Blogs

Government

• Home Information Packs (HIPS) will cause chaos because of a lack of qualified inspectors, experts said yesterday as the Government faced increased pressure to delay the scheme. The Tories said they were planning a last-ditch attempt to block the introduction of the packs, which become compulsory on June 1 and could cost sellers between £600 and £1,000. "If we can stop them we will," said Michael Gove, the shadow housing minister, claiming that the project was nothing but "expensive and deficient red tape". The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors said last night that the regulations surrounding the packs were "impenetrable, unclear and contradictory" and warned that they could be detrimental to the housing market and the wider economy. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;jsessionid=WZ1Q5FGCYALHFQFIQMGCFGGAVCBQUIV0?xml=/news/2007/04/25/nhip25.xml
• Almost one in five private finance initiative projects are still not making their owners money, a survey of almost 100 of them has shown. Profitability has improved since 2005, when the study was last conducted. Eighty-three per cent of contracts are profitable, with a quarter reporting "better than ex-pected" profits. But the survey found almost 20 per cent still did not make money, with almost 40 per cent saying they were making less money than expected. "Those sorts of figures give the lie to claims that the private sector is ripping off the public purse through PFI," said Mike Stevens, head of UK support services for KPMG, the consultants, which carried out the study with the Business Services Association, whose members provide cleaning, catering and similar services to schools, hospitals and other projects under PFI contracts. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/d5af9e3e-f2c8-11db-a454-000b5df10621.html
• Senior ministers are backing a controversial bill to exempt parliament from the Freedom of Information Act as a second attempt is made on Friday to push the legislation through the Commons. The bill has the support of several ministers, including Tessa Jowell, the culture secretary; Tom McNulty, police minister; Andy Burnham, health minister; Ian Pearson, climate change minister; John Healey, financial secretary to the Treasury; and Keith Hill, parliamentary private secretary to Tony Blair. http://www.guardian.co.uk/guardianpolitics/story/0,,2064856,00.html
• Ministers have been accused of "nationalising the family" with plans for the first national college for parenting. In a move designed to crackdown on yobbish behaviour, the Government has earmarked £30 million for the new academy to coach parents on how to control tearaway children. It forms part of Tony Blair's "respect agenda" to tackle persistent anti-social behaviour, problem families and young offenders. The new academy - based at King's College, London - will act as an "international and national hub" to promote the latest ideas on how to raise children and implement recent Government reforms, including new courses designed to improve the bond between fathers and their children and catch-up lessons for parents with literacy and numeracy problems. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/04/25/nparent25.xml
• Thousands of patients risk contracting potentially deadly superbugs because NHS hospitals are not taking basic steps to stop the spread of infection, research for The Daily Telegraph reveals today. An independent study of 167 NHS hospital trusts in England found that infection control was in a state of disarray, with hospitals unable to reassure the public that they are screening and isolating enough infected patients. Only 10 of the trusts surveyed could provide data showing that they had isolated more than 90 per cent of individuals with MRSA - a standard that infection control experts regard as fundamental in the battle against hospital-acquired bugs. The findings, provided by Dr Foster Research, the independent health information company, raise serious questions about the Government's promise to make infection control a top priority. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/04/25/nmrsa25.xml
• Employees who smoke must be given time to attend clinics to help them to quit during working hours without loss of pay, new public health guidance recommends today. The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) claims that the proposal will cut the £5 billion annual cost of lost productivity, absenteeism and fire damage caused by smoking. It believes that a business with five smokers could spend just £66 on providing advice, including the cost of lost employees' time, and see an overall saving of around £350 in improved productivity. It is the first time that NICE has issued guidance that applies beyond the NHS, effectively including every workplace in England. The recommendations come as all workplaces, from offices to factories and pubs, prepare to go smoke-free on July 1. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/health/article1701528.ece

Conservatives

• George Osborne, the Shadow Chancellor, will meet President Bush in the White House today in a significant boost to the Conservatives' international credibility and a thawing in their frosty relations with Washington. Mr Bush invited Mr Osborne to join him at an event on tackling malaria across the developing world after he had his first meeting with Gordon Brown, the Chancellor, at the White House a few weeks ago. Mr Osborne is the first senior Conservative politician to meet Mr Bush since before the last election, when Michael Howard, the then leader, angered the US administration by distancing himself from the Iraq war. His successor David Cameron has also kept his distance from the unpopular Bush Administration, and has not visited Washington since becoming leader. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article1701549.ece

G8  

Government  

A Department for Trade & Industry commissioned report (i.e. we paid for it) has advised the Government to prepare for Robo-rights. Yes - Robo-rights. Like Human rights, but for robots. What a great idea? I mean, C-3P0 was a sensitive chap and R2DT had serious communication and walking difficulties. If only they had lived in New Labour's bonkers world, they wouldn't have been sold on the slave trade and forced to serve their master Luke Skywalker. Has this government run out of things to be PC about (excuse the pun)?

This government really doesn't like rubbish, does it? It would rather we just didn't produce it or if we do to hang on to it. It's as though it has suddenly become a luxury, a privilege of the rich to be able to get rid of your rubbish. Well things are about to get worse. The Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), headed by David "will he won't he, probably not he hasn't got the guts" Milliband, are going to introduce laws that will mean we lose our say over when and how their rubbish is collected entirely. Presently we can at least complain directly to the council responsible if they are unhappy with the frequency or quality of collection.

A former Minister who has responsibility for NHS reform, Lord Warner, has launched an extra-ordinary attack on all those who work in the NHS. He cites "productivity" issues and resistance to change within the NHS as the major causes for the failure of Labour's investment programme and programme of reform.

Government  

• Tony Blair will today put his personal stamp on a reorganisation of the Home Office when he chairs a new cabinet committee on terrorism and security. But with only two weeks to go before the department is due to be officially split into an interior and a justice ministry, crucial questions remain unresolved and the overhaul is fuelling tensions in Whitehall. The slimming down of the Home Office, championed by John Reid, home secretary, has been rushed forward to take effect on May 9, a day before Mr Blair is likely to announce his resignation. Mr Blair is expected next month to undertake his final government reshuffle, transferring portfolios from the Home Office to a new Ministry of Justice and cutting ministers at the Northern Ireland Office following the anticipated establishment of a devolved administration on May 8.

Government  

• A major new campaign that aims to help individuals cut their personal CO2 emissions has today been backed by Prime Minister Tony Blair and Environment Secretary David Miliband.  The Climate Group's We're In This Together Campaign brings businesses, Government and communities together, and provides practical ideas for how individuals can reduce their CO2 footprint. Steps the Government is taking to help individuals reduce their CO2 footprint include:  A new CO2 calculator - due to be launched later this spring, it will enable individuals to calculate their personal CO2 footprint and provide suggestions for the action they need to take to reduce it. The Climate Group will help trial the calculator. Assistance to help people in fuel poverty insulate their homes and install more energy efficient boilers - 1.3 million households have been helped with this so far. £3 billion in energy improvements for households since 2001 - through the obligation for energy companies to provide efficiency improvements for their customers, including low-energy light bulbs, insulation, and high-efficiency appliances and boilers.  
• London's mayor has launched a new drive to encourage people to walk around the capital, claiming this can improve health, reduce congestion and help tackle climate change. The campaign, run in association with Transport for London (TfL), comes as the mayor announces £126m of investment to improve conditions for pedestrians. Part of the climate change action plan, it will focus on the school run and the commute to work and will urge people to walk rather than take the car on short journeys.  

Conservatives  

It has been reported today that there are 266 different legislative powers in which the state has a right to enter our homes - and we're not just talking about Policemen with search warrants. The over legislating, under thinking, government gives more protection in our own homes to burly jobsworths from local car pound than it does to ourselves. What is more worrying, however is the penalties that can be dished out for obstructing the heavy mobs from forcing their way in. These include heavy fines and even prison sentences of up to two years!

Government  

• Some of the UK's most senior arts and sports administrators yesterday united to warn that cuts in lottery funding to pay for the Olympics would undermine the future of their institutions and actually reduce participation in sport. They spoke out as it emerged that four of the country's main voluntary organisations are demanding a Commons debate on the scale of the cuts. At the moment, the proposals are likely to be rubber-stamped before the end of this parliamentary session by a special ad hoc committee. Tessa Jowell, the culture, secretary, insisted yesterday that the Olympics were a "once-in-a-lifetime good cause". But the government's plans to divert an additional £675m from the National Lottery to fund the event has galvanised the cultural and sporting worlds. http://www.guardian.co.uk/olympics2012/story/0,,2063338,00.html  
• However, nearly £2bn of National Lottery money earmarked for good causes is languishing in banks, according to figures seen by the Financial Times. Lottery distributors had promised to speed up distribution of the proceeds from ticket sales, but the latest recorded figure of £1.9bn in unspent cash at the end of January is £400m higher than they promised three years ago. Among the worst offenders are the Arts Council and Sport England. The money sitting in lottery distributors' acc-ounts threatens to undermine their argument that they are suffering from the government's decision to divert funds from the lottery to pay for the 2012 Olympics. The National Lottery Distribution Fund passes on cash raised in ticket sales to 15 distributors for allocation to good causes. But three years ago the National Audit Office accused them of holding onto the cash, and taking years to pay grants. Distributors had promised ministers in 2001 that balances, then standing at £3.4bn, would fall to £1.5bn by 2004. But progress has been slow, with the amount piled up in banks falling to only £2.7bn. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/ad18f3e6-f136-11db-838b-000b5df10621.html
• Increasing numbers of patients are paying for private "top-up" treatments alongside NHS care, meaning the health service is no longer free, a report by leading doctors warns today. The doctors have written to all three main political parties, and the Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt, outlining their concerns that the idea of a free health service is a "political mirage". The study was written by three doctors, including Karol Sikora, professor of cancer medicine at Imperial College School of Medicine for the group Doctors for Reform, which has nearly 1,000 members, all working for the NHS. It says that patients are developing "sophisticated approaches to purchasing upgrades to their care", including in key areas such as cancer and heart disease. http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/health_medical/article2474429.ece
• Increasing numbers of children with learning difficulties are being sent to education "sin bins" - to be taught beside badly behaved and often violent pupils. Figures from the Conservatives show that the number of children with physical and emotional problems who are schooled in so-called "pupil referral units" has more than doubled since 1997. It comes despite warnings from Ofsted, the education watchdog, that the units - which normally educate children expelled from mainstream schools - are the worst possible settings for children with special educational needs. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/04/23/nedu23.xml
• Hundreds of thousands more homes will be blighted by low-flying aircraft when flight paths are redrawn to deal with 1 million extra flights a year over Britain by 2015. The airspace to be redesigned is the most complex in the world, involving aircraft that use Heathrow, Stansted, Luton and smaller airports such as London City, Northolt, Southend and Biggin Hill. Several new flight paths will be introduced and National Air Traffic Services (Nats) will create new stacks, in which aircraft circle while waiting for landing slots. Some of Heathrow's present four stacks are likely to be moved. Hundreds of thousands of homes in London and the Home Counties will be affected by the changes, which are due to come into force by 2009. The changes are being made because Terminal Control North airspace has almost reached its capacity. Nats handled 2.4 million flights last year and, on the present trend of 4 per cent growth a year, will handle 3.4 million by 2015. The Government is supporting the expansion of dozens of airports to allow passenger numbers to double by 2030 to 470 million a year, an average of eight flights per person. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article1690728.ece
• An American-owned education company is to take over the senior management of a London comprehensive school in what is thought to be the first case of its kind for a local authority school. Part of the three-year £1m package for Edison Schools will depend on pupils at Salisbury school in Enfield, north London, achieving better GCSE grades and scores in national tests for 14-year-olds, as well as ensuring there are fewer exclusions and making school popular with parents. The decision to contract out the posts of head teacher and two deputies for a school that is not even failing marks a new departure for the state system, where such outside management has so far been a feature of academies which are independent of local authorities. New trust schools will also soon have freedom to form partnerships with private companies. http://business.guardian.co.uk/story/0,,2063220,00.html
• The state now has 266 powers to draw upon when its agents want to enter homes, according to research. A report from the Centre for Policy Studies says that an Englishman's home is less his castle and more "a right of way'' for police, local government officials and other bureaucrats. In the 1950s just 10 new powers of entry were granted by statute. In the 1980s and 1990s an extra 60 were added. For the first time, Harry Snook, a barrister and the author of the study, Crossing the Threshold, has drawn together the full list of entry powers in the state's possession. Force can be used in most cases. The research comes at a time of heightened concern over the lengthening arm of the state, with ID cards around the corner and more sophisticated surveillance equipment being used to watch people. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/04/23/nhome23.xml

Conservatives

Government

• New proposals to protect the victims of forced marriages are to be introduced to Parliament today. Lord Lester of Herne Hill's bid to empower family courts to use civil remedies as part of a crackdown received cross-party support in January. And constitutional affairs minister Baroness Ashton, who will introduce the Forced Marriage (Civil Protection) Bill to the Lords, said the changes would be a "powerful and useful new tool" in protecting victims. They would stop short of making forced marriages a criminal offence, but would provide courts with new powers to impose injunctions to prevent the practice, and order arrests where these are breached.  
• NASA and the British National Space Centre (BNSC) have signed a historic agreement to jointly study how the two space agencies might work together on future planetary explorations to the Moon and beyond. A joint team is to be established to conduct a study into specific areas of US-UK potential collaboration involving lunar science and exploration. Science and Innovation Minister Malcolm Wicks said: "During my recent meeting with NASA's Administrator Dr Michael Griffin, I was keen for the USA and UK to co-operate on exactly this sort of exciting endeavour."  
• The development of casinos across the UK could cause health problems for serious and novice gamblers alike, doctors have warned. The government had said Manchester would have the first "super casino", and 16 other cities would have casinos of a smaller scale. But those plans are currently on hold after they were rejected by peers. The British Medical Journal paper says the health effects of gambling must be considered if new casinos do open.

Other

Yesterday the EU set a dangerous precedent. Condoning or “grossly trivialising” genocide will become a crime punishable by up to three years in prison across Europe. Now condoning genocide is a ridiculous and sick thing to do, I think most of us will agree. We don't need a law to tell us that. The act was sparked by the German presidency of the EU and maybe in Germany they have reason to implement these tough laws with their history of Nazism and the holocaust. That is their business. I do not see the need for this law to be imposed on Britain however. We already have enough laws about inciting racial hatred and violence, so why impose yet more legislation on us? Graham Watson, MEP, leader of the Liberal group in the European Parliament, said: “The EU has no business legislating on history.