Reform Media Summary

19 March 2008

In today’s Media Summary, Andrew Haldenby, Reform’s Director, writes in the Times Public Agenda supplement on Reform’s latest health research, further coverage of Northern Rock nationalisation and continued coverage of government plans on cutting down under-age drinking.

Health

Andrew Haldenby, Reform’s Director, writes in the Times Public Agenda supplement on Reform’s latest health research. He says: “Sir Gus O’Donnell gets it. Two weeks ago the Cabinet Secretary said that ‘the era of big spending increases is over’ …. For the NHS this means a change of tune …. Some may see the coming period of relative austerity as a difficult time for the NHS. In fact it is a long-overdue reason for managers to focus on value. Sir Gus would approve” (Times, Public Agenda, p.3).

Pat McFadden, the Business Minister, will reportedly say today that greater access to GP surgeries will be “only the beginning” of necessary changes to make the public sector more consumer-friendly (Times, p.23).

NHS Chief Executive, David Nicholson, has been accused by Bill Moyes, Chairman of Monitor, of violating the law by issuing instructions to foundation hospitals that are eroding their independence (Guardian, p.2).

Spending on patient care from outside the NHS has been the fastest-growing component of the health service’s expenditure during the past decade, figures from the Office for National Statistics show (FT, p.4).

David Aaronovitch supports polyclinics in his Times column (Times, p.17).

A study by Saga predicts the “baby boomer” generation is facing a massive hike in the cost of being looked after in old age. Figures show that three-quarters of the population now view the reform of care for the elderly as equal to or more important than NHS reforms (Telegraph, p.2; Mail, p.34; Express, p.9).

Commenting on new government plans put an end to the scandalous misuse of incapacity benefits, a Telegraph leader states that: “The problem of welfare dependency can be addressed only by radical reform: judging the status of the long-term disabled must be taken out of the hands of GPs” (Telegraph, p.23).

The British Dental Association says dentists are leaving the NHS in droves because they are penalised for missing targets (Mirror, p.27)

Economy

Further coverage of Northern Rock nationalisation. It has been revealed that £100 million fees have been paid to firms advising the Treasury (FT, p.1, p.2, p.3, p.3; Times, p.1, p.6, p.17 [Dr Terry Gourvish], p.36, p.37; Telegraph, p.1, p.4, p.4 [Edmund Conway], p.5, p.6, p.22 [Rachel Sylvester], p.22 [leader]; Independent, p.1, p.2, p.4, p.27 [Hamish McRae]; Guardian, p.1, p.4, p.4, p.23, p.31 [Polly Tonybee]; Express, p.6, p.7, p.14, p.54; Mail, p.2, p.10, p.11, p.74; Mirror, p.17; Sun, p.6).

Times

Peter Riddell concludes: “Mr Brown, Mr Darling and Labour are obviously in serious trouble but Northern Rock is unlikely to be the smoking gun.” A leader says: “There is only one objective: protect our money” (Times, p.2 [Peter Riddell], p.14 [leader]).

FT

Philip Stephens writes: “For the first time since Black Wednesday, polls show the Conservatives are more trusted than Labour to run the economy” (FT, p.13)

Guardian

A leader says: “Now Labour has admitted that even nationalisation can sometimes be the best option, other formerly off-limits areas in economic governance should be breached too” (Guardian, p.32).

Consumer spending is likely to slow significantly because of tighter credit conditions, according to Tim Besley, an external member of the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (FT, p.2).

Staff at HM Revenue and Customs, the department which lost the personal details of 25 million people, are in line for record bonuses totalling more than £23 million (Telegraph, p.6; Mirror, p.9; Sun, p.2).

Defence chiefs are facing a £3 billion hole in their budget with officials having to reduce major projects to save money (Telegraph, p.12).

James Purnell, the Work and Pensions Secretary, announced yesterday that teenagers on job seekers allowance will have their benefits cut unless they do a month’s work (Mirror, p.8).

Education

Further coverage of plans to terminate oral language tests. Libby Purves comments in the Times: “Stress is what foreign languages are about, surely?” A Telegraph leader writes: “Without the training of an oral, we will be reduced to caricatures of the Briton abroad, sweating with the effort of reproducing a foreign tongue” (Times, p.15; Telegraph, p.23 [leader]; Independent, p.29 [Philip Hensher]; Express, p.15; Sun, p.2).

Barry Sheerman, Chairman of the Commons Select Committee on Children Schools and Families, is one of several Senior Labour figures who has criticised the Government’s rigorous education testing system. He claims that extensive testing is robbing pupils of a creative education, and that it has led to many schools teaching “to the test” (Independent, p.15).

Steve Egan, the Higher Education Funding Council foe England’s Deputy Chief Executive stated that British universities are in more debt than at any point in the past decade and are relying on the Government to raise the £3,135 cap on tuition fees when it reviews the system in 2009 (Guardian, p.6).

Jim Knight, the Schools Minister, blames the attitude of disaffected teenagers who did not take new Sats tests seriously for poor results in trials (Mail, p.27).

Home Affairs

Continued coverage of government plans on cutting down under-age drinking. Vernon Coaker, a Home Office minister, said yesterday that officials are examining whether to make “possession of alcohol by someone under 18 a criminal offence” (Telegraph, p.1).