Policy Statements and Initiatives
Defra: A new £1.6m project to improve river health & water quality in England has been launched by the government. The new partnership scheme, called the Catchment Based Approach, will encourage local communities & environmental groups to take on more responsibility for improving the health of their local rivers, as well as the surrounding natural environment & wildlife.
HMT: New figures published last week for 2012 - 2013 show that the government has exceeded, by 25%, the £8bn savings target it set itself after the General Election. The savings of £10bn are equivalent to almost £600 for each working household across Britain.
DCMS: The government have announced that 100 companies are now supporting our Think Act Report initiative, which ‘encourages companies to report on action to improve gender equality in the workplace’. It now covers over 1.6m UK employees.
ScotGov: A new approach to identifying children at risk of sexual exploitation – including those in care – will be piloted in the Forth Valley area. The pilot will test new ways of identifying, recording & preventing the sexual exploitation of children & young people.
Stirling, Falkirk and Clackmannanshire councils, in partnership with the Scottish Government, will trial recently developed methods to identify young people who have been sexually abused and ensure that appropriate support services are available to them.
ScotGov: The Scottish Government recently launched its District Heating Action Plan, which ‘sets a clear roadmap for how we will support the growth of district heating networks throughout Scotland and help reduce energy bills & carbon emissions’.
The Action Plan sets how the ScotGov will work with partners to deliver major public & private sector investment in infrastructure that is needed to secure a long-term sustainable & affordable heat supply.
The Action Plan sets how the ScotGov will work with partners to deliver major public & private sector investment in infrastructure that is needed to secure a long-term sustainable & affordable heat supply.
DfT: Plans for a new railway £11m station in Kenilworth were given a boost last week as Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin announced that he was ‘minded to fund the new station at Kenilworth, with the department providing up to £5m towards the project’.
The station would be part of £37bn worth of investment spent from 2014 to 2019, which will modernise the railways and provide massive benefits to both passengers & the UK economy. The £5m investment would represent the biggest single allocation since the launch of the government’s New Stations Fund.
Defra: A new drive to help save the elephant has been launched by the government, in the wake of the highest levels of ivory poaching since records began.
Defra: Professor Chris Elliott will lead an independent review of Britain’s food system in light of the recent horsemeat fraud, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Department of Health announced last week.
The review will look at the causes of the systemic failure that enabled the horsemeat fraud, the roles & responsibilities of businesses throughout the food supply chain to consumers and how to support consumer confidence.
Findings from the review will be used to form recommendations to Defra & the DoH on how the UK might be able to increase the resilience of its food systems.
Findings from the review will be used to form recommendations to Defra & the DoH on how the UK might be able to increase the resilience of its food systems.
DH: Over 800 children visit their doctor every day due to the serious effects of second-hand smoke exposure, according to research published by the Royal College of Physicians. The figures have been highlighted as the government launches a campaign to increase awareness of the hidden dangers of smoking in homes & cars.
ScotGov: Health board boundaries will be aligned with local authority areas to help ensure older people can receive the care they need at home.
ScotGov: Homeless households are to be given more support thanks to a new duty on local authorities which came into force on 1 June 2013. The new housing support duty legally requires all local authorities in Scotland to give support to those who are unintentionally homeless and believed to be in need of extra assistance.
The new duty is supported by guidance for local authorities, which was published on the Scottish Government website on 3 June 2013.
CLG: Thousands of homes at stalled housing sites will be unlocked through a multi-million pound package of government support. Major schemes at 14 sites have been earmarked for government investment, so they can start building up to 38,000 new homes, Housing Minister, Mark Prisk announced last week.
The projects will now proceed to a competitive clarification and due diligence process, to receive a share of the Local Infrastructure Fund, which has a total budget of £474m.
