13 June 2008
A compulsory national identity card could be used to carry out surveillance on millions of people, MPs on the home affairs select committee have warned. In a June 9 report, the MPs called on the government to pledge that the cards would not be used as a matter of routine to spy on people. They warned of the dangers of 'function creep', with the availability of data producing unreasonable levels of surveillance. 'Any ambiguity about the objectives of the scheme puts in jeopardy the public's trust in the scheme itself and in the government's ability to run it,' they said.
Public service union Unison has called for a rethink on plans for a new social care inspection service. It said on June 6 that changes to the inspection regime for care homes were putting the lives of elderly residents at risk. Helga Pile, Unison officer for social care, said: 'The government needs a dramatic rethink before further changes to adult social care inspections are introduced. Currently it runs the risk of carrying outstanding problems into the new system and seeing vulnerable residents left to suffer in silence.' The union says budget and staffing cuts have led to a more hands-off approach to complaints, leaving inspectors with little choice but to direct residents with grievances back to their providers.
Five new non-executive members of the Department for Communities and Local Government's board have been announced by permanent secretary Peter Housden. They are: Polly Cochrane, marketing director at Channel 4; Debbie Hewitt, managing director of the RAC Automotive Group; Rob Vincent, chief executive of Kirklees Metropolitan Borough Council; Sarah Weir, UK Cultural Olympiad launch director for the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games; and Peter Doyle, chair of the Church Urban Fund. .
A centre Right think-tank has criticised the Sub-National Economic Development and Regeneration Review, saying the plans do not go far enough to devolve power to local authorities. The future of regional governance, published by Localis, says the government's case for regional development agencies is based on little or no evidence. It proposes a 'slimming down' of the responsibilities currently held by RDAs. The paper suggests that strategic planning powers should be returned to upper-tier local authorities; that local authorities should be able to bid for economic development responsibilities; and that RDAs could be scaled down to regional offices of the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform.
An online consultation on better ways to spend the Ministry of Justice's £5bn budget for prison and probation opened on June 10. The Commons justice select committee is investigating 'justice reinvestment', whether money spent on imprisonment could be better spent on areas such as mental health and drug treatment to reduce reoffending. It wants opinions on the current budget for prison and probation, which is set to increase by £1.3bn to fund the development of three new 'titan' prisons. The e-consultation runs for six weeks and is at.http://forums.parliament.uk/prisoncosts
In the May 30 issue of Public Finance, we reported that a study by the South East England Regional Assembly concluded the region had built 71,000 affordable homes in 2006/07. That figure should have been 7,100. We also reported that, according to the study, the region's 30% shortfall against its affordable homes target meant it would lose £400m in funding from the Housing Corporation's national affordable housing programme. In fact, the study said the region needed an additional £400m funding to meet its target.
PFjun2008
