Policy Statements and Initiatives

DWP: On 8 July the Minister of State for Pensions, Steve Webb MP, made a Written Ministerial Statement to Parliament which announced the Government’s intention to move to using the Consumer Price Index (CPI) as the measure of price inflation for the purposes of regulating occupational pension schemes (See press release for more details and generalised simplified examples).
Press release
 
UK OC: The Manifesto for a Networked Nation (launched last week by UK Digital Champion, Martha Lane Fox and Race Online 2012) tells us that ‘there are 10 million adults in the UK who have never used the internet’.  It also states that Race Online 2012's ambition is that by the end of this Parliament: everyone of working age should be online and no one should retire without web skills.
Press releaseManifesto for a Networked Nation ~ Related BBC article
 
ScotGov: Plans to reduce crime by improving help for offenders (and those at risk of offending) to meet their learning & skills needs were unveiled last week. Speaking during a visit to HM Young Offenders Institute Polmont, Skills Minister, Keith Brown, said ‘the aim was to break the cycle of crime many people find themselves trapped in by providing offenders with more of the skills they need to live positive lives’.
 
Although a pilotwill be rolled out in a Scottish prison in the coming months, the measures go further than helping those already behind bars.  The report also outlines how young people at risk of offending can receive the help they need before they pursue a life of crime. The measures are included in the Scottish Government's response to the Options for Improvement report into Offender Learning, published earlier this year.
Press release ~ Offender Learning: Options for Improvement publication ~ Scottish Government Response to Offender Learning: Options for Improvement ~ Reducing Re-offending
 
DfE: Education Secretary, Michael Gove, has set out a complete overhaul of capital investment in England’s schools.  He has also announced that he will be ending the £972,000 annual funding for the Commission for Architecture & the Built Environment (CABE) design advice service associated with the BSF programme.
 
All documents, including The Secretary of State’s statement to the House, a table showing the impact of the announcement for all Building Schools for the Future projects, details of the £169.5m savings from capital budgets, and the Review Terms of Reference can be found on In the News.
Press release
 
WAG: Wales' Rural Affairs Minister, Elin Jones has launched an action plan aimed at encouraging more people in Wales to Dig 4 life and grow their own food. The Community Grown Food Action Plan which focuses on 3 key themes: community growing, allotments & community-supported agriculture and actions contained in the plan link to these themes.
Press release ~ Community Grown Food Action Plan
Spotlight on women at Serco – Anita’s story