The External Affairs Team

Government news and campaigns

ASB Case Review

The ASB Case Review (formerly known as the Community Trigger) gives victims of persistent anti-social behaviour the ability to demand a formal case review where the locally defined threshold is met, in order to determine whether there is further action that can be taken. The relevant bodies in the local area must agree on and publish their ASB Case Review procedures.

To learn more about how the review works, click here.

Crackdown on Anti-Social Behaviour

As part of the government’s action plan to crack down on antisocial behaviour and build stronger communities, it was announced last week that 16 police force areas, including Cleveland, Derbyshire and Northumbria, will be launching either ‘hotspot’ policing initiatives or ‘immediate justice’ schemes. These will see offenders of antisocial behaviour made to wear high-vis vests and repair damage they’ve caused to the community – for example washing police cars, cleaning up graffiti and local parks, or litter picking.

‘Immediate justice’ programmes are already underway in Sussex and Derbyshire, and aim for offenders to start work as little as 48 hours after they’ve committed a crime, so that victims know antisocial behaviour is treated seriously.

For more information, read here.

UK and New Zealand expand Youth Mobility Scheme

More young Brits and Kiwis will be eligible to experience life-changing opportunities on the other side of the world thanks to the expansion of shared visa schemes between the UK and New Zealand. As of 29^th June, the age limit for New Zealanders coming to the UK will go up from 30 to 35 and the maximum time they can stay will also be extended to 3 years.

For Brits wanting to take advantage of the scheme in New Zealand, the age range will also be increased from Saturday 1 July. They can now also work throughout their stay of up to 3 years.

To find out more about the expansion of the scheme click here.

500 jobs to be created at new Home Office hub in Stoke-on-Trent

The new office space in the heart of the city at Two Smithfield in Hanley has been created thanks to £7 million of government funding and support through Stoke-on-Trent’s £56 million allocation through the Levelling Up Fund. The Levelling Up Fund aims to create opportunities and drive growth in every region of the UK.

The site will be home to a new Asylum Casework Hub which will help to significantly speed up asylum decision-making by improving case working capacity and efficiency. The Hub will be staffed by up to 330 new asylum caseworkers and bring all national asylum correspondence into one place

For more information click here.

Lord Ferrers Awards – nomination window extended!

We need your nominations!

Do you know of any exceptional policing volunteers that you think needs to be recognised nationally for their outstanding work? Do you think said volunteer has gone and above their call of duty to better the lives of their communities? If so – submit your nominations for the Lord Ferrers Awards now!

There are 12 categories that you can nominate the volunteer for – and if selected, they will be presented their accolade at the prestigious Lancaster House. More information on the types of awards available can been accessed here.

Nominations are currently open and will remain open until 16^th July!

The nomination form can be found here with the accompanying guidance here.  

If you have any questions or require any support with your application, please contact  [email protected] who will be happy to help you.

In case you missed it…

 

Funding for Places of Worship

Places of worship will receive £28 million in funding to help keep them and their attendees safe, the Security Minister announced today on 21 June 2023.

The funding is part of the government’s commitment to ensure that faith communities in England and Wales are protected from the threat of hate crime and terror attacks and can practise their faith freely and without fear.

The money is for physical protective security, such as CCTV, intruder alarms and secure fencing to help protect mosques, churches, temples, gurdwaras and other places of worship. Mosques will also be able to access a new security guarding scheme later in the year.

Read more on this here. The funding is available this year through two schemes, with applications now open.

Extension of the Disregards and Pardons Scheme  

The Scheme was established in 2012 to address the historical wrongs suffered by men who had been criminalised for having sex with other men, by enabling them to apply to the Home Secretary to have their convictions disregarded, provided that certain conditions were met.

This extension to the scheme aims to enable more people, including women and those serving in the UK Armed Forces, who were convicted for same-sex sexual activity in the past to apply for those convictions to be disregarded.

For more information read here. Please also see this link to the caseworker guidance.

Domestic Homicide Consultation

We are considering changes to ensure domestic homicide review (DHR) legislation reflects the legal definition of domestic abuse and amend the name to better reflect the range of deaths which fall in their scope, the Minister for Safeguarding announced today.

A domestic homicide review is a multi-agency review which seeks to identify and implement lessons learned from deaths which have, or appear to have, resulted from violence, abuse or neglect. Their aim is to better protect victims in future and prevent further tragedies.

The Government has launched an 8-week consultation to consider changes to domestic homicide reviews, bringing them in line with the statutory definition of domestic abuse enacted in the Domestic Abuse Act 2021.

For more information read here

Stakeholder news and campaigns

Fighting Knife Crime

Please see the latest issue of Fighting Knife Crime London Magazine. In this issue Crime and Policing Minister Chris Philp MP has written an article on the Government’s focused approach to reducing knife crime.

To access the article click here.

Consent Survey

Refuge and Rape Crisis have partnered with Glamour UK to launch  a Consent Survey: an important opportunity for people to share their feelings without shame, judgement, or fear of retaliation.

This survey aims to raise awareness of sexual consent and to enact change at a societal and governmental level. Your voice matters – and we want to hear it.

For more the survey itself please click here.

The Internet Watch Foundation

The IWF have just launched a hub on End-to-End Encryption. It includes information about the differences between regular encryption and E2EE with an animation and sets out what the IWF would like to see happen to prevent the exploitation of children and distribution of child sexual abuse imagery within E2EE environments.

To visit the hub, click on the following link: End-to-End Encryption (E2EE) and Online Child Sexual Abuse Imagery (iwf.org.uk)

Karma Nirvana

Karma Nirvana will be hosting their 9^th Day of Memory conference on 14^th July. This is a unique opportunity bringing together experts and dedicated individuals to address the current issues of Honour Based Abuse.

During the conference, attendees will take a moment to remember Shafilea Ahmed, whose life was tragically taken from us 20 years ago. Her story serves as a poignant reminder of the urgent need to combat Honour Based Abuse.

Click here for more information on how to attend.

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]

Campaign Materials

The government is running several campaigns for vulnerable audiences. We would be grateful if you could share campaign materials and messaging on your channels, and with your networks. 

• 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.
• 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
• Parentwise is designed to build parents and carers’ understanding of the range of harms their child could be exposed to. It includes a partner pack to help them spot the signs that something could be wrong and empower them to act if they are worried.