Too much food packaging by supermarkets is undermining local authorities’ efforts to recycle and is adding to council tax bills, the Local Government Association claimed this week. In a survey published on February 16, the LGA said almost 40% of supermarket food packaging was difficult to recycle. LGA chair Margaret Eaton said: ‘At a time when we’re in recession and shoppers are feeling the pinch, we have to move on from a world that tolerates cling-filmed coconuts and shrink-wrapped tins of baked beans. Families are fed up with having to carry so much packaging home from the supermarket.’ The LGA is calling on the government to make retailers responsible for funding the collection of packaging so they have a direct incentive to produce less.
The proportion of complaints against the NHS upheld by the Healthcare Commission has risen by 50% in a year. Of the 9,000 complaints referred to the commission in 2007, 30% were upheld compared with 20% in 2006. Healthcare Commission chief executive Anna Walker said while it was encouraging that the number of complaints received remained relatively small considering the millions of treatments provided by the NHS, the service still needed to learn from its mistakes. ‘It is very important that people feel that they can complain about their NHS trust if they need to and that the trust will respond positively to their complaint and learn general lessons from it,’ she said.
Applications for undergraduate courses at UK universities have risen by 8%, according to figures released on February 16. Universities admissions body Ucas said applications from over-21s rose by 13% and from people from other European Union countries by 12%. Diana Warwick. chief executive of Universities UK, said: ‘Applicants are making informed choices and thinking carefully about the value of higher education, particularly in the current economic climate.’
Councils are working flat out to repair road damage caused by the recent severe weather, according to the Local Government Association. Council leaders fear that this year’s bill will greatly exceed last year’s £48m spent on fixing over 750,000 potholes. David Sparks, chair of the LGA Transport Board, said: ‘The wet combined with the freezing conditions destroys tarmac very quickly. As the ice seeps into the road it expands and rips chunks out of the surfaces, leaving potholes blighting the highways. Councils are working flat out to keep drivers safe by fixing the holes as quickly as possible. Temporary solutions will be used where necessary until the weather improves.’
Fire minister Sadiq Khan has welcomed an Audit Commission report showing that 82% of England’s fire and rescue services are rated as improving well or strongly. The report recognises that accidental fire deaths are at their lowest level since the late 1950s. But Khan said: ‘It is clear from the report that while many fire and rescue services are improving their performance on community engagement and are working hard to make connections with the most vulnerable sections of our society, much still needs to be achieved to create a more representative workforce.’
The chief executive of Marie Curie Cancer Care, Thomas Hughes-Hallett, is to lead the Department of Health’s expert panel on end-of-life care. The End-of-Life Care Implementation Advisory Board will meet twice a year. Care services minister Phil Hope said: ‘We are investing £286m until 2011 to improve the quality of care people receive at the end of their lives.’ Hughes-Hallett said: ‘The essential task now is to turn the recommendations of the [government’s] strategy into reality for patients and families.’
