Government news and campaigns 

Fighting retail crime: more action 
 
The government’s plan to further reduce retail crime, building on the Retail Crime Action Plan announced in October 2023, includes making assaults on retail workers a separate offence. Read more about the action plan and the new measures here.  
 
New Chief Constable powers 
 
New measures laid in Parliament on 16 April 2024 will make it easier for police chiefs to sack rogue officers during misconduct hearings. 

Police chief constables will be given the responsibility of chairing the hearings which decide on the removal of officers found guilty of police misconduct. Read more about this here. 

Family Visas tightened 

 
The final measure in the Prime Minister and Home Secretary’s package to reduce legal migration will see the minimum income required to sponsor someone coming to the UK on a family visa increased, from £18,600 to £29,000 from 11 April – an increase of more than 55%. 

By early 2025, this will have increased 2 more times, rising to £38,700 – to meet the new salary threshold for a Skilled Worker visa. Read more about this here. 

eVisa Rollout 

The next stage in the government’s plan to modernise the border and introduce a digital immigration system is under way, as the Home Office moves closer to the implementation of eVisas for nearly all visa holders living in the UK by 2025. 

From 17 April 2024, the Home Office will begin to send emails to all those with physical immigration documents, called biometric residence permits (BRPs), inviting them to create a UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) account to access their eVisa, a digital proof of their immigration status. 

Invitations will be issued in phases before the process opens to all BRP holders in summer 2024. Read more on this here. 

End-to-End Rape Review: Third Party Material 

As part of the government’s End-to-End Rape Review (published June 2021), the government committed to limiting requests for information about victims to what is necessary and proportionate in pursuit of reasonable lines of inquiry. To support this aim, the Home Office committed to review police case files to gather data on the necessity, proportionality, and timeliness of third party material requests in cases where either adults or children had been raped. 

Read more on this here.  

Causes of death to be scrutinised in revamp of death certificates 

 
Under the new DHSC regulations, which will become law from 9 September 2024, all deaths not investigated by the coroner will legally become subject to a medical examiner’s scrutiny. Read more on this here. 

Campaign Materials    
       
The government is running several campaigns. We would be grateful if you could share campaign materials and messaging on your channels, and with your networks. 
 
Stop! Think Fraud is a major national campaign to fight fraud, encouraging the public to take a moment to stop, think and check whenever receiving an alert that may be fraudulent, and to help protect ourselves and each other from fraud. 

This evidence led campaign draws on the expertise of leading counter-fraud experts and includes an online fraud hub which will provide concise, simple to follow advice. It will also signpost victims to relevant organisations for further advice and support. 

ENOUGH. aims to challenge perpetrators and raise awareness of what we can all do to safely call out abuse. Please find attached a partner pack which includes more information on the campaign, and materials which you can share on your channels.     
 
NSPCC Helpline encourages adults to reach out with concerns of child sexual abuse. The service is free for anyone who has concerns about a child or young person. Please find campaign films for professionals, and the general public. 
 
End-to-End Encryption campaign calling directly on Meta not to roll out end-to-end encryption on its platforms without robust safety measures that ensure children are protected from sexual abuse and exploitation in messaging channels. Click here for the IWF parent guide. 
 
Stop Abuse Together aims to empower parents and carers to take steps to help keep the children in their life safe. All children have a right to be safe from sexual abuse, and we all have a role to play in keeping them safe. Let’s #StopAbuseTogether 
 
Victims of Terrorism provides information on where to seek advice and assistance following a terrorist incident. 
 

Stakeholder campaigns 

 
NCET Engagement  

The Home Office National Community Engagement Team (NCET) works locally and nationally, to build relationships between Immigration Enforcement and communities. It aims to keep communities informed, engaged and involved, and to establish trust via transparency and listening to community voices. 

The team delivers events and immigration surgeries and other events on a regular basis which provides information and signposting at various community settings. 

If you would like to learn more about the activities of the NCET in your areas or more broadly, which may benefit you or your networks, please contact: Joe Shirley, Assistant Director, National Community Engagement Team, Email:  [email protected] 

Women’s Aid service for professionals 

Women’s Aid is running a dedicated service for professionals who are currently working with survivors of domestic abuse, seeking refuge accommodation and support. This could include housing officers, police officers, social workers, health workers, probation officers and those working in education or the voluntary sector. We understand that it can be difficult to support survivors of domestic abuse without the ability to access specialist resources. The professionals’ service can provide dedicated support, information about safety planning, referral pathways or up-to-date refuge vacancies in a certain area, or other local specialist support, such as outreach, drop-ins, counselling services and advocacy projects.  
 

Find more information here: Dedicated service for professionals – Women’s Aid (womensaid.org.uk)  

  
Guide to Meaningful Survivor Engagement 

     

Women’s Aid Federations and Imkaan have launched a joint best practice guide on survivor engagement. Whilst there can be no ‘one size fits all’ approach to this critical work, they hope this guide will help others to listen to the experiences of survivors, hear their voices and understand their perspectives in a deeper and more meaningful way. This follows three years of work spent developing their approach to enabling diverse survivors of domestic abuse and other forms of violence against women and girls (VAWG) to have increased opportunities to influence local practice, policy and national decision-making. 

The guide is intended for anyone in the VAWG sector who would like to begin or develop adult survivor engagement in their work, and we hope you find it useful. Please find the guide here:Final: A guide to meaningful survivor engagement (womensaid.org.uk)  Upcoming campaigns

If your organisation has any upcoming surveys or campaigns that you would like us to highlight in our newsletter, please get in touch with the External Affairs team at [email protected]