WIREDGOV

A sexual predator who raped two young girls in separate attacks and filmed their abuse, had his sentence increased following intervention by the Attorney General, Ellie Reeves KC MP. Liam Ross, of Dartford, Kent, had his sentence increased by 3 years to 15 years’ imprisonment with a one-year licence extension, after the Attorney General, Ellie Reeves KC MP, referred his case to the Court of Appeal under the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme.

Ofcom is inviting eligible radio stations to apply for awards from the Community Radio Fund 2026/27. The Community Radio Fund is a grant program established to support the sustainability and growth of Ofcom-licensed community radio stations. These stations are not-for-profit and aim to serve specific communities with local programming and social benefits. It is allocated by Government and managed by Ofcom.

Cllr Eamonn O’Brien, Chair of the LGA, responded to the announcement from the Prime Minister of three new cross-government taskforces aiming to tackle issues affecting local people and communities “We are ready to support and help shape national work on tackling cost of living, improving local regeneration and supporting essential services.

Ofsted has published a letter with findings from a joint targeted area inspection of the multi-agency identification and response to initial need and risk in Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council. These inspections examine the arrangements and services for children in need of help and protection in local authority areas in England. This inspection was carried out by Ofsted, HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services and the Care Quality Commission.

The government has temporarily blocked an Anglo-Saxon mount from being taken out of the UK permanently The UK Government has blocked an exceptionally rare Anglo-Saxon animal depiction from being taken out of the country permanently, in the hope that a UK gallery or institution can save it for the nation. Believed to be over 1,400 years old, the delicately crafted metal object depicts a four-legged animal.

A 16-year-old boy has been sentenced at Swansea Crown Court for stabbing a teacher in the head. The pupil, then aged 15, went into a classroom at Milford Haven Comprehensive School on 5 February 2026 where the female teacher was and asked her to check some of his work. He then took a kitchen knife out of his bag and stabbed the teacher causing a wound to the top of her head.

Ofcom has today fined an online porn provider £700,000 for not having age checks in place, and a further £30,000 for failing to respond to a legally binding information request. The UK’s independent online safety watchdog has also today confirmed it has secured better protections from an online file-sharing service to tackle child sexual abuse material. Porn site fined introduces age checks and blocks UK Robust age checks are a cornerstone of the UK’s Online Safety Act.

The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) must work more closely with households, communities and industry to ensure the food supply chain can withstand increasingly likely and severe shocks including extreme weather events, cyber-attacks and disease outbreaks, according to a new National Audit Office (NAO) report.1,2,3 Defra believes it may have to intervene more in future to help businesses manage and respond to increasingly likely and severe food supply chain...

The Environment Agency is investigating three North East illegal waste dumps amounting to almost 3,500 tonnes of waste. The three sites – at Peterlee and Hartlepool in County Durham, and Callerton in Newcastle – were reported over recent weeks. Environment Agency officers were quick to respond and, working with landowners, all three sites were shut down and concrete blocks put in place to block access.

The government should carry out a review of the arrangements for public safety at events, a new report from the policing inspectorate has found.