Apr122017

News story: Home Office funds PCCs to support further police and fire collaboration

HM Government
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Minister for Policing and the Fire Service Brandon Lewis has awarded £1 million from the Police Transformation Fund to 9 police and crime commissioners (PCCs) for their work in developing proposals to take on the additional responsibility for the governance of fire and rescue in their area.

The proposals are expected to bring about a fundamental shift to the way police and fire services work together, including sharing estates or back office functions. It follows a police-led process which saw funding recommendations made by the Police Reform and Transformation Board.

The PCCs who will receive funds are Sussex, West Mercia, Essex, Cambridgeshire, Northamptonshire, Hertfordshire, Gloucestershire, Staffordshire and North Yorkshire.

Minister for Policing and the Fire Service Brandon Lewis said:

Further collaboration between the 2 services presents a real opportunity to increase their efficiency and effectiveness – that’s good for the public as whole.

PCCs taking on responsibility for fire and rescue services will lead to the same level of public accountability for both services. I am pleased to support those PCCs who are developing proposals to take on governance of local fire and rescue services.

The new provisions in the Policing and Crime Act 2017 enable PCCs to take on responsibility for the governance of local fire and rescue services where a local case is made. It brings the same direct accountability to fire as is already in place with policing and allows PCCs to drive reform, maximize the benefits of collaboration and ensure best practice is shared.

Several PCCs are developing proposals to take on governance of local fire and rescue services as the earliest adopters of the new governance provisions. Further PCCs are expected to bring forward proposals soon and the funding award will ensure that the work and knowledge gained is properly disseminated amongst the policing community.

Set up as part of the spending review in 2015, the fund, which is police-led through the Police Reform and Transformation Board, is designed to allocate extra investment to continue the job of reform and shape policing for the future. PCCs and chief constable representatives sit on the board alongside senior leaders in policing, with the final decisions on bids made by the Home Secretary.

Apr122017

Press release: Justice Secretary visits HMP Wayland to see reform in action

HM Government
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  • Elizabeth Truss thanks staff at HMP Wayland for their vital work in delivering major reforms to improve safety and turn prisoners lives around
  • Follows the launch of Her Majesty’s Prisons and Probation Service, giving governors greater autonomy to improve security and recruit staff
  • Major recruitment drive across the prison estate as part of £100 million investment for 2,500 additional officers and specific funding for Wayland to tackle violence

Justice Secretary Elizabeth Truss, today (12 April 2017) paid tribute to the vital work of the Governor and staff at HMP Wayland as part of a nationwide tour of prisons to see reform in action.

The visit comes after the launch of Her Majesty’s Prisons and Probation Service (HMPPS), a world-leading agency, which put governors firmly in the driving seat with the power and budget to determine how their prisons are run.

Since taking up post, the Justice Secretary has taken significant action to boost safety, announcing £100 million a year to recruit 2,500 prison officers to bolster the frontline and increase staff numbers.

A further £10 million has been invested for increased security measures in a number of prisons. HMP Wayland received a cash boost of over £200,000 which they are using to recruit new specialist staff to reduce violence as well as deterrents such as mobile phone detectors and improved CCTV.

Today the Justice Secretary sat down with the Governor and officers at HMP Wayland to hear first-hand how the reforms and security investment are helping to improve the prison.

Speaking after the visit, the Justice Secretary said:

I am committed to making prisons safe and decent places to live and work, reducing the risk of reoffending and in turn creating fewer victims of crime.

I have always been clear that as well as punishing offenders, our prisons must become places of safety and reform. We must do all we can to give prisoners the best chance to turn their lives around.

I came to Wayland today to make sure staff know I’m committed to giving them the support they need to do their jobs safely and securely.

The Justice Secretary recently unveiled the landmark Prisons and Court Reform Bill which paves the way for prisons to take action against people who break the law and give offenders the vital skills they need to turn their backs on crime.

With prison governors being given greater control over how they run their establishments – a key commitment in the Prison Safety and Reform White Paper – Wayland is creating necessary links with local employers to help reduce the risk of reoffending. This will help transform the lives of offenders by getting them into employment, with training opportunities which have secured sustained job opportunities with local employers including Camden Boss.

In the coming months, the Justice Secretary and Prisons Minister Sam Gyimah will continue to visit prisons across England and Wales to maintain their discussions with prison officers and governors and see wholescale reforms in action.

Apr122017

Firm fined after worker injured when pipe fell into trench and struck him

HSE
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An Essex company who are specialists in gas infrastructure have been fined after an employee suffered serious injury when a pipe fell into the trench he was working in and struck him.

Maidstone Crown Court heard how an employee of Forefront Utilities Limited had entered a trench in Rochester, Kent to connect gas pipes. The new pipes were rested on packing timber across the trench, but the weight caused the tarmac to give way. The pipe fell into the trench and struck the employee causing significant injury including a fractured spine. He is paralysed and has no feeling in his bowel.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) into the incident which occurred on 23 May 2014 found the method for jointing newly laid sections of pipe to previously laid pipe was unsafe.

Forefront Utilities Limited, of Stephenson Road, Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, were found guilty of breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, and was fined £200,000 and ordered to pay costs of £56,686.

After the hearing HSE inspector Andrew Cousins said: “Those in control of work have a responsibility to devise safe methods of working and to provide the necessary information, instruction and training to their workers in the safe system of working.

“If a suitable safe system of work had been in place prior to the incident, the life changing injuries sustained by the employee could have been prevented.”

For further information on safety in construction visit: http://www.hse.gov.uk/construction/cdm/2015/contractors.htm

Notes to Editors:

  1. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is Britain’s national regulator for workplace health and safety. It aims to reduce work-related death, injury and ill health. It does so through research, information and advice, promoting training; new or revised regulations and codes of practice, and working with local authority partners by inspection, investigation and enforcement. www.hse.gov.uk
  2. More about the legislation referred to in this case can be found at: www.legislation.gov.uk/
  3. HSE news releases are available at http://press.hse.gov.uk

Journalists should approach HSE press office with any queries on regional press releases.

Apr122017

'Alarming' rise in use of children in 'suicide' attacks by Boko Haram in Lake Chad region – UNICEF

United Nations
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12 April 2017 – The use of children, particularly girls, by the Boko Haram terrorist group in violent attacks in the Lake Chad region has seen an &#8220alarming&#8221 surge in 2017, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has reported.

According to the UNICEF report, Silent Shame: Bringing out the voices of children caught in the Lake Chad crisis, 27 children have been used to carry out bomb attacks in public places across Nigeria, Chad, Niger and Cameroon in the first quarter of this year. During the same period last year, the number was nine.

&#8220In the first three months of this year, the number of children used in bomb attacks is nearly the same as the whole of last year &#8211 this is the worst possible use of children in conflict,&#8221 the UNICEF Regional Director for West and Central Africa, Marie-Pierre Poirier, said in a news release announcing the grim findings.

&#8220These children are victims, not perpetrators. Forcing or deceiving them into committing such horrific acts is reprehensible.&#8221

Since 2014, 117 children &#8211 more than 80 per cent of them girls &#8211 have been used in ‘suicide’ attacks across the region. As a result of this distressing tactic, girls, boys and even infants have been viewed with increasing fear at markets and checkpoints, where they are thought to carry explosives.

Fear of stigma pushing children into isolation

The UNICEF report documents troubling accounts by children who were held in captivity by Boko Haram and narrates the deep suspicion they are met with when they return to their communities.

[Children] bear their horrors in silent shame and endure isolation as they remove themselves from other groups for fear they might be outed and alienated even furtherUNICEF report Silent Shame

&#8220Many children who have been associated with armed groups keep their experience secret because they fear the stigmatization and even violent reprisals from their community,&#8221 the report noted. &#8220They bear their horrors in silent shame and endure isolation as they remove themselves from other groups for fear they might be outed and alienated even further.&#8221

The report also highlights the challenges local authorities face with children who have been intercepted at checkpoints and taken into administrative custody for questioning and screening, including for prolonged periods.

VIDEO: Surge in girls being used in Boko Haram ‘suicide’ attacks / UNICEF

Voicing concern over such custodies and that, last year, nearly 1,500 children were under administrative custody in the four countries, UNICEF has called on Governments to urgently transfer them to civilian authorities for reintegration and support, and to put in place handover protocols to handle children encountered during military operations.

&#8220All children affected by the crisis need psychosocial support and safe spaces to recover,&#8221 said UNICEF, highlighting the particular need to pay attention to the care and protection of separated and unaccompanied children.

It also underlined that Boko Haram must end grave violations against children, including the recruitment and use of children in armed conflict as so-called &#8220suicide bombers&#8221.

At the same time, UNICEF continues to provide support to the children and families.

Last year, it reached more than 312,000 children with psychosocial support and reunited more than 800 children with their families in the four countries. It is also working with communities and families to fight stigma against survivors of sexual violence and to build a protective environment for former abducted children.

However, its response in the region remains severely underfunded. Last year, its $154 million appeal was only 40 per cent funded.

Apr122017

Engineering firm fined after worker crushed in machinery

HSE
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Moy Park Ltd has been fined after a worker was injured at the company’s site in Anwick near Sleaford, Lincolnshire

Lincoln Crown Court heard on the an engineer was checking the blades on the cutting line when the machine restarted and he wasn’t able to move his hand away from the blade he was inspecting when the machine started up. The worker suffered deep laceration to his hand as a result of this incident.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found the company failed to implement a safe system of work in relation to isolating procedures when maintaining the machinery in the production line.

Moy Park Ltd of Main Road, Anwick, Lincolnshire have pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and have been fined £200,000 and ordered to pay costs of £11,924.

Speaking after the hearing HSE Principal Inspector David Butter said: “Duty holders must put measures in place to ensure there are safe procedures in place which are then followed when checking faults on machinery.”

Notes to Editors:

 

  1. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is Britain’s national regulator for workplace health and safety. It aims to reduce work-related death, injury and ill health. It does so through research, information and advice, promoting training; new or revised regulations and codes of practice, and working with local authority partners by inspection, investigation and enforcement. www.hse.gov.uk
  2. More about the legislation referred to in this case can be found at: www.legislation.gov.uk/
  3. HSE news releases are available at http://press.hse.gov.uk

Journalists should approach HSE press office with any queries on regional press releases.