The 2019 National Clinical Excellence Awards round closed at 5pm on 4 April 2019.

The Advisory Committee on Clinical Excellence Awards (ACCEA) will review and score all applications and announce results at the end of the year.

New awards will be backdated to 1 April 2019. Renewals will be renewed from 1 April 2020. Unsuccessful renewals will cease on 31 March 2020.

As in previous years, we will publish personal statements for successful applications.

The Home Secretary called for a more coordinated approach to combat shared threats, emphasising the UK government’s commitment to global security. In particular, he said that more needs to be done across the global community to protect people from the disturbing and dangerous effects of harmful online content.

Home Secretary Sajid Javid said:

The close partnership we have with our international G7 partners is vital in combatting the shared threats we face and keeping our people secure.

Britain will continue to be a global leader in this space and ensure our expertise makes the world a safer place.

Reflecting on the recent Christchurch attack, G7 Interior Ministers acknowledged that the challenges posed by social media and livestreaming are complex, but that technology companies had a responsibility to do more to ensure people are protected.

The Home Secretary stressed the urgent need to redouble efforts to address terrorist threats, urging tech companies to work together to tackle the exploitation of online platforms.

The G7 summit came ahead of the launch of the government’s Online Harms White Paper – a world-leading proposal for legislation to keep UK citizens safe online.

The UK continues to work across the international community to tackle online harm and protect its citizens from terrorist threats, abuse and child sexual exploitation online.

• 2018 was the deadliest year for journalists, with 99 killed, 348 detained and 60 taken hostage by non-state groups.
• Foreign Secretary appoints Amal Clooney as his Special Envoy on Media Freedom and Chair of a new panel of legal experts.
• Panel of legal experts will support countries to repeal outdated and draconian laws and strengthen legal mechanisms to protect journalists.

Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt and his Special Envoy on Media Freedom Amal Clooney will establish a panel of legal experts to counter draconian laws that hinder journalists from going about their work.

After a meeting with the Canadian Foreign Minister and Amal Clooney at a G7 event in France, Mr Hunt set out the next stages of the UK’s campaign to defend free media around the world.

The High Level Panel of Legal Experts will examine legal and policy initiatives that states can adopt to improve media freedom including by:

• Offering advice to governments who want to strengthen legal mechanisms to improve media freedom;
• Supporting the repeal of outdated and draconian laws;
• Encouraging and supporting governments to help ensure existing laws and international obligations are enforced;
• Promoting best practice and model legislation to protect a vibrant free press.

Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said:

Violence against journalists has reached alarming levels globally and we cannot turn a blind eye.

The media has a crucial role to play in holding the powerful to account. There is no escaping the fact that draconian and outdated laws around the world are being used to restrict the ability of the media to report the truth.

Amal Clooney’s leading work on human rights means she is ideally placed to ensure this campaign has real impact for journalists and the free societies who depend on their work.

She will use her expertise to chair a panel comprising the world’s best legal minds to develop and promote legal mechanisms to prevent and reverse media abuses.

International human rights lawyer Amal Clooney said:

I am honoured to have been appointed as the Foreign Secretary’s Special Envoy on Media Freedom and to have been invited to chair the High Level Panel of Legal Experts.

Through my legal work defending journalists I have seen first-hand the ways in which reporters are being targeted and imprisoned in an effort to silence them and prevent a free media.

I welcome the UK Government’s focus on this issue at a time when journalists are being killed and imprisoned at record levels all over the world and I look forward to working on new legal initiatives that can help to ensure a more effective international response.

The global campaign on media freedom aims to shine a spotlight on media abuses and reverse the trend of violence against journalists.

Today’s announcement comes ahead of the International Conference on Media Freedom to be held in the UK on 10-11 July, co-hosted with the Canadian Government.

The conference will bring together leaders from around the world to share good practice on media freedom, and seek consensus behind the measures that can be taken to improve the protection of journalists.

Notes to editors:

• Amal Clooney’s full title is The Foreign Secretary’s Special Envoy on Media Freedom and Co-Chair of the High Level Panel of Legal Experts.
• The other members of the Panel of Legal Experts, along with the full Terms of Reference for the panel, will be confirmed in the coming months.
• Amal Clooney and the Panel of Legal Experts will work on a pro-bono basis.

Further information

Today (5 April) the Foreign Secretary will be in Dinard, France for a meeting with his counterparts from G7 countries and the EU. During the summit the Foreign Secretary will discuss issues ranging from cyber security and foreign interference in democracies, to countering trafficking in the Sahel and standing up to Russian aggression.

The Foreign Secretary will discuss the latest Brexit developments and call on his European colleagues to support a further extension of Article 50 as set out by the Prime Minister.

Mr Hunt will also have discussions with partners on the UK’s campaign to raise the issue of media freedom up the global agenda to ensure a safer environment for journalists to report safely and freely across the world.

Speaking ahead of the meeting, Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said:

The UK’s involvement in the G7 is vital for our collective security and prosperity as we seek to protect the rules-based international system – from standing strong against hostility from Russia, encouraging China to participate as a responsible international partner, to tackling threats from cyber-attacks and terrorism.

The UK is committed to playing a leading role on the world stage. Be in no doubt that once Brexit has happened the UK will remain a global power, and we will continue to work closely with our partners to tackle global challenges.

Further information

The call is open for 12 weeks and asks organisations and individuals to contribute to the government’s understanding of the problem. Responses are particularly encouraged from retailers, trade associations and unions, as well as those working in the retail industry.

The most recent Home Office Commercial Victimisation Survey estimated that in 2017, workers from the wholesale and retail sector suffered around 510,000 incidents of assaults and threats, more than twice the number recorded in 2016.

Minister for Crime, Safeguarding and Vulnerability, Victoria Atkins, said:

Shop staff play an important role in our communities, and it is clearly unacceptable that they should experience violent or abusive behaviour.

Everyone has the right to feel safe at work and I know these crimes can have a significant impact on victims as well as retailers, customers and the wider community.

I’d encourage anyone who has been affected to share their experience to help shape our response to this issue.

Helen Dickinson, Chief Executive of the British Retail Consortium said:

Violence against employees is one of the most pressing issues retailers face. These crimes impact on the skilled, passionate and determined individuals who make the industry such a vibrant place; their families and loved ones; and the communities to which they contribute.

That is why it is heartening to see the government move so fast to publish this call for evidence, showing how important an issue they think it is.

The call for evidence seeks data relating to violence and abuse toward shop workers, including the extent to which incidents are linked to age-restricted sales of products like cigarettes and alcohol.

It also asks for feedback on prevention and support, enforcement and the criminal justice system. This includes the effectiveness of the law and any barriers to reporting these crimes.

The Home Office will consider the evidence and publish a response as swiftly as possible. The call for evidence follows a Ministerial roundtable with key industry leaders to discuss what can be done.

Minister for Crime plans to protect shop workers from violence

It is also supported by a package of measures to help raise awareness and encourage reporting of these crimes. This includes £50,000 of funding from the Home Office to the Association of Convenience Stores to run a communications campaign targeting the public and retail staff.

Association of Convenience Stores chief executive James Lowman said:

We welcome this call for evidence and we encourage retailers and shop workers to share their experiences.

Along with the campaign we are running with the Home Office to encourage these crimes to be reported, this call for evidence shows that Ministers want to face this problem head on.

Retailers should take this opportunity to tell their story and press for a better response to these crimes from the police and courts.

The government has also published new guidance to help ensure businesses have a voice in the criminal justice system.