Policy Announcements, Tuesday 6 February

Government

• Home Secretary John Reid proposed strengthening the sex offenders register to better protect children using the internet. As part of his Child Sex Offender Review, John Reid is considering extending the notification requirements for offenders on the register to include their on-line identities such as e-mail addresses and names used in chatrooms.

• Minister for Disabled People, Anne McGuire, announced the launch of a five point guide that will help public sector organisations to improve the way that they provide information to disabled people. The guide follows research which shows that a third of disabled people have difficulty accessing goods and services, all too often because the way information is being provided is not good enough.

• Education and Skills Secretary Alan Johnson announced proposals for changes to teachers pay and conditions to ensure they remain competitive and attract the best candidates. These include financial incentives for completion of accredited qualifications in priority subjects and increasing use of existing local flexibilities to reward teachers and address local teacher shortages in priority subjects.

• Mental Health Tsar Louis Appleby launched new guidance aimed at improving the care received by people with both a mental health and a drug problem. The guidance centres on the care provided in in-patient settings and makes a number of recommendations for NHS mental health services. These include: that all clinical staff in mental health services have the skills to assess and manage patients with a substance misuse problem; that substance misuse and mental health services should become more integrated; and ideas and best practice examples for front-line managers to help them improve services.

• PCTs to receive 30% extra funding for new buildings and equipment. £382 million package includes £60m to modernise dental surgeries. Health Minister Andy Burnham today announced details of £382 million of capital funding for Primary Care Trusts for the next financial year. This money represents a 30% increase than the allocation last year and will be welcomed by the NHS who can use the extra cash to acquire and modernise buildings, equipment and land.

• The Conservatives are launching a print and internet campaign against the introduction of identity cards. It comes after shadow home secretary David Davis wrote to Cabinet Secretary Sir Gus O'Donnell to warn him a Tory government would scrap the scheme.