Policy Statements and Initiatives
10 DS: New services to give mums & dads the support they need to do the best for their children were launched recently by the Prime Minister.
DfT: Classic vehicles will be exempted from the MoT test (from 18 November 2012), Roads Minister Mike Penning announced last week. Classic & historic vehicles are often very well maintained by their owners and have a much lower accident and MoT failure rate than newer vehicles. Owners of affected vehicles will still be able to take exempt vehicles for an MoT test on a voluntary basis.
Press release & links
Press release & links
HO: A new tuberculosis screening programme that will help save lives and save taxpayers more than £40m over 10 years has been announced. Migrants wanting to enter the UK for more than 6 months, from 67 countries with high rates of TB, will need to be screened before they are granted a visa for the UK.
DfT: Road Minister Mike Penning has announced changes to the Dartford-Thurrock Crossing charges, which will help deliver a package of extensive improvements. The Minister re-affirmed the Government's commitment to introduce free-flow charging to tackle congestion & improve journey times, plus confirming work continues on analysing the options for a new Lower Thames crossing (as per the Autumn Statement commitment).
The Minister also announced that the Department for Transport will carry out a full review of the Local Residents’ Discount Scheme to consider how this can be improved and take-up increased. He will be inviting local MPs to a meeting to discuss this shortly.
DH: Using information & technology to put people in greater control of their health & care is at the heart of the Government’s strategy – The power of information – announced last week. The Information Strategy for health & care also opens up information to consumer groups and IT specialists outside the NHS so they can produce tailored websites & apps for different patients.
Further key elements will make using the NHS easier for patients by providing online access to many of the most frustrating interactions people have with the NHS such as booking appointments. For example, by 2015 patients will be able to book their GP appointments online (helping to end the ‘8am telephone rush’) and all patients registered with a GP in England will be able to see their medical records online.
Press release ~ The power of information: Putting all of us in control of the health & care information we need ~ DH: Information strategy to give people more control over their care ~ King’s Fund response
CO: For the first time, a complete set of ‘trackers’ are being published to measure how well the Government is doing in making society fairer. Unlike previous measures, the trackers will monitor the impact of the Government’s policies to tackle social mobility every year – instead of after a long time lag – acting as a regular ‘health-check’ on whether or not the UK is becoming fairer.
The 17 trackers, or indicators, are contained in the Government’s first update on its social mobility strategy – ‘Opening Doors, Breaking Barriers: A Strategy for Social Mobility’ – which puts the government’s commitment to helping everyone get on in life at the heart of its social policy.
Press release & links ~ HEFCE and OFFA get green light for closer collaboration on widening participation and fair access
WAG: Environment Minister, John Griffiths has granted ‘quiet area’ status to 29 locations across urban South Wales. Once an area has been designated it is protected from increases in noise by the Environmental Noise Directive and planning policy.
WAG: The Wales Infrastructure Investment Plan for Growth & Jobs gives a clear outline of the Welsh Government’s key priorities for major infrastructure projects and how they will look at innovative financing options to support their plans. It includes a £15bn spend on roads, schools, hospitals, housing and other capital projects over the next decade.
DfT: 30 carbon cutting, growth boosting local transport schemes were given the green light last week. The projects have won funding totalling £113m as part of the second allocation from the Local Sustainable Transport Fund. All projects are designed to create a sustainable transport package that delivers economic growth and reduces carbon emissions.
DfE: The care system is facing major challenges as the number of looked after children rises and retiring foster carers are not replaced fast enough. Children’s Minister Tim Loughton has urged fostering services not to be blinkered when considering who has the capacity to foster and to reach out to a wider pool of potential carers – able to help the increasingly challenging needs of children coming in care.
ScotGov: The Scottish Parliament has taken steps that could help to mitigate against reforms to the benefits system being introduced by the Westminster coalition. Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon welcomed the passing of Stage One of the Welfare Reform Bill, which will enable arrangements for passported benefits – those which are devolved – to be put in place by April 2013 so that those eligible do not lose out once the reforms take effect.
Passported benefits are a range of Scottish Government- controlled benefits like free school meals and concessionary travel which people are eligible for if they receive one or more UK welfare benefit.
BIS: Universities and Science Minister David Willetts has set out a vision for an industrial strategy underpinned by technological advances. In a major speech at the University of East Anglia last week, David Willetts argued that Government has a creative role to play in working with researchers, universities & business to promote innovation and get the greatest possible economic value.
WAG: Plans for a single body to manage Wales’ natural resources have been widely welcomed, Environment Minister, John Griffiths has confirmed and that the Welsh Government would therefore be proceeding with the development of a single body.
DWP: A new wage incentive scheme to encourage employers to give young disabled people further work opportunities was announced last week. A payment of up to £2,275 has been made available for employers who recruit young disabled people through Work Choice – a specialist disability employment programme that provides tailored support to help disabled people who have the most complex support needs. The new wage incentive will be made available in July 21012.
DfT: The Transport Secretary, Justine Greening, has set out the first steps in a programme for reforming the strategic road network. Central to the planwill be a 20 year strategy for the national road network and new challenging performance targets for the Highways Agency to deliver against. The performance specification and the strategy will be published for consultation towards the end of 2012.
DCMS: A total of 36 out of 47 local broadband plans have now been approved. The Government has allocated £530m to help local authorities in England take superfast broadband to rural areas, so that 90% of homes & businesses to have access to superfast broadband and everyone to have access to at least 2Mbps. Itis warning the remaining councils that failing to agree plans soon could see funding withdrawn.
HO: Successful bids for a share of £1.2m funding to support young people suffering sexual violence, including by gangs, have been announced recently. 9 organisations with a track record of working with young people, victims of sexual violence and street gangs across the country have been funded to recruit 13 new young people advocates. Each post will be awarded a grant of £30k per year for 3 years.
WAG: Details of a major new funding boost for the least well-off pupils in Wales have been announced. The new £32.4m a year Pupil Deprivation Grant will provide practical action to help reduce the impact of poverty on educational attainment. 100% of the funding goes directly to school budgets.
DWP: Universal Credit will go live in the Greater Manchester & Cheshire region in April 2013 – 6 months before the national roll-out. It was also confirmed that Universal Credit will be introduced across Britain, starting on a small scale in every region from October 2013 and building up capacity to April 2014, when all new claims to the current benefits & credits will be entirely phased out.
.png)
