tagged w/ Privatisation
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Overcrowding on trains in England and Wales will get substantially worse over the next four years despite rises in ticket prices, a report by MPs says.
The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) said the Department for Transport's own plans suggested targets for increasing passenger places would be missed.
It blamed the failure on the absence of any requirement to improve capacity within train operators' contracts.
The government said plans to improve the situation would be unveiled soon.
Chairwoman of the PAC Margaret Hodge said MPs were concerned that the "already unacceptable levels of overcrowding will simply get worse and ever more intolerable".
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11713792Overcrowding on trains in England and Wales will get substantially worse over the next... more
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REO continue to shoot themselves in the – what by now must be, given their perilously brittle financial circumstances, bare – feet. Their persistent corporate prostitution of the inner sanctuary of the Battersea Power Station (for yous philistines who don’t know is now renamed THE BOILER ROOM) rips away any last layer of credibility from the assertion that the iconic chimneys of Battersea Power Station should be demolished for safety reasons.
http://www.spectacle.co.uk/spectacleblog/battersea-power-station/chimneys-standing-firm/
This declaration is a major part of REO’s planning application, stating that the chimneys are monstrously dangerous actually, given that they could fall down imminently. This is the reason, according to Planning Director of REO and Treasury Holdings Jeremy Castle, that there is a strict thirty metre exclusion zone around each of the chimneys at each event. Quite how they maintain this INSIDE the structure of the power station is a mystery.
What undermines these claims is that there have been a slew of conferences, dinners and even large scale events in and around the power station throughout the year; from the recent Red Bull X-Fighter Motorcross event to the upcoming SHINE benefit dinner in November (where a canopy and walkway to access The Boiler Room will be constructed for guests). These events, inclusive of the Paul McCartney gig inside the station back in July, would not be permitted to take place if there was any truth to these safety concerns, so this fallacy of collapsing chimneys is but a clever marketing shoehorn to strengthen the application process. Which ironically of course, will be slowed down to increase the value of the land if the application is accepted.
This flagrant contradiction only adds to the controversy surrounding REO, given that they are over a billion in debt, unable to pay interest to creditors, heavily criticised by heritage institutions such as the Victorian Society, Kew Bridge Engine Trust and the Greater London Industrial Archaeology Society, and planning an unwanted underground line extension. The current plans for the station, which you can read more about on our Spectacle Battersea Blog, also include planning requests for an office and leisure complex, riverside access, a hotel, and 3,700 luxury flats.
To send in a written objection to the plans to demolish the station and its neighbouring Grade II* listed sister pumping house, address it to Bob Leuty at Wandsworth Council, planning applications@wandsworth.gov.uk . The deadline for written objections is 5pm tomorrow (30th September), and you can also contact your Wandsworth Councillor and ask them what their view is on this before deciding how to vote.REO continue to shoot themselves in the – what by now must be, given their... more
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Previously Labour proposed plans to sell off parts of the Royal Mail and now the headline of the Guardian states Vince Cable is going for similar plans.
"Lord Mandelson, failed last summer following a backbench revolt by more than 120 Labour MPs and a campaign by the CWU."-Guardian, who also points out with Conservative and Lib Dem backing, Labour or other opposition might be voted out.
I remember reading an interesting 'anonymous insider' blog about the postal strikes and privatisation, it's an interesting read and I haven't seen the TNT contract issue raised else where. http://www.lrb.co.uk/v31/n18/roy-mayall/diary
"There’s TNT, UK Mail, Citypost and a number of others. What these companies do is to bid for the profitable bulk mail and city-to-city trade of large corporations, undercutting the Royal Mail, and then have the Royal Mail deliver it for them."-Roy Mayall
From the article, the business secretary supports privatisation because of fears over the Royal Mail's pension deficit and word the public service cannot compete with other markets. However, it does mention Royal Mail management and CWU are looking into the modernisation issues.Previously Labour proposed plans to sell off parts of the Royal Mail and now the... more
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Jacqui Smith was under fire for failing to sack the private contractor which lost personal data on thousands of criminals.
The Home Secretary said PA Consulting - which has won Government contracts worth £240million since 2004 - broke the rules on secret data.
But Whitehall officials made clear it will continue to be paid vast sums of taxpayers' money. Jacqui Smith was under fire for failing to sack the private contractor which lost... more
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In the recent years since the invasion of Iraq, insufficient US military force has lead to the use of an estimated 20,000 contractors to date. The boon in the demand for this began when it became apparent the US Military didn't have the man power to defend the Iraqi/Coalition reconstruction effort. As civilian construction/industrial sites and convoys were attacked private security firms/contractors/providers (mostly with previous or current dealings with the US government) were called in for defense contracts. At first this was slow, but as operations, reconstruction, and industrial development got under-way the more contracts were taken out, and eventualy we are now left with the present situation.
In the column linked by David Isenberg (ex. US Navy and military affairs analyst) we are presented with a paper named " Phasing Out Private Security Contractors in Iraq, " written by Col. Bobby Towery while studying at the US Army War College. It reflects on the possabilities of completely removing private security from convoys construction sites military bases and any site not directly supporting or directly involved with combat operations for the coalition. It states all these things should be the responsability of the Iraqi government to better affirm their authority on the country. Col. Towery also provides an estimated statistic using the current Blackwater training program acknowledging said private security groups could traing their replacements. He proposes if three training firms are signed, it will take just over 133 eight week training sessions between them to replace the 20,000 contractors with special security police officers, trained for various private security missions, knocking out 150 per session.
Let's hope they start soon, as once the coalition pulls out there will be a large base for possible private insurgency, as the companies still barely answer to any Iraqi authority, let alone one that has authority over them.In the recent years since the invasion of Iraq, insufficient US military force has... more
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A secret plan to privatise an entire tier of the NHS in England was revealed prematurely yesterday when the Department of Health asked multinational firms to manage services worth up to £64bn.
The department's commercial directorate placed an advertisement in the EU official journal inviting companies to begin "a competitive dialogue" about how they could take over the purchasing of healthcare for millions of NHS patients.
The advertisement should not have appeared until after ministers announced the policy next month.
Unison called on the TUC to convene an emergency meeting to respond to the government's "fundamental breach of trust". Frank Dobson, the former health secretary, said: "If this is not privatisation of the health service, I don't know what is. It is about putting multinational companies in the driving seat of the NHS."
Lord Warner, the health minister, defended the policy in a statement to the Guardian at 3.46pm yesterday but had changed tack at 6.05pm. He said he was withdrawing the advertisement to correct "a drafting error", but insisted the contracting out of NHS management would go ahead.
The advertisement asked firms to show how they could benefit patients if they took over responsibility for buying healthcare from NHS hospitals, private clinics and charities. The plan would give private firms responsibility for deciding which treatments and services would be made available to patients - and whether NHS or private hospitals would provide them.
Under the present system, this commissioning work is handled by local NHS managers employed by primary care trusts. Under the new system, the PCTs would contract out the commissioning to big healthcare management consortiums with greater purchasing muscle.
Contenders for the contracts are likely to include big US companies such as United Health and Kaiser Permanente. They may be joined by British insurers such as Bupa and PPP and their EU rivals.
The advertisement, in the Official Journal of the European Union, said the NHS was making a "step change from a service provider to a commissioning-led organisation". The PCTs would be able to contract out procurement, financial management and human resources. Initially there would be a four-year framework agreement covering the whole of England, but the value would depend on how many PCTs agreed to the scheme. It was not clear last night how much pressure there would be on them to do so.
Karen Jennings, head of health at the public service union Unison, said: "This is such a fundamental breach of trust that we are asking the TUC to get together a meeting of all health unions to thrash out a strategy. It is a contract to privatise the whole of primary care across the UK.
"There is a real danger that contracts will be awarded to the bidder promising the largest savings. It is a fundamental change in Labour party policy. It is a disgrace that jobs of health visitors, community midwives, occupational therapists and district nurses are under threat or may be transferred to the private sector."
Lord Warner said: "The government has no plans to privatise the NHS." He added that the contract advertised in the official journal would give PCTs access to expert help to improve commissioning of services, without going through expensive and time-consuming local tenders
A secret plan to privatise an entire tier of the NHS in England was revealed... more
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IT'S NOT 'NICE' TO OUTSOURCE MOTHER NATURE! By Julio Godoy
BONN, May 22 (IPS) - Seeds were once for ever. After harvest, a few from the crop would be planted for the following year, and so it went on.
Now, biochemical industry giants are making seeds themselves infertile. You sow them this year, and that's it. For next year's crop, you need brand new seeds -- you would have to buy them, of course.
Twenty-five years ago, there were at least 7,000 seed growers worldwide, and none of them controlled more than one percent of the global market. Today, after a takeover spree, 10 major biochemical multinationals, including Monsanto, DuPont-Pioneer, Syngenta, Bayer Cropsciencie, BASF, and Dow Agrosciences, control more than 50 percent of the seeds market.
"The goal of these companies is, of course, to make profits," Benedict Haerling, researcher at the German non-governmental organisation Future of Agriculture, told IPS. "In order to improve their profits, they all apply one strategy to increase their control of the market: they impose upon farmers worldwide the so-called vertical integration of inputs, from seeds to fertilisers to pesticides, all from one brand." Compulsory customer loyalty, you might call it.
And through biochemical manipulation, including genetic modifications, many companies have made sure the harvest you obtain cannot be sown again.
Such "vertical integration of agricultural inputs" has transformed agriculture in developing countries into a two-class business, Angelika Hillbeck, researcher on bio-safety and agriculture at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich told IPS.
"In the developing countries there is a class of farmers with large plantations and enough money who can afford to buy all inputs from the major biochemical companies, from seeds and fertilisers to pesticides and conservatives." But there are small farmers for whom the biochemical markets are out of reach.
Hillbeck and Haerling are scientific counsellors to non-governmental organisations and associations of small farmers in developing countries who are attending the UN conference on biological diversity in Bonn.
The conference aims at reviewing international compliance with the targets adopted in 2002 to significantly reduce the rate of decimation of species at the global and national level by 2010. It is also set to formulate binding international rules on legal measures to stop the loss of biodiversity.
The treaty is scheduled to be approved in 2010 in Japan.
The Bonn conference takes place in the framework of the UN Convention on Biological diversity (CBD), the international treaty adopted at the Earth Summit in Rio in June 1992 to protect biodiversity.
The CBD's three main goals are conservation of biological diversity, sustainable economic use of flora and fauna, and the equitable sharing of benefits arising from genetic resources among all countries.
The conference is also looking at the need to renew agriculture and restore biological diversity within it, especially through traditional farming methods and natural seeds.
Several groups are out to protect natural seeds. The Arche Noah of Austria has made an inventory of some 6,000 traditional plants and seeds, ProSpecieRara of Switzerland of 2,000 plants; and the groups VEN and Dreschflegel in Germany are working on 2,000 and 600 exotic plants respectively.
The one enemy they most fear is genetically modified organisms.
"What we do is go through the seed banks searching for ancient species, and try to grow them again, to reproduce them and put them back in the market," Ursula Reinhard, director of the German Association for the Preservation of Organic Plants Diversity (VEN, after its German name) told IPS.
IT'S NOT 'NICE' TO OUTSOURCE MOTHER NATURE! By Julio Godoy
BONN,... more
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They have a homeland Security contract to control us in case of emergency and a contract to patrol the boarder. Be afraid, be very afraid.They have a homeland Security contract to control us in case of emergency and a... more
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A document leaked to the BBC today reveals that the eleven prisons in the UK which are run by private companies perform significantly worse than those in the public sector, scoring particularly badly at security and 'maintaining order and control'. Governors want the government to re-think the private management of prisons.A document leaked to the BBC today reveals that the eleven prisons in the UK which are... more
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