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Annual Reports
FSA: The level of man-made radioactivity, to which people in the UK are exposed, remained below the EU legal limit during 2011, concludes the 10th Radioactivity in Food and the Environment (RIFE) annual report, published last week by the Food Standards Agency (FSA).
Press release ~ Radioactivity in Food and the Environment (RIFE) ~ Radioactivity in Food and the Environment (RIFE) 2011 (pdf 5MB) ~ Radioactivity in Food and the Environment 2011, Appendix 1, CD supplement
DH: Department of Health figures published last week show the NHS is spending more on food than ever before. The average amount spent per patient per day has increased by almost 10% over the last two years, to £8.77. However there is still significant regional variation on costs, with the biggest spending hospital spending £15.65 per patient on food – almost double the average and over £10 more than the lowest spending hospital.
The new figures have been published just days after Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt launched a new drive to improve the quality of food which will address this variation – by seeking out those hospitals that are providing high quality food and examining how this can be replicated across the country.
TUC: Young black men have experienced the sharpest rise in unemployment since the coalition came to power, with more than one in four of all black 16-24 year olds (26%) currently out of work, according to a TUC report on youth unemployment published last week.
The report also finds that white & Asian youngsters are now twice as likely to be unemployed as those from the same ethnic group over the age of 24.
HO: Latest figures from the Crime Survey for England and Wales for the year ending June 2012 show a 6% decrease in overall crime against adults compared with the previous year's survey. Crimes recorded by the police also fell by 6% for the year ending June 2012 compared with the previous year. This continues the downward trend in recorded crime seen since 2004/05.
