General News

HO: Nearly 1m passengers have used the latest face scanning technology at Britain's airports, the Home Secretary, Alan Johnson has claimed. The facial recognition gates offer legitimate passengers the choice between queuing at traditional, staffed passport controls and using the self-service gates.  
 
The gates take seconds to scan each passenger's face against the digital photo recorded in their passport.  If there is a match, the e-passport gates open, to allow the traveller across the border.  The gates are staffed by UK Border Agency officers who examine any passengers rejected by the gate, as well as making manual checks where appropriate.
Press release ~ How does e-Borders work?
 
ScotGov: Staging the RACMSA Rally of Scotland over the next 3 years will bring significant benefits & secure Scotland's place as a top motorsport destination, First Minister Alex Salmond claimed last week. The First Minister and Sir Jackie Stewart officially started the inaugural event, which is part of the Homecoming Programme, at Scone Palace.  
Press release ~ Rally of Scotland
 
EHEnglish Heritage (EH) is asking you to help them track down Charles Darwin's missing 'Galapagos' notebook which contains the scientist's on-the-spot observations and which would prove invaluable when he was later writing the groundbreaking On the Origin of Species, published 150 years ago this month.
 
The notebook went missing (it was possibly stolen) around the early 1980s from the home of Charles Darwin, Down House in Kent, before the house came under the care of English Heritage. The appeal comes as EH digitises & publishes online the remaining 14 Beagle notebooks, as well as highlights from a 1969 microfilm of the missing notebook.  
 
These are the small field notebooks which Darwin used to jot down his day-to-day thoughts while travelling around the world on board HMS Beagle (1831-1836).  From now on, you will be able to read the notebooks – all 116,000 words and 300 sketches & doodles.
Press release ~ English Heritage ~ Down House ~ Darwin's Landscape Laboratory ~ Darwin 200 ~ If you have any information concerning the notebook, please email darwinnotebook@english-heritage.org.uk
 
BIS: Following the announcement on 11 November 2009 in the White Paper, Skills for Growth, of a 5th competitive round of National Skills Academies, the Learning and Skills Council has now published the 2009 Prospectus.  The closing date for submissions of Expressions of Interest is on the 25 January 2010.
Press release ~ 2009 Prospectus ~ Skills for Growth ~ Learning and Skills Council
 
DH: More than 3.8m adults in England are misguidedly trying to burn off the booze with exercise, according to new research. A YouGov survey, on behalf of the Know Your Limits campaign shows that 19% of adults in England who exercise regularly & drink alcohol admit to taking exercise or playing sport in order to ‘make up’ for having drunk a lot of alcohol in the previous few days.
 
Worryingly, this is even more prevalent among heavy drinkers: the survey shows 20% of English adults are drinking more than double the NHS recommended limits and, of those who also exercise, 28% admit doing so to make up for their drinking. This compares to just 10% of people who exercise & drink at 'lower risk' - those who do not regularly drink more than 3-4 units a day for men, and 2-3 units a day for women.
 
Men who regularly drink more than 8 units a day (about 3 pints of lager) and women who regularly drink more than 6 units a day (about 2 large glasses of wine) are considered by the NHS to be at 'higher risk' of harming their health.  Both are more than 5 times more likelythan non-drinkers to suffer mouth cancer and more than 3 times more likely to have a stroke.
Press release ~ Know Your Limits campaign
 
Newswire – HCA: London boroughs could be given more influence over affordable housing investment in return for commitments on the delivery of affordable housing, the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, has announced.
 
A new pilot scheme - approved by the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) London Board (chaired by the Mayor) - has been set up to explore what immediate steps can be taken to give London’s councils greater control & flexibility over housing decisions.  The pilot will also explore a framework which could see boroughs agree to an indicative budget for housing investment from 2011, as part of the next public funding round.
 
Croydon, Westminster and Hackney councils have been invited to take part in the pilot, starting from April 2010, as they represent a wide selection of the housing challenges in the capital, from over-crowding to major estate regeneration, and have all developed robust & ambitious investment plans working with the HCA.  Every borough will potentially be offered the opportunity to negotiate a delegated contract for the 2011 investment round.
Press release ~ Mayor’s Draft London Housing Strategy ~ HCA Single Conversation
 
EHRC: The Equality and Human Rights Commission has announced the recipients of its Strategic Funding Programme, which will award nearly £10m to 61 community & voluntary sector organisations across England, Scotland & Wales. This is in addition to the £4.2m awarded earlier this month to 77 voluntary sector organisations, including law centres, advice bureaux, racial equality councils, disability advice specialists and human rights organisations, as part of Commission’s legal grants funding programme.
 
 A further grants programme in the next financial year will see about £1m given to organisations to support smaller-scale projects.  This year’s recipients provide guidance, advice & advocacy services to help break down discrimination & inequality in areas including education, health and employment.  Funding also supports organisations building good relations, particularly between groups, or in areas, where there are known tensions. 
Press release ~ EHRC Funding programme
 
TfL: A new campaign warning Londoners about the dangers of using un-booked minicabs has been launched by the Mayor, Transport for London, the Metropolitan Police Service and the City of London Police.  Timed to coincide with the start of the Christmas party season it features a powerful TV & cinema advert to get across the message that getting into any minicab without booking is illegal, potentially dangerous and can pose the serious risk of sexual assault.
Press release ~ Safer Travel at Night campaign ~ Cabwise ~ Findaride ~ Traveltools
 
MonitorMonitor, the independent regulator for NHS foundation trusts, has confirmed the following foundation trusts will be authorised from 1 December 2009:
* Liverpool Heart and Chest NHS Foundation Trust
* Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust
* Royal Surrey County NHS Foundation Trust
Press release ~ Monitor
 
PCS: The PCS union has claimed that the government risks playing politics with public sector workers' lives with its latest plans to move more civil servants out of London & the south east (in line with the Lyons review). While relocating public sector jobs can help regenerate less economically active regions of the UK, PCS members have learned the hard way that it is often a thinly disguised attack on jobs, wages & services.
 
At the Office for National Statistics, for example, management was publicly criticised for failing to maintain the quality of its service following a move from central London to Newport in south Wales.  Estimates have suggested the move will take a staggering 25 years to pay for itself.
 
PCS also commented that, before any further relocations are planned, the government must consider very carefully the disproportionately negative impact relocation has on black workers, as London has the highest BME population in the UK.
Press release ~ PCS ~ Lyons review ~ OGC – Government Relocation
 
CQC: Healthcare regulators are taking action to address concerns around leadership & quality of care at Basildon and Thurrock University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. Monitor, the independent regulator of NHS foundation trusts has used its formal powers of intervention to require the Trust to take immediate action to deliver improvement.
 
This follows a decision by Monitor's Board that the Trust is significant breach of the terms of their Authorisation as a result of concerns around compliance with healthcare standards, Board effectiveness and governance.  These concerns include the Trust Board's rate of progress and success in designing, overseeing and implementing effective actions to address high hospitalised standardised mortality rates.
Press release ~ Monitor: Formal notice of intervention ~ Care Quality Commission
 
WAG: Social Justice and Local Government Minister Dr Brian Gibbons has visited Welsh Women’s Aid to launch the Violence against Women and Domestic Abuse Christmas Publicity campaign. The campaign will raise awareness of the ‘early warning signs’ of an abusive relationship, as well as publicise the ways in which the Wales Domestic Abuse helpline provides support to people experiencing domestic abuse.
Press release ~ Welsh Women’s Aid ~ Wales Domestic Abuse helpline ~ WAG: Domestic abuse ~ Helpline Links & Nos.
 
ScotGovProtection for vulnerable young people is to be helped by an enhanced nationwide helpline. The 24 hour Child Protection Line will in future be staffed by qualified child protection professionals rather than trained call handlers, who after an initial professional assessment will be able to give an informed referral to the relevant local services. The helpline will remain open in its current form until a new provider is appointed.
 
The changes follow an independent evaluation of the line, by York Consulting, which confirmed the need for a national helpline & highlighted the fact that a promotional campaign early last year prompted an increase in calls.  However, the report also concluded that the line, as it currently stands, does not fully meet the needs of the public & services, or provide value for money.
Press release ~ Child Protection Line ~ Independent evaluation of the Child Protection Line
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