|
Fishing Industry Takes To
Twitter To Celebrate The Diversity and Sustainability Of The UK Fleet
TV chef, food columnist and Great
British Bake Off Winner John Whaite, is backing a Twitter campaign urging
consumers to embrace the breadth and variety of sustainable fish available over
the counter and caught by the UK fishing fleet.
The campaign dubbed #CatchOfTheDay is being run by the National Federation of
Fishermen's Organisations (NFFO), the body which represents fishermen's groups,
individual fishermen and producer organisations in England, Wales and Northern
Island, to champion the diversity of the UK fishing fleet and encourage
consumers to be more adventurous with their choice of fish, trying species
outside of the 'seafood staples' of cod, haddock and salmon.
The campaign is calling for the fishing industry, chefs, producers and fish
lovers in the UK to share their 'Catch Of The Day' photos on Twitter from
16-20 March with the hashtag #CatchOfTheDay.
This initiative is being launched as part of the NFFO's ongoing efforts to raise
awareness of the growing variety of sustainable species in UK waters and the
important strides which have been made by the industry, particularly in the last
10 years, to improve gear and catch methods to in turn, boost stock levels.
According to the latest ICES (International Council for the Exploration of the
Sea) statistics, there has been a 50% reduction in fishing pressure across all
commercial stocks in the North Atlantic since 2000.
In 2013, 624,000 tonnes of fish were landed in the UK, generating a £718m
economic contribution from the industry. 52% of people in the UK eat seafood at
least once a week, though 62% rarely strayed away from trying alternative
species, due to not knowing how to prepare it and not liking the look of it.
As a result of the findings, celebrity chef
and food columnist John Whaite has worked with the NFFO to create a series of
recipe cards to encourage consumers to consider cooking with sustainable species
of fish, proving they are just as versatile as the 'seafood staples',
whilst supporting the work of UK fishermen. Consumers are then being urged to
try John's recipes and tweet photos of their finished dishes with the hashtag #CatchOfTheDay.
John said:- "There is a huge variety of fish available from UK waters and
it's such a shame that people don't embrace this more. Cooking with different
kinds of fish brings variety to our diets and also introduces us to new tastes
and dishes.
As an ingredient, fish is incredibly versatile and there is nearly always a
sustainable alternative to any species. #CatchOfTheDay is all about celebrating
the hard work of the UK fishing industry and celebrating the incredible range of
species available from our waters. I really hope people will be inspired by the
recipes I've created and will try some different kinds of fish!"
Tony Delahunty, Chairman of the NFFO said:- "The idea behind #CatchofTheDay
is to give individuals the opportunity to recognise the fishing industry and its
contribution to UK life through one simple tweet. We hope it will be a fun way
of getting across a serious message not only about the importance of the
industry in providing a healthy, sustainable food source to a growing
population, but also its inherent commitment to ensuring its future through
sustainable methods."
To get involved in #CatchofTheDay, tweet your photos with the hashtag during the
week 16 March to 20 March 2015. Visit the NFFO website for further information:-
nffo.org.uk.
Illegal
filling station shut down in Lancashire
A diesel laundering plant and illegal
filling station, capable of evading £14.5 million in duty a year, have been
dismantled by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) in the Darwen area of Lancashire.
HMRC officers, accompanied by Lancashire Constabulary, searched commercial
premises and discovered the laundering plant on 10 March 2015. It is suspected up to
26 million litres of fuel per annum could be laundered to remove government
markers, with the diesel then sold on to unsuspecting motorists as legitimate
road fuel.
Pat Curtis, National Oils Co-ordinator, HMRC, said:- "Fuel laundering is a
dangerous activity. We believe that fuel was stored, laundered and sold from
this property without any safety precautions, endangering motorists buying fuel
there.
You may think buying illicit fuel is a bargain, but you have no idea what you're
getting, and you can be sure that you are lining the pockets of criminals. Each
year £480 million is lost to fuel fraud in the UK, money that should be funding
public services. We ask anyone with information about this type of activity to
contact us on the Customs' Hotline on 0800 59 5000."
2 mixing tanks; each with a 71,000 litre capacity, 12,000 litres of suspected
laundered fuel, a fork lift truck and other equipment were seized during the
operation. Investigations are continuing.
Detective Sergeant Tim Brown from Lancashire Police said:- "This joint
investigation demonstrates how we work together with partner agencies such as HMRC
to disrupt and dismantle criminal activity on this scale. Let me be clear, the
laundering of red diesel is illegal and this type of activity can go further
with those involved often being linked to other organised criminality. We will
target those involved and need the public to work with us and ask them to report
anything suspicious to us."
|
 |
Over 17,000 troubled
families turned around in North West
THE Communities Secretary has hailed
the life changing impact of the Government's Troubled Families programme, which
has now turned around more than 105,000 of the hardest to help households in
England, including over 17,000 in the North West.
Eric Pickles told MPs that 105,671 complex families had benefited from the
support provided by local authority teams by February, putting the programme
firmly on track to achieve the Prime Minister's goal of turning around 120,000
by the end of the parliament.
As well as getting children back into school, putting adults in employment or on
a path back to work and cutting youth crime and anti-social behaviour across the
whole household, the new figures showed that the programme had already saved
taxpayers an estimated £1.2 billion, from a maximum government investment of
£448 million.
The average gross cost saving to the taxpayer per troubled family was £12,000,
more than twice the average cost of the programme's intervention at £5,493,
according to a new report which studied costs and benefits across seven areas.
In Manchester, for every £1 invested in the programme, £2.20 in gross benefits
have been realised.
Pickles praised the role of councils in the programme, who have now had
payments-by-results made for over 90 % of the families the Prime Minister
pledged to turn around. He also made clear that the success of those in the
programme; who have an average of 9 serious problems each including debt,
drugs and domestic violence; showed that no one was beyond help.
Communities Secretary Eric Pickles said:- "The Troubled Families programme
has been a triumph and I am proud that we will deliver the Prime Minister's
ambition to turn around the lives 120,000 of this country's hardest to help
families. It has worked because it has been bold and unafraid of getting tough
with those who need it most. It has also provided a long term solution by
tackling the root causes of the very complex problems these families face. This
innovative approach has not only saved the taxpayer over a billion pounds but
had life changing results for the families involved by giving them a hand up
when they needed it most."
Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander said:- "The success of the
Troubled Families programme in turning around the lives of more than 105,000
families so far while saving taxpayers an estimated £1.2 billion in the process
is proof that we can do more with less. It shows that by working together at
local level, public services can deliver better results for the most vulnerable
people. That's why we've already expanded it into the next Spending Review
period, and I look forward to seeing the principles underpinning this
life-changing programme extended across public services to help more people with
multiple and complex needs."
Head of the Troubled Families programme Louise Casey CB said:- "Behind
these figures are real people in every part of the country whose lives have
changed for the better. Families with nine serious problems each were never
going to be easy to turn around, so all credit to the councils and other
services who have committed to this programme, the many hundreds of frontline
staff who have given their all to these families and most of all to the families
who have had the courage to change and given themselves and their children a
better chance in life than they had before."
Fact file:-
Further information:- The Troubled Families programme applies to England only. Local authorities are
paid up to £4,000 on a payment by results basis for turning around troubled
families. The government's £448 million 3 year budget for 2012 to 2015 is drawn
from 6 Whitehall departments who all stand to benefit from the public sector
working more effectively with troubled families.
Troubled families are defined as those who:-
► Are involved in youth crime or anti-social
behaviour.
► Have children who are excluded from school or regularly truanting.
► Have an adult on out of work benefits.
► Cost the public sector large sums in responding to their problems.
'Turned around'
means that:- ► All children have
been back in school for a year when they were previously truant or excluded.
► And youth crime and anti-social behaviour has been significantly cut across
the whole family.
► or an adult in the home has moved off benefits and into work for three
consecutive months or more.
The figures from local authorities on progress within the Government's Troubled
Families programme [attached] have been collated from the latest quarterly
returns submitted to DCLG's Troubled Families team from all 152 upper tier local
authorities in England in February 2015. These do not constitute official
statistics.
There are 117,910 families targeted under the government's Troubled Families
programme. For rounding purposes, however, the target is usually referred to as
120,000.
The Benefits of the Troubled Families Programme to the Taxpayer report gives
detailed examples of savings that have been made and costs that have been
avoided for many parts of public services in 7 'exemplar' local authority
areas as part of the Troubled Families programme.
The Understanding Troubled Families report showed that families within the
programme have an average of nine different serious problems including health
and mental health, domestic violence and debt.
At the Spending Round 2013 it was announced that the Troubled Families programme
would be expanded to work with up to 400,000 more families from 2015 onwards. |
