Blair rules out joining euro until at least 2010
Sector: Central Government
Date: 29/04/05
Source: The Guardian
Link: http://www.guardian.co.uk
Tony Blair effectively ruled out Britain joining the euro
before at least 2010 when he said membership of the 12-country
club would not be in the national interest.
In comments seen by both supporters and opponents of the
single currency as ruling out UK entry for the next parliament,
the prime minister stressed that it was unlikely the economic
conditions would be right at any time soon.
Ships and helicopter contracts face audit investigation
Sector: Defence
Date: 28/04/05
Source: The Telegraph
Link: http://www.telegraph.co.uk
Labour is facing National Audit Office investigations into
two contentious spending decisions made by the Ministry of
Defence in the run up to the general election.
However, the results of any investigations will only be
made available after Thursday's poll, when MPs return to
parliament.
One investigation is into the MoD's decision to give £84
million to the Swan Hunter shipyard in Tyneside last December
to allow it to complete a contract for two 16,000 tonne auxiliary
ships, helping to swell their cost by 60% to £235 million.
Crumbling colleges need £450 million repairs
Sector: Scotland
Date: 28/04/05
Source: The Herald
Link: http://www.theherald.co.uk
Colleges in Scotland need £450 million to bring their
buildings and facilities into the twenty-first century, funding
officials have warned.
A survey found that the further education sector needs
nearly £120 million immediately to clear a backlog
of essential maintenance work.
Nurses carry out surgery in effort to cut patient waiting
lists
Sector: Health
Date: 28/04/05
Source: The Scotsman
Link: http://www.scotsman.com
Nurses in Scotland trained to perform minor surgery have
entered the operating theatre for the first time in an effort
to cut patient waiting times.
Five nurses who have passed a new course at Glasgow Caledonian
University are now qualified to carry out such procedures
as the removal of small lesions, benign moles and cysts.
The nurses are performing minor surgical procedures at the
Canniesburn Plastic Surgery Unit and in the Dermatology department
of Glasgow Royal Infirmary.
Fears for long term hit NMT
Sector: Health
Date: 28/04/05
Source: The Herald
Link: http://www.theherald.co.uk
Shares in NMT, the safety syringe maker and fallen Scottish
technology star, plunged yesterday after a gloomy statement
on future prospects over-shadowed news of narrowing full-year
losses.
The Livingston, West Lothian-based company, which earlier
this year rekindled investor desire after it signed a letter
of intent for the manufacture and sale of its second-generation
syringes, yesterday warned that it was now “essential
to win a significant contract soon to secure its long-term
future”.
Aggreko
poised to announce biggest contract in its history
Sector: International
Date: 27/04/05
Source: The Herald
Link: http://www.theherald.co.uk
Specialist hire group Aggreko is today expected to announce
the biggest contract in its history – a deal worth
around $160 million (£84 million) to install and run
a temporary power plant in Uganda .
The deal should help underpin Aggreko’s share price,
which earlier this month extended a steady surge amid talk
of a possible bid from US giant General Electric. There have
been no signs since of any imminent offer, with GE declining
comment, and Aggreko’s shares have eased back a little.
Nurses demand a clean uniform on every shift to
beat superbugs
Sector: Health
Date: 27/04/05
Source: The Times
Link: http://www.timesonline.co.uk
Dirty nurses’ uniforms are putting patients’ lives
at risk, the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) said yesterday.
Calling for every nurse to be provided with a clean uniform
for every shift, the RCN said that better laundry facilities,
clean changing rooms and a range of other improvements were
needed to bring hospital-acquired infections such as MRSA
under control.
Scottish NHS to get system of ‘tariffs’
Sector: Health
Date: 26/04/05
Source: The Scotsman
Link: http://www.scotsman.com
Jack McConnell finally has agreed to force through English-style
market reforms in the Scottish NHS in a bid to tackle its
waiting-list crisis.
The First Minister has come under increasing pressure from
Tony Blair, the Prime Minister, who has repeatedly referred
to Scotland’s NHS failures when trumpeting his success
south of the Border.
Crackdown vow as councils hold on to anti-bullying
cash
Sector: Local Government
Date: 26/04/05
Source: The Scotsman
Link: http://www.scotsman.com
Councils which are failing to pass on millions of pounds
of public money aimed at tackling bullying in the classroom
are to face a crackdown from the Scottish Executive.
Peter Peacock, the education minister, told an anti-bullying
conference in Edinburgh he was concerned that £35 million
the Executive is giving local authorities over the next three
years to employ more classroom support staff was not getting
through to the front line.
Private deals block Jamie's school dinners
Sector: Central Government
Date: 25/04/05
Source: The Guardian
Link: http://www.guardian.co.uk
The school meals revolution set in motion by celebrity chef Jamie Oliver has
already run into difficulties as long-term contracts with private companies
prevent schools getting rid of junk food.
The Guardian has learned that new schools locked into 25-year
contracts through private finance initiatives are finding
that they cannot rid their menus of junk food despite the
government's pledge.
Other schools are also running into problems as they discover
that they face substantial financial penalties if they try
to opt out of long-running contracts with private catering
companies.
Wind farms: ‘cost to dwarf nuclear’
Sector: Central Government
Date: 25/04/05
Source: The Daily Telegraph
Link: http://www.telegraph.co.uk
Winf farms will require £12 billion in public subsidies,
almost three times as much as nuclear power plants will cost,
according to a new report.
A study fom Oxford Economic Research Associates said nuclear
power could provide the same amount of carbon-free electricity
for £4.4 billion.
The study also forecast that the Government will fail to
hit its 20-year targets for carbon dioxide emissions by between
40pc and 60pc unless it significantly moves away from fossil
fuels.
Oliver’s army helps to freeze out chips
Sector: Central Government
Date: 23/04/05
Source: Financial Times
Link: http://www.ft.com
Sales of frozen chips to schools fell by more than £500,000
in the first three months of the year, in the earliest concrete
sign that companies are paying the price for Jamie Oliver’s
assault on unhealthy school dinners.
Market research company ACNielsen said sales were down by £521,000
compared with the beginning of last year and blamed part
of the fall on Mr Oliver’s high- profile campaign.
Nuclear power? Yes please says Blair
Sector: Central Government
Date: 23/04/05
Source: The Independent
Link: http://www.independent.co.uk
Downing Street is drawing up secret plans to create a new
generation of nuclear power stations as the centrepiece of
the Government’s drive to combat climate change
Tony Blair wants to avoid discussing the issue until after the election and
the No 10 review of Britain’s energy needs is not mentioned in the manifesto.
But a team in the Strategy Unit, led by John Birt, the former director general
and one of the Prime Minister’s closest advisors, is studying whether
nuclear power should play a central role in combating global warming.
Conservative
cuts would reverse less than half of Labour’s extra
spending
Sector: Central Government
Date: 22/04/05
Source: Financial Times
Link: http://www.ft.com
The Conservatives’ planned spending cuts for the
next parliament would reverse less than half of Labour’s
additional expenditure since 1999, the Institute for Fiscal
Studies said yesterday.
But it is far from clear that the Conservatives would be
able to make the cuts that they planned over the next two
years as quickly and as painless as they hoped, said the
institute in its analysis of the impact of the three main
parties’ plans on the public finances.
Move to streamline EU retail finance
Sector: Europe
Date: 22/04/05
Source: Financial Times
Link: http://www.ft.com
The European Commission is proposing new measures to throw
open the European Union’s market for retail financial
services, including action against restrictive practices
affecting bank accounts.
The EU executive is also considering the introduction of
standardised financial products that could be offered across
the 25 member states without approval by national regulators.
Row over £11
billion tax black hole
Sector: Central Government
Date: 22/04/05
Source: The Guardian
Link: http://www.guardian.co.uk
A new Labour government would need to raise taxes or cut
spending by £11 billion in the next parliament to restore
the public finances to a healthy state, Britain ’s
leading experts on taxation said yesterday.
G8 could give Scotland £1
billion boost
Sector: Scotland
Date: 22/04/05
Source: The Times
Link: http://www.timesonline.co.uk
Scotland stands to gain a £1 billion-plus windfall
from hosting the G8 summit of world leaders at Gleneagles
in July.
The Scottish Executive says that the potential spin-off
will come not only from the short-term economic boost provided
by an estimated 5,000 international visitors but also from
the massive free publicity which the summit will generate
for Scotland around the world
The estimate of the massive boost to the Scottish economy
has been drawn up by Executive officials, who have studied
the economic impact of previous G8 summits on the areas where
they were held.
Education set to profit over NHS in climate of
tighter spending
Sector: Health
Date: 21/04/05
Source: Financial Times
Link: http://www.ft.com
Labour on Wednesday signalled its spending priorities for
the second half of the next parliament.
Gordon Brown, the chancellor, promised that education spending
would rise as a share of national income under a third-term
Labour government and John Reid, the health secretary, indicated
that the days of record increases in National Health Service
spending were over.
Their comments suggest that in the anticipated tighter
environment for public spending, education could expect to
be protected against competing priorities.
Call for public
service warning on postal fraud
Sector: Central Government
Date: 20/04/05
Source: The Guardian
Link: http://www.guardian.co.uk
Public service warnings should be issued within days to
alert millions of voters to the risk of postal voting fraud,
a leading electoral officer will tell Whitehall mandarins
at an emergency meeting tomorrow.
David Monks, who represents the country's returning officers,
will put his call for the warnings top of the agenda at a
high-level briefing in Whitehall attended by a representative
from the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo), Sam
Younger, the chairman of the Electoral Commission and Alex
Allen, the permanent secretary at the Department for Constitutional
Affairs.
Brown commits
to a flexible economy – but
refuses to state spending limits
Sector: Central Government
Date: 20/04/05
Source: Financial Times
Link: http://www.ft.com
Labour will make new commitments in a third term to the
creation of a more flexible and competitive UK economy, Gordon
Brown said yesterday ahead of next week's publication of
Labour's business manifesto.
But, in an interview with the Financial Times, the chancellor
would not give any indication of the long-term limits for
taxation and public spending under Labour, warning that such
a move would amount to creating "a third fiscal rule".
Howard pledge to axe council tax review
Sector: Central Government
Date: 20/04/05
Source: Financial Times
Link: http://www.ft.com
Michael Howard on Wednesday promised to scrap a shake-up
of the council tax system in an attempt to woo Middle England
by averting what the Conservatives say is the risk of a £1.8
billion stealth tax rise.
The Tory leader answered mounting criticism of the limited
scope of his tax cuts by announcing that a Conservative government
would abandon Labour's plans to revalue council tax.
Government outsourcing lifts Mouchel Parkman
Sector: Central Government
Date: 20/04/05
Source: Financial Times
Link: http://www.ft.com
Increased government outsourcing has driven a sharp rise
in profitability at Mouchel Parkman, the support services
group.
The company, which provides services such as traffic officer
training, property management and rail signalling operations,
said pre-tax profit in the six months to the end of January
rose to
£7.2m after a loss of £300,000 last year.
Procurement
lacks honesty
Sector: Local Government
Date: 19/04/05
Source: The Times
Link: http://www.timesonline.co.uk
Naivety, lack of honesty and a shortage of plain dealing
on the part of suppliers and councils is hobbling local government
procurement, reports Public Finance ( April 15).
The claims are made in a report by the Society of IT Management
(SOCITM), A Marriage of Convenience?, which says
that flawed contract negotiations mean that partnerships
are often destined to fail.
Councils are “less than frank” about the detail
of what they want, so as to keep bidders in the competition
for as long as possible, the magazine reports. On the other
hand, suppliers make promises that they can’t keep.
The combined result is mutual distrust.
Bloated public sector blamed as Scots sink down
industry league
Sector: Scotland
Date: 19/04/05
Source: Scotsman
Link: http://www.scotsman.com
Scotland has plunged from fourth to eighth in the UK regional
competitiveness league table - relegated on the grounds that
a swelling public sector is replacing innovative industry.
In a damning indictment of the Scottish Executive’s
enterprise agenda, Scotland has been overtaken by the West
Midlands and Cornwall because a greater share of those regions’ economy
is devoted to wealth creation.
The results will fuel fears that government jobs are now
crowding out the private sector.
CBI sets out wish list for post election priorities
Sector: Central Government
Date: 11/04/05
Source: The Herald
Link: http://www.theherald.co.uk
Business lobby group the Confederation of British Industry
has warned the main political parties that there is widespread
dissatisfaction among companies over the slow progress of
improvements to key public services, including transport
and education.
According to CBI research, published ahead of May's general election, transport
and education are priorities for firms as they have the greatest influence
on competitiveness.
CBI sets
out wish list for post election priorities
Sector: Central Government
Date: 11/04/05
Source: The Herald
Link: http://www.theherald.co.uk
Business lobby group the Confederation of British Industry
has warned the main political parties that there is widespread
dissatisfaction among companies over the slow progress of
improvements to key public services, including transport
and education.
According to CBI research, published ahead of May's general election, transport
and education are priorities for firms as they have the greatest influence
on competitiveness.
Classroom contracts
Sector: Education
Date: 11/04/05
Source: The Times
Link: http://www.timesonline.co.uk
Parents in Glasgow may be forced to sign contracts promising
that their children will behave at school in an attempt by
the city council to stem a riseing tide of classroom indiscipline
and violence.
Spending cut pledges bases on bureaucracy myth,
says TUC
Sector: Central Government
Date: 8/04/05
Source: Financial Times
Link: http://www.ft.com
Labour and Conservative election promises to cut public
spending by axing thousands of jobs are based on a myth that
essential services are stuffed with needless managers and
bureaucrats, according to research by the Trades Union Congress.
Rover on brink of collapse
Sector: Construction
Date: 8/04/05
Source: Telegraph
Link: http://www.telegraph.co.uk
MG Rover's management are to be officially investigated
after bringing Britain 's last remaining large-scale car
manufacturer to the brink of collapse, Gordon Brown said
yesterday.
The Chancellor's comments were the first clear sign that
the Government will launch inquiries into the so-called "Phoenix
Four" executives - led by John Towers , the chairman
- who have paid themselves £30 million since buying
Rover from BMW for a token £10 five years ago.
Labour ‘also
plotting secret spending cuts
Sector: Central Government
Date: 8/04/05
Source: The Times
Link: http://www.timesonline.co.uk
Thecottish National Party claimed yesterday that the Government
had a secret plan to change the way public spending north
of the border is calculated.
The Nationalists said that Downing Street had turned down
a request from one of their MPs for information on any plans
to change the Barnett Formula, the mechanism that sets Scotland ’s
share of annual UK public spending. The Prime Minister’s
office refused the request on the grounds that the information
was protected by provisions of the Freedom of Information
Act, which allows the withholding of documents relating to
the formulation of government policy or the effective conduct
of public affairs.
Spending cut pledges bases on bureaucracy myth,
says TUC
Sector: Central Government
Date: 8/04/05
Source: Financial Times
Link: http://www.ft.com
Labour and Conservative election promises to cut public
spending by axing thousands of jobs are based on a myth that
essential services are stuffed with needless managers and
bureaucrats, according to research by the Trades Union Congress.
Rover on brink of collapse
Sector: Construction
Date: 8/04/05
Source: Telegraph
Link: http://www.telegraph.co.uk
MG Rover's management are to be officially investigated
after bringing Britain 's last remaining large-scale car
manufacturer to the brink of collapse, Gordon Brown said
yesterday.
The Chancellor's comments were the first clear sign that
the Government will launch inquiries into the so-called "Phoenix
Four" executives - led by John Towers , the chairman
- who have paid themselves £30 million since buying
Rover from BMW for a token £10 five years ago.
Labour ‘also
plotting secret spending cuts
Sector: Central Government
Date: 8/04/05
Source: The Times
Link: http://www.timesonline.co.uk
Thecottish National Party claimed yesterday that the Government
had a secret plan to change the way public spending north
of the border is calculated.
The Nationalists said that Downing Street had turned down
a request from one of their MPs for information on any plans
to change the Barnett Formula, the mechanism that sets Scotland ’s
share of annual UK public spending. The Prime Minister’s
office refused the request on the grounds that the information
was protected by provisions of the Freedom of Information
Act, which allows the withholding of documents relating to
the formulation of government policy or the effective conduct
of public affairs.
Government’s running costs rise by £1
billion
Sector: Central Government
Date: 8/04/05
Source: The Times
Link: http://www.timesonline.co.uk
Theaxpayer bill to meet the Government’s running
costs leapt £1 billion, or 7 per cent, in the past
financial year.
The rise in operating costs throws the success of Gordon
Brown’s ambitious Whitehall efficiency drive into doubt.
Government’s running costs rise by £1
billion
Sector: Central Government
Date: 8/04/05
Source: The Times
Link: http://www.timesonline.co.uk
Theaxpayer bill to meet the Government’s running
costs leapt £1 billion, or 7 per cent, in the past
financial year.
The rise in operating costs throws the success of Gordon
Brown’s ambitious Whitehall efficiency drive into doubt.
Finance
bill delays welcomed by tax experts
Sector: Central Government
Date: 6/4/05
Source: Financial Times
Link: http://www.ft.com
The government's decision to delay some of the most controversial
aspects of the finance bill until after the election was
met with relief by tax experts in business and the profession.
The tax industry had strenuously argued that the complex
and controversial provisions in the bill deserved to be fully
debated. John Whiting of PwC, the professional services firm,
said: "We now have time to make sure that the bill does
not do any more collateral damage than it has to."
Service sector growth brings boost for Brown
Sector: Central Government
Date: 6/4/05
Source: Financial Times
Link: http://www.ft.com
As Gordon Brown sought to place the economy at the centre
of the election campaign, a survey showed that growth in
the service sector gained momentum last month.
The numbers between February and March indicated above-trend
growth in a sector that makes up two-thirds of the economy.
In a speech yesterday, as Tony Blair officially launched
the election campaign, the chancellor relished contrasting
the "old stop-go Britain" with an economy in which
stability had been "locked in".
The survey of purchasing managers, published by the Chartered
Institute of Purchasing and Supply and NTC Research, unexpectedly
rose to a 10-month high in March.
Blair to lose half legislation programme
Sector: Central Government
Date: 4/4/05
Source: Financial Times
Link: http://www.ft.com
Tony Blair is set to sacrifice about half his legislativeprogramme,
including hisflagship identity cards bill, as parliamentary
time runsout before the start of the general election campaign.
The prime minister's decision to delay calling the election
until tomorrow has set the scene for late-nightparliamentary
sittings and horse-trading with the opposition as the government
seeks to salvage some of the 28 bills announced in November's
Queen's Speech.
The ID cards legislation is expected to be the most high-profile
casualty, while bills to crack down on loan-sharks and reform
charities law could also be dropped. Sections of the finance
bill, to enact measures in last month's Budget, may also
have to be ditched.
Scrutiny of EU rules is falling, says CBI
Sector: Europe
Date: 4/4/05
Source: Telegraph
Link: http://www.telegraph.co.uk
Britain's early-warning system for scrutinising proposed
European Union rules and regulations is badly flawed, failing
to spot bad ideas early enough to head them off, according
to the Confederation of British Industry.
About half of all legislation imposing burdens on British
business originates in Brussels but both politicians and
Whitehall bureaucrats fail to devote enough time to monitoring
it, a CBI pamphlet claims.
Brown pledges more cash for schools
Sector: Central Government
Date: 4/4/05
Source: Telegraph
Link: http://www.telegraph.co.uk
Spending on education will rise every year during the next
Parliament if Labour wins a third term in power, Gordon Brown
promised yesterday.
The Chancellor said that by 2010 spending on computers,
buildings and equipment per pupil would be £1,000 a
year - compared with £100 in 1997.
Brown to help million buy homes
Sector: Central Government
Date: 1/4/05
Source: The Independent
Link: http://www.independent.co.uk
Gordon Brown is to promise to help another one million people
buy their homes over the next five years as Labour tries
to put personal prosperity and the strength of the economy
at the heart of its appeal to the voters at the election.
NHS wins first battle in war on price fixing
Sector: Health
Date: 1/4/05
Source: The Times
Link: http://www.timesonline.co.uk
The NHS scored its first victory recently in a long fight
against alleged price fixing among generic drug suppliers
after Ranbaxy, the Indian “copycat” medicine
maker, agreed to pay £4.5 million in compensation to
the Department of Health (DoH).
The settlement comes after the Government brought civil
charges against the company, alleging price fixing in connection
with the supply of a number of penicillin-based medicines
between 1996 and 2000 that were delivered to Britain’s
28 strategic Health Authorities.
£10 million
prize on offer for UK’s most e-aware city
Sector: Local Government
Date: 31/03/05
Source: The Guardian
Link: http://www.guardian.co.uk
A £10 million competition to create a city of e-technology
on a par with the city of culture title is to be announced
tomorrow by Tony Blair as part of an attempt to transform
public services and close the growing digital divide in Britain
.
The government hopes the prize, to be awarded in 2008,
will encourage cities and local councils to transform the
delivery of public services.
EU ‘massively behind’ US
in spending on research
Sector: Scotland
Date: 31/03/05
Source: The Scotsman
Link: http://www.scotsman.com
Europe is lagging behind the United States in terms of
cancer research funding, a new report has found.
The European Cancer Research Funding survey revealed that
the US spends seven times more per head than EU member states.
The equivalent of £12.13 per person is spent on cancer
research in the US , compared to £1.76 in the EU.
MPs question effectiveness of funding for public-private
partnership to run Tube
Sector: PFI/PPP
Date: 31/03/05
Source: Financial Times
Link: http://www.ft.com
The multi-billion pound deals under which private operators
will manage London Underground infrastructure have imposed "enormous
costs" on the taxpayer and could have been simpler,
according to MPs.
The influential Commons public accounts committee says
in a report published recently it has cost the best part
of £1 billion to set up and finance public-private
partnerships on the Tube. The committee questions whether
the PPPs have been effective and suggests alternative forms
of financing should be considered for future projects. It
also calls for more clarity over the payment of "success
fees", paid to contractors for the profit they could
have made elsewhere had their staff and resources not been
tied up in the bidding process. Fees of £90 million,
about 30 per cent of total bidders' costs of £275 million,
were paid in this case.
Caterers may lose out as schools opt to cook on site
Sector: Education
Date: 31/03/05
Source: Financial Times
Link: http://www.ft.com
Private catering companies were warned recently that a £280
million package to improve school meals could cost them customers
as schools increasingly choose to prepare their own meals
on site.
The Soil Association, an organic food campaign group which
has been calling on the government to improve school meals,
said the changes announced by Ruth Kelly, education secretary,
could encourage schools to opt out of contracts with caterers
completely.
£63
initiative sets trend
Sector: Scotland
Date: 31/03/05
Source: Financial Times
Link: http://www.ft.com
The Scottish executive expressed delight that its investment
to improve school meals - praised by chef Jamie Oliver -
was to be repeated in England and Wales .
Euan Robson, deputy education minister, said: "Providing
children with nutritious food at school is one of the most
important contributions we can make to the future health
of our nation.
"In Scotland we are investing more than £63
million over three years to make school meals more nutritious
and appetising - at no extra cost to parents - and an additional £6m
for free fruit in the early years of primary school."
Council stockpile
record £1bn as taxes rise
Sector: Scotland
Date: 30/03/05
Source: The Herald
Link: http://www.theherald.co.uk
Local authorities had record reserves of more than £1billion
when they increased council tax by 4.4% last year, according
to the national spending watchdog.
The funds were equal to about £500 for every household.
Tom McCabe, finance minister, said he wanted councils to
maintain adequate reserves, but warned: "There is no
case for unreasonably high ones."
Opposition parties said voters could have been spared much of the pain of tax
rises if councils had drawn down some reserves instead of raising extra income.
They also said claims by councils that they were under-funded would in future
ring hollow.
Jarvis forced
to borrow a further £17m
Sector: PFI/PPP
Date: 30/03/05
Source: Financial Times
Link: http://www.ft.com
Jarvis, the indebted support services company that has
pulled back from the brink of financial collapse, has been
forced to borrow a further £17 million.
The extra money was needed to pay down larger-than-expected
working capital requirements, the company said. Jarvis's
debt level - excluding cash in trust funds for the completion
of its private finance initiative construction contracts
- has spiralled to £280 million.
£1bn
surplus could make a real difference
Sector: Scotland
Date: 30/03/05
Source: Scotsman
Link: http://www.scotsman.com
Scotland’s councils are sitting on a massive £1
billion cash reserve at the same time as they push through
above-inflation council tax rises.
The figure – enough to pay for 34,482 teachers at £29,000
a year or to a give £437.81 back to each household
that pays council tax – was identified by the Accounts
Commission, the council spending watchdog.
Kelly puts
up £280m for School food
Sector: education
Date: 30/03/05
Source: The Independent
Link: http://www.independent.co.uk
Ruth Kelly, the Education Secretary, has attempted to draw
a line under the controversy surrounding the standard of
school dinners in the UK when she unveiled a £280 million
boost for the meals service.
Lunch costs prove not so hard to swallow
Sector: FoI
Date: 30/03/05
Source: The Herald
Link: http://www.theherald.co.uk
Government ministers feared that freedom of information
legislation would trigger a flurry of stories on how taxpayers'
money is wasted on epicurean high living, fine comestibles,
and vintage claret.
On the contrary, the truth is perhaps more embarrassing – Scottish Executive
ministers hardly ever stump up for a restaurant bill.
Data released yesterday shows that, over the past six years, the ministerial
team dipped into the public purse to pay a restaurant bill on only 14 occasions.
Treasury ‘threat’ to £180m
funds
Sector: Scotland
Date: 30/03/05
Source: The Herald
Link: http://www.theherald.co.uk
Treasury threats to EC funding worth £180 million
a year to Scotland , were deployed in an early SNP election
manoeuvre in Inverness recently.
Alex Salmond, party leader, said the issue was vital to
the Highlands and Islands which could lose £65m a year.
There have been moves within Europe to allow additional
support after 2006 for those fragile regions who would have
qualified for Objective One.
Blair pledges
to close ‘digital divide’
Sector: Central Government
Date: 29/03/05
Source: Financial Times
Link: http://www.ft.com
Labour will this week try to cast itself as the party of
the future with a plan to close the "digital divide" between
rich and poor.
Tony Blair will put the strategy to improve people's internet
access at the centre of Labour's general election manifesto.
CBI fears over pace of reform
Sector: Local Government
Date: 29/03/05
Source: Financial Times
Link: http://www.ft.com
Business is seriously dissatisfied with the pace of reform
in public services and sceptical that the government will
achieve planned efficiency gains of £21.5 billion.
That was the finding of a survey of the CBI employers'
organisation's 1,900 members, which resulted in nearly 400
replies.
Labour ‘spending £1.5bn
on extra NHS bureaucrats’
Sector: Central Government
Date: 29/03/05
Source: The Times
Link: http://www.timesonline.co.uk
ALMOST £1.5 billion was spent last year on extra
managers and bureaucrats brought in to support Labour’s
policy of “micro-managing” the health service,
the Conservatives have announced.
The NHS workforce survey, published last week, shows that
more than 15,000 NHS managers have been recruited since Labour
came to power in 1997, an average of 2,222 a year. An extra
4,169 staff a year have been brought in to clerical and administrative
roles, with 29,183 extra staff employed by 2004.
Chris Grayling, the Tory health spokesman, said that even
with conservative estimates of salaries the extra cost was
almost £1.5 billion — the equivalent of 52,000
nurses.
Minister
defends the £8bn bill for PPP programme
Sector: PFI/PPP
Date: 26/03/05
Source: Scotsman
Link: http://www.scotsman.com
Scotland ’s controversial Public Private Partnership
projects will have cost taxpayers £8 billion by 2018-19,
according to the Scottish Executive’s own figures.
Tom McCabe, the finance minister, has released information
showing that the burden on the taxpayers of the PPP schemes
has risen from just £13.8 million in 1997/98 and will
eventually reach a projected £555 million annually
by 2018-19.
Last night the Scottish National Party claimed that the
real figure will be more than £13 billion and condemned
the Executive for allowing the banks to make "excessive" profits
out of the projects.
Senior Conservative sacked over ‘hidden’ spending
cuts
The Conservative deputy chairman was sacked last night
after admitting that the scale of his party’s planned
spending cuts is being concealed because “whatever
the fine principles, you have to win an election first”.
Michael Howard moved to limit the damage after learning
that The Times had a tape recording of remarks made
by Howard Flight on Wednesday night. Mr Flight, the Conservatives’ special
envoy to the City, had been speaking at a private meeting
of the Thatcherite Conservative Way Foward group.
When Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury, he set up
the James review into public spending which identified the £35
billion savings that will be the Tories’ flagship policy.
ID card
scheme could increase risk to security, says study
Sector: Central Government
Date: 21/03/05
Source: Financial Times
Link: http://www.ft.com
Plans for a national identity card must be abandoned, says
a study by the London School of Economics.
The study, said to be “the most comprehensive analysis
yet” of the plan, claims the proposals could actually
increase security threats. They are “too complex, technically
unsafe, and overly prescriptive” and may fall foul
of legislation including the Convention on Human Rights and
the Data Protection Act.
NHS overspend likely to delay planned improvements
Sector: Health
Date: 19/03/05
Source: Financial Times
Link: http://www.ft.com
The National Health Service will have to delay or scale
back planned improvements after the election as the service
looks set to fail to balance its books for the first time
in years, according to a leading expert on NHS management.
Blair and
Brown unite in £35bn cuts assault
Sector: Central Government
Date: 18/03/05
Source: The Guardian
Link: http://www.guardian.co.uk
In one of the sharpest skirmishes of the pre-election campaign,
Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and the Conservatives recently battled
over Labour claims that the opposition plans to cut £35
billion from public spending.
The Chancellor and the Prime Minister appeared together
at a recent early morning poster launch to make the claim.
They emphasised the gap between Mr Brown’s spending
plans and the Conservatives’ pre-election pledge to
slim down the state and cut taxes while protecting services.
PFI pays off for leading contractors
Sector: PPP/PFI
Date: 18/03/05
Source: Financial Times
Link: http://www.ft.com
This month, it became clearer than ever before how much
money companies are making from building hospitals, schools
and prisons under the Private Finance Initiative.
Given the political sensitivities, companies have resisted
boasting about this but last week Carillion, a leading PFI
contractor, spoke out.
It announced that the discounted cash flows of its 18 PFI
investments had a net present value of £83 million.
This compared with an investment of just £29 million.
Facelift
for primary schools in ‘education
to 18’ package
Sector: Education
Date: 17/03/05
Source: The Guardian
Link: http://www.guardian.co.uk
The Chancellor has laid out a vision of “seamless” education
for all young people from the age of three to 18, to be delivered
through an unexpectedly generous settlement for schools and
colleges.
Mr Brown spelled out the Government’s aim of ensuring
that all children start their education in an early-years
setting at the age of three, and continue in school, sixth
form or approved training until they reach 18.
The package is backed by an unprecedented £9.4 billion
rebuilding programme for primary schools, to help them provide
the new services expected of “extended schools”,
open from 8am to 6pm , and a £1.5 billion refurbishment
of further education colleges.
Measures
mean a £300m boost for Scots spending
Sector:
Scotland
Date: 17/03/05
Source: The Times
Link: http://www.timesonline.co.uk
Jack McConnell was given a strong hint recently that the
UK Government expects him to follow its lead and divert millions
of pounds into primary school education.
The First Minister will get nearly £300 million in
extra government cash as a result of Gordon Brown’s
Budget.
The £293 million over five years which will come
to Scotland is a direct result of extra spending in England
on education, free bus travel for pensioners and other spending
decisions.
Officially, Mr McConnell does not have to allocate resources
to the same areas as Westminster as he has the right to decide
where he wants to spend the money.
The Chancellor gives…but be ready for him
to take away
Sector: Central Government
Date: 17/03/05
Source: The Telegraph
Link: http://www.telegraph.co.uk
Parents, pensioners and first-time homebuyers were promised
glittering prizes in Gordon Brown’s pre-election Budget
but accountants warned them to beware of Chancellors bearing
gifts.
For example, when Mr Brown said families with two children
would be able to earn more than £22,000 a year and
reclaim all the income tax they paid through means-tested
credits, experts explained that they would have to compete “an
increasingly complex paperchase”.
Mike Warburton, of the accountants Grant Thornton, said: “It
seems strange to make more people pay income tax by only
raising the starting point in line with price inflation,
rather than earnings, and then expect them to fill in forms
to claim it back.”
Chancellor targets savers and working families
in his pre-election Budget
Sector: Central Government
Date: 16/03/05
Source: Financial Times
Link: http://www.ft.com
Gordon Brown will unveil a Budget that provides targeted
support for a range of groups – including savers, working
families, pensioners and first-time house buyers – while
seeking to enhance his reputation for prudent management
of Britain ’s public finances.
Stepping up Labour’s bid to win a third general election
just 50 days from now, the Chancellor will say that he is
still on course to meet his fiscal rules and that the Government’s
spending plans between now and 2008 remain fully affordable.
Chancellor beats drum for green cause
Sector: Central Government
Date: 15/03/05
Source: Financial Times
Link: http://www.ft.com
Gordon Brown will highlight the business opportunities of
environmentally sound industries, as Britain hosts a meeting
of ministers from 20 countries to discuss global climate
change.
Budget will need for more innovation
Sector: Central Government
Date: 15/03/05
Source: Financial Times
Link: http://www.ft.com
Gordon Brown will use Wednesday's Budget to tackle the
challenge posed by other emerging market economies such as
China , by commissioning a review into how Britain 's creative
industries can help its struggling manufacturers.
The chancellor will ask George Cox, chairman of the Design
Council, to examine how the UK 's expertise in advertising,
software, the media and universities can be exploited to
boost industrial competitiveness. Mr Cox, former head of
the Institute of Directors , will report in time for this
year's pre-Budget report.
Treasury is considering land tax, says Barker
Sector: Central Government
Date: 15/03/05
Source: Guardian
Link: http://www.guardian.co.uk
Ministers will shortly examine the case for a land tax
to help fund vital infrastructure projects, such as schools,
roads and hospitals, in new housing developments.
Kate Barker, the economist who reviewed housing supply
for the chancellor and the deputy prime minister last year,
said a windfall levy on the huge profits gained from land
speculation was a live issue politically.
Cabinet to sacrifice ID card bill
Sector: Central Government
Date: 15/03/05
Source: Guardian
Link: http://www.guardian.co.uk
The government is set to lose its controversial flagship
bills on ID cards and the reform of Britain 's gambling laws
unless it can cut deals with the Conservatives and Liberal
Democrats before a widely expected May general election closes
off all room for manoeuvre.
Though ministers seem resigned to losing former home secretary
David Blunkett's pet project - a British ID card to counter
fraud and terrorism - they will fight to save Tessa Jowell's
gambling bill, if necessary by warning Liberal Democrats
it is "all or nothing".
Brown digs in to defend Britain’s £7
billion EU rebate
Sector: Central Government
Date: 15/03/05
Source: Telegraph
Link: http://www.telegraph.co.uk
Gordon Brown dug in against Brussels lrecently, in an attempt
to preserve his Budget sums from having a huge hole blown
in them by the potential loss of the British rebate from
the European Union.
The Chancellor has already made clear that he intends to
fight tooth and nail to secure Britain 's £7 billion
rebate. However, his determination puts him at odds with
not just all other members of the EU, but Tony Blair too,
who hopes to find a compromise.
Strip Scottish councils of almost all power, says
CBI
Sector: Scotland
Date: 14/03/05
Source: The Scotsman
Link: http://www.scotsman.com
Business leaders are demanding that Scotland’s 32
local authorities be stripped of many of their key functions,
in a shake-up that would leave them virtually powerless,
The Scotsman can reveal.
The Confederation of British Industry in Scotland says that
education, social work and emergency planning should be transferred
from town halls to the Executive.
Details of the plan are included in a CBI submission to
a committee set up by the Executive to look at alternatives
to the council tax. Its contents have prompted outrage amongst
local government leaders.
In its paper, the CBI says that "the committee may
wish to consider whether a solution lies in transferring
some local government functions to central government".
Chancellor to offer big bag of goodies in what is
predicted to be his last budget
Sector: Scotland
Date: 14/03/05
Source: The Scotsman
Link: http://www.scotsman.com
Gordon Brown will unveil a clutch of vote-luring incentives
this week in what could be his last budget as Chancellor
of the Exchequer.
Brown ‘shifts
spending to save Golden Rule’
Sector: Central Government
Date: 14/03/05
Source: Telegraph
Link: http://www.telegraph.co.uk
Gordon Brown has forced Government departments to push
projects that should have begun this financial year into
the next so he does not breach his own rules on borrowing
ahead of the General Election, it was claimed last night.
Paul Boateng, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, held
meetings with at least one minister to "force" him
into a "deliberate underspend'', defence sources said.
The Chancellor has set a "Golden Rule" under
which the Government can borrow only to invest, but this
could have been breached by a spate of expensive projects,
giving the opposition ammunition for their election campaigns.
Conservative poll pledge on spending
Sector: Central Government
Date: 11/03/05
Source: The Telegraph
Link: http://www.telegraph.co.uk
The Conservatives recently pledged they would spare Scotland
from spending cuts when they launched their general election
campaign north of the border.
Under a Conservative Government, Scotland would retain its
block grant from Westminster while benefiting from UK-wide
tax cuts.
Ignorant, petty MSPs blamed for Holyrood
Sector: Scotland
Date: 11/03/05
Source: The Scotsman
Link: http://www.scotsman.com
MSPs were recently exposed as the main culprits for the
Holyrood fiasco by the long awaited documentary series on
the project.
The controversial series, The Gathering Place, which
has cost £1 million to make and is being shown three
years later than originally planned, was finally aired on
BBC 2 recently.
Brown seeks ‘grey vote’ with
budget cash for pensioners
Sector: Central Government
Date: 10/03/05
Source: The Independent
Link: http://www.independent.co.uk
Gordon Brown will announce extra money for pensioners in
his Budget next week in an attempt to trump the help promised
by the Tories and Liberal Democrats.
The Chancellor will join the battle for the ‘grey
vote’ at the election by unveiling extra money on top
of his existing commitments – the £200 winter
fuel allowance and this year’s £50 payment towards
council tax bills for the over-70s.
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