Category Archives: Wales

Saving Lives, Improving Mothers’ Care 2026 – Lessons learned to inform maternity care from the UK and Ireland Confidential Enquiries into Maternal Deaths and Morbidity 2022-24

This is the compiled materials for the 2026 MBRRACE-UK Saving Lives, Improving Mothers’ Care annual report published on the 10th September 2026.

The full compiled 2026 report including all supplementary material is available via link below. Alongside the full report is a shorter ‘State of the Nation’ report containing limited surveillance and confidential enquiry findings, a lay summary and infographics.

For links go to https://www.npeu.ox.ac.uk/mbrrace-uk/reports/maternal-reports/maternal-report-2022-2024

See also:

September 16, 2026

First UK-wide clinical guidelines for paediatric non-fatal strangulation launched to transform the clinical response – IFAS

The Institute for Addressing Strangulation (IFAS) has recently published the UK’s first Guidelines for clinical management of paediatric (under 16) non-fatal strangulation, closing a significant gap in clinical practice and providing dedicated guidance for healthcare professionals for the first time.

Building on IFAS’s previously published adult clinical guidelines for emergency and acute care settings, the new guidance responds to the clear need for dedicated recommendations for paediatric patients. Until now, clinicians caring for children following suspected or confirmed non-fatal strangulation had no dedicated UK guidance and often had to rely on protocols developed for adults. The new guidelines have been developed by a UK-wide Intercollegiate Working Group convened by IFAS, bringing together more than 60 senior clinicians, Royal Colleges, professional bodies and frontline professionals from across the UK to develop evidence-informed, consensus-based recommendations.

The guidance arrives against a backdrop of increasing concern. Home Office data shows recorded non-fatal strangulation and suffocation offences against under-18s in England and Wales increased from 2,130 in 2022–23 to 4,888 in 2024–25 (IFAS Police Report Data, 2023–2025). Evidence also shows that hanging/strangulation is the most common method of suicide among children and young people in England, accounting for 69% of deaths in 2019–20 (National Child Mortality Database Programme, 2021).

The guidelines provide practical recommendations covering clinical assessment, imaging, safeguarding, mental health, admission and discharge planning, while recognising that children who have experienced strangulation may present with little or no visible injury despite the potential for significant harm.

Alongside the clinical guidelines, IFAS has also published a new information leaflet for children, young people and their families following a medical assessment for non-fatal strangulation. The leaflet has been developed to help children, young people and their families better understand non-fatal strangulation, what to expect following a medical assessment, and where they can access further support and information.

Dr Catherine Hayhurst, Consultant in Emergency Medicine, Co-Chair Quality in Emergency Care Committee, Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM), said:

“RCEM is pleased that a review of the evidence has shown that there is no need to routinely do a CT angiogram in young people given the radiation exposure. This update of the guidance continues to have an emphasis on safeguarding and also highlights mental health issues for patients presenting with non-fatal strangulation.”

Professor Cath White, Medical Director, IFAS, said:

“There simply wasn’t a UK guideline for managing non-fatal strangulation in children, so clinicians were doing their best with guidance written for adults. We brought together more than 60 clinicians from across the UK – including Royal Colleges, specialist organisations and frontline professionals – to build something better. We listened, challenged one another and developed guidance that addresses a real need. These are the first UK guidelines, but they won’t be the last. As the evidence grows, we’ll continue to learn and refine them to ensure children receive the best possible care.”

Bernie Ryan OBE, Chief Executive of IFAS, said:

“Our adult clinical guidelines helped establish a more consistent response to non-fatal strangulation across the UK. Children deserve that same standard of evidence-based clinical and trauma-informed care. These new guidelines, together with the new information leaflet developed in partnership with SafeLives Changemakers, survivors and Beyond Equality, are the result of extraordinary collaboration across the healthcare community and represent an important step forward in improving outcomes for children and young people.”

About IFAS

The Institute for Addressing Strangulation (IFAS) is the UK’s leading authority on non-fatal strangulation, established in October 2022 with Home Office funding. IFAS works across research, training, policy and survivor engagement, alongside partners in government, healthcare, criminal justice, and specialist services, to improve the UK’s understanding and response to strangulation. Since 2022, IFAS and its partners have trained more than 22,000 frontline professionals, including through its partnership with SafeLives.

https://ifas.org.uk/blog/https-first-uk-wide-clinical-guidelines-for-paediatric-non-fatal-strangulation-launched-to-transform-the-clinical-response/

 

August 26, 2026

Domestic Abuse Commissioner’s annual report: 2024 to 2025 – Home Office

This has been a significant year for my office. As I reflect on the work we have undertaken, I am struck both by how much we have achieved and by how much we still need to do to ensure every survivor of domestic abuse receives the protection, support and justice they deserve.

At the heart of everything we do are the people this office exists to serve. This year, we heard directly from nearly 700 survivors about their experience of the criminal justice system, engaged with over 100 children and young people with lived experience of domestic abuse, and provided guidance to nearly 400 people who wrote to my office seeking help and support. These are not statistics – they are people whose courage and determination continues to shape everything I do.

A particular highlight of this year was our first Survivor Summit, which brought together 25 survivors to speak directly to ministers and senior officials about the changes they want to see. That 89% of attendees felt heard by government tells me that this kind of engagement matters enormously. It must continue – and it must translate into action.

The publication of Shifting the Scales in January 2025 marked an important milestone in my work to improve the criminal justice system’s response to domestic abuse.

Examining the system from end to end, the report exposed serious failings – including the deeply troubling finding that only 4% of alleged domestic abuse perpetrators are dismissed from the police force. I made 12 recommendations to government, and I am encouraged that six have already seen meaningful progress. I will continue to press for action on the remaining six with determination.

This year also required my office to respond rapidly to emerging pressures. When the UK government announced emergency measures to ease the prison capacity crisis, my office acted swiftly to call for the exclusion of domestic abuse perpetrators – and I am pleased that pressure secured an important protection. Vigilance of this kind is critical if we are to ensure government delivers for victims, and I will not hesitate to use my voice when survivors’ safety is at risk.

We have seen progress on safeguarding migrant survivors, recognising children as victims, and strengthening the family justice response. But lasting change requires sustained political commitment, adequate resources and strong cross departmental collaboration.

The government’s ambition to halve violence against women and girls within a decade is bold and right. My office stands ready to support that mission by holding ministers to account, amplifying survivor voices and driving the systemic changes they so urgently need to see. The work continues.

Dame Nicole Jacobs
Domestic Abuse Commissioner for England and Wales

Available to read online at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/domestic-abuse-commissioners-annual-report-2024-to-2025/domestic-abuse-commissioners-annual-report-2024-to-2025-accessible

July 27, 2026

Draft Conversion Practices Bill – Office for Equality and Opportunity

The draft Conversion Practices Bill contains 3 proposed offences to ban criminal conversion practices.

The draft bill has been shared with Parliament to undergo pre-legislative scrutiny.

A conversion practice is an act that is carried out with the intention of changing a person’s sexual orientation or transgender identity.

The draft bill sets out measures which:

  • prohibit the carrying out of criminal conversion practices on individuals
  • creates an offence of encouraging or assisting conversion practices against a UK national/resident abroad
  • makes provision for conversion practice protection orders – civil orders which can be used to pre-emptively protect individuals from these practices

Applies to England and Wales

Go to https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/draft-conversion-practices-bill for copies of the Draft in different formats, eg HTML, pdf, etc..

June 29, 2026

Record funding to tackle grooming gangs and child sex abuse – Home Office

The Home Office has announced (19 May 2026) £100 million to fight child sex offences and protect victims and survivors, including £38 million for Operation Beaconport.

A historic £100 million will drive a crackdown on child sexual abuse, including tracking down vile grooming gang members, protecting victims and bringing offenders to justice. Perpetrators who thought they got away with horrific grooming gang offences will be held to account as closed cases are reopened.

Operation Beaconport will receive a tenfold cash injection, building on the £4 million the operation received when it launched last autumn. £38 million has been set aside for the National Crime Agency (NCA) and operational partners to reopen and investigate cases and put more offenders behind bars. It is focused on furthering critical work to protect victims wherever abuse takes place – in our communities, families, online and institutions.

Police forces in England and Wales will also have greater access to pioneering artificial intelligence (AI) technology to weed out and bring predators to justice more rapidly. To support this, the Tackling Organised Exploitation Programme, led by the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC), will receive £9.3 million this year.

This includes a suite of advanced, AI-enabled intelligence tools, ensuring all forces, regardless of size or local resources, can use cutting-edge technology to pursue offenders faster and better safeguard victims.

This enables officers to analyse large datasets, translate foreign-language material in seconds, and identify patterns and relationships between suspects. By reducing manual processes and unifying access to proven tools, the programme focuses on accelerating investigations and creates a more consistent, intelligence-led national response.

£11.7 million will also back the Undercover Child Abuse Online Network, which targets predators in the darkest corners of the internet and stops abuse before it happens. The network tracks and identifies offenders, intervenes early and drives arrests and prosecutions. Their work helped safeguard 1,748 children between April 2024 and 2025, with 1,797 arrests also made.

The funding sits alongside the Independent Inquiry into Grooming Gangs, which seeks to root out past failures wherever they occurred. It is laser‑focused on grooming gangs and will explicitly examine the role of ethnicity, religion and culture of the offenders and the response of institutions.

Last year, the police delivered record levels of enforcement – with 10,693 prosecutions and 8,681 convictions for child sexual offences. This investment increase means forces can take this vital work even further, reach more victims and stop more offenders in their tracks.

A further £8.9 million will go towards a key part of the NCA’s work targeting the highest-risk offenders like Jamie Beckett who was sentenced to 23 years after he sexually abused 7 vulnerable children by offering cash for medical appointments in exchange for indecent images.

NCA investigators were able to bring him to justice through an investigation which traced complex digital and financial trails. Increased NCA funding will enable even faster and stronger investigations to bring more high‑harm predators like Beckett to justice.

Adult survivors who, as children, experienced sexual abuse will also be supported through £3.2 million of funding to help rebuild their lives through the National Support for Adult Survivors.

The grooming gangs scandal is one of the darkest moments in this country’s history, where the most vulnerable were abused at the hands of evil child rapists and let down by a system meant to protect them.

That is why part of the Operation Beaconport funding will strengthen how police forces investigate these crimes, ensuring a consistent response wherever abuse is reported and better, trauma‑informed support for victims.

The remaining spend will be spread across a series of vital work through law enforcement and partner agencies to address child sexual exploitation and violence against women and girls.

Extracts from a longer press release at https://www.gov.uk/government/news/record-funding-to-tackle-grooming-gangs-and-child-sex-abuse

June 5, 2026