Guidance Notes and Best Practice Guides

PB: Following a consultation with stakeholders representing both victims & prisoners, the Parole Board has published a protocol that sets out a code of practice for victim participation in Parole Board hearings.  This formal policy details the parameters of victim participation so that expectations are set and the Board can ensure that it meets its legal obligations to provide fair hearings.
 
For some time the Parole Board has been allowing victims to make written statements for consideration by the panel.  These statements are commonly known as victim personal statements.  On occasion, there have been applications for victims to attend hearings in order to present their victim personal statements in person.  To date, such applications have been dealt with on a case by case basis.
Press release ~ Practice Guide on Victim Participation in Parole Board Hearings ~ Victim personal statements
 
FSA: Almost one third of people may face financial difficulties when they retire, according to new research and the Financial Services Authority (FSA) & Association of British Insurers (ABI) are launching an online pension calculator which is designed to help people gauge how much they will have to live on in retirement. 
 
The pension calculator, on the Moneymadeclear website, enables anyone with a pension fund from a previous employer, those paying into a new pension scheme, or people without any existing pension at all, to calculate their potential retirement income based upon regular payments.  Further functionality will be added to the calculator in the future. 
Press release ~ Pension calculator
 
Advice for owners of non-human primates about how to look after their animals has been published in a proposed new Code of Practice (consultation closes on 30 November 2009) – See ‘Consultations’ section for more information.
 
Newswire – CABE: Design quality has been placed at the heart of planning for security in draft counter-terrorism guidance from the Home OfficeSafer places: a counter-terrorism supplement seeks to ensure that counter-terrorism features are included in building & public space designs from the start to protect them from attack. 8 years on from the 9/11 attacks on New York City, the guidance says the threat from terrorism remains ‘severe’, meaning that an attack (which could occur without warning) is ‘highly likely’ on crowded places. 
 
The guidance stresses the importance & cost-effectiveness of designing in counter-terrorism measures into new buildings from the start.  The supplement incorporates urban design principles & points to guidance such as the Department for Transport’s Manual for streets.  The final guidance will supplement Safer Places, the anti-crime good practice guidance published in 2004.
Press release ~ Safer places: a counter-terrorism supplement ~ Safer places: the planning system and crime prevention (2004) ~ Manual for streets
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