New public consultation on total ban of online advertising for unhealthy foods
- A new government has been launched on proposals to ban online adverts for foods that are high in fat, sugar and salt in the UK to tackle the obesity crisis and get the nation fit and healthy
- Research shows children are exposed to over 15 billion online adverts for products high in fat, sugar and salt (HFSS) every year
- Evidence shows that exposure to HFSSadvertising can affect what and when children eat, both in the short term by increasing the amount of food children eat immediately after being exposed to an advert, and by shaping longer-term food preferences from a young age
- The new consultation, which will run for 6 weeks, will gather views from the public and industry stakeholders to understand the impact and challenges of introducing a total ban on the advertising of these products online
Child abuse: Australian police find 46 victims of ‘global network’
- Australian police say they have rescued 46 children and arrested 14 men after an investigation into an international child abuse network
- The victims were allegedly subjected to sexual abuse and other forms of exploitation
- The investigation also led to three arrests in the US and identified suspects in Europe, Asia, Canada and New Zealand, authorities said
- The case is believed to be one of the biggest of its kind in Australia
- All victims were aged between 16 months and 15 years old, the Australian Federal Police (AFP) said. Sixteen of the victims had attended one childcare centre
- The 14 men faced a total of 828 child exploitation charges, as well as bestiality charges involving four animals
- Authorities said the network had produced and shared images and video online
Child Safeguarding scheme receives backing of Home Secretary
- A Plymouth-born charity which supports child victims of domestic violence heard during a Home Office ‘virtual visit’ how it had received the backing of the Home Secretary who called upon all police forces to sign up to the scheme
- Operation Encompass was the brainchild of former Devonport police sergeant David Carney-Haworth and his wife, former Torpoint Nursery and Infants school headteacher Elisabeth
- The scheme, launched in 2011, ensured that information gathered by police at the scene of a domestic incident where children were present, was passed onto that child’s school before 9am the following morning
- The scheme ensured that key staff at the school, such as the child’s teacher, were able to put in place measures to support the youngster from the moment they arrived
- Over the last few years the scheme has been rolled out by the majority of police forces across the country – including Devon and Cornwall
Children in care ‘failed’ while some providers ‘make millions’
- The most vulnerable children are being “failed by the state” and a broken residential care system, the Children’s Commissioner for England has said
- Greater use of private provision has led to a fragmented, unco-ordinated and irrational system amid “significant profits”, said Anne Longfield
- The government said an independent review of children’s social care would begin “as soon as possible”
- Anne Longfield said the government has failed to respond to previous warnings that thousands of these children are in danger of becoming victims of criminal and sexual exploitation.
- A report described how one 17-year-old said her accommodation was filthy and smelly, with just one working shower, covered in mould, being shared between 14 children and young adults.
- “Elsewhere children have told us they have not even been provided with the means to eat or sleep – things like duvet covers, plates or cutlery,” the same report said.
