1. Government responds to the Rapid Review of patient safety in mental health hospitals, with new measures to tackle abuse

The Government has responded to the recommendations made in the rapid review of patient safety in mental health hospitals by announcing plans to tackle concerns about abuse and unsafe practices in mental health hospitals.

Measures include:

• Giving statutory powers to the inquiry into deaths of mental health inpatients across NHS Trusts in Essex. This inquiry investigates the deaths of almost 2,000 mental health patients including autistic patients. New legal powers will mean that witnesses can be compelled to give evidence.  
• A new Health Services Safety Investigations Body is being formed in October and will investigate issues in mental health inpatient care settings including out of area placements, staffing, how young people can be better cared for and what must be learnt from tragic deaths in mental health settings.
• Publishing information from the Rapid Review about safety risk complaints, feedback and whistleblowing alerts in mental health inpatient settings. This will provide more information about how these are handled and what needs to change.

The Rapid Review Report highlights many of the safety risks that autistic people in mental health units experience including:

• A lack of regulation to make sure that care and treatment is therapeutic.
• Staff, patients and carers do not feel safe sharing their feedback and don’t feel that they are listened to when they do.
• Wards for autistic people and people with a learning disability are at a high risk of ‘closed cultures’ where human rights breaches and abuses are more likely.
• 31% of the NHS trusts and 47% of the independent sector locations with learning disabilities or autism wards had a ‘requires improvement’ or ‘inadequate’ safe rating.

The National Autistic Society said:

The Government must move quickly to pass the draft Mental Health Bill so that autistic people without a mental health condition cannot be wrongly detained, invest in a fully funded social care system and provide enough of the right mental health services so that autistic people don’t reach crisis in the first place. Without these vital reforms, autistic people will still be stuck in mental health hospitals where they are at risk of abuse.”

2. Pornography review launched to ensure strongest safeguards

The review will investigate gaps in UK regulation that allows exploitation or abuse to take place online, as well as identifying barriers to enforcing criminal law. Regulation of online pornography in the UK will undergo a thorough review to make sure it is fit for purpose in tackling exploitation and abuse, the government announced on Monday 3 July 2023. As the way we consume media and access content rapidly changes, the Review will investigate any gaps in UK regulation which allows exploitation and abuse to take place online as well as identifying barriers to enforcing criminal law. While the criminal law has been updated in recent years to tackle the presence of extreme and revenge pornography, there are currently different regimes that address the publication and distribution of commercial pornographic material offline, such as videos, and online. The government wants to ensure any pornography legislation and regulation operates consistently for all pornographic content.

The review will also look at how effective the criminal justice system and law enforcement agencies are in responding to illegal pornographic content, including considering if any changes need to be made to criminal law to address challenges law enforcement might have.

It will also consider what more can be done to provide children with information and resources about the harm caused by pornography. This will make sure that illegal and harmful content, such as that which features child sexual abuse and exploitation, or where adults are being exploited, is robustly dealt with. The Pornography Review is a prompt response to calls for action from parliamentarians and campaign groups concerned with the prevalence and impact on both children and adults of illegal pornographic content and child sexual exploitation and abuse on pornography sites and social media.

This work is separate to, but builds on, the Online Safety Bill, which will hold social media companies and pornography services accountable for ensuring children cannot view pornography, with a new higher standard on the age verification or age estimation tools they must use.

There are currently several criminal offences, linked to legislation such as the Obscene Publications Act 1959 and the ‘extreme porn’ offence at s63 of the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008, which can be committed in relation to all pornographic material, whether offline or online. Some pornographic material is covered by communications offences and offences which deal with publicly displayed material in shops and other premises. Separately, there is a very robust regime of offences tackling the possession, taking and making of indecent images of children, whether they are photographs / films, or non-photographic.

There are also different regulatory regimes, including that established by the Video Recordings Act 1984, which address the publication and distribution of commercial pornographic material offline, and the video-sharing platform regime that addresses some online pornography.

3. Government funding boost kickstarts delivery of historic new free childcare offers
Nurseries are set to receive a £204 million cash boost as part of the Government’s promise to deliver the largest ever investment in childcare. The plans, which were announced in the Spring Budget, are designed to remove significant barriers to support parents to return to work and help to grow the economy by making childcare more accessible. Every area across the country is getting a share of the government funding which childcare providers can use to ease cost pressures such as staffing costs, training and bills. Funding rates per child paid from September will increase from an average of £5.29 to £5.62 for three and four-year-olds, and from an average of £6.00 to £7.95 for two-year-olds. The increase in funding will support the early years sector to deliver the biggest investment in childcare ever.

From April 2024, eligible working parents of two-year-olds will get a new offer of 15 free hours per week of free childcare. From September 2024, eligible parents will get 15 free hours from nine months until their children start school, and from September 2025, they will get 30 free hours from nine months until the start of school.

Separately, the government has confirmed plans to deliver its ambition for all parents of primary school aged children to access childcare in their local area between 8am and 6pm.16 local authorities from Barnsley to Wiltshire have been selected to work with the government to develop plans for this universal provision, with some of these areas expected to be the first to rollout the wraparound care as early as summer 2024. All local authorities will start to receive their share of £289 million in funding from January 2024 to support their delivery of the programme, with parents expected to see an expansion in the availability of wraparound care from September 2024.

There will be further funding increases in the amounts paid to local authorities to pass to providers for delivering the government’s free childcare places moving forward, with an additional investment of £288 million already announced at the Spring Budget for 2024-25. The Department will shortly launch a consultation on how the funding for the new entitlements in 2024-25 will be distributed, to make sure it remains fair in light of the radically expanded free childcare offers. A further £12 million is also being given to local authorities this financial year to support them to effectively roll out the new offer.

1. New analysis of deprivation of liberty orders confirms many children are facing long and severe restrictions in unregistered placements far from home

New analysis of the legal outcomes of deprivation of liberty applications in England and Wales has exposed that it is the norm for children involved in these cases to face severe restrictions, typically for significant periods of time, and to often be placed in unregistered settings far from home – confirming longstanding concerns about children’s experiences. The research, carried out by Nuffield Family Justice Observatory (Nuffield FJO), analysed applications received during the first two months of the national Deprivation of Liberty (DoL) court pilot1 (July and August 2022), focusing on the legal orders subsequently made, with cases tracked for up to 31 December 2022. Nuffield FJO is also regularly collecting, analysing and publishing data from the court, and estimates that approximately 1,300 applications will have been made over a 12-month period.

Nuffield FJO’s study is the first national overview of the outcome of DoL applications. It analysed whether orders applied for are granted and how long for, the nature of the restrictions authorised, where children are placed, and children’s and parent/carers’ participation in proceedings. The study focused on 113 children – a subsection of a larger sample of 208 children included in previous Nuffield FJO research on the needs of children subject to DoL applications.

2. Home Education in England a briefing report from the UK Parliament House Commons Library
Source: UK Parliament House Commons Library published on this website Tuesday 19 July 2023.

It is not known how many children are home educated in England. However, estimates are available for the number of registered home educated pupils. These estimates are likely to underestimate the total number of home educated pupils because registration with the local authority is voluntary.
In the Autumn 2022 school census the Department for Education collected information from local authorities about registered home educated pupils for the first time. After adjusting for non-responses there were an estimated 80,900 home educated pupils known to local authorities in England in October 2022, and around 86,200 in January 2023.

As this is the first time this data has been collected, it is not known whether this increase is due to seasonal variation or other reasons.
Third party surveys of registered home educated pupils are now several years out of date (as of October 2021 for the Association of Directors of Children’s Services, and March 2019 for the Office of the Schools Adjudicator). These estimates suggest that the number of registered home educated children have increased over time.

Responsibilities of those home schooling
Under the Education Act 1996, parents and guardians, including those who choose to home-educate their children, are responsible for ensuring that the education provided is efficient, full-time and suitable to the child’s age, ability, aptitude and any special educational needs they may have. They are not required to provide a broad and balanced curriculum and do not have to follow the National Curriculum. Home educating parents must be prepared to assume full financial responsibility, including the cost of any public examinations.
The DfE has published departmental guidance for parents on home education.

The role of local authorities
The DfE has also published guidance for local authorities (PDF). Local authorities have no formal powers or duty to monitor the provision of home education. However, they do have duties to identify children not receiving a suitable education, and to intervene. As part of this, the DfE recommends that authorities should contact people home educating on at least an annual basis, so they are aware of the suitability of the education being provided.

If it appears a child is not receiving a suitable education, intervention could include issuing a school attendance order, although the Government encourages authorities to address the issue informally before serving a notice.
Local authorities also have powers relating to safeguarding, which may be used if it appears that a lack of suitable education is likely to impair a child’s development.

Charity Commission

1. Charity Trustee and public trust research

It has long been a priority for the Charity Commission to learn more about the public’s attitudes towards charities and about trustees’ understanding of their role. Tracking the attitudes, perceptions and knowledge of these two key groups helps the Charity Commission to understand their success as a regulator and shape plans for the future. The annual research relates closely to the Commission’s statutory objectives - which include increasing public trust and confidence in charities; promoting compliance by charity trustees with their legal obligations; and enhancing the accountability of charities to donors, beneficiaries and the wider public. This year’s findings are broadly reassuring in this context.
Whilst public trust in some other institutions has fallen or flatlined, charities continue to be well regarded and highly trusted – ranking second only to doctors - and the public continues to take reassurance from charity registration. Trust continues to be closely linked to the public seeing a high proportion of funds used for charitable activity, that charities are making the difference that they promise to make, and that the way they work is consistent with charitable values. Consistent with the commission’s earlier research on charity transparency, the public is more inclined to trust charities that are small, local or where they feel a personal connection to the cause. Trust in charities is not uniform and remains higher in more diverse and affluent urban communities.

It is pleasing that trustees’ awareness of the accessible 5-minute guides has increased. Those who have used the Commission guidance also found it to be helpful (96% of trustees). Those who do access the guidance are also more likely to correctly answer questions about their responsibilities such as dealing with conflicts of interest, making sure the charity’s funds are used properly, and making sure charity files accounts on time. However, there are still too few trustees who feel they need to engage with the support provided, reinforcing the importance of the further awareness raising and improvements to guidance the Commission has committed to in the 2023/24 Business Plan.

2. Charity regulator’s new digital service goes live

The Charity Commission’s new My Charity Commission Account service went live on 31st July, the regulator has confirmed. The regulator has described My Charity Commission Account as charities’ ‘front door’ into the Commission, through which they will submit any remaining Annual Returns for 2022 and all Annual Returns for 2023 onwards, and engage with the regulator’s wider digital services. Charities will no longer be able to file annual returns through the existing system. Charities that are part-way through filing their 2022 Annual Return in the current system will need to start again via My Charity Commission Account.

The roll-out of the new service has begun with charities’ named contacts, ensuring that all charities are able to access the Commission’s digital services, including to file their Annual Returns. In the months ahead, the service will be extended to all individual trustees. This will facilitate a more direct relationship between the regulator and trustees, helping to ensure they are supported in their role and equipped to run their charities well. This new approach also ensures better data security.

3. Ofsted launches consultation for inspecting supported accommodation

The consultation provides the sector with the opportunity to share its views on how supported accommodation should be inspected. The consultation runs to 8 September 2023 and will inform Ofsted arrangements for inspections starting in April 2024. Ofsted began accepting applications to register providers of supported accommodation in April 2023, when regulations came into force. Regulation and inspection will provide essential oversight and assess whether children in supported accommodation are safe and well supported. To help shape the final evaluation criteria, Ofsted want to hear views on the main features of effective supported accommodation. These views, in addition to existing research and the views of care-experienced community, will help make sure inspections focus on what makes the most difference to children living in supported accommodation.

New government-funded hotline to end veteran homelessness now live across the UK

July 4 2023saw the launch of Op FORTITUDE, a new dedicated referral pathway for homeless veterans, including those sleeping on the streets. The first-of-its-kind hotline is part of a two-year £8.55 million programme to fulfil the government’s pledge to end veteran rough sleeping. The Veterans’ Strategy Action Plan 2022-24 sets out the intention to achieve this within the current Parliament, but thanks to new funding this is set to be achieved ahead of schedule. Run by social housing provider Riverside Group, the £500,000 housing hotline will give homeless veterans a single point of contact to get them the help they need. Op FORTITUDE staff will refer callers to a network of support, including housing providers, charities and local authorities.

To further support veterans in securing housing, the Office for Veterans’ Affairs has published an Information Handbook which sets out the housing options and support available to veterans, service leavers and their families in England, including routes into both veteran-specific and civilian housing. The guide can also be used by providers of housing and housing support services to determine the most appropriate course of action.

1. #CEOPSummerChallenge was launched on 24th July to help parents and carers to talk more and learn together during six weeks of thematic challenges. The challenge aims to support parents and carers to talk regularly with their children about being online and how to be safer. Each week, parents and carers can choose one challenge (or more if they wish), from four options per age group, for ages 4 to 11 and 11+. Topics covered in the challenge will be:

• Week 1: online security
• Week 2: a balanced view of being online
• Week 3: sharing photos online
• Week 4: socialising online
• Week 5: online videos
• Week 6: online gaming

The challenge will also be shared with CEOP’s professional network on Twitter (@CEOPUK)

2. Online safeguards ‘never more important’ as ‘shocking’ figures reveal number of adults who pose sexual risk to children

The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) has urged tech companies to ensure end-to-end encryption does not disrupt efforts to protect children from internet predators and for the implementation of essential technological safeguards to protect children, as ‘shocking’ figures released by the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) show that the biggest group of offenders in the UK are those that abuse children. The NCA’s 2023 Strategic Assessment of Serious and Organised Crime estimates that there are up to 830,000 adults who pose some degree of sexual risk to children – equivalent to 1.6% of the UK adult population. The report highlighted the increase in online crime and how predators target and groom children, often through social media and gaming platforms.

3. New rules crack down on illegal ads and protect children online

Social media platforms, websites and services, like advertising display networks, will have to take tougher action to stop children seeing age-restricted adverts for products like alcohol or gambling. Fake celebrity scams and pop-up malware from hackers will also be clamped down on as part of new rules to make advertising regulation fit for the digital age. The plans are published by the government in response to its Online Advertising Programme.

Online advertising includes the banners or displays which appear around the content of a website, results prioritised at the top of search engines, and pop-ups on a user’s screen. It helps businesses grow by reaching targeted audiences and can be cheaper and quicker than traditional advertising formats. Last year it accounted for three quarters (£26.1 billion) of the £34.8 billion spent on advertising in the UK.

Its rapid development, combined with changes in technology and complex supply chains between marketers and platforms, make it difficult to stop illegal ads appearing. People frequently encounter fraudulent celebrity endorsements for financial scams, legitimate-looking pop-ups containing hidden malware, and promotions for products prohibited under UK law - such as weapons, drugs, counterfeit fashion and fake ticketing. Children can be exposed to ads for age-restricted products such as alcohol, gambling and adult-rated films and games.

1. Pioneering Project to Rehabilitate People Who Have Committed Sex Offences 

The Lucy Faithfull Foundation has launched a trailblazing project to rehabilitate people who have committed sexual offences. Through Circles of Support and Accountability, they will be working with people in the West Midlands to help them to not offend again .Each circle includes 4 to 6 trained volunteers from the local community who help to support one person who has sexually offended. The circle provides practical skills and support to the person posing a risk, known as the Core Member, according to their needs. This might include social skills, finding work or hobbies, or looking for suitable accommodation, which helps reduce the risk of reoffending and limits isolation where offending behaviour often starts. Throughout the process, the Core Member is subject to probation oversight.

With more than 30 years’ experience supporting people who have committed, or at risk of committing, a child sexual offence to stop and stay stopped. The Lucy Faithfull Foundation are uniquely placed to deliver a programme of this type. Last year, they received more than 15,600 contacts from people in the West Midlands concerned about their own or someone else’s sexual thoughts or behaviour towards children. The Lucy Faithfull Foundation see Circles as a fantastic means to ensuring that children are kept safe from sexual harm, as well as the wider community. People are invited to volunteer to join a circle in the West Midlands region, including Herefordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, Worcestershire and West Midlands County.

2. General Synod votes to enact IICSA recommendation on Diocesan Safeguarding Officers

Legislation enabling the Church of England to start introducing the new post of Diocesan Safeguarding Officer (DSO), in line with the recommendations of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA), has come into force after a vote by the General Synod. Members of the Synod meeting in York voted to amend Church law to rename Diocesan Safeguarding Advisers as Diocesan Safeguarding Officers (DSOs).
The DSOs will be operationally independent of their diocesan bishops and will have responsibility for professional leadership on safeguarding and management of safeguarding matters. Diocesan Safeguarding Advisers do not have the same powers and only advise Bishops. The change in the law also provides for the professional supervision of DSOs and for the quality assurance of their work by the Church of England’s National Safeguarding Team (NST). The changes will come into force diocese by diocese upon certification by the Archbishops’ Council, enabling the National Safeguarding Team to roll out the new supervision processes in stages. The new post is in line with the recommendations of the first IICSA Anglican Church investigation report published in October 2020.

3. Professor Alexis Jay to develop proposals for fully independent structure for safeguarding scrutiny of the Church of England

The Archbishops of Canterbury and York have welcomed the announcement today that Professor Alexis Jay, the former chair of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, IICSA, has agreed to develop proposals for a fully independent structure to provide scrutiny of safeguarding in the Church of England. She will be supported by the former secretary to IICSA, John O’Brien. The Archbishops along with the lead safeguarding bishop, have asked for a report on the Future Safeguarding Programme by the end of the year. This is most likely to take the form of an options appraisal, but with a direct recommendation as to a preferred model for the new body. The authors – Alexis Jay and John O’Brien - will publish their report. The Archbishops’ Council, House of Bishops and General Synod will all be invited to consider the final report and debate the recommendations, with decision-making belonging to the appropriate bodies. They then propose to consult the same individuals about implementing the chosen model so that the establishment of the body is accomplished with the same degree of independence.

1. Science teacher sexually abused teenage girl

A science and technology teacher caught with thousands of child abuse images was also found to have sexually assaulted one of his pupils almost 20 years ago. The National Crime Agency launched an investigation in November 2021, when Google sent a report of a user possessing child abuse material on their platform via the National Center of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) in the US. After NCA investigators identified the user as Mark Langford, 55, they immediately moved in to arrest him at his then address in Beccles, Suffolk. NCA officers recovered a letter Langford wrote to the victim in April last year, instructing her on what to say if the NCA questioned her regarding his offending.

Before being arrested Langford told officers: “It’s all in there, I know what you’re looking for, I’ve made a mistake and ruined everything”. Five of his devices were forensically examined and found to contain a total of 2,718 indecent images of children in categories A-C (A being the most severe). A further 199 prohibited images and 109 extreme images were also found. Langford taught at Suffolk and Norfolk secondary schools from 1996 until just after his arrest. He appeared at Ipswich Crown Court on July 10 2023 where he pleaded guilty to a number of charges including indecent assault, indecency with a child, perverting the cause of justice, indecent images of children offences (making, possession and distribution) and possession of extreme pornographic images. Langford was remanded into custody and will be sentenced at the same court on 25 September.

2. A man has been jailed after hiring children to sell drugs in Newham and across the country

Throughout the entire investigation, over 25 children were identified and safeguarded by detectives from the Met’s Specialist Crime. They were aged between 14 and 17 years-old.
crime group. This also resulted in the disruption of a drugs line that had been in existence for over 15 years.”
During the investigation officers seized five kilograms of Class A drugs, namely cocaine, heroin and a large quantity of cannabis. They also seized £90,000 in cash.

Dominic Francis, 31 of His Majesty’s Prison was sentenced to five years and ten months’ imprisonment for two counts of conspiracy to supply Class A drugs, two counts of conspiracy to supply Class B drugs and conspiracy to facilitate the movement of a vulnerable person for the purpose of exploitation, namely a 14-year-old boy from Newham. He was also issued with a Slavery Trafficking Order for six years. A further man, aged 22 from Newham was also sentenced to three years and two months’ imprisonment for two counts of conspiracy to supply Class A drugs, two counts of conspiracy to supply Class B drugs with the use of children as an aggravating a factor. He has since been released as it was deemed he had already served his time whilst in custody.

A 55-year-old female relative was previously sentenced on Friday, 28 April to an eight months’ suspended sentence for 15 months for two counts of convert or transfer criminal property, commit an act with intent to prevent the course of public justice, and racially aggravated harassment without violence. She was also ordered to carry out 40 days of Community Rehab Activity.

If you have information about drug crime that could help keep your community safe, but don’t want to speak to the police, please contact the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111. They do not ask your name and cannot trace your call or I.P address. Any young people who have information about drug dealing or want information about the consequences of drug crime, can visit Crimestoppers’ project Fearless to pass on information anonymously in the same way

3. Hairdresser who sexually assaulted two teenage work experience students will be jailed after his suspended prison sentence was quashed by the Court of Appeal

Alan Luckhurst, 36, from Surrey, had his six-month prison term, suspended for 18 months, overturned by the Court of Appeal after his case was reviewed under the Unduly Lenient Sentencing scheme. Luckhurst will now serve two years and six months in prison. He was originally sentenced on 27 March 2023 at The Crown Court at Kingston-upon-Thames. He was found guilty on eight counts of sexual assault and two counts of causing a person to engage in sexual activity without consent.

4. Lawyer who stole £120,000 from client with dementia is jailed

A former lawyer who embezzled £120,000 from a pensioner suffering from dementia and living in a nursing home has been jailed for two years. John Sinclair, 69, of Aberdeen, stole the money from the woman, who was in her nineties, after being named her power of attorney in 2014. He tried to cover up his crimes by falsely insisting she had given him permission to transfer money to himself from her accounts. But his dishonesty was uncovered by colleagues at the law firm where he worked. They, in turn, referred the matter to a lawyer at another firm who then alerted the Law Society. The Law Society’s own internal procedures resulted in the police being called in.

Sinclair was sentenced at Aberdeen Sheriff Court after being found guilty following a trial last month. The court heard how staff at James and George Collie Solicitors in Aberdeen became suspicious after a cashier detected an unfamiliar account linked to the woman’s finances. Sinclair’s office was subsequently searched and a £66,000 tax demand from His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs was discovered. After being confronted, Sinclair repeatedly deleted computer entries in an attempt to defeat the ends of justice. The court heard that he also provided officials at the Law Society with a note written by himself saying he had authority to borrow money from her accounts. But the note was never signed by his elderly and incapacitated victim.

5. Parents sentenced following death of baby daughter

The parents of a five-month-old baby girl, who died in 2020, have been jailed for a combined total of 19 years.
Joshua Collard, 30, of Stafford, and Rebecca Grocott, 27, of Stone, were found guilty after a five-week trial at Stafford Crown Court last week (Tuesday 18 July) after a jury heard how their baby girl, Ava Mae, had multiple fractures to her ribs, collar bone and femur. She had also suffered severe trauma to the side of her head, causing an injury to her ear. Grocott and Collard could not explain what had happened and following initial enquiries were arrested on 25 March 2020. They were both found guilty of cause/allow the death of a child, cause/allow serious physical harm to a child and two counts of assault/ill-treat/neglect/abandon a child/young person to cause unnecessary suffering/injury. Collard was jailed for 11 years and Grocott was jailed for 8 years at the same court on 27 July 2023.

DBS supports activity providers to keep children safe this summer

The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) is supporting children’s summer holiday activity providers to ensure they ‘are on the ball’ with safeguarding essentials. The DBS wants to help organisers of extra-curricular activities stay clued-up on necessary steps they should take to ensure the highest levels of safety for school-age children under their supervision. Here is the DBS advice:

• You can find out which DBS check is the right one for your employee via the DBS eligibility checker tool
• Volunteers operating in roles involving contact with children will be eligible for a free DBS check. Detailed DBS guidance on the application process for volunteers can be found here
• Information around how to make a Barring referral can be found here
• Service advisers work closely with organisations and networks within their designated regions. They offer free workshops, training and resources, to help support and inform organisations on how to safeguard children and other vulnerable groups.
• Follow the DBS on Twitter: @dbsgov and LinkedIn

For further information and help in arranging and completing DBS checks the friendly SAFEcic DBS team can help

Did You Know?

If you or your organisation requires Enhanced DBS checks, you will also require the appropriate safeguarding training. Find out what is required via SAFEcic’s Safeguarding Hubs