07 March 2008
More than £1bn is being given to 12 areas in the North of England and the Midlands to improve housing and support regeneration schemes. The allocations, announced by the Department for Communities and Local Government on February 28, guarantee the future of the housing renewal programme until 2011. The largest sums are going to Merseyside (£152m) and East Lancashire (£150m). But each of the initial nine pathfinders will receive at least £50m over three years. Housing minister Iain Wright said the pathfinders, which have already received £1.2bn, were making great progress. 'This money will help bridge the gaps that still remain,' he added.
The former Department of Trade and Industry (now the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform) seriously mismanaged the early stages of two compensation schemes for coal miners suffering from work-related lung disease, MPs have said. Public Accounts Committee chair Edward Leigh said the result was that many claimants had to wait too long. 'Some of these were elderly and ill and in no position to wait — in some cases ten years or more. Some claimants even died while waiting,' he said, as the PAC published a report on the schemes on March 4.
More resources are needed to tackle substandard housing and improve public health, according to the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health. Assessing the implementation of the housing health and safety rating system, the CIEH argued that enforcement relied too much on complaints and staff availability. CIEH president Stephen Battersby said: 'To reduce the health effects of poor housing and ensure tenants are not exposed to retaliatory eviction, more resources must be made available so that officers on the ground can do more than just investigate complaints.'
Welsh councils have welcomed an improvement in learning standards after the education inspectorate Estyn's annual report for 2006/07 revealed rising levels of achievement. John Davies, the Welsh Local Government Association spokesman for lifelong learning, said: 'Our approaches are paying off with an increasing number of schools showing excellence across all seven areas of work inspected. However, we acknowledge the need to narrow the gap between the best and the worst performers.'
The Public and Commercial Services union reacted angrily to announcements of office closures and job cuts by two government departments. Revenue & Customs said on February 29 it would close 35 offices in Wales, Scotland and the Northwest of England, affecting up to 5,000 staff. On the previous day the Department for Work and Pensions announced plans to axe 12,000 jobs and close 200 offices. PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka said the closures would leave R&C unable to deliver quality public services. He added: 'The government has shown that they are willing to put the delivery of vital public services at risk with announcements in the DWP and R&C of arbitrary office closures and job cuts.'
Scotland's largest prison, Barlinnie, is close to capacity, its governor Bill McKinlay has warned. McKinlay said on March 3 that the jail can only house a further 160 prisoners. He said: 'The numbers when I go into crisis are 1,665 and above. I would have to say to my director and my board, I can't take any more. We would have to start closing down workshops and such like.' Contingency plans are under way to relieve capacity at the Victorian prison, which currently houses around 1,500 prisoners, nearly 50% more than it was designed to accommodate.
Wales scraps hospital parking charges
By david meilton
The Welsh Assembly Government has laid down a challenge to Westminster with a proposal this week to scrap charges for parking at NHS hospitals.
Parking for patients, staff and visitors will become free at most Welsh hospitals from April 1, the first anniversary of the abolition of prescription charges in Wales. Hospitals that have contracted out control of car parks will follow suit as soon as the contracts permit.
The decision, following a commitment made in the One Wales Agreement outlining the agenda of the Labour and Plaid Cymru coalition, will add to pressure on health ministers in England to stop hospitals making profits on parking charges.
Welsh Health Minister Edwina Hart said: 'Car parking charges fall heavily on people frequently attending NHS hospitals, whether they are patients, staff or visitors. They are at best an inconvenience and at worst an unfair expense.'
Trusts will be required to submit plans to deal with additional costs, the promotion of green transport modes and the potential use of parking spaces by commuters and shoppers.
Mike Ponton, director of the Welsh NHS Confederation, said: 'It costs a lot of money to run car parks and the dilemma now is how to meet these costs… It will inevitably add to the pressures placed on trusts to provide services and balance the books.'
Report warns of rural poverty
By julie read
A lack of infrastructure, affordable housing and service provision is leaving rural residents feeling like 'second-class citizens', according to a report.
The Rural Services Network, a coalition of more than 250 service providers, including councils, accused the government of consistently failing to do enough to protect the needs of people living in the countryside.
Graham Biggs, the network's chief officer, said: 'The government has broken its pledge that nobody should be disadvantaged because of where they live. We hope that our report will serve as a wake-up call that rural citizens are not prepared to be treated as second class.'
The report, Sustaining rural communities, published on March 3, calls on Prime Minister Gordon Brown to assume responsibility for and act swiftly on the findings of the Taylor Review into affordable rural housing, due to report in the summer.
It demands a fundamental review of the way that the planning system applies the test of sustainability in rural areas. It also calls for a redistribution of public funds as recognition of the extra costs of providing services in the countryside.
Biggs said: 'It is unsustainable and iniquitous for people living in rural areas to pay more in council tax while receiving less by way of services.'
The call to action coincided with a report from the government's advocate for the countryside, the Commission for Rural Communities' chair Stuart Burgess. He found that many English rural households were below the official poverty line of £16,492 a year.
Burgess said: 'Many people who live and work in rural England can enjoy a relatively healthy and prosperous lifestyle. However, the picture is not so rosy for all. A significant number of people are unable to share in this high quality of life, with more than 928,000 households with incomes below the official poverty threshold.' Burgess's recommendations include the need to promote community land trusts, which ensure properties are affordable for rural workers and do not become second homes.
PFmar2008
