Gender Row Devides Church

The Church of England's governing body is meeting to try to find a way to introduce women bishops without driving Anglicans apart. There is also a growing row over a decision to block the appointment of a gay cleric as Bishop of Southwark. The General Synod will discuss plans aimed at giving traditionalists enough exemptions from serving under a woman, even though liberals have said they will not accept any measure that dilutes women bishops' authority.

Festival Of Mud

Organisers of a weekend music festival in Scotland have said that about 30,000 campers have already pitched-up at Balado as the advance guard of tens of thousands of revellers. However, they are all being warned to brace themselves for a wet weekend at the T in the Park festival at Balado in Perth and Kinross. Heavy rain is forecast for the three-day event, which is expected to attract up to 85,000 music fans a day. More than 100 acts are appearing at the festival, which is being headlined by rockers Muse, US rap artist Eminem and Kasabian. Scottish favourites The Proclaimers, US group Black Eyed Peas and Madness are also on the bill over the weekend.

Unions Recognised

The Central Arbitration Committee (CAC) has received its 700th trade union recognition application during the past year. Up to 31 March, the CAC received 42 applications for recognition under Part I of the Schedule and the total number of applications since June 2000 reached 714. In addition, the Information and Consultation of Employees Regulations 2004 provided an increased workload this year with ten complaints being made. The CAC issued eight decisions during the year and there was also a judgment from the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) upholding a previous CAC decision. The CAC has maintained a high standard of service delivery with 83% of customers expressing satisfaction. The average time for a recognition case from inception to conclusion was 20 weeks, which is slightly less than in the previous year.

(BMcC/KMcA)