Reading Borough Council has confiscated equipment from a resident for breaching a noise abatement notice five times, following a successful prosecution for noise nuisance. Read more...
A volunteer at Sheffield Council’s Springboard Café which hosts a drop in service for mental health patients needing a chat has spoken out about how St Mary’s Springboard has helped him. Read more...
Reigate and Banstead Council has prosecuted housing developer Shanly Homes for wilful damage to two protected trees in Redhill, Surrey. Read more...
A gang who defrauded a Russian Bank of more than £1 million has been sentenced to a total of 19 years in jail. Read more...
The government has announced that it intends to impose a cap on costs legal firms recover in medical negligence cases. Read more...
Herefordshire Council is consulting on proposals to change the current social and affordable rented housing lettings system across the county, in partnership with Herefordshire’s housing associations. Read more...
The Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) has issued a statement on President Trump’s executive order on inbound migration to the US. Read more...
Luton Council’s Rogue Landlord Team has raided an unlicensed House in Multiple Occupation (HMO), where six tenants were found living in a three-bedroom property which breached a number of management regulations. Read more...
Spelthorne Council in Surrey has prosecuted three men for benefit fraud offences. Read more...
Birmingham City Council has prosecuted the owners of a muffin shop for breaches of the Food Safety and Hygiene (England) Regulations 2013. Read more...
The charity INQUEST has said new figures relating to deaths in custody released by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) are “extremely disturbing”. Read more...
Mental health charity Mind has said that it is “unacceptable and unnecessary” that people with mental health problems are dying younger because of fragmented care. Read more...
Birmingham City Council has prosecuted the owner of a bridal boutique who fly-tipped refuse and provided false information to officers from Birmingham City Council’s Waste Enforcement Unit. Read more...
Brent Council has hosted a community event, which focused on gang activities in Brent. Read more...
Barnet Council announced plans to extend Moving Traffic Contraventions enforcement to 14 additional sites in the borough where traffic restrictions exist, in a bid to further target dangerous drivers. Read more...
The Department for Education (DfE) has awarded more than £7 million to three projects with ambitious plans to transform children’s services in their areas. Read more...
Somerset Council is urging more people to consider becoming foster parents as part of Somerset’s first county-wide fostering awareness week being held from 23 January to 29 January. Read more...
A gardening contractor who charged nearly £5,000 for shoddy landscaping work carried out at private residences has been ordered to repay £4,490 in compensation to customers. Read more...
The combination of the housing crisis and dropping temperatures is putting increasing pressure on the UK’s vulnerable and homeless. In response to warnings from homeless charities that current temperatures and putting rough sleepers in life-threatening situations Sadiq Khan has initiated the opening of emergency shelters across London. Read more...
Sefton Council on Merseyside has set up a working group looking into Children and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAHMS). Read more...
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has prosecuted Northamptonshire crisp manufacturer Tayto Group Limited, after an agency worker lost the tops of three fingers in machinery. Read more...
The charity INQUEST has responded to a verdict on the death of a young father who died in HMP Chelmsford after taking his own life, saying that his death was “entirely preventable”. Read more...
Stoke-on-Trent City Council has announced that young first-time buyers in Stoke-on-Trent are being given a boost onto the housing ladder, after the city was named one of 30 local authority partnerships to spearhead a national house building scheme. Read more...
A new Gateshead project helping young people at risk has secured extra funding from the Gateshead Community Safety Team. Read more...
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has announced the amount of the third Diffuse Mesothelioma Payment Scheme levy. Read more...
Manchester City Council has announced a new plan to accelerate the delivery of affordable homes in the city and create up to 2,000 affordable homes every year. Read more...
Surrey Police Force has launched an initiative to encourage those who own knives to give them up anonymously, in a bid to tackle knife crime across the county. Read more...
London Mayor Sadiq Khan has warned that lack of central government funding for the Metropolitan Police would make it increasingly difficult to keep Londoners safe from growing security threats. Read more...
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has prosecuted a roofing company after the lives of two employees were put at risk while working on a roof with no protection from falls from height. Read more...
Leading car manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover Limited has been prosecuted and fined, after a worker lost their leg following a car accident. Read more...
Local Government Minister Marcus Jones has confirmed that councils are to receive a further £48 million in government funding to help deliver new and expanded services to prevent and reduce homelessness. Read more...
The Charity Commission has issued a warning for the public to be aware of fake charity appeals to help migrants. Read more...
Researchers from the Technical University of Munich (TUM), the Helmholtz Zentrum Munchen and the German Center for Cardiovascular Disease (DZHK) have found that depression poses a risk for cardiovascular diseases in men that is just as great as that posed by high cholesterol levels and obesity. Read more...
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has prosecuted a Powys-based landfill company after a worker was run over and had to have both legs amputated as a result. Read more...
Doctors in the NHS are concerned about the number of cancelled operations for cancer patients amid “tremendous pressure” facing the NHS this winter. Read more...
A Hull angler has been fined £1,850, after being caught fishing without a licence at Newark in Nottinghamshire. Read more...
Prime Minister Theresa May has set out her negotiating objectives for Britain leaving the European Union (EU), outlining 12 objectives which clarify the UK’s stance on control of immigration, trade agreements, workers’ rights and rights for EU nationals in Britain and British nationals in the EU following Brexit. Read more...
The Prime Minister has reaffirmed the UK’s intention to work closely with European partners to counteract cross-border crime and terrorism post Brexit – but has said that Britain must regain control of its own affairs, taking back control of its laws and bringing an end to the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice in Britain. Read more...
Currently, the NHS works under what is known as “the 4-hour rule”. This states that, when you arrive at A&E, whether you have a life threatening emergency or a minor ailment, it is a key NHS commitment to see the you within 4 hours. However, hospitals have been struggling to maintain this standard since the summer of 2015. Read more...
Justice Minister Dr Phillip Lee has opened the first Halfords Training Academy for female prisoners at HMP Drake Hall. Read more...
Housing minister Gavin Barwell pledges that the first wave of discounted ‘starter homes’ will be built in 2017 in 30 local authority areas – but critics say they may not be ‘affordable’. Some commentators have argued the new homes will do little to help those on middle to low incomes. Read more...
The Welsh government has announced more than £31 million in funding to improve child health, services for premature babies and obstetrics care in South Wales. Read more...
The Welsh government Cabinet Secretary for Communities and Children, Carl Sargeant, has announced £7.8 million in funding for the Homelessness Prevention Programme for 2017-2018. Read more...
The above title aptly captures what the indemnity insurers for Lewis Silkin LLP would have felt following the handing down of the judgment in the case of Wright v Lewis Silkin LLP by the Court of Appeal on 21st December 2016. Read more...
The Office of National Statistics 2015 has stated that two women are killed every week in England and Wales by a current or former partner and one woman is killed every three days. On average, a woman is assaulted 35 times before her first call to the police (Jaffe, 1982). The Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012, which came into effect in April 2013, removed legal aid for family law cases, such as divorce, contact and residence disputes, where a victim can’t prove the incident of domestic violence or child abuse. Read more...
Sheffield City Council is to build up to 1,000 new starter homes thanks to a successful funding bid to central government. Read more...
The government has announced it is allocating £1.2 billion in roads funding to councils to repair roads and mend potholes. Read more...
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has announced that the UK and Uruguay have signed a convention to avoid double taxation and prevent fiscal evasion related to taxes on income and on capital. Read more...
Solihull Council in the West Midlands is advising people to be cautious when buying cheap goods online, after a baby nearly choked on a faux fur blanket. Read more...
Francis Cappuccini, 30, died at Tunbridge Wells Hospital in October 2012 during an emergency caesarean section after staff failed to contact an anaesthetic consultant for three hours. Read more...
Claimant solicitors have mounted an attack on Government proposals to significantly restrict claims for minor Road Traffic Accidents (RTA). Read more...
Crawley Borough Council has announced that its Corporate Fraud and Inspections Team has saved hundreds of thousands of pounds and returned homes to the council’s stock as a result of targeted efforts to stamp out housing fraud. Read more...
Leicester City Council has announced that it is to build new council homes by developing three former city council hostels in a £2.1 million project. Read more...
Hillingdon Council is reviewing its children's centre programme – and is using feedback from families and partners to inform a new approach to delivering some services. Read more...
Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council in Leicestershire has said a crackdown on littering has resulted in motorists being fined since the campaign began in November 2016. Read more...
Canterbury Crown Court has convicted a man of committing multiple rapes on a woman and waging a campaign of coercive and controlling behaviour against her. Read more...
Here at Duncan Lewis in the Mental Health department, we are always seeking to raise the profile of mental health issues in order to ensure that our clients, and indeed all those suffering these problems, gain access to the care they should be receiving. We are therefore keen to highlight any new government plans to improve mental health services. The Prime Minister has given a speech at the Charity Commission addressing her plans to tackle the hidden injustice of mental illness. Within those plans; additional training is to be provided for teachers, an extra £15 million is to be allocated to Community Care, and a £67.7 million investment into online services such as self-checks is to be made. Read more...
Despite the government’s claims that the NHS is performing well, the ever increasing pressure on the NHS is no secret. Despite record levels of investment the UK’s Public Healthcare system still does not have the money it needs to look after those who need it most. Read more...
Croydon Council has secured £1.4 million to help with tackling homelessness in the borough. Read more...
A landlord in Peterborough has been prosecuted by Peterborough Council for multiple offences relating to a house in multiple occupation (HMO). Read more...
Welsh Assembly Health Secretary Vaughan Gething has announced a new treatment fund, which will speed up access to the latest medicines for NHS Wales patients. Read more...
Tavistock Relationships and Harrow Council have welcomed a decision by the Department for Education (DfE) as part of its Safeguarding Grants programme 2016-2018, to fund a joint project to safeguard Harrow children affected by domestic violence. Read more...
Exposure to asbestos in schools has become common in England, and as a result the government is currently investing £23bn to improve school buildings. However, the presence of asbestos in schools continues to put pupils’ and school staff’s health at risk. Read more...
Although Worcestershire Royal Hospital had a ‘robust plan’ to deal with an extremely busy period in its Accident and Emergency Department, three patients have reportedly died. This includes one woman, who died of a heart attack after waiting approximately 35 hours in the hospital corridor, and a man, who suffered an aneurysm. Read more...
In a statement to the House of Commons on Monday (09/01/17), Secretary of State for Health Jeremy Hunt sad that, under the current government, a total of 1,400 more patients were accessing mental health services every day, compared to figures for 2010. Read more...
Portsmouth City Council has announced that it is building more than 200 new homes to ease housing waiting lists and generate rental income. Read more...
A monitoring checklist by the Considerate Constructors Scheme (CCS) has been updated across all five sections, including new questions on right to work in the UK, in response to feedback from scheme monitors last year. Read more...
Mind has responded to a package of measures to address mental health issued announced by the government on Monday (09/01/17), saying that mental health should be at the heart of government. Read more...
Reading Council has launched a 12-week consultation on the future of designated Children’s Centres, with the aim of reducing the centres to four central hubs, with services also being offered in a network of satellite buildings and community venues. Read more...
A man has pleaded guilty at Peterborough Magistrates’ Court to selling counterfeit goods at a local car boot sale. Read more...
Birmingham Crown Court has jailed a man from Moseley in Birmingham, who lied to get a council house. Read more...
Manchester City Council has announced an additional £100 million is to be invested in maintaining the city’s roads over the next five years. Read more...
Dorset County Council has announced that it is working with Dorset Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) to look at how it provides care and support to older people, adults with physical disabilities and people with mental health issues. Read more...
Gateshead Council has announced that a new Gateshead project helping young people at risk has secured extra funding from the Gateshead Community Safety Team. Read more...
Croydon Council has prosecuted a fly-tipper who made national headlines after he was caught on camera dumping three tonnes of building waste as he drove along a Croydon street. Read more...
A former government immigration adviser has been appointed to lead a crackdown on exploitation in the workplace. Read more...
The director of a window installation company has been banned from being a director for seven years, after taking deposits from customers with no reasonable prospect of being able to deliver the goods. Read more...
The director of a window installation company has been banned from being a director for seven years, after taking deposits from customers with no reasonable prospect of being able to deliver the goods. Read more...
The managing director of an Indian restaurant in Brick Lane, east London has been disqualified for eight years, after suppressing the restaurant’s takings and not keeping adequate accounting records. Read more...
The Central Criminal Court has sentenced to life two men who committed murder over a crack cocaine debt they owed. Read more...
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has prosecuted a Lincoln-based Construction Company specialising in fitting mezzanine floors, after a contractor fell onto a concrete floor and sustained a life threatening brain injury. Read more...
Haringey Council in north London has said it will announce in February who will partner the council in delivering one of the country’s largest housing regeneration programmes. Read more...
The Health and Safety Executive has prosecuted a Bolton property management company, after a resident died after falling down a lift shaft. Read more...
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is warning of the dangers of buying fake and unlicensed medical products, especially those seeking to lose weight in the New Year who shop for diet pills online. Read more...
A Manchester-based publisher has been banned for ten years for failing to keep and deliver up adequate accounts. Read more...
The government has announced that a further £7 billion in funding is being unlocked as part of its affordable housing programme. Read more...
Brent Council has prosecuted a man who refused to stop leaving car trailers parked in a north London street. Read more...
The government has announced that thousands of starter homes are to be built specifically for those aged 23 to 40. Read more...
Highways England has announced a £1.5 million investment near Fleetwood in Lancashire, to provide safer and smoother walking and cycling alongside the A585. Read more...
A housing association in Scotland has been prosecuted for putting residents at risk of carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning. Read more...
Welsh Assembly Health Secretary Vaughan Gething has agreed funding of £4.48 million for a new computer dispatch system for ambulances in Wales. Read more...
A retailer in Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire has been prosecuted after Trading Standards officers found a secret compartment filled with illegal cigarettes hidden behind a magnetised stock room fuse box. Read more...