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CPAG: Child Poverty Act is under attack from all sides
The Child Poverty Act, and the targets to end child poverty by 2020 it enshrines, seem to be under attack from all sides. The latest sally comes in an article by IPPR Director Nick Pearce, headlined ‘Labour must drop its child poverty target and find another way’.
CPAG: Welfare myths are not based on fact - and people are starting to see it
Ministers turned on charities and faith groups this week to discredit concerns over their welfare reforms. They know they cannot sustain public support when welfare myths are simply not based in fact.
BFAWU: A Nail In The Coffin For Workfare?
Let us congratulate Cait Reilly for hopefully sounding the first death knell for 'Workfare'. The judgment of Miss Reilly’s appeal confirms what many, including Boycott Workfare and the BFAWU have been saying about this horrid scheme since its inception.
RSPCA: Compulsory Microchipping: a good start but what are we trying to solve?
Animal welfare groups gave a fairly universal welcome to the Government’s proposals on microchipping when they were announced on 6th February. Why?
Voice: Michael Gove's EBacc u-turn welcome news, but it calls into question his judgment
This is astonishing but welcome news. On Tuesday evening, Michael Gove was praising and promoting the EBacc in a speech to the Social Market Foundations. On Thursday morning, we learn that he will scrap the idea. This raises serious questions about his judgement and his future as Education Secretary.
NEA: Warm Homes, Warm Minds
NEA and MHNE have been working in partnership on the Warm Minds project, increasing the awareness of practitioners and service users of the effects that a cold home can have on mental health. Continue reading...
TACT: Local authority adoption services: avoiding the last chance saloon
Yesterday’s announcement about further measures to tackle delay in the adoption system are the most far-reaching this Government has yet produced as part of its agenda of reforming the adoption system. TACT acknowledges that the numbers of children waiting to be able to move in with a new adoptive family justifies a comprehensive review of the adoption system. Continue reading...
CAFH: Leave fox hunting in the past where it belongs
Conservative MPs must look to the future on Hunting with Dogs, and, in line with the majority opinion in the party and the general public, keep this illegal sport banned.
BHA: 'Persecution of Christians' and 'aggressive secularism' claims exposed as false by European court judgement
The facts confirm what many of us have been saying since these cases first hit public attention. They seem to be primarily motivated not by concern for the rights of wronged individuals but pursued by an aggressive and highly political Christian lobby to whip up a misleading victim narrative of 'Christian persecution'.
DHT disappointed in 3 year rise in animal use by DSTL
It is a sad fact that nearly 3.8 million animals, including cats and dogs, were used in medical research experiments last year alone. In spite of many alternatives that do not use animals being available, recent Home Office statistics show a shocking 2% increase in the last 12 months in the number of animals, many of them companion animals, used in scientific procedures. The use of domesticated animals such as dogs, cats, birds and fish has risen by up to 26% in the last year alone. These numbers are the highest that have been recorded since the current monitoring and recording system was put into place in 1986.
TACT: Report on care and crime shows how children in care are being let down
A report by the Inspectorate of Probation, which says children in care who have been in trouble with the law are being failed by youth offending teams, makes for worrying reading. Charity TACTCare comments here.
Diabetes UK: NHS has sleepwalked into unacceptably poor diabetes care - the time for action is now
When you consider that there are now 3.7 million people with diabetes in the UK and that another 700,000 people are expected to be added to this total by the end of the decade, it is self-evident that, for the good of the nation’s health, we need to deliver excellent diabetes care.
BHA: Non-religious members of the forces should be represented at the Remembrance cenotaph
The British Humanist Association (BHA) is supporting ‘For All Who Serve’, the new campaign launched by the United Kingdom Armed Forces Humanist Association (UKAFHA), which calls for the recognition of non-religious members of the armed forces who have died in the line of duty at the national service of remembrance.
Livability: Paralympic Fever and its legacy
As a leading disability charity, Livability is delighted with the inspiring impact the London 2012 Paralympics has had on the national consciousness. Like the Olympics before it, they have been embraced and celebrated with a fervour and buzz unseen at previous Paralympic Games. Read Livability's exclusive comment piece here.
TACT: Tim Loughton did a difficult job well, against a backdrop of the most savage cuts in memory
As soon as Tim Loughton MP announced on Twitter that he had been, in his own words ‘asked to stand down as Children’s Minister’ by the Prime Minister there were hundreds of tweets in response. Many of these were from children’s charities, including TACT, who have worked with him over the last seven years in opposition and then government. Perhaps surprisingly, given that he was a Conservative Minister in a government overseeing the most savage cuts to public sector funding in memory, these seemed unanimous in support and praise...
BHA: Assisted dying shows the disproportionate power religion has over our democratic laws
Last week Tony Nicklinson lost his case at the High Court to allow doctors to end his life without risk of prosecution. The British Humanist Association explain why huamnists believe that adults who are of sound mind ought to be able to make autonomous decisions about their lives, as long as these decisions do not result in harm to others.
TACT is unsurprised by Adoption UK’s recent report on post adoption support
Surveying over 450 adopters, their report ‘It takes a village to raise a child’ highlights the severe issues facing adoptive parents in terms of post-adoption support. Post adoption support is a legal requirement, ratified in the 2002 Adoption and Children Act. Yet, the legislation simply made it a requirement that support be available; it did not include any statutory guidance on how much support should be assigned or how the money should be spend.
NEA: Draft Bill could cause misery for millions warns charity
"Fixed it for you Mr Osborne." National Energy Action on the Draft Energy Bill, and how to raise social and environmental aspirations.
Guide Dogs for the Blind: DLA replacement PIP will fail to meet needs of blind people
The Government’s proposed changes under the Welfare Reform Act represent one of the most significant changes undertaken by the Coalition Government. There have been many different controversial proposals put forward as part of the Bill, with considerable implications for the lives of blind and partially sighted people across the UK. Guide Dogs for the Blind explore the replacement of DLA with PIP here.
TACT: Legislate at haste, repent at leisure
TACT (The Adolescent and Children's Trust) have commented on the government's adoption scorecards as mentioned in the Queen's Speech, and suggested they might be pandering to headlines instead of focusing on vital post adoption support.
BHA: Secret recordings reveal anti abortion group spreading falsehoods in schools
Whatever a group’s ideological background, it is important that all the claims they present match up with the evidence. When will SPUC stop spreading these untrue stories, and when will the government start properly scrutinising their activities, and the claims they are making in schools?
TACT: In School and Out of School: Admissions, Exclusion and Children in Care
TACT (The Adolescent and Childcare Trust) have written an exclusive comment piece on looked-after children and school exclusion.
United Response: Eight steps towards a fairer society
Did you know that, based on the Government’s own figures, 24% of the spending cuts made in the last two years are falling on just 2% of people – those who require require social care, probably the most vulnerable members of our society? What’s more, 58% of all cuts fall on disabled people, older people needing support and people living in poverty?
United Response: Campaigning for a fair society – House Of Lords manifesto launch
Yesterday afternoon United Response was among more than a 100 present at the launch of a new manifesto by the Campaign For A Fair Society in the House Of Lords. Two people we support joined us to hear first hand the eight positive principles Campaign For A Fair Society believe could create a better future for all of us in the UK.
NUT: Danny Alexander's pensions negotiation deadline is premature when his proposals are simply not an option for most teachers
The Government’s position continues to be that it expects teachers to work longer, pay more and get lower pensions when they retire. The outcome of discussions with the DfE thus far is that five of the eight teacher unions, representing the vast majority of the profession, have declared themselves unwilling to sign up to the Government's proposals. Read why here in an exclusive comment by the National Union of Teachers (NUT).
TACT: Michael Gove's speech shows a welcome change of tone, but adoption reform is only one part of the change we need to see
TACT agrees with the Minister for Education, Michael Gove, that more children should be adopted and unnecessary delay and bureaucracy reduced. However, improvement of the adoption system should only be seen as part of overall improvement. TACT, along with other charities in the sector, is currently planning an enquiry into permanence in care and hope to engage the government in this work.
Terry Ryall: When traditional education fails, we must start to look at what other sectors can offer
Terry Ryall from v inspired comments on Nick Clegg's plans to reward charities and businesses for getting unemployed young people into work or training.
TACT: Looked after children and Offending: Reducing Risk and Promoting Resilience
Many myths exist about looked after children, one of which is spending time in the care system leads to crime. Whilst it is true looked after children are over represented in the youth courts (and prison population), less than 10% of the looked after population actually come into contact with the justice system.
bpas: Taking stock of the morning-after pill
Clare Murphy, BPAS Director of Press and Public Policy, discusses the reaction to BPAS’s Christmas campaign promoting advance prescription of the Emergency Contraceptive Pill.
BHA: Main opposition to reform on assisted dying will come from well-funded but unrepresentative religious lobby
The British Humanist Association calls for compassion and rationality on assisted dying.
Mayhew Animal Home: A call for dog ownership reform
Over twenty organisations, including The Mayhew Animal Home, are now campaigning as a united voice for the coalition government to finally take action in revising dangerous dog legislation.
bpas: Inflating the cost of abortion services
Clare Murphy, BPAS Director of Press and Public Policy, challenges the claim that ‘taxpayers spend £30million a year more on abortion than previously thought’.
Dr Hadwen Trust: Aid for AIDS - An anniversary to note but not to celebrate
Thirty years ago, on 5th June, 1981, the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention in Los Angeles, California, reported the outbreak of an unusual form of pneumonia. This case became the first in a long series that defined a previously unknown syndrome: the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, more commonly known as AIDS, which was to have a significant effect on worldwide health.
Breast Cancer Care: Valuing Older Women
Breast Cancer Care is publishing recommendations on how to improve outcomes and experiences for older women with breast cancer in a new policy briefing, supported by Age UK.
Unlock Democracy: David Cameron must keep his promise to increase the number of female ministers by the end of his first term
The Centre for Women and Democracy, Electoral Reform Society, Fawcett Society, Hansard Society and Unlock Democracy, have joined forces to launch Counting Women In, a new campaign calling for David Cameron to keep his promise to have 1/3 of his ministers be women by the end of his first term as Prime Minister
NEA: How can the most vulnerable manage energy bills in a high cost, low carbon world?
The UK Government is committed to a number of statutory objectives relating to energy security, renewables, climate change and fuel poverty. Compliance with this mix of environmental and social obligations has proven to be both challenging and costly and will continue to be so if Government objectives are to be attained.
BHA joins with leading scientists and other leading organisations to say: ‘Teach evolution, not creationism!’
Today the BHA launched a new campaign along with Sir David Attenborough, Prof Richard Dawkins, Prof Michael Reiss, 27 other scientists and four other organisations calling on the government to introduce guidance that creationism may not be taught in schools, and that the teaching of evolution must be.
Electoral Reform Society: Reduce and Equalise, the battle starts here
Yesterday at midnight the Boundary Commission published the initial proposals for the boundary review in England, providing us with the first glimpse of Britain’s political map in 2015.
Mayhew Animal Home: How can we stem this canine crisis?
A release of statistics last week revealed there has been a 130% rise in the number of stray dogs on Britain’s streets. The Mayhew Animal Home gives their perspective on what needs to be done to stem this canine crisis.
TACT: Adoption and Fostering - a balanced debate?
TACT is concerned that popular opinion can be influenced by unfortunate comments such as Mr. Nearey’s that that if not adopted ‘children are languishing in the care system’. This fails to recognise both the key role played by the thousands of foster carers.
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MRSA Action UK Annual Memorial Event
Families will pay tribute and remember those lost to MRSA and healthcare associated infections at Westminster Abbey on Thursday 13th June 2013
BSIA: Information Destruction Exhibition & Conference 2013
Following the great success of the BSIA's Information Destruction Conference and Exhibition in May 2012, we are pleased to annouce that the event is returning again in June 2013. This one-day conference and exhibition is aimed at key decision makers in organisations that carry out the secure destruction of confidential material.
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