Policy Statements and Initiatives

BIS: The Government has announced a £100m increase to the vehicle scrappage scheme. Alongside the increased funding the Government will work with manufacturers to extend the benefits to van owners with vehicles over 8 years old, rather than the current 10 year requirement.  
 
Car owners will also get a boost, with the age qualification changed by 6 months to extend the benefits to cars registered on or before 29 Feb 2000 (V registration).  The scheme will come to an end in February 2010, or when the funding runs out, which ever is sooner.
Press release ~ BIS - VSS
 
ScotGov: The Scottish Government and the National Archives of Scotland (NAS) have made available around 4,000 Government files which would previously have remained closed for 30 years. 28 September was International Right to Know Day and ScotGov & NAS marked the day by beginning the process of releasing files up to 15 years earlier than had previously been the case.
Press release ~ ScotGov - Freedom of Information ~  National Archives of Scotland ~ International Right to Know Day
 
DECC: The Government has launched a search for local authorities, charities & social enterprises to take up the challenge to help communities fight climate change. Communities can apply for a share of a £10m fund as part of the Low Carbon Communities Challenge to build on existing low carbon schemes. All applicants are requested to register interest by 12 noon on Wednesday 28 October 2009 and let DECC know whether they intend to apply for capital funding within this financial year or the next.  The challenge is scheduled to start in January 2010.

The 20 successful communities will each receive support to pay for real measures selected by the local residents themselves.  For towns to be eligible they must demonstrate they are already making changes and are committed to developing both infrastructure & behaviour change that results in carbon reduction, such as wind farms, electric car infrastructure or home energy refurbishments.
Press release ~ Low Carbon Communities Challenge ~ Low Carbon Transition Plan

DfT: Transport Secretary Andrew Adonis has launched a major £14m package to ‘transform facilities for cyclists at rail stations and encourage healthier, greener travel’.  Over the next 2 years a series of measures, including 'Cycle Hubs' at 10 major rail stations and 10,000 extra cycle parking spaces across the country will be introduced by Government, Network Rail, Cycling England and train operators.
 
The new cycle hubs will include extra cycle storage facilities, repair services, hire schemes and improved cycle access to & from the stations. This announcement follows the Government's commitment in June for £5m to be spent over the next two years to improve cycle storage facilities at up to ten major railway stations nationwide, including in London.  Due to the quality of the response to that announcement, the funding has now been doubled to £10m.
Press release ~ DfT - Cycling England ~ DfT: Sustainable Travel - Cycling
 
ScotGov: The long-term damage caused by property speculation on croft land must be tackled, Environment Minister Roseanna Cunningham said recently. However an occupancy requirement, which would mean houses built on former croft land have to be used as main residences, will not be included in the Crofting Bill. 
 
Alternative ways of keeping land affordable to those who want to take up crofting will be explored instead. Ms Cunningham also confirmed there were no plans to end the Crofting Counties Agricultural Grants Scheme and the Croft House Grants Scheme.
Press release ~ Crofting Inquiry ~ Draft Crofting Reform Bill Consultation Paper ~ Crofting information ~ Crofting Counties Agricultural Grants Scheme ~ Croft House Grants Scheme
 
Defra: Environment Secretary Hilary Benn has announced a review of England’s wildlife & ecological network, including its links with our National Parks and its ability to adapt to climate change and other pressures. Reporting by June 2010, the review will explore if our collection of sites represents a coherent & robust ecological network, capable of responding to the challenges of climate change & other pressures.
Press release ~ England Wildlife Health Strategy ~ WildlifeNational Parks
 
CLG: 37 councils are being given the go ahead by John Denham to borrow against or sell assets up to £501m so they can meet & manage the one-off costs of settling their equal pay promises faster. Since 2006 central government has given English councils permission to raise over £1.6bn for equal pay costs under a process known as equal pay capitalisation.
Press release ~ Councils face £2.8bn bill for equal pay
 
SE: Funding to create 2,000 new jobs for young people in sport has been announced by the Government as part of its £1bn Future Jobs FundSkillsActive, one of Sport England’s national partners, will help to shape the qualifications, training & continuous professional development the young employees need.
 
The National Skills Academy for Sport and Active Leisure, part of the SkillsActive Group, will deliver the Future Jobs Fund programme in partnership with the Youth Sport Trust, a number of NGBs, the Prince’s Trust and the Dame Kelly Holmes Legacy Trust.
Press release ~ Future Jobs Fund ~ SkillsActive ~ National Skills Academy for Sport and Active Leisure
 
MoJ: Families of murder & manslaughter victims are to ‘benefit from a boost in practical & emotional support’, after Jack Straw announced proposals for a new National Victims Service, beginning with a service for those affected by murder & manslaughter.
 
The National Victims Service, which will be introduced during this financial year, will begin its work by offering one-to-one tailored support to all those bereaved by murder or manslaughter to help them cope with the trauma of losing a loved one to crime.
Press release ~ Victim Support ~ MoJ: Victims and witnesses ~ The Witness and Victim Experience Study
 
DFID: A new plan to allocate £14m is set to drive economic growth across Central Asia and tackle poverty in the region’s poorest areas. The Department for International Development’s 3-year plan will look at boosting the business climate across the region, strengthening public services and improving the effectiveness of development organisations.

DFID’s work in the region to date has focussed on the two poorest countries, KyrgyzRepublic and Tajikistan. Under the new Central Asia Development Strategy, UK aid will continue this support, but will also be used to reduce poverty regionally by promoting sustained & inclusive economic growth across all 5 countries in Central Asia.
Press release ~ DFID’s Central Asia Development Strategy
 
WAG:   The Welsh Assembly Government is a step closer to implementing a wildlife strategy as part of its comprehensive bovine TB eradication programme.  Following consideration of the responses to a 14-week public consultation, the Minister has laid the TB Eradication (Wales) Order 2009, which will give the Assembly Government the powers to use culling & vaccination of badgers as part of the eradication programme.
 
The Minister stressed that the legislation did not, in itself, mean the start of a badger cull, but that an important part of the preparatory work is complete.  Work on environmental considerations and defining the area is also underway.
Press release ~ Intensive Action Pilot Area (IAPA) ~ WAG - Bovine TB ~ Bovine TB Eradication Programme
 
WAG: New measures to care for people with chronic conditions have resulted in reduced admissions to hospitals, improved health of patients and reduced pressure on the NHS. The first 12 month report into 3 demonstration areas – Carmarthenshire, Cardiff & North Wales – set up to try out & test new ways of managing care for people with chronic conditions - identified major benefits to patient care.
 
The aim is to ensure that individuals living with chronic conditions such as arthritis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, diabetes and chronic heart conditions can access the right service, at the right time, in the right place and delivered by the right person.
Press release ~ NHS Wales ~ WAG - Chronic Conditions Management Model
 
ScotGov: Government, businesses, Scotland's Colleges and individual Scots all have a role to play in helping Scotland's Economic Recovery Education Secretary Fiona Hyslop has said.
Press release ~ ScoGov 'Adopt An Apprentice' scheme ~ Scotland's Colleges ~ ScotGov: Economic RecoveryProgramme ~ Skills Development Scotland
 
DCSF: Ed Balls has announced a full & detailed review of the provisions which prevent the promotion of racism in schools.  He has asked Maurice Smith, formerly HM Chief Inspector of Schools and currently Director of Education for the Church of England Manchester Diocese, to lead the review and deliver his report in January 2010.
Press release ~ Letter to Maurice Smith ~ Teachernet: Racism, anti-Semitism and Islamophobia ~ Teachernet: Racist Bullying ~ Teachernet, Addressing racism and prejudice ~  Teachernet, Dealing with racism ~ Teachernet, Definitions of racism
 
Newswire – TSA: England’s affordable housing regulator, the Tenant Services Authority (TSA), has welcomed the government’s focus on Family Intervention Projects (FIPs), which will see a crackdown on anti-social behaviour & crime.
 
Under the new plans, the TSA will be working with the Department for Children, Schools and Families and Communities and Local Government on a new £15m Challenge Fund (further details will be announced shortly).  This funding will be for housing associations & local authorities to identify & provide support to families causing problems within their local community.
 Press release ~ Family Intervention Projects (FIPs) ~ Family Intervention Projects (FIPs) – Domestic Abuse Toolkit ~ TSA
 
Newswire – HCA: The Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) and ConstructionSkills – the UK’s Sector Skills Council for construction - have announced a joint employment drive to resume the training of hundreds of apprentices made redundant during the recession.
 
The collaboration draws on the HCA’s expertise & relationships with their key local authority and Registered Social Landlord (RSL) partners in a bid to promote & foster support for ConstructionSkills’ Apprenticeship Matching Service (AMS), which recently secured £1m of financial support from the Government’s National Apprenticeship Service (NAS).
 
Companies able to provide suitable employment to displaced apprentices and support them to complete their training are eligible to apply for up to £1,000.  For employers who are registered with CITB-ConstructionSkills - the Industry Training Board for construction that collects levy from the industry - this money comes on top of funding already available through the organisation’s existing grant scheme.
Press release ~ Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) ~ ConstructionSkills’ Apprenticeship Matching Service (AMS) ~ National Apprenticeship Service (NAS) ~ Register Interest
 
Defra: Compensation payable during October 2009, in England (and in Wales & Scotland for BSE only) for a bovine animal compulsorily slaughtered for disease control purposes has been announced.
Press release ~ Defra – TB in cattle
 
HO: New advertising which highlights the cost of carrying a knife and a taskforce of young anti-knife crime campaigners have been launched.  They are part of the next phase of the Home Office’s ‘It Doesn’t Have to Happen’ campaign, which aims to reduce knife carrying among 10 - 16 year olds.  The youth taskforce are a group of young people, aged 15 to 20, from communities touched by knife crime, who will be spreading the campaign messages to their peers.
 
The advertising employs the powerful message ‘carry a knife and lose your life’ demonstrating how easily carrying a knife can lead to death, loss of freedom or serious injury.  Research has shown that messages make the most impact for this age group when they come from their peers who have experience of the issue and can talk first hand about the consequences.
Press release ~ It Doesn’t Have to Happen’ campaign ~ Music video ‘Don’t Shank Just Skank’ ~ Tackling Knives Action Programme (TKAP) ~ Phase 1 monitoring report ~ ScotGov – Knife Crime ~ Magistrates’ Court Sentencing Guidelines – knife crime ~ Gangs: You and Your Child ~ Mothers Against Violence ~ Talk about Knives
 
CC: The Competition Commission (CC) has formally recommended to the Department of Communities and Local Government (CLG) - and the devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales & Northern Ireland - that they take the necessary steps to introduce a competition test in planning decisions on larger grocery stores. This follows the CC confirming in a decision that it will bring significant & lasting benefits for consumers.

The competition test would prevent supermarkets’ groceries developments, including extensions to existing stores, by retailers with a strong presence in a local area, to make competing developments from rival retailers easier.  The CC published its provisional decision in July and, after considering responses to that document from retailers & other parties, has now made its final decision.
Press release ~ CC Groceries report ~ Tribunal’s judgment
 
WAG: A £34m programme to ‘drive forward cutting-edge research to secure a low carbon future for Wales, create green jobs and help business to develop sustainable products & technologies’ has been announced.  The Low Carbon Research Institute Energy programme is aimed at meeting Welsh Assembly targets for reducing carbon dioxide emissions by exploiting the knowledge in Welsh universities and helping industry develop new products, technologies & services, turning them into commercial reality.
Press release ~ WAG - Climate change ~ Low Carbon Research Institute (LCRI)
 
DH: The completion of a series of reforms, to strengthen the focus on public protection in the regulation of health professionals including nurses, midwives & dentists, has been announced by the Department of Health.
Press release ~ Trust, assurance and safety ~ Websites of the health regulatory bodies
 
DCSFPartnerships for Schools (PfS) has assumed responsibility for the management & delivery of all schools capital programmes – a total of £21.6bn over the entire Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR) period up to 2011.  PfS is the delivery organisation for Building Schools for the Future. 85 local authorities are now engaged in the BSF programme, with 26 Local Education Partnerships formed to deliver school building projects in these areas.
Press release ~ Partnerships for Schools (PfS) ~ Building Schools for the Future
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