IN BRIEF News
EUROPE Politician cleared over ‘fascist’ comment Dutch far-right politician Geert Wilders, who described Islam as “fascist”, has been acquitted of inciting hatred against Muslims. Amsterdam judge Marcel van Oosten accepted the Freedom Party leader’s statements were directed at Islam and not at Muslim believers. They were, the judge ruled, “acceptable within the context of public debate”.
Russian party rejected Russia has refused to register a new liberal political party led by four prominent opposition figures. The People’s Freedom Party failed to meet several of the legal requirements, the justice ministry said. One opposition leader said it was because PM Vladimir Putin’s ruling party feared a strong opposition bloc. Parliamentary elections are due to take place in December, with presidential ones to follow in March.
Staff denied wages at Saab Swedish carmaker Saab has said it does not have enough money to pay staff wages. Owner Swedish Automobile said it was in discussions with lenders to try and obtain short-term funding. Earlier this month, the company said it had reached a deal with two Chinese firms to invest a total of €245m in the company. But production at Saab’s main plant in Sweden is currently on hold after it was unable to pay suppliers.
Sarkozy calls for food price stability French President Nicolas Sarkozy has called on the G20 nations to adopt regulation that would help contain fluctuations in food commodity prices. In recent months sharp rises in the price of commodities such as wheat and sugar have led many analysts to warn of the dangers of exposing essential goods to market speculators. “A market that is not regulated is not a market but a lottery,” Sarkozy told G20 agriculture ministers.
WALES
Nuclear site confirmation The consortium behind plans for a new nuclear power station on Anglesey has welcomed a Westminster decision
8 Holyrood 27 June 2011
Public services
Christie Commission to urge preventative spending
Cera Murtagh Staff Reporter
Te Christie Commission will call for a radical prioritisation of preventative spending, Holyrood understands. Te Commission on the Future Delivery of Public Services, due to report this week, urges a fundamental reform of public services to tackle deep- rooted social and economic inequality. “Despite a series of Scottish Government initiatives and significant growth in public spending post devolution, on most key measures social and economic inequalities have remained unchanged or become more pronounced,” the report, which Holyrood has seen, states. Te commission, established
by the Scottish Government in November to review the future of public service delivery in Scotland, estimates that 40 per cent of all spending on public services is accounted for by interventions that could be avoided by prioritising a preventative approach. As a result of the failure to intervene earlier in people’s lives, a “cycle of deprivation and low aspiration” has been allowed to persist. Te Commission, led by former STUC General Secretary Dr Campbell Christie CBE, also issues a stark warning that in the context of increasing demand and falling resources, the current system of public service delivery in Scotland is not sustainable. Te review calls for a radically different approach to public services that is bottom-up and driven by the needs of the individual and the community.
It recommends that community participation in the design and delivery of services is backed up in legislation and included in the proposed Community Empowerment and Renewal Bill.
Te commission also highlights integration of services as a key objective. To achieve this, it recommends introducing a new set of statutory powers and duties common to all public bodies, focused on improving outcomes. Te report also proposes a new concordat for joined-up services between national and local government, to be backed up by integrated funding arrangements. To hold public bodies to account for joint working, it calls for a strengthened remit for the Audit Commission.
Full story see page 18
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