Leaked Queen's Speech shows coalition plans 21 new bills

The coalition government plans to introduce some 21 parliamentary bills over the next 18 months, according to reports of an alleged leak of the Queen's Speech.

The monarch's address will be read at the State Opening of Parliament on Tuesday but a purported draft of the document has been obtained by both the Sunday Mirror and Sunday Telegraph newspapers.

The speech is said to include new measures regarding voting reform, education and the welfare system.

The coalition government will bring in legislation to allow more schools to become academies - a key Conservative manifesto pledge - as well as the expected scrapping of national ID cards.

The Sunday Telegraph reports the speech has central themes of "freedom, fairness and responsibility" and includes a number of policy initiatives pushed for by the Liberal Democrats in turn for entering into a coalition with the Tories.

The new government's first priority will be to "reduce the deficit and restore economic growth" and to "accelerate the reduction of the structural budget deficit" while other bills listed include an Energy Security and Green Economy Bill, a Police Reform and Social Responsibility Bill and a new Health Bill.

Writing in the News of the World, prime minister David Cameron confirmed the first piece of legislation from his new government would be the Education and Children's Bill.

Mr Cameron said the bill will "increase freedoms for academies, give schools greater say in setting the curriculum and give parents the power to take over failing schools".

"Too many of the poorest children are stuck in chaotic classrooms in bad schools," he added.

"So we'll give teachers more power over discipline and bring in a pupil premium - extra funding for the poorest children so they go to the best schools, not the worst."

Speaking to Sky News, former Labour cabinet office minister Tom Watson said the leaking of the Queen's Speech was "a huge embarrassment for Parliament and the Palace".

"David Cameron has said on many occasions in the past that Parliament should be the first to know Government announcements," Mr Watson added.

"I know he will want to practice what he preaches by ensuring this never happens again. There should be an immediate leak inquiry."

NEWS BY:http://www.uknetguide.co.uk

London Metropolitan University faces £6m over-recruitment fine

A London university is facing a fine of just under £6m for over-recruiting UK undergraduates this year.

London Metropolitan University says it recruited 1,500 more students than it should have done, partly because of the rush for places last summer.

It received a letter from England's higher education funding body Hefce this week saying it would be fined £5.9m.

That is more than twice the highest fine imposed last year.

The magazine Times Higher Education is reporting that some believe as many as 25,000 students will have been over-recruited in this way, meaning there could be record fines this year.

Universities in England have to pay roughly £3,700 for each student they take above a set number they have been told they can take.

Last year Hefce imposed fines of just over £8.5m in total.

The largest (£2.2m) was against South Bank University, also in London.

This year's fines will be published by Hefce at the end of March.
'Take it on the chin'

London Metropolitan's Vice Chancellor Malcolm Gillies wrote to staff this week to explain what had happened.

He said London Met was one of "many" English universities which had unintentionally over-recruited during a rush for places ahead of the increase in tuition fees for many students in the UK.

The university had been seeking to fill up half of its places through Clearing - the system which matches vacant university places to applicants who generally either apply late or do not get the grades they need for their first choices.

Prof Gillies said: "Because of the volatility of admissions in 2011-12 during Clearing, many English universities unintentionally over-recruited.

"Universities have an obligation to accept students in particular categories. We have always been a big university for Clearing and we are proud of that, of giving an opportunity to students," he told the BBC News website.

"There was a large rush through the gate at the last minute. But we greatly exceeded our number so we have to take it on the chin and recognise that we have an obligation to reach our target and we will have to revise our system."

Prof Gillies said that because the university would receive tuition fees [more than £3,000 a year this academic year] from the extra students it had taken on, this would offset much of the fine.

The net cost of taking on the students would be £700,000 he said.

The government has said over-recruitment is putting extra unexpected pressure on its finances, because of the cost of supporting students with tuition fee loans and bursaries.
UK picture

From this autumn, students from England attending universities in any part of the UK will pay tuition fees up to a maximum of £9,000 a year.

The government has been encouraging universities to charge fees of less than £7,500 by offering extra places to those which do.

Fees at London Met range from £4,500 to £9,000 a year, with an average of £6,850.

Students from Scotland who study at universities in other parts of the UK will also pay fees at this level, although Scottish students who stay in Scotland will continue to pay no fees.

Students from Wales will be subsidised by the Welsh government wherever they study in the UK and will pay no more than the present level of fees.

Fees for students from Northern Ireland who stay there to study are being frozen at present levels, but those who study in other parts of the UK will pay fees of up to £9,000 a year.

NEWS BY:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-17067132

British firms eye Oman's health, education sectors

Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OCCI) as well as Oman Centre for Investment Promotion and Export Development (OCIPED) and firms from the oil and gas sector.

With London and the UK's south east region contributing the majority of the UK's £500mn trade with Oman, the region is looking to consolidate Britain's place as the No 1 investor in Oman, said Dermot Shean, trade adviser with UK Trade and Investment South East.

Although retaining its traditional focus on the defence and oil and gas sectors, Shean told Muscat Daily that UK companies are looking at expanding into a range of other sectors including ports, infrastructure, healthcare and education.

Throughout the visit, the delegation held a series of one-on-one meetings with Omani counterparts at the OCCI as well as visits to a host of government departments, from which many delegates left with genuine interest, said UK Trade and Investment international trade adviser Carolyn Bentley.

"After the meeting at the OCCI, where each company had a table, some of them made some very useful contacts and are going on to further meetings this week while they are here."

NEWS BY:http://www.muscatdaily.com/Archive/Stories-Files/British-firms-eye-Oman-s-health-education-sectors