Public Health England (PHE) is advising people planning to travel to Europe over the Easter holidays to ensure they are up to date with the MMR vaccine, due to ongoing measles outbreaks across the continent. Measles is a highly infectious viral illness that can lead to serious complications and in rare cases can be fatal.

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control has reported a high risk of measles in Europe, with cases being imported and exported between countries. This is largely due to lower MMR vaccine uptake in many European countries. Romania, Italy, Germany, Greece and France are all currently experiencing large measles outbreaks.

Although the overall risk to the UK population is low, in England there have been 168 laboratory confirmed measles cases this year. London, South East, West Midlands and the South West regions have reported the most cases. About half of the cases in England in 2018 have been in people over 15 years of age.

Whilst MMR vaccine coverage for the routine childhood programme is high in the UK, anyone who has missed out on MMR vaccine or has not had measles in the past is at risk of catching the disease.

The vaccine is available to all adults and children who are not up to date with their 2 doses. It is offered to children at 1 year of age with a pre-school booster at 3 years and 4 months. Anyone who is not sure if they are fully vaccinated should check with their GP practice.

PHE local health protection teams are working closely with the NHS and local authorities to raise awareness of the outbreaks in the UK and other parts of Europe with health professionals and local communities.

Dr Mary Ramsay, Head of Immunisation at PHE, said:

The measles outbreaks we are currently seeing in England are linked to ongoing large outbreaks in Europe. People who have not had 2 doses of the MMR vaccine are particularly at risk.

We want to remind people that measles is not just a disease of young children and we’re seeing many cases in people over 15 years of age. Adults or parents who are unsure if they or their children have been fully vaccinated should check with their GP and make an appointment to receive 2 doses of MMR vaccine.

The UK achieved WHO measles elimination status last year, so the overall risk of measles to the UK population is low. However due to ongoing measles outbreaks in Europe, we will continue to see cases in unimmunised individuals and limited onward spread can occur in communities with low MMR coverage and in age groups with very close mixing.

As part of efforts by the government and law enforcement to better understand the nature of prostitution and sex work, the University of Bristol has been granted £150,000 to carry out a new research project. It follows the Home Affairs Select Committee’s report on prostitution and will create an impartial evidence base covering the nature and prevalence of sex work in England and Wales.

Minister for Crime, Vulnerability and Safeguarding, Victoria Atkins said:

Our priority is to tackle the harm and exploitation that can be associated with prostitution and sex work, which is why it is so vital we have robust and impartial evidence to work from.

The University of Bristol’s experience will help us build up a clear picture of its nature and prevalence and it forms one part of our work to make sure law enforcement have the right tools and guidance to help keep vulnerable people safe.

Formally commissioned by the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for South Wales, the award follows an open tender process, during which researchers and academics were asked to submit proposals for developing a comprehensive understanding of contemporary prostitution and sex work.

University of Bristol Professor Marianne Hester OBE said:

We look forward to working with the Home Office and the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner in Wales to carry out this important new research into the contemporary nature and measurement of prostitution and sex work.

We will also be linking with academics, non-government organisations and a range of agencies to ensure that the research reflects wider experiences and expertise.

The University of Bristol’s research will help support law enforcement and government efforts to protect vulnerable people by assessing the different types of prostitution – such as on-street, off-street and online – its extent in England and Wales and any possible links to trafficking for the purposes of sex work.

The research will be carried out over the next year with the university engaging with a range of groups including sex workers, other academics, law enforcement and healthcare providers.

Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner for South Wales, Emma Wools said:

In 2016, following the Home Affairs Select Committee report on prostitution, the government accepted that there was a need for further research on the nature and prevalence of prostitution in England and Wales – something we had already recognised here in South Wales.

It is clear that prostitution is evolving and it has never been more complex or multi-faceted than it is at this moment. We have worked closely with the Home Office to commission research to better inform understanding about prostitution and we are delighted that today the Home Office has formally announced that the University of Bristol will be undertaking this research.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is asking for comments from businesses and their legal representatives on guidance that explains when the CMA is likely to ask merging businesses to provide internal documents, and how they will be expected to respond. It also makes clear that the CMA is likely to use its compulsory information gathering powers as standard in future where internal documents are requested in merger investigations.

The guidance sets out a general tightening-up of the CMA’s approach, and provides guidance on what steps businesses should take to respond to requests for internal documents fully and accurately. The more consistent use of the CMA’s compulsory powers will help it to fine businesses where they fail to respond to requests without a reasonable excuse. These changes are designed to address concerns in some recent cases where businesses had failed to provide all the information requested, or provided it slowly.

It is also intends to provide further clarity about the CMA’s likely approach, helping businesses that are considering transactions to plan more effectively for the merger review process.

The consultation and draft guidance is available for comment until 25 April 2018.

In the dataset you can find the date of sale for each property, its full address and sale price, its category (residential or commercial) and type (detached, semi-detached, terraced, flat or maisonette and other), whether it is new build or not and whether it is freehold or leasehold.

The number of sales received for registration by property type and month

Of the 85,249 sales received for registration in February 2018:

• 61,237 were freehold, a 3.7% increase on February 2017

• 16,133 were newly built, a 11.8% increase on February 2017

There is a time difference between the sale of a property and its registration at HM Land Registry.

Of the 85,249 sales received for registration, 23,559 took place in February 2018 of which:

• 378 were of residential properties in England and Wales for £1 million and over

• 216 were of residential properties in Greater London for £1 million and over

• 2 were of residential properties in Cardiff for £1 million and over

• 1 was of a residential property in Greater Manchester for £1 million and over

The most expensive residential sale taking place in February 2018 was of a terraced property in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London for £10,750,000. The cheapest residential sale in February 2018 was of a terraced property in Chester le Street, County Durham for £19,000.

The most expensive commercial sale taking place in February 2018 was in the City of London, for £75,972,945. The cheapest commercial sale in February 2018 was in Macclesfield, Cheshire for £250.

Access the full dataset

Notes to editors

1. Price Paid Data is published at 11am on the 20th working day of each month. The next dataset will be published on Monday 30 April 2018.

2. Price Paid Data is property price data for all residential and commercial property sales in England and Wales that are lodged with HM Land Registry for registration in that month, subject to exclusions.

3. The amount of time between the sale of a property and the registration of this information with HM Land Registry varies. It typically ranges between two weeks and two months. Data for the two most recent months is therefore incomplete and does not give an indication of final monthly volumes. Occasionally the interval between sale and registration is longer than two months. The small number of sales affected cannot be updated for publication until the sales are lodged for registration.

4. Price Paid Data categories are either Category A (Standard entries) which includes single residential properties sold for full market value or Category B (Additional entries) for example sales to a company, buy-to-lets where they can be identified by a mortgage and repossessions.

5. HM Land Registry has been collecting information on Category A sales from January 1995 and on Category B sales from October 2013.

6. Price Paid Data can be downloaded in text, CSV format and in a machine readable format as linked data and is released under the Open Government Licence (OGL). Under the OGL, HM Land Registry permits the use of Price Paid Data for commercial or non-commercial purposes. However, the OGL does not cover the use of third party rights, which HM Land Registry is not authorised to license.

7. The Price Paid Data report builder allows users to build bespoke reports using the data. Reports can be based on location, estate type, price paid or property type over a defined period of time.

8. HM Land Registry’s mission is to guarantee and protect property rights in England and Wales.

9. HM Land Registry is a government department created in 1862. It operates as an executive agency and a trading fund and its running costs are covered by the fees paid by the users of its services. Its ambition is to become the world’s leading land registry for speed, simplicity and an open approach to data.

10. HM Land Registry safeguards land and property ownership worth in excess of £4 trillion, including around £1 trillion of mortgages. The Land Register contains more than 25 million titles showing evidence of ownership for some 85% of the land mass of England and Wales.

11. For further information about HM Land Registry visit www.gov.uk/land-registry.

12. Follow us: on Twitter@HMLandRegistry, our blog, LinkedInand Facebook.

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As a result of the bravery and determination of the women who brought this challenge, the experience of victims will be better and there will be much simpler ways to challenge our decisions in the future.

Here is a link to the full judgement

It was clear before the Worboys case arose that there was a compelling case for major reform of the parole system. This judgment will now open up the decision making of the Board which we have been calling for.

The Parole Board are not seeking to challenge the outcome of this case and the Worboys case will now be re-referred to the Parole Board. The court acknowledged that this was an unusual and complex case and we want any decision to be made on the best possible evidence.

The Chair Professor Nick Hardwick has since resigned from the Parole Board.

Chief Executive Martin Jones said: “Parole Board members make incredibly difficult and complex decisions every day that can have a devastating impact on victims and the case of John Worboys is no different. The courts have decided we must go back and look at this case again in light of additional information that wasn’t before the original panel and we will do just that.

“Nick Hardwick and I have always been clear that we will support our members when they face criticism in making these important decisions. I am deeply sorry that Nick Hardwick has decided to resign, he is a man of real integrity, and I have been proud to work with him.”

Notes to Editors

Professor Nick Hardwick’s letter of resignation is attached here.

The Parole Board are not seeking to challenge the outcome of this case but are still working through the wider implications of the judgment.

The Worboys case now need to be re-referred to us by the Secretary of State and an oral hearing will likely take place in the next few months. It will be chaired by a senior member of the Judiciary.

The court was clear that the Parole Board is the best people to make decisions of this nature. Our serious further offence rate is less than 1%, that shows we are affective at making these difficult decisions.

As Rule 25 still stands at present and the case is now under consideration again, we are not currently able to comment on the details of the case.

Chief Executive Martin Jones will not be available for interview. For more information, please contact comms@paroleboard.gov.uk or 020 3880 0809