Other UK News In Brief

Further WikiLeaks Released

New documents have been released by whistle-blowing website Wikileaks. The leaked cables are threatening to fuel instability on the Korean Peninsula. The headline-grabbing site also highlights North Korea's closest ally, China, becoming increasingly frustrated with Pyongyang, with suggestions that Beijing officials think Korea should be reunified under Seoul's control. Other revelations focus on Prince Andrew, who apparently launched an outburst against British anti-corruption investigators and journalists for interrupting lucrative trade deals.

Shropshire Health Trust Fined Over Patient Death

An 89-year-old man died after hospital staff left him with only one rail on his bed to prevent him from falling out. Pensioner Francis Steele, Dilton Priors, near Bridgnorth, died two weeks after falling from his bed at Telford's Princess Royal Hospital on 21 November 2007. Shrewsbury & Telford Hospital NHS Trust was today fined £50,000 after admitting to health and safety breaches which led to the incident. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuted the Trust after an investigation found the hospital had failed to provide Mr Steele with a bed rail that would have prevented the fall. Shrewsbury Crown Court heard how a Senior Nurse decided that Mr Steele, described as very frail, needed bed rails but staff could only find one. Nobody made any further attempts to find another rail and the following day the elderly man was fatally injured when he fell from the open side of the bed. The court was told that hospital staff did not know where to find the rails as there was no system of storage and heard evidence that staff were unable to look for another rail later in the shift as the ward was grossly understaffed. Shrewsbury & Telford Hospital NHS Trust, Shrewsbury, pleaded guilty to breaching Health and Safety regulations. In addition to the fine it was ordered to pay £8,476 costs.

Reporting Greenhouse Gas Emissions Benefits Business

New research has found that British businesses voluntarily reporting their greenhouse gas emissions experience benefits such as cost savings, improved green credentials, and better relations with investors and customers. Research found that businesses who measured their emissions were using the results to set targets for reduction and also in a much broader context to influence wider business plans. Businesses who participated in the research said that the emission reports triggered board level interest in environmental issues and drove environmental behaviour change across the organisation, which had beneficial results for the company. Emission reports were found to have a particularly important part to play in communications to investors by helping to demonstrate the businesses’ environmental credentials and encourage investment. Defra today published a report summarising this research to help inform future plans for emission reporting. The report includes a review of Defra commissioned research by PricewaterhouseCoopers and the Carbon Disclosure Project which found that over half of companies interviewed during the research believed that the GHG reporting led to a net benefit to their business. It helped strengthen their brand in the eyes of investors by providing them with quantifiable data on climate change risks and performance with which to make investment decisions. This report will help inform the Government’s decision on whether to make GHG reporting mandatory. An announcement on how the Government intends to proceed will be made in early 2011. Defra has also published today a total carbon footprint of UK central Government from 1990 to 2008. This includes the emissions from sources such as buildings, vehicles and other equipment. For the first time, it also includes the ‘embedded emissions’ of the goods and services bought by Government.

(BMcN/GK)