Theresa May has praised the results of the Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) centre which show that 414 children have been protected by them from exploitation and abuse in the last year.

The annual report also shows that 513 child sex offenders were arrested in the same period.

These totals are the highest ever for the organisation which began work in 2006.

Writing in the foreword for this year’s plan, the Home Secretary said:

“These are tremendous results and I want to congratulate all of those within CEOP and those who work alongside them to protect children from harm”

She added that CEOP will become a key part of the new National Crime Agency when it begins work in 2013.

“This will enable them to continue to lead law enforcement work protecting children at a national level and draw on wider resources and support to help keep even more children safe from harm in the future.”

CEOP is part of UK law enforcement and can apply the full range of policing powers to tackle the sexual abuse of children.

Specialists from organisations such as the NSPCC, experts from government and corporations such as Microsoft work alongside police officers offering advice and guidance.

Last week the government announced that a dedicated team at CEOP will also work on missing children issues.

You can read the press release on the CEOP website

Liberal Democrat MEP for North West England, Chris Davies, is a long standing campaigner for financial transparency in the use of public money, and he has finally been successful in persuading the European Parliament to insist upon members accounting for their expenditure. 

All MEPs receive an allowance of £42,144 each year to meet costs of running their offices.  The money is paid into a bank account which they control and there is no legal requirement for them to produce any evidence of how it is spent.

Chris Davies succeeded in pushing the vote through the European Parliament in the wake of a court judgement requiring former Conservative MEP Den Dover to pay back £345,000 of cash he had claimed for staff expenses.

Chris Davies said:

“Cases like that of Den Dover have emphasised the need for public money to be seen to be spent properly.  Anything less than full and open accounting can no longer be acceptable.”

Most British representatives publish details of their office expenses on websites but the majority of MEPs from other countries do not.

Chris Davies said:

“Although this vote has established the principle that declarations must be made I anticipate that attempts will be made to frustrate agreement on the exact procedures. The fight is not yet over.

“With no sanctions ever applied against them, too many MEPs have got use to treating these expenses like extra pocket money.

“I count myself fortunate in never having got into these bad habits.”

Every year in the UK, around one in three over-65s living in the community and one in two people aged over 85 will have a fall.

The consequences can be devastating, both physically and emotionally. Falls can cause loss of function, mobility, independence, confidence, and in many cases even death.

Yet all too often this is accepted as just another inevitable part of ageing. 

Falls Awareness Week 2011, which will take place on 20-24 June promotes activities and projects that help prevent falls in later life - from walking stick M.O.T.s and quizzes, to strength and balance exercise sessions.

This year, Age UK will be highlighting the link between poor vision and falling through the theme ‘Watch Your Step’. In relation to this, they will be encouraging event-holders and participants to have a bit of fun with their ‘wrong glasses’ template.

The Football Association (FA) have changed their rules for youth football so that Girls aged 12 and 13 years old will be able to play in mixed teams from next season – a change from previous rules which meant that when girls reached 12 years old they were no longer allowed to play in a mixed team.

The decision follows a four year study carried out by the FA into mixed football which showed a demand for the age limit to be extended.

Mixed teams will now be able to compete at under 12 and under 13 level from the 2011/2012 season.

Sports Minister Hugh Robertson said:

“This will make a real difference to girls who get a lot of enjoyment out of playing football up and down the country within this age group,”

According to official statistics, the number of alcohol-related hospital admissions in England has almost doubled since 2002, and has risen to more than one million for the first time.

An NHS Information Centre report said admissions including liver disease and mental disorders due to alcohol abuse as well as some cancers, accidents and injuries have increased between 2008-09 and 2009-10 by by 12%. 

 The number of admissions reached 1,057,000 in 2009-10 compared with 945,500 in 2008-09 and 510,800 in 2002-03, with almost two in three cases being men.

 The Department of Health will publish a new alcohol strategy later this year. 

Earlier this year the charity Alcohol Concern predicted the number of admissions would reach 1.5m a year by 2015, and  estimated at a cost to the NHS of £3.7bn a year.  

Tim Straughan, chief executive of the NHS Information Centre, said:

 ”Today’s report shows the number of people admitted to hospital each year for alcohol related problems has topped a million for the first time.

 ”The report also highlights the increasing cost of alcohol dependency to the NHS as the number of prescription items dispensed continues to rise.

 ”This report provides health professionals and policy makers with a useful picture of the health issues relating to alcohol use and misuse. It also highlights the importance of policy makers and health professionals in recognising and tackling alcohol misuse which in turn could lead to savings for the NHS.”

 Professor Sir Ian Gilmore, the chair of the UK Alcohol Health Alliance, said:

“This confirms doctors’ impressions that the health harm from alcohol continues to rise.

“While total alcohol consumption has fallen in recent years it is likely that the number of abstainers in England is increasing, but those who do drink continue to do so in a harmful and destructive way.”

“If the hospital admissions data are robust, they clearly put paid to the argument that measures to reduce overall alcohol consumption are effective in reducing harm.”The report shows that the proportion of people misusing alcohol is falling. We just need to find a way of persuading and educating this hard core of misusers who account for these admissions to drink responsibly.” 

Alcohol Concern said the latest set of figures were alarming but that early detection of alcoholism contributed to the increase.Its director of policy and communications, Nicolay Sorensen, said:

“More people than ever before are drinking in a way that is harming their health and it’s a serious public health problem. It’s one of the biggest public health problems facing the country.

 ”In addition, the NHS has been doing some great work to identify people that have alcohol problems and so some of the increase is due to better identification and better referral.”

 Public Health Minister Anne Milton said:

“These statistics show that the old ways of tackling public health problems have not always yielded the necessary improvements.

“We are already taking action to tackle problem drinking, including plans to stop supermarkets selling below cost alcohol and working to introduce a tougher licensing regime.

“We will also be publishing a new alcohol strategy later this year.”

According to the latest information, Councils who arereceiving over £300 million a year in fines, are taking advantage of drivers who do not have the right money when they park, and benefitting by a total of more than £1 million.

In Britain there are around 43,000 pay and display machines in a market dominated by three companies: Metric, Parkeon and Zeag.

Richard Boultbee, Metric’s UK sales manager said:

“We provide 65% of local authorities in the UK, but none of the manufacturers machines give change.”

The only other option is offered by a few councils who either allow motorists to pay by phone or whose machines allocate parking time according to the amount of money paid, but these councils are in the minority, with nearly all authorities using older machines.

The full extent of the surplus taken by councils is not known, with only a small minority of the 277 authorities that were contacted by the Daily Telegraph being prepared to reveal the figure.

Most councils rejected applications made under the Freedom of Information Act, claiming that the information was not recorded or it would cost too much to collate, and one local authority, Ashford in Kent, demanded £500 to obtain the figure, saying the amount was needed to reimburse their contractors to find the information.

One of the biggest beneficiaries from the overpayments was Portsmouth, which benefitted by £120,000 in a year.

Parking has become a cash cow for councils since they took over control from the police under a process known as decriminalisation.

The cash raised has become even more important to local budgets since the election with municipal budgets under pressure.

While councils have been content to retain the surplus, they are less charitable to motorists who overstay their allotted time, with Crawley Council in West Sussex raising £18,820 in fines from “overstayers”, St Albans £79,055 and West Berkshire, £26,018.

The disclosures triggered outrage from motoring groups, and Stephen Glaister director of the RAC Foundation said:

“This money might be small change to councils, but in these tough times every penny counts for hard-pressed drivers. Stephen Glaister director of the RAC Foundation said:

“This is not a new problem – which is more reason why there is no excuse for it still to be happening. If some
authorities can at least provide parking time pro-rata to the amount paid, why can’t all?”

Andrew Howard of the AA added:

“Faced with ever rising fuel costs motorists will be outraged to see the amounts of money local authorities are making from them just from not giving change in car parks.

“It is hardly surprising that many motorists are now deserting town centres with their council car parks for the free parking at out of town sites.”

Barrie Segal, who runs the website appealNow website said:

“This is absolutely outrageous and confirms motorists view that parking enforcement is just about raising cash and not keeping the traffic moving.”

Norman Baker, the local transport minister, voiced sympathy with motorists’ plight, saying:

“I can well understand why some motorists feel aggrieved when confronted with a machine that forces them to pay in excess of the stated charge because the machine won’t give change.”

But the British Parking Association, which represents councils and their contractors defended the position.

“Pay and display machines and parking meters are unable to give change due to a number of reasons, principally the size of machine required to house the necessary coins. This would be impractical and ugly on the average roadside.”

The Local Government Association said any surplus cash was invested in transport infrastructure.

As highlighted in March 2011, Humberside Fire and Rescue Service is continuing to receive reports of companies receiving bogus calls from people pretending to be associated with the Fire Service, trying to sell them advertising space in publications.  

Humberside Fire and Rescue Service are advising businesses that they never try to sell advertising space in any publications.

Pete Baron, Humberside Fire & Rescue Service, said:

“There are currently no commercial situations whereby Humberside Fire and Rescue Service would ask companies or individuals for money to provide advertising in any publication. Anyone who receives such a call should not agree to pay any money or enter into any kind of contract. Our advice is to get as much detail as possible, including a name and number and report it to the Trading Standards.”

Humberside Police are aware of a number of these calls being made and are urging people not to disclose any personal or banking details over the telephone to cold callers.

Anyone who thinks they may have been contacted by these companies and has parted with money should report it to police on 0845 60 60 222.