Chapter 9
Democracy: Power devolved,
citizens empowered
Forward to reform and
decentralisation not back to
opportunism and neglect
1979-1997: Power centralised to Whitehall
1997-2005: Power devolved to Scotland,
Wales, London
2010: Stronger local government, with
local communities able to make
the key decisions about their
own neighbourhoods
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In our first two terms we enshrined a new constitutional settlement
between the nations of the United Kingdom. In our
next term we will complete the reform of the House of Lords
so that it is a modern and effective revising Chamber.And we
will devolve more power to local authorities and local communities,
giving people real power over the issues that matter
most to them.
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The new Labour case
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Widening access to power is as important as widening access to wealth
and opportunity. National standards are important to ensure fairness.
But the best way to tackle exclusion is to give choice and power to
those left behind. Our political institutions – including our own party –
must engage a population overloaded with information, diverse in its
values and lifestyles, and sceptical of power. However, people are passionate
about politics – when they see it affects them. So our challenge
is to bridge the chasm between government and governed. Our third
term will build upon our unprecedented programme of constitutional
reform embedding a culture of devolved government at the centre and
self-government in our communities.
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Building from the neighbourhood up
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People want a sense of control over their own neighbourhood. Not a
new tier of neighbourhood government, but new powers over the
problems that confront them when they step outside their front door –
issues like litter, graffiti and anti-social behaviour.That is why we will
offer neighbourhoods a range of powers from which they can choose,
including:
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* New powers for parish councils to deal with anti-social behaviour.
* Powers for local people to trigger action in response to persistent local
problems.
* Community funds for local neighbourhoods to spend on local priorities.
* New opportunities for communities to assume greater responsibility or
even ownership of community assets like village halls,community centres,
libraries or recreational facilities.
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Good parish councils engage communities and make a real difference,
so we will extend the right to establish parish councils to communities
in London.
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A vibrant civil society
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We believe that enterprises in the mutual and cooperative sector have
an important role to play in the provision of local services, from health
to education, from leisure to care for the vulnerable. As democratic,
not-for-profit organisations, they can help to involve local people in
shaping the services they want, unleash creativity and innovation, create
jobs and provide new services – especially in neighbourhoods
where traditional services have failed local people in the past.
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We have introduced a new legal form – the Community Interest
Company (CIC) – and want to support new enterprises. As a major
stimulus to this sector, central government and local authorities will
work with these ‘social enterprises’ wherever possible.Where services
can be provided by mutuals, cooperatives or CICs to the required standards
of quality and value for money, they should be positively encouraged
to develop and be included in procurement policies.We will
discuss with local authorities the best way to achieve this.
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In a range of services the voluntary and community sector has shown
itself to be innovative, efficient and effective. Its potential for service
delivery should be considered on equal terms.We will continue to
improve the context in which the gifting of time and resources to the
voluntary sector takes place.We will reintroduce the widely supported
reforms in the Charities Bill.
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We understand that often the spark for local innovation and change
comes from one or two dedicated, visionary individuals.These people,
sometimes dubbed ‘social entrepreneurs’, deserve our full support.
We will develop a framework of incentives and rewards, to recognise
the special people in every community whose voluntary efforts transform
the lives of others.
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A better alternative for young people
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We know that parents and young people think that there should be
more things to do and places to go for teenagers.We will publish plans
to reform provision in order to ensure that all young people have access
to a wider set of activities after the school day such as sport and the
arts.We are determined that better provision will be allied to a stronger
voice for the young themselves in designing and managing local provision.
We will establish the first ever national framework for youth volunteering,
action and engagement – a modern national youth
community service, led by young people themselves – with an investment
over the next three years of up to £100 million with matched
funding from business, the voluntary sector and the Lottery.
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Councils: more freedom, less bureaucracy
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Strong communities ultimately require strong local government.We
will give councils further freedoms to deliver better local services, subject
to minimum national standards, with even greater freedoms for
top-performing councils.We will reduce unnecessary bureaucracy by
cutting both the cost of inspection and the total number of inspectorates,
and we will dramatically simplify the many funding streams
available to local areas through new Local Area Agreements.We will
also give councils greater stability by providing three-year funding.We
will continue to deliver efficiency savings and improvements to local
services through joint procurement, shared services, streamlining
administrative structures while promoting decision-making at the
level that will make a difference.We will continue to strengthen the
community leadership role of local authorities working in partnership
with public, voluntary and private bodies.
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Stronger leadership
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Strong local government requires strong leadership.We will ensure
that councils are organised in the most effective way to lead and support
local partnerships and deliver high-quality services.We will
explore giving people a more direct opportunity to express a view
about whether they would like to have a directly elected mayor.We will
also consult with city councils on the powers needed for a new generation
of city mayors. And we will examine the case for simplifying the
current local government election cycle by moving towards ‘whole
council’ elections every four years.
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Council tax under control
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Labour recognises the concerns that have been raised about the level
of council tax. This year we have delivered the lowest council tax
increase in over a decade through a combination of extra investment
and tough action to cap excessive increases.
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We will continue to invest in local services with year-on-year increases
in grants to local councils, and will not hesitate to use our capping
powers to protect council taxpayers from excessive rises in council tax.
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We remain concerned that many council taxpayers are not claiming
reductions in their council tax bills to which they are already entitled.
We will therefore introduce measures to make it easier for pensioners
and people on low incomes to claim Council Tax Benefit.
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In the longer term,we are committed to reforming council tax and will
consider carefully the conclusions of the Lyons Review into local government
finance.
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The nations and regions of the UK
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In our first term, we devolved power to Scotland and Wales and
restored city-wide government to London. Britain is stronger as a
result. In the next Parliament, we will decentralise power further. In
Wales we will develop democratic devolution by creating a stronger
Assembly with enhanced legislative powers and a reformed structure
and electoral system to make the exercise of Assembly responsibilities
clearer and more accountable to the public.We will also review the
powers of the London Mayor and the Greater London Authority. And
we will devolve further responsibility to existing regional bodies in
relation to planning, housing, economic development and transport.
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Northern Ireland
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The Belfast Agreement on Good Friday 1998, was a remarkable
achievement. Life in Northern Ireland is immeasurably better as a
result. A huge programme of reform in policing, justice and rights,
together with the lowest ever unemployment has helped address the
inequalities of the past and has created a new confidence.
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It is unacceptable that seven years after the agreement there are still
paramilitary groups involved in criminality and punishment attacks.
This has to end.The period of transition is over. Unionist politicians
have made it clear that they are prepared to share power with nationalists
and republicans if violence is ended once and for all. It is time for
all groups in Northern Ireland to make it clear they will only use democratic
and peaceful means to advance their aims.
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We will work tirelessly with the parties in Northern Ireland and with
the Irish government to re-establish the devolved institutions. But this
can only happen on an inclusive basis if the IRA ends paramilitarism
and criminality for good and decommissions its weapons. Bringing
this about so that normal politics can take over in the Province will be
our principal aim.
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Loyalist paramilitary violence and criminality is equally intolerable.We
will ensure that it is dealt with severely while providing the assistance
necessary to Loyalist communities to ensure that prosperity is spread
throughout Northern Ireland.
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Parliamentary reform
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Labour has already taken steps to make the House of Commons more
representative, through all-women shortlists. Labour will also continue
to support reforms that improve parliamentary accountability and
scrutiny led by the successful Modernisation Committee.
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In our first term, we ended the absurdity of a House of Lords dominated
by hereditary peers. Labour believes that a reformed Upper
Chamber must be effective, legitimate and more representative without
challenging the primacy of the House of Commons.
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Following a review conducted by a committee of both Houses,we will
seek agreement on codifying the key conventions of the Lords, and
developing alternative forms of scrutiny that complement rather than
replicate those of the Commons; the review should also explore how
the upper chamber might offer a better route for public engagement in
scrutiny and policy-making.We will legislate to place reasonable limits
on the time bills spend in the second chamber – no longer than 60 sitting
days for most bills.
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As part of the process of modernisation,we will remove the remaining
hereditary peers and allow a free vote on the composition of the
House.
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Labour remains committed to reviewing the experience of the new
electoral systems – introduced for the devolved administrations, the
European Parliament and the London Assembly. A referendum
remains the right way to agree any change for Westminster.
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Having been the first government to take action to clean up the funding
of political parties, we will continue to work with the independent
Electoral Commission to explore how best to support the vital democratic
role of political parties while recognising that campaigning activity
must always be funded by parties from their own resources.
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Since 1997 there has been a flowering of innovative forms of public
engagement, for example, the Citizens Council used by the National
Institute for Clinical Excellence to advise on ethical dilemmas.With
the growing importance of new public policy issues and dilemmas –
particularly those arising from scientific advances – we will continue to
explore new and innovative forms of public engagement raising their
profile and status in policy-making.
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A voice for all
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A fully democratic society depends on giving everyone a voice and
stake. Only Labour governments have ever introduced race relations
legislation, and laws passed in 2000 are ensuring that all public bodies
promote diversity and tackle discrimination against black and Asian
Britons.We will continue to promote civil rights for disabled people,
ensuring full implementation of the new positive duty on the public
sector to promote equality of opportunity for disabled people.We will
also introduce a similar duty to promote equality of opportunity
between women and men, and will further extend protection against
discrimination on the grounds of religion and belief.We are committed
to improving the rights and opportunities of gays and lesbians,
that’s why we brought in legislation on civil partnerships, reducing the
age of consent, repealed Section 28 and reformed the sexual offences
legislation so that it was no longer discriminatory.
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It remains our firm and clear intention to give people of all faiths the
same protection against incitement to hatred on the basis of their religion.
We will legislate to outlaw it and will continue the dialogue we
have started with faith groups from all backgrounds about how best to
balance protection, tolerance and free speech.
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We are proud to have brought in the Human Rights Act, enabling
British citizens to take action in British courts rather than having to
wait years to seek redress in Strasbourg. But rights must be balanced
by responsibilities. So we will continue to bear down on abusive or
frivolous claims.
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In the next Parliament we will establish a Commission on Equality and
Human Rights to promote equality for all and, tackle discrimination,
and introduce a Single Equality Act to modernise and simplify
equality legislation.
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The choice for 2010
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The Tories have only one policy on democratic reform – opportunism.
Arch centralisers when in office, they now claim to be
localists.Having refused for decades to accept any reform of the
archaic House of Lords, some of them now claim to support
a fully elected House.The choice is forward with new Labour to
modern institutions and more power than ever devolved to
communities and successful local authorities. Or back with
the Tories to a government indifferent to the health of our
democracy and negligent of our institutions.
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Chapter 8
Quality of life: Excellence for all
Forward to Olympic gold, not back
to cuts in sport and culture
1992-1997: Arts spending cut by 13 per cent
in real terms
2005: Free entry to national museums, and
visits up 75 per cent
2012: An Olympic legacy for Britain
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Arts, culture and sport are thriving around Britain – enriching
individual lives and transforming communities, towns and
cities.They are important in their own right – as nourishment
for our imagination or a source of plain enjoyment and our
local environment should be a source of pride.We will work to
improve the quality of life of every community in Britain.
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The new Labour case
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We believe in the inherent value of arts, culture and sport. Our towns
and cities are being energised by sports and culture and as they are
regenerated the quality of life for all is transformed.As we build on this
change, our progressive challenge is to broaden participation as widely
as possible, making the links between sport and health, and culture and
well-being.We must combine the broadest base of participation with
the ability for the most talented to progress to the very top. Our third
term will embed the expectation that every child and every adult have
the maximum chance to develop their creative or sporting talents.
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Creative cities
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Art and culture are valuable for their own sake; they are also crucial to
our national prosperity. Britain’s cultural industries now make up over
eight per cent of our national income; and from computer games to
the fine arts, British talent is gaining global recognition and generating
real wealth. This is one of the fastest growing and fastest changing
areas of the economy. And the transformation of our great cities is, in
great part, a story of culture-led regeneration.We are proud of the
record of Labour-led councils in leading this transformation, from
Gateshead to Greenwich.
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To help young talent get the right start we will work to establish
Creative Apprenticeships. Through the National Endowment for
Science, Technology and the Arts (NESTA) we are funding the
Creative Pioneer Academy which will develop the entrepreneurial
skills of recent graduates with outstanding talents and original business
ideas – and for some there will be the offer of up to £35,000 to
start their own business.
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From 2006 we will provide £12 million over two years to the Arts
Council England to promote leadership and management in the cultural
sector.We want to invest in high-flyers developing commercial
and business skills, encourage the talents of leading ethnic minority
figures and improve the links between arts and business.
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Arts, culture and museums
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Since 1997 we have increased funding for the arts by 73 per cent in
real terms.We will continue to support our finest artists and institutions
to achieve world-class standards.
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Thanks to our policy of free admissions the number of people visiting
formerly charging national museums and galleries has risen by 75 per
cent over three years. Many are first-time visitors, with the biggest
increases among children.
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Victorian City leaders left us a legacy of great local and regional museums,
and through our investment programme ‘Renaissance in the
Regions’,we are re-creating them as centres of excellence. By 2008 we
will have invested £147 million in partnerships across the country,
modernising museum collections, broadening access to new audiences
and providing a comprehensive service to schools.We will explore further
ways to encourage philanthropy to boost the quality of our public
art collections.
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We will legislate, as soon as time allows, to implement the findings of
the Heritage Protection Review, which allows the public a greater say
in listing decisions.
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Creative Sparks
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Our aim is that everyone should have the opportunity to participate in
cultural life, and we want that involvement to start as early as possible.
Creative Partnerships, our programme of support for art in schools in
our most disadvantaged areas, has already reached over 150,000 children.
We will build on this approach by rolling out our new programme
Creative Sparks to guarantee that all children and young people will be
given the chance to experience the very best of culture every year.
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Sport for all
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Our aim is to increase participation in sport year on year. Central to
this is having modern, high-quality facilities close to where people live.
£1.5 billion is being invested in sports facilities in every community.
By 2008 our aim is that almost everyone will be within 20 minutes of a
good multi-sport facility.
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Grassroots clubs are the lifeblood of sports in Britain, and week in,
week out, they are sustained by an army of volunteers. Reform of Sport
England will continue, to reduce overheads and ensure that more
money reaches the grassroots.We have put sports clubs at the forefront
of our investment plans with the £100 million Community Club
Development Scheme and mandatory rate relief at 80 per cent for registered
Community Amateur Sports Clubs already worth about £5
million.As we review the operation of the new licensing regime we will
ensure that there is not an unfair burden on local community groups,
including sports clubs.
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Investment in school sports will ensure that by 2010 all children will
receive two hours high-quality PE or sport per week. Building on that,
we pledge that by 2010 every child who wants it will have access to a
further two to three hours sport per week.
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Every child should have the chance to compete at school.We have
clamped down on the sale of playing fields: 96 per cent of schools in
School Sport Partnerships now hold at least one sports day or sports
festival each year. All secondary schools will be expected to field teams
in regular competitive fixtures.We will also establish individual and
team rankings in all the main sports, with clear and transparent success
criteria.
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Sport in the community
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To make it easier to get access to sports in your local area we will establish
Sport Direct – a single point of access for sports in the UK. One
website and one phone number will help you find out what’s going on
in your area.Together with £155 million from the Big Lottery Fund,
the Government will ensure that children who have had little access to
play facilities and those with a disability have much better access to
safe, modern playgrounds.
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Building on the lessons of the Football Foundation, we will develop a
National Sports Foundation to bring resources from the private and
voluntary sectors together with public money to invest in grassroots
sporting facilities.We will work with the Premier League and the FA to
find innovative ways of assisting community sport, including
Supporters Direct.Having passed the necessary legislation,we remain
committed to completing the sale of the Tote to a Racing Trust.
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The Olympics
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Britain’s medal hauls at the Sydney Olympics in 2000 and in Athens in
2004 were the best for over 80 years, and we maintained our position
as one of the leading nations in the Paralympics.Now we are supporting
the bid to bring the Olympics to London in 2012. Our plans would
bring regeneration to the East End of London and will leave lasting
sporting, economic and cultural legacies. As we approach the
Olympics we will continue to invest in elite athletes through the
Talented Athlete Scholarship Scheme for young athletes. In addition
we have launched 2012 Scholarships worth around £10,000 a year
each for our most talented 12- to 18-year-olds.
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Libraries in the information age
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Where they offer new services like childcare, after-school education
for pupils, and IT learning our libraries are successful.We will develop
a strategy for the modernisation of our libraries which builds on the
best, strengthens library leadership, sharpens customer focus and harnesses
local popular support.We will encourage further cooperation in
back-office functions and identify the best ways to improve our library
infrastructure.
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Public service broadcasting and the BBC
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We support a strong, independent and world-class BBC with clearly
defined public purposes at the heart of a healthy public broadcasting
system.We will replace the BBC Governors with a BBC Trust to
ensure that the BBC’s governance and regulation is accountable to the
licence-fee payers to whom it belongs.The licence fee will be guaranteed
for the whole of the ten-year Royal Charter that will take effect on
1 January 2007. Channel 4 will continue to be a publicly owned broadcaster
providing distinctive competition to the BBC. ITV and Five will
also be retained in our public service broadcasting system.
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Digital switchover
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The success of satelite and cable television in driving take-up of digital
shows how changes in technology bring real benefits – in terms of
greater choice, and increasingly, in access to services. Our aim is to
make those benefits available to all.We will achieve digital switchover
between 2008 and 2012 ensuring universal access to high-quality,
free-to-view and subscription digital TV.This will happen region by
region, and we will make sure that the interests of elderly people and
other vulnerable groups are protected.
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Digital challenge
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We will deliver our cross-government strategy for closing the digital
divide and using ICT to further transform public services:
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* By 2006 every school supported to offer all pupils access to computers at
home.
*A Digital Challenge for a local authority to be a national and international
pathfinder in universal digital service provision.
*A new National Internet Safety Unit to make Britain the safest place in
the world to access the internet.
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Copyright in a digital age
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We will modernise copyright and other forms of protection of intellectual
property rights so that they are appropriate for the digital age.We
will use our presidency of the EU to look at how to ensure content creators
can protect their innovations in a digital age. Piracy is a growing
threat and we will work with industry to protect against it.
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Film
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