Women's Views on News |
| Is the government playing with fire risk? Posted: 08 Sep 2016 05:01 PM PDT
Proposed changes to guidance governing how schools are built would alarmingly undermine efforts to reduce the risk of fire, the Association of British Insurers (ABI) has warned. The redrafting of a document known as BB100 replaces a government commitment, "that it is now our expectation that all new schools will have sprinklers fitted" with a sentence stating the opposite: "The Building Regulations do not require the installation of fire sprinkler suppression systems in school buildings for life safety and therefore BB 100 no longer includes an expectation that most new school buildings will be fitted with them." There are more than 1,500 fires in schools and other educational establishments every year – equivalent to four a day – and the biggest of these has typically cost around £2.8 million in recent years. Aside from the financial impact, these fires disrupt the education of an estimated 90,000 children and students annually. The ABI speaks on behalf UK insurers, provides consumers with general information on insurance and savings products and services, and promotes best practice, transparency and high standards within the industry. And the ABI is urging the government not to water down fire prevention measures but to ensure sprinkler systems are fitted as mandatory in all new schools and any under-going major refurbishment. Laura Hughes, Property Policy Adviser at the ABI, said: “A decade ago the government made it clear sprinklers should be expected in all new school buildings. "Despite that, only an estimated 30 per cent of new schools built since then have had them included. "Sprinklers should be a compulsory part of all new educational buildings, but instead the government is moving in the opposite direction. "The case for sprinklers is clear," she continued. "Aside from their ability to save lives, they drastically reduce the amount of damage done when there is a fire, saving money and getting that school back up and running more quickly. "The cost of installing a sprinkler system can be recouped in less than ten years thanks to the savings which will be made insuring the school. "It's a win-win situation for schools and all children should be benefitting from this additional safety measure." The cost of a sprinkler system is generally between 1 and 2 per cent of the total construction bill. The estimated cost for a medium-sized primary school, for example, is just over £100,000. The ABI is urging the government to mark the 350th anniversary of the Great Fire of London with new legislation for making sprinklers compulsory in all new schools, care homes and warehouses over 2,000m2. The ABI has already submitted a response to DfE's consultation on Building Bulletin 100 – Fire Safety Design for schools. To read the response click here. And more than a dozen organisations have so far confirmed their support for proposals put forward by the ABI to ensure sprinklers are installed in more high-risk buildings. Several major fire brigades as well as the Chief Fire Officers Association and a number of fire prevention bodies have all added their names to a call for action on sprinkler regulations to help prevent major and potentially deadly fires. The ABI issued the following call to the government: “As the three hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the Great Fire of London approaches we urge the Government to modernise fire prevention rules by legislating for compulsory sprinklers in all new schools and care homes, and warehouses over 2,000m2. “Fires put lives at risk, cause disruption to our cities and transport networks and hurt the economy; failing to install sprinklers in schools and care homes is putting at risk the lives of the most vulnerable in our society.” The signatories to date are: East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service; Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service; London Fire Brigade; West Midlands Fire Service; Arson Prevention Forum (APF); British Automatic Fire Sprinkler Association (BAFSA); British Damage Management Association (BDMA); Business Sprinkler Alliance (BSA); Chartered Institute of Loss Adjusters (CILA); Chief Fire Officers Association (CFOA); Fire Protection Association (FPA); Fire Sector Federation (FSF); National Fire Sprinkler Network (NFSN); and the Worshipful Company of Firefighters. Mark Shepherd, ABI’s Manager of General Insurance Policy, said: "Fires in schools and care homes endanger those who most need our protection. "Industrial fires can cause disruption to our homes, high streets and transport networks and also put lives at risk. "We know sprinklers are particularly effective at reducing the risks posed by fire so the time has come to start requiring them in certain buildings. "We urge the government to take the sensible step of making sprinklers a compulsory part of new schools, care homes and larger warehouses, to help the on-going fight against fire." Please contact your MP and draw this issue to their attention.  |
| Domestic violence: convictions increasing Posted: 08 Sep 2016 04:37 PM PDT
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is prosecuting and convicting more cases of rape, domestic abuse, sexual offences and child abuse cases than ever before, a report published this week has shown. The Crown Prosecution Service is responsible for prosecuting criminal cases investigated by the police in England and Wales. The report, the CPS’s annual Violence against Women and Girls report, shows that rape, domestic abuse and sexual offences now account for 18.6 per cent of the CPS’s total caseload – and that this figure has been increasing year-on-year. In 2015/16, the CPS prosecuted 117,568 defendants for all crimes grouped together as Violence against Women and Girls (VaWG). More than 100,000 defendants were prosecuted for domestic abuse, with over 75,000 convicted – the highest volumes ever recorded, also reaching the highest ever conviction rate of 75.4 per cent by March 2016. In December 2015, the new offence of controlling or coercive behaviour also came into law, and ONS statistics show there were five prosecutions of this offence completed by the end of March 2016. The Director of Public Prosecutions, Alison Saunders, said: “Domestic abuse, rape and sexual offences now account for nearly 19 per cent of our workload – an increase over the past six years from just under 9 per cent. "While the volume of these cases is increasing, the report also shows the volume of convictions has risen by 11 per cent. “Today a rape, domestic abuse, sexual offence or child abuse case is more likely to be prosecuted and convicted than ever before.” The report also includes data on the new offence of disclosing private sexual images without consent. This offence was introduced in April 2015, and there were 206 prosecutions over the period covered by the report. The number of obscenity offences prosecuted rose 20 per cent, from 5,782 to 6,940 – this includes prosecutions under the malicious communications act, and for possession of extreme pornographic images. Saunders said: “There is a growing trend of crimes committed on or through social media. "Since the new legislation came into force, there have been over 200 prosecutions for disclosing private sexual images without consent. "We have also found that defendants in controlling or coercive cases rely on tactics such as GPS tracking and monitoring phone or email messages. “The use of the internet, social media and other forms of technology to humiliate, control and threaten individuals is rising," Saunders continued. “Over the last year, I have doubled the resources in specialist units that handle rape and serious sexual offence cases, including child sexual abuse and sexual exploitation. "Prosecutors have received detailed training including on vulnerable victims and the issue of sexual consent. "Following this work we have seen a rise in the rape conviction rate to 57.9 per cent and, significantly, there has also been a fall in the number of acquittals after trial.” The volume of human trafficking prosecutions has risen by almost 60 per cent. The gender breakdown of potential victims, taken from the National Referral Mechanism (NRM), shows women are predominantly the victims of sexual exploitation and domestic servitude, and men predominantly the victims of labour exploitation. The Modern Slavery Act was implemented in July 2015, and the CPS provided revised guidance and training for prosecutors. Rachel Krys, co-director of the End Violence against Women coalition (EVAW) welcomed this comprehensive report, the transparency it offers and the CPS’s ongoing attention to violence against women and girls in all its forms, and said: “The increase in prosecutions shows that more women are seeking justice. “But it is still the case that the majority of women and girls subject to these crimes do not report them to the police, and the specialist services which support them are fighting for survival. “The CPS has been committed over many years to analysing its data and practices to improve justice outcomes in this area. "This is a model which, in collaboration with specialist services, could ultimately prevent abuse of women and girls. "We urge other statutory agencies to work in a similar way.” Polly Neate, chief executive of Women’s Aid, said: “Survivors of domestic abuse are starting to have more confidence in the criminal justice system, which is why we are seeing another rise in the volume of prosecutions and convictions. "However, we know that much more work is still needed, particularly in understanding of the nature and impact of coercive control, right across the criminal justice system. “As we know from the recent HMIC reports, the police are dealing with more cases of domestic abuse now than ever before – ‘Recorded cases rose 31 per cent between 2013 and 2015, Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) said’. "Survivors of domestic abuse who report to the police deserve to have their case treated seriously and the perpetrator prosecuted wherever possible.” To read the full report, click here.  |
| You are subscribed to email updates from Women's Views on News. To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, United States | |