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Police in England and Wales used tasers more than 10,000 in 2013, The Guardian reports, an increase of 27 per cent in a year.
Figures from the annual Police use of taser statistics also show that taser use has increased dramatically year on year since 2009, when they were used just over 3,000 times.
A new joint report by the Probation and Police Inspectorates on integrated offender management (PDF, new window) has concluded that it is 'a promising approach'.
In their joint forward Paul McDowell and Tom Winsor, HM Chief Inspectors of Probation and Constabulary respectively, wrote:
The Department for Work and Pensions has today announced the cancellation of the troubled Atos Work Capability Assessement contract via Twitter.
Today we are announcing we are seeking a new provider to replace Atos for the Work Capability Assessment
— DWP Press Office (@dwppressoffice) March 27, 2014
A critical report by HM Inspectorate of Constabulary says that victims of domestic violence faced a 'lottery' in the way they are treated. Theresa May, Home Secretary, has called for a 'radical change', saying that she would chair a group to consider the findings of the report, and the way only 8 police forces out of 43 responded well to women, according to BBC News.
Following a Freedom of Information request, BBC Radio 4 reports that the amount spent by councils on services for young people fell, in real terms, from £1.2bn in 2010-2011, to £791m in 2012-2013. The decision to move responsibility for young people from the Department for Education to the Cabinet Office was a ‘retrograde step’, according to Conservative MP Tim Loughton, who was Children’s Minister up to September 2012.
Fiona Black, Chief Executive of the National Youth Agency, was quoted as saying:
On Monday we published UK Justice Policy Review 3, the latest edition in our annual series, supported by The Hadley Trust, tracking tracking year-on-year criminal justice and social welfare developments across the UK.
We've received lots of positive responses, including on Twitter. Here's a selection:
Government ministers and civil servants reguarly extol the virtues of a 'level playing field' when it comes to the delivery of public services. Neither the public, private nor voluntary sectors should have an unfair advantage when it comes to competing on cost, quality or delivery, so the argument goes.
MPs have called for penalties to be invoked against Atos Healthcare and Capital Business Services for their delays in assessing disabled and sick people's entitlements to Personal Independence Payments (PIPs).
The House of Commons Work and Pensions Select Committee cited figures showing that 'of the 229,700 claims made up until December 2013 decisions had been made in fewer than 20 per cent of cases'. The private contractors carry out face-to-face interviews with claimants, which has led to the delays.
Chair of the Committee, Dame Anne Begg, said:
'Government spends £187 billion on goods and services with third parties each year, around half of which is estimated to be on contracted out services'. So claims a report by the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee (PAC), published last week, on the contracting out of public services to the private sector.
'Estimated' is the operative word here, for a cloak of secrecy shrouds government contracts. As the PAC notes in its report:
The government is failing to manage contracts with a host of private companies delivering a range of services to departments and members of the public, the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee (PAC) claims in a new report.
