Archives for June 7th, 2004

PLANNING PORTAL

Abstracts, PublicNet: 7 June, 2004

The Planning Portal is the first point of call for anyone who wants to find out about the planning system in England and Wales. It is aimed at everyone, from central government and local authorities to planning professionals and the lay person. It provides facilities for finding out if planning permission is required and how to get it. It also gives access to local development plans. 243 councils are linked to the portal and the remaining 167 are due to link up in the next 12 months. The Portal was developed by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and implemented by RightNow Technologies.The Planning Portal is at: http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/wps/portal/action/ChangePage/.pg/6e/.reqid/1?section=HOME

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SINGLE BODY TO RUN COURTS

Headlines, PublicNet: 7 June, 2004

For the first time, all courts in England and Wales are to be run by a single body. The government-run Court Service and independently administered magistrates courts will be merged in a single executive agency to be known as Her Majesty’s Courts Service. The move ends the long-standing division between magistrates’ courts – run by 42 independent local committees – and the central body that was responsible for all Crown, County and Higher Courts except the House of Lords.The new organisation will come into being in April next year but from now it will operate in shadow form. The Constitutional Affairs Secretary, Lord Falconer, said the new HMCS would provide greater efficiency and consistency in practices, procedures, management and funding.The service will have 20,000 staff and work with 30,000 judges and magistrates – doubling the size of the Department for Constitutional Affairs. Accountability to the local community will be an important element of the new service, which will work with 42 Courts Boards each of which will have local representatives. The Boards are designed to give local people a say in how courts operate. They will scrutinise, review and make recommendations about how local courts are run, including where they are sited.

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BMA SAYS DOCTORS’ INNOVATIONS BLOCKED BY LACK OF RESOURCES

Headlines, PublicNet: 7 June, 2004

Shortages of resources and staff are stopping doctors from developing innovative approaches to patient care according to a new publication from the British Association. It says in many ways doctors are leading new developments but find themselves blocked from going further.”A to Z of Doctors Making a Difference” highlights a selection of 44 case studies, which, it says, show how doctors across the UK are pushing ahead with new projects to improve services for their patients. They cover new medical treatments, better access and choice for patients and new approaches to reduce waiting. The authors of the report, which has a foreword by the Prime Minister, say it provides a snapshot of some of the pioneering work that doctors and their teams are carrying out in hospitals, health centres and GP surgeries.

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