The Syrian escalation has dominated the news, as major incidents do but that means it is a perfect time to bury bad news. Here’s what has happened that you may have missed. A report has warned that Conservative welfare reforms have sparked a significant rise in homeless young people, Jeremy Hunt has admitted breaking anti-money laundering laws brought in by his own government and Hospital trusts have been accused of ‘backdoor privatisation’.
Furthermore, The Information Commissioner Office (ICO) is investigating Leave.EU and its donor Arron Banks over possible breaches of the Data Protection Act.
Jeremy Hunt, Homelessness and Arron Banks
Government health minister failed to declare a 50 per cent interest in a property firm which was set up so that he could buy 7 luxury flats. It was reported that he first failed to declare his interest on the Parliamentary Register of Members’ interests within the required 28 days and secondly, the September 2017 registration document for the company was incorrect in its omission of Mr Hunt, this is a criminal offence under a specific section of the Companies Act and carries a potential 2-year prison sentence, but knowing Jeremy Hunt, he will just get a promotion instead.
Homelessness amongst 16-24-year olds has worsened and this is down to the government’s shake-up of the benefits system. The charity Homeless Link have stated that government policy affects young people’s ability to access and sustain housing. The charity also confirmed that 92 per cent of those who responded, identified the government’s flagship policy, Universal Credits, is having an affect on homelessness between 16-24-year olds.
Hospital trusts are spending millions of pounds setting up arm’s-length private companies, which health unions fear will turn staff transferred into them into “second-class employees”. Fifteen trusts in England have already spent £3.2m between them creating wholly owned subsidiaries, figures released under the Freedom of Information Act show.
The ICO has issued “information notices” against both Leave.EU – the referendum campaign headed by Nigel Farage – and its director, Arron Banks. The notices – requiring organisations to provide the ICO with specified information within a certain time period