Submitted by LP on Wed, 07/02/2007 - 14:26
- MPs are pressing for a special exemption from new powers that they brought in seven years ago in a popular attempt to open up government to public scrutiny. A private members' Bill introduced by a former Tory whip and considered by a Commons committee today will stop the public from using the Freedom of Information Act to find out how their MPs run their private offices.
- Microchips in the new electronic passports only carry a 2 year warranty even though they are ment to be valid for 10 years. The Home Office's Identity and Passport Service has issued 4m of the ePassports which store the holder's photo and details that can be then read by a scanner at border control.
- The Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, called for an "extraordinary review" of "massive" cost overruns by the consortium responsible for maintaining most of the Tube system. Mr Livingstone denounced Metronet's "inefficiency" and formally asked the London Underground regulator to investigate.Chris Bolt, the official arbiter of the public-private partnership (PPP) which runs the Tube infrastructure, is being asked to decide how much of the £750m overrun will be funded by taxpayers and how much by Metronet shareholders - Atkins, Balfour Beatty, Bombardier, EDF Energy and Thames Water.
- Lord Coe yesterday urged the Treasury to focus on the benefits rather than the costs of the 2012 Olympics as he and his team submitted the games blueprint, Europe's largest planning application. Although he is anxious not to be sucked into the intensifying political row over Olympic funding their comments were made at a sensitive time. The Olympic budget will be announced in the next fortnight and there is speculation that the Treasury is unhappy about the prospect of escalating costs. Last week Ken Livingstone, the London mayor, told the London assembly the total cost, of the games and the regeneration, may well reach £5bn. There is speculation about the extent to which funding should be derived from the national lottery as opposed to direct funding from the Treasury.
- Tony Blair unveiled a swath of policy initiatives yesterday covering compulsory uniforms for punishment in the community, greater private sector delivery of welfare, personal carbon budgets and a switch in funding from dubious national Muslim groups to smaller local groups. The plans outlined at a lengthy session with Commons select committee chairmen were designed to show the prime minister remains energetically focused on domestic policy in his final months.
- Ivan Lewis, the health minister responsible for maternity services in England launched yesterday a report by Sheila Shribman, the maternity "tsar". The report presented medical arguments for more midwife-led maternity units.
- The Department of Trade and Industry's low carbon buildings programme, designed to boost the installation of solar panels and wind turbines on houses, has been dogged by insufficient funds and soaring demand. The £3.5m originally allocated for the 2005-06 fiscal year ran out after just six months.
- Companies regulated by the Financial Services Authority face a 9.5% rise in fees as the City regulator endeavours to retain high-calibre staff and boost the financial understanding of the wider population.Instead of prescriptive rules, the FSA is adopting a "principles-based" approach to regulation. To this end, the FSA plans to spend £50m in "improving the effectiveness of FSA staff" and axe 300 of its 2,800 positions over the next three years.
- Drivers face being confronted by a new generation of cat's eyes with built-in cameras capable of taking pictures of speeding motorists. Known as intelligent road studs, they have been earmarked by ministers as the latest weapon in an increasingly sophisticated armoury to be deployed on the roads.
- Philip Hammond, shadow work and pensions secretary, hit out yesterday at the Government's failure to help people who lost their life savings when company schemes went bust. Speaking ahead of a judicial review into the scandal, which begins at the High Court today, Mr Hammond said the Financial Assistance Scheme (FAS) set up by the Government 18 months ago has made partial payments to only 871 people out of 125,000 whose company pensions collapsed. During that period, the FAS has run up administrative costs of £7m but paid only £3m to pensioners. It is taking more than six months to process each claim.
- A series of “green crimes”, enforceable across the EU and punishable by prison sentences and hefty fines, are to be proposed under a contentious push by the European Commission into the sensitive area of criminal lawmaking. The drive by Brussels to apply penalties for ecological crime reflects concerns that some countries treat offences such as pollution and illegal dumping of waste more seriously than others, allowing criminals to exploit loopholes.
