in the day) |
| The government should use the Buses Bill to help pensioners in rural areas and others who rely on buses, according to a new report from the think tank IPPR. The report shows that in many towns & rural areas, bus services have been decimated through a vicious cycle of falling patronage, rising fares & cuts to the services funded by local government. It shows that for the second year running there are more passenger journeys in London than in the rest of England combined and argues that there are 4 areas of England that are learning the lessons from London’s success. |
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IPPR: Buses Bill should bring back bus regulation to help pensioners in rural areas |
| Disabled drivers suffering a ‘blue mood’ as a result of thefts |
| The Local Government Association said thefts in England soared by 167% in 2014! More than 2m disabled people use Blue Badges for free parking in pay & display bays and for up to 3 hours on yellow lines. Anyone fraudulently using a Blue Badge could con more than £6,000p.a. and, over the past 12 months, thieves have smashed their way into cars & broken into retirement homes to steal Blue Badges and cash in by selling them for thousands on the black market or using them to obtain free parking. |
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LGA - Blue badge thefts more than double Blue badge scheme info - Support for disabled drivers Blue badge abuse clampdown ahead of legislation change Don’t get caught out with Blue Badge scams Blue badge eligibility to be extended Dispelling myths on Blue Badge parking rules 1 in 10 admits to illegal parking in spaces reserved for disabled drivers New blue badge aims to protect against car park ‘space invaders' |
| There is a corner of a foreign field... |
| The MoD is trying to trace the relatives of an airman and a soldier, both killed in the Netherlands, so they can attend burial services. |
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MoD searches for relatives of two men killed in World War II The Soldier by Rupert Brooke ~ If I should die, think only this ... |
| 2-wheeled bargain |
| Transport for London (TfL) is encouraging Londoners to consider swapping their regular commute for a journey on 2-wheels and cycle to work on Thursday 3 September. To celebrate National Cycle to Work Day, TfL is giving Londoners who pledge via the Cycle to Work Day website - www.cycletoworkday.org - free access to Santander Cycles for 24 hours. As long as they pledge before midnight on 31 August and journeys are kept to under 30 minutes, there will be no charges at all. Additional charges will be incurred for cycle journeys over 30 minutes at standard rates. |
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| TfL encourages Londoners to take part in National Cycle to Work Day |
| Something is being done about it |
| Six people have been arrested in the UK as part of an operation targeting users of hacking group Lizard Squad’s Lizard Stresser tool, software that allowed users to pay to take websites offline for up to 8 hours at a time. The tool worked by using Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks, which flood web servers or websites with massive amounts of data, leaving them inaccessible to users. |
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NCA: Operation Vivarium targets users of Lizard Squad’s website attack tool Sept 1st – Lizard Squad hackers claim revenge attack on National Crime Agency site |
| Infant immunisation gets a boost |
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PHE hails the start of a new vaccination programme, which offers young children protection against meningococcal group B (MenB) disease. From 1 September 2015, the MenB vaccination will be added to the NHS Childhood Immunisation Programme in England. The vaccine will help protect children against this devastating disease which can cause meningitis (an infection of the protective membranes that surround the brain & spinal cord) and septicaemia (blood poisoning) which are serious & potentially fatal illnesses. |
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DH: National childhood immunisation programme boosted by MenB vaccine |
| Making procurement easier |
| ESPO is proud to announce the launch of its Frameworks Catalogue for 2015-16, containing over 100 framework agreements designed to help & support your procurement decisions. This has been designed for use by all public sector organisations, including those in the NHS, local authorities, central government, emergency services, housing associations, charities and education. |
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More news, opinions, documents, claims & counter-claims; |
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