Weekend Edition - Saturday 5th and Sunday 6th March 2016

[rebeccariots2]

I'm not cleaning for the fucking Queen!

Jonathan Pie

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6rmGx4 ... e=youtu.be

Is anybody, apart from Michael Gove?

Toby Young - and he's posted pics of it.

[ohsocynical]

I'm not cleaning for the fucking Queen!

Jonathan Pie

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6rmGx4 ... e=youtu.be

Is anybody, apart from Michael Gove?

School kids frequently drop litter by our house. I pick it up normally, but now I'm waiting for one of our Tory Councilors to come around to clean up it up on behalf of the Queen. They're very keen on photo opportunities.

[seeingclearly]

Increasingly annoyed by suggestions from writers writing for the G that Jess Phillips might somehow make a better leader than Corbyn, yet another article. Same kind of bizarre mindset that think ps the pretty one would make leader of the tories, no doubt. I am all for liberation and equality, but mudwrestling instead of debate? No link, I'll not propagate the nonsense further. You could give the two of them a decade and they still would not be suitable.

[seeingclearly]

More distraction, imo.

[ohsocynical]

Is anybody, apart from Michael Gove?

Toby Young - and he's posted pics of it.

Would he be classed as a Suck-arse?

[AnatolyKasparov]

Is anybody, apart from Michael Gove?

Toby Young - and he's posted pics of it.

My cup runneth over

[HindleA]

Maximus fit-for-work tests fail mental health patients, says doctor
Whistleblower criticises benefits scheme run by US company, saying criteria meant he had to diagnose claimants as being well

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2016 ... ays-doctor" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[rebeccariots2]

Maximus fit-for-work tests fail mental health patients, says doctor
Whistleblower criticises benefits scheme run by US company, saying criteria meant he had to diagnose claimants as being well

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2016 ... ays-doctor" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

... The doctor, who now works in the NHS having left the company last year after more than a year as an assessor, alleged there were a series of problems at the heart of the scheme. These include unreasonable targets leading to poor quality assessments; not enough specialists in mental health; and tests that are too subjective and often skewed against the claimant.

As a result, the tests, which were introduced by the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP), were not fit for purpose, the doctor said.

“There may be cases where a person was seriously unwell, but within the criteria in the assessment, I would have to classify them as well,” the doctor, who has psychiatric training said.

Maximus is under severe pressure after a damning report by the National Audit Office in January found it performing worse than its much-criticised predecessor, Atos, in key areas. Auditors found that one in 10 of its reports on disability claimants were below standard, that the average cost of assessments has risen and the company is struggling to retain staff.

The doctor, who trained and worked in psychiatry for four years before becoming a disability assessor, first worked for Atos before going on to work for Maximus.

One issue, they said, were targets that meant the average face-to-face time with a claimant was just 30 minutes. “Working in clinical psychiatry, an assessment of a new patient would take 45-50 minutes, with 10 minutes for dictating notes,” they said...

These were the people meant to be an improvement on Atos .... What are the government going to do when this contract goes under ?

[danesclose]

Yet more Male Online from Barney Farmer (@barneyfarmer on Twitter).

2016-03-06_203653.jpg (78.15 KiB) Viewed 2863 times

[HindleA]

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2016 ... -deaths-uk" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Thalidomide 'caused up to 10,000 miscarriages and infant deaths in UK

[seeingclearly]

I am failing to understand who the 'weak client' is that was somehow taken advantage of in reference to the half billion ATOS contract. Perhaps this weak client needs some identification, because to my mind there actually needs to be someone desling with this outsourced set of contracts. And no, they can't keep refererring back to pre-2010, because this whole matter has been in front of the PAC for half a decade.

[citizenJA]

Goodnight, everyone.
love,
cJA

[rebeccariots2]

Just before turning in ...

FT Westminster ‏@ftwestminster 1m1 minute ago
EDF finance chief quits over Hinkley Point http://on.ft.com/1QYb73r" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Somehow it gives the impression that all is not well with that deal.

[RogerOThornhill]

Good grief...finally.

Nicky Morgan launches consultation on national fair funding formula for schools

http://schoolsweek.co.uk/nicky-morgan-l ... r-schools/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

School funding will be delivered via a national funding formula from 2017, the terms of which will be established during a series of consultations launched by the education secretary today.

The proposals will end historical inequalities in the funding system which have led to schools in some parts of the country receiving an average of £6,300 per pupil while others get as little as £4,200. Such discrepancies exist because funds are still distributed on the basis of historic calculations made when the demography of some regions looked very different to now.

Today’s consultation proposes giving schools a flat per-pupil fund and topping it up based on individual pupil needs (such as low attainment), “school costs” and “area costs”.

Wonder if that "you're only delaying it because of the Mayoral election" stung them into action at last?

[RogerOThornhill]

Interesting to see how political announcements come out - this one presumably was embargoed until after midnight as I've now seen stories - presumably written hours ago - from Schools Week, TES and The Guardian.

http://www.theguardian.com/education/20 ... ol-funding" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

And comments from Lucy Powell, Russell Hobby and Jonathan Simons in this one.

Jonathan Simons, head of education at the thinktank Policy Exchange, added that the consultation is lacking in detail. “This consultation is relatively straightforward – only asking which factors should be in the core formula, which no one really disagrees on,” he said.

“The crunch will come in the next consultation – date, of course, still unknown – when the government set out how much weighting is applied to each factor. This is where we will see illustrations of how much the better funded areas like London may lose out”.

Yes, it's that one that they really want to delay until after May.