Archive for June, 2013
Sunday, June 30th, 2013
Michael Gove MP, Secretary of State for Education, has ordered his civil servants to write in language their mums would understand in a drive to banish jargon from his department.
Mr Gove, known for his love of plain English, has written to civil servants with new “golden rules” to make their letters more comprehensible. To get them writing “concise, polite and precise” correspondence, he suggested they should consider whether their mum, or his own, would understand each sentence.
The ten guidelines advised officials to read their letters aloud, cut out excessive adjectives and take inspiration from clear writers like George Orwell. However, Mr Gove also wrote a longer guide containing his philosophy on the art of letter writing, starting with the claim that “concision is in itself a form of politeness.”
In this note, he gave several examples of where officials might have been going wrong, including the use of “inflated political rhetoric” or giving “general formulaic replies.” Ordering them to “cut out unnecessary words”, he said: “Rather than writing “the policy that we are introducing is intended to drive a change in behaviours on the part of teachers with respect to the poorest and most disadvantaged children and young people” say “the policy will change how teachers behave towards poorer students”.
Mr Gove, a former journalist, who studied English at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford University, said officials should introduce one idea per paragraph, use a sympathetic tone and make sure they spell the recipient’s name correctly.
He also cautioned against sounding self-important in a letter. He wrote, “It does not require a writing style modelled on Leonard Sachs from The Good Old Days or Sir Humphrey in Yes, Minister. Using inflated political rhetoric of the “first may I say how much I care about X” is not polite. It is a time-wasting exercise in self-regarding pomposity. So don’t even go there. Instead use direct, clear and vigorous language.”
In the guidelines, he suggested officials should read “the greats”, including George Orwell, Jane Austen, George Eliot and Evelyn Waugh. He also gave two more modern examples of clear prose writers: The Times write and former MP Matthew Parris and journalist Christopher Hitchens.
The senior Tory’s intervention comes after several attempts by Government ministers to improve the writing of their staff. When she was the Transport Secretary, Justine Greening sent employees in her department a five-page essay on grammar in 2011.
Owen Paterson, the Environment Secretary, also drew up guidelines on how officials should use clauses and semi-colons after taking on the job last year.
Mr Gove’s guidelines suggest bureaucrats should:
- If in doubt, cut it out
- Read it out loud – if it sounds wrong, don’t send it
- In letters, adjectives add little, adverbs even less
- The more the letter reads like a political speech the less good it is as a letter
- Would your mum understand that word, phrase, or sentence? Would mine?
- Read the great writers to improve your own prose – George Orwell and Evelyn Waugh, Jane Austen and George Eliot, Matthew Parris and Christopher Hitchens
- Always use concrete words and phrases in preference to abstractions
- Gwynne’s Grammar is a brief guide to the best writing style
- Simon Heffer’s Strictly English is a more comprehensive – and very entertaining – companion volume
- Our written work should be the clearest, most elegant, and most enjoyable to read of any Whitehall department’s because the Department for Education has the best civil servants in Whitehall
Sunday, June 30th, 2013
Doctors will have to check patients are not foreign “health tourists” under new plans due to be unveiled this week by the Conservative controlled coalition Government.
Secretary of State For Health, Jeremy Hunt MP, will call a halt to foreign patients wrongly getting free care, after putting the cost of the problem at up to £200 million a year.
Under the plans, doctors will be able to track a patient’s immigration status from the NHS number. Ministers will also consider ways to make non-resident foreigners pay for GP care, either with their own money or by claiming back the money from other governments.
The Coalition is pushing ahead with the reforms, after David Cameron promised earlier this year to put a stop to foreigners “abusing” the NHS.
The Prime Minister said, “No one expects health workers to become immigration guards and we want to work alongside doctors to bring about improvements, but I’m clear we must all work together to protect the NHS from costly abuse.
“We want a system that is fair for the British taxpayer by ensuring that foreign nationals pay for their NHS treatment. By looking at the scale of the problem and at where and how improvements can be made we will help ensure the NHS remains sustainable for many years to come.”
Sunday, June 30th, 2013
David Cameron has said the Government will bring forward proposals for a transferable tax allowance for married couples and civil partners “shortly.”
Mr Cameron has been under pressure to honour a pledge to introduce tax breaks made in his 2010 election manifesto. Under plans being considered, wives and husbands who do not work and pay no income tax would be able to transfer part of their annual tax-free allowance to their spouse if their partner earns less than the higher rate of tax, which currently kicks in for people earning £41,451 or more.
In 2010, the Conservative Party said it would make four million married couples and civil partners £150 a year better off.
No detail is yet clear about the amount of transferable allowance proposed now, but it would only apply to basic rate taxpayers and may not be in force before the next election. It is understood that the proposals could be unveiled to Parliament at the time of the Autumn Statement, around the end of November.
The 2010 Conservative Party election manifesto said recognising marriage and civil partnerships in the tax system would “send an important signal that we value couples and the commitment that people make when they get married.”
Sunday, June 30th, 2013
Up to 45 new rented homes could be developed on disused garage sites across Tamworth, in the second phase of an ambitious project to create much-needed affordable housing in the borough.
Earlier this year, Conservative controlled Tamworth Borough Council approved plans to build 20 affordable rented homes on former garage sites in Leyfields, in partnership with Bromford Housing Group. Another 19 are set to go before the planning committee later this summer.
Now, further sites in Gillway, Kettlebrook, Wilnecote and Glascote have been identified for the development of up to 45 affordable rented homes, this time in partnership with Waterloo Housing Association.
The latest plan is the second phase of a Tamworth Borough Council project to develop 26 underused garage sites across the borough. In total, this is expected to provide up to 90 new affordable rented homes.
Cllr Michael Greatorex, Cabinet member for Public Housing & Vulnerable People, said, “The redevelopment of these under-used garage sites will allow us, working together with Waterloo Housing Association, to increase the supply of much-needed affordable rented housing in Tamworth.
“The demolition of the underused garages and building of new homes will also have a positive effect on the local environment, as well as freeing up resources to invest in the remaining garage sites across the borough and bringing more investment into Tamworth.”
As of May this year, there were 2,062 people on the Housing Register in Tamworth, while in the year 2012/2013; Tamworth Borough Council was able to make 303 allocations to rented homes from either the local authority of registered providers.
Further demand for the limited supply of affordable rented homes is likely to arise as a result of Welfare Benefit Reform, with an additional 139 households affected by the reforms seeking to move to smaller accommodation.
Sunday, June 30th, 2013
Conservative controlled Tamworth Borough Council is giving golfers and those thinking of taking up the chance to make the most of a swinging summer, with a new membership offer at Tamworth Golf Course.
The Borough Council owned course, located in Amington, is offering a three-month summer membership, which allows unlimited play every day after 2pm from July 1 to September 30. The cost of the summer membership is £120 for adults and £80 for students, which is the equivalent of playing one nine-hole round a week.
During the school summer holiday, Tamworth Golf Course is also offering a junior membership, which gives young players unlimited play at any time of the day for the six-week duration of the holidays, at a cost of just £30.
Cllr Steve Claymore, Cabinet Member for Economy & Education, said, “Tamworth Golf Course is going from strength to strength and is proving to be very popular with members and people who just want to come and play a round or two. The new offers will give people the chance to find out for themselves how good the course is and will allow even more people of all ages to come along and play.”
More information, including a full list of prices, is available on the golf course website at www.tamworthgolfcourse.co.uk or by calling 01827 709310.
Saturday, June 29th, 2013
Christopher Pincher, MP for Tamworth, has opened a new £2.5m flood management scheme in the Mercian ward of Tamworth.
The Coton Flood Risk Management Scheme, on the edge of Tamworth, is the first completed section of the wider Lower Tame Flood Risk Management Scheme.
It includes new flood embankments to the north of Coton Lane and new flood walls along Lichfield Road.
Tamworth MP Christopher Pincher, who opened the scheme, said it would be a “great relief” to the people of Lichfield Road, Coton Lane and Riverside after recent flooding.
Construction work on the scheme, which began in October, also includes new walls around the Fox Inn roundabout and improvements to the culvert in Coton Lane and the Severn Trent Water surface water drainage chamber on Lichfield Road.
Thursday, June 27th, 2013
Christopher Pincher and Michael Fabricant hand the Secretary of State for Transport letters calling for better compensation for properties affected by HS2
Yesterday in the House of Commons, during the High Speed Rail (Preparation) Bill debate, local MP’s Christopher Pincher (Tamworth) and Michael Fabricant (Lichfield) questioned the Secretary of State for Transport on compensation and mitigation for constituents affected by the proposed two HS2 train lines planned to cross Staffordshire.
Mr Pincher said, “I am grateful to my right hon. Friend for giving way and for yesterday meeting my constituents from Hints and Drayton Bassett to discuss their concerns about compensation and mitigation. He has rightly referred to the great concern that people have about the compensation and mitigation that is available. In setting a budget for phase 1, will he prevail on HS2 to be as efficient as possible so that money can be saved and spent on mitigations in Staffordshire?”
Patrick McLoughlin MP replied, “The meeting that I had yesterday with my hon. Friend and his constituents was very useful, and I gave them an undertaking to look at some of the points they made. I have had varying reports on how some of the public consultations have gone.
“I am determined that we improve the way in which they are conducted so that people get more reliable answers on the points they are making, and as quickly as possible, although sometimes these things take a lot of time if particular requests are made as to routes and the like. I thank my hon. Friend for behaving very constructively in the points that he is making.”
Lichfield’s MP, Michael Fabricant, then rose and said, “I am grateful to my right hon. Friend for giving way, and pleased to be able to follow the intervention by my hon. Friend Christopher Pincher. Next week I will be bringing people from Lichfield, Whittington and Armitage to see him to discuss, primarily, mitigation.
“May I ask him about compensation? He will know that with the current route I will have real difficulties with the hybrid Bill; in fact, I will not be able to support it. The Country Land and Business Association says that this stage of the game is the only opportunity to get compensation into legislation so that we can give it to people in my constituency, and indeed in Tamworth, who have been blighted for the past three years.”
The Secretary of State responded, “As someone who was born and brought up in Staffordshire, I know the area that my hon. Friends are talking about incredibly well. Without the authority of this Bill, we would be in a very difficult position as regards exceptional hardship.
“I mentioned earlier some of the requirements of the PAC in relation to accountability in spending money on a project without the approval of Parliament, and that also relates to compensation.”
Thursday, June 27th, 2013
Christopher Pincher, MP for Tamworth, lead a delegation of local people to meet Transport Secretary Patrick Mcloughlin MP this week, Tuesday 25th June, to discuss their concerns about the impact of HS2 on their communities.
Representatives from Hints, Drayton Bassett and Weeford, together with County Councillor Alan White, who chairs the local HS2 Community Forum, presented Mr McLoughlin with a list of mitigations they want to see for their villages and communities. Proposals include the rebuilding of the Knox Grave Lane community’s homes in another area away from the line, a tunnel at Hints and the lowering of the proposed viaduct at Drayton Basset.
Mr. Pincher said, “The meeting was helpful and I am pleased that the Secretary of State found time to meet us. Mr McLoughlin was open to each of the community proposals and promised that he will look further and fully at their requests.
“The Formal Environmental Statement is due later this year and I will continue to press that proposals put forward by Hints, Drayton Bassett and the Knox Grave Lane community are included in the ES so the best mitigation for the community groups is achieved, if HS2 goes ahead.”
Sunday, June 23rd, 2013
Staffordshire dairy farmers who are starting out in the industry could benefit from improved links between the Conservative controlled County Council and a business support organisation.
County farmer James Tattersall, a tenant on a holding near Stafford, hosted a networking impact session where other farmers could discuss innovations and challenges they face day-to-day with growing their businesses. The event also helped James with ideas and advice to drive his business forward.
DairyCo, an independent industry information and support organisation, coordinated the session at James’s holding. It is James’s first county farm tenancy having been successful in gaining the 66 acre holding in March 2011.
County farmer Giles Bristol, who attended the session, is a recent addition to the county farms estate, gaining a tenancy of a 61-acre dairy holding near Penkridge in September 2012. He said the event gave him a good insight into business planning and progression.
Giles, who moved to Staffordshire from Gloucestershire because of the opportunities to get his business off the ground through county farms, said, “Today has been really beneficial to me. Being able to access James’s business demonstrates how successful you can be, as he is probably around 18 months further down the line to where I am currently. Seeing how he has managed and overcome some problems gives me something positive to take away and means I’m already ahead of the game.”
Giles added that he had come to Staffordshire as it had good farming potential and because of the proactive and supportive county farms team. The Harper Adams College graduate was formerly a dairy consultant and decided to use his industry knowledge to help start his own business.
Staffordshire County Council’s cabinet support member for environment and rural affairs Gill Heath said, “We have some very successful entrepreneurs on our county farms and it is pleasing to see them share knowledge and expertise for the benefit of others.
“It is important that we can link up with other organisations which support business to make our drive to improve the economy as effective as possible.
“Our county farms are a valuable asset to us and to Staffordshire’s rural economy and we want to build on the successes of our tenants, as their hard work benefits the wider taxpayer in the long run.”
DairyCo’s Staffordshire extension officer Nicky Fair said, “We want to support British dairy farmers in running profitable and sustainable businesses. This event was about helping people to think strategically about their business but also enable them to share experiences, best practice and how to overcome problems. Everyone attending was very open about the day-to-day running of their business and so it was really rewarding to find out people’s different experiences which could well benefit others.”
Sunday, June 23rd, 2013
Conservative controlled Staffordshire County Council is on of a trio of councils that has won a prestigious national award for their work to secure millions of pounds worth of investment at i54 South Staffordshire.
Last week Staffordshire County Council, Wolverhampton City Council and South Staffordshire Council picked up the MJ Community Investor Award, a national award that recognises the efforts of local authorities to support development in their communities.
The three councils worked together to secure significant investment into the i54 site, stimulating growth and creating jobs for local people at a time when budgets are tight and councils themselves are coming under increasing financial pressure.
i54 is now home to a variety of international companies including Moog, Eurofins and Jaguar Land Rover who have all invested into the site. Jaguar Land Rover alone is investing £500million in a new advanced engine manufacturing facility and bringing with them nearly 1,400 jobs.
The whole site is forecast to employ almost 3,000 workers by 2015 and to double in size again by 2020. Added to this, a dedicated motorway junction is being built to accommodate the site.
Receiving the award were the leaders of Staffordshire County Council, Philip Atkins, Wolverhampton City Council, Cllr Roger Lawrence and South Staffordshire Council, Cllr Brian Edwards.
In a joint statement, they said, “Our three councils have worked hard to attract major investment and jobs to the area, and this award recognises the efforts we have made and the commitment we have to developing our local communities.
“i54 is a unique project that not only benefits local communities, but also supports economic growth and job creation regionally. The importance of being able to attract major international companies to the area cannot be underestimated, and this award is testament to the hard work and dedication of all three councils in securing this vital investment.
“With work at Jaguar Land Rover’s engine manufacturing plant progressing well and both Moog and Eurofins already operating, the site has firmly been put on the map. We hope that this award shows that councils working together to achieve a common goal can have benefits that extend across boundaries, and can make a significant impact on local communities, and the local and national economy.”
