Southport's Yorkshire Building Society calls for baby item donations

NEW nearly new clothes, hooded baby towels, cellular blankets, dummies, baby thermometers, baby wipes, toiletries, milk formula and nappies are being collected by colleagues at the Yorkshire Building Society branch in Southport in aid of a local charity. They can be donated at the Society's branch, on London Street, up until Thursday, 30 September 2021. The donated items will then be given to The Baby Kind programme organised by the Bootle based Kindfulness Coffee Club for distribution to families in need. The Baby Kind is run under the umbrella of the:- 'Material Matters' a project run by Sefton CVS (Council for Voluntary Services) in partnership with the local food banks. The Baby Kind is run much like a Food Bank, but concentrates on families' needs around babies. Families can access the Baby Kind primarily through Health visitor referral and the local family centres. They will receive a starter pack containing essentials Rachel Coulthard, customer consultant at Yorkshire Building Society's Southport branch, said:- "We are proud to be able to support The Baby Kind in our communities by collecting items for them to be able to provide local families with much needed items. Anything that anybody can donate would be greatly appreciated." If you would like to support The Baby Kind then please visit:- KindfulnessCoffeeClub.Org.UK/Baby-Bank for further information.

Victims of fraud still receiving a poor service from Police

TOO many victims of fraud are still receiving a poor service from the Police and are denied justice, an independent review has found. Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) found that the detrimental effect of fraud is as great today as it has ever been. In the year ending March 2021, although other crimes decreased by 19%, overall levels of crime stayed the same because of a large increase in fraud and computer misuse offences. However, the inspectorate said fraud continues to be treated as a low priority or victimless crime. HMICFRS reviewed the Police service's progress since its last fraud inspection in 2019. It found that 10 of 16 recommendations have been implemented, with progress made on a further 2 and 3 still outstanding. 1 of the recommendations is no longer relevant. The inspectorate also gave 5 areas for improvement in 2019, only one of which has been dealt with fully.

HMICFRS said the City of London Police's role as the national lead Police Force for fraud is clearer than it was in 2019, and there is now a 3 year National Policing Strategy for tackling fraud. The inspectorate found that the fundamental problem is a disparity between the amount of work fraud creates for the Police and the resources allocated to it. It also said that because funding is only confirmed a year at a time, and with relatively short notice, it makes it difficult to plan and invest for the long term.

Recommendations from the 2019 HMICFRS report that are yet to be implemented include:-

► Evaluating the effectiveness of fraud protection advice given to the public by Police Forces.

► Identifying, evaluating and disseminating best practice advice on the Police response to fraud.

► Police Forces publishing their policies for responding to and investigating fraud to make it clear to victims what they can expect when they report a fraud.

Her Majesty's Inspector of Constabulary Matt Parr said:- "You are still more likely to be a victim of fraud than any other crime, but too few fraudsters are held to account. More than two years after our last fraud inspection, I am disappointed that not enough has changed. We have seen some pockets of good work which should be commended, and we have been impressed by the dedication of people at all levels of the Police service to improving how fraud is dealt with. But overall, too many victims of fraud still receive a poor service from the Police. The scale of fraud has not diminished; in fact it has increased during the Pandemic, and it needs to become more of a priority for Police Forces. The Police and other agencies should come together to prevent and protect the public from fraud, more officers should be working on it, and there should be more investigations into it. All this would lead to more victims receiving the service and the justice they are entitled to."

The inspectorate has made three new recommendations today, including that the National Police Chiefs' Council Coordinator for:- Economic Crime, National Crime Agency, National Economic Crime Centre and City of London Police, should work together to set up an effective national tasking and co-ordination process for fraud.