HM Customs and Excise is the first major department to sign up to Motorvate, a 5-star certification programme designed to provide its members with a structured plan to help monitor the environmental performance of vehicle fleets. The aim of the programme is to help HM Customs and Excise to achieve a 12% reduction in fuel use.The Motorvate programme is one offering of TransportEnergy’s Best Practice scheme. TransportEnergy is a division of the Energy Saving Trust. It is funded mainly by the Department for Transport, the Scottish Executive, and the Welsh Assembly.

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The EU is helping to fund the development of a home monitoring device which will allow doctors to get alerts and regular updates on the condition of their patients. The Doc@HOMER service is being developed in a partnership between Estonia, Latvia and the UK. More than half the development costs of 1.2 million pounds are provided by the EU from the Information Society Technology Programme.The service is being trialled in the UK by two NHS trusts and used by patients who need regular monitoring for a number of medical conditions, including, chronic heart failure, asthma, diabetes, post-stroke care and surveillance, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and chronic respiratory disease.

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In the four years since the National Foundation for Educational Researchpublished its Guide to education law for Local Education Authorities so much has changed that a major revision has become necessary. Local Education Authorities have never been under closer scrutiny. Greater accountability, ever more legislative changes and a growing culture of litigation have led to a marked increase in claims brought against them. To guide and advise LEAs in England and Wales at this time of unprecedented challenge, a team of experts has been brought together to produce a new overview of their duties and powers.This comprehensively updated second edition of What is the LEA for? will be required reading for local authority officers and elected members with responsibility for the education service, and will provide an essential source of reference for head teachers, school governors, teachers of education management, and lawyers.

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