… in brief

This week’s news in brief

New head for CRE

Trevor Phillips, the broadcaster and politician, has been unveiled as the
new head of the Commission for Racial Equality. Phillips, currently the
chairman of the London Assembly, replaces disgraced former leader Gurbux Singh
who stood down after threatening police officers at a cricket match.  www.cre.gov.uk

Transfer code delayed

Plans to finalise a draft code designed to protect the rights of public
sector staff transferring to the private sector have been delayed. Negotiations
were postponed after the GMB and Unison complained the code would not prevent a
two-tier workforce.

LSC names targets

The Learning and Skills Council has unveiled its training and development
targets for the next year and announced 47 local strategic plans. The organisation,
which published its workforce development strategy at the end of 2002, aims to
raise employee skills and boost productivity.  www.lsc.gov.uk

Business hope dips

Business optimism has fallen despite slight improvements in orders and employment.
The Institute of Directors study of 500 business leaders shows that in the
final quarter of 2002 company performance was weaker than the previous three
months and profits depressed.  www.iod.com

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Employment rises

There has been a small drop in the number of unemployed people in the UK.
The number out of work fell by 5,000 to 1,515,000 in the three months ending in
November according to government statistics.  www.statistics.gov.uk