Health Minister publishes 10-year Social Care Workforce Strategy
Health Minister Mike Nesbitt has published a plan to develop a sustainable social care workforce over the next decade.
The Government cannot build its way out of the prison crisis, say Greens
Responding to the Justice Secretary, Shabana Mahmood’s announcement that prisons may run out of space despite government plans to open 14,000 more prison places, Green Party MP Siân Berry said,
“The justice secretary is facing the reality that however fast the Government builds prisons, at the current rates of offending and reoffending, the respite from the current crisis of overcrowding will only last a handful of years.
“Instead of building more prisons, a planned programme of prevention and more effective alternatives to incarceration is required, particularly for women, young people and offenders whose crimes are driven by poverty and destitution.
“We need wholesale reform of short prison sentences, a focus on providing a real new start for people leaving prison, including safe housing, and a clear-headed look at the many ways people can repay their criminal debts to society more constructively.”
She continued,
“At the heart of this crisis is a continuous error from successive governments – amplified by misleading front pages – in assuming that the way to reduce crime is to keep locking up more and more of our citizens.
“Reducing crime means investing in services and job opportunities for young people, and I am confident that Justice Minister Lord Timpson knows this.
“The only question is whether the Prime Minister is bold and brave enough to allow him to bring forward common-sense reforms to bring prison populations back down, rather than trying to build their way out of this crisis.”
New analysis shows half of NI farms potentially impacted by inheritance tax changes
Around half of all farms in Northern Ireland, accounting for 80% of farmed land, could be impacted by the Inheritance Tax changes announced as part of the UK budget in October.
DAERA reiterates the importance of biosecurity among the poultry sector as Avian Flu identified in a wild bird in the Republic of Ireland
Northern Ireland’s Chief Vet Brian Dooher has reminded all bird keepers of the critical importance of maintaining high biosecurity standards due to the increasing threat of avian influenza.
Muir urges beef farmers to opt in to avoid missing out
DAERA Minister Andrew Muir is reminding farm businesses that time is running out to opt in to the Beef Carbon Reduction (BCR) Scheme to receive payment for eligible animals slaughtered in 2024.