WIREDGOV

Technology is changing the world, fast.  We in the Civil Service can’t afford to ignore that. Instead we must harness it.

Technology is revolutionising the way we deliver public services and deliver impact around the world. Technological innovations give us the power to connect, to include, to change and to improve.  Pretending change isn’t happening is not an option – we must keep pace with it.

Lisa Dando, Director at Brighton Women’s Centre, writes about their new report 'Couples First? Understanding the needs of rough sleeping couples'.

It looks at the experience of women in couples who are rough sleeping and makes recommendations for better understanding and supporting them.

Homeless couples living on our streets, although not a new phenomenon has increased as the numbers of women sleeping rough has grown in number.  However, with very little guidance available on how to help homeless couples, we were certain this was something that would benefit from greater research attention.

Input from homeless services across the county stated that most of these relationships contain elements of abuse, violence, crime, drugs, sex work and/or exploitation.  As a result, most couples on the street are seen as too volatile to be supported by traditional homelessness services, leading to them being rejected entry for a night’s stay at a shelter for example.

However, many of these relationships are not consenting in the traditional sense.  Many of the women in these relationships will have entered into the relationship for protection.

Denying women access to shelter can be detrimental to their overall safety, not least because it means they must spend another night on the streets – frighteningly, life expectancy for a women living on the streets (43 years) is even lower than that of a man (47 years).  

Household food scraps could be transformed into environmentally-friendly plastic bags & cups, thanks to up to £60m of new government funding.

Innovators are being challenged to make the UK a world-leader in creating sustainable packaging and reduce the impact of harmful plastics on the environment, as the UK seizes the economic opportunity of the global shift to greener, cleaner economies – a key part of the government’s modern Industrial Strategy.

The funding, to be bolstered by industry support, and delivered by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) through the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund could help develop:

• new forms of packaging and plastic - made from farming, food & industrial waste, like sugar beet, wood chippings and food waste – moving away from oil-based plastics
• smart packaging labels - which, alongside a smart bin, could tell consumers the right bin to put recycling into and revolutionise the way recycling is sorted in waste plants
• ‘live’ sell-by-date patch - a living sell-by-date which deteriorates at the same rate as produce to show consumers when their food is going off – cutting down on food waste
• reduce single use plastics - increase use of recycled plastic in new products

Is it too late to start making a Brexit decision based on reality rather than biased emotions on both sides?

It’s an ‘exciting’ time for those working in the Westminster Bubble, as never before have so many politicians (including those in the unelected HoL) been asked to comment so frequently on a single issue (often thus demonstrating their bias as well as ignorance of the basic facts) by so many journalists (often just interviewing each other).

One question that none of the Mainstream Media / Remainers has asked / answered is; If the Referendum was ‘lost’ because us ‘worthless & ignorant ‘oldies’ voted for Brexit (Editor:  Yes I qualify for that age group) , why is it that the even older HoL members have mostly subsequently voted against the ‘people’s will’ as expressed in the 2016 referendum? 

Having listened to their debates it cannot be for their ‘expert knowledge’ (which often ignores the facts), but it does reinforce the feeling that the political classes just want to ‘pat us voters on the head, and tell us to let them decide everything as they know best (all expenses paid)’.

Also if the BBC is supposed to be un-biased, why does it keep talking about a ‘cliff-edged’ No Deal, when in fact that delivers what the Brexit majority want and with nowhere near the ‘terrifying outcomes’ they are forecasting – especially in the medium/long term?

It may not be headline ‘end of the world’ grabbing news, but the actual realities of WTO rules trading (which most of the world trade is done under) can and are being prepared for.  One writes as someone who played a lead role in preparing London for the Y2K millennium bug forecasted ‘catastrophe’.