Policy Statements and Initiatives

HONational Tackling Drugs Week was launched recently by Home Office Minister Alan Campbell.  The awareness week, which ran from 8 - 12 June 2009, saw a range of partners including drug treatment agencies, local authorities, substance misuse voluntary workers, police and community groups highlighting their work to rid communities across the country of drugs.
Press release ~ National Tackling Drugs Week ~ Drugs: protecting families and communities ~ Drug Intervention programme ~ HO - Drugs
 
Defra: Environment Secretary Hilary Benn has announced the 5 successful projects to receive government grants to create energy from organic waste, such as food. The grants are being awarded under the £10m Defra Anaerobic Digestion Demonstration Programme, and form part of wider plans to tackle food waste & packaging.
 
Anaerobic digestion breaks down organic matter, such as animal manure & food waste to produce biogas, a renewable energy source for heat, power & transport and keeps organic waste out of landfill, which cuts greenhouse gas emissions.
Press release ~ WRAP -  Environmental Transformation Fund ~ Defra Anaerobic Digestion ~ Demonstration Programme ~ FoE: Anaerobic Digestion ~ 'Anaerobic Digestion - Shared Goals'
 
DWP: The UK has ratified an international treaty that enshrines the human rights of disabled people, Jonathan Shaw, Minister for Disabled People has announced. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is a powerful & explicit statement, which states that disabled people must be able to enjoy, on an equal basis, the same human rights as others.
 
The Convention is designed to promote, protect and ensure the human rights, freedom & dignity of disabled people.  It explicitly sets out the rights that disabled people have and should be able to enjoy on the same basis as other people - for example, the right to dignity, freedom, equality and justice.  It also provides direction on how human rights should be interpreted from the perspective of disabled people all over the world.
Press release ~ United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
 
DFID: An initiative to help clothing manufacturers improve working conditions for their producers in developing countries has been launched. The RAGS (Responsible and Accountable Garment Sector) fund will make £3.5m available over 3 years for bids from companies who want to make their clothing business more ethical and contribute more strongly to development in poor countries.
 
A Challenge Fund will be set up that invites bids for work that will make a real difference - which might include companies working with unions and others to explore responsible business practices, projects to raise workers' awareness of their rights, and ways of generating more viable & decent jobs in garment making in poorer areas.
Press release ~ UK Sustainable Clothing Action Plan ~ MFA Forum ~ DFID
 
DCMS: Sports Minister Gerry Sutcliffe has announced a new voluntary funding arrangement to bring in at least £15m over the next 3 years for the research, education & treatment of problem gambling. The Responsibility in Gambling Trust will continue to raise funds from the gambling industry and are committed to raising over £5m every year from now until 2012/13.  A new body, the Responsible Gambling Fund, has been set up to distribute the money.
 
The recently-created Responsible Gambling Strategy Board (RGSB), chaired by Baroness Julia Neuberger, will work with the new distributor and will set priorities for research, education and treatment.
Press release ~ Ministerial Statement ~ Responsibility in Gambling Trust ~ Responsible Gambling Strategy Board (RGSB)
 
ScotGov: Recommendations from an independent working group advising on further help to homeowners facing repossession are to be taken forward by Scottish Ministers. The Repossessions Working Group was asked to consider whether existing legal protection for homeowners is adequate and, if necessary, to make recommendations on how it might be strengthened.
 
Chaired by the advocate, Adrian Stalker the group's main recommendations include:
* Legislation to ensure that the protection available through the Mortgage Rights (Scotland) Act 2001 applies in all repossession cases, instead of just those where the home owner defends the action
* Legislation to require lenders to show that they have considered every reasonable alternative to repossession, and to ensure that the courts consider the extent to which they have done so when deciding on repossessions cases
Press release ~ Repossessions Group - Final Report ~ ScotGov - Repossessions ~ Shelter Scotland
 
Defra: Environment Secretary Hilary Benn has claimed that consumers will see a major overhaul of all packaging over the next decade, under the Government's new packaging strategy - Making the most of packaging - which looks at the packaging of the future and what our shop shelves & kitchen cupboards should look like if we cut the amount of packaging produced, used & thrown away and increase the amount recycled.  Under the plan, the whole chain from production to disposal of packaging will be tackled.
 
Making the most of packaging covers all of the UK and is being published jointly by Defra, BERR, the Welsh Assembly Government, Northern Ireland Executive and the Scottish Government.  The devolved administrations have also announced how they will each take forward the strategy.
Press release ~ Making the most of packaging ~ EA: National Packaging Waste Database ~ Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations 2007 ~ Defra - Packaging and packaging waste
 
DECC: Hospitals, leisure centres, local authorities - and even central government departments - will be able to save money & reduce their carbon emissions by taking up new energy efficiency loans.  The Government, in partnership with Salix Finance and the Carbon Trust will provide £51.5m in interest free loans to help public sector organisations take advantage of energy efficiency technology.
 
Loans will be available for around 80 different energy efficiency technologies, including building insulation, boiler & lighting upgrades, improved cooling systems and IT energy efficiency improvements. This support will play an important part in the build up to the mandatory Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC), which begins in April 2010.  
Press release ~ Salix Finance ~ Carbon Trust ~ Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC)
 
WAG: The potential of algae to create new Welsh jobs and absorb carbon dioxide emissions is to be investigated with the help of a grant from the Welsh Assembly Government.  This grant will allow the community interest organisation Merlin Biodevelopments to examine how algae can be used to our advantage by using the by-products of certain renewable energy plants.
 
Currently, anaerobic digestion plants turn organic waste into bio-gas, a renewable source of energy.  These plants are to play a major role in energy production in the coming years.  As well as producing clean energy, the plants produce a by-product called ‘digestate’ that can be used as compost and a liquid fertiliser.  The Assembly Government wants to see if extracts from the liquid element of this digestate can be used to grow algae, and potentially create a whole new market.
Press release ~ Wales Centre of Excellence for Anaerobic Digestion ~ The Charity Bank ~ WAG - Environment and countryside ~ EA - Digestate
 
WAGWelsh patients who are charged for prescriptions at hospitals in England after having treatment will be able to get a refund, Health Minister Edwina Hart has announced.   At present, patients who have prescriptions from English hospital pharmacies have to pay for prescriptions at the English rate of £7.20, if they are not exempt due to age or medical condition.
 
Amendments will be made to the free prescriptions legislation so that patients who are treated in England can reclaim the cost of their prescriptions.  In addition, the legislation will be amended to reflect the change in England that entitles cancer sufferers access to free prescriptions. It is anticipated that the necessary changes to the legislation will be in place by early autumn.
Press release ~ WAG - Health and social care
 
DFID: New African products will appear on supermarket shelves thanks to a new fund formally launched by Trade and Development Minister, Gareth Thomas. The FRICH (Food Retail Industry Challenge fund) will support six projects to bring a range of new tea, coffees and fruit juices from across Africa to the UK, with a total investment of around £3m.  Projects are co funded by FRICH and the companies implementing them.
 
The six companies chosen to receive funding so far are:
* Blue Skies (fruit juice from Ghana)
* Waitrose LEAF (environmentally-sustainable fruit and vegetables)
* The Co-Operative Group (tea from Kenya)
* Sainsbury's (coffees from Rwanda and Democratic Republic of Congo)
* Betty's and Taylors of Harrogate (tea from Rwanda)
* Cafedirect (hot drinks from Sao Tome and Tanzania)
 
Research shows nearly 75% of consumers in the UK want to reduce poverty through their shopping choices.  However, statistics show that we still spend only 3% of our food shopping budget on products from developing countries.  
Press release ~ FRICH (Food Retail Industry Challenge fund) ~ Fairtrade Foundation ~ 'Governing the subjects and spaces of ethical consumption' ~ Cultures of Consumption research programme ~ British Association for Fair Trade Shops ~ What is fair trade?
 
DH: Social enterprises which improve the quality of health & social care for local communities can now apply for loans & grants from the Department of Health's Social Enterprise Investment Fund.  New & existing organisations can apply for investments and the funding application process takes approximately 6 weeks.
Press release ~ Social Enterprise Investment Fund ~ Futurebuilders England ~ Partnerships UK ~ DH - Social Enterprise
 
BIS: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has highlighted that the Low Pay Commission has been asked to consider introducing a new national minimum wage rate for apprentices.  The request came as the Government published the new terms of reference for the Low Pay Commission - the independent body which advises the Government on the national minimum wage.
 
Apprentices are currently exempt from the NMW if they are aged under 19; or are over 19 and in the first year of their apprenticeship.  There is a minimum rate of pay for Learning and Skills Council (LSC) apprenticeship contracts, which is currently set at £80 per week (rising to £95 from August 2009).
 
The Low Pay Commission will continue to monitor & evaluate the impact of the minimum wage and make recommendations, if appropriate, for changes to the rates.  The Commission has been asked to report to the Prime Minister and the Business Secretary by the end of February 2010.
Press release ~ Low Pay Commission ~ Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (National) ~ Learning and Skills Council (LSC) ~ Apprenticeships
 
ScotGov: Scotland's young people will be equipped for the 21st century through the next generation of national qualifications. The new changes, which will come into effect from 2013, will deliver ‘qualifications that reflect Scotland's new approach to teaching & learning with a more streamlined system, which is simpler for pupils, parents and employers to understand’.
 
The changes will mean that:
* A new qualification - the National award - will replace Intermediate and Standard Grade
* New National Literacy & National Numeracy awards will be introduced, to be taken from S3 onwards
* The existing Access, Higher and Advanced Higher qualifications will all be retained & updated to fully reflect Curriculum for Excellence.
Press release ~ Curriculum for Excellence ~ Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF) ~ Scottish Qualifications Authority ~ Research on the Consultation on the Next Generation of National Qualifications in Scotland
 
ScotGov: A strategy has been unveiled to encourage energy companies and the UK Government to boost energy efficiency investment north of the Border. The plan aims to secure a greater share for Scottish households from the Carbon Emissions Reduction Target (CERT).
 
CERT is an initiative that places an obligation on energy companies to provide households with subsidised energy efficiency measures, such as cavity wall and loft insulation, energy efficient appliances and low energy light bulbs. The focus of the strategy is working with delivery partners in Scotland to introduce many more potential CERT customers to the energy supply companies.
Press release ~ Securing our share: A CERT Strategy for Scotland ~ Carbon Emissions Reduction Target (CERT) ~ Shelter - CERT ~ ScotGov – Energy
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