Category Archives: Society

English councils warn of ‘existential crisis’ caused by funding shortfall

Posted on by

Local Government Association says any attempt to patch up budgets by raising council tax is doomed to fail

Local authorities have warned they face an “existential crisis” caused by massive funding shortfalls and any attempt by ministers to patch up budgets by allowing increased council tax is doomed to failure.

The multibillion “black hole” in England’s municipal finances – which has pushed a number of councils to the brink of bankruptcy – could not be fixed by local ratepayers alone, who would face unrealistic council tax increases of up to 20%, the Local Government Association (LGA) said.

Continue reading...

Neurodiverse women sought for jobs at GCHQ and BAE Systems

Posted on by

Organisations want to recruit more women with autism, dyslexia and ADHD to work in cybersecurity roles

The British spy agency GCHQ and weapons manufacturer BAE Systems have issued an appeal to attract more neurodiverse women to work for them in cybersecurity jobs.

The employers are actively seeking women with autism spectrum disorder, dyslexia, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) for cybersecurity roles to address gaps in their workforces.

Continue reading...

Sunak hints he will slow down progress on India trade deal

Posted on by

Prime minister says UK should not sacrifice quality for speed as he seeks to improve terms at G20 talks

Rishi Sunak has hinted he will slow down progress on the India trade deal to improve its terms, saying the UK should not “sacrifice quality for speed”.

The comments, which preceded talks with the UK prime minister’s Indian counterpart, Narendra Modi, at the G20 on Wednesday, suggested a marked change of approach from Boris Johnson and Liz Truss, who prioritised speed and hard deadlines, having pledged a “deal for Diwali” that did not materialise.

Continue reading...

UK must act over poverty, housing and and equal rights, says UN body

Posted on by

Human rights council makes more than 300 recommendations, with many coming from less well-off countries

The UK must tackle rising poverty, the United Nations human rights council has said in a report that includes demands from less well-off countries for the British government to act.

Amid worsening financial prospects for millions, the member states of the UN body also demanded action on housing to prevent homelessness, better food security for young children, and equal rights for people with disabilities.

Continue reading...

Death of two-year-old from chronic mould in flat a ‘defining moment’, says coroner

Posted on by

Awaab Ishak died in 2020, eight days after his second birthday, following ‘chronic exposure’ in Rochdale

A coroner has said the death of an “engaging, lively, endearing” two-year-old from prolonged exposure to mould in his family’s flat should be a “defining moment” for the UK’s housing sector.

Awaab Ishak died in 2020, eight days after his second birthday, as a direct result of black mould in the flat he lived in.

Continue reading...

Two Tory-run councils warn PM of possible bankruptcy

Posted on by

Leaders of Kent and Hampshire county councils say even ‘drastic cuts’ to services will not be enough

Two of England’s largest Tory-run local authorities have warned the prime minister, Rishi Sunak, that they will be forced to declare bankruptcy within the next few months because of the unprecedented financial crisis enveloping both councils.

The leaders of Kent and Hampshire county councils said even “drastic cuts” to current services would not be enough to patch up the huge holes in their budgets created by soaring inflation and rising pressures in adult and children’s social care.

Continue reading...

Fund England’s bus network now or lose vital routes, campaigners warn

Posted on by

Charities and transport groups say hundreds more routes face axe without targeted help and long-term funding

Bus services will not survive without sustained Treasury funding, campaigners and industry groups have warned the chancellor after the cutting of hundreds of routes in recent months.

Transport charities and trade bodies have written to Jeremy Hunt asking for support before this week’s autumn statement urging him to guarantee short-term funding, give targeted help to local authorities, and bring in better long-term financial settlements.

Continue reading...

UK breakthrough on lung cancer helps target patients at risk of relapse

Posted on by

Research programme buys doctors crucial time by spotting returning tumours before symptoms appear

Seven years ago, Kelly Harrop was working at a stables while also running regularly in half marathons and 10k races. Then she began to suffer digestive problems. Scans eventually revealed marks on her lungs. The subsequent diagnosis was direct. “I had lung cancer. It was a shock. I was fit, healthy and had never smoked,” she told the Observer.

Kelly had surgery to remove the tumour, followed by chemotherapy. But doctors knew there was a risk of the tumour reappearing, so they enrolled her in a new research programme, TRACERx. Funded by Cancer Research UK, the £14m project was set up 10 years ago to investigate how lung tumours arise and evolve. A total of 850 patients with early-stage lung cancer were studied and followed from diagnosis to treatment.

Continue reading...

MoJ staff offered ‘route out’ amid concerns over Dominic Raab behaviour

Posted on by

Exclusive: Some civil servants may have still been traumatised by his previous stint there, sources say

Senior civil servants at the Ministry of Justice were offered “respite or a route out” of the department when Dominic Raab was reappointed last month, amid concerns that some were still traumatised by his behaviour during a previous stint there.

Several sources told the Guardian that about 15 members of staff from the justice secretary’s private office were taken into a room where departmental officials acknowledged they may be anxious about his behaviour and gave them the option of moving roles.

Continue reading...

Solar farm owner Toucan Energy enters administration amid Thurrock scandal

Posted on by

Authority lent total of £655m over four years to owner of 53 solar parks across Britain

One of the country’s largest solar farm owners has entered administration amid the fallout from a scandal that forced an Essex council leader to resign.

Administrators at Interpath Advisory have been appointed to Toucan Energy Holdings, which owns a portfolio of 53 solar parks with a combined capacity of 513 megawatts across England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Continue reading...

Swindon council apologises for error-strewn Covid key worker tribute

Posted on by

Wiltshire council criticised for unveiling plaque littered with mistakes

Swindon borough council has been criticised for botching a tribute to key workers during the Covid pandemic with a plaque littered with mistakes.

Images of the plaque have been widely shared on social media, showing random capitalisation, punctuation errors and spelling mistakes.

Continue reading...

Rise in back pain and long-term sickness linked to home working – ONS

Posted on by

Sharp rise in people leaving labour market in past three years could be related to home working since Covid

Back and neck injuries caused by working from home during the Covid pandemic has been identified by the UK’s official number crunchers as a possible factor contributing to a sharp rise in people leaving the labour market over the past three years.

The Office for National Statistics said there had been a marked increase in disabilities often associated by medical experts with excessive screen use, after the increase in the number of people home working while offices were shut during the pandemic.

Continue reading...

UK economy being held back by worsening health of British public, Andy Haldane warns

Posted on by

RSA chief executive says more than a century of progress was now going into reverse

The worsening health of the British people is holding back economic growth for the first time since the Industrial Revolution after years of underinvestment in services, Andy Haldane has warned.

The chief executive of the Royal Society of Arts (RSA) said more than a century of progress on health and wellbeing was going into reverse, with a direct impact on the economy and the cost of living emergency.

Continue reading...

Nurses across UK vote to go on strike for first time in dispute over pay

Posted on by

NHS braces for prolonged period of industrial action by health workers over the winter and into next year

Nurses have voted to stage strikes across the UK for the first time in their history in pursuit of a better pay deal, in a move that will seriously disrupt NHS care.

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) announced on Wednesday that nurses at many, but not all, hospitals and other places of NHS care would take industrial action before Christmas and could continue striking until next May.

Continue reading...

Spanish police officer sentenced after posting fake rape video on Twitter

Posted on by

Guardia Civil first to be convicted after alleging video showed a Moroccan migrant raping a woman

A police officer who deliberately posted a misleading video clip of a sexual assault to try to stir up hatred against migrant children has become the first person in Spain to be handed a jail sentence for using social media to publish and spread fake news.

A court in Barcelona on Tuesday convicted the Guardia Civil officer of an offence against fundamental rights and public freedoms and sentenced him to 15 months in prison and a fine of €1,620 (£1,410).

Continue reading...

Thousands of English schools in grip of funding crisis plan redundancies

Posted on by

‘Unprecedented’ deficits will force heads to make ‘catastrophic’ cuts and reduce support for vulnerable pupils, NAHT warns

Thousands of schools in England are drawing up plans to make staff redundant in the face of a crippling funding crisis, and in many cases will also have to cut mental health support and Covid catch-up tuition, according to findings from one of the largest surveys of school leaders in recent times.

Two-thirds (66%) of the 11,000 school leaders who took part in the poll by the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) said they will have to make teaching assistants redundant or reduce their hours, while half (50%) are looking at cutting the number of teachers or teaching hours as they grapple with rising costs.

Continue reading...

Zayn Malik urges Rishi Sunak to give free school meals to all children in poverty

Posted on by

Bradford-born singer who relied on free school lunches urges PM to extend provision to all families on universal credit

Zayn Malik has called on Rishi Sunak to “give all children living in poverty” free school meals during the cost of living crisis.

The former One Direction singer, 29, who relied on free school lunches as a child growing up in Bradford, recently became an ambassador for the Food Foundation and is backing its Feed the Future campaign.

Continue reading...

Pill to prevent pre-eclampsia gets UK fast track for development

Posted on by

Exclusive: MHRA grants innovation passport to drug that could prevent women from developing condition

A new pill that could prevent pre-eclampsia has become the first pregnancy drug to be fast-tracked for development by the UK’s drug regulator.

Scientists at MirZyme Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company, believe they have developed a drug that when given to women from 20 weeks of pregnancy could stop them developing the condition.

Continue reading...

More black people than white find stop and search humiliating, UK survey finds

Posted on by

Poll shows levels of trust in the police markedly lower among black people than white people

More than half of black people stopped and searched by the police say they were left with feelings of humiliation or embarrassment, according to a survey.

It also shows levels of trust in the police are markedly lower among black people (46%) than white people (64%), with barely a third (35%) of black Caribbean people saying they had confidence.

Continue reading...

Archie Battersbee’s mother asks coroner to examine role of TikTok in death

Posted on by

Exclusive: Hollie Dance believes 12-year-old was ‘influenced, persuaded or peer-pressured’ into taking part in online challenge

The mother of Archie Battersbee, the 12-year-old boy who died in August after his life support was switched off, wants a coroner to consider what role exposure to TikTok videos may have played in his death.

Archie sustained a catastrophic brain injury on 7 April at his home in Southend, Essex, when a ligature was found over his head. His mother, Hollie Dance, believes he was injured as a result of taking part in an internet challenge known as the “blackout challenge” and wants the inquest into his death to scrutinise how social media may have contributed.

Continue reading...