Click here to listen to the latest FM news on Friday 19th May 2023
Welcome to InTheNews – covering all the FM news you may have missed over the week:
The Mental Health Foundation has published research showing that 60 per cent of UK adults experienced anxiety that interfered with their daily lives in the previous two weeks.
On the first day of Mental Health Awareness Week (15 to 21 May 2023), the Mental Health Foundation is raising the alarm about the impact of anxiety across the UK as it publishes its new report, Uncertain Times: Anxiety in the UK and how to tackle it.
Polling of 6,000 UK adults found that nearly three-quarters of the population (73 per cent) had felt anxious at least sometimes in the previous two weeks, while more than a quarter (26 per cent) of those with feelings of anxiety felt anxious to the extent that it stopped them from doing what they’d like or need to do. One in five people (20 per cent) felt anxious most or all of the time.
Mark Rowland, Chief Executive of the Mental Health Foundation, said: “We can’t treat our way out of a mental health crisis; we need action which tackles the root causes of poor mental health including poverty, financial strain, bullying and discrimination. We need our governments to develop and deliver long-term mental health plans with a focus on prevention of poor mental health, including anxiety.”
Achilles Information Limited has announced the introduction of the Achilles Infrastructure Audit, a new service which will allow suppliers to comply with three separate UK audit requirements for the construction, rail, and utilities sectors, in one single audit process.
The new Achilles Infrastructure Audit will significantly reduce the audit burden associated with providing infrastructure-related products and services in the UK and will be available from 9 May 2023.
“Creating a single Audit covering construction, rail and utilities gives our customers a simpler and very much more time efficient way to demonstrate their credentials across these sectors” said Katie Ferrier, Achilles Regional Director responsible for UK, USA and Canada.
The leader of the organisation representing one of the UK’s biggest industrial sectors has slammed Monday’s speech by Home Secretary Suella Braverman for ‘once again ignoring’ a £59 billion pound industry, ignoring her own Government’s facts that there are over 1m vacancies that currently cannot be filled nationwide and being ‘completely divorced from reality’.
In her speech, the Home Secretary argued that there should be training for British fruit pickers, lorry drivers and butchers in a bid to bring down the reliance on migrant workers – but singularly failed to acknowledge the challenges facing the cleaning and hygiene sector.
BCC Chairman Jim Melvin said: “I am appalled and infuriated that once again the severe staff shortages in the cleaning and hygiene sector have been completely ignored by Home Secretary Suella Braverman.
“By focusing solely on HGV drivers, butchers and fruit pickers in her recent speech, she is completely divorced from the reality that our industry faces with its huge recruitment problems, or perhaps she is simply choosing to ignore the facts.
“Despite being one of the biggest industries in the UK, and with a vital, frontline role in keeping people healthy, safe and well, our calls for help have been totally overlooked by the Government.”
Finally, research by digital identity security specialists, ID Crypt Global, reveals that more than 80% of people have no concern that the technology is going to replace them in the workplace.
Thanks to the recent rise of Chat GPT and other rival chatbots, the debate around AI has heated up with people all over the world debating both the good and bad of allowing autonomous technology into our lives, homes, and workplaces.
CEO and founder of ID Crypt Global, Lauren Wilson-Smith said: “The lack of concern demonstrated in these survey results suggest that we need increased awareness about what’s happening. Perhaps the government should be making efforts to educate the population about all the things that are going to change in the next two-to-five years alone. AI’s progress is going to be swift and transformational.”
You can find out more on news.fmbusinessdaily.com
