Government
- Airbus will today announce plans to build a composites manufacturing facility near Bristol to supply the new family of A350 jets planned by the European aircraft maker under its €10bn (£6.7bn) development programme. The move represents a partial victory for the UK, which had fought hard to win manufacturing work using the next generation of composite materials. Airbus will create the manufacturing facility in a joint venture with a supplier, probably GKN, the UK engineering group. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/bbc6bf3a-c6d0-11db-8f4f-000b5df10621.html
- Three-quarters of NHS hospitals in England cannot guarantee the safety of children in their care, the government's health watchdog warned today in a "wake-up call" to shock doctors and managers into improving services. The Healthcare Commission said nearly one in five NHS trusts did not provide effective life support for children brought in for emergency treatment at night last year. More than half of hospitals did not give staff adequate training in child protection, ignoring procedures put in place after the death of the child abuse victim Victoria Climbié in 2000. Many doctors in outpatient clinics and day surgery units knew little about pain relief for children, and the majority of NHS surgeons and anaesthetists lacked essential training in how to communicate with children. http://society.guardian.co.uk/health/story/0,,2023021,00.html
- The government's chief science adviser yesterday backed controversial plans to create embryos that are part-human, part-animal, in defiance of ministers who want to outlaw the research. Sir David King said work on the embryos should be allowed under tight regulations, adding that it was crucial for scientists to gain the public's trust and support for the research to avoid a GM food-style backlash. His position leaves the government isolated over proposals to ban experiments many scientists claim could lead to lifesaving stem cell therapies. http://www.guardian.co.uk/genes/article/0,,2023006,00.html
- The NHS has a pensions "black hole", which has risen by £61.2 billion over the past two years, according to official figures released yesterday. Government documents obtained by the Conservatives show that total liabilities for the NHS pension scheme have hit £165.4 billion, compared with £104.2 billion two years ago. The figures include an additional £2.7 billion, which the Government had accidentally "lost" from last year's accounts, and dwarf the pension deficits of Britain's top private sector employers. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/02/28/nhosi28.xml
- The number of pupils taught in grammar schools has soared dramatically since Labour came to power - provoking uproar both within the party and among parents' groups. Figures released yesterday showed an increase ofaround 20 per cent since 1997 - from 128,712 to 155,712. The increase has angered parents' organisations campaigning for the abolition of grammar schools on the ground they write off 11-year-olds as failures. Margaret Tulloch, secretary of Comprehensive Future - which took a delegation to see the schools minister, Jim Knight, yesterday - said: "After 10 years of a Labour government, we've got more children in selective education than we had beforehand. http://education.independent.co.uk/news/article2311303.ece
- John Prescott has thrown his weight behind a growing campaign at Westminster to force a rethink of the decision to site Britain's first super-casino in Manchester. The Deputy Prime Minister has told backbenchers that he believed the casino should have gone to Blackpool, Labour MPs said last night. Ministers including Tessa Jowell, the Culture Secretary, were reported to have been "stunned" by the independent advisory panel's decision to recommend Manchester's bid. The Cabinet now faces an embarrassing dilemma - whether to press ahead with Manchester or bow to the growing pressure at Westminster and set up a new committee to reconsider the decision. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/02/28/ncasino28.xml