Review of the Papers, Tuesday 24 April

Government  

• Tony Blair will today put his personal stamp on a reorganisation of the Home Office when he chairs a new cabinet committee on terrorism and security. But with only two weeks to go before the department is due to be officially split into an interior and a justice ministry, crucial questions remain unresolved and the overhaul is fuelling tensions in Whitehall. The slimming down of the Home Office, championed by John Reid, home secretary, has been rushed forward to take effect on May 9, a day before Mr Blair is likely to announce his resignation. Mr Blair is expected next month to undertake his final government reshuffle, transferring portfolios from the Home Office to a new Ministry of Justice and cutting ministers at the Northern Ireland Office following the anticipated establishment of a devolved administration on May 8. However, many details of the reorganisation, including ministerial appointments, additional funding and physical location of some new Whitehall departments and committees have yet to be signed off. Some details await Mr Blair's expected succession by Mr Brown. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/5328b5fe-f200-11db-b5b6-000b5df10621.html  
• A series of carbon-busting initiatives were given the Prime Minister's blessing as they were announced by eight of Britain's largest companies yesterday. The schemes were announced as part of a drive to cut carbon emissions by at least one tonne per household over the next three years. They are designed to make it easier for consumers to make small changes in the home which, on a national scale, should add up to significant reductions. Tony Blair said that such schemes were essential if Britain was going to be able to persuade the US, China and India to agree to cut carbon dioxide emissions. Only by "showing the world it is possible to continue to grow" economically would the biggest carbon dioxide polluters over be persuaded to sign up to new measures, he said. He hailed the willingness of big companies, such as Tesco and Sky, to tackle the carbon emissions blamed for climate change as proof that getting to grips with global warming can be good for the economy. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article1695809.ece
• Householders will lose a say over when and how their rubbish is collected under new laws, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said last night. Local authorities will be allowed to "club together" to form a rubbish collection quango which will be responsible for whatever aspect of waste disposal council chiefs choose, Defra said. Under the present system, householders can complain directly to the council responsible if they are unhappy with the frequency or quality of collection. Ultimately, they can choose to complain at the ballot box. But once the so-called Joint Waste Authorities are created, local authorities would become less answerable to voters as waste disposal will become the responsibility of quangos. The new powers are included in the Local Government Bill going through Parliament and David Miliband, the Environment Secretary, is behind them. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/04/24/nbins24.xml
• Gordon Brown will be warned today that he will miss his target to halve child poverty in four years unless he spends more on poorer families. The report by the Treasury Select Committee is a blow to the Chancellor's hopes for a smooth transition of power from Tony Blair and could be used as ammunition against him by his critics. The Tories claimed 600,000 more children were living in poverty by the Treasury's own measure than in 1997 when Mr Blair came to power. George Osborne, the shadow Chancellor, is also set to exploit the committee's findings, highlighting the MPs' demand for more clarity over Budget changes to tax credits which the Treasury admitted could result in 5.3 million households being "losers" from the package. Mr Osborne said: "This is a powerful attack on Gordon Brown's addiction to stealth taxes." http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/article2481036.ece  
• Labour's investment in the National Health Service has not delivered all the improvements hoped for and the refusal of staff to accept the need for change is partly to blame, a former health minister said yesterday. Lord Warner, who retired in December, said expected benefits from expanding the workforce had been restricted by "productivity" issues. The peer criticised NHS staff for resisting the need for change, amid growing dissent over the way the Government's reforms are being pushed through. "If you say 'have (staff) delivered all that you would have liked them to deliver for that extra investment' then the frank answer for me is 'not as much as I would like to have seen' " he told Parliamentary Monitor magazine. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/04/24/nreforms24.xml
• The decision to plunder a further £675 million of lottery money from the arts, sport, heritage and good causes to pay for the 2012 London Olympics should be debated in the Commons, the Government was told yesterday. The heads of lottery-funded voluntary bodies joined leading arts figures in demanding that Tessa Jowell, the Culture Secretary, be called to account over the move. The Voluntary Arts Network, the Central Council for Physical Recreation, Heritage Link and the National Council for Voluntary Organisations have written to MPs, saying: "It is vital that all parliamentarians have the opportunity to debate this raid on lottery funds." They warn that the lottery cuts will jeopardise the legacy of the Olympics. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/04/24/nfunds24.xml