April 1 heralds agency shake-up

The start of a new financial year has seen a number of changes to the structure of the civil service and key government agencies.

The Health and Safety Commission and the Health and Safety Executive have merged to form a single national regulatory body to monitor standards at work.

Work and pensions minister Lord McKenzie said that "now is the right time to merge the organisations into one which can provide a platform for further improvements to health and safety at work across Great Britain".

The government said the merger "will not fundamentally change the day-to-day operations but will set the tone for closer working throughout the organisation".

Six new probation trusts have also started work as part of what the government said was its "drive to further reduce re-offending and increase protection for the public".

Trust status, introduced through the Offender Management Act 2007, will allow probation services more independence to focus their work on local communities and reduce re-offending.

"We must ensure we have the best possible systems in place to manage offenders in the community, to protect the public and reduce re-offending," said justice minister David Hanson.

"For many offenders, community-based punishments are proven to be more effective at reducing re-offending than short-term prison sentences."

Elsewhere in the justice system, the operational work of the Assets Recovery Agency has merged into the Serious Organised Crime Agency.

The merger means SOCA will now have both criminal and civil powers to reduce harm caused to individuals and communities in the UK by organised crime.

Bill Hughes, director general of SOCA, said: "We are gaining important skills and expertise with the arrival of Assets Recovery Agency staff and we welcome them into SOCA.

"Now that the merger has taken place we will get on with the job that Parliament want us to do, namely depriving crooks of their ill-gotten gains."

The flagship Directgov government digital service has also moved to become part of the Department for Work and Pensions.

DWP permanent secretary Leigh Lewis said: "As a major service delivery department which touches every citizen's life at some point, DWP is committed to improving the way government communicates with citizens.

"Directgov has an excellent track record in joining up government services and providing information to the public in a way that is accessible and easy to use.

"We look forward to building on this success as the digital services and information provided by government grows."

And also on Tuesday the Government News Network and the News Distribution Service became part of COI's News and PR Group.