Infected Blood: bereaved have not been forgotten - Swann

Health Minister Robin Swann has announced annual financial support for those bereaved as a result of NHS contaminated blood.

The annual payments will be made to people registered on the Northern Ireland Infected Blood Payment Scheme who have not been infected by contaminated blood but have been left bereaved following the death of a spouse or partner who contracted Hepatitis C or HIV after receiving NHS-supplied infected blood or blood products in Northern Ireland.

Minister Swann said: “When I took up

New laws to protect victims added to Domestic Abuse Bill

A raft of new amendments to the Domestic Abuse Bill will be presented, providing greater protections for victims and further clamping down on perpetrators.

From: Ministry of Justice, Home Office, The Rt Hon Robert Buckland QC MP, and Victoria Atkins MP

• New offence of non-fatal strangulation to be introduced as part of ground-breaking legislation
• Controlling or coercive behaviour offence extended to include abuse where perpetrators and victims no longer live together
• ‘Revenge porn’ offence widened to cover threats to share intimate images

A raft of new amendments to the Domestic Abuse Bill will be presented this week, providing greater protections for victims and further clamping down on perpetrators.

The proposals include making non-fatal strangulation a specific criminal offence, punishable by up to five years in prison. The act typically involves an abuser strangling or intentionally affecting their victim’s breathing in an attempt to control or intimidate them. Today’s announcement follows concerns that perpetrators were avoiding punishment as the practice can often leave no visible injury, making it harder to prosecute under existing offences such as Actual Bodily Harm (ABH).

The Government will also strengthen legislation

All households with children of school aged to get rapid COVID-19 tests per person per week

Whole families and households with primary school, secondary school and college age children, including childcare and support bubbles, will be able to test themselves twice every week from home as schools return from 8 March. Tests can easily be ordered and collected from local sites, or administered through workplace testing programmes.

From: Department of Health and Social Care

• Regular, rapid testing will be offered to households, childcare and support bubbles of primary, secondary and college age children and young people
• In line with the government’s roadmap, the latest expansion of asymptomatic testing will support the national priority to get children back to school
• Rapid test kits will be available to collect from more than 500 locations, or through workplace testing and local community testing services

Testing will continue to be a vital part of our

£4.5m to help thousands in central Scotland get gigabit speed broadband

Central Scotland will be the first area to benefit from the UK government’s record £5 billion investment in next-generation broadband.

From: Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport, Office of the Secretary of State for Scotland, and Matt Warman MP

• More than 5,300 homes and businesses across central Scotland to get much faster gigabit broadband.
• Includes premises in Ayrshire, Edinburgh, Falkirk, Fife, Stirlingshire, Greater Glasgow and Lothian.

More than 5,300 homes and businesses in Ayrshire, Edinburgh, Falkirk, Fife, Stirlingshire, Greater Glasgow and Lothian will get access to gigabit speeds thanks to the first £4.5 million to be awarded from the UK government’s nationwide gigabit programme.

These premises currently have slow speeds and

UK charities join together to boost vaccine drive

Sixteen frontline charities have formed a new partnership to encourage those with long-term health conditions and their carers to get the COVID-19 vaccine.

From: Department of Health and Social Care

• Sixteen charities will work together to help save lives through the vaccine roll out
• Those with underlying health conditions and adult carers in cohort 6 encouraged to take up the jab
• Organisations will help promote access to important advice and information on vaccines

Organisations including The British Heart Foundation, Macmillan Cancer Support and Mencap are joining with the government and NHS to promote vaccine uptake among those the charities support every day.

Since 15 February those in cohort 6 – people

New UK Government COVID testing site opens in Granton, Edinburgh

UK Government opens 33rd walk-through coronavirus testing centre in Scotland, at Ainslie Park Leisure Centre Car Park in Granton, Edinburgh.

From: Office of the Secretary of State for Scotland, Department of Health and Social Care, Iain Stewart MP, and Lord Bethell of Romford

The UK Government has today, Saturday 27 February, opened a new walk-through coronavirus testing centre at Ainslie Park Leisure Centre Car Park in Granton, Edinburgh EH5 2HF.

The test centre is part of the largest network of

The DBS Conference for 2021 has been announced!

Join us virtually to explore how we can all work together to make recruitment safer.

From: Disclosure and Barring Service

The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) is pleased to announce its second conference! The event, which will be held virtually, will take place on 24th and 25th March 2021, and the theme of this year’s conference is Making Recruitment Safer – Looking to the Future.

Registration is now open. Find out how to register below.

The conference will bring together a broad mix

From a £64m road to a £6,000 trod, cabinet set to discuss highway improvements large and small

Highway improvements big and small are on the agenda for the Norfolk County Council’s Cabinet on Monday, 8 March, as members are set to approve a £42m programme of maintenance, 113 small locally important highway schemes costing £715,000 and improvement schemes totalling £85m.

Cllr Martin Wilby, cabinet member for highways,

Norfolk libraries to scrap late fees for children as part of post-pandemic reading push

The Norfolk Libraries and Information service have put forward ambitious plans to improve children and young people's reading skills which have been diminished nationally as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The proposals, to be considered at the Council’s cabinet on 8 March, include the removal of overdue charges for everyone under the age of 16, universal membership of the county’s e-library through Norfolk’s schools and the introduction of a new ‘1000 books before school’ reading challenge.

Margaret Dewsbury, Cabinet Member for

#WeNeedMore on-call firefighters

Residents of Norfolk looking for a new challenge and a chance to make a real difference are invited to consider a career as an on-call firefighter to help fill vacancies across the county and protect Norfolk and its people.

With more people now based at home, and the last year underlining how communities can really pull together, now is the perfect time to consider if it's for you.

Norfolk Fire and Rescue Service is supporting

Cabinet considers housing boost for people with disabilities

One hundred and eighty-one supported housing units are set to be developed in Norfolk, to help people with disabilities live more independent lives.

The County Council is proposing to invest £9m-£18m of capital to develop supported, adapted and specialist housing over the next 10 years, to improve people’s lives, reduce hospital admissions and reduce care costs by £1.9m per year.

Councillor Bill Borrett, Cabinet Member for Adult

Minister calls for extension to furlough scheme

Economy Minister Diane Dodds has called for an extension of the furlough scheme to protect jobs in Northern Ireland.

Economy Minister Diane Dodds

Around 106,000 people were furloughed in Northern Ireland under the UK Government’s Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, as of 31 January 2021.

Minister Dodds said:

“This week we launched our Economic

Communities Minister launches public consultation on a new Strategy for Sport and Physical Activity

Communities Minister Deirdre Hargey has launched an eight week public consultation on a new Strategy for Sport and Physical Activity.

Communities Minister launches public consultation on a new Strategy for Sport and Physical Activity

Minister Hargey said,

“We want to produce a strategy for sport

Updated visiting arrangements confirmed

The Department of Health has confirmed changes to visiting arrangements for all care settings from Monday 1 March.

The four UK Chief Medical Officers have recommended that the Regional Alert Level should move back from Level 5 to Level 4 with immediate effect. As a result, the visiting restrictions for all care settings across Northern Ireland as detailed in the visiting guidance will revert to those applying at Level 4.  

From Monday 1 March:

Enjoy the weekend – but stay Covid free

That’s the message to the public from Health Minister Robin Swann.

The Minister said: “The fight against COVID-19 is moving in the right direction, thanks to efforts of people across Northern Ireland.

“Every one of us can help ensure that this

HMS DEFENDER HEADS ON INTENSIVE TRAINING AHEAD OF GLOBAL CARRIER DEPLOYMENT

HMS Defender has sailed from Portsmouth today for intensive training to prepare for missions around the world this spring on HMS Queen Elizabeth’s landmark deployment.

The Type 45 destroyer departs for sea trials and training to ready the ship’s cutting-edge kit and crew for a busy year on operations after a period of essential maintenance.

Defender is earmarked for upcoming

ROYAL NAVY TRACKS SURFACED RUSSIAN SUBMARINE IN WATERS CLOSE TO THE UK

Royal Navy patrol ship HMS Mersey has tracked the movements of a surfaced Russian submarine as it sailed through waters close to the UK.

Photo Credit: Royal Navy

The River-class offshore patrol vessel was on watch as the Kilo-class diesel powered attack submarine RFS Rostov Na Donu sailed through wintry seas in the North Sea and English Channel on its journey from the Baltic to the Mediterranean. 

Mersey reported on the movements of the

WRECK OF WORLD WAR ONE SHIP HMS CASSANDRA SURVEYED BY HMS ECHO

Sailors on HMS Echo paid their respects to those lost when cruiser HMS Cassandra sank in the turbulent aftermath of the Great War.

The Devonport-based survey ship spent the beginning of the year on operations in the Baltic and took some time to investigate several wrecks in the region.

One of those was C-Class cruiser HMS Cassandra which was lost on December 5 1918. Using Echo’s multibeam echo sounder, her sailors were able to get imagery of Cassandra lying on her starboard side with approximately 20 metres of her bow section missing.

Conditions meant the sensor’s imagery

Manchester: Communities in South Manchester thanked as Enhanced Testing comes to an end

Following two weeks of Enhanced Testing throughout communities in South Manchester, this weekend the programme will draw to a close.

Earlier in the year several cases of the Kent Variant of Covid-19, with an extra mutation, were detected in Moss Side and surrounding neighbourhoods. 
 
To contain the further spread of the virus

‘Citizen scientists’ help researchers gather new insights into polar bear behaviour

Oxford University is working with Canadian researchers on a first-of-its-kind project that will engage citizen volunteers to help advance knowledge about polar bear behaviour in a changing environment by analysing a decade’s worth of images captured by trail cameras.

The Arctic Bears Project is being led by Professor Douglas Clark, of the University of Saskatchewan, in collaboration with penguinologist Dr Tom Hart of Oxford’s Department of Zoology.

Launched officially to coincide with

Scotland: Fire station testing expansion complete

Access to testing available from all 21 stations ahead of schedule.

Six more fire stations across Highland and Argyll & Bute will provide local access to coronavirus (COVID-19) tests from next Tuesday 2 March.

The stations are the remainder of the 21 announced by Public Health Minister Mairi Gougeon earlier this month to provide more convenient access to testing in remote and rural areas. All will have become operational ahead of the mid-March timeframe originally set.

In partnership with the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS), people who have COVID-19 symptoms and are within walking or driving distance will be able to access a test from the following stations:

• Ullapool         Small scale test site
• Portree          Small scale test site
• Broadford      Small scale test site
• Fort William   Small scale test site
• Lochcarron    Pick-up only test site
• Rothesay       Small scale test site

Coastguard staff will also help to deliver testing at Portree and Fort William.

Tests can be booked from Monday 1 March by

Scotland: Specialist support for health and social care staff

Confidential mental health workforce service.

Health and social care professionals will have access to a new specialist service offering confidential mental health assessment and treatment.

The Workforce Specialist Service will be delivered by experts with experience in treating a range of issues such as stress, anxiety, depression or addiction, with a focus on the impact this may have on a person’s work.

A multidisciplinary team will support anyone who belongs to one of the regulated professions within health and social care. 

It is the latest part of a package of resources

Scotland: Keeping drug-users connected with lifeline services

Technology to help people stay in touch.

Up to £2.75 million will help people at risk from drug-related harm stay connected to life-saving services during the pandemic and beyond.

Over the next two years the funding will be used to supply and distribute smart phones and other appropriate devices, provide data and to build the skills and confidence of people using services and those who support them.

The initiative will reach a minimum of 2,000

Scotland: Teacher training

Bursary scheme to continue.

The STEM bursary scheme to encourage more people to train as secondary school teachers in Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics, Computing Science, Technical Education and Home Economics is set to continue. 

These are the secondary school STEM subjects with the greatest demand for teachers, and 150 bursaries will once again be available for career changers to apply for the £20,000 bursary in the next academic year while studying for a Postgraduate Diploma in Education (PGDE).

Skills Development Scotland will open the

Single dose of Pfizer BioNTech vaccine reduces asymptomatic infections and potential for SARS-CoV-2 transmission

New data from Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge suggests that a single dose of the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine can reduce by 75% the number of asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infections. This implies that the vaccine could significantly reduce the risk of transmission of the virus from people who are asymptomatic, as well as protecting others from getting ill.

This is great news – the Pfizer vaccine not only provides protection against becoming ill from SARS-CoV-2 but also helps prevent infection, reducing the potential for the virus to be passed on to others

Mike Weekes

The study by a team at Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (CUH) and the University of Cambridge analysed results from thousands of COVID-19 tests carried out each week as part its screening programmes on hospital staff who showed no signs of infection.

Vaccination for health care workers on the CUH

UK to strengthen its ethical approach to the international recruitment of health and care workers

UK aligns with World Health Organization’s advice on ethical recruitment to promote effective, fair and sustainable international recruitment practices.

From: Department of Health and Social Care

• The updated code of practice (CoP) sets out how UK health and social care employers can ethically recruit from overseas
• The CoP will help to meet UK’s target of delivering 50,000 more nurses by 2024

The UK has updated its code of practice for the international recruitment of health and social care staff to align with the World Health Organization (WHO), widening the global market from which the UK can ethically recruit.

This will provide increasing numbers of

Case study VIVID: building ambitious new grant-funded homes

With a grant of just over £88m, the housing association committed to delivering an additional 1,408 new home starts by the end of March 2022.

From: Homes England

VIVID and Homes England partnership

VIVID was one of seven strategic partners announced by Homes England in October 2018. With a grant of just over £88m, the housing association committed to delivering an additional 1,408 new home starts by the end of March 2022.

Since then VIVID has upped the ante in its

Drumchapel’s Old Police Station converted into new Army Cadet Force facility

Lowland RFCA decided to completely refurbish Drumchapel’s old Police Station to create a safe and suitable Cadet facility.

From: Reserve Forces' and Cadets' Associations (RFCA)

Drumchapel ACF Cadet Centre. Lowland RFCA Crown Copyright.

On the edge of Bearsden, one of Glasgow’s most affluent suburbs, you will find Drumchapel. Known locally as ‘The Drum’. When David Townsley, an Area Works Officer at Lowland Reserve Forces’ & Cadets’ Association (RFCA), surveyed Drumchapel Army Cadet Force (ACF) hut, he identified a need to provide better and safer training facilities for local Cadets. With the backing of senior management, the team jumped into action.

Drumchapel’s ACF unit had long been a youth

Case study Nottingham Community Housing Association: working together to realise ‘More Homes’

Since being awarded joint strategic partnership status with Longhurst in 2019, Nottingham Community Housing Association (NCHA) has been able to greater realise their vision of ‘more homes, great services, better lives’.

From: Homes England

A developer for the large majority of their 48 years, NCHA historically focussed on smaller sites which offered less risk, but steadily added to their stock of nearly 10,000 homes.

With the increased certainty that the strategic

Case study Together Housing Group: flexibility to adapt to a changing market

Together Housing Group’s strategic partnership with Homes England has given the housing association the investment and flexibility to adapt to the changing housing market as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

From: Homes England

Homes England has granted £53 million to Together Housing to help deliver 1,152 additional new homes by March 2022.

To help achieve this, Together Housing has

Case study Sovereign Housing: providing confidence and peace of mind

Sovereign was part of the first wave of Homes England Strategic Partnerships, announced in October 2018.

From: Homes England

Two years on and the housing association has found that one of the key benefits of the partnership is the certainty it provides, enabling them to make forward commitments and secure opportunities that would not have been possible without the partnership model.

Having the certainty of grant levels and

Cadet Force adult volunteer saves woman’s life thanks to army cadet first aid training

Caitlin Fitzsimmons used first aid skills, she learned with the Army Cadet Force, to help her partner’s mother when she stopped breathing and went into anaphylactic shock.

From: Reserve Forces' and Cadets' Associations (RFCA)

Caitlin Fitzimmons. Lowland RFCA Crown Copyright.

A Cadet Force Adult Volunteer has been hailed a hero after saving a woman’s life with the first aid skills she gained with the Army Cadet Force.

Caitlin Fitzsimmons was able to effectively support her partner’s mother, Mary-Ann Shankland, who went into an anaphylactic shock after digesting honeycomb-flavoured ice cream.

The pair were on a family holiday in Skegness

COVID-secure election campaigning will go ahead

Individual activists will be able to campaign outdoors in a COVID-secure way from 8 March, ahead of the English local elections in May.

From: Cabinet Office, The Electoral Commission, and Chloe Smith MP

• New rules announced on campaigning will ensure free and fair local elections
• One-to-one campaigning outdoors will be allowed from 8 March, such as leafleting and canvassing
• Constitution Minister urges “social responsibility” from political parties and individual activists

Individual activists will be able to campaign outdoors in a COVID-secure way from 8 March, ahead of the English local elections in May.

New government guidance published today will

UK Government plans Veterans Commissioner for Wales

Welsh Secretary tells Parliament that UK Government is exploring ways to establish the first ever Veterans Commissioner for Wales.

From: Office of the Secretary of State for Wales and The Rt Hon Simon Hart MP

Secretary of State for Wales Simon Hart has announced plans for the appointment of a Veterans Commissioner for Wales.

Speaking at the annual St David’s Day debate in Parliament on Thursday 25 February the Welsh Secretary told MPs the UK Government was actively exploring ways to establish Wales’ first Veterans Commissioner.

Veterans Commissioners aim to improve the

Qualifications equip Cadets for world of work

Since 2011, Lowland Reserve Forces’ and Cadets’ Association has been working with Education Scotland to develop a suite of recognised qualifications, which formalises the training young people receive.

From: Reserve Forces' and Cadets' Associations (RFCA)

Two Cadets in uniform. Lowland RFCA Crown Copyright.

Since 2011, Lowland Reserve Forces’ and Cadets’ Association (LRFCA) has been working with Education Scotland to develop a suite of recognised qualifications, which formalises the training young people receive and equips them with qualifications that are recognised and valued by education institutions and employers.

• Cadet training and awards have been mapped to Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) qualifications at Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF) levels 4, 5 and 6 – the same level of learning as National 4 and 5 and Highers – in subjects such as leadership, teamwork, citizenship and aviation. The achievement of credit-rated SQA-recognised qualifications boosts the education and employment prospects for Cadets, the vast majority of which pursue civilian careers.

Lowland RFCA has also developed the concept

Wildlife set to flourish after project completion on River Stour

A partnership project benefiting a range of wildlife has been completed on the River Stour, near Bures.

From: Environment Agency

One of the five backwaters constructed as part of the project.

The Environment Agency worked with the Dedham Vale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and Stour Valley Project, and a landowner, on a river and floodplain enhancement.

The project, which was funded through Defra’s Water Environment Improvement Fund, will help water voles, fish and invertebrates flourish.

This stretch of the Stour has historically been

Chief Constable commends Harwell officers

Chief Constable Simon Chesterman was at Harwell Operational Policing Unit (OPU) this week to award a Long Service and Good Conduct Medal and two Commendations to officers for going above and beyond in their role

From: Civil Nuclear Police Authority and Civil Nuclear Constabulary

PC Sandy Meston (pictured top) received a Long Service and Good Conduct Medal for 21 years service with the CNC, having joined the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority Constabulary (UKAEAC) at Harwell in 2000. During his time with the CNC he has also served at Sizewell OPU and in our Command and Control Centre at Culham HQ. His citation with his medal highlighted how PC Meston had been a reliable and committed officer, with incredibly high standards and work ethic.

PC Andrew Dixon (pictured bottom left) and PC

Shared Ownership and Affordable Homes funding helps Solon South West Housing Association deliver supported living scheme for young care leavers

Solon South West Housing Association, with support from the Government’s housing delivery agency Homes England, recently completed Woodleaze in South Gloucestershire.

From:

Homes England

Woodleaze is a supported living scheme designed for care leavers and 16-25 year olds at risk of homelessness. With the new occupants moving in, we take a look at the impact this project is having for young people in the community.

Solon South West is a small, Bristol-based

Slots waiver extended in boost to UK airlines

Move provides aviation sector with much-needed flexibility and protects environment as airlines will not have to operate carbon-inefficient 'ghost flights' to retain their slots.

From: Department for Transport and The Rt Hon Grant Shapps MP

The government has today (26 February 2021) introduced legislation to extend the airports slot allocation waiver, further supporting the aviation industry through the upcoming summer months.

Acting on calls for relief from the aviation

Professor Jo Swaffield reappointed to the Migration Advisory Committee

Professor Jo Swaffield has been reappointed as a member of the MAC for a further 3 years from 6 February 2021.

From: Migration Advisory Committee

Professor Brian Bell, Chair of the MAC said:

I am delighted that Jo will continue to contribute her considerable knowledge and expertise to the committee’s work.

Biography

A Professor of Economics and Head of Department at the University of York, Professor Swaffield is an applied micro labour economist with strong research expertise in the UK labour market and a track record of providing quality research evidence to government.

Her main research fields are in labour

The Secretary of State has reappointed Kenneth Dibble as a Board Member of the Charity Commission

Kenneth Dibble has been reappointed by the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport as a Board Member of the Charity Commission for one year from 23rd March 2021 to 22nd March 2022.

From: Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport and The Rt Hon Oliver Dowden CBE MP

Kenneth was first appointed to the Charity Commission’s Board in 2018. He has extensive expertise and experience in all aspects of charity law and the regulation of charities.

Kenneth is a qualified barrister (Lincoln’s Inn,

Ian Karet appointed as Interim Chair of the Charity Commission

The Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport has appointed Ian Karet as the Interim Chair of the Charity Commission from 27th February 2021 to 26th August 2021, whilst the appointment process for a permanent Chair is conducted.

From: Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport and The Charity Commission

Ian Karet joined the Charity Commission Board in January 2019. He is a solicitor and a partner of Linklaters LLP, specialising in Intellectual Property and Technology. Ian sits part time as a Deputy High Court Judge and is a member of the Civil Justice Council. He has served as a Trustee of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and on the board of the International Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property.

This interim appointment has been made in

Government completes final £5 billion sale of Bradford & Bingley plc and NRAM Limited

A £5 billion sale of Bradford & Bingley plc and NRAM Limited (formerly Northern Rock) and their remaining loans, acquired by the taxpayer as a result of the financial crisis, has been announced today, 26 February.

From: HM Treasury

This final sale constitutes a significant milestone in the work to achieve the government’s objective of returning the institutions brought into public ownership as a result of the 2007-2008 financial crisis to private ownership.

The sale was approved following a competitive