Policy Statements and Initiatives
DH: Health Minister, Mike O'Brien and Veterans Minister, Kevan Jones have claimed that armed forces personnel with the most serious injuries will have a customised health care plan before they leave the Services, that will continue to be tailored to meet their individual needs for the rest of their life.
In addition, it is expected that the 6 ongoing mental health pilots within the NHS will continue, with the evaluation & learning from these pilots used to help other Trusts gear their services to better meet the needs of veterans.
Press release ~ Service charity Combat Stress ~ Service Personnel Command Paper ~ Working together for better mental health
DCSF: The Government has announced the £300m national roll out ofthe Home Access programme to give 270,000 low income families a free computer & free broadband access, under a drive to close the digital & educational divide between rich & poor and help keep parents in touch with their child's progress.
A recent study from the Institute of Fiscal studies also showed that having a computer at home could lead to a 2 grade improvement in one subject at GCSE. The Government is currently legislating to make reporting to parents online by 2012 a legal guarantee in the Children, Schools and Families Bill. Home Access computers are also loaded with a suite of software to support literacy & numeracy for all the family.
BIS: New IT courses to give thousands of adults the skills & confidence they need to go online will be piloted as from last week, Business Secretary Lord Mandelson claimed at the recent Learning and Technology World Forum.
The development of Online basics by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, UK online centres and Becta forms part of the Government’s response to Baroness Estelle Morris’s Review of ICT User Skills, published in June 2009.
Online basics include 5 key modules covering the basics – using a mouse & keyboard, looking at the internet and keeping safe online. There is also guidance for people supporting those using the course: from tutors in learning centres to family members helping someone at home. Over the next 3 months, Online basics will be piloted in UK online centres in Barnsley, Oldham, Gloucester, Devon and London. Becta will evaluate the courses, expected to be rolled out across England in September 2010.
Press release ~
WAG: The Minister for the Economy & Transport, Ieuan Wyn Jones, has published a plan to improve the blue badge scheme for disabled parking. The action plan also details how the Assembly Government will work with local authorities to streamline the application & administration process and improve systems to tackle abuse of the scheme.
Mr Jones said the whole programme would take up to 5 years to deliver although there are opportunities to prioritise some areas for early implementation. For example, priority will be given to extending the scheme to children under the age of 3 with specific medical conditions, as well as to people with severe congenital disabilities in both arms and who find it difficult to use parking equipment.
Press release ~ A Modern Blue Badge Scheme for Wales: Action Plan for key stakeholders ~ WAG: Blue Badge Scheme
OGC: The Chief Secretary to the Treasury has announced the publication of an action plan setting out how the Government will harness the £220bn spent by the public on third party goods & services to support growth & economic recovery. The plan, published by the Office of Government Commerce (OGC), reveals how procurement will be used to pursue economic growth through 3 specific agendas:
* supporting SMEs
* encouraging apprenticeships, training & youth employment
* reducing carbon emissions
Progress will be supported & monitored by the OGC through the introduction of performance metrics, against which all departments will be expected to report regularly, starting in spring 2010.
DCSF: Vernon Coaker, Schools Minister, has launched a new web-based science resourcefor children starting secondary school. ‘Scimorph’, a 3D animated computer character who responds to interaction from users, will be available to every child at home and in the classroom.
Developed in consultation with the Science Learning Centres, Scimorph reflects core components of the Key Stage 2 science curriculum. It also contains supporting materials for parents & teachers to help them guide children around the site and support their learning.
WAG: Rural Affairs Minister, Elin Jones, has announced that a limited badger cull, alongside stricter cattle measures, will take place in a pilot area of West Wales as part of the Welsh Assembly Government’s TB Eradication Programme.
The approach is based on evidence from a number of studies showing that culling badgers can reduce TB in cattle. The pilot will take place in a bovine TB endemic area where 42% of cattle owners have had at least one case of TB in their herd since 2003. It will be located mainly in north Pembrokeshire, but will also include small areas of Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire.
ScotGov: 10,000 more families are to get help to save around £900 a year on fuel bills through the Scottish Government's Energy Assistance Package. Central heating systems, home insulation, thermostats and green energy devices will be on offer to low-income families with children under 16. Families who receive a wide range of benefits including child tax credit, income support and housing benefit will be eligible.
The Fuel Poverty Forum - set up by ScotGov to look at ways to tackle fuel poverty - has also been asked by Ministers to investigate extending eligibility to chronically ill & cancer patients in Scotland.
ScotGov: Voluntary care organisations across Scotland are to receive funding to help meet the cost of staff training & development. A total of 67 organisations will receive a share of approximately £900,000 being distributed by the Voluntary Sector Development Fund. Those benefiting include housing associations & care groups, as well as charities helping armed forces veterans.
The fund enables a range of staff to undergo training in order to meet the registration standards set by the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC). An evaluation of this year's applications, carried out by the Voluntary Sector Social Services Workforce Unit, shows encouraging progress is being made with more than 40% of the voluntary sector workforce now qualified.
Press release ~ Full list of recipients ~ Scottish Social Services Council ~ Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO) ~ Voluntary Sector Social Services Workforce Unit
CLG: Nearly 20,000 people living in sheltered housing will be switched on to the internet under £2.9m plans being developed by the Government to boost the number of silver surfers. With two thirds of those over the age of 65 in sheltered housing without online access, the new 'Get Digital' programme will help them become internet savvy and enjoy the wider social & economic benefits of the digital world.
'Get Digital' – to be delivered on the Government's behalf by the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (NIACE) and Digital Unite - will (by the end of March 2011) provide residents with access to computers and the training they need to make the most of the new technology on offer. Local schools will also link up with sheltered housing schemes so that young & old can learn together.
Digital Unite's experience on previous programmes suggests that learning digital skills can transform the lives of older people in sheltered housing, bringing residents together, as they discover new shared interests & passions.
Press release ~ National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (NIACE) ~ Digital Unite ~ ‘Get Digital' Programme ~ Silver Surfers Day ~ Building Society for All Ages ~ Community Voices
BIS: Consumer minister, Kevin Brennan has announced that he has accepted the Competition Commission’s recommendation for a body to enforce the Groceries Supply Code of Practice (GSCOP). The Code comes into force on 4 February 2010 and this will be followed by a consultation, beginning in February 2010, on how best to enforce the GSCOP, including who that body might be and the powers it could have.
BIS press release ~ Related ScotGov press release ~ Groceries Supply Code of Practice (GSCOP) ~ CompC. - Groceries Market Investigation
HO: The Government has called on communities to step forward to ‘lead the fight against crime and anti-social behaviour’. Ministers are looking for ‘10 trailblazing areas’ to pioneer Neighbourhood Agreements on community safety & justice between police, councils and residents. The agreements will allow residents to have a say in how those issues are tackled, build better relationships with local service providers, understand better what services they are entitled to and how they can be improved.
Joint applications from local councils & police forces will be considered by a cross-departmental selection panel, which will pick the 10 pathfinder areas. Applications close on 29 January 2010 and the 10 pathfinder areas will be confirmed in February 2010.
ScotGov: New funding of £800,000 is to be provided to strengthen efforts to prevent women re-offending in Scotland. The additional funding - £100,000 for each of Scotland's 8 Criminal Justice Authorities (CJAs) - was announced by Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill, when he responded to the report by the Scottish Parliament's Equal Opportunities Committee on Female Offenders in the Criminal Justice System.
Individual CJAs will decide how best to use the extra funding provided for this year - but it could be used to introduce projects similar to the pilot support service with Barnardos for women from the South West of Scotland released from prison and the Think Again project aimed at developing skills & confidence for women offenders in the Lothian & Borders.
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