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In the News

NICE:  Standards are essential, but ensuring people abide by them is the ‘hard bit’ - NICE's first quality standards for social care will help support people with dementia to live well, and improve the health & wellbeing of looked-after children & young people. 

The standards launch as NICE becomes the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence and officially takes on the work of bringing evidence-based guidance & standards to the social care sector, as outlined in the Health & Social Care Act 2012.

The dementia quality standard contains 10 statements which are high-priority areas that will help people with dementia to live well. Statements include ensuring that people with dementia, with the involvement of their carers, have choice & control in decisions affecting their care & support, and that they can participate in a review of their needs & preferences when their circumstances change.

NICE's second quality standard for social care contains 8 statements that will improve the health & social, educational & emotional wellbeing of looked after children & young people in care. 9 other social care topics are currently in the pipeline with the Department of Health consulting on a further 15 topics.
HO:  Giving them ‘Something to do´ - Community projects aimed at getting youngsters off the streets and into sport have been recognised at the football industry’s annual Kickz Awards.  Policing Minister Damian Green attended the event at Stamford Bridge last week to present the Outstanding Kickz Delivery award to Portsmouth FC’s Kickz Team.  

Under the scheme, local projects run sport, arts, media & youth work sessions, which aim to break down barriers between the police & young people.  Some areas have seen up to a 60% reduction in anti-social behaviour as a result of the scheme.
PC&PE:  At last it will ‘pay’ to save even a little bit for your old age - In a report published last week, the Work and Pensions Committee welcomes the improvements in retirement income that the new Single-tier State Pension will bring.  The Committee warns, however, that the key to the policy’s successful implementation lies in the Government informing the public as soon as possible about how it will affect individuals. 

The Report notes that the Government not only imposed an extremely tight timetable, but brought forward the implementation date by a year, after the Committee had completed taking evidence.  It highlights that the change in the implementation date has significant implications, particularly for pension schemes & employers, who now have 1 year less to prepare for the ending of contacting-out. 
DH:  It is meant to provide a ‘dignified end’, not ‘cost savings’ - The independent review of the Liverpool Care Pathway (LCP) for dying patients is holding sessions for families & carers.  The sessions, in which the review panel will listen to families’ & carers’ experiences of the LCP, are taking place in London on 7 May, Preston on 16 May and Bristol on 20 May 2013. Please email the review if you wish to attend.

In addition to the sessions, the public was asked to send details of their experiences of the LCP, both good & bad.  Views are also wanted from professionals, either as individuals or on behalf of organisations. The deadline for written comments was 5 April 2013.
Press release & links ~ Liverpool Care Pathway for the Dying Patient (LCP) ~ AUK:  Little dignity or safety in old age for many ~ New code established to safeguard older people’s dignity in care ~ Dignity counts when caring for older people ~ NHS is failing to meet even the most basic standards of care for older people, warns ~ New helpline to offer advice on end of life care ~ London is rated poorly in care for patients at the end of their lives ~ First national survey of bereaved people shines light on end of life care ~ Major cultural shift needed to improve dignity in care ~ NHS Confederation - Independent Commission issues "call to arms" on improving dignity of care of older people in hospitals and care homes ~ Expert panel proposes framework to underpin any future change in law on assisted dying for terminally ill people ~ NICE: End of life care ~ The King's Fund warns against loss of momentum on end-of-life care ~ Good progress on end of life care but more to be done

FCO:  The problem is it is a very profitable crime - On 31 January 2013, the British Embassy in partnership with Save the Children Lithuania, launched a campaign against human trafficking ‘Two Little Girls’. The short animated film, made in consultation with 5 Albanian women who were trafficked into the UK and rescued by Poppy project, aims to warn young women of the dangers of being trafficked.
CQC:  Let us hope that they are up to the task - From 1 April 2013, NHS GP providers in England are being regulated by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) for the first time.  Changes to regulations mean primary medical care services including GP providers are required to register with the CQC.  Of the 7,607 providers that applied, 99.4% (7,563) have been registered in time for the April deadline.  To date, CQC has proposed to refuse to register a total of 8 GP providers.
FCO:  Another mass invasion? - The National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) report ‘Potential Impacts on UK of Future Migration from Bulgaria and Romania’ was published recently.  The report, commissioned by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, draws together existing research on the potential impacts on the UK of future migration from Bulgaria & Romania after the lifting of EU transitional controls on 31 December 2013.
HSE:  Some people will use any excuse to stop other people enjoying themselves - A panel set up to expose ‘health & safety’ excuses has clocked up 150 cases in its first year – helping the public fight back against ‘jobsworths’ who use safety laws as a convenient ruse to ban legitimate activities.  Among the more crackpot cases exposed as myths by the panel in 2013 alone were:
* The bars that refuse to pull pints in glasses with handles
* The burger that could not be cooked rare
 
Forthcoming event: Gartner Application Architecture, Development & Integration Summit | 16- 17 May | London - Integrate the past. Embrace the present. Shape the future - The game is changing. Cloud, mobile, social and information are converging to revolutionize the way applications are built and deployed.
 
It is critical now to manage and leverage these disruptive forces — collectively known as the Nexus of Forces — and actively plan for the impact these forces will have on your enterprise, your stakeholders and your customers.
 
The 2013 Summit goes straight to the heart of the application challenges you face daily targeting your "real-world" concerns providing relevant and actionable insights to help you be more successful in your specific application challenges.

Click here to find out more and to register.
 

Out with the Old and in with the Cloud - A Public Sector Transformation Case Study - With an annual budget exceeding £300 million and 7,500 staff, Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust is one of the UK’s largest teaching Trusts.
 
The Challenge: In 2011, upon assessment of the Trust’s legacy infrastructure and the shared services approach to IT delivery, it became apparent that old technology and a weak service ethos prevailed across the organisation with very little user or customer engagement. Back in 2011, general confidence in cloud solutions was lower than it is today and the issues around compliance and data security were amplified.

The Solution: Today, having implemented a cloud-based IT service delivery model, if the Trust decides that it needs to burst out to the cloud it has the flexibility to do so. Major benefits of the transformation project include improved communications and collaboration across the organisation, cost efficiencies, comprehensive disaster recovery capability and business continuity.

Click here to receive the full case study.

 


Please note that previously published newsletters can be accessed from the Newsletter Archive

General News

ScotGov: A free, confidential phone line for NHS staff who wish to raise any concerns about practices in NHS Scotland went live last week. The National Confidential Alert Line for NHS employees (0800 008 6112)will be piloted for one year, providing an additional level of support for staff.
 
The line will be delivered by Public Concern at Work, an independent organisation, to ensure confidentiality & impartiality.  Any concerns that employees raise will be then passed on to the employer or the relevant regulatory organisation for investigation.    
 
TfL: Taxi passengers are reminded that a below-inflation fare increase, of 1.7%, took effect on Saturday 6 April (equates to 21p on average fare).
 
ACE: The Designation scheme is now closed for applications whilst a review takes place that will be completed by Spring 2014. Launched in 1997, the Designation scheme identifies the pre-eminent collections of national & international importance held in England's non-national museums, libraries & archives, based on their quality and significance.
 
Monitor: Monitor announces that foundation trust applications by Dudley & Walsall Mental Health Partnership and Royal United Hospital Bath NHS Trusts have been deferred for up to 6 & 12 months respectively.  The regulator is concerned that the trusts have not yet demonstrated that they meet specific thresholds for authorisation.
 
NE: The Field Studies Council (FSC) and Natural England have announced a ‘citizen science’ programme to train volunteer wildlife recorders. Volunteers play a huge part in monitoring our wildlife but, despite many initiatives aimed at encouraging new recorders, the pool of active volunteers with specialist skills is thought to be decreasing.
 
With support from Defra’s Fund for Biodiversity in the Voluntary Sector, FSC and Natural England have created ‘Biodiversity Fellows’, a new programme to train & retain wildlife recorders as volunteer experts.  The programme addresses the lack of existing courses for ‘difficult to identify species’ and the need for post-course support to ensure trained volunteers go on to become active recorders.
 
NE: Farmers in the South West are reminded not to miss out on the opportunity to apply for Catchment Sensitive Farming grants of up to £10,000 this year. Over the last 7 years, the Catchment Sensitive Farming (CSF) project has been working with hundreds of land managers who farm in South West England. 
 
CSF, which is a partnership project between Natural England and the Environment Agency, provides grants, free training & advice that supports farmers to adapt their farm management to help the environment and can also identify savings for farm businesses.
 
MoD: The MOD has announced that it will invest in better facilities for service men & women in Kent, as a result of freeing up surplus Defence land to create up to 1,200 new homes. The Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO) has worked with Shepway District Council, to prepare a ‘Masterplan’ that provides new housing over the next 20 years on the surplus brownfield land.
 
Alongside the homes will be new community sports facilities, incorporating a new Army Cadet centre.  There will also be a large area of informal public open space and improved education facilities.
 
TfL: In order to help wheelchair & guide dog users, parents with buggies & passengers with luggage a further batch of wide aisle gates have been installed making a total of 348 gates at London Underground stations. Now 180 London Tube stations - two thirds of the entire London Underground network- have these gates installed, giving passengers more independence and quicker journeys.  It means that passengers don't have to ask staff to unlock a gate for them.
 
HEFCE: The NUS has been awarded £5m by the Higher Education Funding Council Englandfor a Students’ Green Fund, the 4 key themes of which will be student participation, partnership, impact and legacy. The funding will help students to engage with their universities and colleges on sustainable development, and to ensure that sustainability remains a priority with institutions.
 
NUS will run a single-round bidding competition in summer 2013, to allocate the funding.  The funded projects will then receive the funding over two full academic years (2013-14 and 2014-15).
 
MO: Since its launch in June 2011, the Weather Observations Website (WOW) has received more than 100m weather observations from weather enthusiasts all over the world.  WOW was developed by the Met Office with support from the Royal Meteorological Society and the Department for Education.  
 
The aim was to provide a hub for UK weather observations, which can help educate children about weather and encourage further growth in the UK's amateur weather observing community.  Despite its UK focus, WOW has global coverage and has attracted visits from weather enthusiasts in more than 170 countries.
 
CLG: The Home Office and Department for Communities & Local Government will move into 1 shared central London headquarters building in mid-2014 (at 2 Marsham Street).  The move will help reduce the cost of the civil estate by £24m annually.
 
UKOC: Social landlords are being urged to bid for funding to design innovative schemes to help their tenants to get online and improve their IT skills in a funding round that has been launched by OCF (the organisation behind the UK online centres network) along with the Department for Work and Pensions and Department for Communities and Local Government.
 
The Digital Deal is a cross-Government challenge to support claimants to use the internet, and to increase their confidence in managing benefit claims and searching for jobs online. Social landlords have until 3 June 2013 to submit a match-funded bid for a share of nearly £500k, which will support up to 10 projects. Successful providers will be informed at the end of July and programmes set to start from September.
 
LGA: Children in care would be found a home with adoptive parents more quickly under new plans outlined recently to reform the adoption system. Under the reforms, councils would work more closely together to help match suitable adopters with children in other parts of the country.  Targeted support work would focus on speeding up the process of matching children who had spent the longest in care with adoptive parents.

The measures are being put forward as an alternative to Government proposals to remove councils from the process of recruiting adopters altogether.

Policy Statements and Initiatives

DWP: April heralds a number of changes to the benefits system as part of the Government’s welfare reforms. These changes will make work pay, improve support for disabled people, and help ensure the benefit system is financially sustainable in the future, whilst still supporting those who need it.
 
The changes are:
April 1 - Removal of the Spare Room Subsidy
April 1 - Crisis loans and community grants replaced by local provision
April 8 - Personal Independence Payment introduced
April 8 - Benefit Uprating
April 15 - Benefit cap
End of April – Universal Credit rolls out in pathfinder areas
 
ScotGov: Around 560,000 people will receive support to ensure they are not affected by the UK Government’s 10% cut in funding for Council Tax Benefit successor arrangements. The Scottish Government and local authorities in Scotland are working in partnership to invest £40m in 2013/14 to ‘bridge the funding gap and mitigate the impact of the UK Government’s benefit cuts’.
 
ScotGov: People across Scotland are being urged to seek assistance to improve the energy efficiency of their homes, helping to reduce household energy bills. Housing & Welfare Minister Margaret Burgess has outlined that households can apply for financial assistance from the Scottish Government of up to £1,200 to pay for energy improvement measures such as cavity & loft insulation, double glazing, a new boiler or draft proofing.
 
WAG: From 1 April 2013 council tax reduction schemes will operate in Wales to assist households in paying their council tax bills. The new schemes replace council tax benefit which has been abolished by the UK Government as part of its welfare reform agenda.
 
For 2013/14 the Welsh Government is also providing an extra £22m to support local authorities in providing all eligible claimants with their full entitlement to support, despite the shortfall in funding transferred from the UK Government.
 
CLG: Following success last year, English seaside towns now have a second chance to apply to the Coastal Communities Fund. Applications for this year’s pot of over £27m are now open.  The funds available have been increased by over £4.1m so more communities can win awards to boost their economic development.
 
Details of how to bid are available on the Big Lottery Fund website and the closing date for projects in England is 13 May 2013.
 
DECC: The new Climate Change Agreements (CCA) scheme has started, providing an extension to the Climate Change Levy rebate for energy intensive industries until 2023.  UK Energy Intensive Industries have agreed to commit to stretching energy efficiency improvement targets to 2020 as part of the voluntary CCA scheme.  This will deliver an overall 11.0% energy efficiency improvement across all industry sectors by 2020 against agreed baselines.
 
DH: The quality of patient care will be put at the heart of the NHS in an overhaul of the health & care system in response to the Francis Inquiry. Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt announced recently how a culture of compassion will be a key marker of success, ‘spelling an end to the distorting impact of targets and box ticking which led to the failings at Stafford Hospital’.
 
Hospitals & care homes will be encouraged to strive to be the best, the basic values of dignity & respect will be central to care training and, if things go wrong, patients & their families will be told about it. New measures will be introduced to achieve this including:
* Ofsted-style ratings for hospitals & care homes
* a statutory duty of candour for organisations which provide care & are registered with the CQC
* a pilot programme which will see nurses working for up to a year as a healthcare assistant as a prerequisite for receiving funding for their degree
 
DFID: The Afghan Province of Herat will be completely free of landmines in the next 5 years,  International Development Secretary Justine Greening pledged recently, as she announced new British support for mine clearance charity The HALO Trust, on International Mine Awareness Day
 
BIS: Recently Matthew Hancock the Skills Minister set out £214m investment in 47 colleges across the country, alongside plans for a more rigorous & responsive skills system. The government’s new skills strategy, Rigour and Responsiveness in Skills, includes stronger action to support the majority of good & outstanding colleges, and new plans to intervene where colleges are failing learners.

Consultations

NO: Lack of awareness of the Victims’ Code by people working in the criminal justice system is placing some victims of crime under extreme duress and leading to injustices,  says the Parliamentary & Health Service Ombudsman. 
 
 The Code of Practice for Victims of Crime (the Victims’ Code) places a statutory obligation on criminal justice agencies to provide a standard of service to victims of crime. The Code stipulates what each criminal justice agency must do for victims, and when they must do it by.  The current Code has been revised by the Ministry of Justice and a public consultation on the proposed new Code has been launched. Consultation closes on 10 May 2013.
 
Ofgem: Ofgem’s proposed enforcement vision, published last week, emphasises the energy industry’s duty to put consumers first, and the role of credible deterrence against compliance failures.
 
It complements Ofgem’s Retail Market Reforms, including the new enforceable standards of conduct, which are driving a cultural change towards a fairer energy market for consumers.  Details of these standards have also been published as part of the final retail market review consultation. Consultation closes on 23 May 2013.
 
LC: In a consultation which opened recently, the Law Commission suggested that a new legal tool is needed to help conservation efforts by private landowners in England & Wales. Conservation covenants enable landowners to guarantee long-term protection to our environment & heritage.

For example, landowners are able to sell or pass on their property safe in the knowledge that its special environmental or heritage features will continue to be protected.

Conservation covenants are already used in various other jurisdictions, including in Scotland, the USA and Australia.  The Commission is asking whether conservation covenants should be introduced in England & Wales. The consultation closes on 21 June 2013.
 
CO: Almost two years since the UK’s initial involvement and the official launch of the Open Government Partnership (OGP) in New York, the Cabinet Office is publishing the self-assessment report on the UK National Action Plan, originally published in September 2011.
 
The first UK Action Plan was drafted in the very early days of the OGP, when the UK and our partners were still clarifying the scope of civil society engagement, implementation periods, reviewing mechanisms and so on.  So much has happened since, and this report is an honest account of the UK’s performance to date and how much our agenda has evolved.
 
The consultation will remain open until 15 April 2013 and a final report will be published on 19 April 2013 with a new national action plan scheduled to be published at the end of October 2013.

Guidance Notes and Best Practice Guides

SFA: Over the last 2 years, the Skills Funding Agency have worked closely with representatives from colleges, training organisations and sector bodies to review all aspects of the current funding system: funding rates, funding formula and earnings method.
 
As part of our moves to simplification, they published in January The Funding Rules for 2013/2014 and now they have published the details of the 2013/2014 simplified funding method. Both documents set out the rules and how we will work with colleges & training organisations using the simplified funding method in 2013/2014.
 
Monitor: New guidance will help commissioners make sure patients can access the services that they need in the event that a health care provider runs into serious difficulties. Under the Health & Social Care Act clinical commissioning groups are responsible for planning & purchasing health services for their local populations.
 
HO: The UK Border Force is asking travellers to familiarise themselves with the customs rules for bringing goods into the UK or risk losing all their goods. Travellers are often unaware that if they bring in more duty-free from outside the EU and fail to declare it, Border Force can seize all of their goods and not just those in excess of their allowance.
 
Equally, if Border Force is satisfied that EU duty-paid goods are for a commercial purpose, officers can also seize all your goods. The goods seized may include any luggage or vehicle used to transport them, so we say to travellers – ‘Don’t Risk It All’.

Annual Reports

PC&PE: Future planned increases in UK development assistance to Pakistan should be conditional on action by the Government of Pakistan to increase the proportion of GDP it collects in tax from the wealthy. In future the UK’s aid programme to Pakistan must also focus more closely on supporting the rule of law & anti-corruption efforts.
 
Launching the report of an inquiry that examined the scale & efficacy of the UK Government aid programme to Pakistan, Sir Malcolm Bruce, Chair of the House of Commons’ International Development Select Committee said:
“There is a powerful case for maintaining the UK‘s bilateral aid to Pakistan. Britain enjoys a close relationship and has long established ties with Pakistan which has real poverty and serious security problems ….. But the Committee is concerned that not enough tax is raised in Pakistan to fully finance improvements in the quality of life for poor people”.

Legislation / Legal

HO: A wider definition of domestic violence, including 16 & 17 year olds and controlling behaviour has taken effect as of 31 March 2013.  The definition of domestic violence has been expanded to cover more victims. Young people aged 16 to 17 and coercive control – a pattern of controlling behaviour – will now be included for the first time. 

The new cross-government definition will raise awareness about the many types of domestic abuse that can ruin lives and encourage more people to seek help.
 
HO: Protection of Freedoms Act 2012: DNA and fingerprint provisions Policy paper explaining how:
* the act works and why the police have the right to keep DNA samples
* the police are following a timetable to remove innocent people’s DNA from the DNA database

EU Legislation, Initiatives, etc.

LGA: The Local Government Association (LGA) has warned that the Government's announcement on how it distributes money across the United Kingdom will stall innovative community projects and slow down economic recovery in England.

The Department for Business & Innovation and Skills has announced how the UK's EU Structural Funds for 2014-2020 would be re-allocated across England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.  The result is that England will receive £784m (11%) less from the UK's allocation than outlined by the EU in February, with their UK counterparts sharing this money between them.  
 
The Government claims it has taken the funding decision to minimise the impact on devolved administrations of the new EU formula for allocating funds agreed in February, although the EU is still to agree the move.

Charity and Voluntary Sector

MoJ: A new service giving charities & voluntary organisations more information about what works to reduce re-offending has been launched recently. The Justice Data Lab will give voluntary & community sector (VCS) agencies access to high-quality re-offending data tailored to their needs.  This will allow them to better understand the impact of their work & design more effective interventions.

Expert analysts at the Ministry of Justice will match data from organisations working with offenders with national records to produce re-offending rates for that group of individuals.  

This will be compared with a control group to prove the effectiveness of a particular intervention.  The innovative new service has been set up as part of the Transforming Rehabilitation agenda, which proposes a greater role for the VCS and private sector in tackling re-offending on a payment by results basis.

Business and Other Briefings

DWP: Businesses will benefit from tax relief when they pay to help their employees return to the workplace after sickness, it was announced in the Budget recently. 

Employers will receive tax relief on expenditure up to £500 on health treatment recommended by a new health and work assessment and advisory service to support employees to return to work after a period of sick absence..
 
This targeted tax relief will encourage employers to fund around 110,000 health-related interventions.   Without this tax relief the payments would be liable to income tax and employer National Insurance contributions. The new health & work assessment and advisory service will provide occupational health expertise to many small businesses for the first time.
 
HSE: 1 in 4 of the construction sites visited in London during a month-long inspection initiative failed health & safety checks, according to results released recently. More than 400 sites were visited by Health &Safety Executive (HSE) Inspectors as part of a national HSE clampdown aimed at reducing death, injury and ill health. The building sector features consistently in the top 3 high-risk industries for deaths &injuries.
 
BIS: Business Minister Michael Fallon has welcomed a boost for business as dozens of cuts to red tape came into force recently. The reforms respond directly to issues raised by businesses, including through the Red Tape Challenge, which invites firms to give their views on which regulations should be improved or scrapped.
 
A full list of reforms which came into effect on the recent 6-monthly Common Commencement Date is contained in the Fifth Statement of New Regulation..
 
HMRC: The biggest shake up of the Pay As You Earn (PAYE) system in nearly 70 years - Real Time Information - started from 6 April 2013.

Employers are now required to move to a new way of reporting in real time, where they report to each time they pay employees, rather than annually. This updates the system so that it is quicker, easier & more accurate.
 
Northern Ireland introduction of levy for the supply of 'single-use carrier bags and its VAT implications.

Industry News

OS: Ordnance Survey (OS) MasterMap® Sites Layer is a nationally maintained dataset that maps the detailed extent of important locations such as airports, schools, hospitals, ports, utility and infrastructure sites and more.  The points of access into these sites (such as a school) from the nearest road network are also provided.
 
A new OS MasterMap Sites Layer provides customers with an easy way to identify an extent that includes all the real-world features that form part of the function of that school.  OS MasterMap Sites Layer has 3 feature types: Functional Sites, Access Points and Routing Points.
 
OS: Public sector organisations in Scotland will continue to have access to Ordnance Survey mapping data following an agreement between the Scottish Government and OS to renew the One Scotland Mapping Agreement (OSMA).
 
The new agreement, which went live on 1 April 2013, means that local & central government organisations, as well as Scottish NHS members, can continue to benefit from being part of a single agreement for OS data, used by 112 Scottish public sector organisations.  

Forthcoming Event

TNA: On 7 September 2013 The National Archives, in partnership with the National Railway Museum, will be holding a 1-day conference at Kew to look at how railways have changed our lives, drawing on the archives & collections of TNA & the NRM.
 
The following weekend, on Saturday 14 September, the NRM will be hosting the same conference programme at York.  Visit their website for details and to book online.
 
OS: Following its successful visits to Bath, Oxford and Chatham the popular exhibition, Britain from the Air, has headed north to Edinburgh. The free-to-access street gallery features more than 100 spectacular images celebrating Britain’s wonderfully diverse natural and human landscapes with engaging captions, supporting images & fascinating maps.  
 
In addition, 11 specially selected photographs of striking locations around Edinburgh also form part of the exhibition. A giant walk-on Ordnance Survey map, situated in Festival Square, will again accompany the FREE outdoor exhibition so that visitors can walk the length & breadth of the country and see for themselves the variety of locations covered in the images. Britain from the Air will remain in the city until 20 May 2013..
 
DH: The independent review of the Liverpool Care Pathway (LCP) for dying patients is holding sessions for families & carers. The sessions, in which the review panel will listen to families’ & carers’ experiences of the LCP, are taking place in London on 7 May, Preston on 16 May and Bristol on 20 May 2013. Please email the review if you wish to attend – See ‘In the News’ section for more information.

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