In Focus

850,000 penalties for late tax returns will be issued over the next fortnight, 550,000 fewer than the same time last year, HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) announced today.

Patients are already benefitting from GPs starting to take a lead in designing local health services and a renewed focus on health outcomes.

Business Secretary Vince Cable and Universities Minister David Willetts today announced the appointment of Professor Les Ebdon as the next Director of Fair Access to Higher Education.

Nearly 3,000 women who have PiP breast implants have been forced to get help from the NHS because their private clinics have failed to help, according to new figures published today by the Department of Health.

A spokesperson for the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills said:

“We are pleased the Court rejected outright the suggestion that our student finance reforms breach students’ human rights.

Rail passengers and other interested groups in Essex are being asked for their views on how train services could be improved, Rail Minister Theresa Villiers announced today.

The following statistics were released today by the Department of Health:

In January, the Government accepted the Future Forum’s recommendation for a review of the balance between protecting patient information and its sharing, to improve patient care. Dame Fiona Caldicott has agreed to lead this review.

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the global standard-setter in the fight against money laundering and the financing of terrorism, has today agreed a new set of standards aimed at combating the global threat of money laundering, terrorist financing and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. The UK supports these new standards and the need for FATF and its member countries to promote their implementation.

Four new lenders have been accredited to offer loans to small businesses under the Enterprise Finance Guarantee (EFG) scheme, the Government announced today.

The following statistics were released today by the Department of Health:

Main Points

Main Points

• Main Points - December 2011

The Highways Agency is calling on road users to help tackle roadside litter on England’s motorways and major A roads.

IPMR statistics were released today by the Department of Health:

Eight of the UK’s most promising leaders in medical health research will be awarded a National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) professorship, the Government announced today.

Edward Davenport, a fraudster convicted last year as the mastermind behind a high-profile advance fee scam and disqualified from being a director, has lost his legal appeal against the disqualification following opposition from the Insolvency Service.

Patients continue to report improvements in aspects of care that matter most to them, and 84 per cent of patients rated their experience as excellent or very good, according to the results of the 2011 Patient Experience Outpatient Survey.

Skills Minister John Hayes today announced that social entrepreneur and jeweller Jason Holt will head-up an employer-led review examining what more can be done to help SMEs take on apprentices.

Electricians around the country will start receiving letters this month from HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) warning them to pay any undisclosed taxes.

An innovative online training tool has been launched to help get thousands of experienced business people mentoring small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs).

The following statistics were released today by the Department of Health:

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The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) today was subject to a formal Crown Censure from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) after the death of a prisoner at HMP Bullingdon in Bicester, Oxfordshire.