Month: June 2018

The new Change4Life Train Like a Jedi programme uses the excitement of Star Wars^TM and its characters – alongside Double Olympic Gold medallist Jade Jones – to encourage children to Train Like A Jedi and is designed to increase levels of physical activity amongst children in England.

It is recommended that children do at least 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity every day, yet just 23% of boys and 20% of girls aged 5 to 15 years currently meet this recommendation.

This year marks the fifth year PHE and Disney have worked together to inspire children to move more, with an estimated 300 million minutes of activity inspired to date.

A new survey from PHE and Disney found that over 4 in 5 children (82%) would be inspired to move more if they saw their favourite characters being active. With Star Wars characters ranking as key favourites amongst UK children aged 7 to 11, the programme aims to make physical activity fun and inspire children to move more.

In addition, the survey from PHE and Disney looking at the factors that influence children to be more active found:

• 59% of children say they would be more active if exercise felt fun
• children (58%) and parents (55%) ranked friends as the most influential figure in encouraging children to be more physically active
• 99% of children say they enjoy doing physical activity or sports with their parent or carer

Building a new generation of ‘Resistance’ recruits, British taekwondo athlete and double Olympic gold medallist Jade Jones, alongside a special appearance from BB-8, leads children through a series of Jedi-inspired moves in an exciting new play-along video.

Taking inspiration from the traits of iconic Jedi such as Luke Skywalker and Rey, Train like A Jedi helps children learn and master 6 key skills – technique, strength, stamina, speed, agility and mastery. The sequence of moves has been specially designed to increase children’s heart rates and benefit health.

The video is designed for children to play along anywhere – either in groups, with their friends, family, or by themselves – and will help children meet the daily recommended physical activity guidelines they need for healthy development and to maintain a healthy weight. The Train Like A Jedi activity can be done in 10-minute bursts throughout the day.

In addition to the video, the campaign will include regional events, advertising, social media activity and a free Star Wars themed pack with mini active challenges for the summer holidays. Packs will be made available through primary schools before the summer holidays.

Eustace de Sousa, National Lead for Children at Public Health England said:

Children’s physical activity levels are alarmingly low and are having a major impact on their physical and mental health – both now and into adulthood.

Getting into the habit of being regularly active will have lifelong benefits. Our Change4Life Train Like A Jedi programme is a great way for children, their friends and the whole family to get moving throughout the summer.

Double Olympic gold medallist Jade Jones comments:

Inspiring kids to get active is something I’m really passionate about, so I was thrilled to get the opportunity to help kids across the country with Change4Life and Star Wars.

It was great fun to create the Jedi-inspired moves which can be done anytime and anywhere – both at school and home. I hope that through this new programme we can inspire a new generation to move more by showing kids that physical activity can be really fun.

Mark Hamill, the actor best known for his portrayal of Luke Skywalker, offered his support to children taking part with some video messages, saying:

If you want to become a Jedi like Luke Skywalker or Rey, then you need to be fit, healthy and strong.

This summer, Change4Life can help you Train Like A Jedi. May the Force be with you.

Marianthi O’Dwyer, Vice President, Healthy Living, The Walt Disney Company UK, comments:

Using Star Wars characters and storytelling, we can help encourage children to be active by making it fun. With the huge popularity of Star Wars amongst UK kids aged 7 to 11, we believe this campaign will encourage children to get out and move like Jedi!

This is another great example of Disney’s healthy living commitment in action, where we use Disney’s characters and stories to encourage families and children to be more active together.

Last year, PHE and Disney helped more than 2 million children aged 3 to 11 get active with the 10 Minute Shake Up programme. This year, the Change4Life Train Like A Jedi programme will build on this success with all-new ways of getting children’s hearts pumping.

In the same way that mentorship plays a pivotal role for Jedi, schools have a major influence on children’s physical activity levels. Change4Life will provide schools with curriculum-linked teacher resources, including a Train Like A Jedi training video, to encourage their pupils to learn the Jedi-inspired moves and be active both in and outside the classroom.

The Change4Life Train Like A Jedi programme is also supported by Sport England.

Background

The Opinium survey for Public Health England and Disney questioned 1,263 parents of children aged 5 to 11 in England and 783 children aged 5 to 11 in England about their attitudes to physical activity and took place in April 2018.

About Change4Life

Change4Life is PHE’s flagship social marketing programme which aims to help families to eat well and move more. PHE exists to protect and improve the nation’s health and wellbeing and reduce health inequalities. It does this through advocacy, partnerships, world-class science, knowledge and intelligence, and the delivery of specialist public health services. PHE is an operationally autonomous executive agency of the Department of Health. Follow us on Twitter @PHE_uk.

About Disney’s Healthy Living Commitment

In 2006, The Walt Disney Company made a global commitment to support parents and create healthier families by using its stories and characters to make healthy living simple and fun. Since 2006, Disney has been offering different ways to support families to live more healthily. This includes introducing robust nutritional guidelines for food and drinks as well as their advertising, offering content that positively focuses on healthier lifestyles such as Disney Channel’s First Class Chefs, The Lodge and Aim High, and inspiring activity and healthier eating through programmes such as Change4Life ‘10 Minute Shake Up’, PHE, Disney and Swim England ‘Just Keep Swimming’ Finding Dory programme, the partnership with the Football Association and Girls’ Football Week, and Disney’s #HealthilyEverAfter marketing campaign.

About The Walt Disney Company UK & Ireland

The Walt Disney Company, together with its subsidiaries and affiliates, is a leading diversified international family entertainment and media enterprise. Disney is a Dow 30 company and had annual revenues of $55.1 billion in its last fiscal year (FY17).

The Walt Disney Company has operated in the UK and Ireland for over 80 years, employing more than 3,300 people, and is dedicated to creating innovative, entertainment experiences for children and families. The Disney brand is experienced in a number of ways across the UK and Ireland including in cinemas, on stage, via its streaming app DisneyLife, on TV screens with Disney-branded channels and through a wide range of consumer products that are sold at mass market retailers and in Disney Stores. Now in its fifth year, Disney’s partnership with Public Health England and the ’10 Minute Shake Up’ campaign has seen over 2 million kids get active with an estimated 300 million extra minutes of physical activity being completed.

About Sport England

Sport England is a public body and invests more than £300 million National Lottery and government money each year in projects and programmes that help people get active and play sport. It wants everyone in England, regardless of age, background, or level of ability, to feel able to engage in sport and physical activity. That’s why a lot of its work is specifically focused on helping people who do no, or very little, physical activity and groups who are typically less active – like women, disabled people and people on lower incomes.

Applicants for the Countryside Stewardship (CS) scheme have one extra month to complete their application and send it off to Natural England. The deadline has been extended from 31 July to 31 August, allowing extra time for farmers to fill out their forms during the busy summer months.

Over 10,000 farmers and land managers requested an application pack ahead of the 31 May deadline earlier in the spring, and more time has been granted to allow these customers the opportunity to complete their forms and send them off for an agreement offer by 31 August.

Whilst the majority of applicants issued their requests for an application pack in the days up to the 31 May deadline, Natural England is on track to issue all application packs to farmers and land managers by the end of June. This leaves two months to complete the form around other commitments on the farm, which should lead to more farms enter into Countryside Stewardship agreements in 2019.

Entering a Countryside Stewardship agreement can bring multiple benefits to soil health, water quality and create habitats for wildlife on farmland. This can improve the quality of the food that is produced, reduce the risk of pollution from farming, and see the return of cherished species such as the curlew and lapwing to farmland.

The government has outlined an ambition for farming and environmental enhancement to work more closely together when we leave the EU. Entering into a CS agreement is an excellent way for farmers to start changing the way they manage their land ahead of new agricultural policy being implemented outside the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).

For the 2018 application window, four new simplified “wildlife offers” have been introduced for upland, lowland, mixed farm and arable, with a shorter form to fill out and a streamlined selection of options depending on farm type. New entrants to CS, or farmers coming off the ELS scheme, are guaranteed an agreement with as few as three options. Applicants who wanted to apply for a wildlife offer, but received the incorrect pack, should contact Natural England about their application.

• FTSE 100 firms on track to reach government-backed target of 33% of board positions going to women by 2020 but FTSE 350 may fall short
• halfway point of Hampton-Alexander Review shows quarter of FTSE 350 board positions are held by women, but there remain 10 all-male boards
• online portal opens for FTSE 350 to submit 2018 gender diversity leadership data

More women than ever before are on the boards of the UK’s largest companies but they still have some way to go to meet the target of 33% women by 2020, according to new data revealed today (27 June) to mark the halfway point of a government-backed review.

Figures released today by the Hampton-Alexander Review, which aims to ensure that talented women at the top of business are recognised, promoted and rewarded show 305 positions – 29% of FTSE 100 board positions – are held by women, up from 12.5% in 2011.

Launched in 2016, the government-backed Hampton-Alexander Review set FTSE 350 businesses a target of having 33% of all board and senior leadership positions held by women by the end of 2020. Today’s statistics show that if progress matches the same gains made over the last three years, then FTSE 100 companies are on track to meet the 2020 target.

However, today’s announcement also revealed that while the number of women on boards has increased to 25.5% in FTSE 350 companies, around 40% of all appointments need to go to women in the next 2 years for the FTSE 350 to achieve the 33% target.

While some FTSE 350 companies are on track to meet the government-backed targets for women on boards, others are lagging behind. These have today been urged to emulate success stories of the 80-plus companies already at or beyond the 33% such as hospitality company Whitbread, alcoholic drinks company Diageo, and fashion retailer Next.

Sir Philip Hampton, Chair of the Hampton-Alexander Review said:

It is good to see progress of women on boards continuing with the FTSE 100 likely to hit the 33% target in 2020. However, nearly half of all available board appointments in the run up to 2020 now need to go to women if the FTSE 350 are to meet the target.

Far too many companies still have no women – or only one woman – on their board.

Meanwhile, progress in executive and leadership positions is eagerly awaited as the portal for companies to submit their gender data opens today.

We’ll be analysing the data on women in executive leadership roles and hope to see increasing numbers of women joining Executive Committees, or reporting to ExCo members, in the FTSE 350.

Business Minister Andrew Griffiths today called on businesses to prioritise their commitment to tackling gender inequality, saying:

While it is great to see there are more women at the top of Britain’s largest businesses than ever before and I applaud those businesses who have made great strides, it is clear there is still a long way to go and I urge businesses to keep stepping up and championing diversity.

The Hampton-Alexander Review is highlighting the benefits of everyone having an equal opportunity to reach the top, and I commend their effort in driving this important initiative.

Minister for Women Victoria Atkins said:

This government is absolutely committed to increasing diversity in business, and we are leading the way in supporting the work of the Hampton Alexander Review to make sure FTSE companies support and develop their female talent pipeline.

Women are good for business: they bring valuable perspectives and experiences to the decision-making process. FTSE 350 companies need to do their bit and accelerate progress. There is no excuse for having an all-male board.

The online portal for FTSE 350 companies to submit their 2018 gender leadership data also opens today. Progress made on women in executive and leadership roles will be revealed in November.

Melanie Richards Deputy Chair at KPMG, sponsor of the Review said:

These figures are a significant step in the right direction and reflect the efforts and change in emphasis businesses have placed on tackling the gender gap. But it is undeniable that there is more to do to achieve equality in the Boardroom.

In order to achieve these ambitious targets significant change is required, which will not happen overnight. It will take systematic focus on all aspects of recruitment and retention.

The progression of women remains key, coupled with an emphasis on creating environments in which talent can thrive, leadership stereotypes are challenged and individuals are valued for their skills and capabilities.

The Investment Association (IA) is working with investors to achieve better gender representation in the boardroom. In April 2018, the IA and the Hampton-Alexander Review wrote to 35 FTSE 350 companies who were falling short on their gender diversity targets.

Chief Executive of the Investment Association Chris Cummings said:

The dial has shifted: gender diversity is now front and centre of investors’ minds. Firms with a diverse management team and pipeline make better decisions, so this is a business-critical issue.

Companies must demonstrate that they have diverse management teams or have concrete plans to increase diversity, or face possible shareholder revolt.

Last month, the team behind the Hampton-Alexander Review revealed shocking explanations from sexist FTSE bosses for not appointing women to their boards, which showed that some companies are still refusing to move with the times.

Tackling the gender pay gap is part of the Industrial Strategy, government’s long-term plan to build a Britain fit for the future, with the ambition to help businesses create better, higher-paying jobs and ensure everyone can be successful in the workplace.

Bridging the gender pay gap could add £150 billion to the UK economy by 2025. Many companies reporting their gender pay gap earlier this year explained that the pay gap was due to insufficient women in senior roles, and/or a predominance of women in lower paid work. Ensuring women are selected in more equal numbers for senior roles, significantly helps to reduce the pay gap.

Under new laws, all companies with 250 or more employees were required to report their gender pay gaps. Over 10,000 public, private and voluntary sector businesses have now reported.

Notes to editors

Figures for women on boards of FTSE companies published on 1 June by BoardEx, a business intelligence provider, show:

• FTSE 100 is at 29% up from 27.7% in October
• FTSE 250 is at 23.6% up from 22.8% in October
• FTSE 350 is at 25.5% up from 24.5% in October
• 10 FTSE 350 all-male boards

The 10 FTSE 350 companies with all-male boards are:

• Baillie Gifford Japan Trust Plc
• Daejan Holdings Plc
• Herald Investment Trust Plc
• Integrafin Holdings Plc
• JP Morgan Japanese Investment Trust Plc
• On The Beach Group Plc
• Sports Direct International Plc
• Stobart Group Ltd
• TBC Bank Group Plc
• Ti Fluid Systems Plc

The 2018 Hampton-Alexander Report will be published on the 13 November 2018, a year after last year’s report.

The Hampton-Alexander portal is open for FTSE 350 companies to submit their 2018 data on women in leadership – ie the number of men and women on the Executive Committee and the Direct Reports to the Executive Committee from 27 June to 31 July 2018 https://ftsewomenleaders.com.

• government announces new pilots for 5 residential women’s centres across England and Wales
• greater focus on innovative community provisions to keep women away from prison
• the government will not pursue plans to build community prisons for women
• Lord Farmer will conduct an in-depth review into family ties – around a quarter of female offenders have dependent children

Justice Secretary David Gauke has outlined a new strategy to ‘break the cycle’ of female offending – placing community services at the heart of the government’s response.

The female offender strategy, published today (27 June 2018), sets out a commitment to divert the most vulnerable women in the criminal justice system away from custody through the provision of tailored support – recognising their unique and complex circumstances.

The Ministry of Justice (MOJ) has committed to investing in a ‘residential women’s centre’ pilot in at least five sites across England and Wales. Allied to this, and after listening to key stakeholders, MOJ will no longer be pursuing plans to build new community prisons for women.

While public safety remains the top priority and prison will continue to be the only appropriate option for those women who commit more serious crimes, the strategy recognises that female offenders are frequently among the most vulnerable individuals in society. Many face issues with substance misuse and mental health problems – often the product of a life of repeated abuse and trauma and almost 60% of female offenders have experienced domestic abuse.

Evidence shows that women under community supervision and in custody are more than twice as likely to have a mental health issue than men, while almost half (48%) of female prisoners said they committed their offence to support the drug use of someone else – compared with 22% of male prisoners.

That is why the Government is today recognising this unique challenge, by publishing a new dedicated strategy to improve community support for female offenders.

Secretary of State, David Gauke said:

Many of the women serving custodial sentences are extremely vulnerable and have experienced abuse themselves. Evidence clearly shows that putting women into prison can do more harm than good for society, failing to cut the cycle of reoffending and often exacerbating already difficult family circumstances.

While public protection will always be our priority, and prison must remain the only option in the most serious cases, I want that to be a last resort. That’s why today we are announcing a step change in our approach to rehabilitating women offenders – we will shift from prisons to women’s centres which focus on the full range of support services beginning with five pilots across England and Wales.

I want this strategy to be the start of a shift in attitudes to the way we support female offenders with greater emphasis on community provision. This ultimately benefits everyone – offenders, their families and the wider community as we see fewer victims and cut the cost of reoffending.

Christina Marriott, Chief Executive of the Revolving Doors Agency, said:

Revolving Doors Agency welcomes the emphasis in the Female Offenders Strategy on keeping women in their communities. The unambiguous ambition that less women will be sentenced to ineffective and disruptive short sentences is a significant step in reducing reoffending and reducing damage to families. The task now is to make this a reality through local and national investment.

The estimated annual cost of female offending is around £1.7 billion. This new approach places a focus on early intervention, with an emphasis on community-based sentences to address the often complex needs of women who commit crime.

At present, 56% of women will re-offend within the first 12 months of leaving prison. The majority of female offenders are also assessed as low or medium risk, and commit non-violent and low-level offences.

Local areas will have the opportunity to bid for funding grants to be delivered over the next 2 years. Those organisations working with female offenders and women at risk of offending will be supported to design dedicated services that address the specific needs of the women in their communities.

The strategy advocates a ‘Whole System Approach’ (WSA), whereby a range of local agencies are brought together to deliver better outcomes for female offenders. The government has already invested £1 million seed funding for eight areas across the country, which has helped to provide tailored support for the most vulnerable women.

Through the strategy the government is investing an additional £5 million over 2 years on community provision for women so that, where appropriate, women are given the support they need to address their offending. Early intervention is essential in reducing the number of women entering the justice system.

The strategy also sets out our commitment to work with partners to pilot at least 5 ‘residential women’s centres’ across England and Wales. These centres will support female offenders to engage in employment, find secure, stable accommodation and help them ultimately turn their backs on crime for good.

Many women in contact with the criminal justice system have young children and maintaining stable family ties is vital in supporting rehabilitation. Lord Farmer has been commissioned to conduct a further in-depth review into the importance of family ties in improving outcomes for female offenders.

The commitments in this strategy set out the first steps in fundamentally reforming the way the government supports female offenders – shifting the focus away from custody and investing in community services for women to help break the cycle of offending.

Notes to editors

• The government is investing £5 million over 2 years in community provision for women. As part of this, today we are launching an initial £3.5m grant competition for 2018/19 and 2019/20 for community services and multi-agency, whole system approaches.
• Lord Farmer’s Review of family ties will look at what measures can be taken to strengthen family ties, especially with their children, whilst serving sentences in the community, custody and on release.
• An estimated 24-31% of female offenders have dependent children.
• Over 60% of female offenders have experienced domestic violence.
• A higher proportion of women in custody are living with their dependent children prior to imprisonment than imprisoned fathers (60% vs.45%).
• Female prisoners are more than twice as likely as male prisoners to report needing help for mental health problems, 49% and 18% respectively.
• The reoffending rate for women released from a custodial sentence of fewer than 12 months April-June 2016 was 71%.
• Evidence shows the imprisonment of mothers has a greater impact on the living arrangements of dependent children than the imprisonment of fathers, and that binge drinking and Class A drug use are risk factors more strongly associated with reoffending for women than they are for men.
• As of 15 June 2018, the women’s prison population was 3,867, accounting for 4.7% of the prison population. Women have consistently accounted for around 5% of the total prison population since 2007.
• MOJ will work across government and with other national and local partners to develop a National Concordat on Female Offenders.
• Guidance has also been published for the police on working with vulnerable women, developed in partnership with the National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC).

Applicants for the Countryside Stewardship (CS) scheme have one extra month to complete their Mid Tier application and send it to Natural England. The deadline for applications to be with Natural England has been extended from 31 July to 31 August, allowing extra time for farmers to fill out their forms during the busy summer months.

Over 10,000 farmers and land managers requested an application pack ahead of the 31 May deadline earlier in the spring, and more time has been granted to allow these customers the opportunity to complete their forms and send them off for an agreement offer by 31 August.

Whilst the majority of applicants issued their requests for an application pack in the days up to the 31 May deadline, Natural England is on track to issue all application packs to farmers and land managers by the end of June. This leaves two months to complete the form around other commitments on the farm, which should lead to more farms enter into Countryside Stewardship agreements in 2019.

Entering a Countryside Stewardship agreement can bring multiple benefits to soil health, water quality and create habitats for wildlife on farmland. This can improve the quality of the food that is produced, reduce the risk of pollution from farming, and see the return of cherished species such as the curlew and lapwing to farmland.

The government has outlined an ambition for farming and environmental enhancement to work more closely together when we leave the EU. Entering into a CS agreement is an excellent way for farmers to start changing the way they manage their land ahead of the introduction of a land management scheme that will replace the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).

For the 2018 application window, four new simplified “wildlife offers” have been introduced for upland, lowland, mixed farm and arable, with a shorter form to fill out and a streamlined selection of options depending on farm type. New entrants to CS, or farmers coming to the end of a legacy Entry-level Stewardship scheme, are guaranteed an agreement with as few as three options. Applicants who wanted to apply for a wildlife offer, but received the incorrect pack, should contact Natural England about their application.