British National Party Public Services News Bulletin w/c December 18, 2006
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http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/opinion/article2079551.ece

The proposals tabled by the Government would mean the closure of 2,500 post offices across the UK. So far, it is not clear what the impact will be in Northern Ireland, but fears have been voiced that around 100 of the 540 outlets could close.

In many rural areas, and particularly in Northern Ireland, sub-post offices are part of the social fabric of the local community, and their demise would have serious consequences. Despite the onward march of technology, not everyone has a bank account or access to e-mail and the internet.

Post offices still provide a valuable service in paying out pensions, selling stamps, and enabling customers to access bank accounts and pay bills. And following the recent Pricing in Proportion initiative, they are increasingly being called upon to advise what postage letters or parcels require.

In many small towns and suburban districts, the post office is the hub of the local community. Their existence attracts business to the area, to the benefit of neighbouring shops.

While the Government is under an obligation to review the service on a value-for-money basis, the bottom line must not be the only criterion applied. Cognisance must be paid to the particular needs of local communities.

The era of a post office in every hamlet is over, but a comprehensive network is still required, both by individuals and firms. The Federation of Small Businesses says 88% of its members send mail daily, and need to have a post office nearby.

The Government must not make the mistake of reacting in panic to this year's projected loss of £200m, double the figure for last year. Officials must establish whether this is a one-off increase in the deficit or part of an upward spiral.

Ministers need to remember that a public service such as a post office cannot be expected to be 100% cost-effective. While losses can, and should, be curbed, a subsidy will always be required.

Small post offices can also play their part in reducing the burden on the taxpayer, by enhancing the range of services they provide and by opening for longer hours. The growing trend of post offices being located in supermarkets should be encouraged, as this reduces overheads, produces business and increases security.

During the consultation period it is imperative that local communities make their views known to the Government. The message must be that a one-size-fits-all approach will not work, particularly in Northern Ireland.

2. PENSIONERS FACE HARSHEST WINTER IN YEARS

http://www.eveshamjournal.co.uk/news/
ejnewslatest/display.var.1073288.0.pensioners_face_their_harshest_winter_for_years.php

THE chairman of a Vale pensioners group has criticised Gordon Brown's pre-budget report claiming it does nothing to help the elderly.

Fred Kaler from the Evesham and District Pensioners Association responded to the Chancellor of the Exchequer's latest statement by saying 'not enough is being done for those most in need' and labelling some of the policies 'a disgrace'.

In last week's report Mr Brown said he would increase the state pension by 3.6 per cent next April, in line with inflation. This means the pension credit minimum guarantee will rise by £5-a-week for single people aged 60 and over, and by £7.65 for couples.

But, according to Mr Kaler, this good news is tempered by hefty council tax bills and a rise in the price of other costs such as food and fuel, which continue to leave many pensioners living below the poverty line. 'Mr Brown has tried to make it sound like a positive situation but he has offered nothing with any immediate benefit for today's older people. There are more and more pensioners living below the poverty line and countless more struggling to make the cost of council tax and other essential bills. 'By the time anything changes then millions of the current elderly population will have died. It is a disgrace.'

He added: 'It is particularly bad for some women who don't get their full pensions because they work full-time and if anything happens to their husband then they suffer financially as well.'

Speaking about the help elderly get with the cost of winter fuel bills Mr Kaler said: 'A lot of pensioners are grateful for it but if they had decent pensions in the first place it wouldn't be needed. I doubt many people will be feeling any benefits at present.'

The winter fuel payment currently stands at £200 with those over aged 80 granted an extra £100. But the Chancellor resisted calls from groups such as Energywatch, Save the Children and the Citizens Advice Bureau to extend the payment to groups such as lone parents and the disabled.

Pensioners group Age Concern were also concerned by Mr Brown's speech. They believe the elderly are still not getting the help they need to live comfortably.

The charity's director general Gordon Lishman said: 'The absence of real support to help older people cope with rising energy costs means more and more older people will be left struggling to pay their bills this winter.

'The winter fuel payment was a welcome initiative for older people but it has not increased in line with energy prices and now only covers about a fifth of an average energy bill.'

Mervyn Kohler, at Help the Aged added: 'Gordon Brown has offered nothing to pensioners on low fixed incomes struggling with staggering fuel bills and remorselessly growing council taxes.

'While the Chancellor painted a picture of a prosperous UK economy the reality is that pensioners are facing their harshest winter for years. Pensioner poverty is an issue the Government would prefer to tackle with words.

3. BLAIR SCHOOL REFORMS = MERE REPACKAGING

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/12/17/nedu17.xml

Dozens of good schools are to be converted into city academies despite Government claims that the initiative is aimed at failing schools. Tony Blair visiting City of London Academy in Bermondsey, London Only six of the 67 schools earmarked by the Department for Education and Skills to be re-launched as 'independent' academies, backed by sponsors, are in special measures – the Ofsted category that follows a failed report.

A significant number of the schools that the Government will spend millions of pounds converting over the next few years are actually good or excellent, being widely praised by inspectors and very popular with parents.

Four are city technology colleges, set up and given extra funding by the last Tory government and among the best state schools in the country. The majority of the remainder are 'improving' schools that, according to Ofsted, have turned the corner and are on the up.

Critics said last night that huge amounts of money were being wasted to repackage good schools in an attempt to ensure the success of the

£5 billion policy that Tony Blair hopes will be his education legacy.

The 46 academies that have opened so far have cost about £25 million to £30 million each, although the dearest, the Business Academy, Bexley, in Kent, cost more than £50 million. Steve Sinnott, the general secretary of the National Union of Teachers, said: 'The Government has been mis-selling this policy from the start.

'It has consistently claimed that it was replacing failing schools with academies. This has not been true overall in the past and this list shows it is not true in the future.'

Mick Brookes, the general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, said: 'We have definitely been told that new academies will be targeted at schools with serious problems. While we would not deny that having lots of new buildings is a good thing, there is evidence that planting an academy in a group of schools can have the effect of creaming off the best pupils to the disadvantage of other institutions.'

The academies programme has been lauded by the Prime Minister as the solution to 'years of school failure' and successive education secretaries have reiterated that it will transform failing schools.

Launching the initiative in 2000, the then education secretary David Blunkett said that it was 'a radical approach to break the cycle of failing schools in inner cities'.

This year, Alan Johnson, the Education Secretary, said: 'Academies work and are wanted. Nobody could say the same about the failing schools they replaced.'

However, an analysis of the latest round of 68 schools that will close or merge to be replaced by academies has found that only six are failing. A further six in the 'implementation' and 'feasibility' stages are deemed by Ofsted to require significant improvement. The majority, however, are improving, good or even excellent.

One such is Leigh City Technology College, in Kent, where 92 per cent of pupils gained five good GCSEs this summer. Frank Green, the chief executive, said that becoming an academy would bring extra investment.

'When we talk to parents about converting to an academy, they ask, 'Why are we doing this?' ' he said. 'We explained that it would bring additional capital. The quid pro quo is that we help weaker and failing schools overcome some of the difficulties that we faced.'

Steve Allen, the headmaster of Woodway School, a popular secondary in Coventry, said that the main reason for becoming an academy was the chance to move from a 1960s building with a 40-year shelf-life to a new £30 million school. This month, Mr Blair announced that he had doubled to 400 the target for academies by 2010, although no new time limit was set.

An independent evaluation into the programme, published by PricewaterhouseCoopers in July, delivered a mixed verdict on its success so far. On balance, improvements in results at academies were better than at other comparable schools in England, 'although the absolute differences are generally small'. A spokesman at the Department for Education insisted that academies were set up to raise standards by either 'replacing failing schools or opening new schools'.

He said: 'Academies are based in deprived areas with a history of poor educational performance. They operate as part of the local family of schools, sharing their facilities and expertise with the wider community and contributing to raising standards across the whole area.'

4. TRANSPORT GROUPS HAIL PLAN TO RETURN CONTROL OF BUSES TO COUNCILS

http://politics.guardian.co.uk/homeaffairs/story/0,,1970536,00.html

Plans for the most radical overhaul of Britain's buses since Margaret Thatcher privatised services in 1986 were given a broad welcome by transport groups, and even partial support by opposition parties, today.

Under proposals from the transport secretary, Douglas Alexander, local authorities will regain a say in frequencies, timetables and fares, powers they lost when buses were removed from local authority control 20 years ago.

The proposals - partly modelled on London, where Ken Livingstone, the elected mayor, was given contractual authority over buses six years ago - are aimed at ending the 'free-for-all' which has developed in some cities between operators flooding popular routes with buses at the expense of social provision.

Mr Alexander, unveiling the proposals which he hinted at during Labour's Manchester conference, said: 'To many people buses are a lifeline, giving them access to jobs and shops and allowing them to stay in touch with family and friends. 'But since deregulation some areas have seen a free-for-all, with the needs of passengers being neglected.

'In some areas - where local authorities and bus operators work in partnership for the benefit of passengers - the number of people using buses has gone up.

'But in too many areas passengers are simply not getting the services they expect, and, as a result, passenger numbers have declined.

'By sharing best practice and giving local authorities and operators the tools they need to work effectively together, all passengers, regardless of where they live, should start to enjoy the benefits of top quality bus services.'

The Liberal Democrats welcomed the proposals, while even the Tories acknowledged that their own privatisation 'was not working well'.

The broad-brush plan, entitled Putting Passengers First, would, 'in the right circumstances', allow local authorities to introduce their own local schemes, as well as permitting charities and community groups to provide services.

It proposes greater partnership working between local authorities and operators, making it easier for local authorities to have a say in bus frequency, timetables and fares.

However, local authorities would also be accountable for bus performances, overseen by traffic commissioners.

Over two-thirds of all public transport trips are made by bus. The government has put in place free local bus travel for older and disabled people within their local areas.

The measures will be consulted on before forming part of a road transport bill next year.

Transport 2000, the sustainable transport lobby group, gave the proposals the thumbs-up, but warned that more funding would make an even bigger difference to services.

Stephen Joseph, the group's director, said: 'We will also want to see more action to put the passenger at the centre of bus policy.

'While we welcome stronger powers for the traffic commissioners on punctuality, other passenger concerns like driver training, information, personal security and bus design are mentioned but no action is proposed.

'We'd like to see a properly resourced regulator to tackle these issues. In particular, the government needs to go further to deal with the anti-passenger approach of the Office of Fair Trading which makes it very difficult for operators to agree regular interval timetables or common ticketing.'

Louise Ellman, a Labour member of the Commons transport select committee, welcomed the statement.

Mrs Ellman, MP for Liverpool Riverside, said: 'They have grasped the nettle. It is untenable for the cost of running buses to go up while passenger numbers have been going down because buses have become unreliable and unattractive. That is why people are deserting them.

Bus Users UK, the passengers' pressure group, said that it was glad that the government had recognised the value of good partnership between local authorities and the bus operators but warned that greater local authority involvement would not necessarily cure all problems.

Stephen Morris, its external affairs officer, said: 'We broadly welcome the proposals...

'However, not all local authorities have a good track record in providing bus services, either before or after deregulation, so we should not see greater local authority involvement as a panacea.'

The Liberal Democrats' transport spokesman, Alistair Carmichael, said: 'Bus deregulation was a bad Tory idea which Labour has yet to do anything about. Fares have increased and bus use outside of London has been in decline.

'The move to allow councils to regulate local services is long overdue. It will be some time yet before passengers see any real improvements.

'We should not return to the situation pre-1986, but ensure that local communities are given some control over their bus services and that the taxpayer gets value for money.'

The shadow transport secretary, Chris Grayling, said: 'We accept that in some areas the current system is not working well.

'The kind of bus wars we've seen in places like Manchester just serve to undermine confidence in the bus industry.

'These proposals will be a big disappointment to people who expected more substantial changes and I'm not convinced that the right way forward is to give politicians more power to tinker with our bus system.'

Professor John Whitelegg, deputy chairman of the Local Government Association's transport and regeneration board, said: 'These proposals are a victory for common sense. The only way we can get more passengers on the buses is to give local people more say over services where they live.

'English councils outside London have been hamstrung by a system that has not allowed them to respond to local need.

'There is clear public support for giving local people more say over bus services. Councils want to change services people use for the better and create places where they can thrive.'

5. WILL LOCAL COUNCIL CONTROL IMPROVE BUS SERVICES?

http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/news_press_release,34038.shtml

The Government today published a review of bus services, in advance of preparing a new Road Transport Bill in 2007.

Amongst its proposals is the strengthening of powers for local authorities over the specification of bus services, though it is proposed to leave things alone in the many places where bus services are working well.

However BUS USERS UK believes that finding effective ways to enable bus services to avoid being embroiled in traffic congestion should be a higher priority than changing the regulatory framework. Where buses have effective, properly-enforced priority measures, they can be made more reliable and quicker and provide a real, effective alternative to the car, especially on key urban corridors. Buses can then begin to provide a real solution to the problems of increasing traffic congestion and environmental pollution.

BUS USERS UK chairman Gavin Booth said: 'Tram systems are successful because they have their own 'track'. There are ways to give buses similar benefits and we would like to see Government showing its commitment to reducing car dependency by addressing these issues rather than just tinkering with the regulatory framework.'

Whilst the Government's review doesn't address such fundamental issues BUS USERS UK broadly welcomed today's proposals for the future of bus services.

BUS USERS UK is concerned though that the new proposals give local authorities greater powers to specify bus services in their area and to issue exclusive contracts to bus operators to run those services. 'In practice the only areas where we expect to see such powers being taken up are those where local authorities have already failed to engage effectively with bus operator, and where political considerations are likely to take precedence over the actual needs of the travelling public', warned Mr Booth.

BUS USERS UK has always found that bus services can be made to work well where local authorities and bus companies work well together in partnership, with a common goal to improve things for bus users. This benefits the community as a whole, as attractive bus services can have a major effect in encouraging car owners to use the bus too, reducing problems of congestion and environmental pollution, as well as improving mobility for those without cars.

Also welcomed by bus users are proposals that would mean bus companies will have to report their performance standards to the industry's regulators, the Traffic Commissioners. However BUS USERS UK is aware that the Traffic Commissioners, the authorities who license buses, taxis and lorries, are already under-resourced and will need improved resources if they are to take greater role in monitoring bus reliability and punctuality standards.

The Department for Transport has today published its long-awaited review of bus services, in preparation for a new Road Transport Bill next year.

In essence the review proposes strengthening local agreements between local authorities and bus operators, such that local authorities can specify minimum frequencies, timings and even maximum fares within voluntary agreements, and reducing the threshold for the enabling of Quality Contracts to make it easier for local authorities to introduce a franchising regime tore place the existing deregulated environment in their areas. These could beamed to apply particularly in connection with road pricing schemes, for which the Government wants to see pilot schemes within four to five years.

BUS USERS UK is a non-statutory body established as the National Federation of Bus Users in 1985 to give bus passengers a voice in the liberalisation and privatisation of bus services outside London.

Its aims are:

-To strengthen the voice of bus users in the discussion of public transport issues

-To increase the influence of bus passengers on local and national decisions affecting bus services

-To develop good communication between bus companies and their passengers

Its membership comprises mainly bus passengers, although its work has been recognised by the industry such that it also has representation in most major bus companies (outside London) and local authorities.

It is a partner in the Bus Appeals Body, set up to help passengers where legitimate complaints about bus services have not been resolved satisfactorily, and organises Bus Users Surgeries in town centres throughout Britain to enable bus passengers to voice their concerns directly to bus company managers.

6. BOBBIES ON THE BEAT? NO. EU POLICE STATE? YES

Why have the police declined so badly in effectiveness, in recent years? Short answer: politicisation, i.e. their conversion from a politically-neutral public service into an instrument of political agendas. The most obvious case of this is political correctness, which has made them spend more time coddling criminals than catching them. The other obvious case is their relentless 'hardening' into an authoritarian instrument of state power, with new powers to snoop and arrest, and fewer traditional constraints. The EU, of course, is getting into the act, hard on the European Arrest Warrant, which will enable Britons to be arrested on British soil for things that are not illegal in Britain. The EU would dearly like to have its own enforcement arm, and the Euro police are trying hard to become it.

http://euobserver.com/9/23130

The European Commission is set to boost the powers of the EU police office - EUROPOL - suggesting that the criminal intelligence body becomes a proper EU institution, financed by the union and partially controlled by MEPs.

The commission proposal - to be adopted on Wednesday (20 December) and seen by EUobserver - aims to strengthen Europol's legal basis, simplify the decision-making involving its activities and improve its powers in a bid to 'address the new challenges' such as terrorism. Europol - based in the Hague, Netherlands - was created in 1995 on the basis of a convention - a type of intergovernmental agreement - between member states to overlook law enforcement in the areas such as drug trafficking, counterfeiting of euro notes, money-laundering, human trafficking and terrorism.

Under the commission's proposal, its mandate should extend to criminality 'which is not strictly related to organised crime.'

The EU executive argues that the move will 'ease support provided by Europol to member states in relation to cross-border criminal investigations where involvement of organised crime is not demonstrated from the start.'

The new legislation will also enable Europol to assist member states organising 'major international event with a public order policing impact' such as sports events.

After the change of its legal basis, the criminal intelligence body will be accountable not only to the ministers of justice and home affairs but also to the European Parliament, with MEPs have already called for such an arrangement.

According to some insiders, the commission's proposal has been preceded by several discussions among national experts who broadly favour the shift. Member states have also agreed to put aside Euros 334 million for Europol in 2010-2013.

Its annual budget for 2007 is close to 68 million with 406 employees - who under the new rules would become proper EU staff.