Review of the Papers, Tuesday 03 April

Government  

• Labour's campaign launch for May's crucial elections was in danger of being eclipsed last night by the growing controversy over Gordon Brown's pension taxation changes. The Treasury was forced into an embarrassing climbdown yesterday over claims that business leaders at the CBI had supported the 1997 reforms to impose a £5bn a year pensions tax. Ed Balls, one of the chancellor's closest allies, backtracked on his claim as the former head of the CBI said it was "completely untrue" to say the organisation had pushed for the change. http://business.guardian.co.uk/story/0,,2048762,00.html  
• Hundreds of schools regarded as drifting towards failure or merely "coasting" face intervention from local authorities, which have been told by ministers to be tougher on standards. Earlier action to prevent schools needing special measures or risking closure was ordered by the government last night. Councils must use new powers to crack down on schools that are not getting the best out of all their pupils, failing certain groups such as ethnic minorities, or allowing a wide gender gap to develop in results, ministers said. Formal warning notices are to be issued to schools, which must draw up action plans within 15 days. Councils can also force a school to take an outside partner, be it a better school, local college, business or consultancy, to turn things around. Schools that do not improve may lose their delegated powers over their budgets. http://education.guardian.co.uk/ofsted/story/0,,2048754,00.html  
• More than half of all cancer patients needing lifesaving radiotherapy are waiting longer than the Government's "maximum acceptable delay" for treatment, according to a damning report. -The Times- has been told that the paper shows huge variations in the delivery of treatments around the country, with many "black holes" where services are extremely poor. The study, by the National Radiotherapy Advisory Group, has not been published and ministers have not indicated that it will be. But Professor Karol Sikora, a cancer specialist, said that it should provoke "an outcry for better provision". http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life-and-style/health/article1605142.ece  

Conservatives  

• Plans for a radical shake-up of the police, announced by David Cameron today as part of a Tory drive to attack the government over crime, would replace centralised targets with locally determined funding and accountability. The Conservative proposals, in a 250-page consultation document, would affect the management, as well as structure, of police forces. Performance-related pay, tougher controls on sick leave and direct entry into the senior ranks for "talented people" are all proposed in the document. The Conservative leader will today confirm his commitment to replacing the 43 police authorities in England and Wales with elected police commissioners, who could appoint and dismiss chief constables. Under the proposals, local communities would have a "right to policing", giving them discretion over community safety budget decisions, such as whether to spend money on cleaning graffiti. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/9495ec32-e17f-11db-bd73-000b5df10621.html