THIS SPATE OF CRISES SPEAKS OF A BLOATED, BROKEN WHITEHALL

12/19/2007 8:23:00 AM

Simon; Jenkins; Guardian; 19 December

Over-centralised, over-sized and overbearing, public administration in Britain is rendered exhausted and incapable . Fortress Whitehall these days is like Kenilworth Castle under siege by Henry III. The wretched occupants have eaten their saddles and are down to their last rat. News that 2m learner-driver licences have been lost somewhere between Minnesota and Iowa City confirms that transport policy has been subcontracted to Magritte. No one even bothers to ask why the licences are in Iowa. It could have been an Indian paddy field or a Moroccan souk. British public administration has moved from cataclysmic to surreal, and 2007 has been its annus horribilis. Guardian

General

NEW DIPLOMA WORTH MORE THAN 3 A-LEVELS

12/19/2007 8:25:00 AM

Daily Telegraph; 19 December

The death knell for A-levels was sounded as it was revealed the Government's flagship diplomas will be equivalent to up to three-and-a-half A-levels.The decision by the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service means students may find it easier to get into university by taking the new courses, which will combine vocational and academic studies. It could lead to a sharp increase in the number of pupils going to university, particularly those from poor backgrounds who are often turned off by purely academic study.However, there are fears the diploma - which will include subjects such as hospitality and hair and beauty - may be less rigorous than A-levels. Telegraph and Times

Secondary

SUPPORTING SCIENCE?

12/19/2007 8:29:00 AM

The Times; 19 December

The Government’s new Science and Technology Facilities Council can do more harm than goodSir, There has been much noise recently from astronomers and particle physicists on the bungled formation of the Government’s new Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), whose first “delivery plan” was announced last week. We would like to share with your readers the impact on the award-winning work in solar-terrestrial physics at the University of Leicester, a perhaps less glamorous but societally significant research discipline concerned with the impact of solar storms on the Earth’s environment and on technologies such as military radars, communications and navigation systems and applications satellites. The strategy statement of the STFC is fourfold: first, to “provide access to world class facilities” — last week the STFC announced that it would cease all support for our world-class facilities; secondly, to “support a healthy and vibrant university community” — we are faced with swingeing cuts and the destruction of our technological base, wasting millions of public pounds previously invested; thirdly, to “engage with European and global partners” — the STFC also announced its premature withdrawal from the main international organisation in this discipline (the European Incoherent Scatter Scientific Association) one year into an agreed five-year programme, further wasting public resources; and fourthly, to “contribute to increased economic impact” — we will be unable to provide further advice to the MoD, sell no more environmental radars to the Japanese, nor work again with the oil industry to develop new exploration techniques. Well done, STFC; off to a cracking start.

Professor Stan Cowley

Professor Tudor Jones

Professor Mark Lester

Professor Terry Robinson

Professor Tim Yeoman

Department of Physics & Astronomy University of Leicester

FE/HE/ Skills

CHILDREN WHO PLAY UNSUPERVISED TURN OUT FITTER AND MORE SOCIABLE, STUDY SAYS

12/19/2007 8:27:00 AM

Daily Mail; 19th December 2007

Play on, play on: Unsupervised children burn off more energy and have more fun than their supervised peersChildren who are let out to play unsupervised grow up to be healthier and more sociable, a study reveals. Letting youngsters explore their surroundings without an adult present is "one of the best things a parent can do for their child's physical health and personal development", researchers claim. Yet nearly half of youngsters aged between eight and 11 are never allowed to leave the house alone and just under a fifth are allowed out only if an adult is present. Around a quarter can go out unsupervised if they have a friend or older sibling with them. The study, by University College London, said parents need to balance fears over "stranger danger" with soaring levels of child obesity. Daily Mail

Foundation

BALLS HASN'T GOT A CLUE ABOUT CRIMINAL CHILDREN

12/19/2007 8:26:00 AM

Jan Moir;Daily Telegraph; 19 Dec

It is very easy to mock the 10-year Children's Plan unveiled by Schools Secretary Ed Balls last week, but that's still no reason not to do it.For many, the biggest cause of dark and bitter laughter was the restorative justice proposals, whereby young offenders and first-time offenders will avoid court action and possibly jail if they say sorry to their victims. How very civilised, inclusive and forward-thinking of all the Labour grand talents involved in this sparkling new legislation. And what a total waste of everybody's time it has been, and will turn out to be.Think about it. How could this pantomime of apologia possibly work? Sorry, missus. I didn't mean to hurt your husband by kicking him in the head. Sorry about knifing your son in the kidneys, lady. Sorry, sir, for smashing up your home and stealing your laptop. I needed the money for drugs. No hard feelings, eh, mister? Can I go now? I've got three old ladies to terrorise at bus stops and a couple of bikes to nick before lunchtime. Telegraph

General

TORIES ASK BRUSSELS TO LOOK INTO DATA BLUNDERS

12/19/2007 8:22:00 AM

FT; 19 December

The Tories have asked the European Commission to investigate the government's data blunders, as it yesterday emerged that Revenue & Customs lost the details of more than 6,500 pension firm customers.Theresa Villiers, shadow transport secretary, asked the Commission to investigate potential breaches of EU data protection law caused by the recent losses of personal information by the government, including the missing details of 25m people on the child protection database and the mislaid records of 3m learner drivers. The government's reputation as custodian of the nation's data took another hit yesterday after John Denham, skills secretary, revealed the number of workers covered by its "skills pledge" had been overestimated by hundreds of thousands because of a "computer programming error", David Turner reports .David Lammy, a junior minister in Mr Denham's department, had told parliament on December 12 that 3.1m workers were included in the skills pledge, after receiving the figure from the Learning and Skills Council, a quango. But the ministry said that two days later a check had uncovered the true number: 2.3m.FT

General

FIRM THAT LOST DRIVERS’ DETAILS SCORED ERRORS IN EXAM

12/19/2007 8:28:00 AM

The Times; 19 December

The company responsible for losing the records of more than three million learner drivers was yesterday at the centre of a new controversy after it took responsibility for scoring errors in a new university entrance exam. Pearson Vue, the largest testing company and education publisher, administers the UKCAT Clinical Aptitude Test, taken every year by thousands of applicants to medical and dentistry schools. It admitted that an error by its employees in tabulating the scores in the autumn tests had invalidated the results of a section that was worth a quarter of the final marks. As a result, the UKCAT consortium of 23 medical and dentistry schools, which hired Pearson to administer the tests, had to scrap the marks for that part of the test for all students. This meant that students received scores for their tests that were different from those that were sent to the universities to which they were applying. Times

Independent/ Private Sector

CARBON NEUTRAL NEW SCHOOLS PLAN

12/19/2007 8:23:00 AM

BBC; 18 DecEnergy-saving and eco-friendly school building projects have been announced as part of the government's drive for new schools to be carbon neutral. England's Schools Secretary Ed Balls has announced 200 projects, costing £110m over three years. These will include using greener technologies such as wind turbines, solar power and biomass boilers. Under the Children's Plan, there is a target for all new school buildings to be carbon neutral by 2016. The 10-year strategy, published last week, sets out the ambition for greener schools - but also acknowledges that it might not be practical on existing school sites. BBC

General

MEDICAL SCHOOLS TOLD TO IGNORE TEST RESULTS

12/19/2007 8:24:00 AM

The Guardian; 19 December

Medical schools have been told to ignore results from a test taken by 20,000 applicants this year after the examiners decided too many scored high marks. Scores achieved in the "abstract reasoning" exam, worth a quarter of the marks in the UK Clinical Aptitude test (UKCAT), have been ditched after problems were identified by exams company Pearson Vue. The UKCAT was introduced by a coalition of 26 medical and dental schools two years ago to help them discriminate between the thousands of straight-A applications they receive. Students, who pay £75 to take the test, answer four sections online at one of their test centres. Guardian

General

100,000 LOSE OUT TO MIGRANTS IN HUNT FOR WORK

12/18/2007 8:19:00 AM

Daily Telegraph;18 December

More than 100,000 young Britons may have been pushed into unemployment by the new wave of Eastern European immigrants, an economic analysis on the impact of migration has revealed. The study, by the influential Ernst & Young ITEM Club, found that although the recent influx has boosted Britain's economy and kept inflation low, it may have increased unemployment for younger Britons and reduced pay increases for all. Since 1997, 1.5 million foreign workers have entered the British workplace, with many of these arriving from Eastern Europe in the past three years since the European Union expansion. This new group typically earns 40 per cent less than British workers. Since 2004, the number of unemployed British 18 to 24 year olds has increased by 100,000, according to the study. "There is some evidence that the growth of immigrant employment seen in the last few years may have come at the expense of the domestic workforce," the report concludes. Telegraph

General

THIS SPATE OF CRISES SPEAKS OF A BLOATED, BROKEN WHITEHALL

NEW DIPLOMA WORTH MORE THAN 3 A-LEVELS

SUPPORTING SCIENCE?

CHILDREN WHO PLAY UNSUPERVISED TURN OUT FITTER AND MORE SOCIABLE, STUDY SAYS

BALLS HASN'T GOT A CLUE ABOUT CRIMINAL CHILDREN

TORIES ASK BRUSSELS TO LOOK INTO DATA BLUNDERS

FIRM THAT LOST DRIVERS’ DETAILS SCORED ERRORS IN EXAM

CARBON NEUTRAL NEW SCHOOLS PLAN

MEDICAL SCHOOLS TOLD TO IGNORE TEST RESULTS

100,000 LOSE OUT TO MIGRANTS IN HUNT FOR WORK

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