Policy Alert 19th October 2012
AGMA
For more information go to http://www.agma.gov.uk
Children & Young People
Michael Gove plans baccalaureate-style shakeup of A-levels
Economy
Cabinet Office launches Ambassadors programme to support fledgling mutuals
Government to address staggering scale of uncollected debt
Bill to boost growth and infrastructure goes before Parliament
Aspiring entrepreneurs helped to kick-start new businesses
Rochdale firm gets green light for government funding
Ending abuse of village green legislation will unlock growth and boost aspiration
Town halls anticipate non-payment of council tax by low earners
Pickles calls for councils to reveal parking cash
Environment & Sustainability
Coalition will unlock energy investment
Health & Wellbeing
The NICE Tobacco Return on Investment Tool
New principles set out for hospital food
Improvement
Launch of GOV.UK a key milestone in making public service delivery Digital by Default
Local Government Ombudsman commits to greater openness and accountability
Reports & Statistics
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Catch up on the latest crime and confidence statistics
Communication is the key to deaf children's development
AGMA
For more information go to http://www.agma.gov.uk
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Children & Young People
Michael Gove plans baccalaureate-style shakeup of A-levels Reforms expected to include
eventual scrapping of A-level modules and introduction of dissertations of up to 5,000 words
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Economy
Cabinet Office launches Ambassadors programme to support fledgling mutuals Each
Ambassador will work closely to deliver specific advice and support to emerging and existing
mutuals. This will include troubleshooting, sharing their commercial expertise, promoting
public service mutuals and identifying upcoming new projects. The programme will run for a
year in the first instance.
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Government to address staggering scale of uncollected debt New laws enabling government
departments to share information on people and businesses that owe them money will be
introduced. According to a recent study debtors owed money to multiple departments. The
new law will make it easier to share information, understand debtors’ circumstances so that
more effective and intelligent action can be taken to recover money and reduce losses.
Debtors who try to beat the system will find it much harder while those in genuine hardship
will get the support they need to clear their debt.
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Bill to boost growth and infrastructure goes before Parliament The new Growth and
Infrastructure Bill will set out a comprehensive series of practical reforms to reduce red tape
which can delay and discourage business investment, new infrastructure and job creation
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Aspiring entrepreneurs helped to kick-start new businesses 33,000 extra jobseekers will be
given help to set up their own business. The New Enterprise Allowance scheme, provides
expert coaching and financial support, is be extended and made easier to get behind those
who have the determination to start up their own business.
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Rochdale firm gets green light for government funding Holroyd Precision will start building its
new European headquarters in the area after being given the green light for funding from the
Government’s Regional Growth Fund. The company will receive £2.8 million from the fund
which will support the development of a new factory and an R&D European innovation
centre, securing 187 existing jobs and creating 137 new positions. The North West region
has received £77million from round three of the fund, which will create nearly 11,000 direct
jobs and an estimated 8,900 indirect jobs. This is on top of the 46 successful bids from
rounds one and two of the fund, of which 32 have already started
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Ending abuse of village green legislation will unlock growth and boost aspiration New plans
in the Growth Bill will ensure communities that wish to see land developed in their areas will
no longer be overruled by an abuse of Town and Village Green legislation. Current
legislation means that building work that has been granted planning permission or is
undergoing community consultation can be delayed while the legal process of considering a
Town and Village Green (TVG) application takes place.
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Town halls anticipate non-payment of council tax by low earners Local authorities
implementing benefit changes next year have admitted that they expect up to half of lowincome residents will refuse to pay council tax.
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Pickles calls for councils to reveal parking cash The transparency drive was announced
after Whitehall figures showed the annual income from parking was £1.27bn last year, and
follows the wide-ranging amendments to The Code of Recommended Practice for Local
Authorities on Data Transparency, which will introduce not only transparency standards on
parking charges but also pay and expenditure over £500.
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Environment & Sustainability
Coalition will unlock energy investment Ed Davey yesterday assured businesses that the
Government will provide the certainty investors are looking for in its forthcoming Energy Bill,
unlocking billions in energy infrastructure investment vital for keeping the lights on,
emissions down and bills affordable.
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Health & Wellbeing
The NICE Tobacco Return on Investment Tool A new interactive tool developed by NICE
and Brunel University will help local authorities count the cost of tobacco-related harm in
their communities. The tool also models the longer-term cash savings that authorities can
expect by putting tobacco control strategies in place.
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New principles set out for hospital food New standards setting out what patients should
expect from NHS hospital food have been announced by Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt. A
set of basic principles covering the quality of food, nutritional content and choice for patients
will be backed up by new assessments led by patients.
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Councils have raised concerns about their public health role, after it emerged the size of
some of the contracts local government is set to inherit could consume almost all of local
authorities’ funding allocations. Two councils that believe their funding allocations outlined
by the Department of Health earlier this year will not cover the cost of contracts for services
such as sexual health whilst the DoH has pledged to give councils funding equivalent to
primary care trusts’ expenditure on public health, so that services don’t have to close.
However, errors in PCTs’ calculations and a requirement for councils to run extra services
have led some to identify a gap between DH funding and their service obligations. Forcing
councils to ask PCTs for extra funding, lobby the department or renegotiate contracts.
Papers due to be discussed at a Lewisham LBC cabinet meeting next week show the
authority faces a £115,000 shortfall in public health funding. Its funding allocation is
expected to be £18.05m, while its inherited contracts are worth £16.1m. Once running and
staff costs are taken into account, it faces a shortfall. The document implies that Lewisham
PCT will have to make up the shortfall by cutting services if the issue is not addressed when
final allocations are announced - expected to be in December. Bexley LBC – have said the
difference between the value of their contracts and their indicative funding levels would
undermine the localisation of public health. Boroughs will be forced to take tough decisions
about which public health contracts they can continue to commission. The Department of
Health issued a statement that said: “No local authority is going to get less funding in real
terms for 2013-14 than estimates of current spend on public health- LGC 18th Oct
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Improvement
Launch of GOV.UK a key milestone in making public service delivery Digital by Default
GOV.UK, the new online home of government services and information has been released
which aims to create a single domain for government.
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Local Government Ombudsman commits to greater openness and accountability following a
report by the House of Commons Communities and Local Government Committee published
in July. By April 2015, the LGO Scheme will have introduced a new business model which
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handles complaints faster, delivers effective and proportionate dispute resolution, offers
higher levels of customer satisfaction and delivers value for money.
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Reports & Statistics
Catch up on the latest crime and confidence statistics
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Communication is the key to deaf children's development Is a small-scale survey examining
good practice in services supporting deaf children in three local authorities highlighting
effective joint working across. Inspectors found early diagnosis and timely access to
support to be crucial. The allocation of support from ‘teachers of the deaf’ was important to
helping parents come to terms with the fact their child was deaf and how they could best
help them, playing a pivotal role in providing and coordinating support and promoting deaf
awareness among school staff.
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Kalsoom Iqbal
Policy Officer
Corporate Services-Performance & Transformation
19/10/2012
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