As Google have changed the Terms and Conditions of their Adsense program, one of the requirements now is that all Adsense publishers should have a "Privacy Policy" on their websites. Below is the exact wording that has been added to the Terms and Conditions for Adsense publishers ....
"You must have and abide by an appropriate privacy policy that clearly discloses that third parties may be placing and reading cookies on your user’s browser, or using web beacons to collect information, in the course of ads being served on your website. Your privacy policy should also include information about user options for cookie management."
Update: 23 March 2009
We have now updated the Google Adsense Privacy Policy Generator to include a mention about the DoubleClick DART cookie, which is now required by Google to be included in your privacy policy. You can read more about the DoubleClick DART Cookie on the following link ... https://www.google.com/adsense/support/bin/answer.py?answer=100557&sourceid=aso
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Government plan is crux of health care debate
Washington - — On the eve of President Obama's key health care address to a joint session of Congress, top House Democrats appeared divided Tuesday over a controversial government-run insurance option, with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi insisting it be part of the House plan.
The public option, a crucible for liberal Democrats and anathema to Republicans and many conservative Democrats, has opened a chasm in the Democratic Party that threatens to sink the health reform effort. Obama's chief task in his nationally televised speech at 5 p.m. PDT tonight will be to bridge the gap.
The public option, a crucible for liberal Democrats and anathema to Republicans and many conservative Democrats, has opened a chasm in the Democratic Party that threatens to sink the health reform effort. Obama's chief task in his nationally televised speech at 5 p.m. PDT tonight will be to bridge the gap.
Energy Dept. unveils credible Open Government Plan
In an effort to boost transparency and faith in the federal government, all of the Obama administration’s departments and agencies have released “Open Government Plans” detailing how they will better communicate with the public. The U.S. Department of Energy in particular had some interesting tidbits to share.
You can view a full copy of the plan here (PDF).
First and foremost, the department called attention to its Open Energy Information portal, located at OpenEI.org, to provide the resources people need to understand where energy is coming from and how much is being used. Much of the agency’s data will be indexed on this site, accessible to anyone. Built as a wiki, the site will accept edits and contributions from outside the department as well.
The same web site will host a catalog of best practices in alternative energy, energy efficiency, and other green initiatives, making them available for governments in other countries to freely borrow.
In addition to OpenEI.org, the Department of Energy is launching ScienceEducation.gov, a platform that will connect government agencies to help better educate the public about practical issues in science and math. This will go hand-in-hand with the Energy Information Administration’s Education and Literacy Initiative, helping regular consumers understand energy delivery and policy.
Many of the administration’s departments were not as specific in their Open Government Plans, stating only that they would introduce web-based resources and increase transparency in the future. This wouldn’t have cut it for the DOE, which is already facing a lot of scrutiny over how it’s distributing stimulus funds to green technology companies and utilities.
Despite congressional concerns that the stimulus funds are not being managed above board, the DOE seems to be keeping close watch on the recipients of that money. Cylindrical solar module maker Solyndra, one of the early winners of a DOE loan guarantee, totaling $535 million, recently got busted by government-hired auditors for racking up too much debt and losing too much money to make it to an IPO.
Energy Secretary Stephen Chu has also beefed up the department’s Energy Star program after evaluating its inefficiencies. The program has now stripped the Energy Star label off of refrigerators made by LG Electronics, and hasn’t balked at opposition. It seems to have consumers’ best interests at heart.
DOE transparency may also be vital to quell concerns over Smart Grid deployments across the country. The agency doled out $3.4 billion to utilities to help them build a cleaner, more efficient electrical grid. But there’s been a strong backlash. In Bakersfield, Calif., residents have filed a class action lawsuit against Pacific Gas & Electric and its supply chain — including Silver Spring Networks — accusing the utility of hiking its energy rates after installing smart meters. Opposition has been cropping up elsewhere, too, on the eve of mass smart meter roll outs.
If the Department of Energy wants to see the grid speedily revamped, it will need to launch massive consumer education campaigns touting the merits of the Smart Grid. But launching the interactive OpenEI.org seems like a solid start. As a last kicker on the side of transparency, the release announcing the Open Government Plan, also linked to Secretary Chu’s Facebook page.
You can view a full copy of the plan here (PDF).
First and foremost, the department called attention to its Open Energy Information portal, located at OpenEI.org, to provide the resources people need to understand where energy is coming from and how much is being used. Much of the agency’s data will be indexed on this site, accessible to anyone. Built as a wiki, the site will accept edits and contributions from outside the department as well.
The same web site will host a catalog of best practices in alternative energy, energy efficiency, and other green initiatives, making them available for governments in other countries to freely borrow.
In addition to OpenEI.org, the Department of Energy is launching ScienceEducation.gov, a platform that will connect government agencies to help better educate the public about practical issues in science and math. This will go hand-in-hand with the Energy Information Administration’s Education and Literacy Initiative, helping regular consumers understand energy delivery and policy.
Many of the administration’s departments were not as specific in their Open Government Plans, stating only that they would introduce web-based resources and increase transparency in the future. This wouldn’t have cut it for the DOE, which is already facing a lot of scrutiny over how it’s distributing stimulus funds to green technology companies and utilities.
Despite congressional concerns that the stimulus funds are not being managed above board, the DOE seems to be keeping close watch on the recipients of that money. Cylindrical solar module maker Solyndra, one of the early winners of a DOE loan guarantee, totaling $535 million, recently got busted by government-hired auditors for racking up too much debt and losing too much money to make it to an IPO.
Energy Secretary Stephen Chu has also beefed up the department’s Energy Star program after evaluating its inefficiencies. The program has now stripped the Energy Star label off of refrigerators made by LG Electronics, and hasn’t balked at opposition. It seems to have consumers’ best interests at heart.
DOE transparency may also be vital to quell concerns over Smart Grid deployments across the country. The agency doled out $3.4 billion to utilities to help them build a cleaner, more efficient electrical grid. But there’s been a strong backlash. In Bakersfield, Calif., residents have filed a class action lawsuit against Pacific Gas & Electric and its supply chain — including Silver Spring Networks — accusing the utility of hiking its energy rates after installing smart meters. Opposition has been cropping up elsewhere, too, on the eve of mass smart meter roll outs.
If the Department of Energy wants to see the grid speedily revamped, it will need to launch massive consumer education campaigns touting the merits of the Smart Grid. But launching the interactive OpenEI.org seems like a solid start. As a last kicker on the side of transparency, the release announcing the Open Government Plan, also linked to Secretary Chu’s Facebook page.
Obama to travel to gulf to plan government's next steps
Outlining the government's next steps, the White House has said that President Obama will travel to the gulf plus address the nation this week about the BP
The president, who has been under criticism allegedly for being slow to respond to the crisis, will be in the region on Monday and Tuesday and will talk to the country on Tuesday.
Axelrod also said, "He wants to lay out the steps we're going to take from here to get through the crisis."
The president's address is scheduled to come on the evening of a meeting with BP Chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg and CEO Tony Hayward to figuratively hold their feet to the fire.
Axelrod further said, "Our mission here is to hold them accountable in every appropriate way, and that is what we're going to do. I'm not, I don't consider them a partner. I don't consider them, they're not social friends, they are not, I'm not looking to make judgments about their soul. I just want to make sure that they do what they're required to do."
Obama would call on BP to create a funded escrow account designated for damage claims arising from the worsening oil spill, the adviser further added. (With Inputs from Agencies)
EPA, DHS Seek Citizen Participation with Open Government Plan
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has published the first edition of its Open Government Plan. The plan discusses publishing EPA information online, improving the quality of the information, and creating a culture of open government. This is in response to President Obama’s Open Government Directive, which outlines a plan for breaking down the barriers between the federal government and the public.
Today, federal departments and agencies are putting forward concrete plans for making operations and data more transparent, and expanding opportunities for citizen participation, collaboration, and oversight. These steps will strengthen our democracy and promote efficiency and effectiveness across the government.
“EPA is very focused on ensuring public access and participation in our activities,” said Linda Travers, principal deputy assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Environmental Information. ”With our new plan, we’re not only meeting the objectives of the directive, but we’re also building on our culture of promoting openness.”
EPA’s flagship initiative, Community Engagement, is an over-arching theme that focuses on outreach to disadvantaged communities, expanding public awareness of the rulemaking process, and improving access to environmental information through the development of mobile applications. The agency is focused on working with communities in innovative ways, with the goal of sharing best practices and lessons learned for future efforts.
To address public comments and suggestions, EPA will continue the conversation in a series of blog posts for discussion on the plan and with a video town hall meeting in early summer 2010. EPA plans to review its Open Government Plan every six months as suggestions come in from the public.
Trichet - ECB to propose government monitoring plan
Trichet - ECB to propose government monitoring plan
Trichet has regularly urged Europe to improve the way it monitors governments' spending in the wake of the debt crisis. Asked at the bank's monthly news conference what needed to be done, he said the ECB was drawing up its own proposals.
"We will be more explicit on all that when we transmit our own proposal, but it would mean improving massively the ex-ante (prior) monitoring of the position of the various governments," he said.
"In the fiscal area of course we are very strongly in favour of the European semester. I trust now that practically all countries, even those who are resisting, are now on board. We need more sanctions. We need much more effective monitoring."
European Union Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn has proposed splitting the year up so national budgets can be vetted by Brussels before being finalised by national parliaments.
Trichet said as much as possible would be done to exploit the scope of existing laws to push through stricter rules.
"I would say in the first step, it would be to exploit all the possibility that the secondary legislation of Europe permits in all domains... We consider that we have to go up to all what the legal framework permits."
"We will be more explicit on all that when we transmit our own proposal, but it would mean improving massively the ex-ante (prior) monitoring of the position of the various governments," he said.
"In the fiscal area of course we are very strongly in favour of the European semester. I trust now that practically all countries, even those who are resisting, are now on board. We need more sanctions. We need much more effective monitoring."
European Union Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn has proposed splitting the year up so national budgets can be vetted by Brussels before being finalised by national parliaments.
Trichet said as much as possible would be done to exploit the scope of existing laws to push through stricter rules.
"I would say in the first step, it would be to exploit all the possibility that the secondary legislation of Europe permits in all domains... We consider that we have to go up to all what the legal framework permits."
Sly Bailey attacks government plan to reform local media ownership rules
Sly Bailey attacks government plan to reform local media ownership rules
The Trinity Mirror chief executive, Sly Bailey, has hit out at the coalition government's plan to deregulate cross-media ownership rules.
Trinity Mirror was a member of the consortium lined up to run the pilot to to provide TV news for the north-east and Border region, under Labour's plan to provide a series of replacements for ITV's service in different areas of the country.
Jeremy Hunt, the culture secretary, confirmed in his first media policy speech yesterday that Labour's plan for independently financed news consortiums would be scrapped.
The government has instead asked the head of investment banking at Lazards, Nick Shott, to conduct an "independent commercial assessment" of local TV, while Ofcom is to look at scrapping local cross-media ownership rules.
In opposition the Conservatives championed a plan to launch up to 81 local media companies that would deliver TV, print and online services to regional and local communities.
Bailey said that while the government's decision to scrap Labour's solution "did not come as a surprise", she believed there was merit in the IFNC concept.
Trinity Mirror was a member of the consortium lined up to run the pilot to to provide TV news for the north-east and Border region, under Labour's plan to provide a series of replacements for ITV's service in different areas of the country.
Jeremy Hunt, the culture secretary, confirmed in his first media policy speech yesterday that Labour's plan for independently financed news consortiums would be scrapped.
The government has instead asked the head of investment banking at Lazards, Nick Shott, to conduct an "independent commercial assessment" of local TV, while Ofcom is to look at scrapping local cross-media ownership rules.
In opposition the Conservatives championed a plan to launch up to 81 local media companies that would deliver TV, print and online services to regional and local communities.
Bailey said that while the government's decision to scrap Labour's solution "did not come as a surprise", she believed there was merit in the IFNC concept.
"We believed that the IFNCs' capacity to tap the talent and expertise of regional media companies to provide a viable alternative to the BBC's local news made sense for everyone," she added. "It is worth noting at this point that we don't see 'City TV' as a viable proposition. Our research suggests that the costs are too high and the revenues too low to support a sustainable business model."
Buenos Aires to Remove 40 Thousand Billboards to Fight Visual Pollution
This agreement is part of a government plan to put in order outdoor advertising in Buenos Aires, which includes modifications to the advertising code to establish areas in the city and authorize different types of signs according to the neighborhoods' characteristics. The government's goals are to reduce visual pollution, improve the neighbors life quality and prevent accidents.
Even though visual might not be the worst pollution the city has to deal with, the amount of signs that have emerged during the last years and the dangers some of them represent make this plan a step in the right direction. More details and images of how the city would look like, in the extended.
Buenos Aires plan to control visual pollution
The initiative to put in order the city's outdoor advertising began last May, when the government sent a law project to the Congress and approved a resolution to stop new authorizations for billboards and signs.
According to Pagina 12 newspaper, the new law's main points are:
-It establishes three areas in the city: residential, commercial zone and the Republic Square. In the first area, some signs will be allowed, but only small ones to indicate a shop's activity; in the second area there will be drastic cuts to advertising; and the third will be the only one to allow big signs and electronic billboards, but there will be new regulations.
-The law also establishes new parameters for signs, such as lightning and allowed colors.
-It also forbids the total covering of facades, some kinds of billboards, and the installation of signs on apartments and houses.
-It establishes three areas in the city: residential, commercial zone and the Republic Square. In the first area, some signs will be allowed, but only small ones to indicate a shop's activity; in the second area there will be drastic cuts to advertising; and the third will be the only one to allow big signs and electronic billboards, but there will be new regulations.
-The law also establishes new parameters for signs, such as lightning and allowed colors.
-It also forbids the total covering of facades, some kinds of billboards, and the installation of signs on apartments and houses.
The city's Public Space Minister, Juan Pablo Piccardo, told Clarin newspaper that today Buenos Aires has signs with all types of infractions, from billboards in forbidden areas to others installed in terraces that are over the allowed height.
Plan for Electricity Rate Hike Approved
Indonesia's parliament Tuesday approved a government plan to raise electricity tariffs by an average of 10% from July 1, a senior lawmaker said.
“We approved the government's plan to increase electricity tariffs,“ said Teuku Rifky Harsya, the chairman of a parliamentary commission overseeing energy and mineral resources.
“We approved the government's plan to increase electricity tariffs,“ said Teuku Rifky Harsya, the chairman of a parliamentary commission overseeing energy and mineral resources.
The increase “should be fair, and not cause a burden for the people while still maintaining competitiveness for industries,“ Harsya added. Tariffs for households with capacity of between 1,300 and 5,500 volt ampere of electricity will be raised by 18%, while that for businesses will be increased by 16%, except those using above 200 kiloVA, which will see their rate raised by 12%.
Electricity tariffs for users with capacity of between 450 and 900 VA, mostly low-income households, will remain unchanged. This segment accounts for almost half of the number of users in Indonesia. Tariffs for larger industrial operations with capacity of up to 2,200 VA will be increased by 6%; between 2,200 VA and 200 kiloVA by 9%; and above 200 kiloVA by 15%.
Despite the price increases, the impact on inflation is likely to be minimal as the tariffs for the low-income consumers remain unchanged, analysts said. Bank Indonesia previously said it is optimistic that inflation this year will stay within its 4%-6% target range despite the increase.
Electricity tariffs for users with capacity of between 450 and 900 VA, mostly low-income households, will remain unchanged. This segment accounts for almost half of the number of users in Indonesia. Tariffs for larger industrial operations with capacity of up to 2,200 VA will be increased by 6%; between 2,200 VA and 200 kiloVA by 9%; and above 200 kiloVA by 15%.
Despite the price increases, the impact on inflation is likely to be minimal as the tariffs for the low-income consumers remain unchanged, analysts said. Bank Indonesia previously said it is optimistic that inflation this year will stay within its 4%-6% target range despite the increase.
NASA Open Government Plan
Framework and Leadership
This section is fairly straight forward. Below you can have three sections in prose which are self explanatory; please read them as they are succinct and articulate our approach to Open Government being a continuously learning process, the infusion of Open Government into our existing governance structure and Performance Accountability Reporting (or PAR).
* Executive Summary
* Letter from the CIO and CFO: Open Government at NASA
* Framework and Leadership
Fact Sheets
The fact sheets are the bulk of our plan. We believe that Open Government is the responsibility of each directorate, program, office and employee and have taken the approach to have them describe their activity in their own words. Each fact sheet describes the initiative through the lens of Open Government and follows the same format to assist the reader to browse to areas of interest as well as facilitate our initiatives to answer the same questions.
Bulgaria Vice-President Attacks Government Citizenship Plan
Bulgaria Vice-President Attacks Government Citizenship Plan
Bulgaria Vice-President Angel Marin has criticized the idea of granting 30 or 60 000 foreigners Bulgarian citizenship "all at once".
Marin, replying to the government’s plan to unblock the citizenship application process, stated that only 7 000 people this year will claim Bulgarian citizenship. He added that the number of people who actually want to claim Bulgarian citizenship continues to fall sharply, from a high of 29 000 in 2004 to a current 7 000.
He concluded that to give Bulgarian citizenship to more people than want to claim it is a waste of energy and money. Marin added that it was not the way to solve the demographic problems in the country.
The amendments of the Bulgarian Citizenship Act will allow for 30 000 individuals to become Bulgarian citizens each year, the Minister for Bulgarians Abroad Bozhidar Dimitrov said Friday.
Dimitrov added that currently there is a backlog of at least 50 000 applications that have piled up since 2005.
Marin, replying to the government’s plan to unblock the citizenship application process, stated that only 7 000 people this year will claim Bulgarian citizenship. He added that the number of people who actually want to claim Bulgarian citizenship continues to fall sharply, from a high of 29 000 in 2004 to a current 7 000.
He concluded that to give Bulgarian citizenship to more people than want to claim it is a waste of energy and money. Marin added that it was not the way to solve the demographic problems in the country.
The amendments of the Bulgarian Citizenship Act will allow for 30 000 individuals to become Bulgarian citizens each year, the Minister for Bulgarians Abroad Bozhidar Dimitrov said Friday.
Dimitrov added that currently there is a backlog of at least 50 000 applications that have piled up since 2005.
NHS plan puts government on collision course with unions and doctors
NHS plan puts government on collision course with unions and doctors
Andrew Lansley, the health secretary, will announce the biggest shakeup of the National Health Service since its creation in 1948 with radical proposals in a white paper on Monday. It will include plans to use markets, not targets, to improve performance, hand £80bn of taxpayers' money to thousands of family doctors, and free foundation hospitals to leave the state sector and become "not for profit" companies.
According to sources familiar with the proposals, Lansley's analysis is that the NHS has suffered from a lack of competition and choice – and that the improvements over the last decade, such as major reductions in waiting times, have been driven largely by bureaucratic targets and tens of billions of pounds of extra spending. Given the parlous state of the economy, the health secretary has rejected both targets and spending as options for the government.
Instead, Lansley's sweeping plan puts the coalition on a collision course with the medical unions and hospital staff when the NHS has to find £20bn of savings. To help patients choose which hospital to use in the future, the health secretary will publish detailed mortality rates, down to the detail of individual surgeons. He will encourage charities and the private sector to challenge the public sector by making it easier to sell services to the NHS and introduce a "poverty premium" for poorer areas with higher mortality rates.
Perhaps the biggest change will be felt by family doctors, who are in effect private businesses with a contract to provide services to the NHS. These 35,000 GPs will be forced to band together into consortiums by 2013 – there will be no opportunity to opt out of the new system. These 500 consortiums will then commission treatment from hospitals on behalf of patients. At present, the NHS works via primary care trusts and the Department of Health determines each trust's spending priorities, which involves managing GPs' surgeries.
Family doctors are to be stripped of lucrative business opportunities – many run pharmacies and offer specialised operations, for example cataracts – as the health secretary has decreed they cannot buy services they sell. A new independent health board will determine minimum standards of care for GPs – stipulating that they will, for example, have to organise out-of-hours services. The Treasury had resisted the idea of GP commissioning, citing evidence from the US, where it has been in place since the mid-1980s, which showed poor management led to bankruptcies – unthinkable in the NHS – leaving millions of dollars owed to physicians, hospitals and ancillary service providers, because some doctors assumed too much risk and exercised too little control.
Lansley has got round this by forcing consortiums to have an "accountability officer" who will have the power to intervene on behalf of other doctors and stop a GP from spending too much or intervene when a medic's patients keep getting readmitted to hospital. However, many point out that the British Medical Association, the doctors' union, will extract a heavy price for its co-operation with the plan – despite the fact that the average annual salary for family doctors is already more than £106,000.
"This government has no fear of the unions. What can the BMA do? They could threaten to resign en masse from the NHS but in the current climate do you think there will be much sympathy for whingeing GPs? On £100,000 a year, in this climate. I don't think so," said one source, pointing out that the GP contract is renegotiated every year. "They might have to get used to doing more for less."
The BMA said it would not comment because it has "yet to see the full detail of the government's plans". It said in a statement: "It is important that any new initiatives have the interests of patients at their heart and that they are properly funded. We do live in tough economic times, but we must make sure that doctors, working together in groups, are given the necessary resources to implement any reforms properly."
The other big change is that foundation trusts, which represent more than half of the NHS, will be encouraged to become "social enterprises", ending the debate that has rumbled on under Labour between Blairites and Brownites over whether public bodies could run themselves, set their own pay rates, and borrow from the private sector.
Foundation trusts are in the black to the tune of £3bn. By 2014 every hospital should be a foundation trust and all will be allowed to leave public ownership while still providing public services – taking the cash with them. "They would be like universities – able to sack staff and close departments pretty much as they please," said the source. "But they will have money."
There are also plans for hospitals to become mutuals, adopting a John Lewis-style model where a medical centre would be owned by the staff. However, such a move would be fiercely resisted by trade unions as new employees would be shut out of the NHS pension scheme and the plan would introduce variable pay schemes across the NHS. Some have pointed out that the one-size-fits-all model has cost lives. Recent research shows that not being able to vary pay has meant that hospitals "in tight labour markets" have higher death rates and lower productivity.
Professor Chris Ham, chief executive of health thinktank the King's Fund, said it was still an open question whether Lansley's plan to force change on the NHS and the unions when there is no new money would work. "I think it will be an incredibly hard sell to ask the unions and staff to give up pay and conditions with nothing in return. We are moving away from a traditional NHS approach to one of choice, competition and diversity of suppliers. Andrew Lansley is taking Tony Blair's approach further and faster than anyone suspected."
According to sources familiar with the proposals, Lansley's analysis is that the NHS has suffered from a lack of competition and choice – and that the improvements over the last decade, such as major reductions in waiting times, have been driven largely by bureaucratic targets and tens of billions of pounds of extra spending. Given the parlous state of the economy, the health secretary has rejected both targets and spending as options for the government.
Instead, Lansley's sweeping plan puts the coalition on a collision course with the medical unions and hospital staff when the NHS has to find £20bn of savings. To help patients choose which hospital to use in the future, the health secretary will publish detailed mortality rates, down to the detail of individual surgeons. He will encourage charities and the private sector to challenge the public sector by making it easier to sell services to the NHS and introduce a "poverty premium" for poorer areas with higher mortality rates.
Perhaps the biggest change will be felt by family doctors, who are in effect private businesses with a contract to provide services to the NHS. These 35,000 GPs will be forced to band together into consortiums by 2013 – there will be no opportunity to opt out of the new system. These 500 consortiums will then commission treatment from hospitals on behalf of patients. At present, the NHS works via primary care trusts and the Department of Health determines each trust's spending priorities, which involves managing GPs' surgeries.
Family doctors are to be stripped of lucrative business opportunities – many run pharmacies and offer specialised operations, for example cataracts – as the health secretary has decreed they cannot buy services they sell. A new independent health board will determine minimum standards of care for GPs – stipulating that they will, for example, have to organise out-of-hours services. The Treasury had resisted the idea of GP commissioning, citing evidence from the US, where it has been in place since the mid-1980s, which showed poor management led to bankruptcies – unthinkable in the NHS – leaving millions of dollars owed to physicians, hospitals and ancillary service providers, because some doctors assumed too much risk and exercised too little control.
Lansley has got round this by forcing consortiums to have an "accountability officer" who will have the power to intervene on behalf of other doctors and stop a GP from spending too much or intervene when a medic's patients keep getting readmitted to hospital. However, many point out that the British Medical Association, the doctors' union, will extract a heavy price for its co-operation with the plan – despite the fact that the average annual salary for family doctors is already more than £106,000.
"This government has no fear of the unions. What can the BMA do? They could threaten to resign en masse from the NHS but in the current climate do you think there will be much sympathy for whingeing GPs? On £100,000 a year, in this climate. I don't think so," said one source, pointing out that the GP contract is renegotiated every year. "They might have to get used to doing more for less."
The BMA said it would not comment because it has "yet to see the full detail of the government's plans". It said in a statement: "It is important that any new initiatives have the interests of patients at their heart and that they are properly funded. We do live in tough economic times, but we must make sure that doctors, working together in groups, are given the necessary resources to implement any reforms properly."
The other big change is that foundation trusts, which represent more than half of the NHS, will be encouraged to become "social enterprises", ending the debate that has rumbled on under Labour between Blairites and Brownites over whether public bodies could run themselves, set their own pay rates, and borrow from the private sector.
Foundation trusts are in the black to the tune of £3bn. By 2014 every hospital should be a foundation trust and all will be allowed to leave public ownership while still providing public services – taking the cash with them. "They would be like universities – able to sack staff and close departments pretty much as they please," said the source. "But they will have money."
There are also plans for hospitals to become mutuals, adopting a John Lewis-style model where a medical centre would be owned by the staff. However, such a move would be fiercely resisted by trade unions as new employees would be shut out of the NHS pension scheme and the plan would introduce variable pay schemes across the NHS. Some have pointed out that the one-size-fits-all model has cost lives. Recent research shows that not being able to vary pay has meant that hospitals "in tight labour markets" have higher death rates and lower productivity.
Professor Chris Ham, chief executive of health thinktank the King's Fund, said it was still an open question whether Lansley's plan to force change on the NHS and the unions when there is no new money would work. "I think it will be an incredibly hard sell to ask the unions and staff to give up pay and conditions with nothing in return. We are moving away from a traditional NHS approach to one of choice, competition and diversity of suppliers. Andrew Lansley is taking Tony Blair's approach further and faster than anyone suspected."
Government plan to help avoid foreclosure
Q: What just happened?
A: Project Lifeline will offer a temporary pause of foreclosure proceedings. It is designed to give homeowners time to try to work out a loan modification.
Q: Who is eligible?
A: Project Lifeline is available to subprime, Alt-A and prime borrowers who are at least 90 days behind on a home mortgage with one of the participating lenders or servicers.
Budget 2010: Government to review plan to limit tax relief on pensions
Budget 2010: Government to review plan to limit tax relief on pensions
The previous government had planned to reduce the amount of tax relief people earning more than £150,000 qualified for from April next year.
But Chancellor George Osborne said in the Budget that the Government would consult on other ways to save money on pension contributions for high earners, such as by limiting the annual amount people can save into a pension.
It is thought that reducing the current annual allowance of £255,000 to between £30,000 to £45,000 would produce a similar saving for the Treasury as the £3.5 billion that would be saved through reducing pensions tax relief for people earning more than £150,000. It would also be much simpler to administer.
Joanne Segars, chief executive of the National Association of Pension Funds, said: ''We are pleased the Chancellor has listened to our argument for a much simpler and more radical solution.
''The previous government's proposals were a disaster in the making. They would have been very damaging to the pensions of all working people, not just the well-off.
''Reducing the amount that can be paid into a pension tax-free each year will protect the Treasury's tax take, but will be much more supportive to pensions saving and less costly to implement.''
Andrew Cawley, UK head of pensions at KPMG, said: ''This is a positive move by Government to avoid further damage to pension provision in the UK and hopefully will remove some of the likely market distortions of the proposed changes, which would have seen high earners in both the public and private sectors extremely impacted.''
Financial adviser Hargreaves Lansdown said if an annual contribution cap of £40,000 was introduced, people earning £200,000 with an employer contribution of 20% would still benefit from full tax relief.
It said: ''Only a few individuals paying very high pension contributions would be affected by the reduced annual allowance. This is an infinitely preferable outcome.''
The Government also announced a consultation on ending the current rules under which people have to use their pension fund to buy an annuity by the time they are 75.
Andrew Tully, senior pensions policy manager at Standard Life, said: ''We believe these are positive steps that will help overcome some of the objections that people raise about saving for retirement.
It is thought that reducing the current annual allowance of £255,000 to between £30,000 to £45,000 would produce a similar saving for the Treasury as the £3.5 billion that would be saved through reducing pensions tax relief for people earning more than £150,000. It would also be much simpler to administer.
Joanne Segars, chief executive of the National Association of Pension Funds, said: ''We are pleased the Chancellor has listened to our argument for a much simpler and more radical solution.
''The previous government's proposals were a disaster in the making. They would have been very damaging to the pensions of all working people, not just the well-off.
''Reducing the amount that can be paid into a pension tax-free each year will protect the Treasury's tax take, but will be much more supportive to pensions saving and less costly to implement.''
Andrew Cawley, UK head of pensions at KPMG, said: ''This is a positive move by Government to avoid further damage to pension provision in the UK and hopefully will remove some of the likely market distortions of the proposed changes, which would have seen high earners in both the public and private sectors extremely impacted.''
Financial adviser Hargreaves Lansdown said if an annual contribution cap of £40,000 was introduced, people earning £200,000 with an employer contribution of 20% would still benefit from full tax relief.
It said: ''Only a few individuals paying very high pension contributions would be affected by the reduced annual allowance. This is an infinitely preferable outcome.''
The Government also announced a consultation on ending the current rules under which people have to use their pension fund to buy an annuity by the time they are 75.
Andrew Tully, senior pensions policy manager at Standard Life, said: ''We believe these are positive steps that will help overcome some of the objections that people raise about saving for retirement.
The 'two-tier NHS': Fury as ministers set aside more wards for private patients
The Health Secretary was accused yesterday of seeking to establish a 'two-tier NHS' after he said hospitals would be allowed to set more wards aside to treat private patients.
Andrew Lansley said he wanted to see the end of the 'arbitrary' cap - imposed by Labour - on the amount hospitals can earn from private patients.
He suggested that wards which are closed as hospitals continue to reduce the number of beds could in the future be set aside for private patients.
But critics of the scheme said it could mean that hospitals would start chasing after private customers at the expense of NHS patients.
In the worst case, it could mean that NHS patients would have to wait weeks for a hospital bed while those rich enough to pay could buy quicker access.
The changes relate to the 'elite' foundation trusts, which now make up the majority of hospital trusts.
Tony Blair got FTs through the Commons in 2003 only after agreeing to an amendment that there should be a cap on the amount hospitals can earn from private patients.
In most trusts, this is around 2 per cent of income. But Mr Lansley wants to scrap the caps.
His White Paper, unveiled yesterday, said: 'Ahead of bringing forward legislation, we intend to consult on options for increasing foundation trusts' freedoms - while ensuring financial risk is properly managed.'This includes abolishing the arbitrary cap on the amount of income foundation trusts may earn from other sources to reinvest in their services and allowing a broader scope, for example to provide health and care services.'
Mr Lansley gave the example of the Royal Marsden cancer hospital in London, 25 per cent of whose income is from private patients. 'This money helps support the rest of the hospital in providing quality of service,' he said.
The Health Secretary said that many hospitals were reducing the number of beds because they were providing more services in the community, or were discharging patients more quickly after operations.
At present wards are simply left empty. If the cap is removed, hospitals would be able to reopen them as private wards although he warned that hospitals would still have to meet their ' NHS responsibilities'.
John Lister, of the pressure group Health Emergency, said: 'This will lead inevitably to a two-tier NHS, and is nothing less than a staging post for the private sector to run profit-seeking NHS hospitals.
'What we are seeing is turning back the clock to before 1948, when the NHS was formed.
Other parts of the White Paper propose allowing foundation trusts to compete freely with private companies for NHS patients.
'The Government's intention is to free foundation trusts from constraints they are under, in line with their original conception, so they can innovate to improve care for patients,' it says.
'In future, they will be regulated in the same way as any other providers, whether from the private or voluntary sector. Patients will be able to choose care from the provider they think to be the best.'
Mr Lister added: 'We complained about how far New Labour were moving towards privatisation. This leaves them standing.
'The government is driving a coach and horses through the public sector. Poorer people will find it harder to get beds in hospital in the future.
'The Government is more or less pushing foundation trusts into being straightforward companies. They will inevitably want to maximise the amount of work they do.
They will use assets built up by the taxpayer to deliver services for people who can afford to pay it. The whole essence of this White Paper is to fragment the model of the NHS.'
Government Eyes Loan Modification Program to Curb Foreclosure
Government Eyes Loan Modification Program to Curb Foreclosure
If everything goes as planned, the government will be able to provide genuine assistance to approximately 3 million distressed homeowners, allowing them to avoid foreclosure. The help comes in the form of a $50 billion plan that will be used to guarantee around $500 billion delinquent mortgages.
The said money will be coming from the $700 billion bailout program approved by Congress last October 1.
Basically, the government’s plan will include loan modifications, effectively lowering interest rates and making mortgage payments more affordable. Of all the efforts made by the government, this is perhaps the most aggressive.
Finally, the government is addressing the problems in the housing industry seriously for the first time. With the foreclosure crisis causing millions of homeowners to lose their homes to foreclosure and resulted to plummeting home prices, it is only right that the government recognizes the seriousness of the crisis.
According to the Mortgage Bankers Association, there are over 4 million homeowners who have missed at least a single mortgage payment and 500,000 of them are already in the initial stage of foreclosure.
Once up and running, the government’s program will be managed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. To date, the said agency is working closely with the Treasury Department and is not giving out any other details until the plan is approved.
On the other hand, the Treasury Department revealed that the “loan modification” details are not that accurate and that the Bush administration is focused in finding other ways to curb foreclosure.
Many consumer and housing advocates have been vocal about their displeasure with the government’s way of handling the foreclosure crisis. Last Wednesday, approximately 100 protesters marched to Fannie Mae headquarters, holding signs which read “Restructure Our Loans Now” and “Foreclose on Fannie Mae”.
The said protest marched forced Fannie Mae officials to meet with the protesters and promise that they will always be willing to work with distressed homeowners to prevent foreclosure.
Basically, the government’s plan will include loan modifications, effectively lowering interest rates and making mortgage payments more affordable. Of all the efforts made by the government, this is perhaps the most aggressive.
Finally, the government is addressing the problems in the housing industry seriously for the first time. With the foreclosure crisis causing millions of homeowners to lose their homes to foreclosure and resulted to plummeting home prices, it is only right that the government recognizes the seriousness of the crisis.
According to the Mortgage Bankers Association, there are over 4 million homeowners who have missed at least a single mortgage payment and 500,000 of them are already in the initial stage of foreclosure.
Once up and running, the government’s program will be managed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. To date, the said agency is working closely with the Treasury Department and is not giving out any other details until the plan is approved.
On the other hand, the Treasury Department revealed that the “loan modification” details are not that accurate and that the Bush administration is focused in finding other ways to curb foreclosure.
Many consumer and housing advocates have been vocal about their displeasure with the government’s way of handling the foreclosure crisis. Last Wednesday, approximately 100 protesters marched to Fannie Mae headquarters, holding signs which read “Restructure Our Loans Now” and “Foreclose on Fannie Mae”.
The said protest marched forced Fannie Mae officials to meet with the protesters and promise that they will always be willing to work with distressed homeowners to prevent foreclosure.
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