This is a welcome though long overdue announcement from the Government – Richard Burgon

Richard
Burgon MP, Labour’s Shadow Justice Secretary, commenting on reports that
lawyers representing the families of the victims of the Birmingham pub bombings
can apply for legal aid, said:

“This
is a welcome though long overdue announcement from the Government. Following
the Home Secretary’s unexpected refusal to fund the legal costs of the
inquests, the families should not have been made to wait a further four months
for this announcement. Labour has been pressing the Government to do the right
thing and this development is welcome.

However,
Conservative cuts to legal aid still mean that families who do receive public
funding are far from on a par with the resources of public bodies. This is
another reason the Government must get on with its review of legal aid cuts.”



News story: Armed Forces Minister confirms increase in support to Afghanistan

Speaking on his first visit to Afghanistan the Minister reaffirmed the UK’s enduring commitment to the country.

Britain stepped up its support to Afghanistan this year, increasing by 50 the number of personnel in the country. They join personnel in country who are helping to train Afghan officers, advising the fledgling Afghan Air Force and working as advisors in the Afghan Security Ministries.

While UK and NATO combat operations drew to a close in 2014, Britain continues to support Afghanistan by training, advising and assisting the Afghan defence and security forces, as they continue to fight with increasing skill and capability. This year’s increase in support brings the total number of the personnel committed to the operation to 500; Britain’s second biggest overseas commitment after the campaign against Daesh.

During his visit, the Minister met with Afghan Cadet Behzad Hiedari, who won Sandhurst’s Overseas Sword of Honour. The prestigious honour is awarded to the best overseas cadet in each year’s class at the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst. The award highlights the talent in Afghanistan’s security forces, which are being developed by the UK and our NATO Allies and partners.

One way in which British personnel are helping to develop Afghanistan’s security forces is through the Afghan National Officer Academy (ANAOA). Minister Penning visited the site during the visit and met with the UK personnel helping to ‘mentor the mentors’. Just as Afghan forces are in the lead for the security of their country, so are their UK-mentored officers, who are helping to train their country’s next generation of leaders.

Mike Penning meets with a British adviser to female Afghan instructors for ANAOA
Mike Penning meets with a British adviser to female Afghan instructors for female cadets at ANAOA

Armed Forces Minister Mike Penning said:

Britain has an enduring commitment to Afghanistan. This year we’re stepping up our support to the country, and have deployed 50 extra personnel, some of whom I visited at the Afghan National Army Officer Academy, where the next generation of Afghan army leaders are being trained. The UK, along with our NATO Allies, is committed for the long term to developing the ever more capable Afghan National Security and Defence Forces to ensure Afghanistan is not a safe haven for terrorists.

Lunch with UK personnel
Lunch with UK personnel who mentor Afghan trainers at the Academy

Since 2014, UK mentoring assistance has helped the ANAOA train over 1500 high quality officers.

The Government committed last year to provide £210 million to the Afghan security forces, until 2020, giving around £70 million a year.



Press release: UK’s rarest freshwater fish caught on film for the first time

The film was shot on a remote controlled yellow submarine while assessing how much sediment is building up on the bottom of Derwentwater in Cumbria. Watch it here

Vendace (coregonus albula) is the UK’s rarest freshwater fish and a relic of the ice age. Its UK habitat is in Derwentwater and like lamprey, Arctic charr, spined loach, allis shad, twaite shad and smelt, it is an international conservation priority.

The Environment Agency carries out regular surveys of water quality around the country and over the past five years has worked with farmers, businesses and water companies to improve and protect over 15,000km of rivers, lakes, coastal waters and bathing waters. England’s rivers are the healthiest they’ve been for 20 years and salmon, sea trout and other wildlife have returned to many rivers for the first time since the industrial revolution.

Andy Gowans, Environment Agency fisheries specialist, said:

It was a unique moment to capture this iconic fish live on film. Seeing the vendace is a good indication of the health of the lake’s water. Derwentwater is the only place these fish inhabit in the UK, so maintaining the quality of the water is vital for their survival.

Dr Ian Winfield, from the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, who leads the survey on Derwentwater and operated the remote-controlled yellow submarine, said:

As the day closed, I decided I would go out to the deepest part of the lake which is about 20 metres and drop the submarine in. I’m able to view the images from the submarine’s filming live and was keen to see what fish showed up.

Although, the vendace came and went within in a matter of seconds, I knew it was a vendace. This was an amazing moment for a scientist, I was not expecting to see one, never mind film one. I knew I had captured for the first time on film the elusive vendace species.

The Environment Agency and the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology plan to do further surveying later in the year using more advanced filming technology.



You simply cannot empower local government if you impoverish it – Pearce

Commenting on the LGA’s warning that local authorities face a £5.8 billion funding black hole by 2020,  Teresa Pearce, Shadow Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, said:

“The £5.8billion funding gap facing local councils is a damning indictment of this Government’s indifference to the fate of communities across the country. Year after year, councils have warned that the sheer scale of cuts they have been dealt will lead to a tipping point. Now, we are at that tipping point, and the Government is simply not listening.

“The scale of funding cuts that local government has endured – predicted by the IFS to be a 79% cut in direct funding by 2020 – will leave them able to only offer a threadbare service, such as the minimum statutory services in adult social care and child protection, and little else. The libraries and museums have already been closed, youth services have been cut back and all viable efficiency savings have been made.

“There is an unprecedented crisis in social care, with care providers handing contracts back to councils, 1.2 million elderly people living without the care they need and bed-blocking in the NHS at an all-time high. Yet the Government failed to provide a penny extra for social care in the Local Government Finance Settlement. The Prime Minister’s claims of “new funding for social care” amount to nothing more than pushing the numbers around in existing budgets.

“Councils, such as Surrey County Council, have been forced into the unwelcome position of holding a referendum on steep council tax rises in an attempt to plug the funding gap. But council tax rises are a short-term sticking plaster for a problem that needs long-term solutions.

“Local councils play an invaluable role in society – caring for our elderly, looking after the disabled and supporting our young people. It is local services that support, shape and enrich the communities we live in. You simply cannot empower local government if you impoverish it.”



“Urgent action required” as Theresa May’s NHS Crisis continues – Jonathan Ashworth

New figures published today show that there were 315 cancelled
urgent operations in the NHS in December, including 12 cancelled for the
second or more time. 

In total there were 4,093 cancelled urgent operations in 2016,
up from 3779 in 2015 and 3216 in 2014. 

The NHS situation report for the week ending 22 January
has been published today, showing further evidence of the strain on the
health service:

  •  51 different trusts reported serious operational
        pressures at some point.  
  • 11 trusts registered an OPEL 4 incident –
        indicating that they were unable to deliver comprehensive care, with
        increased potential for patient care and safety to be compromised.
  •  43 temporary diverts from one A&E to another
        to provide temporary respite.
  • 18
        Trusts had bed occupancy over 99 per cent.

Jonathan Ashworth MP, Labour’s Shadow
Health Secretary, responding to the latest winter
pressure data, said:

“Theresa May’s NHS crisis continues, and the problems are worse
and more widespread than in previous years. By underfunding and overstretching
the NHS, the Tories have pushed health services to the brink.

“Even urgent operations are now being cancelled in record
numbers – 4,093 in 2016, up 27 per cent in just two years. The Prime
Minister needs to explain what she’s going to do to fix this mess – not just
pass the buck to local health providers. Cuts to social care have left patients
stuck in hospitals across the country even when they are ready to leave, with
knock on effects for those waiting for treatment. 

“Urgent action is required and Labour is
calling for a sustainable health and social care package to be brought forward
in the March Budget, so that the NHS and its patients never have to go through
a winter like this again.”