Public sector round-up: 20 October

Business and Finance

Financial Times – Tories plan drive to TV growth with deregulation
Jeremy Hunt, the shadow culture secretary is keen to deregulate TV in order to promote commercial growth. Jeremy believes that current rules that force ITV to sell all available airtime are “complete madness.” If the Tories are elected next year, Jeremy will ensure continued local news on ITV, which the broadcaster says it can no longer afford and survival of local press and radio. Hunt claims “the regulatory framework has failed to keep up with structural change” and this needs to be addressed.

Observer - Royal Mail hires 30,000 contractors to crush strike
The Royal Mail has announced plans to recruit 30,000 temporary staff in an attempt to crush the strike that is due to start this week. Tensions between Union Leaders and Royal Mail Management have risen to new levels. The CWU maintains that Royal Mail has tried to force modernisation and changes to working plans without proper consultation. Meanwhile the number of temporary staff drafted in represents the biggest recruitment drive in the Royal Mail’s history, at double that usually recruited to deliver Christmas mail. Business Secretary Lord Mandelson is reported to be “beyond angry” with the unions for their obstructive action.

Treasury

Financial Times - Government debt at ‘three times’ official figure
A new study published by centre-right think-tank the Centre for Policy Studies has put government debt at approximately £2200 billion - almost three times the Office for National Statistics estimate of £805 billion. This has prompted employers’ organisations including the CBI to call for the government to cut spending by as much as £120 billion over the next few years to deal with its mounting debts. Increasing the gloom around the deficit are official figures due out today expected to reveal that total net borrowing was up by another £10billion in the last month.

Politics

Independent – Hain aims to prevent BNP Question Time appearance
A last minute bid to block the leader of the BNP appearing on BBC’s Question Time this Thursday has been made by the Welsh secretary Peter Hain. Hain has written a letter to the broadcaster stating they run a “serious risk” of a legal challenge if they allow Nick Griffin to appear on the show. The BNP’s current rules for membership, bar Black, Asian and Jewish people, which is a breach of race-relations legislation. Nick Griffin accepted such last week, meaning the BBC would now be representing an illegally constituted party.

Public Services

Observer -Prisons accused of attempting to “dupe” Inspectors
Two of Britain’s most senior Prison Governors face possible dismissal for their role in a prisoner swap scandal designed to subvert official inspections. At this stage the swaps are thought only to have involved prisoners at Wandsworth and Pentonville jails although the Ministry of Justice has ordered checks of prison transfers to establish how widespread the practice might have been. Meanwhile both Governors have been moved to new posts as it was revealed that 2 prisoners involved in the move had tried to commit suicide. Jack Straw commented on the scandal “in its misguided effort to reveal prisons in a better light it has neglected one of the service’s primary responsibilities”.

Observer -NHS sends own staff for private care
The number of hospital staff receiving private healthcare paid for by the NHS has raised questions about its ability to provide adequate treatment. The Department of Health has commented that decisions to fund private healthcare are taken by each individual authority and trust. It recently commissioned a report last year into the use of private health treatment as a potentially cost effective way of maintaining a productive workforce.

Financial Times – Call to outsource more state services
The CBI’s recently appointed outsourcing czar is promoting a radical vision of public sector reform. The vision suggests that every service run by the state should be opened up to market based competition. Exception only includes very sensitive services – such as military operations and defence. Adrian Ringrose, the chair of the body behind the proposals would like to see the government go even further suggesting that “in implementation, there’s very little ‘…’ that the state should have an excusive right to.”

Education

Times - Balls branded a bully after overruling MPs
Education secretary Ed Balls has been criticised after going against the wishes of MPs on the selection of the new children’s commissioner. Balls opted to ignore the select committee’s recommendation in favour of his own choice, Maggie Atkinson, as the replacement for Professor Sir Al Aynsley-Green, who had been in the post five years. Select committee Chairman Barry Sheerman commented: “Most of us know that Ed Balls is a bit of a bully and he likes his own way..”

And Finally…

Times - Brown left to pick up crumbs in biscuit fiasco
The Prime Minister had hoped to sweep the crumbs from the debate about his favourite biscuit under the carpet this weekend after declaring he liked ‘anything with chocolate’. No such luck. The comments and banter on social networking site Mumsnet, on which the fiasco began, continued today. “Chocolate covered Gordon — ooer!” one user said “Don’t think I could manage a whole one..”

Read More

• Financial Times
• The Times
• The Observer
• The Independent
• The Telegraph

Phillippa Dunlop, Elizabeth Biggs and Jo Lynas make up our the Public Sector specialist team at FreshMinds Talent. They place graduate and senior executives on a permanent and interim basis.