Government
- The Home Office will be split into two separate departments for security and for justice in the next six weeks. The Department for Constitutional Affairs will take control of probation, prisons and prevention of re-offending and be renamed the Ministry of Justice. The slimmed-down Home Office will then be left to concentrate on dealing with terrorism, security and immigration.
- The provisional figures published today for carbon dioxide emissions underline the need for swift and decisive action on climate change, Environment Secretary David Miliband said today. The figures do not include the effect of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (which covers nearly half of UK carbon dioxide emissions) but Mr Miliband said that should not disguise the need for action. Mr Miliband said that, while the 11/4% increase in 2006 was due mainly to unusually high international gas prices leading to a switch to coal in electricity generation, the statistics demonstrated the clear need for continued action by all levels of government, business, and individuals.
- Public buildings like museums, galleries, government buildings and town halls must get energy ratings - like consumer friendly fridge ratings - and display them to the public from April 2008, the Government said today. Visitors will be able to see the annual carbon emissions of each building. This measure is intended to encourage energy improvements to public buildings, help cut costs to the public purse and lead the way in cutting carbon emissions.
- New guidance on street design aims to breathe new life into communities by creating safe and sustainable environments for residents, Transport Minister Gillian Merron announced today. Manual for Streets, a joint publication between the Department for Transport and Communities and Local Government, emphasises the importance of residential streets in the creation of places in which people want to live. In particular it aims to reduce the impact of vehicles on residential streets by asking practitioners to plan street design intelligently and proactively, and gives a high priority to the needs of pedestrians, cyclists and users of public transport.
- The Government today launched a major modernisation of the Building Control system with the publication of a paper detailing its vision for how the system can be improved. 'The Future for Building Control' sets out a package of options that the Government is minded to develop further and invites interested parties to provide suggestions on how reform should proceed. The publication follows detailed discussions with key members of industry on the strengths and weaknesses of the current system, which have highlighted the strong case for reform. The paper recognises a number of important shortcomings with the current system including the lack of a clear future vision for the purpose of Building Control, the current piecemeal approach to regulatory change and the complexity of guidance. Problems with achieving compliance and with effective enforcement are also highlighted as key areas for action.
- A £3.9 billion budget for the new Rural Development Programme for England 2007 to 2013 has been agreed. This is more than double the budget available for the previous programme which ran from 2000-2006. This programme will implement the European Rural Development Regulation - also known as the Second Pillar of the Common Agricultural Policy. £3.3 billion of the total budget will be allocated to agri-environment and other land management schemes. This funding will help farmers manage the land more sustainably and deliver important environmental outcomes on biodiversity, landscape and access, water quality and climate change. Some £600 million will also be made available to make agriculture and forestry more competitive and sustainable and to enhance opportunity in rural areas.
- The Office of Government Commerce (OGC) will today announce four new government deals, worth over £1 billion. The deals will allow public sector organisations to make savings on the cost of buying goods and services. The deals include a £1 billion four-year electricity framework led by OGCbuying.solutions, which will provide a portion of electricity from renewable sources; a four-year print services framework led by the Department for Transport to be awarded next week, giving access to suppliers across the UK with the quality, capacity and technical capability to serve public sector customers; and two three-year framework agreements on the supply of tyres and vehicle glass worth £79 million. Led by the NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency (NHS PASA) and the Police Information Technology Organisation (PITO) respectively, these deals are set to save the public sector over £6 million.
- The government must put "extra effort" into increasing skills in the car industry if it is to avoid further job losses, MPs have warned. A review by the Commons trade and industry select committee, launched after the collapse of MG Rover in 2005, found "mixed prospects" for the future of the automotive industry.
Conservatives
- David Cameron and Nick Bourne have launched the Welsh Conservatives' manifesto for May's assembly elections. The party, currently with one fewer seats than Plaid, has ambitions to become the official opposition or even govern in coalition, as its fortunes revive in Wales. At the centre of the campaign is a promise to revamp the NHS which has been criticised for having longer waiting times than its counterpart in England. Having originally campaigned against the creation of the assembly the party has promised made-in-Wales policies in a bid to "make devolution work". Bourne said the present opposition parties must co-operate to provide a real alternative to Labour rule in Cardiff Bay.