Security firm G4S has lost its Home Office contract to provide housing accommodation to asylum seekers in Yorkshire after a series of scandals and efforts by campaigners to end the arrangement. A new 10-year contracts, worth £1bn, has been awarded by the Home Office to housing and social care provider Mears including responsibility for housing asylum seekers in the North East, Yorkshire and the Humber. Baillor Jalloh reports for Sheffield Live!
With parliamentary debate once again underway on government proposals for Brexit, Sheffield Live! asked residents whether their views have changed on leaving the European Union. Azz Mohammed reports for Sheffield Live!
The NHS in England have unveiled a new 10-year plan which it says could save up to half a million lives by focusing on prevention and early detection. Baillor Jalloh reports for Sheffield Live!
Rail investigators have called for a safety review to be carried out by Sheffield Council after two collisions in two months involving trams and vehicles at the same spot on Staniforth Road. The Rail Accident Investigation Branch said a review of the junction and road signals should be carried out following the incidents on 25 October when a lorry drove into the path of a tram and on 30 November when a car hit a tram at the same junction. James Otter reports for Sheffield Live!
Sheffield Council is launching an urgent appeal for more adoptive parents following release of a government report that reveals the number of children adopted in Yorkshire is at a record low. Government figures reveal only 430 children found permanent new parents in 2018, down from 690 in 2015. Sheffield Council is appealing for more people to come forward to adopt children currently in local authority care including unaccompanied child refugees. Baillor Jalloh reports for Sheffield Live!
With debate continuing over the government’s proposals on Britain leaving the European Union, Sheffield Live! asked local residents their views on Brexit and the proposal on offer. Baillor Jalloh reports.
Demonstrations have been held in Sheffield and across the UK in support of 15 human rights activists who were convicted last week on terror offences after preventing a deportation plane from leaving Stansted airport. The Sheffield protests were held outside the Home Office building at Millsands and also marked International Migrants Day which is observed on 18 December by the United Nations. The Stansted 15 activists locked themselves around a Boeing 767 chartered to return undocumented migrants to Nigeria, Ghana and Sierra Leone and held a banner proclaiming “mass deportations kill”. Sheffield Live! reporter Azz Mohammed spoke to Michael Collins of the Right To Remain campaign.
Shadow Policing Minister, Louise Haigh, told Sheffield Live! Labour will not support the government’s Brexit deal following the postponement of a parliamentary vote on the proposals. In an interview with Sheffield Live! the Heeley MP said: “We are not going to support a deal that will hurt our constituents”. Prime Minister Theresa May has told MPs they will now get to vote on the deal in the week commencing 14 January 2019. Baillor Jalloh reports for Sheffield Live!
University students in Sheffield are being warned to be vigilant as a wave of tax scams are circulating using fake university email addresses. HM Revenue & Customs has received thousands of fraud reports from students across the UK with emails telling students that they are owed money and encouraging them to send their personal details. Sheffield Live! reporter Baillor Jalloh spoke to Sherriff Muhammed, education officer at Sheffield Hallam University Students’ Union.
Train commuters are set to be hit by a series of strikes in the run-up to Christmas in a long-running dispute over guards on trains. Northern members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union have agreed to continue industrial action every Saturday through December. Sheffield Live! reporter Baillor Jalloh spoke to Steve Hedley, senior assistant general secretary of the RMT Union.