August 2017

PHE highlights 8 ways for local areas to prevent mental ill health

We have a session at the RSN Conference on social impact measurement and I thought this article might give an interesting foretaste of the increasing importance of the SROI skill – in this case in a public health context. We all know that mental ill health affects rural England – here are some numbers to go into the mix:

Public Health England (PHE) has today (30 August 2017) launched a ground breaking new tool for local public health teams identifying the most cost effective mental health programmes. One of these 8 initiatives is an innovative resilience programme in schools that results in an estimated saving of £5.08 for every £1 invested (over 3 years).

The tool was developed in partnership with leading economists at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). The programmes it identifies are proven to reduce the incidence and/or risk of mental health problems at all stages of life: children and young people, the working age population and older people. Mental health problems represent the largest single cause of disability in the UK. The cost to the economy is estimated at £105 billion a year.

The full list of programmes identified in the Return on Investment tool are:

  • Children: whole school anti bullying programme – every £1 invested results in an estimated saving to society of £1.58 (over 4 years)
  • Children: social and emotional learning – every £1 invested results in an estimated saving to society of £5.08 (over 3 years)
  • Workplace: wellbeing programme – every £1 invested results in an estimated saving to society of £2.37 (over 1 year)
  • Workplace: stress prevention – every £1 invested results in an estimated saving to society of £2.00 (over 2 years)
  • Collaborative care for physical health problems – every £1 invested results in an estimated saving to society of £1.52 (over 2 years)
  • Older people: tackling loneliness through volunteering and social activities – every £1 invested results in an estimated saving to society of £1.26 (over 5 years)
  • Adults: debt and welfare service – every £1 invested results in an estimated saving to society of £2.60 (over 5 years)
  • Adults: suicide prevention – every £1 invested results in an estimated saving to society of £2.93 (over 10 years)

Human trafficking affects villages as well as cities, campaigners warn

This story comes from Scotland but I suspect the same is true in England – it tells us:

A NEW map has exposed the extent of human trafficking the length and breadth of Scotland, with potential victims reported from the Borders to the Orkney Islands.
Produced to raise public awareness of the crime, the map includes all of Scotland’s cities.
But far from being a solely urban problem, trafficking victims were also found in villages and rural communities, including Annan in Dumfriesshire, Elgin in Moray, Appin in Argyll and Bute, and Alva in Clackmannanshire.
According to National Crime Agency statistics, the number of reported victims in Scotland was 150 in 2016, up 52 per cent in just three years. One in three was a child.
The most common forms of trafficking were slave labour and sexual exploitation, with most victims from Vietnam, China and Albania.
Scotland accounted for 3.9 per cent of the 3,805 victims in the UK.

Study shows millions of children in the UK are worried about crime

Sobering stuff this – I wonder if (suspect) this a rural as well as an urban phenomenon?

The wellbeing and happiness of millions of children is being affected by concerns about crime in their local area, according to a study.

The Good Childhood report 2017, based on a survey of 3,000 10- to 17-year-olds and their parents, found that two in five teenagers in the UK worry about anti-social behaviour and other crimes.

The Children’s Society, which published the report, used Office of National Statistics data to extrapolate how many people across the population as a whole were affected by the concerns listed.

The report found that young people’s happiness with their life was its lowest since 2010 and revealed that more than 1 million children experience at least seven serious problems in their lives – such as a fear of crime, domestic violence and bereavement.

Death-registering delays ‘rise by 70%’

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This article reminded me of some work I have been doing to look at rural health inequalities. I am in a dialogue with Public Health England about whether we have data to compare the number of people dying in hospitals to those dying at home in rural vs urban settings. This article in addition to making me reflect on the problems facing rural dwellers who want to die at home, reminds us of the challenges the grieving relatives of the recently deceased face. It tells us:

Bereaved families in England and Wales are struggling to register relatives’ deaths within official time limits, figures reveal.

In 2015/16, 187,605 deaths were registered after the five-day legal limit, a 70% rise on 2011/12, General Register Office (GRO) figures show.

Cuts to council budgets are among the reasons, the National Association of Funeral Directors (NAFD) said.

The Local Government Association (LGA) said councils were tackling the delays.

An individual who intentionally fails to inform, or refuses to provide information to a registrar about a death can be fined £200.

But under the law, this would be avoided if delays in registering the death were caused by a council or because the medical certificate was issued late by a doctor or coroner.

What should you expect from home care services?

I know we often features the challenges around delivering domiciliary care. This really helpful feature from Healthwatch puts the positive into the equation showing what people should expect. It tells us:

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has published a guide for older people who arrange their own home care. The guide includes things you should expect from a good home care service.

You should expect to:

  1. Have care workers who are able to meet your needs

Care workers should have the right skills needed to support you, for example if you have dementia or are deaf or blind. They should also respect your cultural and religious values and make sure that your needs are met.

  1. Feel comfortable with your care workers

You should expect to see the same care workers regularly, so they can get to know you and be familiar with your needs including how you like to communicate and your likes and dislikes.

  1. Be made aware of changes in advance

If for any reason, your regular care worker is unable to visit you, you should be told in advance that a different care worker is coming.

  1. Be given a care diary that’s regularly updated

Home care workers and others who help you at home such as physiotherapists or community nurses should update your care diary each time they visit.

  1. Be given a home care plan that meets your needs

You could be given a plan that describes the care the agency will be providing that is focused on what is important to you and includes any specific health problems or disabilities you may have.

Terry Pratchett’s unfinished novels destroyed by steamroller

The end of an era and possibly several fictional worlds at a Dorset stream fair – whatever next?!! This article tells us-

The unfinished books of Sir Terry Pratchett have been destroyed by a steamroller, following the late fantasy novelist’s wishes.

Pratchett’s hard drive was crushed by a vintage John Fowler & Co steamroller named Lord Jericho at the Great Dorset Steam Fair, ahead of the opening of a new exhibition about the author’s life and work.

Pratchett, famous for his colourful and satirical Discworld series, died in March 2015 after a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease.

After his death, fellow fantasy author Neil Gaiman, Pratchett’s close friend and collaborator , told the Times that Pratchett had wanted “whatever he was working on at the time of his death to be taken out along with his computers, to be put in the middle of a road and for a steamroller to steamroll over them all”.

Record rise in councils compensating households for ‘extreme’ bin collection failures

This isn’t funny and its horrid when it afflicts you. It gives me a chance to praise the West Lindsey refuse collection system though which in my experience as a very satisfied consumer is second to none!

Bin collection failures by councils have risen to record levels, leading to dozens of severely neglected households being handed hundreds of pounds on compensation, figures show.

Over the past year more than 400 bin-related disputes were upheld by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, it has revealed, up from 287 in the previous year.

According to a report published today by the organisation, which is the arbiter of bin-related disputes, it upheld 81 per cent of the 498 complaints it received last year. This is up from 225 (55 per cent) of 447 complaints upheld in 2014/15.

Some 21 people were treated so badly they received payouts worth an average of £140, with the worst cases receiving £350 in compensation from councils.

In 2014/15 just nine people received financial compensation over extreme bin failings.

The Ombudsman only upholds cases where a lack of bin collection by councils has been long and sustained, or if they involve poor customer service or someone with a disability.

SMEs still being shut out as half of Whitehall spend goes on mega-deals, report claims

This is a national scandal and needs addressing – procurement should always be a means not an end. I’m afraid, driven by very narrow interpretations of the best way to respond to austerity, the public sector in many areas has made the process of buying things rather understanding them its modus operandi. Three cheers for Barnsley and their far more insightful approach to empowering local people to choose more of the service they receive for themselves. I can provide more details for those with an interest…..

Taxpayers’ Alliance claims that the UK’s procurement spending on €100m-plus contracts far exceeds that of the rest of the EU combined

The government’s direct spending with SMEs still stood at just 10.9% of the overall total in 2014/15, Cabinet Office figures reveal

More than half of the contracts awarded by the UK government in 2015 were worth at least €100m, despite Whitehall efforts to boost the involvement of small- and medium-sized businesses in public procurement, according to a report by the Taxpayers’ Alliance.

The low-tax campaign group found that Whitehall is vastly more dependent on large public contracts – which tend to be scooped up by outsourcing giants such as Serco, Capita and G4S – than any other EU country.

In 2015, the latest year for which figures were available, the UK advertised 167 contracts of over €100m, while France – with the next highest number – advertised only 29, Italy 25, and Germany just five. Combined, the UK’s large contracts were worth €73.77bn (£80.48bn), or 52% of the total contract spend that year.

Councils could be allowed to replace ‘poorly performing’ funfairs, Gov says

I like to occasionally provide something a bit different and on the basis that many market towns thrive on their visiting fairs I thought Hinterland readers might like this article. It tells us:

The main trade body for funfairs has agreed to change its rules in response to the Government’s claim that they ‘break competition law’.

Last December, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) alleged the Showmen’s Guild of Great Britain were breaking competition law by limiting competition at fairs run by the Guild, and between existing Guild fairs and potential rival fairs.

In response, the Guild stated at the time they did not believe their rules had breached competition law.

They emphasised that their rules had been looked at a decade earlier by the Office of Fair Trading and no breach had been found.

The Guild has now said it is willing to make a number of changes to its rules through legally binding commitments.

These changes — which the CMA is consulting on — include a measure that will allow landowners (often councils) to change or improve a fair by replacing poorly performing fair organisers and amusement operators.

They have also offered to open up access to Guild-run fairs for non-member showmen and reduce restrictions on rival fairs opening close to Guild fairs.

‘We welcome the Guild’s offer to make changes to its rules and are now consulting on whether others agree that they meet our competition concerns,’ said Ann Pope, CMA senior director – antitrust.

‘We believe that the current restrictions hinder change and innovation in funfairs.

‘The new rules will enable more competition in travelling fairs potentially giving the millions of fairgoers who attend them every year access to new rides and to different fairs in their local area.’

Residents to learn more about ancient villages lost at sea

We have friends in a number of places on the East Coast challenged by coastal erosion. I have spent most of my adult life working around the north and south banks of the Humber and this story therefore has some great resonances about the whole nature of the issue for me. It tells us:

Evidence of communities on the Humber dating back 8,000 years will be discussed at a free community drop-in event at Welwick Village Hall on Monday 4 September.

Archaeologists will be on hand between 2-7pm to talk through the early findings from a geophysical study and small scale excavation between Outstrays and Skeffling last autumn.

The study found that the area contains a long and interesting history, with evidence of storm surge deposits, ancient river channels and areas of peat from as far back as the Middle and New Stone Age (approximately 3,000 to 8,000 years ago), which suggests that landscapes occupied and exploited by prehistoric people survive beneath the current farmland.

Across the higher parts of the site evidence was also found of Roman settlement activity which evolved into the medieval period as communities settled closer to the shore as the land was drained.

The initial archaeological assessment formed part of the design for the Outstays to Skeffling Managed Realignment Scheme, a new habitat creation project on the Humber Estuary working in partnership between the Environment Agency and Associated British Ports.

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