Mps Reject Children's Tsar Appointment

MPs reject children's tsar appointment Monday 19th October 2009 at 11:29

A key flagship constitutional innovation introduced by Gordon Brown has hit the rocks after one of his closest allies rejected a Commons committee's call not to proceed with the planned appointment of a new children's commissioner. The prime minister expanded the range of senior public roles which are subject to a preappointment hearing by a Commons committee shortly after taking office. His move was designed to indicate the executive's willingness to give Parliament a greater role in scrutinising major appointments. But on Monday the Commons children, schools and families committee refused to endorse Ed Balls' appointment of a key adviser on children's issues after holding a pre-appointment hearing with the candidate. The schools secretary had named Maggie Atkinson, director of children's services at Gateshead Council, as the new children's commissioner, tasked with speaking up for vulnerable children. However, the cross-party schools committee refused to back the appointment because it said she does not have the necessary independence to "challenge the status quo on children's behalf". Labour MP Barry Sheerman, who chairs the committee, has questioned whether Atkinson has the "independence of mind" to stand up to the schools secretary. The committee felt that in the wake of the Baby P scandal, the children's commissioner needed to be able to campaign for better support for children. However, Balls has said he is pressing on with the appointment, claiming Atkinson would be a "strong, effective and independent voice for the children and young people of our country". In a letter addressed to Sheerman, he said: "It is for these reasons that I have decided to appoint Maggie Atkinson to be the next children's commissioner for England and I am delighted that she has accepted that appointment. "I look forward to her taking up office on 1 March 2010." The committee chairman told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that Balls is a "bully" and added that the decision to override the committee's rejection of the appointment was a "bad day for parliamentary democracy". "Time after time, we see the secretary of state wanting to have people who will do his bidding," Sheerman stated. "He is more of an executive man, rather than a parliamentary man, and I think it is a bad day for parliamentary democracy when - if we are having these pre-appointment hearings - the very first one to say it didn't agree with the appointment gets overridden."

However, the row is complicated by the fact that Balls is also one of the prime minister's closest allies, while Sheerman has called for Brown to resign as Labour leader.

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CBI demand more outsourcing Monday 19th October 2009 at 11:56

Every service other than the military should be opened up to much greater competition, according to a new report from the CBI. The business group has produced recommendations for the government ahead of November’s pre-Budget report calling for more outsourcing of both back office functions and frontline services to the private and third sectors. The CBI claims its proposals could save £136bn by 2015-16, including £63bn from redesigning provision of frontline services to allow greater outsourcing – giving examples such as Atos Origin’s management of health walk-in centres to divert patients away from more costly accident and emergency clinics. The report also claims that greater private sector involvement in non-core functions like back office, IT and facilities management could save £30bn by 2015-16. Speaking to the Financial Times, the chairman of the CBI’s public services strategy board, Adrian Ringrose, called for the public sector to rethink the areas where it allows competition. “Some areas of public service have borders at the moment where the market provides up to there, but not beyond,” he said. “The market could go beyond and start providing services that are currently reserved to government.” On overall public spending levels, the CBI today insisted that much bigger public spending cuts were necessary to reduce the UK’s deficit, calling for an extra £120bn to be taken out of government budgets between now and 2016. “We are facing the biggest peacetime deficit in our history, and it is not simply going to disappear with the economic recovery,” said John Cridland, CBI deputy director general. “That is why we need a fully credible plan to convince financial markets and taxpayers alike that the public finances will be restored to health.”

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Online local crime maps launched Tuesday 20th October 2009 at 10:05

A new interactive national map allowing the public to compare crime figures across England and Wales has been launched by the Home Office. The 'crime map' is designed to boost public confidence in the police by providing more information on crime in their area. Alongside being able to see if crime is rising or falling, visitors to the site will be able to contrast with other parts of the country and compare figures over three month and 12month periods. People will be also be able to view figures for total crime in each area as well as burglary, robbery, violence, vehicle crime and anti-social behaviour. "Crime maps are a key part of delivering neighbourhood policing and giving communities access to information like this not only improves public confidence but ensures police are responding to local people’s needs,” said policing and crime minister David Hanson. "We know the public want this information, which will allow them to hold the police to account and help create an even more responsive and effective service." Steve Mortimore, deputy chief executive of the National Policing Improvement Agency, added: "Fear of crime is known to outstrip the reality. The crime map will give people the facts about local crime and what forces are doing about it. "It is a crucial way of improving the efforts to tackle local crime, since communities that are involved in policing help reduce crime and bring more offenders to justice." Developed by the National Policing Improvement Agency for the Home Office, the crime map builds on the policing pledge, which sets out what the public can expect from their local force. When local crime maps were introduced in January, the Police Federation of England and Wales voiced concerns that the maps may lead to crime hotspots, encouraging criminal intelligence.

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Prisons 'undermined' inspections Tuesday 20th October 2009 at 10:45

Prison managers who swapped difficult prisoners ahead of inspections face disciplinary action.

Dame Anne Owers, the chief inspector of prisons, has revealed how managers at Wandsworth and Pentonville Prisons in London conspired to move vulnerable prisoners ahead of inspections. Five senior managers face disciplinary action, including the two former governors, although they are still working in the prisons system in Wales and Cambridgeshire. One Wandsworth inmate, on learning of the short notice move, took an overdose but was moved to Pentonville anyway, after doctors agreed he could move. Another cut himself and tied a ligature around his neck, was dragged to the prison reception "bloody, handcuffed and dressed only in underwear", and still had blood on his face when he arrived at Pentonville, the Owers report said. A third Wandsworth inmate, Christopher Wardally, was taken to Pentonville after a court appearance and killed himself a week after the inspection was complete and once all three prisoners were back at Wandsworth. Owers has accused the managers responsible of a "dereliction of their duty of care" to inmates and said that Wandsworth had been warned about the dangers of transferring prisoners following an earlier prison suicide. "Every prison in the country knows that prisoners are particularly vulnerable to suicide in the days immediately after they move to a new prison," she said. "This inspection will be remembered for the unacceptable attempts, at managerial level, to subvert the inspection process at the expense of prisoners' wellbeing. "This is deplorable, not only because of the effects on individuals, but because of the underlying mind-set: that prisoners are merely pieces to be moved around the board to meet performance targets or burnish the reputation of the prison." Wardally’s death is being investigated by the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman and HM Coroner. On the same day that Owers published her findings, the National Offender Management Service (Noms) published its own report which found that the inspection "may" have delayed the decision to return Wardally to his cell. A report into transfers from Brixton prison is due to be published this week and justice secretary Jack Straw has called for a review of transfers in general.

He said: "The transfer of prisoners in an attempt to undermine the HMCIP inspection process was disgraceful in its intent and in its execution. "In its misguided effort to present the prisons in a better light, it neglected one of the service's primary responsibilities - to treat those in its custody with decency and care. "It was also self-defeating, as prisoners are fully entitled to complain to the Inspectorate, which is exactly what happened in this case." National Offender Management Service director-general Phil Wheatley told the BBC that the practice was "quite wrong" and had "put prisoners at risk", but rejected claims that the practice was widespread. Paddy Scriven, general secretary of the Prison Governors Association, has blamed the "target culture" for placing "excessive pressure" on governors at a time of budget cuts, and he has been backed by the Conservative shadow justice secretary. Dominic Grieve said: "Chronic prison overcrowding and excessive centralised targets have put immense strain on prison staff. "These failings are the inevitable result of this government's reckless management of the prison estate."

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Third of MoD housing stock rated 'poor' Tuesday 20th October 2009 at 09:40

A Commons committee has said it is concerned about the welfare of the families of servicemen and women after new research into their accommodation. The Ministry of Defence has around 50,000 properties in the UK, providing accommodation for 42,000 service personnel and their families. Around 20,000 families move every year. The public accounts committee said in a report issued today that it is concerned by a survey from the National Audit Office that found a third of service families consider their houses to be in poor condition. And nearly a quarter regard their properties as poorly maintained.

Around 90 per cent of MoD housing stock is within the top two of its four condition standards, which meet or exceed the government's decent homes standard. Emerging findings from the department's recent condition survey show there are now fewer properties at Condition 1 (35 per cent) and more at Condition 2 (59 per cent) than previously recorded. The MoD intends to upgrade all properties to Condition 1 within 20 years and all of its 2,300 Condition 3 and 4 properties to the top standard by 2012. "Most of the MoD housing stock falls within the top two of its condition categories, but the second of these two categories encompasses a lot of variation in property condition," said Edward Leigh, chairman of the public accounts committee. "Emerging findings from the condition survey currently being undertaken by the MoD suggest that the proportion of properties in the top category is decreasing and that in the second is increasing. "Far too many properties are currently standing empty - almost one in five. "This is a poor use of resource. "The department needs to speed up its decision-making and bring more of these properties into use or dispose of them. "Service personnel have to move regularly but they are given very little information in advance about the houses they have been allocated. "And, when they arrive, too often the property has not been cleaned properly and repairs have not been done. "The MoD should improve its processes for the hand-over of properties. It also needs to benchmark its delivery of housing services, including maintenance, against that by other housing providers." The committtee recommends that the MoD introduce 'estate agent style' details for occupants including photos, information on layout and floor plans. It could make use of data collected during the recent condition survey where feasible, and should build the generation of estate agent details into the data collection plans for its survey of the remainder of the housing stock. It should also either undertake to clean all properties before a family moves in, or strengthen expectations that families leave them clean by inspecting properties and completing minor repairs before another family moves in. Other recommendations include introducing a deposit, from which the department can deduct cleaning charges for properties not left in a satisfactory state; and a new a record of tenants who abuse their accommodation so incidents can be taken up with their military units.

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Military procurement like 'letters to Santa Claus' Monday 19th October 2009 at 17:31

The government's apparent resistance to release a damning report came under further fire in the Commons today. Liam Fox told MPs that Downing Street had tried to block the publication of the Bernard Gray report into defence procurement because prime minister Gordon Brown had shown "little interest in defence” in his ten years as chancellor, “and we are now paying the price"

The shadow defence secretary said the government's handling of the document reflected the contents of the report itself. It had been characterised by "unnecessary delay, incompetence and an attempt to avoid responsibility," he said. The review into defence procurement practices by Bernard Gray was commissioned last year by then-defence secretary John Hutton. In a sharply-worded analysis, it slammed civil servants, senior members of the armed forces, politicians and industry executives for failing to recognise the spending constraints Britain faces. Last week defence secretary Bob Ainsworth was reprimanded by the Speaker for publishing the report only one hour before a Commons debate on defence policy. Today Fox told MPs the government's approach to defence procurement was to do little more than draw up a "wish list" with little or no consideration of the actual costs involved. He cited the two-year delay to the future aircraft carriers HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales as "utterly spurious" and indicative of Labour's failed approach. "The government has increasingly announced and started procurement programmes without ever considering whether any money would ever be available,” Fox said. "Children write letters to Santa Claus with comparable understanding between desirability and affordability.

"The procurement programme under Labour is becoming a wish list." In a statement to the Commons today Ainsworth had sought to “deny” the opposition the chance to exploit the report by announcing that the Ministry of Defence would take onboard many of its suggestions. He acknowledged that report had correctly identified significant problems within the ministry's procurement processes. "These include the tendency for programmes to cost more and take longer to deliver than was originally estimated," he admitted. Ainsworth said he would explore legislative means to implement Gray’s recommendation that strategic defence reviews are to be conducted at the start of each new parliament. But he confirmed that the MoD do not intend to put the Defence Equipment and Support Agency "at more arms length" from the ministry. "We are not convinced that such a change would lead to better outcomes for armed forces.

"Having DE&S as fully part of defence ensures a close working relationship," he told the Commons. http://www.civilservicenetwork.com/latest-news/news-article/newsarticle/militaryprocurement-like-letters-to-santa-claus/

Burnham rules out ageism Thursday 22nd October 2009 at 12:28

Age discrimination will be outlawed in the NHS and social care from 2012, the government is set to promise. Health secretary Andy Burnham, who is due to speak at the National Children and Adult Services Conference today, is expected to announce that there will not be a delay to the implementation of equalities legislation in the health service. A review on the treatment of elderly patients, commissioned after the NHS was accused of ageism in areas such as stroke and mental health treatment, is also due to be published today Health department officials have made clear that the new rights would still be subject to

clinical decisions on questions such as prioritising which patients should get vaccines first. Restrictions would also apply in areas such as fertility treatment. In a statement issued ahead of Burnham's speech, equality minister Harriet Harman said age discrimination was not acceptable. "People are not over the hill at 60 - they shouldn't be discriminated against in health care or in any other way. "With the number of people over 85 set to double in the next 20 years, it is essential that older people are not written off because of their age."

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Regulations 'still a burden' Thursday 22nd October 2009 at 12:15

Businesses are sceptical about the government's attempts to reduce the regulatory burden, a survey has found. Research by the National Audit Office (NAO) found that businesses, while reporting some improvement, did not believe compliance with regulations had become easier or less timeconsuming. Auditors have also questioned departmental claims about the savings brought about by the Administrative Burdens Reduction Programme. While reporting had been strengthened, the report noted that the £1.9bn annual savings reported in December 2008 were still only estimates. In the survey of businesses, the NAO found that perceptions of regulation compliance had improved from 74 per cent describing the paperwork as a burden in 2007, to 65 per cent in 2009. Over the same period, there was also a seven per cent reduction in the number of businesses who complained of difficulty in finding relevant advice and guidance. But, alongside those improvements, only one per cent of businesses felt that compliance with regulations had become less time consuming in the last year. More than 60 per cent said it had stayed the same, and 37 per cent thought it had become more time consuming. NAO chief Amyas Morse said: "There is always a difference between perception and reality

but our testing shows that almost no businesses think that complying with regulation has become easier or less time consuming in the last year."

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Darling stays firm on debt Wednesday 21st October 2009 at 14:09

Reducing borrowing too quickly will be a disaster for the economy and the country, the chancellor has warned. Alistair Darling has insisted that halving the public deficit within four years is the right way to cope with the recession, rejecting Conservative claims that the debt should be paid off in just two years. The chancellor was speaking today, at an event in London's Docklands, one day after official figures showed that public borrowing is at a record £77.3bn for the first six months of the financial year. It is estimated that it will reach £175bn for the year as a whole. Darling said that, while there would be "tough choices" on public spending in coming years, it was necessary to continue investment in order to tackle the recession. Only then government could start to address the debt, he argued. "To make the wrong choices, to refuse to invest, will simply mean that the economy gets smaller, we all get poorer, and even greater and deeper cuts are needed," he said. "We have seen this before - the savage cuts of the 1980s meant whole swathes of our economy disappeared." Although figures have shown the economy returning to modest growth between July and September, following five quarters of recession, the chancellor said that "now is too soon" for the government to take its support away. "One set of data showing positive growth will not be enough - we need to ensure that the recovery is embedded," he said. "Withdrawing the support we've provided to the economy would put the recovery at risk and abandon people facing unemployment. "Borrowing to support people now and to invest in the future may feel counter-intuitive ... But in the longer run, it will mean the bills we face as a country are lower, and that we are better placed to pay them off," the chancellor argued.

Darling said the Conservatives, who want to reduce the debt in half the time that the government has proposed, showed a "poverty of aspiration" and were "wallowing in an age of austerity".

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Cabinet office now 'more politicised' Thursday 22nd October 2009 at 17:49

Two senior members of former prime minister John Major's inner circle have testified in front of a committee examining the role of the Cabinet office. Baroness Sarah Hogg, head of the prime minister's policy unit from 1990 to 1995, and Jonathan Hill, head of the prime minister's political office from 1992 to 1994, were appearing before the Lords constitutional committee yesterday. Committee chair Lord Goodlad asked at the outset if they would highlight the key issues that should be considered by the committee in its investigation. Baroness Hogg said efficiency, efficacy and propriety were central. She highlighted the "single most important" constitutional issue as "whether the concept of Cabinet government can be reinforced, reinstated and the extent to which it really can be an important part of checks and balance in our system of government". Jonathan Hill highlighted his concerns that the system becoming more politicised. He said there should be "some distinctions between civil service functions and political functions that I remember more clearly from the 1980s". Both witnesses were asked to reflect on their experience in their respective positions and draw comparisons to the present status and functioning capacity of Cabinet government. Baroness Hogg noted that when she worked in the policy unit, it was made up of a mix of "civil servants and outsiders". She also noted that unlike today, the policy unit was very small and made up of only seven or eight people. Baroness Hogg viewed this as an advantage because "small leads to cooperation not competition".

She added that her experience of Cabinet government led her to the opinion that at the time it was a, "well-functioning piece of machinery that stretched across departments and could support and manage processes to achieve resolutions through cabinet meetings". Baroness Hogg said that cabinet committees had been critically important when she was working in the policy unit and there was a greater need to give them more status. She views them as "mechanisms for resolving differences between departments". Hill supported her comments, but also drew attention to the changing role and behaviour of special advisers. He noted that there was a blurring of "proper boundaries of behaviour between publically funded civil servants and political appointees" which was part of a "cultural shift" that had accelerated after 1997. He also noted that the increasing intrusion of media into politics and political life was used as a "justification for the need to have lots of people who spend their time feeding the monster". Lord Wallace of Tankerness asked for both witnesses' views on the perceived move towards a more presidential style of leadership. Baroness Hogg described the British system as "presidential plus" because unlike the US system which had a strong check and balance in place with separation of powers in Congress, there was not "sufficient separation of powers" and "things had been done to weaken parliament" in the British system.

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Row over Home Office sports day Friday 23rd October 2009 at 11:15

The Home Office has moved a sports day from a weekday to a weekend after details were leaked on a political blog. The department's winter games were due to take place on Thursday, November 26, but the event has been moved after organisers mistakenly told colleagues that they could apply for paid leave in order to take part. The Home Office has since clarified that the advice was mistaken and reminded staff that

paid leave for such staff events is against civil service rules. Paul Staines, author of the right-wing Guido Fawkes blog, was forwarded an email which told Home Office staff that "SPECIAL LEAVE with PAY for Home Office staff working inside London and South East – subject to line-management authorisation - can be applied for". Shadow home secretary Chris Grayling has been one of a number of people to complain about the organisation of the event while, he said, "the immigration system has been shambolic for years". UK Border Agency spokesman Tony Smith said the event "was inadvertently arranged outside the strict civil service rules". "Contrary to reports it will now be taking place outside of office hours. Any suggestion that staff could claim paid leave is absolutely wrong and staff have been notified accordingly." And a spokesman for the Cabinet Office defended the use of annual sports days by departments. The events are seen as an important way to promote health and wellbeing of staff, which is one of the four corporate priorities set by the head of the civil service. He said: "People are allowed off for a half-day, either morning or afternoon, to take part. The private sector do this the whole time to build team rapport. It’s both team bonding and healthy."

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Chief solicitor wants 'radical' changes Friday 23rd October 2009 at 00:50

Funding cuts are going to require a radical reorganisation of the way government legal services are provided, the head of the professional body has warned. Paul Jenkins, Treasury solicitor and the head of the Government Legal Service (GLS), says the existing number of legal teams across Whitehall could be reduced to a few, large shared services. The civil service is now in a “world where the sort of efficiencies we have been delivering incrementally over the past 10 years or so are no longer enough”, he told Civil Service World. With the Treasury’s Operational Efficiency Programme (OEP) anticipating cuts of 20-25 per cent, he said, “You can’t achieve those sorts of savings, given the ever-growing volume of legal business, unless you think very radically about the way you deliver those services.”

He put his idea to the heads of the 25-plus legal teams in Whitehall this month, but told Civil Service World that the final decision will be for ministers, because it was “a political thing”. “Ministers have, in the main, very close relationships with their legal advisers. If we went down the route of a different model with a smaller number of large legal teams, one or more shared-service organisations across Whitehall, there would be issues for ministers. If I was a minister, I might feel I was losing my own legal team,” he explained. That would be an unfounded concern, he added, pointing to the existing shared service where the Department of Health (DH) uses the Department for Work and Pensions’ (DWP) legal team. “I don’t think the Department of Health feel they’re losing anything by having this shared team. All their lawyers are technically employed by DWP but I don’t get any complaints, and I do get a lot of praise from the DH and from their ministers about what their legal team are doing.” To read the full profile of the government's legal profession, click here.

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Call for ambition on Total Place Friday 23rd October 2009 at 00:32

The Total Place pilot, which aims to reduce duplication of effort by mapping the spending in an area and identifying where different public services overlap, risks being undermined by a “lack of ambition”, the civil service has been warned. John Atkinson, chief executive of the Leadership Centre for Local Government, which designed the pilot for Communities and Local Government (CLG), said a lack of political will could also derail the project, which are running in 13 local authority areas. Atkinson told Civil Service World that the biggest obstacle to the project is a “lack of ambition; a sense that it is all too hard”. It is vital, he said, for public service deliverers and managers to think outside organisational structures. A “failure to engage with services from the different perspective of the user” would spell disaster for Total Place, he added. Politicians and civil servants have also been urged to transfer decision-making powers to local managers and local authorities. Stephen Taylor, a former chief executive of the leadership centre, acknowledged that “all governments are instinctively centralist”, but argued that delivery “doesn’t work that way”.

Atkinson agreed, warning that central government is working with “rubber levers” and should realise that “the actual level of control from Whitehall is not what it appears to be”. To read the full feature on Total Place, click here.

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Lund defends ad surge Friday 23rd October 2009 at 00:24

The large increase in government spending on advertising and marketing in the past year is entirely justifiable, according to the boss of the Central Office of Information (COI). Mark Lund, who took over at the helm of the government’s advertising and marketing agency in June, said the overall spending increase of £163m in 2008-09 had been a result of high-profile campaigns on stroke awareness, obesity and climate change. “The stroke campaign started, Act on CO2 really got going, Change4Life started, Apprenticeships started: there was a whole series of initiatives which started at the end of last year and first quarter of this year, and that really helped push up the spend,” Lund said. He added that the effect of the campaign spending has so far been “very good”. “Two thirds of people who’ve seen the Act on CO2 campaign say they are going to take some positive steps, Change4Life has signed up over 300,000 people, and I think they’ll start to see some measurable effects from that next spring. The Stroke campaign has been a revelation.” To read the interview with Mark Lund, click here.

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Robb leaves civil service Friday 16th October 2009 at 11:43

The government's voluntary sector boss has announced that he is stepping down to lead a major homelessness charity. Campbell Robb, who has been director general of the Office of the Third Sector and Social

Exclusion for two-and-a-half years, has been chosen as the next chief executive of Shelter. Robb started his career as a researcher to Labour MP David Blunkett before becoming press officer for Chris Smith MP. He first joined the civil service in 2006 when he was seconded to the Treasury from the National Council for Voluntary Organisations, where he was director of public policy, to work on third sector policy for the 2007 comprehensive spending review. In May of that year, he was appointed to lead the newly created Office of the Third Sector within the Cabinet Office, and has been responsible for delivering the government's strategy, and £515m of funding, to support charitable and voluntary sector organisations that help to deliver public services. More recently, the government announced a further £60m of funding to help the sector through the recession. Third sector and social exclusion minister Angela Smith said Campbell had "worked tirelessly" to deliver the "unprecedented programme of support for the third sector". The government is "very sad to lose Campbell", she added, but said the government's work with the third sector would not be affected. "We are committed to ensuring there is no loss of momentum and that the staff of the two departments continue to provide excellent support for socially excluded communities and the third sector," she said.

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e­government       Leading e­government news and features for the IT professional  ­ Friday 16th October   Privatisation threat for civil service The government is said to be considering privatising back-office functions like IT Data mis-users could face two years The Ministry of Justice is consulting on harsher sentences for data misuse Cyber security skills are inadequate A senior officer admits cyber security skills are not up to scratch just yet E-gov could save £900m annually Lane Fox says going paperless could make a huge difference in the recession Minister for government IT is named Angela Smith in the Cabinet Office will be responsible for e-government issues

ID cards and iris scans at 2012 site Construction workers for the Olympics will face biometric security measures Digital Britain plan could fall behind Lord Carter says Tory spending cuts would put the UK years behind Europe Controversial vetting scheme begins The Home Office says it is a 'major step forward' but it faces huge opposition Brum takes Digital Britain initiative Deputy leader is 'disappointed' with Digital Britain and opts for local solutions

Features: Every cloud needs a safer lining  Iain Bourne, head of data protection at the Information Commissioner's Office, tells Fuchsia  Burton that the protection of personal data must better reflect the information age we live in The European knowledge economy's KIC start  Martin Schuurmans outlines the European Institute of Innovation and Technology's progress so  far and explains how to develop Europe's burgeoning knowledge economy The fiscal challenge: an opportunity for outsourcers and government?  In the first of three articles from Serco Consulting, Neil Malpas looks at how the delivery and  management of public services could be reinvented to cut cost and reform service delivery http://www.publicservice.co.uk/topic_section.asp?topic=e­government

THE WEEK'S BEST PUBLICSERVANTDAILY STORIES Straw 'is reviving secret inquests' Liberty claims Labour is trying to sneak unpopular legislation through Parliament Tory all-women shortlists get the nod Brown and Clegg also admit that their parties lack minority group members Home Office 'lost' 40,000 immigrants Border and Immigration Agency reveals backlog that stretches back six years University tuition fees 'have to rise' It is difficult to see how excellence is sustainable otherwise, says Prof Holman Child protection 'is unsustainable' Councils are diverting funds from key schemes to pay for looked after children '2010 is going to be a bumpy ride' Deficit will fall to £113bn in 2013-14 and not the planned £97bn, says forecast 'Dump nuclear waste on landfill sites' DECC and NDA also want radioactive liquid-waste processing at Sellafield Senior prison governors charged Inmates were moved between London prisons to 'fool' the prisons inspectorate Ed Balls ignores committee's advice He will appoint Maggie Atkinson as the new children's commissioner for England 'Brown is to blame for yob culture' The government's neighbourhood crime adviser says public have been let down

Coaker dismisses education review Schools minister insists that the three-year review is 'simply not up to speed' 'Jobs to go' at Notts County Council The new council leader Kay Cutts says: 'This is not a decision we've taken lightly' Serious case reviews 'must improve' Ofsted has 'great concern' that children are still not being safeguarded properly

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