Showing posts with label Police. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Police. Show all posts
Monday, 14 January 2013
Tuesday, 8 January 2013
Improving Public Services : Coalition Promises in Mid Term Review
http://midtermreview.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/improving-public-services/
Schools
We will increase the value of the Pupil Premium – to £900 per pupil in 2013/14 – while continuing to hold schools to account for what they achieve with the extra money.
We will provide a ‘catch-up’ premium of £500 for every 11 year old who leaves primary school below the expected level in English and maths.
We will introduce revised Key Stage 2 tests to make sure that no child is failed
by low expectations.
We will invest an additional £1 billion to expand good or outstanding schools, including enough funding for up to 100 new Free Schools and Academies in areas of basic need.
We will replace GCSEs with a new, more rigorous qualification.
We will restore the reputation of A levels as a world class qualification, working with universities to ensure that students are equipped for university study.
We will support more parents, community groups, charities and others wanting to set up new schools, primarily in areas of disadvantage and basic need, while continuing to help existing schools to become Academies.
We will implement the recommendation of the School Teachers’ Review Body that teachers’ pay progression should in the future be dependent on performance, not time served, and that schools should have greater autonomy to set teachers’ pay within a broad national framework. Statutory minimum and maximum salary levels for classroom teachers’ pay will be uprated by 1 per cent in both 2013/14 and 2014/15.
We will continue to raise the floor target that schools need to meet so that all schools improve with rising national standards.
We will legislate for the changes set out in the SEN Green Paper to expand parental choice and control.
We will support the establishment of Studio Schools and Technical Academies.
We will support Teach First to train 2,000 exceptional graduates per year as teachers by 2015/16. We will also expand the existing model of physics scholarships to other specialist subjects to attract the best graduates into teaching strategically important, but understaffed, subjects.
We will reform vocational qualifications at Key Stage 5 to ensure that only the most valued are recognised.
We will continue to tackle failing schools head-on by accelerating the Academies programme, and intervening to replace the leadership of weak schools.
We will shine a spotlight on coasting schools by giving parents access to improved data on school performance.
We will attract and inspire more pupils to study science and maths by increasing the number of teachers with specialist subject knowledge and improving the skills of existing teachers in these subjects.
We will work to have an education system that ranks among the best in the world by attracting the most capable people into the profession. We will offer high-achieving graduates financial incentives to train as teachers and will spread outstanding practice across the education system by continuing to expand the number of Teaching Schools, modelled on teaching hospitals.
NHS and Social Care
We will continue to improve the NHS by:
We will continue to reduce preventable early death by:
We will continue to improve the standard of care, particularly the treatment and care of people with dementia and other long-term conditions, by:
We will continue to bring the technology revolution to health and care by:
Crime and Policing
We will modernise police pay and conditions and implement greater flexibility in the working methods of the police. We have already implemented recommendations from Part 1 of the Winsor Report and will consult on proposals from the review’s Final Report.
We will establish the College of Policing in statute as soon as Parliamentary time allows. The interim College came into existence on 1 December 2012 and is already beginning its work of enhancing the professional capabilities of the police.
We will take steps, following the Leveson Report, to ensure that the police operate to the highest ethical standards and that the public can have full confidence in police integrity.
We will scrap the existing system of Anti-Social Behaviour Orders and replace it with a more effective system for protecting the public. In particular, we will give these victims a greater say in what forms of sanction offenders receive out of court through a new Community Remedy.
We will legislate to create a new offence of drug driving.
Justice
We will go further with our Rehabilitation Revolution to reduce reoffending and cut crime.
We will legislate to put restorative justice and other ways of tackling low-level crime on a statutory footing throughout the criminal justice system.
We will make use of new technology to track offenders in order to protect the public, help prevent further crimes and make a reality of community sentences.
We will test weekend and night courts and a range of other measures to speed up justice, based on the success of ‘swift justice’ after the 2011 summer riots.
We will continue to work with the voluntary sector to explore the potential for further new rape support centres.
We will enable court broadcasting to help to demystify the justice system.
Government Transparency and Information Technology
We will take further steps to increase the transparency with which politicians report on meetings with senior figures in the media, as recommended by Lord Justice Leveson.
We will implement the proposals set out in the Open Data and Transparency White Paper.
We will continue to open up government procurement, create a level playing field for open-source software and split large ICT projects into smaller components.
We will transition all government departments, agencies and arm’s length bodies onto GOV.UK by April 2014.
We will redesign all government transactions (more than 100,000 per year) to make them digital by default.
We will make sure that no one is left behind by ensuring there is Assisted Digital provision for those who are unable to use digital services by themselves.
We will improve management information, as proposed in the Civil Service Reform Plan, and ensure that it is used as a basis for board meetings, operational decisions and appraisals of senior officials.
We will publish data in the Quarterly Data Summaries in a way that is more meaningful to the public.
We will continue to push for greater transparency throughout the public sector so that people know what is being done in their name.
Schools
by low expectations.
NHS and Social Care
- increasing the health budget in real terms;
- abolishing strategic health authorities and primary care trusts from April 2013, saving £1.5 billion annually;
- establishing health and well-being boards to bring together local authorities and the NHS to co-ordinate provision of health and social care (we will also transfer £300 million of additional funding from the NHS to social care to develop better integrated health and care services); and
- investing up to £300 million over five years in specialised housing for those
in need of care.
- introducing a new bowel screening programme to reduce incidence of, and mortality from, bowel cancer, saving 3,000 lives a year; and
- making the UK the first country in the world where doctors will have to be revalidated – a process of regular assessments to ensure that their training and expertise are up to date and that they are fit to carry out their duties.
- establishing the Friends and Family Test for all hospitals, to ensure that prospective patients can see exactly how previous patients and staff rate quality of care;
- setting an ambition for the NHS to put mental health on a par with physical health, significantly improving access and waiting times for all mental health services, and reducing the incidence and impact of post-natal depression through earlier diagnosis and better intervention and support;
- establishing Healthwatch as a consumer advocate with new powers;
- investing £56 million over four years in children and young people with mental health problems to help transform care in light of the scandalous abuse at Winterbourne View hospital;
- implementing a strategy aimed at building a culture of compassionate care for nursing, midwifery and care staff;
- consulting on further measures to protect people who rely on care services where the provider fails in England;
- introducing a national minimum eligibility threshold to make access to care more consistent across England;
- introducing a Universal Deferred Payments scheme so that nobody will need to sell their home to pay for the costs of residential care in England;
- legislating to give people with eligible needs for care an entitlement to a personal budget and a care and support plan in England;
- working with the Alzheimer’s Society, recruiting 1 million people to become Dementia Friends to improve awareness of dementia and support for those with dementia; and
- gradually increasing the availability of personal health budgets to increase patient choice and control.
- providing £100 million for NHS nurses and midwives to spend on new technology to free up time for patient care and make essential patient details instantly available on the ward. Those organisations that receive positive feedback from patients in the Friends and Family Test will not have to repay any of the loan; and
- establishing the new 111 service, to provide immediate over-the-phone access to health services.
Crime and Policing
Justice
Government Transparency and Information Technology
Friday, 4 January 2013
Sunday, 23 December 2012
Tuesday, 18 December 2012
If Plebgate was a fraud, this is very serious for the police
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2249845/Plebgate-Sacked-Chief-Whip-goes-war-Met-PC-falsely-claimed-witnessed-f----plebs-rant.html
A bitter row broke out last night between Downing Street and the police over an alleged plot to bring down the former Chief Whip.
A constable is now known to have falsely claimed he witnessed Andrew Mitchell’s encounter with two other officers in Downing Street when he is alleged to have called them ‘f***ing plebs’.
And CCTV footage screened by Channel 4 News last night cast doubt on the widely-publicised police version of the incident on the evening of September 19.
Mr Mitchell, who lost his job as a result, called for an inquiry and said he was the victim of a ‘stitch-up’. David Cameron was said to be furious about the allegations.
In a strongly-worded statement, Number 10 said: ‘Any allegations that a serving police officer posed as a member of the public and fabricated evidence against a Cabinet minister are exceptionally serious.
‘It is therefore essential the police get to the bottom of this as a matter of urgency. We welcome Bernard Hogan-Howe’s commitment to achieve that aim.’
However, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner said he stood by the original account of the two officers involved in the confrontation.
Mr Mitchell was forced to resign in October following allegations that he swore at police officers in Downing Street when they stopped him riding his bicycle through the main gates. In a police report leaked to the Sun newspaper in September, the officer involved said Mr Mitchell told him: ‘Best you learn your f***ing place. You don’t run this f***ing government. You’re f***ing plebs.’In a threatening afterthought, the minister allegedly added: ‘You haven’t heard the last of this.’
Mr Mitchell has always denied calling police officers ‘plebs’ but admits swearing at them, saying he had said: ‘I thought you guys were supposed to f***ing help us.’
Mr Randall passed his account to Number 10 and went on to play a key role in the removal of his boss.
Channel 4 News said the officer had admitted not being present when the confrontation took place and had hinted that others were involved in an apparent conspiracy.
The CCTV footage is thought to have been obtained by Mr Mitchell himself using data protection laws and passed to Channel 4.
The footage is silent, but the millionaire former minister can clearly be seen being stopped by police as he attempted to ride his bicycle out of the main gates of Downing Street.
After a brief conversation he wheels his bicycle to the pedestrian exit and leaves.
The film is largely inconclusive as it is impossible to tell what words are used by Mr Mitchell.
However, there is little sign of the rant alleged by the police. The police account of the event suggested there were ‘several members of the public present opposite the pedestrian gate’.
Members of public were said to have been ‘visibly shocked’ by the language Mr Mitchell used. No one is obvious at the gate in the CCTV footage.
But Mr Hogan-Howe said: ‘I don’t think, in terms of what I’ve heard up to now, that it’s really affected the original account of the officers at the scene. Because of course this officer we’ve arrested wasn’t any of those people involved originally.
‘This is another officer who wasn’t there at the time.’
The Sun also said it stood by its story. The astonishing revelations last night prompted speculation at Westminster there may have been a wider conspiracy among some police officers to smear a senior member of the Government at a time when ministers are pushing through controversial reforms of the service.
Mr Mitchell said: ‘Three phrases were hung around my neck for 28 days and used to destroy my political career and toxify the Conservative Party.
'They are completely untrue – I never said them. I have never called someone a f***ing pleb and never would.
‘It has shaken my lifelong support and confidence in the police. We need a full inquiry to get to the bottom of what happened and make sure it cannot happen again.’
Tory MP Dominic Raab last night described the developments as ‘deeply disturbing’.
He added: ‘The assumption has been that the police had behaved like angels, and Andrew Mitchell a villain.
'It now appears that at least one officer has deliberately told falsehoods, explicitly designed to drag Andrew Mitchell’s name through the mud.
‘We need a swift and rigorous investigation to see whether he acted alone, was put up to it, or indeed acted in collusion with other officers.’
Government sources said the Prime Minister accepted Mr Randall had acted in good faith.
A bitter row broke out last night between Downing Street and the police over an alleged plot to bring down the former Chief Whip.
A constable is now known to have falsely claimed he witnessed Andrew Mitchell’s encounter with two other officers in Downing Street when he is alleged to have called them ‘f***ing plebs’.
And CCTV footage screened by Channel 4 News last night cast doubt on the widely-publicised police version of the incident on the evening of September 19.
Mr Mitchell, who lost his job as a result, called for an inquiry and said he was the victim of a ‘stitch-up’. David Cameron was said to be furious about the allegations.
In a strongly-worded statement, Number 10 said: ‘Any allegations that a serving police officer posed as a member of the public and fabricated evidence against a Cabinet minister are exceptionally serious.
‘It is therefore essential the police get to the bottom of this as a matter of urgency. We welcome Bernard Hogan-Howe’s commitment to achieve that aim.’
However, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner said he stood by the original account of the two officers involved in the confrontation.
Mr Mitchell was forced to resign in October following allegations that he swore at police officers in Downing Street when they stopped him riding his bicycle through the main gates. In a police report leaked to the Sun newspaper in September, the officer involved said Mr Mitchell told him: ‘Best you learn your f***ing place. You don’t run this f***ing government. You’re f***ing plebs.’In a threatening afterthought, the minister allegedly added: ‘You haven’t heard the last of this.’
Mr Mitchell has always denied calling police officers ‘plebs’ but admits swearing at them, saying he had said: ‘I thought you guys were supposed to f***ing help us.’
CCTV footage of Andrew Mitchell with two police officers on the evening of the so-called ‘pleb rant’ raised fresh questions about the incident last night.
The film from a Downing Street security camera shows the former Chief Whip cycling up to the main gates before appearing to talk to the officers for just a few seconds.
It is widely agreed that the officers refused Mr Mitchell’s demands to open the gate. The footage shows that after the conversation he wheels his bicycle to the pedestrian exit and leaves.
A police log leaked days later claims he launched into his alleged tirade as he approached this gate.
There is no audio on the CCTV so it is impossible to know what he said, but the footage does not show any visible signs of an argument. It also appears to dispel another key claim. According to the police log, officers claimed ‘members of the public looked visibly shocked … by the language used’.
But the film shows only three people walking past the gate, two of whom look too far away to hear anything, and one who appears to express no more than a passing interest in what is going on.
The film from a Downing Street security camera shows the former Chief Whip cycling up to the main gates before appearing to talk to the officers for just a few seconds.
It is widely agreed that the officers refused Mr Mitchell’s demands to open the gate. The footage shows that after the conversation he wheels his bicycle to the pedestrian exit and leaves.
A police log leaked days later claims he launched into his alleged tirade as he approached this gate.
There is no audio on the CCTV so it is impossible to know what he said, but the footage does not show any visible signs of an argument. It also appears to dispel another key claim. According to the police log, officers claimed ‘members of the public looked visibly shocked … by the language used’.
But the film shows only three people walking past the gate, two of whom look too far away to hear anything, and one who appears to express no more than a passing interest in what is going on.
The toxic allegation was seized on at the time by both the Police Federation and Labour to damage the Conservative Party.
But last night it was reported that a constable in the elite Diplomatic Protection Group, posing as a member of the public, had falsely claimed to have witnessed the incident in order to fuel the row.
The officer, who was arrested on Saturday night on suspicion of misconduct in public office, sent an email to his local MP, Tory deputy chief whip John Randall, the day after the encounter, giving an account of events in Downing Street that was strikingly similar to the version published in the Sun newspaper a day later.
But last night it was reported that a constable in the elite Diplomatic Protection Group, posing as a member of the public, had falsely claimed to have witnessed the incident in order to fuel the row.
The officer, who was arrested on Saturday night on suspicion of misconduct in public office, sent an email to his local MP, Tory deputy chief whip John Randall, the day after the encounter, giving an account of events in Downing Street that was strikingly similar to the version published in the Sun newspaper a day later.
Channel 4 News said the officer had admitted not being present when the confrontation took place and had hinted that others were involved in an apparent conspiracy.
The CCTV footage is thought to have been obtained by Mr Mitchell himself using data protection laws and passed to Channel 4.
The footage is silent, but the millionaire former minister can clearly be seen being stopped by police as he attempted to ride his bicycle out of the main gates of Downing Street.
After a brief conversation he wheels his bicycle to the pedestrian exit and leaves.
The film is largely inconclusive as it is impossible to tell what words are used by Mr Mitchell.
However, there is little sign of the rant alleged by the police. The police account of the event suggested there were ‘several members of the public present opposite the pedestrian gate’.
Members of public were said to have been ‘visibly shocked’ by the language Mr Mitchell used. No one is obvious at the gate in the CCTV footage.
But Mr Hogan-Howe said: ‘I don’t think, in terms of what I’ve heard up to now, that it’s really affected the original account of the officers at the scene. Because of course this officer we’ve arrested wasn’t any of those people involved originally.
‘This is another officer who wasn’t there at the time.’
Mr Mitchell said: ‘Three phrases were hung around my neck for 28 days and used to destroy my political career and toxify the Conservative Party.
'They are completely untrue – I never said them. I have never called someone a f***ing pleb and never would.
‘It has shaken my lifelong support and confidence in the police. We need a full inquiry to get to the bottom of what happened and make sure it cannot happen again.’
Tory MP Dominic Raab last night described the developments as ‘deeply disturbing’.
He added: ‘The assumption has been that the police had behaved like angels, and Andrew Mitchell a villain.
'It now appears that at least one officer has deliberately told falsehoods, explicitly designed to drag Andrew Mitchell’s name through the mud.
‘We need a swift and rigorous investigation to see whether he acted alone, was put up to it, or indeed acted in collusion with other officers.’
Government sources said the Prime Minister accepted Mr Randall had acted in good faith.
Sunday, 9 December 2012
Thursday, 22 November 2012
Friday, 16 November 2012
???? Enquiry into why there was a low turnout for police elections.
... I don't get this. The government almost went out of its way to keep this pretty low profile, and then they are gonna pay a load of money to find out why few people voted. They also didn't care that turnout was low!
Let's have an enquiry into why we did so badly when we know we did very little to do good things!
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/9684239/Fears-for-democracy-as-low-turnout-for-new-police-bosses-prompts-inquiry.html
Let's have an enquiry into why we did so badly when we know we did very little to do good things!
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/9684239/Fears-for-democracy-as-low-turnout-for-new-police-bosses-prompts-inquiry.html
Are the government really all that interested in democracy?
Now it is the illusion of democracy that matters.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/law-and-order/9682353/First-elected-police-commissioner-The-public-dont-know-what-the-job-is-or-who-I-am.html
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/9682319/What-is-the-point-of-Police-and-Crime-Commissioners.html
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/law-and-order/9682543/PCC-election-could-see-worst-turnout-for-any-nationwide-set-of-elections-ever.html
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/dismal-turnout--but-prescotts-rival-still-gets-enough-votes-to-beat-him-8324062.html
" the Electoral Commission ordered a thorough inquiry into the £75m washout, saying that the low turnout was "a concern for everyone who cares for democracy". Its chair, Jenny Watson, said the elections had been staged at an unfamiliar time of year and ministers had made decisions that the commission had disagreed with."
"Cameron insisted that despite the dismal turnout the new commissioners, who replaced "invisible police authorities", would still have a mandate."
"The Home Office only launched their website showcasing the candidates – www.choosemypcc.org.uk – three weeks before the elections."
"Furthermore, the Government decided not to fund a free mail shot for candidates, which has meant that many voters have gone to the polls (or not) without receiving any information about who to vote for. It is not surprising that turnout is likely to be low."
"Police Minister Damian Green said it would have been "better" if more people voted, but added: "The measure of this policy is not the turnout, it's what the police and crime commissioners achieve over the next few years.""
IE - they are no longer interested in democracy. What they are now interested in is implementing a single person to be a commissioner for police services. But is not about democracy. It must be that they just did not like Police Authority, so they replaced it with a single person commissioning services. They could always have chosen to elected the Police Authority. But they did not.
So in time the real agenda for having a Police Commissioner will come through.
Let's wait and see.
Now we know that democracy or the legitimacy of people in office does not matter.
What matters is the results.
Well if that's the case we can measure this government by their results, whether or not they are legitimately there.
We are travelling down a very dangerous road.
Democracy is dying. Those that want power sense the direction of the people and go with that sense. If they want democracy, they get democracy; if they want something else, they get something else. Now that we have become apathetic to them, they no longer need to think about democracy.
No wonder the power of Christ is beyond this : even in our apathy as Christians , the Holy Spirit NEVER stops the work within us. I am so thankful for such power.
"True [worldly] power rests in wanting to and knowing how to get into power"
Welcome to the world of Machiavelli.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/law-and-order/9682353/First-elected-police-commissioner-The-public-dont-know-what-the-job-is-or-who-I-am.html
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/9682319/What-is-the-point-of-Police-and-Crime-Commissioners.html
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/law-and-order/9682543/PCC-election-could-see-worst-turnout-for-any-nationwide-set-of-elections-ever.html
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/dismal-turnout--but-prescotts-rival-still-gets-enough-votes-to-beat-him-8324062.html
" the Electoral Commission ordered a thorough inquiry into the £75m washout, saying that the low turnout was "a concern for everyone who cares for democracy". Its chair, Jenny Watson, said the elections had been staged at an unfamiliar time of year and ministers had made decisions that the commission had disagreed with."
"Cameron insisted that despite the dismal turnout the new commissioners, who replaced "invisible police authorities", would still have a mandate."
"The Home Office only launched their website showcasing the candidates – www.choosemypcc.org.uk – three weeks before the elections."
"Furthermore, the Government decided not to fund a free mail shot for candidates, which has meant that many voters have gone to the polls (or not) without receiving any information about who to vote for. It is not surprising that turnout is likely to be low."
"Police Minister Damian Green said it would have been "better" if more people voted, but added: "The measure of this policy is not the turnout, it's what the police and crime commissioners achieve over the next few years.""
IE - they are no longer interested in democracy. What they are now interested in is implementing a single person to be a commissioner for police services. But is not about democracy. It must be that they just did not like Police Authority, so they replaced it with a single person commissioning services. They could always have chosen to elected the Police Authority. But they did not.
So in time the real agenda for having a Police Commissioner will come through.
Let's wait and see.
Now we know that democracy or the legitimacy of people in office does not matter.
What matters is the results.
Well if that's the case we can measure this government by their results, whether or not they are legitimately there.
We are travelling down a very dangerous road.
Democracy is dying. Those that want power sense the direction of the people and go with that sense. If they want democracy, they get democracy; if they want something else, they get something else. Now that we have become apathetic to them, they no longer need to think about democracy.
No wonder the power of Christ is beyond this : even in our apathy as Christians , the Holy Spirit NEVER stops the work within us. I am so thankful for such power.
"True [worldly] power rests in wanting to and knowing how to get into power"
Welcome to the world of Machiavelli.
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