The WJEC said it was always ‘extremely meticulous’ in its treament of exam papers
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Hundreds of GCSE examination papers were sent to the home of a dentist in north Wales by mistake.
A courier delivered the maths papers to Erik Lof’s home in Colwyn Bay instead of an examiner’s.
The Welsh exam board, the WJEC, and the Welsh Government said the issue had since been resolved and that no-one had been adversely affected.
Mr Lof took the papers to the headteacher of nearby Eirlas High School. He returned them to the WJEC.
A WJEC spokesperson said: “We are always extremely meticulous in our treatment of examination papers and completed scripts.
“The papers in question were wrongly delivered despite having the correct house number and street name on the label, and despite the examiner in question having received deliveries successfully on several previous occasions over a number of years.
“We have been in contact with WJEC and are happy to hear that the papers have reached the correct destination and that nobody will be disadvantaged”
Welsh Government spokesperson
“We are pleased to report that a combination of sensible actions on this occasion ensured safe receipt of the scripts by the examiner within a very short time.”
Initially, Mr Lof thought the package may have been for a neighbour, but did not recognise the name.
It was only on closer inspection he realised the importance of contents and alerted his neighbour, Eirlas High head teacher Phil McTague.
He said he hoped the issue would lead to a tightening of procedures and improve advice given to courier companies.
A Welsh Government spokesperson said: “We have been in contact with WJEC and are happy to hear that the papers have reached the correct destination and that nobody will be disadvantaged.”
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A doctor indecently exposed himself to colleagues at a Nottingham hospital, a medical disciplinary panel has heard.
Dr Adeniran Yesufu, who worked at the City Hospital, was allegedly seen carrying out indecent acts three times in late 2007 and early 2008.
A General Medical Council (GMC) fitness to practise panel was told several employees described a man matching his appearance.
Dr Yesufu, who was not present at the hearing, denies the accusations.
The incidents were said to have taken place in outdoor smoking areas within the hospital grounds between 31 December 2007 and 6 January 2008.
Terence Rigby, counsel for the GMC, said CCTV footage and stills showed Dr Yesufu to be in the near vicinity at the time when the acts took place.
He said: “Was it Dr Yesufu or was it not? The GMC say that it is. He was there or thereabouts in close proximity on all three occasions in distance and time.
“Generally in all important respects it was the same description and putting that together by the identification of the witnesses, we can conclude that the man on each occasion was in fact Dr Yesufu.”
The doctor, no longer employed by Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, was not legally represented at the hearing.
Mr Rigby told the panel sitting in Manchester that Dr Yesufu had sent a series of emails to the GMC with comments and arguments about what he pointed out were inconsistencies with the evidence against him.
The GMC alleges his fitness to practise is impaired because of his misconduct.
The hearing is scheduled to last five days.
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Casey Anthony has not given evidence throughout the trial, though her mother has
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The jury in the murder trial of a US single mother, Casey Anthony, has been sent out to consider its verdict.
Seven women and five men will consider whether Ms Anthony is guilty of first-degree murder in the death of her two-year-old daughter, Caylee.
If found guilty, the 25-year-old could receive the death penalty or a life sentence. She denies all seven charges.
The case has gripped the US since the toddler from Orlando, Florida, disappeared in June 2008.
Caylee’s skeletal remains were discovered in a wooded area about one-quarter of a mile from the family home, six months after she was last seen.
“All you have to ask yourself is whose life was better without Caylee?”
Prosecutor Linda Burdick
After the court sat through the weekend and into the US national holiday of 4th July, lawyers finished their closing arguments on Monday morning.
Prosecutors say Ms Anthony suffocated Caylee with duct tape because the girl got in the way of her love life and partying.
They said she lied to her parents about her daughter’s whereabouts after the toddler disappeared in June 2008, saying she was with a nanny.
Prosecutor Linda Burdick said to the jury: “At the end of this case all you have to ask yourself is whose life was better without Caylee?”
Showing the jury two photographs, one of Ms Anthony apparently attending a party and the other of a tattoo “Bella Vita” she had inscribed on her shoulder, Ms Burdick said: “This is your answer.”
Fake father
But Ms Anthony’s defence team say the girl accidentally drowned in the family pool.
Caylee was last seen alive in June 2008
They say she and her father George panicked and dumped the body to make the death look like a murder. Mr Anthony, a retired police officer, has denied this happened.
Defence lawyer Jose Baez said the elaborate lies his client had told her parents and the police was due to her dysfunctional upbringing and did not make her a killer, he told the jurors.
Casey Anthony declined to testify at the trial.
Other charges include aggravated child abuse, aggravated manslaughter of a child and giving false information to police.
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Jesus Enrique Rejon Aguilar is accused of being a founder of the Zetas
Mexican officials say they have arrested a leader of the feared Zetas drug gang, Jesus Enrique Rejon Aguilar.
Mr Rejon is alleged to be the third in command of the Zetas, a drug gang formed by former Mexican special forces soldiers.
He is suspected of involvement in various crimes and is being linked to the murder of US immigration agent Jaime Zapata, officials said.
The US had offered a $5m (£3.1m) reward to find those behind the attack.
Mexico’s public security ministry said Mr Rejon, known as El Mamito, had been arrested in Atizapan de Zaragoza, in Mexico State, on Sunday “without a shot being fired”.
A police officer with him was also detained, and officers recovered weapons, money, various documents and communication equipment.
A ministry statement said Mr Rejon was a founding member of the Zetas and one of the most wanted criminals in the country, sought by both the Mexican and US governments.
He is accused of involvement in a series of murders in north-east Mexico.
Mr Rejon is also being investigated for links to the shooting of two US immigration agents in February, the security ministry said.
Agent Zapata was killed and his colleague, Victor Avila, was injured when their car was ambushed outside San Luis Potosi.
Mexican authorities have made several arrests in connection with this case.
Mr Rejon was a member of the Mexican special forces but deserted in 1999, officials said.
They described him as a founder member of the Zetas, who first acted as armed enforcers for the Gulf Cartel.
The Zetas have since split with their former paymasters, and have been engaged in brutal turf wars for control of smuggling routes.
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The rains have failed for the last two years while crops and livestock have died, leaving people with no food.
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Mr Cameron had been due to tour patrol bases in Afghanistan but his plans were changed
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David Cameron has said there will be only a “modest reduction” in British troops in Afghanistan next year, during a visit to Helmand Province.
There are already 400 British troops returning home this year, leaving a core of 9,500 service personnel.
He is expected to confirm that 500 will be withdrawn next year. Defence chiefs have reportedly warned against bringing too many troops home too early.
His visit coincided with a British soldier going missing in Helmand.
Mr Cameron, who cancelled his plans to visit Lashkar Gar saying he wanted the British military to concentrate on finding the man, described it as a “very disturbing incident”.
All available helicopters were being used on the search for the soldier, so Mr Cameron met British and US troops at Camp Bastion instead of touring patrol bases.
He said there would be “challenges and problems right up until the end of this mission”.
The prime minister has already said that British troops will not be involved in a combat role in Afghanistan from 2015.
But he said the campaign was entering a “new phase” where the Afghan National Army and police force could take on more operations.
The BBC’s deputy political editor James Landale said Mr Cameron was expected to tell MPs later this week that he was looking to withdraw around 500 more next year.
“We have to build up the Afghan army and police as our ticket home.”
David Cameron
He added that Mr Cameron appeared to be heeding commanders’ warnings that a rush for the exit could take pressure off the Taliban just at the wrong time.
The prime minister said British troop levels would not see a “radical change for the fighting season of next year”.
Mr Cameron said: “We’re talking about a modest reduction in troops, remember that Britain has got more troops in Afghanistan than any country other than the Americans, some 9,500, so it’s a modest reduction.
“I do think it’s right that we start planning how we hand over control in this country to the army, the police and the government because the British public don’t want us to be here forever, the British Army doesn’t want to be here forever, the Afghan people don’t want us here forever.
“We have to build up the Afghan army and police as our ticket home.
“When we have gone we will still have a strong and long relationship with Afghanistan, a relationship of aid and trade and diplomacy and military training because we want this country to be free from terrorism and to be a success.”
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A firm which specialises in divorce ceremonies in Japan says more people are looking for a clean start after the earthquake and tsunami which hit the country in March.
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The FSS has been a major contributor to research and development in forensic science
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Universities can help form the core of a research and development hub for forensic science in the UK, a Home Office review has suggested.
The report recommended improved links between those engaged in forensic research and those who used it.
The review followed the government’s decision to wind down the Forensic Science Service, which analyses crime scene evidence in England and Wales.
But one expert said devolving research to universities would not work.
The review also highlights the roles played in research by government labs and private forensic providers.
The Silverman Review came to light last week, on the same day that MPs published the findings of an inquiry that criticised the government’s plans for shutting down the Forensic Science Service, or FSS. The report has now become available on the internet.
The FSS had an international reputation for innovation in forensic science, and many experts have voiced dismay over the likely effect of the closure on UK R&D. Sir Alec Jeffreys, who helped pioneer the technique of genetic fingerprinting, called the move “potentially disastrous”.
In the review, Dr Silverman, who is chief scientific adviser to the Home Office, wrote: “Inevitably the research which has grown up is in some ways fragmented.
“With better co-ordination and linkages, paying attention not only to making new developments but also to their validation and communication, the energy and commitment in the area has the potential to drive innovation more effectively.”
It added: “It is not appropriate or even possible to take a top-down approach to this essential communication aspect of research and development; rather it is incumbent upon all involved to be particularly aware of this need and to build on the formal and informal networks that already exist.”
The review outlines a range of university research areas relevant to forensic science, but notes that “the difficulty, or perceived diffculty” of obtaining funding for forensic research was a recurrent theme in submissions to the review from academic institutions.
“To be useful [as a forensic researcher] you need to be part of a caseworking laboratory because the two feed off each other”
Professor Peter Gill University of Oslo
It recommends that consideration be given to making forensic science as a strategic research priority for the research councils, which fund academic research in the UK. It added: “In the first instance, the Home Office should facilitate contacts between Research Councils UK and academics, industry and end users to explore this possibility in detail.”
In addition, the review says that one of the major means for funding research in universities – the forthcoming Research Excellence Framework (REF) – contains provisions to encourage research of “social, economic or cultural impact or benefit”, which could include forensic research.
The author further recommends funding councils take on board the need to appoint “specialist assessors” able to judge the impact of research submissions on forensic science practice.
On the research role for private forensic providers, Dr Silverman says that the existing framework agreement used by police to procure forensic services sets out a requirement for providers to carry out R&D.
But last week, an inquiry carried out by the House of Commons Science and Technology Select Committee described UK forensic R&D as “not healthy” and called for a new national research budget for forensic science.
It said the Home Office had not consulted Dr Silverman over the decision and that the government had not considered enough evidence before coming to its conclusion. The committee added that the chief scientific adviser’s satisfaction at his exclusion from the decision-making process was “unacceptable”.
Speaking to BBC News last week, forensic scientist Professor Peter Gill, at the University of Strathclyde and the University of Oslo, warned that simply devolving the responsibility for research to universities was unlikely to work.
He said: “To be useful [as a forensic researcher] you need to be part of a caseworking laboratory because the two feed off each other. You develop the method and then there is a way to implement them into casework, which is a joint collaboration between caseworkers and researchers.
“If you separate the research out it would not work properly. You have to have the right environment.”
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Ben Ali’s wife Leila played a key role during his 23 years in power
The drugs and gun running trial in absentia of Tunisia’s ousted President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali has opened in the capital, Tunis.
Ben Ali is accused of harbouring drugs and weapons at his palace in Tunis during his rule – charges he deny.
Ben Ali was last month sentenced to 35 years in prison for embezzlement and misuse of state funds.
He fled to Saudi Arabia in January following weeks of protests – the first leader be ousted in the “Arab Spring”.
Saudi Arabia has so far failed to extradite Ben Ali, despite a request by Tunisia’s new interim government.
In court, his lawyer, Hosni Beji, described the drugs and gun-running charges as “irrational”.
He said he had a list of witnesses to prove Ben Ali never owned or kept drugs.
“How can we imagine that a president holding power can have two kilogrammes of cannabis resin of mediocre quality [with intentions] of selling it,” the AFP news agency quotes him as saying.
“You have betrayed Tunisia by defending Ben Ali”
Protesters in court
Mr Beji also said most of the weapons found at Ben Ali’s palace after he fled were gifts from foreign leaders.
Algeria’s President Abdelaziz Bouteflika and Saudi Arabia’s Interior Minister Prince Nayef Ben Abdel Aziz gave Ben Ali weapons, Mr Beji said, AFP reports.
Reuters news agency reports that members of the public in the courtroom heckled Ben Ali’s lawyers, shouting: “Get out! You have betrayed Tunisia by defending Ben Ali!” and “You should have defended the young people killed by Ben Ali’s weapons!”
Ben Ali’s lawyers walked out of the courtroom after the judge refused their request to delay the case so that they had more time to prepare their defence.
The case was due to have started last week, but was postponed because of a strike by judges.
Ben Ali and his wife Leila were also fined $66m (£41m) for embezzling and misappropriating public funds.
Ben Ali described the one-day trial as a “parody of justice”.
He is also being investigated on suspicion of murder and abuse of power.
He ruled Tunisia for more than 20 years, before being ousted in a popular uprising that spread across North Africa and the Middle East.
His critics say his rule was marred by widespread human rights abuses and a lack of democracy.
His supporters say Tunisia was stable during his rule.
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One tourist drowned and at least six others are still missing after a fishing boat capsized during a fierce storm off the Mexican coast.
The 155ft (35m) boat, carrying 27 US tourists and 17 crew, went down in heavy conditions in the Gulf of California, the Mexican navy said.
The US Coast Guard will help search for those still missing, said to include one Mexican crew member.
The boat, the Erik, had operated out of San Felipe since 1989, reports say.
The town, located on Mexico’s Baja California peninsula and with access to the Sea of Cortez, is a popular centre for windsurfers and sport fishermen.
Mexican officials said the weather was clear when the Erik set out on Saturday, but deteriorated quickly and unexpectedly on Sunday.
Capt Benjamin Pineda Gomez of the Mexican navy said the Erik capsized at in the early hours of Sunday morning some 60 miles (100km) south of San Felipe.
Two giant waves hit the boat, causing it to tip over less than two miles (3km) from shore.
No-one knew about the accident until the middle of Sunday afternoon, when another fishing boat rescued three people, he added.
The US said its helicopter would begin helping the search for those still missing from early on Monday morning.
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The Association of Chief Police Officers said it had major concerns about the impact of the ruling
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Emergency legislation designed to reverse a controversial judgement on police bail will go before MPs on Thursday.
The Leader of the Commons, Sir George Young, said the legislation will pass all its Commons stages that day.
The emergency bill has been prompted by a High Court judgment that severely restricts how police can bail suspects.
The UK’s highest court will separately consider that judgment later this month.
Sir George Young said a draft of the Police (Detention and Bail) Bill would be made available to parliamentarians by Monday evening, with the final draft published on Tuesday.
The legislation already has the support of the Labour opposition which means that ministers will be able to steer it through each of the houses of Parliament in hours rather than weeks. Sir George Young said he hoped that the Bill would pass its House of Lords stages early next week.
The crisis was sparked by a High Court ruling in the case of murder suspect Paul Hookway who had been released on police bail while detectives from Greater Manchester Police continued their investigation.
The judgement said that officers could not bail someone beyond the maximum four day – or 96-hour – period, that they are allowed to hold someone in custody without charge.
Bail ruling – who knew what and when?19 May: Judge rules orally against Greater Manchester Police. GMP informs officials at Home Office soon after17 June: Written version of judgement circulated to Home Office officials, Crown Prosecution Service lawyers and police chiefs. Full scale of the problem becomes clear24 June: Ministers informed about the situation. Association of Chief Police Officers commissions further legal advice30 June: Acpo recommends emergency legislation. Ministers say it will be introduced “as soon as possible”
That decision overturned a quarter of a century of policing practice because officers regularly release suspects on bail for weeks or even months as their inquiries continue.
Under the system operated by every force in England and Wales until the ruling in May, the detention clock only began ticking again once a suspect was back in a police station. Bailed suspects must comply with restrictions, such as not approaching the victim or witnesses.
Last week, Policing Minister Nick Herbert told the Commons that the judgement would seriously effect the ability of forces to investigate crime unless it was overturned either at appeal or through emergency legislation.
“It is likely that in most forces there will not be enough capacity to detain everybody in police cells,” he said.
“In other cases it risks impeding the police to such an extent that the investigation will have to be stopped because the detention time has run out.”
The minister said that with about 80,000 suspects currently on bail, the government could not wait weeks for a full Supreme Court appeal and judgement.
Labour’s frontbench said it would support the emergency bill – but has accused ministers of failing to realise the seriousness of the ruling.
Shadow Leader of the House Hilary Benn said: “It has taken Home Office Ministers far too long – six weeks – to respond to the court judgement which was originally given on 19 May.
“The result has been a complete mess with doubt about the enforcement of bail conditions – for example in domestic violence cases.”
GMP alerted the Home Office to the judgement in May – but Mr Herbert told MPs that its full implications only became clear after officials and leading barristers analysed the written judgement a month later.
Separately, Greater Manchester Police, which lost the original bail case, has asked Supreme Court to “stay” the judgement, a legal tool which temporarily suspends a ruling ahead of an appeal.
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Parts of the degree could be studied online, others in a local college
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Publishing giant Pearson has announced a partnership with Royal Holloway university that will allow it to enter the degree market.
The university is to validate a degree in business, developed by Pearson, which says it eventually wants its own degree-awarding powers.
A White Paper last week outlined government plans to allow the expansion of private degree providers.
But the lecturers’ union warned of a possible focus on profitable courses.
Pearson said the degree would be available from September 2012.
It said it was in talks with further education colleges, which would teach the course.
Pearson already provides vocational courses such as BTECs and HNDs, and owns the exam board Edexcel, but it does not have degree-awarding powers.
It is to design and develop the new degree, while Royal Holloway would validate and quality-assure the qualification.
Although some companies, including the fast-food chain McDonalds, already offer degrees in conjunction with universities, Pearson would be the first that already has the power to award other qualifications.
President of Pearson UK, Rod Bristow, said the new degrees would create more flexibility for students.
“A Pearson degree could allow students to go somewhere near where you live for some of your tuition, do some of it online and still potentially work,” he said.
He has said the company intends eventually to seek degree-awarding powers.
Currently only five privately-funded organisations in the UK, one of which is for-profit, have such powers.
But in its White Paper published last Tuesday, the government said it would “simplify” the process for obtaining degree-awarding powers, in order to “make it easier for new providers to enter the sector”.
Pearson has not announced fees for the new degrees, and it is not clear whether prices would be set by the company or by the colleges that are to teach the degrees.
But the company said the aim was to provide good value, and to offer degrees at a lower cost than traditional universities.
Mr Bristow also said the company was exploring whether it would be possible to offer degrees outside the system of state-subsidised tuition fee loans.
“One of the unanswered questions is whether a model can be created that doesn’t require a government-backed loan,” he said.
Prof Rob Kemp, Deputy Principal of Royal Holloway, said: “Our founders, in opening colleges for women in the 19th Century, were the first to address the challenge of widening access and we are delighted to continue this tradition today by supporting Pearson in this initiative.”
Last year Pearson said it intended to offer degree courses in business, engineering, IT and health and social care at “very competitive prices”.
A large proportion of universities have set their tuition fees at the maximum level of £9,000 per year.
But in last week’s White Paper, the government said it wanted to hold back 20,000 places to be allocated to institutions charging £7,500 or less.
The document said the government wanted to make it possible for new teaching institutions to be set up to teach external degrees – and for organisations to award degrees that they do not teach themselves.
The issues will be included in a consultation be carried out between August and October on the regulation of universities.
The University and College Union has warned that an increase in profit-making providers in the higher education sector might lead to a drop in standards.
Its general secretary, Sally Hunt, said: “One of the main concerns around an increase in private provision is the narrow focus on courses likely to earn them the most money.
“Private companies are looking to make the best returns they can and we fear that approach will lead to an incremental narrowing of the curriculum and some students doing inappropriate courses at a greater cost.”
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Social care is currently means-tested
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Social care costs in England should be capped so people do not face losing their assets, a review is to say.
Council-funded home help and care home places for the elderly and adults with disabilities are currently only offered to those with under £23,250 of assets.
The independent Dilnot report, being published later, will say the threshold should rise to £100,000 and suggest a £35,000 cap on costs would be “fair”.
But ministers have indicated the level of any cap will need to be discussed.
Last year the coalition government asked economist Andrew Dilnot to look into how the system of funding social care in England could be changed amid concerns it was getting harder for people to get access to state support.
The ageing population and squeeze on councils budgets have led councils to impose stricter criteria on who can get help.
Care across the UKMany councils in England have stopped providing support to those with low and moderate needsThe Dilnot Commission was set up in July 2010 to establish how to achieve an affordable care system for adults in EnglandWales and Northern Ireland both have means-tested systems which are similar to EnglandScotland provides free personal care, but in recent years has tightened the eligibility criteria for the same reasons as councils in England
It means while 1.8m are getting state funding, another 1m-plus either have to pay for support themselves or go without.
Instead of this system, Mr Dilnot’s commission will recommend a partnership between the state and individual whereby the high costs are covered by the government – one in 10 people aged over 65 faces care costs of more than £100,000 over their lifetime.
But the individual should be liable for the first tranche of care with a cap in costs set at between £25,000 and £50,000, the report will say. It will suggest £35,000 as the ideal figure.
The hope is that with the state paying for the high-cost cases, the insurance industry would be encouraged to develop polices which would cover any care costs below the cap.
Means-testing should remain so that the poorest would not have to pay, the commission will recommend, but it will say the threshold should be raised for those going into residential care.
At the moment, people with assets, including the value of their house, of over £23,250 pay for all their care.
The commission will say this should be increased to £100,000 to better reflect the rise in property value seen over the past 20 years.
The report will also call for an end to the ever-tightening restrictions being placed on access. Instead, it will say that there should be a national standard so everyone has the same access no matter where they live.
However, an overhaul on this scale is likely to cost the government more.
It has been suggested an extra £2bn will be needed immediately – on top of the £14bn that is already spent by councils – although this would increase in time with the ageing population.
The Treasury is known to have doubts whether more money can be found in the current financial climate.
Speaking before the publication of the report, Health Secretary Andrew Lansley said ministers were likely to give it a “positive response” and “treat it as the basis for engagement”.
However, he said the level of any cap, how it would paid for and the threshold for means testing were among a “range of issues that need to be resolved”.
Michelle Mitchell, of Age UK, said action was long overdue: “Social care is at crisis point. Vulnerable people are going without care and that means their conditions are worsening and they are ending up in hospital and costing the government more. We cannot go on as we are doing.”
Age UK was one of 26 charities which wrote to the Sunday Telegraph calling for politicians to hold cross-party talks on the issue and “not let reform fall off the table for another generation”.
Any overhaul of the system would take about five years to introduce.
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Graffiti may be art to some, but it is seen as a nuisance by others
A landmark sculpture project is at risk because of spiralling costs – including the budget for keeping it graffiti-free. How do you protect public artworks from vandals?
It was meant to be a towering monument – a 50m (164ft) white horse in the fields of Kent greeting Eurostar passengers to England. But now sculptor Mark Wallinger’s so-called “Angel of the South” project is at risk because of rising costs.
The price tag for the Ebbsfleet Landmark Project (ELP) has gone up from £2m to £12m, according to reports, with the budget for removing graffiti over 80 years part of the revised bill.
Keeping outdoor artworks like sculptures and murals unsullied by vandalism is a constant preoccupation of local authorities and the hygiene industry. Various types of anti-graffiti protective coatings are commercially available and “target-hardening” – making landmarks more difficult to vandalise – is also an option.
The proposed white horse sculpture designed by artist Mark Wallinger
However, some experts argue that a more effective method is to ensure communities feel ownership of their public art.
The authorities responsible for the proposed white horse have good reason to be wary of graffiti. There are many examples of much-loved outdoor artworks falling victim to vandalism.
The Superlambanana sculpture in Liverpool, though it came to be widely cherished in the city, was an occasional victim to graffiti during its early days on display.
In 2010, a newly-restored statue commemorating the struggles for a living wage by striking miners in Tonypandy, South Wales, was defaced with silver paint, causing fury in the community.
And even the apparently impenetrable bronze bull, nicknamed “Bully”, which stands outside Birmingham’s Bullring centre, was vandalised with an ice skate in 2006.
There are, however, technical solutions for protecting such landmarks.
The answerProtective coating that can be used to guard against vandals”Target-hardening” techniques, such as lighting, gates fences and anti-climb devices, can deter graffitiBut some experts argue that community engagement is the most important factor
According to the Anti-Graffiti Association (AGA), there are two types of protective coating that can be used to guard against vandals.
The first are sacrificial coatings, which are designed be removed with steam or hot water, taking away any paint or ink on the surface along with it.
By contrast, permanent coatings stay in place for years and allow the graffiti to be wiped off them.
The AGA says objects and buildings can also be protected using “target-hardening” techniques, such as lighting, gates fences and anti-climb devices.
However, such techniques would tend to defeat the one of the key objects of public art – that is, to be accessible to the public.
WHO, WHAT, WHY?
A part of BBC News Magazine, Who, What, Why? aims to answer questions behind the headlines
As a result, Prof Lorraine Gamman, of Central Saint Martins School of Art and Design and director of the Design Against Crime research centre, argues that “top-down” initiatives generally fail when it comes to encouraging people to preserve and treasure works of art.
Instead, she says, community-led initiatives are usually far more effective at ensuring that public art is protected by self-policing.
“There are lots of things you can do but ultimately it’s about bringing a sense of ownership to the community,” she says.
“If you achieve that, the people on the street are the eyes and the ears protecting it.”
And, indeed, she says that local people will often become protective of the very graffiti that others might see as a menace.
“Ask the community what they want,” she adds. “In Bristol, they protect their Banksys.”
Jill Partington, spokesperson for the anti-litter campaign Keep Britain Tidy, concurred with this community perspective.
“When a community respects a piece of public art it is much less likely to be vandalised,” she added.
“Prevention is better than cure and an awareness project about the local significance of the art, might have a greater impact on its protection in the long-term.”
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