On the Agenda

In Brief

The prime minister travels to Brussels for an emergency European Council meeting on the Georgia-Russia conflict.

Children's secretary Ed Balls visits a children's centre in east London to promote the start of the Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum. In a joint letter to the managers of the country's 3,000 children's centres, Balls and children's minister Beverley Hughes said: "The EYFS will help make sure that all young children have the chance to engage in stimulating play and hear and respond to rich and varied language. And children's centre staff will be able to use it to engage mothers and fathers, to make sure these experiences are built on at home."

Justice minister David Hanson sets out steps to make community service sentences tougher. "Offenders sentenced to 'pay' for their crimes within the community can already expect to work hard and lose much of their free time," he says. "By introducing intensive five-days-a-week payback for many knife crime offenders we are further toughening these punishments."

EU transport ministers attend a meeting in La Rochelle, France.

Shadow foreign secretary William Hague demands an "urgent review" ofEurope's energy security and the suspension of talks on a newpartnership agreement between the EU and Russia. "Since its foundationmore than 50 years ago, the EU's prime aim has been that the continentmust never again be bloodied by wars of aggression," he will say. "Itis time to recall that high ideal and send Russia a clear, unitedmessage that its aggression will not be rewarded."

Shadow home secretary Dominic Grieve attends the launch of a Reform report on 'The lawful society'.

The Labour Party is expected to select its candidate for the Glenrothes by-election.

Mayor of London Boris Johnson marks the start of the consultation on the future of the western extension of the capital's congestion charging zone at an event at High Street Kensington underground station.

Accord, a new coalition of trade unions and religious groups, launches with a call on ministers to stop state-funded faith schools discriminating against students and teachers on the grounds of their beliefs. "It is a simple goal, strongly supported by the public, educationalists and students," Accord chairman Rabbi Dr Jonathan Romain says.

As a new secondary school curriculum comes into force, financial education charity the IFS School of Finance calls on the government to drop any reference to personal finance from the maths curriculum. Head of financial capability Rod McKee said: "Financial capability is first and foremost about behaviour, not numeracy."

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors calls on the government to kick start the housing market with a package of rescue measures and reforms. Director of external affairs Gillian Charlesworth said: "The market needs decisive government action on a range of fronts if it is to pull itself out of the doldrums and we call on government to listen to the market's solutions to a whole set of problems."

Reports and Statistics

A report from the TUC finds that six million workers are not satisfied with their job. TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said: "There are some challenging figures here for British employers with a quarter of the workforce saying they are not satisfied with their jobs and almost one in three saying that their employers do not engage with them."

A study by the Engineering Employers Federation and Grant Thornton shows that manufacturing firms are preparing to cut employment and investment plans due to the economic downturn.

The Royal Society publishes a report on climate change.

The Department for Work and Pensions publishes tax and benefit model tables.

The National Treatment Agency releases monthly drug treatment statistics.

The Office for National Statistics publishes an economic and labour market review for September 2008.

The Scottish government releases Rural Scotland Key Facts 2008.

The Council of Mortgage Lenders publishes a market commentary.

Figures published by the Landfill Allowances Scheme show that every council in Wales has met its waste target for 2007-08 for the amount of biodegradable waste it sends to landfill.