People working in forensic science can now report concerns about quality standards anonymously via a new reporting line.

The new hotline, launched by the Forensic Science Regulator in association with Crimestoppers, will allow forensic science professionals to raise concerns about service quality to the Forensic Science Regulator without revealing their identity.

Quality failures, such as sample contamination or data manipulation, can mean innocent people are wrongly convicted or offenders escape justice. This line aims to ensure that any serious issues are flagged to the regulator even if an individual does not feel able to report through the whistleblowing procedures in their own organisation.

The service is run by Crimestoppers, whose agents will record the information provided and pass it to the Forensic Science Regulation Unit (FSRU), to investigate.

Forensic Science Regulator, Dr Gillian Tully, said:

I am delighted that the anonymous hotline is now live.

It is vital that forensic science provision to the Criminal Justice System is of the highest quality.

I hope this anonymous hotline will provide a route for anyone lacking the confidence to report an issue directly to their own organisation or to my office to come forward, so that I can investigate and ensure any necessary improvements are made.

The hotline also enables individuals to flag issues as a last resort when all other options have been exhausted. Individuals can phone 0800 917 0967 or use the online form at crimestoppers-uk.org/forensicregulator to anonymously report their concerns.

Minister for Policing and the Fire Service, Nick Hurd, said:

Forensic science is an invaluable tool for bringing criminals to justice, but we must ensure it works to the standards that the public expects.

I welcome the Forensic Science Regulator’s new anonymous reporting line. It is important we have many routes to identify and prevent any issues within the system.

New report due to be published this week shows a third of the government’s four-year LGBT Action Plan has been delivered within 12 months.

To mark the first anniversary of the UK’s landmark LGBT Action Plan, the government will publish a progress report later this week showing a third of the four year plan has already been delivered.

The strategy was launched after the world’s largest survey of its kind revealed a number of concerning findings. Many respondents said that they feared being their open, honest and authentic selves – with more than two in three of those who participated in the survey saying they avoided holding hands with a same-sex partner in public for fear of a negative reaction, and 23 per cent saying people at work had reacted negatively to them being LGBT. Over half of those who accessed or tried to access mental health services said they had to wait too long.

Achievements within year one include:

• appointing Dr Michael Brady as the first National Adviser for LGBT Health, and awarding £1 million in funding to trial new ways to tackle LGBT health issues
• delivering an anti-homophobic, biphobic and transphobic bullying programme in more than 1,800 schools and reformed relationships and sex education
• updating the Hate Crime Action Plan and announcing a Law Commission review into hate crime to explore the effectiveness of existing legislation
• establishing a panel of independent experts to advise government on issues and policies concerning lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people
• committing to hosting an international conference on LGBT equality in London next year

The report also sets out a list of ambitious commitments from the Action Plan for the government to focus on over the next year.

Prime Minister Theresa May said:

I am proud to be the Prime Minister of a country which is consistently ranked among the most LGBT-friendly in the world, but last year’s National LGBT survey showed that there is still lots more to do.

Our LGBT action plan contained more than 75 commitments, spanning the whole of government and the entirety of an LGBT person’s life. It demonstrated that we took the results of that survey extremely seriously and I am pleased with how much we have delivered already while knowing there is a lot more to do.

Minister for Women and Equalities, Penny Mordaunt, said:

Everyone in the UK deserves the freedom to love whoever they love and to be themselves.

I would like to thank all of those people who have worked to deliver points in the action plan so far, but the recent protests in Birmingham, and violent attacks on LGBT people show we still need to keep pushing forward with decisive action.

The LGBT Action Plan is vital in our efforts to tackle prejudice and promote a diverse, tolerant society, and government will continue to treat it as an upmost priority.

Ruth Hunt, Chief Executive of Stonewall, said:

This year we’re celebrating 30 years since Stonewall was formed, and reflecting how far we’ve come. We’ve made great progress for LGBT people but there’s still much to do. It’s vital the Government keeps LGBT equality high on their agenda because the UK should be leading the push for equality, for all LGBT people. The next crucial step is streamlining and de-medicalising the Gender Recognition Act, which will make a huge difference to the lives of trans people, both practically and by changing attitudes – and we hope there will be an announcement soon.

We’re also pleased that the Government is prioritising equality in healthcare with the appointment of Michael Brady as the first National Adviser for LGBT Health. Health is still an area of discrimination for LGBT people, and we look forward to working with him to address this.

Later today, a Pride reception will take place in Downing Street to celebrate diversity and to recognise the contribution that lesbian, gay, bi and trans people make to the UK.

The reception will bring together members from across the LGBT community and will be attended by Stonewall’s Ruth Hunt, English women’s hockey players Helen and Kate Richardson-Walsh and Made in Chelsea’s Ollie Locke.

The British Embassy in Asunción is now accepting project proposals for the 2019/2020 financial year (26 August 2019 – 20 December 2019). Deadline for submission of proposals is Friday 19 July 2019 (until midnight, Paraguay time).

This year, the British Embassy will run a competitive bidding process seeking to support projects and activities up to USD 8,000 that deliver real and measurable outcomes in support of development in Paraguay. All expenditures must qualify as Official Development Assistance (ODA), as defined by the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and have the promotion of economic development and welfare of the people of Paraguay as the main objective. We are particularly interested in projects proposals focused on the following thematic areas of work:

Inclusive Economic Growth and Improvement of Business Environment

Projects aiming to support inclusive economic growth and development for rural and urban disadvantaged groups; increasing accountability and transparency in key economic sectors or government institutions; supporting reforms and implementation of policies aimed at promoting conditions for open markets, such as, but not limited to promoting competitiveness, streamlining processes to facilitate trade, increasing sustainability and innovation, tackling corruption and bureaucracy, reducing the potential for illicit trade, economic crime and money laundry.

Human Rights

Strengthening freedom of press and safety of journalists, media workers and strengthening their legal rights; increasing participation of women in politics for positions of leadership and influence; increasing equality and non-discrimination, reducing violence against women, LGBT+, Afro-Paraguayan community, indigenous people and other disadvantaged groups; raising awareness and promoting gender equality; strengthening democratic governance and rule of law.

Note: Strengthening freedom of press is FCO’s global priority this year.

Education

In particular, promoting girls education; capacity building programs for the improvement of educational system; access to formal education or opportunities for extracurricular education, including but not limited to: technology, language learning, sciences, and civic participationWho may bid?

Eligibility criteria

In order to be eligible, your organisation or agency must be a legal entity, not-for-profit or commercial company, a registered non-governmental (NGO) or governmental organisation, academia, research institutions, and must demonstrate:

• Proof of legal registration

• Previous experience in delivering and managing projects

• Preferably previous experience working with international agencies/organisations

How to bid

Proposals should be sent by email using the attached forms to BE-Asuncion.Enquiries@fco.gov.uk. In the subject line of the email, please indicate “Project Bid_NAME OF ORGANISATION_” and include the project title.

Project bid guidance

• Projects are funded under a reimbursement scheme for a single financial year running from 26 August 2019 to 20 December 2019, with no expectations of continued funding beyond this period
• Minimum project budget USD 5,000
• Maximum project budget USD 8,000
• Please note that proposals near minimum and maximum can be considered
• Each institution may submit up to a maximum of 2 proposals

Project assessment

Project bids will be assessed against the following criteria:

• Alignment with the above mentioned thematic areas

• Achievable outcomes within the funding period and sustainability after the funding ends

• Clear project design which includes monitoring and evaluation procedures

• Identified risks and planned mitigation

• The organisation’s safeguarding policies that ensure protection of beneficiaries

• Demonstrated value for money in the Activity Based Budget (ABB) Process

• Ensure that the Activity Based Budget (ABB) is in the same currency as the bank account where funds reimbursements are to be received. Utilize the Excel template provided below

• Proposals must be received by midnight on 19 July 2019 (until midnight, Paraguay time). All proposals received in a different format or means to the one requested, in a language other than English and/or submitted after the set date and time will not be considered

• Proposals selected for further consideration and due diligence information will be notified by 6 August 2019

• The British Embassy in Asuncion aims to sign grant agreements with successful implementers between 12 and 20 August 2019

• Due to the high number of bids we receive, we are unable to provide detailed feedback to unsuccessful bids

Indicative timetable

Additional information and documentation

All implementers will be expected to sign a standard FCO contract or grant agreement with the Embassy. The terms of the contract or agreement are not negotiable.

New national campaign launched with ideas to support children’s learning at home, or as part of everyday activities like catching the bus or doing the shopping.

Families will get ideas on how to use everyday opportunities, like going to the shops and playing make-believe games, as part of a relentless society-wide effort to improve the early literacy and language skills in the years before children start school.

Today (2 July 2019) the Education Secretary Damian Hinds will:

• launch a new three year ‘Hungry Little Minds’ campaign to give parents access to video tips, advice and suggested games to help with early learning;
• announce up to 1,800 new school-based nursery places, to be created in disadvantaged areas so more children can access high-quality early education, backed by a £22 million investment; and
• set out the criteria for high quality educational apps that parents can use with their children, including promoting interactive learning and play.

While the percentage of children reaching a good level of development by the end of Reception has increased from 51.7% to 71.5% since 2013, more than one in four children still leaves Reception without the key communication skills they need to thrive. Although this occurs in all income groups, these children are disproportionately from the lowest-income families.

The Hungry Little Minds campaign will tackle the barriers some parents face in supporting their child’s learning at home, including time, confidence and ideas of things to do.

It builds on work by the Department for Education and the National Literacy Trust to bring together a coalition of businesses and organisations, including the LEGO Group, Penguin Random House, Arriva and the Greggs Foundation, who are supporting parents to play a bigger role in their child’s early education.

Education Secretary Damian Hinds said:

Every parent wants to give their child the best start in life but not everyone has family support at hand and there is no manual telling us how to do everything right.

Part of making sure our children have the opportunity to take advantage of all the joys of childhood and growing up is supporting them to develop the language and communication skills they need to express themselves. Sadly, too many children are starting school without these – and all too often, if there’s a gap at the very start of school, it tends to persist, and grow.

The only way we are going to solve this is through a relentless focus on improving early communication. So today, we’re launching a society-wide drive with new nursery places, support from business and steps to make learning easier in the home – to improve early learning across the country.

Visiting Dunraven School in Streatham to launch the campaign, the Education Secretary met families already benefitting from new early learning content created by the LEGO Group and EasyPeasy. He joined them for a Stay and Play session, where parents and children can take part in learning activities together, getting advice and tips throughout.

The increased efforts from businesses, charities, and early years groups, backed by government investment, builds on the work to provide expert support and targeted intervention to disadvantaged families all over the country. Other projects supported through the government’s coalition of businesses and organisations include:

The LEGO Group and EasyPeasy

Co-creating new learning games that will be hosted and shared on the EasyPeasy app. All the games can be played with things commonly found in the home, as well as with DUPLO bricks. The LEGO Group will also support EasyPeasy’s development so that families using the app can benefit from additional new ways to learn through play. The partnership will be piloted with 500 families in areas of low social mobility, with plans to further roll-out the games to 10,000 families before the end of the year.

Arriva in Partnership with Penguin Random House

Running a series of book giveaways across its stations, as well as working with schools through visits and staff volunteering. It will also begin training frontline staff with early education tips to help engage with children using their trains all over the country.

HarperCollins

Working with 12 bookshops across the UK through to offer individual grants of up to £2,000 that will support events for parents and children under five, with activities ranging from storytelling sessions with a theatre company, story sacks, and an eight-week course to boost parents’ confidence.

WH Smith

Employees will volunteer at ‘Small Talk’ events in Swindon, run by the National Literacy Trust. These will be hosed in venues regularly visited by families such as their local shopping centre or coffee shop. Trained staff volunteers will show parents short, simple and fun activities they can do at home with their children to help their early language development.

Pearson

Free early years vocabulary intervention kits to 500 nurseries in areas of high deprivation, developed with speech therapy experts using LEGO Education Storytales resources and designed to close the speech and language gap among children aged three and four. They are currently working with a group of nurseries in Birmingham to test the kit ahead of its wider launch later in the year.

Greggs Foundation

Training materials to all of its 1,350 breakfast club volunteers to help them support children and parents that attend in developing language and communication skills, across 550 active breakfast clubs across the UK. Over 33,000 children and their families take part in a Greggs Foundation Breakfast Club and each club offers a unique experience for the families with activities ranging from rugby to reading groups.

Founder and CEO of EasyPeasy Jen Lexmond said:

85% of a child’s brain is developed by age five, which shows just how important the early years are. We welcome that the Department for Education’s campaign is highlighting how regular everyday moments can be opportunities for learning, long before children start their first day at school. Our community of parents use EasyPeasy to discover, play, create and share learning games with their children to develop the skills they need to succeed at school and beyond.

Our mission is to help parents give their children the best start in life, regardless of background. We’re delighted that LEGO shares these goals and wants to support us to reach more families. So far the partnership has produced new learning games, which our families have loved. We’re excited that LEGO will also explore ways of supporting our future development so that families can play and learn more with EasyPeasy.

The government is investing more than ever before in early education and childcare, including £3.5 billion in the free offers this year alone, and 95% of early years providers are rated Good or Outstanding by Ofsted.

Thousands of families have better access to high-quality childcare, with near universal take-up of the free 15 hour offer for three-and four-year-olds, rising numbers of benefitting from the 30 hours offer, and more than 850,000 of the country’s most disadvantaged two-year-olds are also benefitting from support.

In addition, the Department is funding seven early learning projects, announced in November last year, to make sure children from the most challenging backgrounds are not left behind by empowering parents to contribute to their child’s early education. This includes the first ever Scouts programme for children under six years old, getting parents involved in building children’s confidence, problem solving and communication skills through a range of physical activities.

As part of the School Nurseries Capital fund, further nursery places will open in schools across every region, as 66 projects have been given the green light to increase early years provision in areas with high numbers of families who get free school meals. The fund fulfils a manifesto commitment to support primary schools to develop nurseries where they do not currently have the facilities to do so, and new places will be created through a combination of new build projects, or by expanding existing schools already rated Good or Outstanding by Ofsted.

Tracy Lynch, Greggs Foundation Manager, said:

The Greggs Breakfast Club Programme, which celebrates its 20th birthday this year, provides nutritious breakfasts to 33,000 schoolchildren in disadvantaged areas across the UK every school day. Breakfast is proven to make a huge difference to pupils’ attendance levels, behaviour and learning, and we are delighted to be helping to feed `Hungry Little Minds’, as well as tummies, through the provision of training materials for this campaign to all of our volunteers.

The Department for Education is also calling on other national organisations to get involved in the coalition where they have an interest in raising awareness among parents of the need to engage in activities that support their child’s early learning, helping set them up for school and beyond.

Businesses and organisations can get in touch via hle.coalition@education.gov.uk.

Dame Fiona Caldicott, the National Data Guardian for Health and Social Care (NDG) is calling for a public debate to shape the future of commercial relationships between the NHS, universities and private companies. She today releases the results of a poll on public attitudes to NHS organisations working with partners to use data to develop new medicines and technologies to improve health. The NDG commissioned the polling to inform her own priority setting for the coming year.

The poll of more than 2,220 people in England tested what the public thought would be fair when partnerships with universities or private companies result in valuable new discoveries that could be traded commercially. It presented a range of benefits that result from such partnerships, including improved care for patients, financial benefits for the NHS and profits being made by partner organisations.

The polling found strong support for the idea that NHS and patients should benefit from such partnerships. Around seven in ten approved of partnerships resulting in benefits such as access to new technologies at a reduced cost and improved patient care. Around half agreed that it is fair that a partner university or private companies make a profit, with slightly higher proportions supporting the propositions in which the NHS benefited financially. Among those who said they were already aware that such collaborations take place, there was stronger agreement that it was fair that partners and the NHS make a profit.

It was striking that significant proportions of respondents said they neither agreed nor disagreed with whether the range of benefits was fair. More than a third did not give views on questions about profits being made by partners or by the NHS.

The National Data Guardian believes this may be because these are issues that have not been discussed sufficiently with the public and that exploration and discussion with patients is necessary. She welcomes that a first step in this is being taken by Understanding Patient Data working alongside the Ada Lovelace Institute and NHS England to commission research to find out what people think and feel about different partnership models between the NHS and private companies wishing to use NHS data. She also welcomes work by the Office for Life Sciences to develop a framework to realise the benefits for patients and the NHS where data underpins innovation.

The National Data Guardian said:

“Great benefits can be reaped for all of us if we can use the rich information that is held by the health and care system safely, carefully and with the agreement of the public and patients. The NHS cannot do this alone. We need to work with universities and the private sector to find new medicines, develop cutting-edge technologies, uncover insights from our data.

“Some of the public clearly are beginning to have views about how benefits from patient data can be shared for the benefit of the NHS. Supporting and extending this public conversation is crucial if we are to gain from the rich information held safely in the health and care system and retain public trust.”

The poll showed:

NHS benefits

• More than half agree that it is fair that the NHS shares in a profit with a partner university (58%) or partner private company (56%).

• Nearly one in ten (9%) disagree with the NHS sharing in a profit with a partner private company and 6% disagree with the NHS doing this with a partner university.

• However, more than a third did not give a view and said that they neither agreed or disagreed with the NHS sharing in profit (36% for the NHS doing this with a partner university and 35% with a partner private company).

• Half (50%) were happy to support the idea of the NHS receiving a one-off payment from the partner university or company for using NHS data.

• Benefits other than profit garnered even more support. A large majority (73%) agreed that the NHS should benefit in other ways, for example, by getting access to new technologies or medicines at a reduced cost. A large majority (77%) agreed that “The main benefit for NHS patients is improved care and treatment”.

Partners making profits

• Half of people strongly agree or agree that it is fair that a profit is made by a partner university (49%) or a partner private company (51%).

• Nearly one in ten (9%) disagree to a partner university doing this, and slightly more (13%) to a partner private company.

• A significant proportion neither agreed or disagreed that it is fair that a profit is made by a partner university (41%) or a partner private company (36%).

Breakdowns by groups

• Among those who are aware that such collaborations take place: 59% agree that it is fair that universities make a profit; 60% agree that it is fair that companies do this; 66% agree that it is fair that the NHS shares in a profit with a partner university and 65% agree that it is fair that the NHS shares in a profit with a partner company.

• Among those who are not aware: 39% agree that it’s fair for partner universities to make a profit; 38% for partner companies; and 49% agree that it is fair that the NHS shares in a profit with a partner university and 46% agree that it is fair that the NHS shares in a profit with a partner company.

• Men are more likely to agree than women that it is fair that a profit is made by a partner university (55% of men agree versus 44% of women) private company (57% of men versus 44% of women) or that the NHS shares in profit (60% of men versus 55% of women) with a partner university and with a partner company (60% of men versus 53% of women).

• There is also a difference by social grade: 53% in those classed as ABC1 and 45% in C2DE agree that it is fair that a profit is made by a partner university; 54% in ABC1 and 47% in C2DE agree that a profit is made by a partner private company; 62% in ABC1 and 52% in C2DE agree in the NHS sharing in profit with a partner university; 61% in ABC1 and 51% in C2DE agree in the NHS sharing in profit with a partner private company.

• Looking at responses by region, Londoners are most likely to agree that it is fair that a profit is made, with 61% agreeing where the partner is a university and 64% when it is a company. Those in the South West are the least likely, 40% agreeing where the partner is a university and 45% when it is a company.

Notes to editors

1. Polling was conducted by Kantar in England via OnLineBus, an Internet omnibus survey on a sample size of 2,201. Interviewing was conducted by online self-completion from 25/04/2019 – 02/05/2019. The sample has been weighted to represent the adult population of England 16+.

2. A variety of case studies on the use of data to develop new technologies and improve care – including in partnership with universities and private companies has been published by Understanding Patient Data.

3. The full polling results tables are published on this page. The poll asked two questions:

Question 1

Whenever we go to a doctor or a hospital, they collect data about us which is recorded and stored in our patient record. It may include information such as height and weight, what aches, pains or infections we’ve got, what medications we are taking, results of blood tests etc.

The NHS therefore holds a lot of information about patients. When data from many patients is linked up and put together, it can be used by researchers and scientists to spot patterns so that they can develop new ways to predict, diagnose or treat illness. This linked information is often anonymous so that individuals cannot be identified. There are rules to stop patient information being used by insurers or marketing companies without patients’ consent.

NHS organisations do not always have the expertise needed to do the work of linking and analysing large amounts of data on their own. So they sometimes work in collaboration with researchers, scientists and inventors in universities or private companies. New medicines and technologies can then be developed to treat patients. Are you aware that some NHS organisations work in partnership with private companies and universities to use NHS patient data to develop new medicines and technologies to improve health?

Yes

No

Not sure

Question 2

Sometimes these partnerships result in valuable discoveries that could be traded commercially in this country and abroad. For instance, an NHS organisation might use the information it has about patients to work with if a university or technology company. The result could be a new medicine or a new computer programme that spots disease faster. It could be possible to make a profit from this discovery and help the NHS provide better care.

To what extent do you agree with these statements:

It is fair that when partnerships between the NHS and universities or private companies lead to valuable new discoveries:

• A profit is made by a partner university

• A profit is made by a private company

• The NHS shares in profit with a partner university

• The NHS shares in profit with a private company

• The NHS receives a one-off payment by the partner university or company for using NHS data

• The NHS benefits by receiving additional data analysis that it can use in the future for other research

• The NHS benefits in other ways, for example, by getting access to new technologies or medicines at a reduced cost

• The main benefit for NHS patients is improved care and treatment

Strongly agree

Agree

Neither agree nor disagree

Disagree

Disagree strongly

Polling results tables

The spreadsheet below provide a full statistical breakdown for the survey.

NDG polling results breakdown by question (MS Excel Spreadsheet, 731KB)

NDG polling results breakdown by question (ODS, 371KB)