Consultations
TfL: Plans for the UK's first urban cable car were unveiled last week, which could provide a much needed new river crossing between the Greenwich Peninsula and the Royal Docks, offering spectacular views along the Thames (consultation closes on 2 August 2010).
The proposals being developed by Transport for London (TfL) would provide a privately-funded, fully accessible cable car for pedestrians & cyclists. The cable car would cross the river at a height of over 50 metres, similar to that of the Dome offering spectacular aerial views of the Olympic Park.
It would take around 5 minutes to travel between the O2 and ExCeL cutting current travel times, providing a crossing every 30 seconds carrying up to 2,500 passengers per hour in each direction, equivalent to the capacity of 50 buses per hour.
It would take around 5 minutes to travel between the O2 and ExCeL cutting current travel times, providing a crossing every 30 seconds carrying up to 2,500 passengers per hour in each direction, equivalent to the capacity of 50 buses per hour.
DCMS: On 19 May 2010 the culture secretary, Jeremy Hunt, announced legislation that could see arts, heritage & sport each receiving an extra £50m million a year in Lottery funding. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport is currently consulting on this proposal (closes on 21 August 2010).
The consultation proposes re-balancing Lottery shares in two stages, returning 18% each to arts, heritage and sports by April 2011, and to 20% by April 2012. This would eventually reduce the share currently held by the Big Lottery Fund to 40%.
NICE: The first draft guidance from the new medical technologies programme at the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has been issued for consultation (closes on 2 August 2010). The responses received will be fully considered by MTAC and final guidance is expected to be published in October 2010.
NICE: The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has published its draft clinical guideline on diagnosing latent TB in children & adults for consultation (closes on 5 August 2010). A partial update of its 2006 guideline, the draft focuses on the diagnosis of latent TB using tuberculin skin tests (TST, also known as Mantoux & Heaf tests) and the newer interferon-gamma tests (IGT).
The draft addresses which diagnostic strategy is most accurate in diagnosing latent TB in adults and children who are recent arrivals from countries where TB is highly prevalent; in adults and children who have been in close contact with patients with active TB, and in adults and children who are immunocompromised.
NICE: In draft guidance issued for consultation (closes on 30 July 2010) by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), the drug bevacizumab (Avastin, Roche Products) is not recommended for use in combination with a taxane for patients whose breast cancer has spread to other parts of the body.
Press release ~
Defra: A consultation (closes on 16 September 2010) on how to implement the revised EU Waste Framework Directive in England & Wales has been launched. The Directive will ‘bring together new & existing measures to promote waste prevention, recycling and better use of resources, while protecting human health & the environment’.
