Yesterday, the Home Secretary and Second Permanent Secretary welcomed leaders from business, charity and grassroots organisations as well as academics and other stakeholders to the Home Office to encourage a more diverse talent pool to apply to public appointments.

Public appointments are, typically, an appointment for a chair or non-executive director of a board of a public body or for a member of an advisory committee.

Appointees offer expert insight and strategic direction to public bodies and committees, such as the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs or Independent Monitoring Boards. In order to ensure that the best candidates are recruited, the Home Secretary and department are working to ensure that the recruitment pool is as wide and as diverse as possible.

Home Secretary Sajid Javid said:

Diversity on boards is essential in making our public services even stronger.

I want to encourage and develop more talent from minority groups and ensure public positions are opened- up to everyone.

If you have the talent and skills, and you want to make a difference, then I would urge you to apply.

Second Permanent Secretary Shona Dunn said:

The Home Office are proud of our diverse workforce. It is really important that we are representative of the society we serve.

It is only right that this extends to every aspect of our work. I would strongly encourage anyone interested to learn more and apply to these vitally important public appointment roles.

To find out more about public appointments, view current vacancies and apply, please visit the Cabinet Office website.

I am delighted to see this important early decision by the incoming Government of Mr Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

It is excellent to see Greece join the vast majority of European Union member states in recognising Juan Guaido as the constitutional interim President of Venezuela.

We must maintain pressure on the brutal Maduro regime. The Venezuelan people deserve change.

Households in the northern parts of Scotland could soon save money on their electricity bills thanks to UK government plans to more fairly distribute the costs for providing electricity to the Shetland Islands.

The isolated nature of Shetland’s electricity system means it costs £18 million more a year to keep its 23,000 residents’ homes and businesses powered, than it does to provide power on the mainland. The cost is currently picked up by consumers in the north of Scotland through their electricity bills.

These costs are expected to rise to £27 million from next year in order to deliver a necessary upgrade to Shetland’s power supply. The UK government is concerned about the burden this would place on consumers in the north of Scotland.

It has today (11 July 2019) published a consultation announcing plans to spread the costs of powering Shetland across Great Britain from April 2020, meaning consumers across the northern part of Scotland – from Thurso to Aberdeen – would save around £17 a year on their electricity bills.

Minister of State for Energy and Clean Growth, Chris Skidmore, said:

The UK government is committed to ensuring everyone across the country, including in the remotest parts of northern Scotland, has access to a reliable energy supply at a fair price. We’ve already shown this through our price cap – intervening in the market to protect loyal consumers in all parts of the union from being overcharged.

Consumers in the north of Scotland should not have to fund the costs of maintaining Shetland’s energy security alone. The ability to share costs more widely is one of the benefits of being part of the United Kingdom and these plans will mean consumers in the north of Scotland will soon receive a welcome saving on their bills.

Shetland is different to other Scottish islands as it’s the only part of Britain’s licensed distribution network that is isolated. It’s unable to benefit from the economies of scale enjoyed by other islands, which are part of the integrated network, which is why costs have always been higher.

Scotland Secretary David Mundell said:

I warmly welcome the UK government’s plan to cut the electricity costs of consumers in the north of Scotland. Spreading the costs across the whole of Great Britain reflects the unique circumstances in Shetland and northern Scotland. ‎The UK government is determined to deliver for all of Scotland’s communities.

The UK government’s Hydro Benefit Replacement Scheme already provides an annual cross-subsidy of £61 million to protect electricity consumers in the north of Scotland from the high costs of electricity distribution in the region. It is funded by charges on electricity suppliers across Great Britain.

The scheme will be used to deliver the new funding arrangement for Shetland’s electricity, meaning that the total assistance provided through to the north of Scotland consumers will be almost £90 million a year.

1. View the consultation on the hydro benefit replacement scheme and common tariff obligation.