COMMENT
Comment
BUSINESS INFORMATION FOR LOCAL AND CENTRAL GOVERNMENT – www.governmentbusiness.co.uk
PICKLES: MIND YOUR (ENGLISH) LANGUAGE Community Secretary Eric Pickles latest announcement reveals that six projects across England have been awarded £6m in government funding to teach English to the public using ‘non-conventional’ methods. The projects aim to reach 24,000 non-English speakers in priority areas across London, the Midlands and the North. According to the 2011 Census, 1.7 per cent of the population cannot speak English, which can rise to as much as nine per cent in some parts of London. Back in March, Pickles told local authorities they should encourage speaking English by not translating documents into foreign languages (presumably, saving hefty amounts of cash in the process). In this latest spend announcement, advertised in his column for the Telegraph, Pickles stated: “Have you ever tried out your rusty GCSE French in a little provincial French café? You pluck up the courage to order your croque monsieur in your best accent, only to feel scowled at by the impatient waiter, who has another six tourists to serve. If you’ve ever felt a tiny bit of that embarrassment, then you will understand what it’s like for immigrants in the UK.” The competition asked entrants to design sustainable projects (meaning that after the funding runs out, they need to pay for themselves) to improve the way language is taught. However, Guy Taylor, from the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants, said: “Outdated approaches can be improved but replacing traditional language‑teaching with unestablished projects could be a superficial solution.” In technology, 183 firms have been named on the latest Government framework, through which £40m is expected to be spent over a nine month period. 84 per cent of the companies are SMEs – both the GCloud (version 4 of which is now online) and the new Digital Services Framework represent efforts from the government to move away from a reliance on large suppliers for IT. Read more on page 75. Danny Wright
P ONLINE P IN PRINT P MOBILE P FACE TO FACE If you would like to receive 6 issues of Government Business magazine for £120 a year, please contact Public Sector Information, 226 High Road, Loughton, Essex IG10 1ET. Tel: 020 8532 0055, Fax: 020 8532 0066, or visit the Government Business website at:
Business Information for Local and Central Government
www.governmenttbusiness.co.uk | www.governmenttechnology.co.uk PUBLISHED BY PUBLIC SECTOR INFORMATION LIMITED
226 High Rd, Loughton, Essex IG10 1ET. Tel: 020 8532 0055 Fax: 020 8532 0066 Web: www.psi-media.co.uk EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Danny Wright ACTING EDITOR Angela Pisanu PRODUCTION EDITOR Richard Gooding PRODUCTION CONTROL Jacqueline Lawford, Jo Golding WEB PRODUCTION Reiss Malone ADVERTISEMENT SALES Julie Holbrook, Bernie Miller, Steve Day, David Morgan PUBLISHER Kelly Scott ADMINISTRATION Victoria Leftwich, Charlotte Cassar REPRODUCTION & PRINT Argent Media
© 2013 Public Sector Information Limited. No part of this publication can be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any other means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the publisher. Whilst every care has been taken to ensure the accuracy of the editorial content the publisher cannot be held responsible for errors or omissions. The views expressed are not necessarily those of the publisher. ISSN 1362 - 2541
Volume 20.6 | GOVERNMENT BUSINESS MAGAZINE
3