Archives for July 4th, 2001

TACKLING FINANCIAL EXCLUSION: AN AREA BASED APPROACH

Book News, PublicNet: 4 July, 2001

By Sharon Collard, Elaine Kempson and Claire Whyley.Describes financial exclusion as 1.5 million households in Britain (7 per cent) that have no bank account and make no other use of other High Street financial services. It also includes 4.4 million households (20 per cent) that are on the margins of financial exclusion. Reveals the widespread mistrust of banks, insurance and credit companies and a high level of disengagement from high street financial services. Borrowing is a fact of life for residents whose limited access to credit included door-to-door moneylenders charging high rates of interest, as well as mail-order catalogues and the Benefits Agency’s Social Fund. The authors recommend that the financial needs of deprived communities are best met by a combination of national institutions maintaining a local presence, and a city-wide network of ‘one-stop shops’ run as partnerships by national providers and local organizations.

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CHIEF CONSTABLES GET SUMMONS

Headlines, PublicNet: 4 July, 2001

Home Secretary David Blunkett has called a meeting of all Chief Constables to hear about the issues which are concerning them. The meeting is part of a consultation process on the criminal justice reform programme, which will include a Police Bill.It has already been announced that a study has been launched to get the views from the frontline. Police constables will be asked about their working day as part of a study to help to inform the police reform and modernisation process. Bureaucracy is recognized as a problem and the study will seek to find out why police officers are held back from effective policing by unnecessary paper work or blockages in the system. The study team will look at the daily routine and working practices of front-line police officers to identify ways in which time could be saved. It will also look for ways in which new technology can reduce paperwork.

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BIDS FOR MORE DOCTORS AND TEACHERS

Headlines, PublicNet: 4 July, 2001

The conference season has brought pleas from the British MedicalAssociation and National Association of Head Teachers for more resources. The BMA maintains that the extra 2000 GPs promised by the government is totally inadequate and that five times that number will be needed to meet demand. The NAHT want 21,000 extra teachers to make up the shortfall. They also want a further 17,000 bursars and 28,000 administrative staff to help run schools. The government has promised 10,000 new teachers during the next five years and plans to recruit more classroom assistants and to increase training places for school bursars.GPs want the average consultation time increased from seven to fifteen minutes. Doctors believe that seven minutes is not long enough to do all the checks needed and talk the patient through their treatment. Research shows that patients have forgotten half of what they have been told them by the time they leave the room. Doctors fear that a government pledge to guarantee all patients an appointment to see a GP within 48 hours by 2004 will crank up the workload will reduce further the amount of time that they can spend with each patient. They also want a cut in bureaucracy to ease the workload .

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