Rise in modern slavery in fraud and scams

Sam Williams November 27, 2019 featured news, news, Public Sector

Organised crime groups are playing an increased role in doorstep crime and other scams, according to the annual Consumer Harm Report published today by National Trading Standards.

These gangs frequently target vulnerable young men from deprived areas – such as those with alcohol and drug dependencies, people who are unemployed, homeless people and immigrants – to carry out substandard house ‘improvements’ and unnecessary repairs on people’s properties. Victims of the scams are often in vulnerable situations themselves – doorstep criminals tend to target residents living alone, with an illness or a disability.

The most recent estimates from the National Crime Agency have identified at least 181,000 people involved in serious and organised crime in the UK – more than twice the strength of the regular British Army. Recent high-profile cases have illustrated the dangerous approaches sometimes taken by criminal gangs to smuggle immigrant workers into the country. The numbers are thought to be growing, while referrals of potential victims of modern slavery increased by 36% in 2018 compared with the year before – a rise of more than 80% since 2016.

Meanwhile, financial losses from fraud soared by 32% between April and September 2018, and the use of modern slavery is increasingly being seen by trading standards officers investigating crimes against householders and consumers. Shoddy and sometimes dangerously unsafe maintenance and improvement work is carried out by enslaved labourers while unsuspecting householders are bullied into paying hugely inflated prices, often losing their life savings in the process.

Lord Toby Harris, Chair of National Trading Standards said:

“National Trading Standards investigators work every day with limited resources to protect consumers from criminals, including fraudsters, counterfeiters and gang-leaders. The doorstep scammer is not a lovable rogue. Often behind the person who turns up at your door offering cut-price services is a serious criminal. Not only are they happy to rip off older people, those living on their own, and indeed anyone who is taken in by their patter, but they may also be exploiting and even enslaving vulnerable people to help them carry out their crimes.

“Consumers need to be vigilant to old scams wrapped in 21st century packaging and to ruthless criminals who will stop at nothing in pursuit of ill-gotten riches. The international nature of organised crime means trading standards officers must work closely with domestic and international partners to disrupt these operations.

“Most importantly, we urge communities to be vigilant and report any suspected scams to the Citizens Advice Consumer Service on 03454 04 05 06.”

The National Crime Agency leads on serious and organised crime within the UK, but more cross cutting issues are straying into the Trading Standards world.

Adam Thompson, head of the NCA’s Modern Slavery & Human Trafficking Unit, said:

“The types of labour exploitation referenced in this report are often hidden in plain sight, and we need the public to recognise the signs and report their suspicions.

“Victims may show signs of physical or psychological abuse, look malnourished or unkempt, and have few or no personal effects. They may appear to be under the control or influence of others, rarely being allowed to travel on their own. This includes transport to and from the workplace, where they may work long hours with inadequate personal protection equipment.

“I would also appeal to people to think about the consumer choices they are making to ensure they don’t inadvertently contribute to the problem. If the cost of a particular service seems unusually low, they need to ask themselves why that might be and look beyond the price.

“We welcome the fact that Trading Standards are helping to draw attention to this issue, and recognise the part they can play in helping law enforcement combat modern slavery.”

If you suspect someone to be a victim of Modern Slavery, contact the 24/7 Modern Slavery Helpline on 0800 0121 700, or your local police on 101. Your information could save a life. To remain anonymous, contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or visit www.crimestoppers-uk.org. In an emergency always call 999.

Neil Wain, who runs frontline anti-trafficking operations at charity Hope for Justice and was formerly Assistant Chief Constable at Greater Manchester Police, said:

“We fully support this important campaign and are pleased to see more and more businesses and members of the public educating themselves about modern slavery and what they can do to stop it.

“Hope for Justice investigators and outreach workers have helped many victims who were being exploited by those responsible for doorstep crime. Many were forced to do construction and maintenance work, paving and gardening – all for little or no pay, while living in squalid conditions and trying to survive in an atmosphere of constant threats, intimidation and abuse.

“Every time an individual or organisation learns to ‘spot the signs’ of modern slavery and knows how to report it, it takes a little more power away from the traffickers who use human beings for profit in the most awful ways. We are glad to see the crime of modern slavery rising up the political and media agenda, and its inclusion in the 2019 Consumer Harm Report.”

Other doorstep crime trends include a rise in utility and energy-related fraud. Fraudsters tend to chase emerging consumer trends, such as increasing consumer awareness of the benefits of green energy and home insulation. Scams relating to solar energy and insulation are attractive to rogue traders, who use doorstep and cold calling tactics to target potential customers. In selling inferior, unsuitable or ineffective installations to unsuspecting householders, they leave consumers out of pocket and threaten the success of legitimate businesses and those who work for them.

The rise in these scams – alongside a recognition that utility staff can help identify and prevent scams given they regularly enter customers’ homes for works – has led utility companies, in conjunction with National Trading Standards, to launch a new initiative as part of the Friends Against Scams campaign. Launching today (27 November), ‘Utilities Against Scams’ brings together communications, gas, electricity and water companies who are training staff to help identify scams and victims of potential fraud.

Jo Giles, customer safeguarding manager at gas network Cadent, who has led the formation of Utilities Against Scams, said:

“Scams are becoming more commonplace, more sophisticated and harder to spot – and the report today clearly shows that our sector, and our customers, are a target. As utility companies, we meet and talk to customers on a daily basis. This puts us in an ideal position to support people who may be targeted, to spot tell-tale signs and act on them.

“Utilities Against Scams creates a clear and consistent approach in how we do this. We have seven main utility organisations who have contributed to this important piece of work and expect many more to join us at the launch – taking a stand both for our industry and on behalf of our customers.”

National Trading Standards (NTS) prevented more than £130 million of losses to consumers and business during 2018/19, while securing convictions to 47 criminals with prison sentences totalling almost 65 years. NTS teams are currently investigating another 97 cases of serious consumer and business detriment.

Investigations are often complex, involving disrupting mass marketing mail scams, shutting down online fraud and disrupting doorstep criminals. Equally importantly, NTS focuses on equipping consumers with awareness and advice to avoid scams and, where crimes have occurred, securing compensation and the return of money which has been obtained illegally.

Other emerging threats identified by the report include:

Health and Diet Supplement Scams – these often involve unproven or untested products sold via overseas-based call centres

Connected devices and the ‘Internet of Things’ – increasing numbers of household consumer devices – including smart speakers, connected TVs to internet-connected ovens and other home appliances – connect to the internet by default, increasing the risk of devices being exploited to cause consumer harm.

‘Copycat’ adverts on social media – the popularity of social media sites as selling platforms allows counterfeiters to increase their reach when selling unsafe, counterfeit or stolen goods by targeting time-poor consumers with lookalike adverts in their feeds

Misleading search engine adverts – an issue in previous years, but we’re seeing a rising trend of misleading adverts to appear at the top of search engine results which encourage users to call them for services like technical support and IT issues. With more searches being made by smartphone, users act on these adds immediately and call through to fraudulent phone lines.

Scar Free Foundation announces plans for new burns scarring research

Sam Williams November 21, 2019 featured news, Health & Social Care, news

Scarring affects over 20 million people in the UK, according to new figures released today by The Scar Free Foundation. Yet the findings reveal that scarring is not talked about enough in our society and there is still a lack of public awareness of the physical – as well as emotional – impact that scarring can have on people. One of the most common causes of scarring is burn injury, with 64,000 children seeking medical treatment in the UK alone last year, and yet it is an area of medical research that has been critically underfunded.

The Scar Free Foundation is the only medical research charity which focuses solely on scarring, and is today announcing plans to establish the world’s largest cohort of children with burns to take part in research and inform future treatments, in partnership with University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust. The charity, along with world leading clinicians and scientists, is now calling on government and other major funders to further invest in developing effective new treatments to reduce – and eventually eliminate – scarring from burn injuries, which affects four million people in the Western world.

According to the survey commissioned by The Scar Free Foundation, despite over a third (38%) of the UK population having a scar, it is often a ‘hidden issue’. Three times as many respondents feel we don’t talk enough about the impact of scarring as a society as those who think we do – the reasons given range from it being seen as a ‘taboo’ and ‘too personal’ to ‘being embarrassed’ about the subject. Over a third of women (38%) and a quarter of men (26%) would feel uncomfortable asking someone how they got their scars, yet talking more openly can raise awareness of the problems people face and reduce stigma.

Although nearly half of people questioned (47%) are aware of emotional problems related to scarring, less than a quarter (24%) knew about the physical impact that scarring can have, with a further quarter being unaware of either the physical or emotional impact on people. The physical impact of severe scarring can include pain, itching and loss of movement, requiring the need for frequent operations, skin grafts, cream application multiple times a day and daily physiotherapy.

Simon Weston CBE was badly burned all over his face and body during the Falklands War when the RFA Sir Galahad was destroyed in the Bluff Cove Air Attack in 1982: “They hit the ship and ignited the fuel. We lost 48 men on board, most of them my friends, and of the 97 that survived I was told I was the worst injured.”

Simon is passionate about the issue of scarring and is proud to have been a part of The Scar Free Foundation since it started: “As people with scarring, our contribution is as valuable as all the clinicians and the researchers. We’ve been the tapestry for them to work with. The Scar Free Foundation has such a great vision. There’s a heck of a lot of work to do – we need to have something in place to minimise scarring and eventually eradicate it. To end up with a scar free world, wouldn’t it be wonderful?”

“My scars stretch and hurt and they are itchy, I can’t hold onto the bars in gymnastics because I don’t have very many fingers and it hurts my arms,” said 5 year old Elizabeth Soffe, who was badly burned in a house fire when she was 6 months old. Scarring affects almost all of her body, and she lost her hair, a lot of her fingers, part of her nose and one of her ears in the blaze. The parts of her body that were not burned have been used to provide skin grafts and she has restricted movement due to scarring on her elbows, wrists and other joints. “People say mean things because I look different to them, but I know I’m beautiful.”

Scar Free Foundation Ambassador Elizabeth

For Elizabeth and her family, the physical impact of scarring and how it restricts her life, is significant. She has to have frequent operations and skin grafts, and her scars itch constantly which keeps her awake at night. She also has to have cream massaged into her skin several times a day and daily physiotherapy to help her movement. Elizabeth’s father, Liam Soffe, said: “Elizabeth just wants to do the things that other 5 year olds enjoy – playing with friends, swimming and having fun. The Scar Free Foundation’s aim for a scar free future is a fantastic goal. Life without scars and their associated physical impact: the restrictive movement, the pain, the itch and the visible differences would make things much easier for girls and boys like Elizabeth. What The Scar Free Foundation can do is move treatments forward massively through funding medical research so that children like Elizabeth can benefit and do all the things that other children take for granted.”

Burn injury is one of the most common forms of trauma worldwide, over two-thirds affected are children. This is an area of research that has been historically underfunded, as statistics[1] from 2011 showed that overall research expenditure on complex trauma, of which burns is one small element, was less than 1% of total UK public expenditure on health research. Data from 2019[2] reveals that studies looking into skin and inflammatory conditions – of which burns is again just one small part – account for 6% of Medical Research Council funded research over the last five years.

Brendan Eley, Chief Executive of The Scar Free Foundation, said:

“The NHS provides excellent burn care within the boundaries of what is currently possible. However, we want to highlight that burn care – particularly the prevention of scarring from burns and scalds – has not moved on in the way that other areas of medicine have, which is why we need more medical research in this area. Burns patients tell us that they are most concerned about longer term scarring and the impact that it has on their movement and quality of life. We want to help people living with scarring achieve their full potential, as well as moving forward towards a scar free future. A cohort study would be groundbreaking – enabling us to map the DNA of an enormous range of children with burns, so we can isolate those factors which influence the severity of scarring and improve patients’ lives.”

Dr Amber Young, Consultant Paediatric Anaesthetist and International Burns Researcher, said:

“The NHS provides the UK with a unique opportunity to undertake world class research into scarring. The Scar Free Foundation’s previous investment has transformed burn care research from ‘silo’ small scale projects into collaborative cross-service, multi centre research projects undertaken on a larger and more meaningful scale. We want to put the patient at the centre of our research and establishing this new children’s burns cohort study will enable us to develop treatments which will have a real impact on children with burns in the future.”

Visit www.scarfree.org.uk for more information.

Veteran and Homeless Prevention Officer Alan Marshall

Homeless veterans are slipping through the net, new analysis of government data shows

Sam Williams September 24, 2019 Charities, featured news, news

Homeless veterans are being missed by local authorities and are losing out on the enhanced support and housing available to them, according to the No Homeless Veterans campaign which launches today [24 Sept].

The latest Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) homelessness data reveals that over the last year just 1,780 homeless veterans were identified by local authority housing services, out of 246,290 cases of homelessness recorded in the period – just 0.72% of accepted cases. Studies suggest that up to three per cent of people sleeping rough in England are ex-Service personnel*. Experts from the campaign warn the number identified should be far higher and that over 3,500 homeless veterans could be slipping through the net each year.

The No Homeless Veterans campaign aims to reduce veterans’ homelessness as close to zero as possible. It calls on local authorities, homelessness charities and advice agencies such as Citizens Advice, to ‘Think Veteran’ in order to identify former Servicemen and women and signpost them to the enhanced support services available to them.

The campaign is coordinated by Stoll, the leading provider of supported housing to vulnerable and disabled veterans and led by the Cobseo (Confederation of Service Charities) Housing Cluster, which co-ordinates the response of charities to homeless veterans. It is funded by the Forces in Mind Trust.

A new survey released today to coincide with the launch of the campaign shows overwhelming public support for veterans. Eighty per cent of the British public agree more needs to be done to identify and support veterans at risk of homelessness. The vast majority (95%) believe stable housing is important in helping veterans adjust to civilian life.

Ed Tytherleigh, Co-Chair at the Cobseo Housing Cluster, said:

“Most veterans make a smooth transition from military to civilian life, but it is too easy for ex-Service personnel, especially younger veterans and early Service leavers, to end up homeless. We believe we can reduce the incidence of homelessness among veterans as close to zero as possible. But this will only happen if we ensure we are effectively identifying veterans and providing a clear housing pathway. We are calling on local authorities and advice agencies to support the No Homeless Veterans campaign, to identify veterans in housing need and channel them through to appropriate support as quickly as possible. Together, we can end this shameful but avoidable situation.”

Kate Henderson, Chief Executive at the National Housing Federation, said:

“The fact that there are still veterans sleeping in inappropriate accommodation, in hostels and on the streets means that the pledges made in the Armed Forces Covenant are not being honoured. The support and housing is there for veterans, but we need to make sure everyone who comes into contact with those in housing crisis recognises their circumstances and is aware of the help that is available. The figures only account for those whom the authorities deem homeless, and the true number of homeless people, including veterans, is likely to be much higher.”

Dame Kelly Holmes, Olympic champion and ex-Army Sergeant, said:

“No veteran should be homeless. The campaign research confirms eighty-five per cent of the British public believe we have a duty to solve veterans’ homelessness. That is why I am supporting the campaign to help our country’s veterans when they need it most. Stable housing is key to helping adjust to all aspects of civilian life – work, family, health and wellbeing. I want to encourage others and especially those on the front line dealing with homelessness, to ‘Think Veteran’ and get ex-Service personnel in need of help to the support available to them.”

Mac McLaren (42) was an infantry Soldier in the British Army for seven years (1998-2005), including three tours in Northern Ireland, two tours in Bosnia and one in Iraq.

When injuries forced Mac to leave Service life behind, he was distraught. Without the structure and discipline of the Army Mac became homeless and spent a year staying on friends’ sofas or sleeping in his car. He approached his local authority, Glasgow City Council, for social housing but was told he didn’t have enough housing points and was put at the bottom of the list.

Then in 2014 Mac’s marriage broke down and he again found himself homeless. He once again approached his local authority for housing help but again missed out on being housed because he was told he was not a priority case. This was before the Armed Forces Covenant was put in place to protect veterans. It wasn’t until he contacted the charity Stoll, a provider of supported housing to veterans, that his needs were finally addressed.

Mac says: “Within no time I had somewhere to call home and the safety net I needed to help me get my life back on track. The No Homeless Veterans campaign helps local authorities honour the pledge made in the Armed Forces Covenant and means veterans will no longer find themselves in the position I was in. Before I found Stoll it felt like everyone had turned their back on me. I was in a very low place and felt like I had run out of options. I just wanted the same as anyone else – a place I could call home.”

Woman in London Underground on way to work

British workers expect better from bosses on air pollution

Sam Williams September 19, 2019 Charities, featured news, news, Sustainability

Businesses urged to prioritise air quality as nine in ten workers are in the dark on policies to reduce air pollution

Flexible working, sharing information about local clean air routes and incentivising active travel are just some of the ideas being put to businesses today as new research suggests employers need to do more to protect staff both in the workplace and on their commute.

Despite growing public awareness of the harmful effects of air pollution, nine in 10 UK employees are in the dark as to whether their employer has policies to protect them from air pollution, both on their way to and from work and in the work place:

six in 10 workers believe their employer has no policy at all
two in 10 simply don’t know
one in 10 thought their employer had a policy but it wasn’t communicated to staff
less than one in 10 receive regular communication from bosses on the issues

According to new research, released today by environmental charity Hubbub as part of its #AirWeShare campaign, and just ahead of London’s first ever ‘car free’ day this Sunday, more than two thirds of workers in the UK believe employers should take responsibility to ensure the air their staff are breathing in the work place is safe.

Professional drivers and outdoor workers are among the most exposed professions, but office employees can also be exposed to high levels of pollution, if they’re commuting into busy urban areas and travelling to and from work meetings. Nearly half (46%) of those surveyed think employers should take more responsibility to protect staff on their commutes.

Health research is increasingly showing air pollution can affect all organs of the body across the course of a lifetime. Recent revelations include links to reduced cognitive abilities, diabetes and the first direct evidence of pollution particles in mother’s placentas. Given that the average British worker spends nearly 85,000 hours at work in their lifetime, and more than 14,000 hours getting there and backii, it’s clear businesses have a significant role to play in addressing this public health crisis.

Today, Hubbub is calling on all employers to check, update – or even develop from scratch – their policy on air pollution to protect the health and wellbeing of their staff. As well as reducing exposure, policies should look at how businesses can reduce their own contribution to air pollution across their operations. Hubbub is also asking more businesses to step forward and join the #AirWeShare movement to accelerate the process of cleaning up the air in our cities.

Trewin Restorick, founder and CEO of Hubbub, said: “Employers have a huge role to play in protecting their workforce from pollution, whilst in the workplace and travelling during the working day and on the commute. Our research suggests that many employers either have no policy on this or are simply not communicating it. We want to empower workers to ask their bosses what they are doing to protect them and to request that changes are made if they are falling short. And businesses need to show that they are willing to take action to support and protect their workforce from the effects of air pollution.”

When asked what their own boss could do to help them reduce their exposure to air pollution, the most popular ideas were: installing air purifiers in the workplace (47%), allowing flexible working or home working (42%) and cash incentives to encourage people to cycle, walk or take public transport to work instead of driving (40%). One in five workers would consider grouping online shopping deliveries with colleagues to avoid lots of polluting vans delivering individual parcels to their office. 

As well as the business benefits of a healthier workforce, tackling the air pollution problem could also support recruitment and retention; when job-hunting, nearly two thirds (64%) of workers would find a potential employer attractive if they had an air pollution policy in place.

Craig McWilliam, CEO, Grosvenor Britain & Ireland said “We’ve introduced a number of new technologies to our London office to create a healthy space for our staff and improve environmental efficiency. A large living wall which spans two floors and green columns on every floor have brought our sustainability goals visibly to life and helped us reach 100% optimum air quality on readers we placed in our reception. As the first private sector organisation to join the London Air Quality Network, we are tracking our progress in reducing air pollution exposure on street for workers, residents and visitors and are proud to be on track to cut carbon emissions on our estate in half by 2023.”

Top tips for businesses:

Think flexibly: Consider allowing employees to work from home on some days, or stagger their start/finish times to avoid the roads during the most polluted hours.
Incentivise active travel: With pedestrians and cyclists being shown to be less exposed to air pollution overall than those that used cars or public transportiii, incentivise staff to walk or cycle to work or between meetings, where possible. Consider signing up to the ‘cycle to work’ and providing cycle safety training.
Celebrate quiet ways and green spaces: Taking back routes can reduce exposure by 50% on average, so share information about local clean air routes with employees so they can avoid areas of high pollution. Celebrate local green spaces and tranquil areas.

Green up deliveries: Streamline deliveries and servicing, and consider using an ultra-low emission supplier. Reduce personal deliveries to the office by encouraging employees to use ‘click & collect’ services.
Green up your building: Conduct an energy review and include the impact of pollutants. Upgrade and fine tune your Building Management System and consider installing low NoX boilers.

The #AirWeShare campaign provides businesses with an opportunity to take the lead, exploring what they can do individually and collectively to best engage policy makers, clients, employees and the public. Over the coming months, Hubbub will be working closely with partner businesses to introduce well-being activities that address air pollution with their employees and act as a source of inspiration across the UK. Businesses interested in joining the growing collaboration working to tackle this issue should email hello@hubbub.org.uk or visit www.airweshare.co.uk/businesses

High street businesses losing millions by shunning disabled consumers, new research reveals

Sam Williams September 16, 2019 Charities, featured news, news

New research shows UK businesses – including high street brands – are losing millions of pounds of revenue every year by turning their backs on disabled consumers.

More than 13 million people in the UK – a fifth of the population – are disabled.

A new poll of people who consider themselves to be disabled has found that more than half of respondents are struggling to make purchases of a product/service due to their disability. Disabled young people (aged 16-24) fare the worst – more than three-quarters of them say they have found it difficult to buy goods online or in person due to their disability on more than one occasion.

Some four in five disabled customers say businesses could do more to be accessible and more than half (56%) agreed that improving staff understanding about different disabilities would encourage them to spend their disposable income, estimated to be £249 billion a year. Separate research has shown that 75% of disabled people have had to leave a store or website, unable to go through with their purchase because of their disability.

Respondents state that retail is the most accessible business to purchase from, followed by banking and hospitality/leisure/restaurants. The research comes as businesses and organisations prepare for ‘Purple Tuesday’ on 12 November, a day which celebrates UK companies that are improving the customer experience for disabled shoppers. Major names taking part include Sainsbury’s and Intu.

Mike Adams OBE, Chief Executive of Purple, the disability organisation behind Purple Tuesday, said:

“While many UK businesses and organisations are stepping up to the mark and making the changes needed to improve disabled customers’ experiences, far too many are not.

“This is a huge mistake, not least because by turning their backs on disabled shoppers, they are losing out on millions of pounds of revenue every year.

“It should simply not be the case that one in two disabled people struggle to make purchases online or in person. Small changes can make a big difference to the customer experience; we want to help organisations have the confidence to improve their services for disabled people.”

Disabled consumers told pollsters that inaccessible and unusable locations, poor customer service and a lack of understanding about disabilities were the main reasons they struggled to spend their money.

Over 1 in 5 said that hiring more disabled people would make them more likely to make a purchase and some stated that “wider aisles” or “lighter doors” would have the same effect. The findings support previous research, which shows that less than 10% of organisations have a dedicated strategy for targeting disabled customers4.

The potential of the purple pound is clear – disabled people say they spend on average £163 on retail per month, £117 on banking, £98 on travel, £69 on insurance, £78 on hospitality (such as at restaurants or on leisure activities) and £19 on gym or health activities.

Carole Hughes, from Liverpool, was born with spina bifida and has been using a wheelchair since 2015. She shops regularly at large supermarkets and department stores around the city. Carole said:

“I often have problems getting around stores and supermarkets, either because the aisles are too narrow or there are items blocking the way. It can be a challenge to find staff who are willing to help – sometimes I’m made to feel like a nuisance when I ask for basic assistance.

“There needs to be more consistency with staff training. Other things like making more doors open automatically and locating accessible parking spaces close to store entrances also make a huge difference to wheelchair users.

“I’d urge all organisations to sign up to Purple Tuesday and make sure they are providing a better shopping experience to their disabled customers.”

Organisations that register for Purple Tuesday will benefit from free resources from Purple on topics such as website accessibility and customer service training. In exchange, Purple asks that business make a minimum of one commitment to improve the customer experience for disabled people.

These commitments might be major transformations or simple, smaller steps that can improve the experience of disabled customers. Examples include conducting an audit of an organisation’s website to ensure it’s accessible or staff training to help them communicate effectively with disabled consumers.

For more information on Purple Tuesday, please visit www.purpletuesday.org.uk.

Last year, which was the first ever Purple Tuesday, more than 750 organisations took part, pledging 1,500 commitments to improve disabled people’s customer experiences. They included some of the biggest brands on the high street, including Argos, Asda, Barclays, Sainsburys.

Retailers urged to do more to stop the sale of knives to under 18s

Sam Williams August 29, 2019 featured news, news, Public Sector

New test purchasing data published today shows that children have been able to buy knives from small independent stores and some of the biggest names on the high street, despite the major retailers pledging** to stop the sale of knives to children.

Of 2231 tests, carried out by Trading Standards in England and Wales between 1 April 2018 and 31 March 2019, retailers failed to prevent the sale of a knife to a child on 344 separate occasions (15%). Poundland, Home Bargains, Asda and Tesco sold knives to children at least 15 times each during the tests. Some retailers have taken action since the tests began to introduce new steps to help prevent the sale of knives to children.

Separately, 100 online test purchases were carried out; children were sold a knife on 41 occasions.

Lord Toby Harris, Chair of National Trading Standards, said:

“Restricting the sale of knives to children is clearly a difficult issue for retailers, especially those with large numbers of outlets, staff and delivery partners, and I am aware that many retailers are working incredibly hard to train staff and introduce robust procedures to stem the flow of knives to children.

“But let’s be clear – it’s illegal to sell a knife to a child. Our tests show that it’s still too easy for a child to buy a knife in store or online. We know that young people are being cautioned and convicted for knife crime offences, and as such I urge all retailers to do more. Do you need to sell knives? If you do, can you remove them from shelves and have them available either from a locked cabinet or via a specific till for customers, as already happens with cigarettes – where this is a legal requirement? Are your procedures and those of your delivery partners robust? Can you do more mystery shopping of your own to test how well your own processes are applied?

“The Trading Standards community will continue to play our part by promoting best practice, providing advice to businesses, monitoring retailers’ activity and taking proportionate enforcement action. We need to make sure Trading Standards Services have enough funds to do this important work.”

National Trading Standards is publishing results from the test purchases, which were carried out by young people aged under 18, to encourage best practice and highlight the issue. National Trading Standards recognises it is very complex for businesses with multiple outlets to prevent sales of knives to under 18s and the law in this area is clear that if a retailer has adopted the correct procedures and ensured they are implemented, there is no offence.

Minister for Policing, Crime and Fire Kit Malthouse said:

“I am deeply concerned to see some retailers are breaking the law and I expect them to take urgent action to stop young people from getting hold of knives in the first place.

“Our Offensive Weapons Act will also help stop knives and weapons making their way onto our streets and being used to carry out appalling attacks.”

Local authorities have routinely undertaken test purchasing of knives. For the last two years the Home Office has provided additional funds to National Trading Standards to supplement this work. This is a pilot scheme and is just one part of a multi-faceted approach to reducing knife crime. The work of this programme is ongoing and will include further test purchasing. A range of enforcement powers are available including cautions, warnings and prosecutions.

In 2018 B&M was ordered to pay £480,000 in fines and £12,428 in costs after selling knives to children. Croydon Trading Standards has recently successfully prosecuted companies for selling knives online as part of this work.

In July 2019 Tool Supplies UK Limited of Heswell, Wirral, and Inifer Potter and Son Ltd of Hockley in Essex were fined £8,000 and each was ordered to pay costs of more than £2,000
SD International Trading Limited was fined £10,000 and ordered to pay over £2,250 in costs after pleading guilty at Croydon Magistrates’ Court on 25 June 2019 to selling a knife online to a child

GUIDANCE FOR RETAILERS

· Consider if you need to sell knives at all.

· If you do need to sell knives, store them securely in locked cabinets behind a specific counter.

· Ensure all staff are made aware that knives are age-restricted products and receive regular training and refreshers on an ongoing basis.

· Operate age restricted policies: no ID, no sale.

· Sign up to and adhere to the voluntary Code to restrict sales of knives to childrenhttps://www.gov.uk/government/publications/sale-of-knives-voluntary-agreement-by-retailers/sale-of-knives-voluntary-agreement-by-retailers

· Carry out mystery shopping to ensure procedures are being followed.

· For more information go to: https://www.businesscompanion.info/en/quick-guides/underage-sales/knives-and-other-bladed-items

V&A goes to Market – One Day Sustainable Food Pop-Up at Borough Market

Sam Williams August 14, 2019 Charities, featured news, Food and Drink, news, Sustainability

Turnips Borough creates unique dish from mushrooms grown in V&A exhibition

On 14th August Borough Market trader Turnips Borough, a family-run fruit and vegetable retailer and wholesaler, created a special dish – for one day only – using oyster mushrooms grown in the V&A from used coffee grounds. The mushrooms are a highlight of the V&A’s current exhibition FOOD: Bigger than the Plate, and the collaboration aims to take the project beyond the museum for visitors to sample while shopping at London’s oldest produce market.

In an installation designed for the V&A by social enterprise GroCycle, oyster mushrooms are grown in the gallery from bags filled with used coffee grounds, including grounds from the V&A Benugo café where visitors drink 1,000 cups of coffee a day. The mushrooms are later harvested and return to the museum café as ingredients, closing the nutrient loop and challenging the notion of coffee grounds as ‘waste’ materials. The mushroom farm is one of over 70 contemporary projects in FOOD at the V&A, which is sponsored by BaxterStorey and explores how innovative individuals, communities and organisations are radically re-inventing how we grow, distribute and experience food.

This collaboration saw the V&A redirecting their mushroom harvest to Borough Market for a day, providing 7kg of pink, yellow and grey oyster mushrooms for Turnips to create a delicious mushroom and spelt risotto. 10% of the sales were donated to Plan Zheroes, a zero-food waste charity that Borough Market has worked with since 2014 to redistribute top quality surplus produce from traders to charities across London. To date, Borough Market and Plan Zheroes have saved in excess of 67,000 kilograms of surplus food from going to waste – providing over 135,000 meals for Londoners in need.

Waste reduction is central to Borough Market’s drive to promote a responsible, sustainable approach to food production and consumption and this collaboration is part of the Market’s wider commitment to sustainability that includes the provision of public drinking fountains, a ban on single use plastic bottles, a corn starch alternative to plastic bags and a recycling scheme which ensures zero waste goes to landfill.

Borough Market’s approach chimes perfectly with Turnips’ pioneering tackling of food waste. 15 years ago, before food waste became the hot topic it is today, Turnips began finding new uses for fruit and vegetables which, while perfectly good, could not be sold. This included the making of juices and smoothies with this produce. Today, Turnips Kitchen’s team of chefs use a range of seasonal produce to create incredible street food every day, including their rich mushroom risotto made with organic British spelt from Sharpham Park and topped with generous amounts of parmesan – the dish that inspired this collaboration.

Darren Henaghan, Managing Director, Borough Market, said: “Waste reduction in all its forms is fundamental to the culture of Borough Market. The community here has long been at the forefront of sustainability best practice, and customers are encouraged to eat with the seasons, question the provenance of ingredients, buy only what’s needed and eat every bit of it. This collaboration with the V&A is an exciting development and showcases innovative approaches to both food growing and waste reduction – the end result being a delicious dish for visitors to sample thanks to one of our longest established traders.”

Charles Foster, Turnips said: “We love what V&A and GroCycle are doing with this exhibition so it seems natural to collaborate in this way. We have been battling with sustainability and waste reduction for years, our wild mushroom risotto is a particularly successful vestige of that battle and using these innovative oyster mushrooms in our risotto will be hugely exciting!”

Catherine Flood and May Rosenthal Sloan, co-curators of FOOD: Bigger than the Plate at the V&A said: “FOOD: Bigger than the Plateexplores a range of different ideas for creating a food future that is sustainable, fair and delicious. GroCycle’s innovative method of using coffee ground to grow oyster mushrooms demonstrates the possibilities for creating closed loop systems and changing mind sets around waste. They have so far taught the technique to more than 1,000 people in 50 countries. It is a smart form of urban farming because while cities don’t always have good soil, they do have an abundance of used coffee grounds that are still rich in nutrients. It is great to be able to bring the project to Borough Market to share the ideas and the mushrooms outside of the museum.”

Let’s get all schools gardening

Sam Williams July 31, 2019 featured news, news

Last week the Royal Horticultural Society warned that the country is facing a green skills crisis unless more people learn to garden.

As reported in last Sunday’s Observer the society’s director general, Sue Biggs, says that generations of children are growing up disconnected from nature because they are not being taught about gardening at school. “In a few years’ time, we won’t have enough gardeners to keep the 22 million gardens in this country going, and that will only make environmental issues worse,” she said.

Now this is a subject close to my heart. Two years ago, myself and two other school mum friends set up a school garden at our children’s school in St Albans. We turned an area of neglected wasteland on the school grounds into a thriving edible and wildlife garden. Come wind or shine we’re out there with the infants every Wednesday, planting seeds and bulbs, making bird feeders, identifying bugs or harvesting the fruits of our labour. The kids love it.

We all know that teachers are already under enormous pressure and setting up and running a school garden will no doubt be towards the bottom of the priority list for many. So I was surprised to see that at no point in the article were parents and the wider community positioned as a potential solution to the problem.

The only way we’re going to get children to care about nature and the environment is to get them closer to it. I strongly believe EVERY school should have an allotment and wildlife garden. My children’s school isn’t privileged. We have no budget for this. We beg garden centres for plants and seeds; the council gives us free compost from the green bin collections; we organise plant sales, we raid skips for wooden pallets and we run “lend a hand” days where parents turn up with pitch forks and drills and get stuck in. It’s a real community effort that could quite easily be replicated across the country.

Of course I’m very lucky that Barley’s flexible working model means that Wednesday afternoons is my school gardening time and I appreciate that many parents work full-time. However, perhaps now is the time for employers to allow and encourage staff to pursue such activities that ultimately benefit the environment and our children’s future.

Our gardening sessions are a gateway to engaging with the children on a range of environmental topics – litter, composting, recycling, food waste, saving water, protecting bees. Collecting apple cores and banana skins for the compost bins after morning snack is now a sought-after role at the school!

I’ve participated in assemblies to talk about environmental issues, arranged for our local Wildlife Trust to come in to school and recently wrote a two-week series of daily tips emailed out to parents on topics such as food waste, saving water and eating less meat. I’m seeing direct results of this engagement at the school gates…

“Bella won’t let me wash her onesie because of the microfibre shedding” laughs one mum. “Katy is writing to the makers of LOL dolls about their ridiculous packaging” says another. “We’ve just made a raised bed in the garden as the kids are desperate to grow their own veg.”

My heart sings with every comment.

We now have to work on the parents. Whilst the single-use plastics movement continues to engage consumers, gardening-related behaviours such as buying peat-based compost, astroturfing gardens, using weed killer and pesticides and paving over driveways are also having devastating effects on the environment. From what I can see, these issues are barely on the radar of even the most well-meaning people in my local community. Retailers and manufacturers in the gardening sector need to make some radical changes and like we’ve seen with the plastics movement, there must be pressure from the bottom up.

I’d like to see the whole gardening industry – from garden centres and manufacturers to landscape gardeners and carpenters to collaborate, support and fund more school gardens by providing grants, materials and expertise. Let’s get more parents involved in school gardening. Let’s also utilise and embrace the knowledge and skills of the retired members of our society. Let’s inspire the next generation so that the RHS are inundated with applicants and we can help meet the pressing environmental and biodiversity challenges ahead.

By Laura Harrison, Associate at Barley Communications

Summer is the Silly Season for Fast Fashion

James McCollum July 11, 2019 Charities, featured news, news, Sustainability

Summer is the season for occasion wear, special outfits purchased for weddings, BBQs, holidays and festivals. Millions of these outfits are bought new every year and never worn again, damaging people’s purses and the planet. That is why Barnardo’s is asking people to think ‘pre-loved’ before buying new and check out the gems to be found at their local Barnardo’s store.

According to a new poll conducted by Censuswide for Barnardo’s* this year Britons potentially will spend an extraordinary £2.7 Billion on fashion that will only be worn once.

Brits spend an average £79.76 on a wedding outfit, nearly 10m of which are expected to only be worn only once, meaning they are potentially forking out nearly £800 million on single-use wedding outfits alone. But by far the biggest indulgence is outfits for holidays, Brits spend over £700 million on 11 million outfits brought purely for the holiday and never worn again. See table above for details.

This is wasteful, expensive and unsustainable – both in terms of the environmental costs of making new outfits and the tonnes of wasted clothes which then end up in landfill.

Buying new is not only costly to purses and the planet, you are also more likely to see someone else in the same outfit – 26 per cent of people polled have turned up to a special occasion in the same outfit as another guest. Barnardo’s are suggesting this is the year to turn to charity shops to find a unique and beautiful vintage piece instead,

Barnardo’s Chief Executive Javed Khan said: “Choosing to buy pre-loved clothes for a special occasion from a Barnardo’s shop means you don’t have to worry about bumping into someone wearing the same outfit.

“It is also kinder to the environment and your wallet, getting more wear out of clothes which might otherwise only be worn once and end up in landfill.

“Buying from Barnardo’s also means you will be helping to transform the lives of vulnerable children across the UK.”

Currently a quarter (25 per cent) of people would be embarrassed to wear an outfit to a special occasion such as a wedding more than once – this rises to 37 per cent of young people aged 16-24 although just 12 per cent of those over 55 feel this way. This needs to change.

It’s not all bad news however, 55 per cent of people would like to get more use out of the clothes they buy to reduce their impact on the environment, and four in ten (40 per cent) have worn a second hand item to a wedding.

What’s more 46 per cent of people think you get good value for money by shopping second hand and a further 45 per cent believe it’s more affordable than buying new – with 28 per cent saying they can find designer bargains they wouldn’t have been able to afford at full price.

But with more than half (51 per cent) of people say buying new clothes for a festival or holiday adds to the excitement of the build-up, Barnardo’s are launching a special in store booklet with tips on finding and styling occasion wear from its stores. There is also a short film with tips from sustainable fashion experts Paloma in Disguise, and Jade from NotBuyinNew.

OCCASION	NUMBER OF SINGLE USE OUTFITS BOUGHT	MONEY SPENT
BBQ	6,368,240	£197,606,487
FESTIVALS	7,400,928	£247,931,088
OTHER	8,724,845	£329,188,401
BALL OR OTHER FORMAL EVENT	6,837,473	£491,545,933
WEDDINGS	9,997,636	£797,411,447
HOLIDAYS	11,052,809	£711,137,731
TOTAL	50,381,931	£2,774,821,087

1 in 10 Parents Admit Throwing Dirty Nappies in the Recycling

James McCollum July 4, 2019 featured news, news, Public Sector, Sustainability

A new campaign has been launched today to encourage parents to dispose of used nappies in their general rubbish bin, after one in 10 UK parents of under 3s admitted to putting them in with the household recycling.North London Waste Authority (NLWA) has revealed how lorry-loads of recycling have to be thrown away because they have so many nappies in them. The scourge of nappy contamination also forces recycling centre workers to pull filthy nappies off conveyor belts by hand so the rest of the recycling can be processed properly.NLWA wants to help parents do the right thing with used nappies and avoid causing these problems. Disposing of nappies properly not only helps the environment, it also helps reduce the staggering £1.5m cost of contamination met by north London taxpayers every year.The #BinYourNappy campaign reminds parents to put used nappies in their general waste bin.

NLWA has launched the campaign after carrying out new research, which found there is widespread confusion about correct nappy disposal; 10% of parents of under 3s think nappies should go in a bin other than general waste. And of those who have put nappies in the recycling, more than a third say it’s because the outer packaging shows the ‘recycling logo’, whilst a fifth say it’s because they are termed ‘disposable’.

With labelling on nappy packaging at the heart of the confusion, NLWA is calling on manufacturers to make it clearer on-pack, and through their marketing communications, that nappies must go in the general rubbish bin.

Chair of NLWA, Councillor Clyde Loakes, said: “It’s hard to overestimate the scale of this unsavoury problem. We know parents want to do the right thing. That’s why we’re asking parents to put used nappies in the general waste bin. Contamination of recycling damages the environment, is costly for taxpayers and leaves recycling centre staff having to remove soiled nappies by hand.

“Our research shows that there is huge confusion about the labelling on packs. We’re calling on nappy manufacturers to come on board and make things clearer for their customers and help parents’ understanding.

“The estimated cost of dealing with contaminated recycling in the next year in north London alone is nearly £1.5million – money which I’m sure most taxpayers would prefer was spent elsewhere.”

Steve Oulds, National Commercial Manager at Biffa Waste Services Ltd, a Materials Recovery Facility which deals with recycling from households across north London, said: “We see millions of nappies arrive at our facility each year. Contamination is the single biggest challenge we face on a daily basis.

“Nearly half of parents in the survey didn’t know that recycling is sorted by hand. I hope that this knowledge helps encourage everyone to dispose of every nappy in the general rubbish bin.”Further confusion has been found around nappies marketed as ‘biodegradable’ or ‘compostable’, with half of all respondents believing these are recyclable in some form. Some respondents also thought whether a nappy is clean, wet or soiled makes a difference to whether it can be recycled. In fact, it is not currently possible to recycle any type of nappy through mainstream council recycling services.

The ‘Green Dot’ symbol (two intertwined arrows forming a circle) has been shown to be the most baffling for parents. Of those surveyed, 55% thought that this meant the outer packaging could be recycled and 13% thought it meant that either clean or used nappies could be recycled. In fact, the symbol only indicates that the producer has made a financial contribution towards the recovery and recycling of packaging in Europe and does not mean that the outer packaging or its contents are recycled or recyclable.

At the heart of the #BinYourNappy campaign is a video which helps explain the problem to parents – set to the tune of a familiar nursery rhyme.

As well as working with nappy manufacturers, NLWA will be enlisting the help of health services, toddler play centres and parenting groups to help spread the #BinYourNappy message. You can watch our campaign video, which explains the problem of nappy contamination here.

Visit wiseuptowaste.org.uk/binyournappy to find out more about the campaign.

Starbucks and Hubbub launch first ever airport reusable cup trial with Gatwick Airport

Sam Williams June 10, 2019 Charities, featured news, news, Sustainability

Today, 10th June 2019, Starbucks and Hubbub have launched the first airport reusable cup trial in partnership with Gatwick Airport. The trial will offer drop off points for Starbucks reusable cups throughout the international airport’s South Terminal to help cut paper cup waste and address throw-away culture.

This trial aims to offer a new approach to reuse, helping customers reduce disposable cup usage within closed environments such as travel hubs. Customers at the Starbucks store, which is operated in partnership with SSP, will have the option to borrow a free reusable cup for their drink instead of using a paper cup, which they can then drop off at one of five ‘Cup Check-In’ points throughout the airport before they board their flight.

Over 5.3 million of the seven million paper cups used at Gatwick each year are already being recycled but as recycling requires empty cups to be placed in the dry recycling bins, Starbucks and Hubbub have identified the potential to increase reusable cup options as well to limit the number of cups used in travel hubs where on-the-go packaging is prevalent.

The aim of the trial is to put 2,000 reusable Starbucks cups in circulation throughout Gatwick’s South Terminal, which could drastically reduce the number of paper cups being used each day. For example, if only 250 customers opted for reusable each day, it could see over 7,000 paper cups saved in one month.

Jaz Rabadia MBE, UK Senior Manager of Energy and Sustainability at Starbucks, said: “The purpose of working with Hubbub and Gatwick is to help create a new culture of reuse on-the-go by giving customers the option of a reusable cup instead of paper for free. We are optimistic that the ‘Cup Check-In’ points around the airport will provide enough places for customers to return their cups on the way to their gate, but also recognise this might not for everyone. Our goal is to save 7,000 disposable cups over the course of the month to find out the best ways to drive reuse where it is typically harder to do so – such as airports.”

Rachel Thompson, Sustainability Lead, Gatwick Airport said: “There is strong public support for measures to reduce waste and we are delighted to support one of our retailers with an innovation that can help travellers do that. We are looking forward to seeing how the trial goes and what we can learn to improve the solution.

“This trial fits well with Gatwick’s own circular economy ethos, which sees us utilise as many recovered resources as possible from within the airport estate.  By redesigning and investing in new waste collection and sorting facilities, and also in training to raise awareness about our journey toward zero waste, we have so far managed to hit a waste recycling and reuse rate of 70% this year. This includes all empty coffee cups and plastics and we also send zero waste to landfill.”

How It Works

Starbucks customers will be offered the option of having their drink in a reusable cup when they get to the till
Customers keep hold of the cup for the time they are in the airport
Before boarding, cups can be returned to one of five ‘Cup Check-In’ points located throughout the terminal, including at the Starbucks store
Cups will be collected by Gatwick’s waste management team to be washed and sterilised in line with the airport’s safety standards and returned to Starbucks ready for customer consumption
Any customers wishing to choose a disposable paper cup are still welcome and able to do so and will incur the 5p paper cup charge that is live in all Starbucks stores.

Trewin Restorick, CEO and Co-Founder, Hubbub said: “We know that people care about waste, but it’s often hard to ‘do the right thing’ when travelling. We want to find out whether people will get on board with reusing cups, if we make it easy and convenient. The airport is the ideal environment to trial a reusable cup scheme, as it is a closed loop environment and has the potential to reduce large volumes of paper cup waste. What we learn here will provide valuable insight into how to deploy a reusable trial in not only other airports, but many other environments.”

This trial is part of Starbucks and Hubbub’s on-going partnership and commitment to reducing paper cup waste. After introducing a 5p charge on paper cups in 2018 to encourage reuse, Starbucks has donated all proceeds to Hubbub to carry out environmental projects and research that increase sustainable consumer behaviour, such as this Gatwick trial.

Leeds residents ready to reduce waste

Sam Williams May 29, 2019 Charities, featured news, news

As the UK becomes increasingly concerned about plastic pollution and sustainability, Leeds residents have already shown the rest of the country how keen they are on recycling on-the-go. The pioneering #LeedsByExample campaign to improve recycling on-the-go has proven a huge success. The number of people recycling paper cups, cans and plastic food and drink packaging in Leeds City Centre has almost doubled during the six-month trial, inspiring other parts of the UK to follow suit.

Whilst recycling on-the-go has come a long way, there are still over 600,000 tonnes of waste being thrown away from homes and businesses in Leeds annually according to Leeds City Council – the weight of a small car per resident. However, new research released by the environmental charity Hubbub reveals that the residents of Leeds want to change this, with more than half (51%) saying they want to reduce the amount of waste their household produces.

This enthusiasm in response to the issues of plastic pollution and sustainability has inspired a new phase of the #LeedsByExample campaign. The ‘Agree your three’ initiative will find out how much further Leeds locals are willing to go to reduce the waste they throw away and reuse and recycle more.

In the study of 1,000 Leeds residents, the most common moves currently being taken to reduce waste include:

Eating leftovers, freezing more and planning meals to reduce food waste (70%)
Recycling plastic bottles (89%) and food tins & drinks cans (84%)
Buying items second-hand such as books (63%), adult clothes & shoes (51%) and furniture (50%)

That said, there seems to be reluctance to seek out other used items such as baby/child equipment (23%) and baby/children’s clothes and shoes (24%). Currently only 29% are switching the products they buy to reduce packaging, for example having milk delivered in glass bottles or using soap instead of bottled handwash, but 55% said they would be willing to do so in the future.

Now Leeds residents are being asked to join the conversation and vote on the top three small changes they would be willing to make to reduce the amount they throw away, reuse and recycle more, from a shortlist of 10 already popular actions:

Compost my kitchen food scraps
Use a reusable coffee cup or water bottle
#LeedsByExample and inspire, persuade and, where needed, nag my family and friends to recycle more and waste less
Try to shop smarter and use up food in my fridge
Give away any unwanted clothes or recycle them in a textile bank
Take electrical items (plus batteries!) to my local recycling centre
Recycle glass bottles and jars at my local bottle bank
Take my reusable bag when I go shopping and buy stuff with less packaging
Swap or share more items with others (e.g. DIY/ gardening tools)
And if nothing else…Put cans, plastic bottles and cardboard in my green bin

Ideas generated will be used by Leeds City Council to develop a city-wide action plan to tackle waste based on what people most care about.

Gavin Ellis, co-founder and director of environmental charity Hubbub, said: “The good news is there is a real appetite in Leeds to reduce waste – more than six in ten people are thinking more carefully about what they buy and half want to reduce the amount of stuff they throw out. We’d like to hear from residents about what they would consider doing to reduce the amount they throw away and recycle more – you can ‘Agree your three’ by visiting the website or our installation at Trinity Leeds.”

Councillor Mohammed Rafique, executive board member with responsibility for the environment, comments, “We are very supportive of the expansion of the #LeedsByExample campaign. I am excited to learn what pledges people will be making across the city. We will work with Hubbub and others, such as Zero Waste Leeds, on how the results of the ‘Agree your three’ can be put into practice.”

To find out more about the ‘Agree your three’ campaign, residents can vote online via www.leedsbyexample.co.uk or in person at a ‘pledge tree’ installation between 29 May – 11 June (11am-2pm) at Trinity Leeds shopping centre.