Review of the Papers, Thursday 03 May

Government

• Hundreds of register offices across the country have been ordered to abandon a new online system for recording births, deaths and marriages in the latest IT fiasco to hit the government. The huge £6 million IT project has met with "complete system failure" and online registration has been suspended in half the 3,000 offices. Registrars have been told that a long-term solution will take "many months" and in the meantime those affected should revert to the old computer system, even though that means none of the hundreds of births, deaths and marriages that occur each day will be centrally recorded. Registrars have complained bitterly about the problems caused by the new system, which at times has forced them them to ask grieving family members to give details of their loved ones twice because the data has been lost. In many areas, multiple death certificates cannot be issued because of the problems. Multiple certificates are vital for transferring assets and pensions as companies do not accept photocopies as proof of death. The hardware and software, developed by Siemens and US group ManTech respectively, was tested extensively before being introduced at register offices late last year. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article1739313.ece
• Patients could see operations postponed this summer as hospitals struggle to cope with the junior doctor recruitment fiasco, doctors' leaders said last night. Concern was voiced a week after two serious security breaches forced the Department of Health to suspend the new website junior doctors are meant to use to apply for jobs. Patricia Hewitt, the Health Secretary, told MPs this week that the website would only return to action once ministers were satisfied confidential information provided by junior doctors was secure. However, consultants leaders warned the Government last night that the confusion had left hospitals in limbo, with no idea which junior doctors - if any - were going to start working for them this summer. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/05/03/nhealth303.xml
• Charles Clarke yesterday gave a strong hint he would not be stand for the Labour leadership by lavishing praise on Gordon Brown and describing him as one of the best chancellors for 200 years. The former home secretary had persistently argued that it would not be in the party's best interests to simply anoint Mr Brown as prime minister without a debate on Labour's future. He had even raised questions over his judgment, last year giving a remarkable interview to the Daily Telegraph in which he claimed Mr Brown had profound "psychological" issues to address; Mr Clarke variously accused him of lacking courage and vision, and being both uncollegiate and a control freak. http://www.guardian.co.uk/guardianpolitics/story/0,,2071043,00.html
• All schoolchildren should have "happiness" lessons up to the age of 18 to combat growing levels of depression, according to a senior Government adviser. Pupils should study subjects such as how to manage feelings, attitudes to work and money, channelling negative emotions and even how to take a critical view of the media, said Lord Richard Layard, a Labour peer and professor of economics at the London School of Economics. In a speech last night, he said that Tony Blair's Respect programme - the crackdown on young offenders and problem families - was "far more repressive than preventative" and may be fuelling levels of depression. He said all state school pupils should receive tuition in "how to be happy" up to the age of 18 and their progress in the subject should feature in university applications. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/05/03/nhappy03.xml
• The Ministry of Defence plans to open its "X-Files" on UFO sightings to the public for the first time. Officials have not yet decided on a date for the release of the reports, which date back to 1967, but it is hoped to be within weeks. The move follows the decision by the French national space agency to release its UFO files in March, the first official body in the world to do so. http://www.guardian.co.uk/military/story/0,,2071030,00.html  

World  

• The global market in carbon trading tripled last year to $30bn (£15bn) but its role in the battle against climate change could be hit by worries about the effectiveness of unregulated carbon offset projects, the World Bank warned yesterday. The bulk of carbon trading, some $25bn, was carried out through the sale of allowances under the European Union's emissions trading scheme - which covers industries pumping out large amounts of carbon dioxide - according to the bank's seventh annual carbon market intelligence study which was published yesterday. Officially-backed carbon offset projects, where, under the Kyoto agreement, companies and countries can invest in emission reduction schemes in developing countries and economies in transition, doubled to $5bn, the report said. The World Bank also estimated that carbon purchases have raised $14bn in "associated investments" supporting clean energy in developing countries since 2002. http://business.guardian.co.uk/story/0,,2070920,00.html