WIREDGOV

Professor May-Chahal explains how NICE guidance will help protect children & young people from abuse.

For people whose work brings them into contact with children & young people, the guideline offers warning signs for spotting the signs of abuse & neglect, and advises how to respond. It gives effective advice on what assessments should be carried out, aiming to ensure children, young people and their families get the best quality care available.

To help raise awareness of the guideline and support people experiencing abuse & neglect NICE have also put together a quick guide for young people.  The guide has been developed with the help of young people who have experienced abuse or neglect.

Steps to reduce 20% of calories in popular foods by 2024 announced to tackle childhood obesity.

Major steps to cut people’s excessive calorie intake have been unveiled by PHE and the DHSC, as part of the government’s strategy to cut childhood & adult obesity.

The package includes:

•new evidence highlighting overweight or obese boys & girls consume up to 500 & 290 calories too many each day respectively

•a challenge to the food industry to reduce calories in products consumed by families by 20% by 2024

•the launch of the latest One You campaign, encouraging adults to consume 400 calories at breakfast, and 600 for lunch & dinner. This comes as adults consume 200 to 300 calories in excess each day

Tax increases on the development of new homes to rent are leaving young people unable to access the homes they need.

That’s the conclusion of new research published into the impact of recent tax changes in the rental market by the RLA research exchange, PEARL.

‘Smart’ devices such as televisions, toys & speakers will be expected to have built-in tough new security measures that last the lifetime of the product, as part of plans to keep the nation safe from cyber threats.

Estimates show every household in the UK owns at least 10 internet connected devices and this is expected to increase to 15 devices by 2020, meaning there may be more than 420m in use across the country within three years.

Poorly secured devices threaten individuals’ online security, privacy, safety, and could be exploited as part of large-scale cyber attacks.  Recent high-profile breaches putting people’s data & security at risk include attacks on smart watches, CCTV cameras and children’s dolls.

Developed in collaboration with the National Cyber Security Centre, manufacturers & retailers the Government’s Secure by Design review lays out plans to embed security in the design process rather than bolt them on as an afterthought.

To help meet national efficiency targets & replace outdated paper-based processes, NHS SBS have developed a unique digital system for them to manage their workforce admin.

An innovative ePay technology is installed at around 50 NHS organisations around the country, where it has replaced the use of paper forms and resulted in substantial time & financial savings.

Designed to interface seamlessly with the NHS ESR (Electronic Staff Record), ePay has four modules - expenses, salary, absence and HR forms - that can be implemented separately or together, depending on the specific needs of an NHS organisation.

River managers will be able to limit the impact of climate change on Scotland’s rivers & fisheries by using a new online mapping tool to plan mitigation work.

Scientists at Marine Scotland and the University of Birmingham have developed a river temperature model to predict the maximum daily river temperatures & sensitivity to climate change throughout Scotland, with interactive maps made available through the National Marine Plan interactive website.