The Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport has reappointed Lady Rachael Robathan and Natalie Campbell to the National Lottery Community Fund board for a period of four years from 1 June 2019.
Following a 20 year career in emerging markets investment management, Rachael Robathan has been a Councillor for Westminster City Council since 2010. Cabinet responsibilities have included adult social care, public health, housing and finance. Rachael has been a board member of the National Lottery Community Fund since June 2015 and is a member of the remuneration committee as well as the main board. She is also a director of Westminster Almshouses Foundation, a sheltered housing charity, as well as a governor of Francis Holland School and a member of the Metrobank Advisory Board.
Natalie Campbell is an award-winning businesswoman and HarperCollins author. She won the ‘Community Spirit’ award at the ‘Women of the Future Awards’ in 2016, an Evening Standard Entrepreneurial Spirit Award in 2017 and was recognised in the Management Today, 35 Women Under 35 and City AM Power 100 Women lists. In 2011 she co- founded A Very Good Company, a global social innovation agency that worked with brands like Virgin Media, Marks and Spencer and Channel 4 to drive social change. Natalie is a Civil Service Commissioner and board member of the London LEAP, the Mayor’s London Economic Strategy Board and the Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation.
The roles are remunerated at £7,848 per annum. These appointments have been made in accordance with the Cabinet Office’s Governance Code on Public Appointments. The process is regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments. The Government’s Governance Code requires that any significant political activity undertaken by an appointee in the last five years is declared. This is defined as including holding office, public speaking, making a recordable donation or candidature for election. Rachael has declared that she has served as a local councillor for the Conservative Party at Westminster City Council since 2010. Natalie Campbell has made no such declarations.
The first step in scrapping unnecessary reassessments for Personal Independence Payment (PIP) for pensioners starts on Friday (31 May).
Work and Pensions Secretary of State Amber Rudd announced in March that people receiving PIP who have reached State Pension age will no longer have their awards regularly reviewed, instead moving to a light touch review at 10 years. Nearly 290,000 people of State Pension age are in receipt of PIP.
From Friday, new claimants to PIP whose review would have been scheduled after they had reached State Pension age will receive an ongoing award with a light touch review at 10 years.
Work and Pensions Secretary of State Amber Rudd said:
I have set out a number of initiatives to improve the quality of life for disabled people; to level the terrain and smooth their path.
Stopping unnecessary PIP reviews for people over State Pension age is a positive change. It applies a common-sense approach to treating those whose conditions are unlikely to change, and we want to introduce it as quickly as possible for those who will benefit from it.
Minister for Disabled People Justin Tomlinson said:
We are determined to improve our support for disabled people, and stopping needless PIP reviews for pensioners is the right thing to do.
This step means new claimants to PIP who reach State Pension age before their review is due won’t have one unless they tell us their needs have changed, and the next step is to bring this in for all pensioners.
Applying this change to new claimants is the first step and it will be extended to existing PIP claimants above State Pension age in the coming months.
This change was part of a wider package of measures announced by Amber Rudd, signalling a shift in the government’s support for disabled people.
Other improvements include combining the separate assessment processes for PIP, Employment Support Allowance and Universal Credit into one integrated service from 2021.
The integrated service will simplify the assessment process for millions of people claiming health related benefits, reducing the need to submit information multiple times and for some people reducing the number of face-to-face assessments.
A small-scale test to explore the viability of a single assessment for Work Capability Assessments and PIP assessments will also be undertaken.
The government will also work with stakeholders to understand how to help people submit the right evidence with their claim at the outset so that fewer people have to take their case to Tribunal.
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Today the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) has published its review of the shortage occupation list (SOL). Alongside some occupations which have been added to the list – veterinarians, web designers and architects – many have been expanded to include all roles within that occupation.
This means the SOL will cover around 9% of jobs in the labour market, compared to one per cent under the previous list.
The committee has recommended broadening the SOL to include all roles in occupations such as medical practitioners, nurses, programmers and software development professionals. This recognises the increasing difficulty in filling such roles.
The MAC was asked to consider the addition of Northern Irish and Welsh SOLs to the existing UK list and Scotland-only SOL. In principle, the MAC agrees that devolved SOLs should be created.
The MAC also recommends a review of what role the SOL would play in a future immigration system.
MAC Chair Professor Alan Manning said:
Today’s labour market is very different to the one we reviewed when the last SOL was published in 2013. Unemployment is lower and employers in various industries are facing difficulties in finding skilled people to fill their vacancies.
That is why we have recommended expanding the SOL to cover a range of occupations in health, information and engineering fields.
However, our recommendations are clearly only applicable under the current immigration system, while EU free movement remains. We are recommending a full review of the SOL once there is a clearer picture of what the future immigration system will look like.
The review’s other recommendations include: