Speech: Animal research: then and now
Speech by Sir Mark Walport for the 80th Stephen Paget memorial lecture at Understanding Animal Research’s Openness Awards. read more
Author Archives: GovWorldMag
News story: Defence Secretary meets Apprentices working on nuclear submarines as new Training Facility announced
Defence Secretary, Sir Michael Fallon today met apprentices working on Britain’s new submarines who will benefit from a new £25 million Apprentice Training Facility at Barrow-in-Furness. read more
Protecting Scotland’s environment
20 Feb 2017
Our natural resources cannot be consumed at the current “unsustainable” rate, the Scottish Conservatives will declare this week, in a major new policy paper marking Scottish Environment Week.
In the document, to be published on Wednesday, the party will spell out a series of new initiatives designed to protect Scotland’s environment and tackle climate change.
The document comes with the Scottish Conservatives preparing for its spring conference on March 3rd, where it will set out its plan to offer a fresh alternative to the SNP as Scotland’s main opposition party.
In the foreword, published today, the party’s environment spokesman Maurice Golden makes it clear that “we can no longer consume our natural resources at the current unsustainable rate, and we can no longer think of economic development as a competing force against environmental protection”.
Scottish Environment week is organised by Scottish Environment Link, and will feature a series of events designed to highlight efforts to tackle climate change. Among policies outlined in the new paper, the party will say:
- 10% of all the Scottish Government’s capital budget should be spent on energy efficiency measures – with the aim of ensuring all homes are energy efficiency by 2030.
- A new target should be set to ensure 75% of all waste is recycled by 2035 through the creation of an easy-to-use collection system.
- Ministers should create 15,000 hectares of new quality woodland per year – up from 7,600 a year in 2015.
Writing in the foreword to the document, Mr Golden will say:
“The Scottish Conservative approach to the Environment and Climate Change is founded on three key tenets.
“The first is a belief that Climate Change is one of the greatest challenges we face, and we must show leadership on the world stage to reduce global emissions.
“The second is that, in the long term, resource prices will increase, and moreover, access to these resources will become less reliable. By decreasing our reliance on products which are manufactured abroad we can reduce global emissions but also grow the economy and create jobs here in Scotland.
“The third tenet is that we need to look holistically at our management of the environment. That means making the business case, but also recognising that for certain projects the business case will not be viable if assessed via conventional accounting.
“We will prioritise achieving behaviour change, technological advancement, big data and innovation in order to tackle climate change, boost biodiversity, grow the economy, create more, better jobs and ensure new ideas are delivered for the benefit of Scotland.”
The full paper will be launched in Edinburgh on Wednesday by party leader Ruth Davidson and Mr Golden.
More details on Scottish Environment week here: http://www.scotlink.org/events/upcoming-events/scottish-environment-week/
read moreGreen Party: Government must stop pushing costs of social care onto councils and residents
20 February 2017
The Green Party has called on the Government to up spending on councils after it was revealed local services will still face deep cuts despite nearly every local authority in England planning to raise council taxes [1].
Jonathan Bartley, Green Party co-leader, said:
“The Government’s failure to invest in councils has put many in a desperate situation, with no choice but to cut valuable community resources like libraries and youth centres. The Government appears intent on starving local services and bringing almost every local authority close to financial breaking point.
“Proper social care for the elderly should be a red line. It should be non-negotiable and centrally funded. Government needs to take responsibility and invest in councils, rather than pushing costs onto residents and creating a postcode lottery of care. Instead of bringing the social care system to its knees, the Government should be facing up to the simple fact that if we want good social care we need to pay for it. The Green Party is the only party proposing that we make the right choice to invest in a secure future for our older people with free social care for the over 65s. ”
Notes:
read moreConcern over closure of university adult learning classes
Following concerns from constituents, I have written to University of Dundee Principal Professor Sir Pete Downes expressing dismay at the closure of the School of Humanities’ educational and creative adult education classes as of April 2017.
Residents are concerned that the replacement which is a suite of credit-bearing modules will be more costly and deviates away from the principles of the adult education classes that have been so successful over the years.
These adult learning courses have run for many years and have been really successful. Many, but not all of the students, are at or beyond retirement age and many are already well- qualified, so replacing the courses with award bearing courses sadly will end a long tradition of offering general interest courses to members of the public.
At present there are 13 courses on offer at Dundee University, with over 200 registered enrolments. It seems such a shame to end the courses and I have asked the university for a re-think.
Professor Downes has now advised me :
We are replacing the current `Courses for Adults’ programme with a new suite of modules for students of all ages, which will give an introduction to studying at higher education level and will be credit bearing.
This aligns with our commitment to widening access to higher education. Modules will be available at the start of the next academic year in English, History, Creative Writing and Philosophy. There will be an option for students to opt-out of studying for credit.
These courses are replacing our previous provision, which was no longer sustainable and did not align with the priorities of the School of the Humanities and of the University.
The University’s contributions to the local community are very important to me and to many of our staff and students. The breadth of these depends on building sustainable models of delivery wherever possible. I expect adult education will remain an important part of our work with the local community but we need to consider adult education in a broader context and across a wider range of subjects and disciplines. The approach being taken by the School of Humanities to ensure sustainable provision of Continuing Education is as follows:
• The School of Humanities initiative to change its continuing education offering to a suite of four 10 credit bearing modules will widen access to higher education and be in line with the Universities commitment to public engagement and outreach.• This offering will extend the opportunity to reach people who may wish to engage with HE later in their lives, or who wish to study whilst having other commitments which prohibits them from a full time programme.• A matriculated student undertaking study for credit may be able to apply for help with course fees from the following:o Individual Learning Account (ILA)o Part-time Fee Grant
There are wider implications for the University as a whole and for our commitments to, and responsibility for, public engagement. Much work is currently being done to prepare the University’s strategic plan for the period from 2017 to 2022 and I have asked our Vice Principal (Learning & Teaching) to review Continuing Education and its part in our widening access and public engagement work as part of the refreshed University strategy, which will be in place from the start of the next academic year.
I hope that the Vice Principal (Learning & Teaching) when reviewing Continuing Education will bear in mind that many constituents and the Dundee University Courses for Adults Association committee do not want the present provision to end.
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