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olko71 · 1 year

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New Post has been published on All about business online

New Post has been published on https://yaroreviews.info/2023/07/disposable-vapes-councils-call-for-total-ban-by-2024

Disposable vapes: Councils call for total ban by 2024

By Ben King

Business reporter, BBC News

Disposable vapes cause litter problems, are a fire hazard and appeal too strongly to children, according to local councils in England and Wales.

The Local Government Association has called for them to be banned by 2024.

Single use varieties have surged in popularity in recent years, driven by Chinese brands such as Elfbar and Lost Mary.

But the UK Vaping Industry Association says they help smokers quit and can be recycled.

Disposables offers a few hundred puffs of nicotine-containing vapour, often with an added flavour of fruit or sweets, in bright plastic packaging – which are thrown away when empty.

They are easier to use than conventional vapes, or e-cigarettes, which need to be refilled with pods or liquid.

Disposable ones also contain a small lithium battery, which can increase in temperature when crushed, causing fires in bin lorries, the Local Government Association (LGA) warns.

They are difficult to recycle without specialist equipment, and with 1.3 million thrown away each week, they are a litter problem too, the LGA says.

Figures from research firm NielsenIQ suggest the problem could be even bigger than that. It says nearly 300m e-cigarettes (disposable and otherwise) were sold in the UK over the last year.

Millions of vapes littered in Scotland, says report

High lead and nickel levels found in illegal vapes

New measures to crack down on illegal teen vaping

Elfbar and Lost Mary, which are made by the same Chinese firm, Shenzhen Imiracle Technology Co, made up more than half that number. That is an increase of more than four times compared to their sales the year before.

Councillor David Fothergill, chairman of the LGA’s Community Wellbeing Board, said: “Disposable vapes are fundamentally flawed in their design and inherently unsustainable products, meaning an outright ban will prove more effective than attempts to recycle more vapes.”

Councils are not against vaping altogether as they believe vapes are less harmful than tobacco and can help smokers to quit.

John Dunne, director general of the UK Vaping Industry Association, said that the “low price, accessibility and ease of use” of disposable products had helped bring UK smoking rates to an “all-time low”.

“The vape industry is working hard to minimise its environmental impact, but this is mainly a consumer education issue about how to dispose of used vapes, which overall are evidenced to be highly recyclable,” he said.

A blanket ban could see “potentially deadly” black-market products flood the UK, Mr Dunne warned.

Councils are also worried that disposable varities with “fruity and bubble gum flavours, and colourful child-friendly packaging” could appeal to under-age vapers, and called for restrictions on their display and marketing, similar to those used for conventional tobacco.

The anti-smoking charity ASH said it did not support a ban, as it would “turbo-charge” illegal sales, increasing the risk that children would be able to buy them. It favours higher taxes on disposables and stronger controls on import and sales, deputy chief executive Hazel Cheeseman said.

A government spokesperson said it was also concerned about the use of vaping products, particularly among young people. Earlier this year it launched a consultation looking into the environmental and health impacts of vaping, and is considering responses.

“We strongly encourage all consumers to consider the environment and dispose of electrical waste, including by making use of take-back schemes at participating retailers,” the spokesperson said.

In Scotland, Lorna Slater, Minister for Circular Economy, said in June that single use vapes had become a “big problem – for our environment, local communities and young people,” and promised to announce new plans in the autumn.

Elfbar did not provide a comment for this article. It has previously told the BBC it recognised the fast growth of the vape market has had “environmental implications” and said it plans to introduce recycling boxes for retailers to collect used disposables.

More on this story

Millions of vapes littered in Scotland, says report

30 June

High lead and nickel levels found in illegal vapes

23 May

New measures to crack down on illegal teen vaping

9 April

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morganbelarus · 6 years

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Government housing delivery plan ‘flawed’

Image copyright PA

The government’s housing planning system is unable to demonstrate it is meeting housing demand effectively, public spending watchdog the National Audit Office (NAO) has said.

The government wants 300,000 new homes a year from the mid-2020s onwards.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has a standard method, developed in 2017, for local authorities to assess the number of new homes needed.

The NAO says this has weaknesses.

It says these weaknesses will result in a cut in the number of planned new homes in five of nine regions, while in London, the method will mean that new builds need to double in order to meet what the department thinks is needed.

The Local Government Association (LGA) said the current formula did not take into account the needs of local communities.

‘Free-for-all’

Local authorities – by law – need to have an up-to-date plan for building new homes.

If they are unable to prove that they have a five-year supply of land for housing, developers have greater freedoms to build where they want.

The NAO points out that this risks ill-suited developments, while the LGA says it risks a “free-for-all”.

The NAO says that between 2005-06 and 2017-18, 177,000 new homes per year were built on average, with the number never rising above 224,000.

To meet its ambition for 300,000 homes a year, the department will need to oversee a 69% increase in the average number of new homes built.

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The NAO recommends the housing department should regularly monitor the gap between its ambition for 300,000 new homes and what is being planned.

It also says it needs to work with local authorities and other government departments to ensure that infrastructure is delivered more effectively.

Amyas Morse, the head of the NAO, said: “For many years, the supply of new homes has failed to meet demand.

“From the flawed method for assessing the number of homes required, to the failure to ensure developers contribute fairly for infrastructure, it is clear the planning system is not working well.

“The government needs to take this much more seriously and ensure its new planning policies bring about the change that is needed.”

Councillor Martin Tett, the Local Government Association’s Housing spokesman, said: “We remain clear that the government’s housing needs formula does not take into account the complexity and unique needs of local housing markets, which vary significantly from place to place.”

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viralhottopics · 8 years

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Council tax to rise while services cut, says LGA – BBC News

Nearly every local authority in England is planning to raise council taxes this year but council leaders are warning services still face “deep cuts”.

The Local Government Association says funding care for increasing numbers of elderly people is forcing up bills.

It says many councils are planning tax increases of up to 4.99% but that cuts to libraries, bin collections and other services will still be needed.

The government insists it is giving more money to councils.

Social care is a lifeline for people like Maureen Edwards, from Surrey, who said that after she had a fall everyday living was “difficult”.

She said: “They come in and they get me up in the mornings and they wash me and then they sort of bring me downstairs and I have my breakfast.

“It’s just like normal living now, I’m very grateful for all they’ve done for me.”

But such services are being put under strain by the ageing population and budget cuts.

Councils are struggling to provide help, feed, wash or get people dressed in their own home or to pay for beds in a care home and the burden often falls on families.

How can social care be funded?

Who gets social care and who pays for it?

Is social care getting more money?

All councils in England can raise council tax by 1.99% in April without having a local referendum.

The 151 social care authorities can increase bills by an extra 3% as long as that money goes on social care.

The Local Government Association (LGA) says 147 of these have already agreed or are planning to raise the extra money. And three-quarters are set to introduce the maximum hike.

However, the LGA says further cuts will still be needed as councils are being pushed “perilously close to the financial edge”.

Warwickshire County Council leader Izzi Seccombe told the BBC: “To continue it is really looking like we’re cutting into the bones of services that matter to people.

“It’s not just social care. Things like roads, highways, bus services which are subsidised, libraries, access to leisure centres, waste services, children’s services as well.”

Councils spent 16bn last year on services for elderly and disabled people after funding from central government was cut by a third, in real terms, during the last Parliament.

Ms Seccombe said an extra 1.3bn was needed for social care in the next financial year alone.

And while the council tax rises would raise about 600m, she said that would be swallowed up by paying current staff more when the National Living Wage comes into effect.

Ms Seccombe added: “We need to put social care on a stable footing.

“I’m worried about the impact on vulnerable people in our communities.

“[And] I’m worried about what that means for carers who will be left picking up the pieces that local authorities will not be able to manage.”

Find out the cost of care in your area

Home care

What is home care?

You stay in your own home while getting help with everyday tasks such as washing, dressing and eating.

How your council helps with care

EXPLAINER TITLE

EXPLAINER P1

average amount of care provided per week, by your council

average paid per hour by your council, 2014-15

average paid per hour in your region if you pay for your own care, 2016

Residential care

What is residential care?

You live in a care home that provides round-the-clock support with everyday tasks.

How your council helps with care

Average contribution per week

Paying for yourself

TBC pay for their own care

Nursing home care

What is nursing home care?

You live in a care home which provides round-the-clock support for everyday tasks and nursing care. Depending on your medical needs, the NHS may contribute to your costs.

How your council helps with care

Average contribution per week

Paying for yourself

TBC pay for their own care

Who gets help?

How is your contribution decided?

Your home

Savings, investments and income are assessed, along with the value of your home – unless you or a close relative live there.

Will I have anything left?

Want to know more?

Around the UK

How the care system works across the UK

The alternatives to care homes and home help

Is it time for the NHS to do more?

The future of care

How England’s cap on care costs will work

Find out how the cap could affect you

Useful links

Age UK

Independent Age

NHS Choices care and support pages

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Care: The problem no-one can fix

The alternative options

How the care system works across the UK

Last week charity Age UK warned that hundreds of thousands of vulnerable older people were left struggling to get by with little or no care because of cuts to care in England.

Surrey County Council had toyed with raising council tax by 15% to help tackle the problem, but decided against asking local people to vote.

Instead, as a social care authority, it is going for the maximum 4.99% increase.

David McNulty, the council’s chief executive, told the BBC: “We’ve saved over 450m from our annual running costs over the last six years.

“We’re on the way to try and save up to 700m, but we’re struggling to balance next year’s budget.

“I think our services are at breaking point.”

Earlier this month, Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt, the MP for South West Surrey, said tackling social care problems was on the government’s agenda.

He said: “The prime minister has been very clear. We recognise the pressure’s there. We recognise there is a problem about the sustainability of the social care system.

“That has to be addressed and we are going to do that.”

A spokesman for the Department for Communities and Local Government said: “Whilst local authorities – like all public bodies – have had to find efficiency savings, our historic four-year funding settlement gives them the certainty they need to plan ahead with almost 200bn available to provide the services that local people want.

“By the end of this parliament, councils will be able to keep 100% of local taxes. We’ve also announced an additional 900m for social care meaning councils will have 7.6bn of dedicated funding to spend over the four years.”

Follow James on Twitter.

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warninggraphiccontent · 5 years

Text

7 February 2020

Bites back

Welcome back, to this newsletter and also to Data Bites. We held the eighth event in the series (and the first this decade - pedants who say the 2020s start in 2021, YMMV) last night - watch another set of brilliant presentations here, or catch up on Twitter here and here.

There was a lot of love for the National Audit Office's report on the challenges of using data in government, which Yvonne previewed way back in June and Adam responded to in October. DCMS and the Cabinet Office have just responded to the Public Accounts Committee report which they published in response to the NAO report - yes, government is still intending to appoint a chief data officer, which I've been banging on about ever since it was promised way back in 2017 (death, taxes, an imminent chief data officer appointment, etc).

Whitehall Monitor 2020 continues to generate good discussion - there's this from Nitika on transforming the civil service, building on the discussion at the launch, and this from Richard Vize on some of our findings around openness. And if transparency is your bag - which it probably is given you subscribe to this newsletter - we've got an event coming up on the transparency of outsourcing (which we may have mentioned before).

Finally, I'm fully intending to use this GIF every time we talk about fixing the plumbing.

Back next week - no doubt with various reshuffle-related charts...

Have a great weekend

Gavin

Today's links:

Graphic content

US politics

Who’s talking the most during Trump’s impeachment trial* (Washington Post)

Results: The Most Detailed Map of the Iowa Democratic Caucus* (New York Times)

A timelapse inside one caucus site shows Iowa’s trouble narrowing the field* (Washington Post)

Under ranked-choice voting, left-wing purism would aid Joe Biden* (The Economist)

American democracy is screwed (G. Elliott Morris)

White men most likely to feel better off under Trump — poll* (FT)

The strange and crucially important order of the Democratic primary states, explained (Vox)

Who will be the Democratic presidential candidate in 2020?* (The Times)

‪‪Iowa Caucus, 2020‬‬ (Google Trends)

Election Needle: Iowa Caucus Forecast* (New York Times)

What Is the Election Needle? And Why Will We Have 4 of Them Tonight?* (The Upshot)

Democrats on Twitter more liberal, less focused on compromise than those not on the platform (Pew)

UK politics

Government reshuffles: the case for keeping ministers in post longer (IfG)

Value for Money Profiles: understand the costs of delivering local services (LGA, via Martin)

Parliamentary progress of legislation introduced to implement Brexit, 2019/20 (Maddy for IfG)

MoG, why? (IfG)

And the award for least diverse award goes to...

‘Little Women’ is unlikely to win best picture. That is exactly why it is important.* (Washington Post)

#Bafta (Ian Jones)

Oscars: the 92-year gender gap, visualised (The Guardian)

The Oscars diversity problem in charts* (FT)

Everything else

Where International Communities Cluster (The Pudding)

Children and parents: Media use and attitudes report 2019 (Ofcom)

Personal and economic well-being in the UK (ONS)

Imports and exports (ONS)

Comparing outbreaks (Reuters)

America's jobs report no longer moves markets much* (The Economist)

About #dataviz

Charting new territory: How The Economist designs charts for Instagram (The Economist)

Six Hats of Data Visualization (Nightingale)

Mapping how railroads built America* (FT)

Gazing at petals (Junk Charts)

El País wisely uses animated transitions (Alberto Cairo)

#dataviz tools (Maarten Lambrechts)

The genius of Hans Rosling, frame by frame (Voilà)

Meta data

WRT FRT, ETC

Artists and activists offer privacy hope as facial recognition spreads* (FT)

Quick, cheap to make and loved by police – facial recognition apps are on the rise (The Observer)

Will we finally look clearly at facial recognition technology? (Ellen Broad, Inside Story)

Seehofer dispenses with software for facial recognition (Spiegel)

Facial recognition cameras to be used by police in London (Channel 4 News)

On FRT... (CDEI)

Ada Lovelace Institute announces independent review of the governance of biometric data (Ada Lovelace Institute)

Tech

You are now remotely controlled* (Shoshana Zuboff, New York Times)

Teens have figured out how to mess with Instagram's tracking algorithm (CNET)

MIA launches crowdfunding drive to avoid platforms that 'sell data to Cambridge Analytica' (The Guardian)

Will we just accept our loss of privacy, or has the techlash already begun? (The Guardian)

Facebook content moderators required to sign PTSD forms* (FT)

CDEI Review of online targeting (CDEI)

Can the UK open tech’s black box? (Demos)

Openness

Light and shadows: the RHI scandal and the temptations of secrecy (Constitution Unit)

There is value in open data — but it’s hard to prove* (Apolitical)

Secrecy is this cowardly government's weapon of choice against public scrutiny (The Guardian)

Open contracting & the EU in 2020: What to expect (Open Contracting Partnership)

The case for AI transparency requirements (Brookings)

Cabinet Office on FoI (via Owen Boswarva, via Jenna)

Data

Data Bites #8: Getting things done with data in government (Institute for Government)

Thread (Graham for IfG Events)

The Office for National Statistics is a bakery. Let me explain… (ONS)

Filling Key Evidence Gaps: Public Policy Quarterly Review (ONS)

Response to PAC report on the challenges of using data across government (DCMS/Cabinet Office)

Changing the Data Governance Ecosystem – through narratives, practices and regulations (Ada Lovelace Institute)

When can expect more from data portability? (Leigh Dodds)

Smart cities: How data and artificial intelligence could change London (BBC News)

Monitoring Equality in Digital Public Services (ODI)

How to build a data culture (360Giving)

Eleven tips for working with large data sets (Nature)

PI and Liberty submit a new legal challenge after MI5 admits that vast troves of personal data was held in “ungoverned spaces” (Privacy International)

Never gonna give EU up

EU plans more protectionist antitrust rules, data sharing in policy shake-up (Reuters)

Shaping a digital future for Europe (Margrethe Vestager)

From the archives

Why You May Never Learn the Truth About ICE* (New York Times)

Plugged in, Powered up: A digital capacity building strategy for archives (National Archives)

Everything else

A few thoughts about VAR (Daisy Christodoulou)

Should We Trust Algorithms? (David Spiegelhalter in the Harvard Data Science Review)

New humanities-led network will put social justice at the heart of AI research (Ada Lovelace Institute)

Love, loss and virtual memorials: my brother’s digital legacy (The Observer)

NHS Hack Day

Rebottling the Gini: why this headline measure of inequality misses everything that matters* (Prospect)

We urgently need better evidence on the impacts of digitalisation (the other ODI)

Prospero's Practicum: Conjuring the 4th Industrial Revolution on an Even Smaller Island - ��Jacqueline Poh's S T Lee Public Policy Lecture (Bennett Institute)

Opportunities

JOB: Deputy Director, Digital Identity (GDS, via Saxton Bampfylde)

JOB: Head of Policy and Strategy (GDS, via Tim)

JOB: Chief Digital Officer (Welsh Government)

JOBS: What Works Growth

JOB: Director of Digital Analytics (NHSX)

CHAIR: Ada Lovelace Institute

EVENT: How can outsourced public services be made more transparent? (Institute for Government)

EVENT: Making NHS data work for everyone (Society Guardian/Reform)

And finally...

Words

A poem (Brian Bilston)

When fonts fight, Times New Roman conquers (The Guardian)

These People Really Care About Fonts* (New York Times)

The words that hadn’t been said in a State of the Union until Trump said them* (Washington Post)

Quantifying Cummings (Peter Hoskin, via Tim)

Who gives a f*** about an Oxford comma? (YouGov, via Sukh)

Numbers

Why 02/02/2020 is the most palindromic date ever. (standupmaths)

Kobe Bryant: NBA legend's career in numbers (BBC Sport)

Pictures

this is the greatest tech mash-up since... (Matthew Champion, via Tim)

“HELP!!!” Internal #SharpieGate Emails Show Government Officials Freaked Out Over Trump’s “Doctored” Hurricane Map (BuzzFeed)

America's economic pie (CBS via Rob Delaney)

Data from Spotify suggest that listeners are gloomiest in February* (The Economist)

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concaholic · 5 years

Text

Students and teachers abducted by gunmen in Zamfara

Students and teachers abducted by gunmen in Zamfara:

Six students and teachers of the Government Girls Secondary School, Moriki in Zuru Local Government Area (LGA) of Zamfara State were kidnapped on Wednesday night.

BBC Hausa Service quoted the residents of the area as saying that the attack took place while some residents were watching the UEFA Champions League match between Liverpool and Barcelona.

The news of the attack broke just as the…

View On WordPress

#Zamfara state

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yusufahmd · 6 years

Link

Councils say spending on the National Citizen Service could instead keep youth centres open. from BBC News - Home https://ift.tt/2vfdKxx

#Blogger

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worldnewsalert · 6 years

Link

Councils say spending on the National Citizen Service could instead keep youth centres open. from BBC News - Home https://ift.tt/2vfdKxx

#Blogger

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megadarkbouquettidalwavethings · 7 years

Text

Poorest areas face biggest cuts to children’s services

Image copyright santypan

Image caption Many councils are having to cut services providing early help to families

Mary, not her real name, knows all about the consequences of family breakdown.

She has taken a relative’s two children into her home in Birmingham and believes that with earlier intervention from social services they would still be living with their mother.

But, she says, social workers took action only once the family had reached crisis point.

Earlier help, perhaps in the form of parenting classes or counselling for the children’s mother or even budgeting and cooking classes of the sort available in many council-run children’s centres would have made a big difference, she says.

“It would have made a lot of difference. It maybe would have helped probably keep the family together and not have it broken up the way that it is,” she says.

Vulnerable children: Crisis help only

Vulnerable children ‘left in limbo’

Help for vulnerable children ‘at risk’

Amid warnings from councils and charities that a spending squeeze is threatening early help for vulnerable families in England, new figures seen exclusively by the BBC lay bare the scale of the problem.

The analysis of Department for Education figures by researchers at Huddersfield and Sheffield universities shows that since 2010, council areas with the highest levels of deprivation and need have faced the biggest cuts.

Adjusted for inflation, the figures show overall spending on children’s services has fallen by 16% across England – but in the poorest areas the figure is 27%, compared with 4% in the wealthiest areas.

And spending on intervention services to help families before they reach a crisis has fallen by 47% overall – but the figure in the poorest boroughs is 54%, while in the wealthiest it is 33%.

Image copyright BBC News

A Department for Education spokeswoman said the government had committed £20m to provide “additional support to local authorities where the risk of service failure is highest”.

“In addition, more than £200bn has been made available to councils for local services, including children’s services, up to 2019-20.

“We want every child, no matter where they live, to receive the same high quality care and support,” said the spokeswoman.

But Prof Paul Bywaters of Huddersfield University, who led the research, said the scale of the budget crisis councils faced meant they were being driven towards short-term cuts that could cost more in the long term.

“It’s not only that children are suffering now, but we’re storing up costs for society in the future and creating a kind of vicious spiral,” he said.

“The more we cut prevention and family support services and concentrate expenditure on the other areas, the more likely it is that more children will come into care, more children will be at risk of abuse and neglect.”

Image caption Deputy head Nicky Hinchliff says families still need the help offered by the closed children’s centre

Birmingham’s Adderley Children’s Centre, in Saltley, used to provide specialist early support for families in difficulty – but budget problems meant this ended just before Christmas.

Deputy head Nicky Hinchliff says the community has lost a place where parents and children could feel safe, with expertise on site to offer early support to mothers with difficulties ranging from debt to depression and stop problems escalating.

“Those issues have not gone away,” she says.

“Those parents and those families still need our support.

“I dread to think what that means for children in the longer term.”

Image caption Mary, who asked not to be identified, gets some support at a charity-run centre

On the other side of Birmingham, in Winson Green, Mary gets some support at a charity-run centre at a primary school.

At the Oasis Hub, parents can drop in to learn cooking and budgeting skills from volunteers.

Many parents here are under pressure, with money or other worries, but in these sessions, they can find counselling, childcare and friends.

“It builds their confidence. It builds their skills. And obviously having the mothers emotionally stable, helps the children, and happy parents means happy children,” says one volunteer.

Centre manager Anji Barker says staff have noticed that neglect cases are on the rise.

“What we see is that where that early help could have happened, and then mum was able to get on her feet and keep those children and then go on to actually be a very effective parent, we are now seeing that’s just left and left and left until the crisis emerges,” she says.

“And then you are at the very top end of crisis that involves removal of children.”

‘Difficult choices’

Birmingham City Council’s deputy leader, Brigid Jones, said the council had been required by the government to make cuts of more than £642m since 2010.

“Faced with incredibly difficult choices, we chose to protect and increase funding to our child-protection service. And sadly this has inevitably meant cuts for other services across the council, even those we would normally consider vital, like children’s centres.”

The Local Government Association, which represents councils in England, said it had repeatedly warned of a £2bn funding gap in children’s services by 2020.

“It is often those who are most vulnerable and need support across a wide range of services to improve life chances who rely on these services the most,” said Richard Watts, who chairs the LGA’s Children and Young People Board.

The post Poorest areas face biggest cuts to children’s services appeared first on dailygate.

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