Andrea joins the MDP as Temporary Assistant Chief Constable on secondment from Kent Police, having recently completed the Strategic Command Course at the College of Policing.

Whilst serving much of her career with Kent Police Andrea delivered extensive culture change. Following a comprehensive Force-wide review, she implemented new systems, models and processes and contributed significantly to Kent Police being graded ‘Outstanding’ by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS).

Last year Andrea was seconded to the Metropolitan Police Service for three months, working within the Professionalism Command, covering Equality, Diversity, Communities and Engagement, following four months on secondment to HMICFRS, where she was involved in a project aimed at tackling the growth of drug-related crime.

After a successful career in CID, Andrea was promoted to Chief Superintendent in October 2015 and appointed Divisional Commander for East Kent, leading 1,000 officers and staff to deliver policing across the largest Division in the Force, within five very different and diverse urban and rural policing districts, with a total population of 640,000.

Andrea passed the Police National Assessment Centre (PNAC) in April 2018, having previously completed Senior Leadership Development training at the Ministry of Defence.

She has extensive experience as a firearms commander at both tactical and strategic levels and has managed large protests, significant public events and State occasions as both a Silver and Gold Public Order Commander.

During 25 years’ experience of investigating crime, Andrea spent the last ten managing the Major Crime, Serious and Organised Crime and Volume Crime investigations team.

She was Chair of the Kent Network of Women at Kent Police for three years and involved in the network for more than ten, receiving a ‘Special Recognition’ award from the British Association of Women in Policing, for supporting and encouraging women and for her contribution to Force-wide culture change.

Andrea said:

I am really thrilled to be joining the Ministry of Defence Police; it is an exciting opportunity and I feel privileged to become part of the team.

I look forward to meeting and working with colleagues across the Force over the coming months.

Background

As part of preparations for exiting the EU, Defra are continuing to create guidance to ensure that businesses are aware of forthcoming changes and ready for day one in a potential ‘no deal’ scenario. The Agri-Food Chain Stakeholder Engagement team has shared seven key food, drink and agriculture related government communications that have been released in recent days and weeks.

How to import organic produce if the UK leaves the EU with no deal – Certificate of Inspection

If the UK leaves the EU with no deal, the way in which we import organic produce will change as we will lose access to TRACES NT. Imports from third countries (excluding the EU, EEA and Switzerland until 31 December 2020) will still require a Certificate of Inspection (CoI). This will be a UK CoI and will be a manual system for an interim period until an electronic replacement is available. This system mirrors the system that was in place 17 months ago.

Defra have circulated the CoI template, guidance and resources to a number of stakeholders and are working on updating their webpages.

For any questions contact megan.young@defra.gov.uk

Food and drink sector link to EU Exit assets

Please find information that the food and drink sector need to know before we leave the EU. This is a helpful tool that can be shared with your members and supply chains. Included are social media assets, flyers, animations and posters.

Nutrition and health claims on foods if there’s no EU Exit deal

The UK nutrition and health claims register sets out all authorised and rejected nutrition and health claims. In the event of a no-deal EU Exit, only authorised claims in the register may be used in the UK. Find more information from Department for Health and Social Care.

Vitamins and minerals in foods if there’s no EU Exit deal

Department for Health and Social Care have also released the UK register and associated guidance which specifies which vitamins and minerals may be added to foods, and any substances that are banned or restricted, in the event of a no-deal EU Exit.

VAT on goods you move from Ireland to Northern Ireland if the UK leaves the EU without a deal

HMRC have released information and guidance for UK businesses who move goods from Ireland to Northern Ireland. If the UK leaves the EU without a deal, import VAT will be due on goods that are moved from Ireland to Northern Ireland at the relevant rate. If you move goods into Northern Ireland from any other country, or from Ireland directly to Great Britain, you should follow the relevant customs procedures.

Customs procedures for goods moving between Ireland and Northern Ireland if the UK leaves the EU without a deal

There is HMRC guidance for businesses who move goods between Ireland and Northern Ireland. These goods will face different procedures compared to other UK-EU trade if the UK leaves the EU without a deal.

UK signs trade continuity agreement with Caribbean countries

Department for International Trade have published a press release highlighting that the UK has signed a trade continuity agreement with a series of countries in the Caribbean.

Food and Drink and Farming landing pages

We recommend that stakeholders continue to check for updated no deal guidance on our dedicated landing page for the food and drink sector. There is also a farming sector landing page. These pages have been created to ensure that EU Exit guidance is easy to find. The landing pages combine all relevant EU Exit guidance in the case of a no deal scenario for the Food and Drink and farming sector stakeholders and are updated regularly with new no deal communications as they become live.

The UK has today signed a new trade continuity agreement with Norway and Iceland.

 A trade continuity agreement will see British businesses and consumers benefitting from continued trade with Iceland and Norway after we leave the European Union.  

Her Majesty’s Trade Commissioner to Europe, Andrew Mitchell, signed the UK- Iceland-Norway agreement on trade in goods in London today (2nd April 2019) with Stefán Haukur Jóhannesson, Ambassador of Iceland to the UK, and Wegger Christian Strømmen, Ambassador of Norway to the UK.

The news has been welcomed by businesses including Grimsby Fish Dock, who say it will help to support jobs and ensure they can keep trading without significant disruption.  

The agreement covers trade in goods and will only be used in a no deal scenario. It maintains the same level of tariffs on goods traded between the UK, Iceland and Norway.

Trading on these preferential terms in a no deal scenario, rather than on World Trade Organization terms, will deliver significant savings and help to safeguard British jobs.  

British businesses could avoid up to £15 million a year in tariff charges on exports that would otherwise apply if an agreement wasn’t in place.

The UK’s trade with Iceland and Norway was worth around £30 billion last year, with just over £24 billion of this in goods.

Consumers and businesses in the UK will continue to benefit from more choice and lower prices on goods imported from Iceland and Norway, such as aluminium products and some fuel and oil products.

HM Trade Commissioner for Europe Andrew Mitchell said:  

Today’s agreement secures continued preferences for goods trade with Iceland and Norway for British businesses, as we prepare to leave the EU. These are key trading partners with whom we have a longstanding and historic trading relationship.

Our trade with Iceland and Norway was worth around £30 billion last year, with just over £24 billion of this in goods. This is good news for British businesses and we have a golden opportunity to further liberalise trade with these countries in the years ahead.

Grimsby Fish Market has welcomed the news, which it believes will be of benefit to businesses and consumers alike. The market has one of the largest daily auctions and the largest concentration of fish processors anywhere in the UK.

The town has strong links with Icelandic and Norwegian fishing industries with up to 75% of all the fish sold on the Grimsby Fish Market coming from Iceland and the majority of the fish sold to Grimsby fish processors coming from Norway.

Martyn Boyers, Chief Executive of market operator Grimsby Fish Dock Enterprises Ltd, said:  

Grimsby relies heavily on Icelandic and Norwegian supplies to the daily fish auction and to the processors.

This trade deal is extremely welcome, in fact vital, as 70% of the fish consumed in the UK is imported, most of that supply coming from Iceland and Norway.

It also gives clarity and confidence to numerous businesses within the Humber region.

The news has also been welcomed by Leonardo Helicopters, who employ nearly 2,800 people at their base in Yeovil, Somerset.

The company has a contract worth more than £1 billion to supply search and rescue helicopters to Norway and support them in service for the next 15 years.

Geoff Munday, Managing Director of Leonardo Helicopters UK said:

Leonardo welcomes the signing of the UK-Iceland-Norway trade agreement as Norway is an important export market for our UK designed and manufactured helicopters and airborne electronic systems.

We have been doing business with Norway for nearly 50 years, are currently delivering 16 AW101 new generation search and rescue helicopters and see significant future business opportunities.

The government is seeking continuity for existing EU trade agreements which the UK participates in as a member of the EU. These agreements constitute around 11% of the UK’s trade.   

The new UK-Iceland-Norway agreement maintains tariff preferences already in place on goods traded between the UK, Iceland and Norway. It will come into effect from exit day if the UK leaves the EU without a deal.

The next generation of students will be able to take greater control of their future career paths through new online apps being launched today, which empower them to make better choices about where and what to study (2 April).

Universities Minister Chris Skidmore unveiled two innovative apps, created by the winners of a Government competition receiving around £150,000 funding each, which set out simple and accessible information about graduate outcomes for prospective students.

The launch of the new tools follow the latest data published by the Department for Education on Thursday showing graduate earnings broken down by subject, which help students and parents to understand likely earnings and employment outcomes from a range of disciplines.

The new online apps, available to access from the developers’ websites today, will help to revolutionise student choice on their future careers, bringing together data on potential future earnings, with information on careers and employment options, and the quality of teaching in an easy to use format. One works as a personalised digital assistant to access information, while the other is a game where players can simulate career paths.

The tools also aim to help students make more informed decisions about the best course and institution for them, particularly for those from disadvantaged backgrounds who may receive less help from their parents to navigate university choices.

Universities Minister Chris Skidmore said:

The importance of choosing where and what you study at university cannot be overstated – it will impact the rest of your professional and personal life.

We have made more information available about institutions and outcomes than ever before, but sometimes the sheer amount of data can be daunting for students to navigate. We want to make it easier and fairer for them to access the information they need to make good higher education and career choices.

That’s why we’ve turned to the power of technology and funded two new apps, empowering students and ensuring they are well equipped to make these life-changing decisions which will help them succeed.

Two contracts were awarded to the winners of the Open Data Competition, one to AccessEd for ThinkUni, which offers students a ‘personalised digital assistant’ bringing together data on universities, courses and financial outcomes that are easy to explore and compare.

While The Profs have created TheWayUp!, a game for students to simulate different graduate career paths to help them make better choices about their future. It also aims to help students from disadvantaged backgrounds set aspirational educational and career goals to increase their chances of achieving them.

Both apps are in open beta and are available online from April 2, operating with the latest information on universities in the UK.

This work is part of the Department’s drive to improve transparency around higher education data, ensuring that information is easy to access for everyone going to university.

Statistics published by the government in June 2018 showed which courses and institutions give graduates the best outcomes, in terms of employment, earnings and teaching quality at universities. In addition the OfS published a data dashboard last week which helps students to see gaps in access, continuation, success and progression at institutions for different groups such as gender, ethnicity and disadvantaged backgrounds.

The apps, launched by the Universities Minister today at EdSpace in the Hackney Campus of New City College, come ahead of the Department’s EdTech Strategy which will be launched shortly, which aims to harness the power of technology in education and unleash young people’s potential.