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TV DOCUMENTARY -
ARE YOU / DO YOU KNOW A WORKAHOLIC
VICTORY Television
is looking for 'workaholics' for a TV project. They
are asking our readers:- "Are you - or do you know - someone
who is a workaholic? Do you feel addicted to work? Or that you have
an obsession with your work life? Do you think about work all the
time? Are you first in and last to leave the office? Do you work at
weekends or on holiday? is work causing a huge amount of stress and
anxiety? Is it affecting your home relationships? Do you want to do
something to redress your work/life balance?
Maybe you're someone who lives with a workaholic and you want them
to get help and support for them to return to their loved ones?"
they are asking this as they will be making a sensitive documentary project on this
subject and would love to speak to people in confidence about the
issue. If you can help them, please contact them via
emailing Ross Anderson via:-
ross_anderson@victorytelevision.com
for more information.
5 Star ratings on hygiene
A new system for rating hygiene in Liverpool's
food businesses has been hailed a success after its first year of
operation. The City Council adopted the food hygiene rating
scheme, a national rating system operated by the Food Standard
Agency and local authorities, in January 2013. And in its first year
it has seen an increase in the number of food outlets achieving the
highest hygiene rating.
Businesses are rated from 0 to 5 with 5 being the highest standard.
In January 2013 there were 1330 businesses with a 5 Star rating; a
year later this had increased to 1455; 668 had a 4 Star rating in
2013 and this rose to 729 in 2014. At the other end of the
scale 21 premises were given a 0 rating in 2013, but this has
declined to 8 a year later.
Councillor Tim Moore, City Council cabinet member, said:-
"There is no doubt that this system has had a beneficial impact on
restaurants, cafes, pubs and other food outlets. Customers,
quite rightly demand the highest levels of hygiene and they vote
with their feet when this is not demonstrated.
In Liverpool, we are striving for all businesses to reach the highest
standards and the majority of businesses are in the top tiers of the
ratings; with the number going up all the time and the new system
has prompted considerable improvements.
Of course, there are a handful of premises where the hygiene
standards leave a lot to be desired and not only will we take action
against them, but we are quite prepared to name and shame them. It
is only right however, that we should recognise the majority of
businesses which have very good standards of cleanliness and food
preparations and which are a credit to the City."
Food businesses are inspected by environmental health officers who
base their ratings on:-
► How hygienically food is handled its preparations, cooking,
re-heating, cooling and storage
► The condition of premises their cleanliness, layout,
lighting, ventilation and other facilities
► How the business manages and records what it does to
make sure food is safe
► If the top rating is not given, the business will be advised what
improvements need to be made and what action they can take to
improve their rating.
Businesses are encouraged to display certificates and stickers
showing their rating so that customers can see them.
The ratings are published at:-
food.gov.uk/ratings.
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True scale of
'revenge
evictions' in the North West exposed by Shelter investigation
THOUSANDS of renters in the
North West are too scared of being evicted to ask their private
landlord to fix a problem in their home, according to Shelter
research.
A YouGov poll of more than 4,500 private renters across the country
found that 6% of renters in the North West avoided asking their
landlord to repair a problem or improve conditions in the last year
because they feared eviction.
Shockingly, 1% of private renters said they had actually been
evicted or served with an eviction notice because they complained to
their landlord, letting agent or Council about a problem that wasn't
their responsibility. The study also suggested that across England,
2% – equivalent to over 213,000 people – suffered the same fate.
A separate investigation by Shelter uncovered shocking cases of
'revenge
evictions' across the country, including:-
► A family handed an eviction notice 3 weeks after reporting damp
and mould to their landlord;
► A couple who complained about a
broken thermostat, mould and damp that was affecting their health,
and were served an eviction notice just a week later;
► A family evicted after
complaining about a leaking roof, who were told by their landlord
that it "wasn't worth his while" to fix the problem.
The charity is launching an online petition at:-
shelter.org.uk/9millionrenters,
campaigning for the government to protect renters from unfair
'revenge
evictions'.
Housing Minister Kris Hopkins is currently reviewing whether to
change the law to tackle the problem.
Last month, official figures revealed that the number of private
renting households in England rose to almost 4 million – an increase
of 77% in a decade - as a severe shortage of affordable homes pushes
homeownership further out of reach.
The YouGov study also uncovered the shocking scale of bad conditions
in privately rented homes in the North West. 38% of renters have
experienced problems with mould in their homes in the past year,
while 26% have lived with a leaking roof or windows, and 18% have
had electrical hazards.
Greg and Laura Moore have been served an eviction notice from their
rented home, which they share with their three children. Greg says:-
"After living here for two and a half years, the eviction
notice came just three weeks after I asked the landlord to sort out
the mould and damp. Right now we have nowhere to go, and moving
house is going to mean moving my son's school in the middle of his
GCSEs. We haven't done anything wrong. This shouldn't be allowed."
Campbell Robb, chief executive of Shelter, said:- "No-one
should lose their home for asking their landlord to fix a problem,
yet these shocking findings uncover the true scale of unfair
evictions taking place across the country.
As homeownership drifts further out of reach, more of us are facing
the prospect of settling down and bringing up a family in a rented
home. But with private renters facing the worst housing conditions
in the country – and the chance of eviction if they complain –
generation rent is getting a raw deal. The government must protect
England's nine million renters from unfair evictions. We're
calling on people across the country to sign our petition and send
the government a message that England's nine million renters deserve
better, now."
The research was commissioned by Shelter and British Gas as part of
their partnership to improve the conditions of privately rented
homes. |
