Communications regulator Ofcom wants to hear from consumers who have received ‘unexpectedly high’ mobile, landline or internet bills The UK communications regulator Ofcom wants to hear from consumers who have received an unexpectedly high mobile, landline or broadband bill in the past 12 months. Research from the regulator shows that 6% of UK consumers received an unexpectedly high mobile phone bill during the last year, with just under a fifth of those receiving a bill at least £100 more than expected. Regarding landlines, 5% of people received an unexpectedly high bill over the past 12 months, with 9% of those receiving a bill at least £100 more than expected. The average “bill shock” was between £31 and £50 for mobile phone services and between £21 and £30 for landlines. The top five common reasons for unexpectedly high mobile bills were: calls not included in the bundle (19%); calls made to 0845/0870 numbers (16%); customers exceeding their inclusive bundles (15%); international calls (15%); and using mobile phones abroad (6%). The top complaints about unexpectedly high landline bills also included calls to mobiles (11%) and incorrect charges. Existing Ofcom rules state that consumers must be provided with clear and transparent information about their contracts and bills, while European regulations limit charges when making calls or accessing the internet on a mobile phone while in Europe. But Ofcom said consumers are still facing bills for unexpected costs, and it will use consumer feedback to determine whether there is a need for further action either by the regulator or by communications providers. On average, Ofcom receives 450 telecoms complaints a day, and the largest areas of complaint are mis-selling, billing errors, lack of service and customer service problems. Ofcom recently announced that telecoms group TalkTalk was the most complained about provider of landline and broadband services between October 2010 and February 2011. The firm’s landline service had 1.78 complaints for every 1,000 customers, while its broadband offering had 1.27 complaints for every 1,000 customers. Consumers wishing to contact Ofcom should do so by June 14 2011 via its website or by email at unexpectedlyhighbills@ofcom.org.uk . Any consumers who have recently received an unexpectedly high bill can also access Ofcom advice here . Internet, phones & broadband Household bills Consumer affairs Ofcom Internet Mobile phones Telecoms Telecommunications industry Mark King guardian.co.uk
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Community penalties and longer prison sentences of two to four years are more effective, Ministry of Justice research shows Offenders given community penalties have significantly lower reoffending rates than similar offenders who have served short prison sentences, according to Ministry of Justice research. The first authoritative analysis of the effectiveness of different sentences shows that longer prison sentences of two to four years – which allow time to tackle offending behaviour – are more effective than jail terms of under 12 months, during which inmates are simply warehoused. The findings will provide strong evidence to underpin legislation due next month from the justice secretary, Ken Clarke, to reform criminal sentencing and introduce a “rehabilitation revolution” to stablise the record prison population in England and Wales. David Cameron is reported to be preparing a speech on crime next month – similar to his intervention on immigration in April – amid anxieties in Downing Street that Clarke’s plans will be portrayed as being soft on crime, despite being financially essential. Clarke said the MoJ statistics showed reoffending in England and Wales to be unacceptably high and underlined the urgent need for steps to counter it. “It is a national scandal that nearly half of all offenders reoffend within a year of release,” he said. “Sentences must properly punish offenders as well as address the causes of their offending so that they are ready to go straight once their punishment has ended.” Clarke said both prison and non-custodial sentences needed to do much more to address the underlying causes of crime, such as drugs and mental illness. The MoJ research looked at the reoffending rates of “matched” samples of offenders given a range of sentences between 2005 and 2008. The reoffending rate was defined as those convicted or cautioned for at least one further offence in the 12 months after serving the sentence. The matched samples were identical in terms of age, gender, ethnicity, type of offence and number of previous convictions so that the effectiveness of each kind of sentence could be compared for the first time. The results show that those who had been on community sentences, including unpaid work and probation, in 2008 had a reoffending rate of 51%, compared with 59% for those on prison sentences of less than 12 months. The comparison between short prison sentences and suspended sentence orders is even more stark, with a gap of nearly nine percentage points. Those sentenced to between two and four years had a lower reoffending rate than those given prison sentences of less than 12 months, with a 4.4 percentage point gap for 2008. Iain Bell, the MoJ’s chief statistician, said the findings were not conclusive on whether the deterrent effect of longer prison sentences was more effective at reducing reoffending. “Offenders receiving sentences of less than 12 months do not have access to offender management programmes and are not subject to supervision by the probation service on release,” he said, adding that the data could not be used to reliably establish the impact of probation supervision and offender management programmes. Prisons and probation UK criminal justice Alan Travis guardian.co.uk
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• Former FA chair lifts lid on 2018 World Cup bid • Jack Warner said to have wanted £2.5m to build school Lord Triesman, the former Football Association and England 2018 chairman, has accused several Fifa executive committee members of “improper and unethical” behaviour. He told the select committee looking into football that the Fifa vice-president Jack Warner asked for money – suggested to be £2.5m – to build an education centre in Trinidad with the cash to be channelled through him, and later £500,000 to buy Haiti’s World Cup TV rights for the earthquake-hit nation, also to go through Warner. Paraguay’s Fifa member Nicols Léoz asked for a knighthood, he alleged, while Brazil’s Fifa member Ricardo Terra Teixeira asked Triesman to “come and tell me what you have got for me”, although Triesman said the comment could be open to interpretation. Thailand’s Fifa member Worawi Makudi wanted to be given the TV rights to a friendly between England and the Thai national team, said Triesman. He added: “These were some of the things that were put to me personally, sometimes in the presence of others, which in my view did not represent proper and ethical behaviour on the part of members of the executive committee.” Asked why he did not report the incidents to Fifa, Triesman said he feared that would damage the England bid but admitted he should have done so and pushed for action. “The point was not pressed,” he said. “And I think, in retrospect, we would have burned off our chances. “In retrospect that was not the right view to take and I accept that.” Lord Triesman World Cup 2018 Fifa Sport politics guardian.co.uk
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Sculptor wants museums and galleries to shut for a day over detained Chinese artist and dedicates Paris commission to him The sculptor Anish Kapoor has called on the world’s museums and galleries to close for a day in protest at the Chinese government’s continued detention of the artist Ai Weiwei . Ai was arrested by the Chinese police on 3 April in Beijing as he was about to board a flight for Hong Kong. The 53-year-old artist has been accused of “suspected economic crimes” by the government and has not been seen or heard from since his arrest . Kapoor – who has dedicated his installation at the Monumenta exhibition , which opens on Wednesday at Paris’s Grand Palais, to Ai – told BBC Radio 4′s Today programme that artists needed to look out for each other. “As a colleague – I don’t know him personally – I feel that as artists we have a communal voice and it’s important that we stick together, that we have a sense of solidarity with each other,” he said. “It would be nice to see the art world come together a little more. Perhaps all museums and galleries should be closed for a day across the world. I think some such campaign needs to form itself.” Kapoor said the Chinese state’s behaviour was reminiscent of the Soviet era, when “the voice of artists of different kinds was seen as being dangerous”. He added: “It does bear witness to the barbarity of governments that if they’re that paranoid they have to put away artists. It’s a ridiculous situation.” The sculptor added that if the Chinese authorities had a case against Ai, they should bring it as soon as possible. “Let’s get on with it then – let them accuse him of something,” he said. “It’s a month now that the poor man has been held without a voice. But not only that: his family doesn’t know where he is. This is not a situation that’s acceptable in any circumstances.” Ai Weiwei Anish Kapoor China Sam Jones guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Sculptor wants museums and galleries to shut for a day over detained Chinese artist and dedicates Paris commission to him The sculptor Anish Kapoor has called on the world’s museums and galleries to close for a day in protest at the Chinese government’s continued detention of the artist Ai Weiwei . Ai was arrested by the Chinese police on 3 April in Beijing as he was about to board a flight for Hong Kong. The 53-year-old artist has been accused of “suspected economic crimes” by the government and has not been seen or heard from since his arrest . Kapoor – who has dedicated his installation at the Monumenta exhibition , which opens on Wednesday at Paris’s Grand Palais, to Ai – told BBC Radio 4′s Today programme that artists needed to look out for each other. “As a colleague – I don’t know him personally – I feel that as artists we have a communal voice and it’s important that we stick together, that we have a sense of solidarity with each other,” he said. “It would be nice to see the art world come together a little more. Perhaps all museums and galleries should be closed for a day across the world. I think some such campaign needs to form itself.” Kapoor said the Chinese state’s behaviour was reminiscent of the Soviet era, when “the voice of artists of different kinds was seen as being dangerous”. He added: “It does bear witness to the barbarity of governments that if they’re that paranoid they have to put away artists. It’s a ridiculous situation.” The sculptor added that if the Chinese authorities had a case against Ai, they should bring it as soon as possible. “Let’s get on with it then – let them accuse him of something,” he said. “It’s a month now that the poor man has been held without a voice. But not only that: his family doesn’t know where he is. This is not a situation that’s acceptable in any circumstances.” Ai Weiwei Anish Kapoor China Sam Jones guardian.co.uk
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• Blanc absolved of blame following government inquiry • ‘There is nothing to suggest he condones discrimination’ The France coach, Laurent Blanc, has been absolved of any blame following the controversy surrounding alleged plans to limit the presence of ethnic minority players in the national set-up. It was recently claimed that proposals were made at a meeting last November to restrict the numbers of black players and those of north African origin entering national training centres and academies at the age of 12. Blanc was said to have been present, along with the French Football Federation technical director, François Blaquart, the Under-21 coach, Erick Mombaerts, and the Under-20 coach, Francis Smerecki. The French sports minister, Chantal Jouanno, said: “Laurent Blanc was present for the first time at this type of meeting. He wasn’t organiser or pilot. He discovered the debate about quotas. “He offered no opinions, unlike other participants at the meeting who were prepared for this debate. There is nothing to suggest that Laurent Blanc condones discriminatory guidelines.” France France Race issues guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …• Blanc absolved of blame following government inquiry • ‘There is nothing to suggest he condones discrimination’ The France coach, Laurent Blanc, has been absolved of any blame following the controversy surrounding alleged plans to limit the presence of ethnic minority players in the national set-up. It was recently claimed that proposals were made at a meeting last November to restrict the numbers of black players and those of north African origin entering national training centres and academies at the age of 12. Blanc was said to have been present, along with the French Football Federation technical director, François Blaquart, the Under-21 coach, Erick Mombaerts, and the Under-20 coach, Francis Smerecki. The French sports minister, Chantal Jouanno, said: “Laurent Blanc was present for the first time at this type of meeting. He wasn’t organiser or pilot. He discovered the debate about quotas. “He offered no opinions, unlike other participants at the meeting who were prepared for this debate. There is nothing to suggest that Laurent Blanc condones discriminatory guidelines.” France France Race issues guardian.co.uk
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Earthquake, flood, conflict, and the Taliban have led the assault on education in Swat, a region of Pakistan with high literacy rates. A local NGO hopes that can recover, fast “I found out in the middle of the night that our school had been blown up by the Taliban. For two years, I could not got to school – my elder brother had to teach me at home,” says Salma, 17, who lives in the mountain village of Shinkat, in the Swat valley of Pakistan. For years, the former princely state, which only became a part of Pakistan in 1969, was a popular tourist destination. But it also had a literacy rate of 46%, which was much higher than the national average. Then the Taliban came to dominate life in the valley – and they shut down the hotels, started destroying schools and banned education for girls. There were 1,576 schools in Swat, many built during the years of Miangul Jahan Zeb, the last ruler of Swat – between 1949 and 1969. The Taliban blew up or damaged 401 of them, all between 2001 and 2009: “70% of them were girls’ schools. Then as the conflict … intensified they started destroying boys’ schools also. It was a terrible time. How can you build a nation without education?” says Ehsanullah Khan, a landowner and resident of Matta, the town that was at the heart of Taliban activities. He moved to Islamabad, the Pakistani capital, during the army’s May 2009 operation to flush out the militant extremist. Up to 2 million Swat residents were displaced by conflict. The military’s operation did not last very long; by July people began returning to their homes. But when Ehsanullah returned to Swat he found many of the crops destroyed and “the rice could not be sown. That is when I turned to the Sarhad Rural Support Programme [SRSP] for help.” Ehsanullah was already on the NGO’s board of directors and he made a request for immediate food aid for the region. The SRSP responded by sending supplies, coordinating its activities through a newly formed team based in Swat’s capital, Saidu Sharif. Zahid Khan has worked with the SRSP since the massive earthquake hit Pakistan in 2005 , claiming 79,000 lives, and was recruited as a regional programme manager for the Swat relief effort. “I wanted to address the heart of the problem. The children needed to resume normal life,” says Khan. “The children were being taught in tents, in temperatures exceeding 40C in the summer. The tents would not last through the winter so I convinced everyone that we must build them schools.” Prefabricated buildings had been erected quickly and cheaply during the post-earthquake construction. So, using donations from Pakistani businesses and people, the SRSP team quickly built seven pre-fab schools and rehabilitated four other damaged school buildings – in only three months, a record-fast time. Khan says the UK’s Department for International Development was so impressed with the SRSP’s work that it asked the NGO to build 100 more schools with UK aid. “I felt that was too many, so I agreed to make 40 first,” explains Khan. “We decided on a mix of primary and high schools: 32 girls’ schools and eight boys’ schools.” The Dfid funding had to be channeled through the Pakistani government’s Provincial Reconstruction, Rehabilitation and Settlement Authority (PaRRSA). PaRRSA, unfortunately, sat on the money for a year, convinced that it could use the UK funds more effectively by renting buildings for use as government schools. But then the massive floods hit the region in summer last year and hundreds of buildings, and yet more schools, were damaged or destroyed. Then, says Khan: “They finally approached us to make the pre-fab schools.” The work began in December and SRSP had completed 25 schools by April this year. “Dfid agreed to fund the furniture and books for the schools and they were very strict about their specifications for construction. The schools had to have proper toilets and piped water and electricity connections,” says Khan, adding: “I can say with some confidence that these Dfid schools will last at least 50 years.” In Shinkat , 17-year-old Salma’s village, the people didn’t leave during the government forces’ bloody conflict with the Taliban – witnesses to much of the destruction. So, when a government-run middle school for girls was completed recently , with Dfid aid – and with proper desks and a white board – it was reason to be cheerful. Work is also being completed on a primary school. The girls are celebrating with a poetry recitation, and other performances. Ehsanullah adds: “They are part of our psycho-social counselling to help the children overcome the trauma they have been through.” Before the Taliban’s domination of the valley was at its height, about three years ago, Swat had a literacy rate much higher than the national average. Now, the hope is for that to recover, fast. In Dfid’s new plan for Pakistan , following its mid-term review at the end of last month, aid to the education sector will increase from £25,000 in 2010/11 to about £277,000 for 2014/15. “We would like more of that money allocated to rebuilding schools in Swat. We can change the future of our children with these schools,” says Ehsanullah. “The people of Swat want to recover from the terror they faced and education is the only way to do this.” Safe in her new school, in Shinkat, Salma says proudly that she wants to become a doctor. She is one step closer to achieving that goal. Pakistan Aid Taliban Universal primary education Natural disasters and extreme weather The gender gap Rina Saeed Khan guardian.co.uk
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Original gates to be replaced with replicas in order to prevent further damage to them from sightseers to Liverpool The gates to Liverpool’s Strawberry Field have been removed to prevent any “further damage” being caused to them. The Salvation Army, which owns the site immortalised in a song by The Beatles, will replace the original gates with handcrafted replicas. It said the 100-year-old wrought iron gates to what was formerly the Strawberry Field Salvation Army Children’s Home in Woolton, a will be taken into storage for “safe keeping”. The replacements have been made by local specialist Jim Bennett and gifted to the charity. Major Ray Irving, director of social services for the Salvation Army, said: “Although care has been taken to ensure the original gates to the site have remained in good condition, inevitably time has taken its toll.” The condition of the original 10ft-high, 8ft-wide iron gates will be assessed while in safe storage, he said. Irving added: “When Mr Bennett got in touch with us in 2010 and explained that he was creating a set of replica gates as a project, we were very interested. “This means that the original gates can be kept safe from further deterioration and, with the replica gates in place, allow for an authentic experience for the many thousands of people who come on a musical pilgrimage to Strawberry Field. “We are very grateful to Mr Bennett for his work and for very generously allowing us to install the replica gates.” From 1936 and when John Lennon was a child, Strawberry Field was an imposing building, housing a large number of children who had been taken into care. It was Lennon’s memories of the site which were immortalised in the 1967 song Strawberry Fields Forever. The original building was demolished in the early 1970s to be replaced by a smaller purpose-built home which eventually closed in May 2005. The long-term future of Strawberry Field is still to be determined by the Salvation Army, which is looking into developing a centre for children and young people with learning disabilities. A Strawberry Field heritage centre is also being discussed. The Beatles John Lennon Liverpool Heritage guardian.co.uk
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Critics say proposal to let rich students pay premium fees to get places at top universities risks turning clock back to time when breeding mattered more than brains Ministers have been warned they risk turning the clock back to a time when “breeding not brains” mattered after ministers outlined proposals to allow teenagers from the wealthiest families to be able to pay for extra places at the most competitive universities. David Willetts, the universities minister, has argued the extra places will boost social mobility by freeing up more publicly subsidised places for undergraduates from poorer homes. The proposal was panned by both the Universities and College Union and the National Union of Students, who accused the government of “tossing out a poorly conceived policy idea” to mask the chaos it has created in university funding and the shortfall in finances that has created. Under current government plans, annual student numbers are capped to keep costs down, with English universities allowed to charge UK students a maximum annual fee of £9,000 from 2012, which graduates do not have to start paying until they are earning £21,000 a year. However, Willetts suggested universities could increase the numbers of British students by charging some the full annual fees of up to £28,000 a year for the most expensive courses, payable up front, who would not then require the support of the taxpayer. The changes would give more students the chance to attend their first choice university, a suggestion that many see as enabling the children of the wealthiest parents to buy their way in. At present, the government sets a quota of undergraduate places that English universities are allowed to offer each year. The move is being considered at a time when the government is cutting 10,000 publicly funded university places. The UCU general secretary, Sally Hunt, said: “Far from increasing social mobility, it is hard to see how this is anything other than the government entrenching privilege for the wealthy in response to its failing university fees policy. “We risk turning the clock back to a time when breeding rather than brains were required to get on in life. The news is particularly embarrassing for the Liberal Democrats as all their MPs pledged to vote, and campaign, against higher fees.” Hunt added: “Increasing fees for wealthy students to ensure them access to our most prestigious universities goes even further than their original breaking of the pledge and sends an extraordinary message to students from less wealthy backgrounds.” Employers and charities will also be encouraged to sponsor “off-quota” places under the plans to be outlined in a higher education white paper in the summer. Willetts told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme: “People are coming to us with innovative ideas about how you could liberalise the system so it was possible for extra people to get to university. These are people who we wish to go to university and who sadly are being turned away at the moment just because there aren’t enough places. “We would need to have a set of criteria, if this went ahead, that absolutely passed muster as improving social mobility. “I start from the view that, by and large, more people going to university is a good thing for social mobility. Anything that we did if this does go forward would have to pass the test of improving social mobility, not reversing it.” Aaron Porter, president of the National Union of Students (NUS), said the move would create a “two-tier system” in university education. “The government is yet again tossing out a poorly conceived policy idea in an attempt to disguise the chaos it has created in university funding and the shortfall in finances that has created,” he said. “This creates a two-tier system that allows the richest, less able applicants a second bite at the university cherry and denies low- and middle-income students the same opportunity. “Those students who can afford to pay higher, upfront fees will also avoid the interest rates and lifetime of debt that the rest of their cohort will have to consider when considering university.” Willetts denied suggestions that the scheme would allow less qualified applicants to get to a good university by the backdoor. “I don’t think that would be fair,” he told Today. “That’s why one of the crucial criteria would be that people have to have the same high academic standards.” The proposal is most likely to be taken up by highly selective institutions, which turn away thousands of qualified candidates a year. Oxford accepted slightly more than 3,000 British and EU undergraduates out of about 17,000 who applied for the current academic year. That demand is due to intensify as the latest application figures show the number of candidates for this autumn has risen by 2.1% to about 633,000 – another record high. The places may not be covered by access agreements, under which universities are required to outline how they will improve their proportion of students from state schools and deprived backgrounds. Under one version of the scheme, universities might operate a “needs-blind” admissions process, which assesses all candidates regardless of their ability to pay, but then offers places off-quota to candidates from the most privileged homes. The expansion of places will put greater pressure on less popular universities. Ministers have warned that undersubscribed institutions could have government-funded places withdrawn. In a speech last month, the business secretary, Vince Cable, said: “Institutions could very well find themselves in trouble if students can’t see value. In circumstances where places are unfilled, we might withdraw those places, and institutions should not assume they will easily get them back.” This is more likely to happen if more sought-after universities are free to expand in response to student demand. The government is also keen to encourage more corporate sponsorship of university places. The accountancy firm KPMG has unveiled a plan to pay fees for students at universities including Durham, in a training programme leading to an honours degree in accounting. These students also fall outside government restrictions on numbers, chiefly because they are on bespoke courses reserved for one firm’s employees. They do not need financial support as KPMG covers their fees and pays them a salary. The current version of the scheme is, in effect, an outsourcing of corporate training, but the range of education on offer could become more diverse in future. Tuition fees University funding Higher education Students Education policy David Willetts Hélène Mulholland Jeevan Vasagar guardian.co.uk
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