Schools in the North West of England and the East Midlands are to pilot a drugs education programme for 11 to 13-year-olds. The six-million pound Blueprint Research Programme will arm teachers in 23 selected schools with the tools to work with pupils and their parents and educate them about drugs issues.The effectiveness of the scheme will be assessed over a two-year period and that study will influence drug education work in schools across the country. This innovative project is based on evidence gathered from around the world, which shows that open and supportive communication between parents, teachers and children can postpone the onset of drug taking or prevent it completely.

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Plans have been outlined for a new National Framework for the fire and rescue service, which, it is claimed, will lay the foundations for a new relationship between the service and the government, providing the building blocks for a better service that saves more lives.The new framework will set out what the government expects the service to achieve in light of the recent White Paper. It will also establish how the service should undertake specific functions for reasons of national efficiency, and what support Government will provide to allow those aims to be achieved.

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