BNP PUBLIC SERVICES BULLETIN
JANUARY 22, 2007

British National Party
www.bnp.org.uk


1. MINISTERS BEG JUDGES: DON'T JAIL ANY MORE CRIMINALS!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article
_id=430962

Desperate ministers will beg judges to stop sending criminals to prisons
- because they are full.

A letter will be sent to courts across the country admitting that jails
are officially in crisis.

It pleads for only the most violent or dangerous criminals to be given a
custodial sentence. Magistrates are also being asked to allow bail to
all but the most serious crime suspects.

The letter, signed by Home Secretary John Reid, Lord Chancellor Lord
Falconer and Attorney General Lord Goldsmith, is the first in a series
of drastic steps likely over the next few weeks.

The most dramatic option is to order the early release of thousands of
inmates sentenced to 12 months or less.

The Home Secretary has been struggling since last summer to contain the
overcrowding crisis - caused by the Government ignoring repeated advice
to build
more prisons - but it is now escalating rapidly. Politicians don't take
advice because the big headed buggers think they know it all. In fact
they really know very little about most things, a conclusion come to by
years of watching their abysmal performances.

On Monday alone, nearly 300 more prisoners were sent down by the courts
than
were released, pushing the jail population to almost 80,000.

Mr Reid, Lord Falconer and Lord Goldsmith have met senior judges to
explain that
the system is now in meltdown. It was agreed that the three Ministers
would
circulate a 'communique' to the entire criminal justice system. It calls
on the
courts to jail only the worst criminals – effectively freeing thousands
who
would normally have been put behind bars.

In cases where judges and magistrates are considering a term of 12
months or
less, they are 'reminded' they could use a community sentence instead.
Magistrates are also urged to consider bail instead of remanding
suspects such
as burglars. Around 13,000 suspects are in custody awaiting trial.

Mr Reid paved the way for his move when he said recently that taxpayers'
money
should not be 'squandered' on locking up or monitoring offenders who
would be
better punished in the community. But having to plead with the courts is
still a
humiliation for the Home Secretary and leaves Labour's pledge to be
tough on
crime in tatters.

Home Office ministers have been warned repeatedly by their officials
that the
jail population was growing rapidly, but have failed to provide
sufficient extra
places. Mr Reid has belatedly promised 8,000 more - but none will be
available
until spring. In the meantime, hundreds of criminals are locked in
police cells
at a cost of £365 each a day.

Shadow Home Secretary David Davis said last night: "It is outrageous
that
sentences are being dictated by the prison capacity and not by the crime
committed.

"Yet again we see the public being put at risk by the failure of
ministers. How
much longer must the public pay the price of Gordon Brown's miserliness
and John
Reid's incompetence?

"John Reid must say what he intends to do about this crisis, and not
rely on his
usual tactic of dreaming up an unworkable gimmick to try and deflect the
bad
headlines."

Home Office officials are hoping today's letter will buy Mr Reid some
time to
think of a politically- acceptable solution. But they fear he will be
forced to
take more drastic action as early as next week.

The 'nuclear option' is the early release of thousands of inmates
sentenced to a
year or less. They would not even be placed under supervision, simply be
told
they were free to go. Mr Reid wants to avoid this at all costs, fearing
it would
instantly wreck his reputation for toughness and demolish any hopes of a
challenge for the Labour leadership.

Less dramatic, but still highly damaging, would be an extension in the
use of
releasing inmates on tags. Other plans include letting as many as 30,000
criminals serving up to four years walk free ten days before their
sentences
would normally end. This was suggested by officials last year, but
blocked by
the Home Secretary and Downing Street.

Mr Reid is also likely to try to move foreign prisoners awaiting
deportation
decisions into immigration holding centres, and his officials are trying
to
acquire prison ships.





2. NO SPEEDING FINES FOR FOREIGN DRIVERS

http://news.intranetics.co.uk/articles/3225.html

Speeding foreign drivers have little need for a speed camera detector
as thousands are managing to avoid speed fines.

In Leicestershire alone, nearly 1,500 foreign drivers have escaped an
automatic notice of intended prosecution, despite being snapped by a
gatso speed camera.

Under current laws, drivers only have to register foreign number plates
if the vehicle will be driven in the UK for more than six months.

With no central registry of more fleeting visitors, many foreign
drivers simply need to leave the country to evade prosecution for a
traffic fine.

Leicestershire safety camera partnership snapped 1,487 speeding foreign
vehicles in 2006, including one case on the A1 near Oakham where a
vehicle with foreign plates was snapped at 121 mph.

Speed camera officials admitted that the loophole is likely to provoke
resentment among British drivers, who frequently complain of the
proliferation of speed cameras and the need for speed camera maps when
driving.

"People will be a little frustrated to see that a foreign driver is
perhaps getting away with speeding because we can't trace them and they
themselves may have drifted over the speed limit and been caught," said
Hema Lad from the Leicestershire safety camera partnership.

Leicester MP Peter Soulsby claims that better sharing of vehicle data
is necessary.

The Labour MP said: "It just needs our computer system at the DVLA to
be linked with similar systems in other European countries.

"It needs them to talk to each other to exchange information and make
sure these drivers that are breaking our laws pay our fines."

Transport for London (TfL) has previously admitted that there are
similar problems in the capital, with foreign drivers evading the
congestion charge.

Between January 2005 and June 2006, TfL reports that 88,000 foreign
drivers escaped the C-charge, amounting to lost fines worth £8.8
million.

TfL claimed that the lack of a Europe-wide agreement on fine
enforcement made it very difficult for UK local authorities to tackle
foreign drivers.

Police chiefs warned late last year that foreign lorry drivers pose a
danger to British road users, with the Association of Chief Police
Officers claiming that the expansion of the EU had exacerbated the
problem.

It was found that many foreign lorries were unsafe compared to UK
standards. The road safety charity Brake further warns that foreign
lorry drivers do not have to undergo additional training.

Figures show that foreign drivers are at least as likely to offend as
UK drivers.



3. NHS BLUNDERS KILL 200 PEOPLE PER YEAR

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/01/19/nhs19.xml

More than 200 patients died last year as a result of mistakes made by
hospital staff while another 1,800 were made worse during treatment, it
has been revealed.

Some patients were given overdoses of radiation or had healthy organs
removed in operations, while others died after being wrongly attached to
medical equipment.
advertisement

Figures obtained under the Freedom of Information Act show that 2,109
events which could injure patients, staff or public - known as serious
untoward incidents - were reported to health authorities in 2006.

At least 221 resulted in avoidable deaths, including a 76-year-old man
who had a feeding tube inserted into his lungs instead of his stomach
and a pensioner who was given air instead of pure oxygen.

Hundreds more patients were made worse while in hospital because of
wrong diagnoses or mistakes in treatment, such as a woman who had
chemotherapy and surgery for ovarian cancer when she never had the
disease.

At least 55 people were given the wrong medication or too much, with
seven receiving an overdose of radiation. More than 100 suffered from
serious delays in diagnoses or treatment.

There were 43 reports of serious equipment malfunction, one of which
left a patient's lungs filled with hot water after a respiratory
humidifier broke down.

In one NHS trust, a pregnant woman was exposed to radiation which led
to the termination of her pregnancy, while a teaching hospital reported
a baby suffering fractured ribs and humerus while being delivered with
forceps.

Hospitals also reported 172 outbreaks of communicable diseases,
including 94 confirmed cases of the superbug MRSA. It is thought that
injuries to patients cost the NHS £2 billion a year in compensation and
legal fees.

Katherine Murphy, the director of the Patients' Association, condemned
the figures which were compiled from reports made by 141 of England's
170 hospital trusts between December 2005 and December 2006.

She said: "These cases will shock and appall everyone who has to trust
the NHS with their lives. Patient safety should be paramount.

"But with the NHS deficit, staff are not getting adequate training,
which leads to mistakes."

The Department of Health insisted most patients receive safe
treatment, and said that more reporting of mistakes helps make sure they
are not repeated.

A spokesman said: "The incidents reported by the acute trusts account
for only a tiny proportion of the care and treatment carried out by NHS
staff across the country.

"But we have to recognise that in our increasingly complex health
service, mistakes can and will inevitably happen."



4. PATIENTS SENT TO WRONG WARDS TO MEET NUMERICAL TARGETS

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/01/17/nae117.xml

Doctors are struggling to meet the Government’s accident and
emergency waiting time target because the NHS cash crisis is resulting
in a shortage of beds, doctors’ leaders warned today.

A survey for the British Medical Association (BMA) found that a
shortage of hospital beds was delaying the admission of patients from
A&E in England.

The Government target is that 98 per cent of patients should wait no
more than four hours from arrival at A&E to admission, transfer or
discharge. While recent Government figures show that 98.2 per cent of
patients were seen and treated within four hours in the year to April
2006, a third of the doctors questioned said figures were being
manipulated to the target.

Doctors' leaders also said that while there have been improvements,
healthcare trusts are claiming to hit the target by including figures
from minor injuries units and walk-in centres where patients are being
seen more quickly than in actual A&E departments.

A total of 503 members the British Association for Emergency Medicine,
including staff at all grades working in emergency departments, took
part in the survey.

It found nine out of 10 doctors believed a lack of in-patient beds was
the main reason for not meeting the Government target. Many also blamed
staff shortages and patients attending A&E with minor problems.

The NHS finished the last financial year with a record deficit of
£512 million. Two-thirds said patients were moved to inappropriate
areas or wards to help meet the target. Almost all, 97 per cent, said
their workload had increased in the last 12 months, with most blaming
the transfer of out-of-hours care from GPs to primary care trusts.
The survey also revealed that doctors from one third, or 67, of the
200 A&E units in England believe their unit is at risk of being
downgraded or closed.

Don MacKechnie, chairman of the BMA’s Emergency Medicine Committee,
said: “Many hospitals have cut bed numbers as part of their financial
recovery plans and attempts to balance their books.

“This means that there are fewer available beds for patients coming
through A&E who need to be transferred within four hours to a hospital
ward from the emergency department to meet the Government’s access
target.”

A Department of Health spokesperson said: “The NHS is treating more
patients than ever before and is treating them more efficiently.





5. MORE STEALTH PRIVATISATION FEARS FOR NHS

http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/mpapps/pagetools/print/news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-
/1/hi/health/6287261.stm

Hospitals could be put under threat and the NHS fragmented by a plan to
set up private centres to take over simple procedures from hospitals,
doctors say.

Health chiefs in the North West have become the first to start
consulting on a new breed of private clinics to carry out diagnostics
and minor treatment.

The Clinical Assessment Treatment and Support centres have been designed
to cut waiting lists, officials said.

But doctors warned they could starve hospitals of money.

The specialities covered by the proposed centres are ear, nose and
throat, general surgery, orthopaedics, rheumatology and minor
treatments, which combined contribute 80% of hospital workloads.

Similar schemes are expected to be put forward elsewhere in the country
as the contracts are being negotiated by the Department of Health, with
NHS trusts only expected to pay for the services patients use.

If hospital units become unviable, NHS capacity is wasted, jobs are
lost, and services that patients have valued for years are cut
Dr Jonathan Fielden, of the BMA

They go a step further than the much-criticised independent sector
treatment centres as they have the ability to carry out diagnostic
tests.

Primary care trusts in Cumbria and Lancashire are carrying out an eight-
week consultation over the centres which will be run by private firms,
but paid for out of the NHS purse.

The two preferred bidders which have been chosen are Netcare and Care
UK.

It comes as the NHS attempts to meet the government's 18-week treatment
target by the end of 2008.

At the moment, all patients are seen within six months but this does not
include the time it takes from seeing a GP to getting diagnosed, which
it is estimated can be as long as the wait for treatment.

The eight private centres aim to speed up this process by carrying out
the diagnosis and treatment assessments in one go.

If only minor treatment is required, the centres will have the ability
to carry that out as well.

If not, they will refer on to the appropriate community or hospital
services.

The theory is that as the local hospital will be freed from this
assessment and diagnostic process - only a third of patients referred to
hospitals as outpatients end up being given treatment - they will have
more time to carry out treatments.

Mike Farrar, chief executive of NHS North West, said: "The centres are
not a replacement for hospital services, rather they will let the
hospitals concentrate more on what they do best - treating those who
need immediate care.

"Neither will they reduce the volume of work done at local hospitals.
Achieving the 18 week target will mean more work for the hospital trusts
and therefore more income to support more NHS services."

But the British Medical Association has criticised the plans.

Threat

Dr Jonathan Fielden, chairman of the BMA's consultants committee, said:
"These proposals could represent a significant threat to local NHS
hospitals.

"When work goes to the private sector, they lose income.

"If hospital units become unviable, NHS capacity is wasted, jobs are
lost, and services that patients have valued for years are cut.

"Unless they are carefully integrated, and local clinicians engaged, the
number of specialties and cases involved means that core NHS work is
likely to be hit, rather than surplus capacity being created.

And he added the public consultation in Lancashire and Cumbria was
clearly "on the location of CATS - not on the real issue, which is why
the NHS, rather than profit-making companies, can't be given the chance
to further cut waiting times".

It is envisaged the centres will be up and running by the end of the
summer.





6. SCHOOLS HAVE NO WAY TO CHECK CRIMINAL RECORDS OF FOREIGN TEACHERS

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article
_id=429094&in_page_id=1770

The Home Office faced a fresh row today when it emerged that London’s
schools have no means of checking criminal records of some foreign
teachers.

The Daily Mail's sister paper, the Evening Standard, has learned that
Britain has formal arrangements to check the backgrounds of prospective
teachers from only 17 countries worldwide.

Sign up for the latest news alerts


For the other 176 nationalities from across the globe, the Department
for Education and Skills’ advice to schools is to simply “take extra
care” in checking the references of foreign applicants for teaching
posts.

Shadow Home Secretary David Davis today seized on the revelation as the
latest proof that the Government was failing to protect the public.

London’s schools are a particular cause for concern because they rely
heavily on overseas teachers and in some areas supply staff are almost
exclusively from abroad.

One head teacher in the capital has warned in the past that if foreign
teachers were banned from working, half of the capital’s schools would
have to close.

The lack of checks has emerged as part of the wider controversy over a
Home Office failure to put British criminals’ overseas convictions on
the national police database. The department’s most senior civil servant
admitted last night that it had “fallen short” in telling ministers of a
backlog of 27,000 cases that were missing from the computer files, with
540 for serious or violent offences.

But the problem has also now exposed what the Tories called a “big hole”
in the system of checking foreign nationals who had committed crimes
abroad but still wanted to work in the UK.

Despite tightening rules for British teachers last year, the DfES points
out that if an applicant has never worked in the UK, checks by the
Criminal Records Bureau are pointless.

Similarly, the applicant will not show up on List 99, a database of
those who should be barred from working with children.

The CRB operates an Overseas Information Service but updated guidance
issued in 2004 states that “at present the service is limited to 17
countries”.

MrDavis said: “The point about databases is that they should be
complete. It takes one mistake to result in a tragedy.”

The DfES said that schools should try to obtain “certificates of good
conduct from relevant embassies or police forces”.




[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]