Picking Losers

Government

• Senior Whitehall figures are accusing ministers of creating a "culture of fear" in the Home Office that they claim is directly contributing to the department's catalogue of failures. They say officials have been so bullied by ministers - notably former home secretary David Blunkett and John Reid - that civil servants are now unwilling to give their political masters bad news. One cited example is the row over the failure to register data about Britons who commit offences abroad - only the latest in a series of debacles. One official has been suspended amid claims that ministers were not told what was happening. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/77e48296-bb06-11db-bbf3-0000779e2340.html
• As few as three uniformed police officers are available to patrol the streets, respond to 999 calls and tackle night-time disorder in some towns and city areas, according to research into the experiences of front-line Pcs. Despite record numbers of police officers overall, many commanders in local divisions in England and Wales - typically based in a station in small and medium towns - can call on just five or fewer uniformed officers per duty shift, the academic study shows. Those who are available are often tied up in bureaucracy for up to half their eight- or 10-hour shifts. The shortages are particularly acute at night, when police are most needed to deal with drunken hooligans. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;jsessionid=G3NYO20B5POFDQFIQMGCFFOAVCBQUIV0?xml=/news/2007/02/13/npolice13.xml
• Senior judges are strongly opposed to plans by ministers to restrict their power to quash guilty criminals' convictions because there has been a mistake in the trial process. It is the latest of the Home Secretary's plans for rebalancing the criminal justice system to fall foul of the judiciary. Critics say that the highest courts should have a last-resort power to denounce flagrant abuses by the state by striking down improperly secured convictions. http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/law/article1377202.ece
• Proposals aimed at heading off Government plans to penalise employers and recruitment firms by making them liable for tax unpaid by contract workers are to be presented to the Chancellor. The Association of Technology Companies has drawn up alternative plans based on reinforcing due diligence checks carried out by its members when vetting managed service companies used by contract workers. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2007/02/13/cbatc13.xml
• Social housing tenants will be given the chance to get a foot on the property ladder even if they can afford only 10% of the value of their home, the communities secretary, Ruth Kelly, will say today. She will argue that Labour should offer a new "right to own" matching the Tory "right to buy" of the 1980s. http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,2011698,00.html
• The transport secretary, Douglas Alexander, was under increasing pressure yesterday after he attempted to contain a snowballing campaign against Labour's plans to introduce road pricing. With tens of thousands every day signing an online petition against a mooted pay-as-you-drive congestion tax, Mr Alexander dismissed some of the petitioners' arguments as "myths" and warned motorists the government had no choice but to deal with "the growing problem of congestion". "We don't have the kind of luxury of doing nothing, if we are not going to see the kind of gridlock found in American cities," he said. http://environment.guardian.co.uk/climatechange/story/0,,2011953,00.html

NHS

Tough on crime. Tough on the causes of crime. Now that is picking a winner. This is what the government should be doing. However, it seems that being tough on crime and its causes has more to do with sitting behind a desk pushing a pen than actually getting out in to towns and cities and actually catching some criminals. According to research, as few as one in three officers are available to respond to 999 calls and tackle crime – particularly at night when the police are most needed to tackle drunken hooligans.

Why do we pay millions of pounds a year in taxes to train up and pay the wages of our police officers when they spend half their shift writing about what they have done that day? It doesn’t take a genius to work out that the police would better tackle crime if they are at the crime scenes or even better out and about stopping crimes taking place in the first place. I do fear, however, that things are unlikely to change and even if they do the government will probably have to set up an “independent” think tank first to tell what we already know – uniformed officers are tough on crime and its causes, not bic biros.

• New measures to strengthen police powers to deal with sex offenders and further protect the public from crime come into force today. The measures, from the Violent Crime Reduction Act 2006, mean that from today more offenders can be placed on the sex offenders' register for life; the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) can prosecute an offender for a sexual offence, even if the date of the offence is unknown; courts can seize any vehicle used in connection with people trafficking; and anybody found in possession of a knife or blade in a public place or school faces a maximum prison sentence of four years.
• The Chancellor, Gordon Brown, and the Secretary of State for Culture, Tessa Jowell today published the Government's official study into the feasibility of hosting a future World Cup, concluding that England is well placed to bid to host the tournament in 2018, and has strong public support for doing so.
• The UK Government is funding a consortium to help develop 'greener' air-conditioning systems, which are more energy efficient, cost effective and environmentally friendly for planes, high-speed and underground trains and buildings. Adoption of aircraft-style 'air cycle' air-conditioning technologies in buildings would eliminate emissions from conventional hydro fluorocarbon, or greenhouse gases. The £800,000 two-year research and technology project, named New Environmental Control System Technology, or NECST, will create the technology needed to develop the air-conditioning systems.
• The Government is investing in a £17.4m project to provide computer technology to bring the next generation of aircraft into production in the UK. The project, which will also boost the UK's car and boat industries, comes on top of a £34 m DTI-backed wing technology project recently launched by the Secretary of State Alistair Darling at the Airbus factory in Broughton in North Wales. The project announced today will put £8.7m of Government money, through the DTI-led Technology Programme, towards another Airbus-led consortium, to develop computer-based simulation software dramatically improving the design process for future aircraft.

• The Liberal Democrats are to refer the British Government to the European Commission over the abandonment of the investigation into BAE Systems' dealings in Saudi Arabia. If the Commission finds that its rules have been broken, the Government could face a potentially unlimited fine in the European Court of Justice. 

Conservatives

Government

• Senior government figures have played down any chance of Labour increasing the taxation of City bonuses after a prominent cabinet minister said they were creating a "grotesque" wealth gap in the UK. Peter Hain, Northern Ireland secretary and a candidate for the Labour deputy leadership, launched an assault on the bonus system, insisting recipients should hand over two-thirds of the money they receive to boost deprived communities.But although Mr Hain's attack was one of the fiercest on this subject from a senior Labour figure in recent years, it will not effect Treasury policy. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/433a5a44-ba3d-11db-89c8-0000779e2340.html
• A call from Beverley Hughes, children's minister, for the right to request part-time or flexible working to be extended to all workers has been rejected by business leaders. Ms Hughes, writing in a series of essays to be published by the Institute for Public Policy Research, says that extending flexible working rights would help parents balance their working lives around their children. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/60936cd8-ba3e-11db-89c8-0000779e2340.html
• The school meals tsar Prue Leith admits that she has just three years to convince Britain's seven million schoolchildren to adopt healthy eating habits. Otherwise, she fears that people will "lose faith" in the campaign to improve school meals. If that happens, nutritional standards in school dinners could slip back to the level of neglect that has dogged the service for the past two decades. http://enjoyment.independent.co.uk/food_and_drink/news/article2261498.ece 
• Schools will be required to provide at least four hours of sport for pupils every week under plans outlined by Gordon Brown. His proposals envisage schools being opened during holidays and weekends to allow youngsters and older people to use their facilities. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/education/article1368816.ece
• A big extension of the use of private companies to help the Government to try to get a million more people off welfare benefits and into work is planned by ministers. Single parents could face tougher conditions and earlier work tests to encourage them to take jobs. At present half the lone parents in Britain work. A range of measures to reduce the stark figure of 4.9 million people of work age who claim benefit will be brought forward in a review for the Work and Pensions Department this month. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article1368903.ece
• Downing Street is backing plans for an overhaul of the welfare state which would force single parents back into work much earlier than at present and make English lessons compulsory for people who cannot get jobs because they struggle with the language. http://www.guardian.co.uk/frontpage/story/0,,2011051,00.html
• Ten areas in England are considering road pricing schemes as 60,000 London residents brace for an extension of the capital's congestion charge. The pressure on the government over road pricing increased yesterday, with the number of people who have signed an anti-road pricing petition on the Downing Street website passing a million. http://environment.guardian.co.uk/travel/story/0,,2011135,00.html
• State funding of political parties could rise to £28m a year under one of the proposals being put forward by the former civil servant charged with seeking a cross-party agreement on cleaning up the system. Sir Hayden Phillips has drawn up proposals under which parties would earn 60p for every vote they received in general elections or byelections for Westminster seats. Up to 30p would be earned for each vote in European or Scottish, Welsh and Northern Ireland assembly elections. http://www.guardian.co.uk/guardianpolitics/story/0,,2010997,00.html
• Tony Blair will hold a mini-summit with the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, in Berlin tomorrow amid growing optimism that he can crown his 10-year premiership with an international breakthrough on climate change in June. Aware that his influence in domestic policy is dwindling, Mr Blair has decided to focus on four foreign policy issues during his remaining months in power in the belief that he can make progress on the environment, global trade talks, the Middle East peace plan and Africa. http://environment.guardian.co.uk/climatechange/story/0,,2011130,00.html
• An NHS hospital with an international reputation for medical excellence has been thrown into financial disarray by the government's health service reforms. After overspending by about £900,000 in the first half of the year, Moorfields eye hospital in London got a risk alert from the regulator and had its borrowing limits halved. http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,2011088,00.html
• Universities will be encouraged to build up funds of billions of pounds from former students and philanthropists under plans to be unveiled by Tony Blair this week. Drawing on the experience of US institutions that raise huge sums from alumni, the government will give £1 for every £2 donated to English universities in an attempt to embed a "culture of charitable giving" across higher education. http://education.guardian.co.uk/higher/news/story/0,,2011140,00.html
• Courts in England and Wales are expected to be affected by a two-day work-to-rule by angry criminal law solicitors this week as opposition mounts to government plans to change the way legal aid services are paid for. Lawyers said the proposals, which stem from a government commissioned review of the legal aid system by Lord Carter of Coles, would accelerate the flight of lawyers from legal aid work. The age profile of those doing criminal legal aid shows most are in their late 40s and 50s and few younger solicitors are attracted into a field that pays poorly compared with other legal work. http://www.guardian.co.uk/law/story/0,,2011165,00.html
• One in three households across Britain is now dependent on the state for at least half its income, it has emerged. Official government figures showed that more than seven million households are getting most of their income from government handouts. The figures also reveal the huge gulf in welfare dependency between single parent and two-parent households. The report is scathing about how New Labour welfare policy has been designed to "create beholden voters rather than independent people". http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;jsessionid=J12TIETDSUHHLQFIQMFSFFWAVCBQ0IV0?xml=/news/2007/02/12/nwelfare12.xml 
• Failing care homes which have been ordered to shut down are able to defy the sector's watchdog by remaining in business following serious allegations of neglect. In the wake of allegations of abuse, homes can exploit a loophole in the law, allowing them to continue to operate by entering a lengthy appeals process. The latest concerns about standards of care for thousands of elderly residents come in advance of a BBC Panorama documentary which will broadcast allegations tonight of abuse and neglect at two homes in Yorkshire. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/02/12/nold12.xml 
• A dire shortage of midwives is forcing maternity units to turn away expectant mothers, a survey has found. Figures show that centres across England closed temporarily for a total of 170 days last year, during which time women would have had to go elsewhere for help. The survey, collated by the research organisation Dr Foster, found that 24 of the 39 maternity units forced to close had to do so for periods of 24 hours or more. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/02/12/nbirth12.xml 

Olympics

Official government figures showed that more than seven million households are getting most of their income from government handouts. That is one in three households across Britain who is now dependent on the state for at least half its income. How on earth has this culture of dependency come about?

Gordon Brown (and successive governments before New Labour) have orchestrated a society that feels that relying on handouts is the better option compared with the reality of getting back in to work. The benefits system is now so generous you can not blame many people for “playing” the system. While the government might like to think that it is giving a leg up to those living in relative poverty in this country, it is actually keeping them there as it is the better and easier option for them.

Tony Blair, when not trying to save the planet or fight the just wars of the Middle East, is making his stake to be Britain’s leading philanthropist. The government will give £1 for every £2 donated to English universities in an attempt to embed a "culture of charitable giving" across higher education. There is nothing wrong with former students and businesses donating money to the universities – from a business point of view it may well be a wise investment. However, the government claiming it will “embed a culture of charitable giving” by giving away money that was raised by the tax payers in the first place is absolute nonsense.

Government

• A streamlined process for applying to Defra for waste PFI credits has been announced. The introduction of Award Rounds, similar to those used by other government departments, means discrete application windows will replace the previous 'first come first served' system. PFI has a key role in helping local authorities to finance the estimated £11bn of infrastructure required for the UK to meet its targets for reducing dependence on landfill. The previous Waste PFI system allowed Local Authorities to apply for credits at any time of the year.