Policy Announcements, Wednesday 14 March

Government

• Peers have voted for the House of Lords to be fully appointed, setting the scene for a parliamentary battle over reform with MPs. In a series of Commons votes last week there were majorities for either an 80 or 100 per cent elected upper house, with the fully elected option receiving the largest majority. But backing in the Lords for an all-appointed second chamber by 361 votes to 121 (a majority of 240) will lead to a struggle between the two houses.
• Rail commuters have been promised an extra 1,000 train carriages by 2014 in a bid to tackle overcrowding. The commitment was made by Transport Secretary Douglas Alexander in a speech at a rail conference in London. He said the new carriages were "an important first step" in tackling overcrowding on a network with more than one billion journeys a year. Most of the new carriages are expected to go on the jammed routes serving London and south-east England.
• Ed Miliband, Minister for the Third Sector, announced today that the Improvement and Development Agency (IDeA) will run a £2million programme to help local authorities harness the potential of the third sector to improve people's lives. Working as a delivery partner with the Office of the Third Sector in the Cabinet Office, the IDeA will work with 2,000 commissioners from across the public sector - including staff in Jobcentre Plus, health authorities, the National Offender Management Service and local councils. The programme aims to build understanding at a local level of third sector organisations and the unique benefits they can bring to the design and delivery of services.