CPC meeting discusses draft government work report

Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, on Tuesday chaired a meeting on the draft government work report.

The meeting, attended by members of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, discussed the draft report, which is scheduled to be submitted to the upcoming fifth session of the 12th National People’s Congress (NPC).

Tuesday’s meeting also reviewed a special report on inspections of central Party and governmental authorities, and another document on a Party education campaign.

At the meeting, China’s top leadership pledged to stick to the basic tone of “seeking progress while maintaining stability” in 2017, aiming for more progress from supply-side structural reform.

The meeting highlighted the significance of 2017 as the 19th CPC National Congress will convene.

Acknowledging that China has scored a strong start for the 2016-2020 period, the meeting called for further efforts to balance multiple economic tasks in 2017, including stabilizing growth, advancing reforms, pushing restructuring, improving people’s livelihood and preventing risks.

At the macro level, China will continue to implement proactive fiscal policies and prudent monetary policies, according to a document released after the meeting.

Reforms in key areas will be deepened, while the role of innovation will be boosted to facilitate economic upgrading, said the document.

China will also intensify efforts to tap the potential of domestic demand and strengthen internal growth momentum.

Other tasks include pushing supply-side structural reform in the agriculture sector, widening opening-up, promoting green development and improving government services for people’s well-being.

The meeting came ahead of China’s annual two sessions in March, during which lawmakers and political advisors will gather in Beijing to discuss the social and economic policies for the year.

Since the CPC’s 18th National Congress, anti-graft teams have carried out 11 rounds of inspections across all provincial-level governments, central authorities, key state-owned enterprises and central financial institutions, according to the document.

The inspections, which focused on the adherence to the Party’s leadership, comprehensive and strict governance of the Party and observation of the Party’s Constitution and rules, have been effective political “microscopes” and “searchlights,” the document stated.

The document said that central Party and governmental authorities play an important role in the Party and the state and they must uphold the authority of the CPC Central Committee and its centralized and unified leadership.

It stressed that all problems detected in the inspections should be properly addressed.

The document said that the Party education campaign — which focuses on the study of the Party Constitution and rules, as well as the speeches made by Xi, and calls for being qualified Party members — plays an important role in Party building and governance.

Deeming it an effective tool in Party building, the document said the education campaign had helped shape the approach to governance of the Party under a new situation.

It said the education campaign should be regular and institutionalized, as this would help members understand the essence of Xi’s speeches, ensure Party members unite closer around the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core, and scoring new achievements in socialism with Chinese characteristics.

The document called on Party organizations at all levels to make the education campaign a strategic and basic project.

It stressed that ideological education must be prioritized and efforts should be made to educate and guide Party members, especially leading officials.

Leading officials should set a good example in the campaign, the document said, adding that evaluations of the education campaign should be carried out annually.




Press release: Shoreham flood scheme enters next phase

A major flood defence scheme that will significantly reduce flood risk to over 2,300 properties in Shoreham and East Lancing has taken a step towards completion this week, with piling works at 2 of the project’s 10 phases now finished.

The huge jack-up barge, that has been working to install one of the new tidal flood defence piled walls in the town centre since November, will leave the site next week having completed its phase of the work.

Of the planned 10 construction phases, 3 have been worked on since the project started in October 2016, and work so far has been progressing well. The scheme will significantly improve the current ageing flood defences, and when the whole project is complete, in 2018, it will reduce the tidal flood risk to thousands of homes and a significant number of commercial properties in the area. It will also protect important local infrastructure such as the road network, railway line and Shoreham Airport.

Russell Long, Flood Team Leader at the Environment Agency, said:

Work on the scheme is progressing well, and further phases of work are set to begin later in the year. We are aware of the impact that the development of these schemes can have on local communities, and we thank the residents of Shoreham for their understanding during the works.

The Adur Ferry Bridge will need to be closed for a few hours when the jack-up barge leaves Shoreham next week (week commencing 27 February), and shuttle buses will be provided during this time. Exact timings of this operation will depend on weather and site conditions, and we will do all we can to keep the community informed of our plans. I’d encourage residents to monitor @EnvAgencySE on Twitter, go to www.shorehamadurtidalwalls.co.uk, or visit the project’s visitor centre to find out more.

The Shoreham scheme’s dedicated project visitor centre is located at Beach Green Car Park, Shoreham-by-Sea, and is open between midday and 5pm on weekdays.

For further information, you can view the webpage Shoreham Adur Tidal Walls Scheme or you can call 03708 506506. You can also request information by email at shorehamwestbank@ea.gov.uk or by writing to

SSD Enquiries

Environment Agency

Guildbourne House

Chatsworth Road

Worthing

BN11 1LD

Notes:

The visitor centre may be closed during scheduled visits from schools and interest groups.

For all media enquiries please call 0800 141 2743.




Green MEP launches post-Brexit agriculture reports and calls for ‘green tape’ as Leadsom attacks 'red tape’

21 February 2017

Green MEP Molly Scott Cato, a member of the European Parliament’s Agriculture Committee, has launched two reports on ideas for the future of farming post-Brexit. The launch comes on the day the National Union of Farmers begin their annual conference in Birmingham, where Defra Secretary, Andrea Leadsom, again attacked the EU for ‘tying farmers up in red tape’. She also called for a system based on simpler, more effective rules, where farmers will be ‘free to grow more, sell more and export more.’  

However, Ms Leadsom offered farmers no clear plan on farming post-Brexit and Dr Scott Cato says that questions to the government reveal they lack ideas on the future of farming after the UK leaves the EU.

The two reports – one by the Soil Association; the other by Simon Fairlie of the Land Workers’ Alliance – foresee a future where policies put soil health and biodiversity first, and where the way we use land helps tackle climate change. They say that to achieve this, farmers will need to receive at least as much money as they currently get through the Common Agriculture Policy (CAP). Molly Scott Cato said:

“Like Ms Leadsom, I don’t want farmers tied up in red tape, but we do need to bind ourselves in some green tape.We need to ensure land management protects and improves our soils, encourages biodiversity, and helps tackle climate change. The reports I have launched today contain a wealth of ideas on how we can achieve this.

“They also call for direct payments based on land area to be scrapped; instead future payments would to be based on paying farmers for the public benefits they provide and for protecting the environment.

“With the government planning to remove us from the single market where around 65% of total UK agricultural exports are sold, platitudes about growing more, selling more and exporting more will ring hollow for most farmers.

“These reports show how to move UK agriculture away from a dependence on export markets and towards creating thriving rural communities by supporting family farms and relocalising food production. Brexit could be a unique opportunity to move towards an ecologically and economically sustainable farming system, but the government seems determined to move us in the wrong direction.”

Dr Tom MacMillan, Director of Innovation at the Soil Association, said:

“We’re hearing a fair bit of consensus from farming, nature and public interest groups on the big principles for agricultural policy after we leave the CAP – that the public expect high standards on animal welfare, for example, and that public money should pay for public benefits. What’s missing are practical and inspiring ideas that seize the chance to make a better fist of it, and face up to monumental challenges like climate change. So we’ve tried to set out a few game-changing ideas in our report”.

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Today’s figures show the Government’s debt still rising, seven years after the Tories started their austerity agenda – Peter Dowd

Peter
Dowd MP, Labour’s Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury
, commenting on
today’s ONS public sector finance figures, said:

“Today’s
figures show the Government’s debt still rising, seven years after the Tories
started their austerity agenda, and two years after they said they would
balance the books.

“It’s
clear that their slash and burn approach to public spending has not only given
us a crisis in NHS and social care but also failed as an approach to reducing
Government debt.

“Labour’s
Fiscal Credibility Rule gives us a firm commitment to addressing the public
finances while investing in our economy for the future as part of our programme
to rebuild and transform Britain.”




Government must come forward with immediate funding and sustainable vision for social care – Pearce

Teresa Pearce, Labour’s Shadow
Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, responding to the
Local Government Finance Settlement, said:

“Time and time again, this Government
has ignored warnings of the social care crisis, from health, social care and
local government experts and from MPs across the political
spectrum.“

“This Local Government Finance
Settlement is no different to what’s come before. It is all smoke and mirrors –
pushing numbers around but not offering any new money. Shifting the burden on
to council tax payers creates a postcode lottery in social care services.
Wealthy areas will prosper whilst poorer communities will struggle. This was
made clear by the revelation of the sweetheart deal offered to Surrey County
Council behind closed doors, whilst the rest of the country suffers.”

“The brutal cuts handed down by this
Tory government will leave local councils facing a £5.8billion funding gap in
just two years’ time. Libraries, youth centres and Sure Start centres have
closed. Child protection services are creaking. Frail elderly people and
vulnerable disabled people are being left lonely and isolated.”

“This is a crisis made in Westminster
but, as per usual, the Tories are pushing the blame on to councils,
communities, carers and families. The Government must come forward with
immediate funding, as well as a long-term, sustainable and strategic vision for
social care.”

Ends