Category: news

The fire and rescue service in England has proposed taking over and running the ambulance service.

Peter Holland, president of the Chief Fire Officers Association (CFOA), says the idea could save money and improve the service with faster response times.

The CFOA says the ambulance service is struggling to meet its response targets of dealing with 75% of life-threatening calls within eight minutes.

But an ambulance official says the idea would not be workable.

Mr Holland says: “We are calling on the Department of Health (DoH) and the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) to review this idea.

“By basing fire and ambulance stations together we could generate savings for the future.”

Figures for 2009 to 2010 show that five out of the 12 ambulance services in England are not meeting the 75% target.

The CFOA believes it could respond to life-threatening calls within eight minutes 90% of the time.

The fire service is only interested in running the emergency response section of the ambulance service, suggesting the patient transport service could be left with the NHS or run privately on the open market.

Chief fire officers will be making the case to run the ambulance service at the Conservative party conference in Birmingham next week.

It is unlikely to go down well with unions. Jim Petter from the College of Paramedics, the ambulance service professional body, says: “Culturally the two services are very different. I just can’t see how it would work.

“The ambulance service went through a massive reorganisation in 2006 when the 29 ambulance services in England were cut to 12. Changing it again would only be damaging.”

Jo Webber, director of the Ambulance Service Network – representing the services, says: “It is hard to see how the fire and rescue service think they could improve things.

“We deal with a huge number of calls compared to the calls to the fire service.

“We are already improving response times by building up a big network of community paramedics based in doctor’s surgeries.

“This idea would mean a massive reorganisation which I just don’t think would be workable.”

The Ambulance Service Network also believes the move could be motivated by fears over fire service funding, which comes from the DCLG.

A paper leaked to BBC Radio 4’s You and Yours says: “While spending in the Department of Health has been ring-fenced from Treasury spending cuts, the Department of Communities and Local Government is facing cuts of between 25 and 40%”.

A DoH spokesman said: “The department has had discussions with DCLG about options for operational efficiency in each service but there are currently no plans for any kind of merger.”

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Thousands of women from India’s north-east have been hired by escort agencies for the Commonwealth Games, a rights group has said.

Impulse NGO Network said this had raised fears that the girls will be pushed into prostitution.

The group said nearly 40,000 women from seven north-eastern states had been hired with promises of “lucrative” pay.

Escort services advertise in newspapers and are suspected to be fronts for prostitution.

Hasina Kharbih, chairperson of Impulse NGO Network, a rights group that rescues women trafficked from the north-eastern states, said they had closely monitored the large scale hiring of women from the north-east for the Commonwealth Games.

“We are indeed very worried for our girls because so many of them have been recruited for escort services. They have been lured by good money and future jobs,” said Ms Kharbih.

A minister of the government in the north-eastern state of Meghalaya said he was apprehensive about the problem.

“It is not just girls from Meghalaya, but from across the north-east who have been recruited in huge numbers. We don’t have details but we have reasons to be apprehensive,” Social Welfare Department Minister JB Lyngdoh said.

“We have appealed to the people to be vigilant.”

The North-east Support Centre and Helpline, a Delhi-based NGO, said it was also concerned about the “large scale recruitment” of north-eastern girls for escort services.

“We are extremely concerned that thousands of north-east girls [have been] lured by dubious placement agencies for the Games. We fear they may fall into wrong hands,” said Madhu Chander of the Helpline.

Though ticket sales have been low, thousands of tourists are expected to be in Delhi during the 12-day games, beginning on Sunday.

Recent police investigations in some north-eastern states have indicated that more than 15,000 girls and young women have gone missing over the last decade.

Police say they were lured by lucrative job offers never to return home.

Some have been rescued by police and rehabilitated by groups such as Impulse NGO Network.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

About 150 members of the security forces in Ecuador have taken over the runway at the airport in the capital, Quito, forcing it to shut down.

It comes as police and troops in the country stage protests over government plans to cut their benefits.

A bridge and main access road into the capital are reported to have been blocked by protesters.

President Rafael Correa has appeared before protesters at a barracks in Quito to appeal for calm.

He told them: “If you want to seize the barracks, if you want to leave citizens undefended, if you want to betray the mission of the police force, go ahead. But this government will do what has to be done.”

The troops and police are protesting against austerity cuts which would reduce their bonuses.

Television stations have shown images of police setting tyres on fire in the streets of Quito, Guayaquil and other cities.

The mayor of Quito, Augusto Barrera, said all flights were suspended from the Mariscal Sucre International Airport.

“Unfortunately a group of people have occupied the runway,” the EFE news agency quoted him as saying.

The unrest came as it emerged that Mr Correa was considering dissolving the national assembly after failing to pass economic reforms.

He would then rule by decree until elections could be held.

The move would have to be approved by the country’s Constitutional Court.

Policy Minister Doris Solis said it was “a scenario that nobody would want but it is a possibility when the conditions for change do not exist”.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

The Irish central bank has said bailing out Anglo Irish Bank will cost up to 34bn euros ($46bn; £29bn) under a worse case scenario.

It said bailing out Anglo Irish would cost 29.3bn euros under a “base” scenario, but it could cost another 5bn euros in a “stress scenario”.

Last month, the cost of the bail out was estimated at between 22-25bn euros.

The central bank also said Allied Irish Bank would need to raise 3bn euros before the end of the year.

In an interview with the Financial Times, the Irish finance minister, Brian Lenihan, warned the failure of Anglo Irish Bank would “bring down” the country.

“Because of its size relative to the national balance sheet… no country could contemplate the failure of such an institution.”

The Irish Republic, a member of the eurozone, is struggling to cut its huge public spending deficit.

The country is viewed as one of the weakest economies in the group, despite it taking tough action to cut that deficit.

This week, concern over its economy sent its cost of borrowing on the open markets to a record.

In the interview with the FT, Mr Lenihan stressed that the country’s financial health was better than other peripheral eurozone economies, saying it had borrowing already lined up to service debts and cover public services until the middle of 2011.

“We are not obliged to go to the markets. We are not under a clear and present constraint,” Lenihan was quoted as saying in the paper.

The Irish government has previously rejected speculation that it could have difficulty raising funds and might have to seek help from a huge EU rescue fund set up after the Greek debt crisis earlier this year.

The interest rate on Irish government debt reached 6.791% on Wednesday.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

The tendering process for the Legal Aid scheme for new family law cases is unlawful and must be changed, the High Court has ruled.

The Legal Services Commission, which runs the £2.2bn scheme in England and Wales, has cut the number of firms able to offer legal aid from 2,400 to 1,300.

Two judges ruled the process as “unfair, unlawful and irrational”.

The Law Society argued the scheme used was so flawed it threatened to create “legal aid deserts” around the country.

Lord Justice Moses and Mr Justice Beatson allowed the Law Society’s application for judicial review.

They said the unfair tendering process could not be allowed to stand because it would prevent “the vulnerable and deprived from obtaining the services of very well qualified and experienced family lawyers”.

Caseworker criterion

Dinah Rose QC, appearing for the society, said the 40% reduction in the number of offices carrying out family legal aid work would lead to serious gaps in geographical coverage of family legal aid.

“We have referred to these as legal deserts, with no law firm available to undertake family legal aid work,” she told the judges.

“At the heart of our case is the contention that the tendering process will have serious adverse effects on access to justice for very vulnerable groups, including those who are victims of domestic abuse, those who are victims of forced marriages, or vulnerable children.”

Lawyers for the LSC said the society’s case was “unarguable” and said it had complied with its duty to ensure public access to justice.

The judges said the new “caseworker criterion” introduced by the LSC for awarding contracts was central to the case.

It gave most points to law firms with caseworkers who were members of two separate accreditation schemes which showed they were able to undertake work with children and deal with other complex family issues, including domestic violence.

But the judges said the LSC had “unfairly” failed to make the importance of this clear in time, leading to “an absence of awareness” among firms that double accreditation was required – until it was too late to apply, said the judge.

Many highly-qualified firms were thus not given sufficient time to apply for the necessary accreditation.

The tendering process was “unfair and irrational” as it “inhibited and defeated” the objective of the LSC, which was to achieve a high-quality legal aid service for the public, said the judge.

After the verdict the LSC said in a statement: “We are obviously disappointed by the result.

“We believe that our tender process would have maintained access to high-quality services for clients, in line with our obligations under procurement law.”

Sir Bill Callaghan, chairman of the LSC, said: “Our commitment has always been to ensure that vulnerable people across England and Wales have access to justice. Whatever we do will continue to be motivated by this imperative.

“We are currently considering the detail of the judgement and its implications, including whether to appeal. We are conscious of the uncertainty facing providers and will publish further information in due course.”

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Lee Westwood and Martin Kaymer will open Europe’s Ryder Cup challenge against the United States pair of Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson at Celtic Manor on Friday.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

The chief executive of the Northern Ireland Housing Executive is to retire. But he said his decision is not related to any on-going inquiries within the organisation.

It emerged on Thursday that a third internal investigation is underway.

Two investigations relate to senior members of staff. The third is linked to contractors.

Paddy McIntyre has held the role since July 1999.

He said he could understand why some people might think he was leaving the organisation as a result of the inquiries.

“It is entirely wrong because as I indicated at the outset of this, I reached the magic age of 60 in March of this year,” he said.

“I discussed my plans with the chairman around April of this year and also discussed it with the board. It was always my intention to indicate around the autumn what my retirement plans are.”

In March, the Housing Executive asked police to investigate its involvement in how land at a site on Nelson Street in Belfast was zoned for planning.

For years, the NIHE insisted the land was designated for social housing.

The site was later bought by Big Picture Developments.

An investigation by the BBC Newsline programme showed that after that purchase, the Housing Executive appeared to change its mind, with one official writing to planners telling them that it was “withdrawing the request for social housing at the scheme”.

It is believed this letter is the focus of the police investigation.

After it was discovered, senior staff at the Housing Executive ensured the letter was withdrawn and its original position of opposition to the commercial development was reinstated.

While this investigation has been on-going, one of its directors Colm McCaughley is on sick leave.

Big Picture Developments, lists developer and Policing Board chairman, Barry Gilligan as one of its directors.

In August, police searched Mr Gilligan’s home and the headquarters of the Policing Board.

Mr Gilligan who had been on sick leave for six months following heart surgery said he would not resume his position, until the police investigation into the sale of the Nelson Street land is completed.

He denies any wrongdoing.

Big Picture Developments said it contacted Clanmil Housing Association in January 2010 to offer 20% of the development at Nelson Street for social housing.

However in May the Housing Executive said the overall proposal “does not meet the identified social housing need” and the development was of a type that was “unsuitable for social housing.”

Earlier this month, in a separate inquiry, Ross Campbell, another senior member of staff at the Northern Ireland Housing Executive was relieved of his duties.

He has subsequently been suspended pending the outcome of an investigation into his alleged relationship with one of the Housing Executive’s contractors.

The third inquiry relates to contractors. No more information has been released by the NIHE on this investigation.

It is unclear who will succeed Mr McIntyre as chief executive of the Northern Ireland Housing Executive.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

A ban on wearing the full Islamic veil in the Netherlands will be proposed if a pact to form a minority coalition government goes ahead, leaders say.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

US Middle East envoy George Mitchell is meeting Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas amid fears that the relaunched peace talks could collapse.

Top EU diplomat Baroness Ashton is also due in the region for crisis talks.

The Palestinians have threatened to quit the talks unless Israel extends its partial freeze on settlement building that expired on Sunday.

Palestinian negotiators have repeated their position that they would “not accept a compromise” on the issue.