Civitas Blog

Last week, Shadow Health minister, Andrew Lansley said that the recession could be “good for us”. Amidst public outcry he quickly apologised for his sarcastic and insensitive comment, but it seems that euro-enthusiasts might begin to see a silver-lining as the economic black clouds descend, because the economic turmoil has driven the debate about the UK joining the euro back into the headlines.

The Royal Society of Chemistry is currently organising a petition to the Prime Minister to register concern about the steep decline in the standard of science teaching that has recently taken place in the country’s schools.

The petition runs:

“We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to reverse the demonstrable decline in school science examination standards that is destroying our competitiveness.”

'Quality', wrote Lord Darzi in his recent Next Stage Review of the NHS, 'is improved by empowered patients and empowered professionals. There must be a stronger role for clinical leadership and management throughout the NHS'. A raft of measures to encourage its development has been proposed, but will they be effective? Is this a new dawn, or merely a false beginning? Last Wednesday, around 100 delegates debated this topic at a debate organised by Civitas.

Not many people were aware of the offence "misconduct in public office" and fewer still were aware that the maximum penalty is life imprisonment. But the details are readily available on the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) website and were updated only in November last year.

Although the maximum penalty is life imprisonment, the CPS makes it clear that a statutory offence should always be used instead, if there is one. The CPS advice does not go into detail, but in the case of Damian Green, the Official Secrets Act was the relevant statute.

Continued at the Daily Telegraph blog

The Czech Republic will assume the rotating EU Presidency from France on 1st January 2009. President Klaus, a pronounced EU-sceptic, will be at the member states’ helm as the EU continues to negotiate on the Lisbon Treaty and the climate change package, and significantly also for the EP elections in June 2009. It is certainly going to be an interesting six months for the EU. For example, an enlightening exchange took place at Prague Castle last Friday 5 December 2008 between the Czech President, Václav Klaus, and EU representatives at the Conference of the Presidents of the European Parliament. The exchange resembled a ‘four knights game’ of chess, which is accordingly “fairly popular with beginners”; player were squaring up, devising their strategies and trying to stay one step ahead of the game...

It is not often, in fact I cannot think of any previous occasion, when I have found myself agreeing more with the opinions of David Aaronovitch than those of Michael Gove and Melanie Phillips. However, in relation to the merits of the Rose report on primary schooling, published yesterday, I find much to my surprise that I do.

It’s not often that you read a document produced by a regulator that actually has genuine feel behind it, but The State of Healthcare published by the Healthcare Commission today does. The dynamic of the text is a lesson, almost, in making a subtle political point. The tone is reflective and conciliatory (though, inevitably it’s managed to ruffle the BMA’s feathers) but powerful: why are you getting rid of us when there’s so much left to do?

As previous experience could have predicted, the Crown Prosecution Service has dropped its 11-month investigation into donations to Peter Hain’s deputy leadership campaign. Thus Hain joins a growing list of politicians who acknowledge having failed to follow ‘the rules’ (or what ordinary folk call ‘the law’) but have yet to see the inside of a courtroom. These investigations in the past have ended on various grounds, sometimes due to lack of evidence, other times on the grounds that prosecution is not ‘in the public interest’.

The government’s School Report Cards, the details of which were revealed this week by the DCSF, mark a significant shift from exam-driven assessments of schools’ performances. It is a change which potentially grants a holistic and more nuanced perspective for children and their parents of the type and quality of schooling children in England receive. A marked change from the overly simplistic data-led approach, which has all too often generated side-effects such as ‘teaching to the test’.

This Wednesday (17th December), MEPs will vote on a proposal to end the UK’s opt-out from the EU's Working Time Directive. If passed, the changes will make it illegal for workers to choose to work more than 48-hours in a week from 2011.

In his regular column on education in last week’s Sunday Times, Chris Woodhead laid into the recently published Rose report on primary schooling in whose defence I posted a blog last week.

If I return to its defence against Woodhead’s attack on it in this week's posting, it is less in angry defiance of the opinion of such an august authority on education than in the spirit of continued puzzlement as to the basis for the invective that has been levelled at it by not only Woodhead but such other prominent writers about education as Michael Gove and Melanie Phillips with whose more traditionally oriented views I normally find myself in agreement -- but not on this occasion.

Two private schools have rejected moves towards becoming academies, despite facing the growing financial strain of the credit crunch.
Salisbury and Lichfield Cathedral schools are amongst many independent schools that are being urged to consider academy status as the recession hits parents’ abilities to pay school fees. Last month saw the effect of this pressure on parents, with the closure of Bramcote Lorne in Retford and Brigg in Hull.

Last week’s EU Summit (10-11th Dec 2008) was hailed a victory by those lobbying the EU to stick by its Green credentials.

In the run up to the summit, there were tell-tale reports of squabbling between Member States about the EU’s 20-20-20 targets on energy use, which were agreed in March 2007. For example, it was reported that Italy and Poland were seeking concessions from the targets, because of concern about the potential burden on their states’ economies. However the French Presidency, which currently holds the rotating EU Presidency, was determined to establish measures to implement the targets before the (decidedly more EU-sceptic) Czech Republic assumes the EU Presidency in January 2009...

Two facts about schools have recently been reported in the press. The first is the disturbingly high rate of violent altercations that go on in them. The second is how much better faith schools generally do in examinations than their non-denominational counterparts.

Disney is ranked number one in Fortune Magazine’s most admired entertainment industry category for 2008. It was also ranked number three across all US companies for people management and is one of the top performing companies in the world in terms of customer satisfaction. Key to Disney’s success is the clarity of its vision: safety, courtesy, the show and efficiency.

I cannot believe a recent appeal court decision that is reported in today’s newspapers. Earlier this month, an earlier decision of a lower court was upheld not to cancel debts of over £2,000,000 that a client of the bookmaker William Hill had incurred to it in 2006 through placing bets with it over the telephone.