| 'Mothball' huge chunks of the Army, says top Parliamentary adviser Thousands of troops should be forced into reserves and hundreds of weapons mothballed in defence cuts, report says. telegraph.co.uk |
Universities warned of £4.2bn cuts Universities UK claims tuition fees proposals 'confirm worst fears' of massive cutsUniversities in England are being warned to expect an 80% cut to their teaching budgets in next week's government spending review. Professor Steve Smith, president of the vice-chancellors' group Universities UK, has emailed all higher education institutions alerting them to a likely £4.2bn cut to teaching and a £1bn reduction in research budgets.Lord Browne's review of university funding, published this week, states that it envisages the teaching budget dropping to £700m per year. All but medicine, science, engineering and modern languages degrees could stop receiving state subsidies, it said.Universities will have to charge about £7,000 per year in fees "to maintain investment at current levels," the report said.In the email, which was leaked to the BBC, Smith states that the Browne review would have been informed of plans for severe cuts. The Browne review set out figures that "confirm our worst fears," Smith wrote.Cuts on this scale would be four times worse than universities have been expecting. "The biggest worry is simple to state: if Browne fails to get through the Commons, or gets un-picked, or gets accepted but only after major changes are made, we will simply not be able to replace the unprecedented reductions in state funding that are coming in the spending review," Smith told universities.The lecturers' union, the University and College Union, said cuts on this scale would leave cities and towns "without a local university and our students paying the highest public fees in the world".A spokesperson for the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills said: "This is speculation about what the spending review will contain. Lord Browne made recommendations to government this week on a new funding system. His proposals are for graduates to make a greater contribution to the cost of their education, linked to their ability to pay."These recommendations are currently under consideration and are informing our comprehensive spending review negotiations with the Treasury. Ensuring the university sector is properly funded remains a key objective for the government."Aaron Porter, president of the National Union of Students, said vice-chancellors had been "gleefully rubbing their hands at the prospect of receiving even more money from graduates' pockets."At the same time, they have utterly failed in their huge responsibility to defend students, courses and universities that enrich our economy and society.""The devastating scale of the cuts to publicly-funded degrees planned for next week is laid bare by this admission."The true agenda of the coalition government this week is to strip away all public support for arts, humanities and social science provision in universities and to pass on the costs directly to students' bank accounts."Meanwhile, 40% of GCSE and A-level students said they would reconsider attending university if the Browne review's recommendations to remove the cap on tuition fees were implemented. A poll of 1,254 teenagers on The Student Room website shows 90% believed they would need to work part-time through their degree.University fundingHigher educationTuition feesEducation policyPublic sector cutsPublic services policyPublic financeStudentsJessica Shepherdguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Shot man in court over spitting A man who was shot outside a health club has appeared in court accused of spitting in a woman's face. bbc.co.uk |
Andrew Lansley aims to tackle health of vulnerable with better NHS care Health secretary plans health inclusion board to improve chronic medical problems among marginalised groups The coalition will tomorrow pledge to improve the health of vulnerable groups such as the homeless, sex workers and prisoners by providing them with better NHS care.The health secretary, Andrew Lansley, is setting up a health inclusion board to tackle chronic health problems among marginalised groups, many of whom often do not visit GPs, hospitals or dentists.He has recruited one of the UK's leading doctors, Prof Steve Field, who until two weeks ago was chair of the Royal College of GPs, to lead the new body of expert advisers. Its members – doctors, nurses, charities and specialist in reducing health inequalities – will assess whether the NHS is doing enough to increase access to services for such groups and reduce the gaps between their quality of health and that of other members of the population.Field said: "Andrew Lansley wants to make a big difference in health inequalities and to make sure that the most disadvantaged in society get the healthcare they need and deserve. The board will champion the cause of people who are vulnerable and socially excluded, such as the homeless and street sex workers."The move is part of a new approach to tackle health inequalities, which research suggests are as wide as during the Depression, and which did not improve under the last Labour government. More comprehensive details will be unveiled when Lansley publishes a white paper on public health."It's a scandal that life expectancy among homeless people is in the low 40s," said Field. "At a time when healthcare and lifestyle improvements mean that men and women are living longer than ever, some homeless people only live for about half the time average Britons do."Although some local NHS services do provide specialist care for the homeless, Field added, "it's appalling that the NHS has failed to deliver consistently good services across the country for disadvantaged groups."We want to ensure that all members of society, whether they live in Kensington or are homeless, receive the benefits of our ever-improving NHS."The board will also seek to improve care for groups such as problematic drug users, refugees, asylum seekers, those who have left care and young people who are not in education, employment or training. Improvements would save money because such groups cost the NHS disproportionate amounts of money, said Field. Homeless people spend eight times more time in hospital and make five time more visits to A&E departments than other groups."The coalition government is committed to tackling health inequalities," said Lansley. "We believe we have a responsibility to look after the most vulnerable."That's why, unlike Labour, we are putting our money where our mouth is and providing a ring-fenced public health budget, weighted towards the most deprived areas, to ensure resources are spent on preventative work, with incentives to improve the health of the poorest".Charles Fraser, the chief executive of St Mungo's, an agency for the homeless in London, welcomed the move as "the best template I've yet seen for addressing the very acute and entrenched health needs of this population. The NHS doesn't easily deliver tailored care to people with multiple health problems and who are defined socially rather than medically. We hope this initiative will end the neglect of homeless people's health and give them the same sort of universal healthcare which is offered to every member of the population."Fraser also suggested that regular health checks should be offered to all homeless people, he suggested.Andrew LansleyHealth policyNHSHealthDenis Campbellguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Same economists who work out Budget figures are producing OBR data Two men had the job of signing off Alistair Darling’s growth and borrowing forecasts, which have now been revised by the independent Office for Budgetary Responsibility: Sir Nick Macpherson, Permanent Secretary to the Treasury, and Dave Ramsden, Chief Economic Adviser. timesonline.co.uk |