Policy Announcements, Wednesday 30 May

Government  

• Drugs education schemes should start at primary school as part of an overhaul of Britain's drugs strategy, Gordon Brown is to say. And more role models are needed to raise awareness of drug use, which is still "unacceptably high", he will say. The chancellor will visit police in Birmingham before discussing gangs and drugs at a hustings event in Leicester.
• Funding of over £1.6 million has been awarded by Defra to projects across the country to help farmers improve farm animal health and welfare. Following an application process, twenty-seven different projects have received funding for a variety of farm health planning events and initiatives including farmer training, advice workshops and the development of farm health planning 'champions'. Farm health planning means undertaking a range of measures to proactively manage disease risk on-farm. This involves good disease record keeping; identifying existing health problems on-farm and prioritising control measures for these; developing action plans for specific problems; and assessing whether measures have been effective and reviewing health plans where necessary.
• The quality of life for older people in care homes across England will benefit from a £67m refurbishment fund from the Department of Health, care services Minister Ivan Lewis announced today. Seven thousand care homes will receive money as part of the Government's dignity campaign which aims to place dignity and respect at the heart of caring for older people. Improvements will directly benefit residents, such as: replacing worn-out carpeting or floor coverings to reduce the risk of falls; upgrading dining rooms; upgrading residents' bedrooms and bathrooms; improving gardens or outside spaces used by residents, to encourage outdoor exercise; alterations that would give the residents greater privacy; providing information technology that benefits older residents, such as access to internet and email.

Conservatives  

• The Conservatives are best placed to carry on Tony Blair's public service reforms, the shadow chancellor says. George Osborne claimed Gordon Brown, the next prime minister, had "abandoned the centre ground of public service reform to the Conservative Party". The Tories would therefore have "a great opportunity to improve life for the many, not the few", he added. Mr Blair has called for personalised services which allow people to choose schools and hospitals. Mr Osborne told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that Mr Blair's ideas on choice were right, but said Mr Blair had been wrong to impose them from Whitehall.