The charity’s analysis of Police Scotland crime data found that online child sexual abuse offences had more than doubled over the last decade.
The data shows 1,298 Indecent Image offences and crimes of Communicating Indecently with a Child were logged in the year to March– up from 543 just ten years ago.
The NSPCC said the growth in crimes and the scale of abuse taking place against children should serve as a wake-up call for the next UK Prime Minister to make the Online Safety Bill a national priority.
The charity said it underlines the urgent need for Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak to commit to passing the legislation in full and without delay.
The NSPCC first secured the commitment to regulate social media four years ago in a bid to combat the inaction of Silicon Valley to abuse taking place against children on their platforms.
The legislation would put a duty of care on companies for their users and mean they would have to put measures in place to prevent and disrupt child abuse on their sites and protect children from harm.
“Being groomed has had a horrific impact on my life and I want no other young person to endure that. I know this delay to the Online Safety Bill will see more young people like me experience harm when it could have been prevented, and that is devastating.”
The NSPCC has written to both Conservative leadership candidates saying, ‘delay or watering down of the Bill will come at considerable cost to children and families. It would represent the reversal of an important manifesto commitment that commands strong levels of public support’.
The biggest ever Commonwealth Games and the largest sporting event to be held in the West Midlands will open in Birmingham today ‘on time and on budget’.
Backed by £778 million of public funding, including £594 million from the UK government, Birmingham 2022 is the most significant investment in a major sporting event since the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
The Prince of Wales – accompanied by The Duchess of Cornwall – will represent Her Majesty The Queen and officially open the Games at this evening’s Opening Ceremony, taking place at the newly-refurbished Alexander Stadium in front of over 30,000 spectators and an estimated global television audience of over one billion people.
Birmingham 2022 will be the quickest delivered Commonwealth Games in history – ready in just four and a half years instead of the usual seven. It also boasts the biggest para-sport programme in Commonwealth Games history and more medals for women than men for the first time at a major multi-sport event.
Birmingham is hosting 6,500 athletes and officials from 72 Commonwealth nations and territories competing in 11 days of sport across the West Midlands. More than one million tickets have been sold for events across the West Midlands from Cannock Chase to Coventry.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson – remember him? – said: “The UK rightly has an outstanding reputation for hosting major sporting events, and the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham will be another fantastic opportunity to showcase the best of Britain on a global stage.
“Not only will we be celebrating sporting success, we will also be strengthening the crucial ties between our 72 nations and territories – bringing businesses and governments from across the world together to encourage trade and boost economic growth that will leave a lasting legacy for years to come.
“Good luck to all the athletes competing – let the Games begin!”
Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries said: “Today the eyes of the world turn to Birmingham. We have an incredible 11 days of sport and I know that fans from across the home nations will get right behind our athletes.
“Beyond the medals won and records broken, these Games will deliver a fantastic legacy – sporting, cultural and economic – for the people of Birmingham and the West Midlands.”
The investment in the Games will create a positive economic and social impact for Birmingham and the West Midlands; including:
40,000 new jobs and volunteering opportunities;
A £38 million investment to kickstart a range of innovative programmes in the West Midlands to help those who need the most support to get physically active;
A Business and Tourism Programme, supported by £21 million government investment, to attract more visitors and investors to the West Midlands, including a two-week UK House programme drawing global business leaders to Birmingham;
A brand new aquatics centre in Sandwell, that will be used by the local people as a state-of-the-art sport and leisure facility for decades to come;
The redevelopment of Alexander Stadium to transform it into a world-class sporting facility that will attract future major events to the region;
The Birmingham 2022 Festival – the biggest celebration of creativity ever staged in the West Midlands with free events open to the public.
President of the Commonwealth Games Federation, Dame Louise Martin said: “These Games have been four and a half years in the making and Birmingham has done an incredible job, overcoming challenging circumstances, to prepare for the biggest ever Commonwealth Games.
“I’m absolutely delighted that over 1 million people will be attending and more than a billion people watching around the world to share in the excitement. I have no doubt that Birmingham 2022 will be a spectacular Games for the host city, and the Commonwealth.”
Birmingham 2022 Chief Executive Ian Reid said: “Over the coming days, all eyes will be on Birmingham and the West Midlands, as we host the 22nd Commonwealth Games. After many years of hard work, I am delighted to say that we are ready and are looking forward to welcoming athletes and spectators from around the world to the region.
“These Games will play host to the largest sporting programme of any Commonwealth Games and for the first time will see more medals awarded to women than men. Over the coming two weeks, we will be able to showcase the very best that we have to offer.
“Now is the time to celebrate our city and region. This is our moment.”
New report calls on Government to update its energy bills support to help the most exposed households and consider introducing a social tariff.
Negligent energy regulator Ofgem enabled now bankrupt energy firms and inexperienced CEOs to increase energy bills further.
A national homes insulation programme is the permanent solution to bringing down bills and should be launched urgently.
The Government should immediately update its package of support to help households with soaring energy bills before the cost-of-living crisis grips even harder following October’s energy price cap increase, according to a new report by the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee.
It comes as people are feeling the squeeze of 40-year high inflation of 9.4% – to which the cost of energy is a big contributor – as wage increases struggle to keep up.
Support package out of date
The Government’s Energy Bills Support Scheme provides a £400 discount on energy bills in October for every household, a £650 means-tested one-off payment to eight million low-income households, £150 for those on disability benefits and £300 for pensioners. This was designed when the forecast for the October price cap was £2,800.
With wholesale energy prices continuing to rise industry experts now estimate that the price cap could increase to £3,244 in October, when the NEA forecast one in three (8.2 million) households face fuel poverty. A further rise is expected in January and MPs on the Committee warn that the size of the package has been ‘eclipsed by the scale of the crisis’.
Social tariff and support for vulnerable people
They also raise concerns that the current scheme does not sufficiently target low-income households and those in vulnerable circumstances, with the £400 discount going to some bill payers who don’t need it and repeatedly to people who own multiple homes. The Committee urges the Government to ensure that any update to its support scheme is better targeted at customers who need it the most.
As low-income households struggle to pay their energy bills and get deeper into debt, MPs call on the Government to work with energy suppliers to develop a scheme to help households pay off debts over a longer period.
In the longer-term, the report calls out the injustice of vulnerable people, who are unable to pay their energy bills, being moved on to more expensive prepayment meters.
The report labels this as “unacceptable” and urges the Government to consider replacing the market-wide price cap with a discounted social tariff for vulnerable customers, and a relative tariff for the rest of the market – that caps the difference between the cheapest and most expensive tariffs a supplier offers.
Committee Chair Darren Jones said, “Once again, the energy crisis is racing ahead of the Government. To prevent millions from dropping into unmanageable debt it’s imperative that the support package is updated and implemented before October, when the squeeze will become a full-on throttling of household finances and further tip the economy towards recession.
“We were told by a number of witnesses, ‘if you think things are bad now, you’ve not seen anything yet’. This Winter is going to be extremely difficult for family finances and it’s therefore critical that public funds are better targeted to those who need it the most.
“It’s an injustice that the poorest households continue to pay higher energy costs because they’re on prepayment meters. This must end and a social tariff should be brought forward.
“Ultimately, Ministers know that the long-term solution is to reduce our need for energy through insulation works that keep our homes warm in winter and cool in summer. If the Government is really taking this energy crisis and the country’s net zero targets seriously it will come forward with a bold, fully funded, national home insulation program before the end of the year.”
This could increase if the Government is unable to recover the cost of running the special administration of Bulb through its sale and decides that billpayers must pick up the costs, something the report says should be paid for through general taxation.
Ofgem’s incompetence over many years enabled inadequately resourced and inexperienced founders to start energy companies. It failed to supervise regulated companies, which in turn took high risk decisions including not hedging properly and using customers money to offer unsustainable prices that undercut well run energy companies. Ofgem failed to use its existing powers and didn’t bring action against energy suppliers even when it was clear that they should have done.
Ministers and regulators believed deregulation would drive competition, but it instead left an over- exposed and unregulated market which ultimately crashed, costing taxpayers billions of pounds. This market failure is only comparable to the banking crisis of 2008, according to MPs.
Ofgem is pressing ahead with a major package of regulatory reform to reverse its previous shortcomings and shore up the financial resilience of the market, but the Committee remains sceptical of Ofgem’s ability to undertake this task. If measures are poorly designed and executed, they risk further destabilising the market and distorting competition.
Insulating homes to permanently reduce demand
Helping customers pay their energy bills is not a sustainable position for Government and volatile gas prices are expected to be a longer-term concern for the country. It is therefore urgent and essential that Ministers bring forward a fully funded, national campaign to insulate people’s homes – street by street, community by community – in order to reduce the country’s demand for energy.
This report urges the Government to stop announcing short-term policies and moving existing budgets around and instead fully fund a national retrofit programme that businesses, homeowners, and tenants can invest and take part in.
Such a programme is required not just to reduce the cost of energy in winter but to also keep homes cool in extreme heat, reduce the cost of cooling as well as heating, and help the country hit its net zero targets as set out in the Committees previous report on Decarbonising heating in homes
Transport Secretary, Grant Shapps said: “Today (27 July 2022), union bosses are once again trying to cause as much disruption as possible to the day-to-day lives of millions of hardworking people around the country.
“What’s more, it has been cynically timed to disrupt the start of the Commonwealth Games and crucial Euro 2022 semi-finals, in a deliberate bid to impact the travel of thousands trying to attend events the whole country is looking forward to.
“Sadly, this is nothing new. In fact, in my 3 years as Transport Secretary, there has not been a single day when unions have not been in dispute with the rail industry by either threatening or taking industrial action with around 60 separate disputes lodged in 2022 alone.
“This country’s taxpayers stumped up £600 per household to ensure not a single rail worker lost their job during the pandemic, but many of those very same people will be forced into losing a day’s wages through no fault of their own but because of stubborn union leaders’ refusals to modernise.
“Union bosses will claim they’re willing to do a deal but how can anyone take them seriously when, earlier this month, the RMT dismissed a Network Rail offer worth 8% over the next 2 years without even consulting their members.
“Unfortunately, it’s too late to call off today’s damaging strikes but I urge the RMT and indeed all unions to stop holding the country to ransom with the threat of further industrial action and get off picket lines and back around the negotiating table. If not, we risk passengers turning their backs on the railway for good.”
RMT Press Office issued the following statement yesterday:
There are reports based on anonymous briefings from the rail industry to the right-wing media that are wholly inaccurate regarding negotiations in this dispute.
The last offer we had from Network Rail was rejected by our National Executive Committee on 13 July. There has been no new offer since from Network Rail.
Claims about the “sentiment” expressed by Eddie Dempsey and relayed by anonymous industry sources to the Daily Telegraph are factually wrong.
We were optimistic about making enough progress to suspend strike action. That is how we always approach negotiations because RMT is serious about getting a negotiated settlement.
However, that evaporated when Network Rail hardened their position on attacking our members conditions of work and even threatening to put compulsory redundancies back on the table.
Anonymous rail industry sources are attempting to drive a wedge between striking members and our NEC which will fail.
Threatening us as they did with punishing our members with compulsory redundancies and 50% cuts in maintenance schedules is a poor negotiating tactic and will lead to extending the time it takes to reach a deal.
The RMT has not anonymously briefed the media at any point during this dispute or gone into great detail regarding the ins and outs of negotiations that are behind closed doors.
That is because we feel that would be an act of bad faith and the public are more interested in the substantive issues and whether we can reach a settlement.
Our strike action remains on tomorrow (Wednesday) and we will continue to work to get job security, a decent pay rise and good working conditions for our members in Network Rail and the Train Operating Companies.
The UK Government’s intended approach to current free trade agreement negotiations with Israel raises concerns over human rights issues, according to Trade Minister Ivan McKee.
In a letter to Penny Mordaunt, Minister of State for Trade Policy, Mr McKee said the Scottish Government has specific concerns in relation to the human rights record and ongoing conflict in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
The Minister also raised that the UK Government has not included a full impact assessment on a potential new deal and how it would impact the UK nations. Mr McKee’s response also states that it is clear no potential benefits from a new agreement would mitigate the negative effects of Brexit.
The letter reads:
Dear Penny
Launch of UK-Isreal Free Trade Agreement negotiations
Thank you for your letter of 20 July announcing the launch of free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations with Israel.
The Scottish Government welcomes opportunities for Scottish businesses and our economy to grow, in particular in trade in services, where the coverage of the existing trade agreement with Israel is limited. However, we must be sure that any new agreement is in the best interests of Scotland and consistent with the principles in Scotland’s Vision for Trade. I wrote to you recently setting out in detail Scotland’s interests in this FTA.
The scoping analysis that you have now published does not give any detail on the likely economic impact of this deal on Scotland. However, any benefits from increased trade will not make up for the loss in trade as a result of Brexit. Given that your own modelling shows the recent deals with Australia and New Zealand are likely to have a detrimental impact on the agriculture and semi-processed food sectors, it is important to see the impact of all proposed FTAs on Scotland and our economy in advance of negotiations.
I have called on the UK Government to ensure that current and future trading partners comply with their human rights and international law obligations. We have specific concerns in relation to the human rights record and ongoing conflict in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPTs). In particular, we are concerned about reported labour rights violations of Palestinian and migrant workers under Israeli working practices.
It is vital that you ensure that that goods and services sourced from illegal settlements in the OPTs are excluded from this agreement in a way that can be reliably enforced. It is also important that any expansion of trade in architectural and construction services within Israel does not lead to involvement in the punitive demolition and destruction of Palestinian public and private property in the OPTs, which is a violation of international law.
It is disappointing that you have not undertaken a human rights impact assessment in advance of negotiations, as we have consistently called for, but urge you to fully consider these important issues and use the trade negotiations to progress human rights objectives.
I would also welcome further information on what plans you may have to similarly develop the current trade agreement with the Palestinian Authority of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
As you know, I have repeatedly made the case for a full role for the Scottish Government and Scottish Parliament in the development of trade agreements. I welcome the engagement that has taken place so far but will continue to press for the Scottish Government to be fully involved in these negotiations to ensure they achieve the best outcome for Scotland and promote human rights.
‘We now face the greatest workforce crisis in history in the NHS and in social care’
The NHS and social care face the greatest workforce crisis in their history, compounded by the absence of a credible government strategy to tackle the situation, say MPs in a new Health and Social Care Committee report.
In the NHS, persistent understaffing poses a serious risk to staff and patient safety in routine and emergency care.
The Workforce: recruitment, training and retention report outlines the scale of the workforce crisis: new research suggests the NHS in England is short of 12,000 hospital doctors and more than 50,000 nurses and midwives; evidence on workforce projections say an extra 475,000 jobs will be needed in health and an extra 490,000 jobs in social care by the early part of the next decade; hospital waiting lists reached a record high of nearly 6.5 million in April.
The report finds the Government to have shown a marked reluctance to act decisively. The refusal to do proper workforce planning risked plans to tackle the Covid backlog – a key target for the NHS.
The number of full-time equivalent GPs fell by more than 700 over three years to March 2022, despite a pledge to deliver 6,000 more. Appearing before the inquiry, the then Secretary of State Sajid Javid admitted he was not on track to deliver them. The report describes a situation where NHS pension arrangements force senior doctors to reduce working hours as a “national scandal” and calls for swift action to remedy.
Maternity services are flagged as being under serious pressure with more than 500 midwives leaving in a single year. A year ago the Committee’s maternity safety inquiry concluded almost 2,000 more midwives were needed and almost 500 more obstetricians. The Secretary of State failed to give a deadline by when a shortfall in midwife numbers would be addressed.
Pay is a crucial factor in recruitment and retention in social care. Government analysis estimated more than 17,000 jobs in care paid below the minimum wage.
A separate report by the Committee’s panel of independent experts (Expert Panel) published today rates the government’s progress overall to meet key commitments it has made on workforce as “inadequate”.
Health and Social Care Committee Chair Rt Hon Jeremy Hunt said: “Persistent understaffing in the NHS poses a serious risk to staff and patient safety, a situation compounded by the absence of a long term plan by the government to tackle it.
“We now face the greatest workforce crisis in history in the NHS and in social care with still no idea of the number of additional doctors, nurses and other professionals we actually need. NHS professionals know there is no silver bullet to solve this problem but we should at least be giving them comfort that a plan is in place.
“This must be a top priority for the new Prime Minister.”
Since 2020, multiple agencies have carried out large-scale joint enforcement operations in Leicester, partly in response to persistent reports of exploitation and underpayment. Low Pay Commissioners heard evidence on the forces driving non-compliance and what enforcement bodies have found.
At the heart of this evidence is a disconnect: enforcement bodies have found relatively modest non-compliance in Leicester, while Commissioners spoke to other bodies and individuals who believed non-compliance to be widespread and flagrant.
Today’s report looks at three potential explanations for this disparity.
Firstly, on the positive side, recent changes within the textiles industry mean some evidence of underpayment may be historic and so less reflective of current situation.
Secondly, the vulnerability of workers means they may be reluctant to provide information.
Thirdly, there remains potential for employers to conceal underpayment from investigating bodies.
Bryan Sanderson, Chair of the LPC, said: “The evidence we heard from workers in Leicester was striking. Despite some positive recent progress, job insecurity, a poisonous workplace culture and low expectations leave workers trapped in poor-quality jobs and vulnerable to exploitation.
“These same factors mean they are unlikely to report abuses, which undermines efforts to enforce workers’ rights.
“The case of Leicester is not unique. Across the UK, workers in precarious positions face the same obstacles, with the same consequences for enforcement. The problem demands comprehensive action, including to give these workers greater security over their hours and incomes.”
Low Pay Commissioners make several recommendations for Government:
The process for reporting abuses does not work for the most vulnerable low-paid workers; but it also fails to engage the third-party bodies whom workers may trust more, or wider industry networks. Commissioners recommend HMRC looks at ways to address these problems.
There is an ‘information gap’ between what industry and civil society groups think they have reported to official bodies, and what those official bodies are able to share and act on. A forthcoming official review of enforcement operations in Leicester should take into account evidence from both sides of this gap.
Insecure work and uncertainty over hours and incomes are central to the vulnerability of workers to exploitation. Low Pay Commissioners urge the Government to take action on the measures recommended by the Commission in 2018 to address these issues.
Statement from the Minister for Africa, Vicky Ford, on the humanitarian crisis in East Africa:
Minister for Africa, Vicky Ford, said: “Friday’s agreement to resume Ukraine grain exports, brokered by the UN and Turkey, is a vital step towards alleviating hunger for the world’s poorest and most vulnerable.
“This is welcome news for countries in East Africa where famine is also being driven by four consecutive seasons of failed rains and the impact of conflicts, with 48 million people now facing severe food insecurity.
“That’s why the UK is calling for urgent action to address suffering in East Africa and is also working with humanitarian aid agencies to tackle this crisis and to stop it from getting worse. This year, The UK will spend approximately £156 million across East Africa towards humanitarian crises.
“It’s eleven years since famine was last declared in Somalia, a crisis that killed over 250,000 people. We have worked with partners to build resilience and save lives over those 11 years and as the UN lead on Somalia, the UK is committed to driving a global response to prevent famine and alleviate further suffering.”
Animal charity The Humane League UK marked the 200 year anniversary of the UK’s first animal welfare law by asking the UK Government to ban cages for egg-laying hens with a demo outside Parliament yesterday.
Carrying banners saying ‘Let’s make cages history’, each protester represented a historical era which has passed since the first animal welfare law was introduced two centuries ago wearing costumes from Victorian three-piece suits, to flapper dresses and 90s grunge get-ups.
According to a survey by Atomik Research, one third of people believe that egg-laying hens have better lives now than they did 200 years ago, despite factory and cage farming not being invented in 1822.
The survey also found that of those who eat eggs, 72% say that buying free-range is important to them.
Singer Sinitta, who endorsed the campaign, said: “It completely boggles my mind that hens suffer more today than hundreds of years ago. We’ve invented planes, cars, antibiotics, telephones, and the internet but when it comes to our treatment of innocent farmed animals things have arguably gotten worse.
“This is unacceptable – we must ban cages for hens.”
Dr Marc Abraham OBE, media vet and author, says: “There’s going to be a change of government soon and, although disruptive, this can present a major opportunity for change.
“They need to realise that a significantly high proportion of British people want cruel and exploitative cages banned outright, as they should. It’s not fair keeping energetic, intelligent, and curious animals like hens in steel wire boxes, where they suffer unnaturally shortened and miserable lives.
“If those in power refuse to act on their own pro-animal welfare mandate, the nation’s animal-lovers will just keep campaigning until the health and wellbeing of animals is finally and fully respected.”
On July 22nd 1822 Parliament passed The Cruel Treatment of Cattle Act which protected cows, horses, mules and sheep from beatings and abuse.
It was the first piece of animal welfare legislation in the world, and was masterminded by Irish MP and colonel Richard ‘Humanity Dick’ Martin, who defended animals so vigorously he fought at least one duel over cruelty to a dog.
Battery cages began to find wide use in farming from the 1940s onwards and, although barren battery cages were banned in the UK in 2012, millions of hens remain trapped in marginally larger ‘enriched’ cages.
Around 14 million hens, or 35% of the UK’s flock, are still kept in these cages which frustrate natural behaviours like wing-stretching, foraging and dust-bathing.
This is despite strong public opposition to such practices.
The government confirmed last month in the End the Cage Age debate that there would be a consultation on the use of cages for laying hens and farrowing crates for pigs.
Without a ban, members of the public can never be sure that they aren’t purchasing eggs from cruelly caged hens, as even with 80-90% of the egg industry committed to going cage-free by 2025 that will leave 4.2 to 8.4 million birds in cages supplying small single location businesses and restaurants.
These protests form part of Beatrice’s Campaign, which seeks to ban cages for hens and is led by UK charities The Humane League UK, RSPCA, and Conservative Animal Welfare Foundation.
The campaign is named after Beatrice, a hen who was rescued from a cage and now thrives with her adoptive family in Wiltshire, having regrown all the feathers she’d lost during her previous, stress-filled life.
Over 7.2 million payments of £326 have been made to help households through the UK government’s Cost of Living support.
7.2 million payments of £326 – worth a total of £2.4bn – made in first week of Cost of Living support rollout
Payments mark the first half of the £650 Cost of Living payment for low-income families, with the second half coming in the autumn
Additional support for disabled people and pensioners will follow later this year
This means £2.4bn has been paid out to low-income families in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, with the second instalment of £324 arriving later this year.
The first payments were made on 14 July 2022, meaning the government has paid on average over a million families every working day since then.
This is all part of the government’s £37 billion support package for households. Millions will get £1,200 this year to help them with rising costs, including this £650 payment, a £400 grant to help with energy bills, and a £150 Council Tax rebate for the 80% of households in bands A-D.
And in addition to this, nearly one in 10 people will get a £150 disability payment this autumn, while over eight million pensioner households could receive an extra £300 through their Winter Fuel Payments in November and December.
Work and Pensions Secretary, Thérèse Coffey said: “This government said that we would protect those on the lowest incomes, and we have delivered what we said with over 7 million households receiving £326 in the last week.
“There is more help to come for households, with the second half of the £650 payment arriving later this year and further payments for pensioners and disabled people also on the way.”
Chancellor of the Exchequer, Nadhim Zahawi said: “I know that people are finding things difficult with rising prices and increasing pressure on household budgets.
“That’s why we’re taking action to control inflation and providing immediate help for households. It’s so important that over 7 million vulnerable households have received £326 direct payments so far and there is also more help to come, with 8 million of the most vulnerable households receiving £1,200 of direct support to help with bills over the winter.”
In total, over eight million families will be eligible for this payment, with around one million eligible because they receive tax credits and no other eligible benefits. These families will receive their first instalment from HMRC in the autumn, and the second instalment in the winter.
DWP will administer payments for customers on all other eligible means-tested benefits, and no one needs to contact the government or apply for the payment at any stage.
Those who are eligible should look out in their bank accounts for a payment of £326 with the reference “DWP Cost of Living” in their bank accounts. This payment is made automatically, meaning no one has to apply or do anything to receive it.
Eligible claimants who have not received their payment yet should not be concerned, as the DWP expects some payments may take until 31 July 2022 to come through.
