Newsletter

The Education Committee has published its report into Residential children's homes, which says that ‘Children in care should be found residential homes in their own areas and local authorities should ensure that they have enough suitable placements to make this possible’.

Results Based Accountability in the Public Sector - How to Produce Measurable Improvements for Customers, Citizens and Communities A recent Centre for Social Government report, ‘Outcome-Based Government’ argues that a core aim of government is to improve social outcomes; yet for most government expenditure the real value of outcomes is rarely considered or even understood. What is Results Based Accountability? Results Based AccountabilityTM (RBA), also known as Outcomes Based AccountabilityTM(OBA), offers a common sense approach to outcome-based thinking to help enhance the well-being of populations and drive the improved performance and efficiency of public services. RBA therefore enables government organisations to answer these key questions: What are the quality of life conditions that we want for our communities? Is what we are doing having a positive impact on our customers?

This latest ebook, An Introduction to Results Based Accountability, discusses how RBA enables organisations and partnerships to prioritise their effort and expenditure on the delivery of results that make a measurable difference to their citizens and stakeholder communities.

Click here to download your free copy now.
 

A report that looks at how the arts, culture & historic environment can boost attainment, skills, pride in community and social inclusion has been launched in Swansea.  Written by Baroness Kay Andrews OBE, the report examines how cultural & heritage organisations can work closer together in order to help tackle poverty.  It also outlines how bodies can develop stronger links with anti-poverty schemes such as the Welsh Government’s Communities First programme.

Redesigning services around patients in the community and having staff who can make crucial clinical decisions to keep people at home should be explored as options for reducing pressures on NHS urgent & emergency care services.  The suggestions are part of a package of recommendations from the NHS Confederation's Urgent and Emergency Care Forum in a new report published last week

Ripping off the sticking plaster is a response to Sir Bruce Keogh's review of urgent and emergency care.  It calls for an end to 'sticking plaster solutions' and to shift focus to solutions that will last into the longer term.  Fundamental change is needed and the problems of emergency care cannot be tackled by NHS organisations working in isolation, the report says.

On the one hand: ‘New analysis shows the Scottish Government’s deficit forecast is £bns out of step with all other recent forecasts.  Scottish Secretary Alistair Carmichael said this was further evidence that Scottish Government Ministers will say anything to try and win the independence referendum’.

On the other: ‘The 2012-13 Government Expenditure and Revenue Scotland (GERS) report, which estimates levels of tax and spending in Scotland, demonstrates that, including a geographical share of North Sea oil and gas, tax revenues in Scotland were £800 higher per head compared to the UK in 2012-13’.

With the cost for a cyber-security breach increasing all the time for businesses & organisations, the government is looking at new ways to protect them and make the UK more resilient to cyber-attacks & crime.  It is also looking at ways to introduce cyber security skills to a younger generation as early as possible.

The ‘Cyber security skills: business perspectives and government’s next steps’ report includes plans to provide training for teachers to enable them to teach pupils about cyber security.  Support will also be offered to universities that devise innovative proposals to improve cyber security teaching; a new internship scheme will help provide students with the work experience employers are looking for.

Same sex couples in England & Wales wishing to be among the first to marry are being reminded that they have been able to give notice to their local register office as from 13 March 2014.  For most marriages or civil partnerships you must give at least 16 days’ notice at your local register office.  To give formal notice you should contact your local register office and make an appointment.  There might be different rules for religious ceremonies.

Same sex couples who married abroad under foreign law and are currently treated as civil partners have been recognised as being married in England & Wales as from 13 March 2014.

As the government prepares to help Trading Standards tackle 'copycat' websites that charge people to fill out official forms, Citizens Advice has revealed it advises people on 1,700 cases of these rogue traders a year.

Everyday someone comes up with a great idea to make their community a better place but all too often those ideas never take form – lacking the money & support to turn the dream into a reality.  The People’s Millions could change that and best of all, the decision will not be made by a committee behind closed doors but the public will help decide the winners.  If you feel passionate about making a difference in your community and have an idea that just won’t go away, the Big Lottery Fund wants to hear from you.

The People’s Millions is an annual TV competition run by Big Lottery Fund and ITV which awards National Lottery funding to community projects that will improve the lives of local people. This year there are 4 awards of up to £50,000 on offer in each of the 19 ITV regional news areas across the UK.  Deadline for completed entries is 12 noon on Monday 16 May 2014.

The National Archives is offering 2 bursaries to support candidates in gaining a qualification to help them enter the archives sector.  The bursary will provide financial support and help to address the socio-economic barriers to entry that may exist for some candidates.  They would therefore particularly welcome applications from BAME and disabled applicants.

NHS prescription charge in England will increase by 20p from £7.85 to £8.05 for each quantity of a drug or appliance from 1 April 2014.  It is also intended that the single charge will increase by 20p to £8.25 in the following year.

An animated cartoon mascot created by Aardman studios will help teach children about staying safe on the road.  Horace the dog was created for the launch of a national competition being run by the RAC in which schoolchildren will create their own road safety animations.  It is open to school children aged 4 to 16 and entry is via the website, which contains links to a comprehensive range of teaching resources.  The competition closes on 4 July 2014.

Tim Peake needs help to name his 6 month mission into space, the first visit by a British astronaut to the International Space Station (ISS).   Competition closes 4 April 2014.

• One million set to benefit from National Minimum Wage rise to £6.50
• Royal Air Force reserves return to Wales
• HMRC recruiting more digital specialists
• Second batch of First World War unit diaries goes online – (Home Front legacy project)
• Storms unearth 19th century remains on MOD island
• Professor Graham Donaldson to lead Review of the Curriculum & Assessment in Wales
• NLIS hits 22m searches!
• Pop-up shops featuring new & innovative brands to appear across TfL's retail estate
• TUC: Highest-paid occupations are ‘no-go’ areas for part-time workers
• UK deeply concerned at dismissal of Maldives Election Commissioners
• Monitor announces the next steps for Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust – (Monitor launches investigation into The Christie Hospital, Manchester ~ Monitor closes its investigation into Berkshire foundation trust)
• Monitor concludes merger of services unlikely to have negative effect on patients
• Voices of women could be lost in times of austerity Minister warns
• CIPD - How do you ‘Value your Talent’?
• 2014 Shared Learning Awards shortlist announced
• NHS Wales Awards 2014 Finalists Announced
• QR codes on energy bills put consumers in control
• South London passengers to benefit from boost to P13 bus service
• LGA - Failure to fund could jeopardise social care reforms
• Ofcom confirms terms for new Channel 4 licence
• Ofwat announces results of pre-qualification tests
• UNICEF - Number of children suffering more than doubles in third year of Syria conflict
• Pentney Priory Saved for the Nation
• First evaluation of tax arrangements for off-payroll contracts in the public sector published – (Onshore employment intermediaries: false self-employment)
• NHS charges from April 2014
• HEFCE is looking to appoint new members to its Strategic Advisory Committees
• LGA responds to government proposals to scrap councillor pensions – (Taxpayer-funded pensions for councillors and other elected local office holders)
• £5m for Wolverhampton tram works
• Public sector pay awards for 2014-15 – (NHS Scotland pay rise ~ Investing in primary care services)
• Transport Secretary inspects regional rail and road links
• Cycling boost for Selly Oak rail station

• Committee to Review Assembly Code of Conduct
• Seize historic chance in Burma: Increase UK aid for reform
• Fire service could save £ms by improving how it buys kit – (Councils must get better value from billions spent on procurement ~ LGA - Impact of funding cuts on fire service highlighted ~ HMIC publishes examples of how police forces are meeting the financial challenge ~ CAB - Removal of council tax support puts extra pressure on squeezed budgets)
• Public service pension reform nears conclusion
• Thousands of jobs and & to get seaside economies & flood affected areas growing
• Funding boost for roads hit by bad weather
• Up to 200 new homes for the Borders
• Education Minister's statement on WJEC GCSE English Language unit outcomes from January 2014
• QR codes on energy bills put consumers in control
• Council tax exemption to benefit students
• The Welsh Government is investing in Cardiff’s most deprived communities in these tough times
• Audit Commission abolition on course to save taxpayers over £1bn – (IFG - 12 months until the closure of the AC – how did 25 years of independent scrutiny come to an end?)
• Child poverty strategy – (‘Child Poverty Strategy for Scotland: Our Approach 2014-17’)
• UK and Australian Foreign & Defence Ministers meeting
• Horace the dog helps children learn road safety
• Statement following Anglo-Irish Summit
• Statement of G7 leaders on Ukraine
• Truss visits Royal Ballet School
• More Welsh companies winning major public sector contracts, Jane Hutt reveals
• ScotGov:  Calls to close gender gap on boards
• Education Minister launches the Big Bang Fair
• Cutting-edge drugs to be fast-tracked to patients – (New funding to speed up access to treatment ~ Improving flow of patients)
• First Service Complaints Ombudsman to be created
• UK calls for international action on mephedrone
• Stephen Williams announces plans to raise housing standards
• Food Standards Scotland

• Minister asks farmers to have their say on EIDCymru – (closes on 30 May 2014)
• OFT consults on proposed commitments relating to platform services for the automotive sector – (closes on 4 April 2014)
• Views wanted on cycloastragenol as novel food ingredient – (comments by 31 March 2014)
• Consultation on rectifying consumer disputes launched – (closes on 3 June 2014)

Additional Consultations:  Readers should be aware that many consultations are never publicised with a press release, so do not appear in either the email alerts or Wired - GOV Plus.  Many of these consultations (& subsequent conclusions) can be found at the following links:

• GOV.UK consultations
• Current ScotGov consultations
• Recently added WAG consultations

• NICE guidance can help ease the pain of quitting smoking
• Give care home residents a greater say in decisions about their treatment

• Government Expenditure & Revenue Scotland (GERS) 2012-13
• Middlesbrough council's support for school improvement is found 'ineffective' reports Ofsted
• LGO issues first adverse findings notice into Surrey private care provider.
• Fiscal Sustainability Report only needed twice a Parliament
• Villagers suffered years of excess noise because council failed to take swift enforcement action
• Adult social care in England: overview – (LGA - Failure to fund could jeopardise social care reforms ~ NHS Confederation - Care Bill enters final stages)
• Cyber security skills for the next generation
• Hampden transformed
• Ombudsman welcomes Which? campaign for better public service complaints handling
• CBI demands action on growing skills vacuum
• Prison Service Pay Review Body reports on prison pay
• Councils must get better value from billions spent on procurement – (CBI responds to Public Accounts Committee report on contracting out public services ~ Government must act to stop “the growing tide of outsourcing scandals”)
• Tackling Poverty through Culture – landmark report released
• NEF - Energy round-up: fossil fuels at a tipping point?
• Crown Estate running Scotland’s foreshore and seabed for benefit of UK Treasury
• Ofsted brings together South East leaders to tackle attainment gap
• Autumn Statement 2013 report published
• NHS Confederation - Call time on 'sticking plaster solutions' to urgent and emergency care
• Homeless teen turned away by Doncaster social workers when she turned to them for help
• Government should delay changes to taxation of partnerships until 2015
• TWF:  Increase in ‘zero hours contracts’ figures doesn’t necessarily represent increase in usage
• Expert Committee warns that nature’s decline will damage UK Plc - (Report)
• IEA - 2014 Budget should be the last in its current format
• 4G radio spectrum auction: lessons learned – (UK overtakes major EU nations for superfast broadband ~ UK broadband coverage better than European rivals)
• Children in care being sent too far from home
• OFT study finds scope for improvement in English higher education
• Ministerial Task Force on Health Inequalities
• 250,000 more children living with both birth parents

• Planning a same sex wedding from 29 March – what you need to know
• Implementation board launched in wake of Parker Review of ACPO
• Major changes in family courts
• FSCS expects to invite claims against Catalyst imminently
• Committee raises concerns with the Immigration Bill
• Clare’s Law rolled out nationally on International Women’s Day
• Reforms to help reduce reoffending come into force
• TailorMade Independent Limited Update
• 2 South Wales Police officers sacked following IPCC investigation linked to former DC Jeffrey Davies – (IPCC begins investigation into contact between Northumbria Police and Christopher Pattinson prior to his death)
• Further funding boosts voluntary sector support
• NEF - A lack of convictions – (Welsh Ministers take hard line to end FGM in Wales)
• Cardiff company fined for failing to register with the ICO
• OFT update on SME banking market study
• People smugglers snared in sting operation
• Wales is first nation in UK to pass laws on play, Deputy Minister tells Scotland
• New law will see support extended to 50,000 more prisoners
• Home care agency warned after vulnerable people’s details left in the street
• Change in function for two prisons to help create a fit for purpose prison estate
• Landmark Children & Families Act 2014 gains royal assent
• Food Standards Scotland

• Turkey: credible commitment & strong democratic foundations needed, MEPs say
• MEPs damp down claims of economic recovery ahead of March EU summit – (Troika helped to avoid the worst, but flawed structure harmed recovery)
• US NSA: stop mass surveillance now or face consequences, MEPs say – (MEPs tighten up rules to protect personal data in the digital era)
• New law to reinforce independence of satellite security system accreditation at the GSA
• Ombudsman: Governing Council of the ECB has wasted an opportunity for openness & transparency
• New regulation promoting inland waterway transport
• MAC Directive: no evidence to support the safety concerns
• Commission adopts 9 Regulatory Technical Standards to implement the single rule book in banking – (Bank resolution mechanism: MEPs welcome progress, signal crucial work remains)
• Marine Pollution taken seriously: New regulation to strengthen EMSA response mechanism
• Improving trade in processed agricultural goods
• European Commission proposes temporary tariff cuts for Ukrainian exports to the EU – (EP calls on Russia to withdraw military forces from Ukraine)
• Insolvency:  Commission recommends new approach to rescue businesses and give honest entrepreneurs a second chance
• EU Citizenship: European Parliament supports Commission's efforts to foster EU citizens' rights
• Stress-free holidays for 120m consumers – EP backs new rules on package travel
• Great news for cyber security in the EU: The EP successfully votes through the Network & Information Security (NIS) directive
• EP opens option for a common charger for mobile phones – (MEPs push for common phone charger)
• Mackerel and north sea fishing quotas agreement reached – (ScotGov:  International fishing agreement)
• As many Commissioners as possible should be chosen among MEPs, says Parliament
• MEPs approve funds for asylum, migration & border surveillance until 2020

• Ombudsman welcomes Which? campaign for better public service complaints handling
• CAB - Sophisticated personal shopping services for energy customers could help identify the cheapest deals – (QR codes on energy bills put consumers in control ~ New £500,000 government fund to help community groups reduce energy bills and manage energy ~ Ofgem response to Which?’s research on simplified tariffs)
• CAB - Payday lenders face investigation into ‘bullying’ debt collection
• CAB - Copycat websites leave people a click away from being ripped off
• CAB - Employment a critical issue for young people in Budget run-up
• CAB - Removal of council tax support puts extra pressure on squeezed budgets
• CAB - New mums on low incomes set to be worse off under Universal Credit
• Further funding boosts voluntary sector support
• Funding for child poverty
• Adult social care in England: overview – (LGA - Failure to fund could jeopardise social care reforms)
• What could £50,000 do for your Community?
• Developing & funding talent pathways in sport
• UK-wide investment secured to grow the social economy
• Winners of first-ever St David Awards announced – (Inspirational community of Machynlleth honoured at St David Awards)

• One million set to benefit from National Minimum Wage rise to £6.50 – (The government accepts wage rate recommendations ~ CBI comments on the increase to the minimum wage ~ CIPD:  LPC right to adopt cautious approach to NMW increase but remit should be extended to prevent future falls in NMW’s real value))
• PM leads business delegation to Israel and the Palestinian territories – (PM welcomes £70m Israeli investment in UK following visit)
• CBI demands action on growing skills vacuum – (Education Minister launches the Big Bang Fair)
• Thousands of jobs and apprenticeships to get seaside economies & flood affected areas growing
• Maximising the benefits of female employment
• Haven Waterway Enterprise Zone is expanded
• Third round of Enterprise Zones Business Rates Scheme opens
• Business invited to help reform enforcement of regulation
• £300m investment to support growth & jobs in UK science – (Government funding boost for innovative businesses)
• UK broadband coverage better than European rivals
• Automatic enrolment scores 3m: as football club workers say we’re in
• Independent expert to push forward Catapult network to new heights – (Medium term strategy for Catapult centres: Hauser review - call for feedback)
• British Invention: Global Impact: BIS response to Witty
• Blacklist the Blacklisters, say Scottish Affairs Committee

• TfL tells suppliers: we're open for business
• £20m contract for new Royal Navy ships
• Crossrail 2 receives global recognition as a leading infrastructure project, creating growth and opportunities
• New £21m networks to boost world-class scientific research in Wales
• Apprenticeship opportunities at leading defence firm – (CAB - Employment a critical issue for young people in Budget run-up)
• Hundreds of new UK tech jobs announced at CeBIT 2014
• STFC's ISIS facility signs up to continued collaboration with Italy
• Cardiff company fined for failing to register with the ICO
• Large fine for heating firm after worker crushed to death
• MOD announces preferred private sector bidder to join DIO
• £265m science investment for largest telescope & biggest microscope
• New BAT stamp agents announced
• Detecting explosives & chemicals with infrared technology
• Film studio options outlined
• £300m investment for UK submarine industry

• Setting research priorities in education and children’s services
• Customer webinars for ConsultancyONE
• PM to host event to tackle female genital mutilation and early & forced marriage for girls – (NEF - A lack of convictions ~ Welsh Ministers take hard line to end FGM in Wales)
• GACS open meeting: 19 March 2014
• Invitation to raw milk event: 31 March 2014