'There Is No Amnesty', Says Green

The Immigration Minister has today said that although the system the government inherited was 'chaotic,' there will be no amnesty for asylum seekers in the UK. His comments follow criticisms by the Home Affairs Committee which observes that such a large proportion of asylum seekers have had their applications approved that it amounts to 'an amnesty'. Immigration Minister Damian Green said: “We have known for some time that the asylum system we inherited was chaotic. Some of these cases date back more than a decade and the UK Border Agency was always clear that because of the length of time many of these individuals have been in the country there would be no alternative to granting them leave to remain. There is no amnesty.” The Home Affairs Committee report is the second in a series by the group of MPs and looks at a range of work by the UK Border Agency. Responding to its broader conclusions, the minister said that the immigration system is being 'overhauled'. He added: “We are already radically reforming the points-based system and other routes of entry that have been subject to widespread abuse and will re-introduce exit checks by 2015. We are making greater use of intelligence to remove people with no right to be here and are concluding individual cases faster.”

Local TV Plans Move Forward

Local TV in the UK came one step closer to being a reality today as Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt said that a series of individual stations could be more feasible and faster to deliver. “The Government is committed to localism – putting power in the hands of citizens and neighbourhoods,” said Mr Hunt. “Local TV will be a key part of that, giving people the local news and content they want and helping local democracy to flourish.” Also published today is a summary of the 140 responses to the Local Media Action Plan Consultation which looked at local TV proposals. One of the key issues in the consultation was the model for delivery – a national ‘spine’ or individually licensed stations. In parallel with the consultation, ministers have also been looking at issues on technical capacity, feasibility, implementation, costs and the overall timetable. “The consultation showed that there is incredibly strong support for the principle of truly local TV. I have been particularly struck by the large number of local groups, particularly outside of London, who are keen to deliver this for their own communities. I have also met local community groups and media organisations up and down the country and have been impressed at their enthusiasm for delivering their own local TV,” Mr Hunt added. As a result of this consideration and the consultation responses, the Culture Secretary is now considering a ‘bottom up’ approach of individual licensed stations rather than a centralised ‘top-down’ approach, although he has not yet taken a final decision.

Is It Time For A LifeCheck?

Getting personalised health information, whether to address specific concerns or just see how you are faring, can be tricky. But from today, it will be much easier to check how healthy you are using a free, revamped tool on the NHS Choices website.The LifeCheck tool asks you a small number of questions about your age and lifestyle which generates an individual health profile and health tips tailored to your needs. You are then encouraged to set achievable goals to improve your health and wellbeing. LifeCheck is being relaunched following changes to make it more user-friendly. Three existing tools, Baby LifeCheck (5-8 months), Teen LifeCheck (12-15 years) and Mid-LifeCheck (over 40s) have been combined and extended so that LifeCheck now covers all age groups from newborns to grandparents. The Department of Health will be making the LifeCheck tool available to the 194 organisations signed up to the Public Health Responsibility Deal, an initiative launched recently to promote public health and well-being, as well as to its own staff and those in other Government departments.

(BMcN/GK)