Speedy innovation

Eighteen months from novel idea to working prototype is quick by any standard. And ‘quick’ is not often a term applied to government. However, that is exactly what the Future of Aviation Security Solutions (FASS) programme has achieved. FASS is a cross government collaborative programme with investment of more than £3m from the Department for Transport (DfT) and Home Office for finding and funding new, innovative aviation security capabilities. This month marks the completion of ‘Phase 2’ of the programme, a significant milestone, with eight funded projects showcasing their innovation progress to potential investors, customers and decision makers at a recent event in London.

Working closely with the DfT FASS team, I have had the privilege to drive the programme milestones and support the development of these projects as the Competition Delivery Manager for the Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA). Together, we have sought to harness novel aviation security innovation, accelerating defence and security solutions to keep UK airports one step ahead of potential threats.

Developing innovation for airport efficiencies

The FASS programme aims to improve aviation security and, at the same time, decrease passenger and staff inconvenience. For example, one of our funded projects, Sequestim has developed a super-sensitive, walk-through scanner allowing passengers to keep their outer clothes on whilst continuing to move through the scanner. A recent live trial at Cardiff Airport demonstrated the ability of the scanner to substantially increase passenger throughput, which has obvious advantages for passengers in the reduced queuing times at airport security checks.

Another project, Scanna has developed a sensor pad that can detect explosives hidden in shoes, this could mean that, in the near future, passengers won’t need to remove their shoes whilst queuing at security. And it’s not just shiny new technologies we are interested in, we’ve funded the University of Cambridge to look at behavioural change in security staff and educating them to spot non threats and threats using smarter scanning techniques to speed up the process.

I am excited by working at such pace and being creative to find solutions that support the FASS team goals. The Aviation sector is vital for UK industry and tourism and contributes significantly to the economy. With passenger numbers increasing every year, it is more important than ever to employ the latest innovations to improve efficiencies. The bespoke service we offer the FASS team ensures that the ideas that we find and fund, offers world-leading innovations in Aviation Security.

Collaboration

The Showcase event provided the environment for collaboration between innovators, industry, academia and government. Rich discussions took place in the presentations, workshops and during the networking opportunities. The smaller companies benefitting particularly from business development advice, whilst creative solutions were being deliberated by innovative minds from across all sectors. Collaboration and communication is key for the next stage of success and whilst innovation can present risk, it can also bring tremendous rewards. And the reward of ‘passenger safety’ couldn’t be higher.

About Tracey

Tracey worked for 9 years in the manufacturing industry, before moving to the Education sector where she spent 16 years in a variety of schools, roles and responsibilities, including Head of Science and Assistant Head Teacher. She joined DASA as Delivery Manager in August 2018.

The MOD Medals and Records Offices, part of DBS, are to attend the following family history shows during 2020

The Family History Show South West, UWE Bristol, 8 Feb

Family Tree Live, Alexandra Palace, London, 17-18 Apr

The Family History Show York, York Racecourse, 20 Jun

The Genealogy Show, NEC Birmingham, 26 – 27 Jun

The Family History Show London, Kempton Park, 26 Sept

The show will be attended by family historians, societies and genealogical organisations. The MOD stand, will be staffed by a DBS team, with colleagues from the Air Historical Branch and Restore plc.

They will offer:

Live post 1921 service record search facility

The MOD continues to hold all service records where the individual had a discharge date of post 1921, these total around 10 million records, with about 500,000 having seen service in World War 1. An assisted search facility will be offered that will in many cases enable confirmation of whether the MOD holds a record for an individual. This information can then be used to apply for the record at the event, or by using the forms on Gov.uk. To assist the search, some or all the following information is required: surname, initials, date of birth and service number.

Requesting a Service Record

The MOD are planning to offer an online service where requests for the military service record of deceased service personnel can be placed. An online payment of £30 will be taken when the order is placed. The MOD will need sight of the individual’s death certificate if the date of birth is not over 116 years ago ie 1904 or before. For those killed in action, reference to the CWGC database will be accepted as proof of death. So remember to bring your relatives name, date of birth and death certificate! Records will be posted to the requester after the event.

World War 2 RAF casualty packs search facility

RAF casualty packs from World War 2 are being transferred from the MOD to The National Archives. Using the MOD’s archive and cataloguing database, an assisted search facility will enable identification of the pack that may relate to an individual. This information can then be used to either access the pack at The National Archives, or, for those yet to be transferred, apply for details from the pack using the forms on Gov.uk. To assist the search, the following information is required: the name of the individual(s), date of incident and type of aircraft.

Interpretation of service records

If you already have a service record but are unsure what it says or how to interpret it, then DBS experts will be on hand to assist you.

Veterans Badge

If you have previously served in the armed forces and don’t yet have a veterans badge, then you can apply for and, after the required validation has been carried out, be issued with a veterans badge.

The DBS team look forward to seeing you.

The Insolvency Service is warning people to guard their pension savings from investment scammers and negligent trustees.

Since 2015, the Insolvency Service has applied to the courts to wind-up 24 companies that have carried out a form of pension misuse.

The pension misuse varies from convincing people to access their pensions and invest in unregulated schemes to pension trustees not carrying out their duties properly.

The Insolvency Service has estimated that there have been close to 3,750 victims connected to the 24 companies closed down, including both individuals and businesses, having made £202 million worth of contributions.

Consumer Minister Kelly Tolhurst MP said:

Our consumer protection regime is one of the strongest in the world and we are committed to making sure people know their rights. If you are approached to make an investment from your pension, always do your homework and seek independent advice, if necessary, to help you make an informed decision.

Government continues to work closely with the Insolvency Service who are working to clamp down on rogue companies targeting vulnerable people. If you think you might have been a victim, I’d urge you to report it to Action Fraud UK at the earliest opportunity or visit the ScamSmart website for further help.

Victims of pension scams last year lost an average of £91,000 each to fraudsters* and as identified during FCA and TPR’s ScamSmart campaign, common tactics used include cold-calls, offers of free pension reviews and promises of high rates of return.

The government recently announced a ban prohibiting cold-calling in relation to pensions and following the wind-ups of the 24 companies investigated by the Insolvency Service, 8 directors have received a total of 57 years’ worth of directorship disqualifications.

And there are further ongoing investigations to ensure rogue directors are prevented from managing companies.

In one case, four directors of companies involved in the misuse of £57million worth of pension funds were banned for a total of 34 years.

Introducer firms would cold-call people, inviting them to transfer their pension pots into occupational pension schemes. However, the introducers misled clients about their expertise and offered guaranteed returns which they couldn’t deliver. Members’ funds were then largely invested in unregulated investments in storage units which did not yield the level of returns promised to members**.

And following another investigation, Fast Pensions Ltd and five other connected firms were wound-up by the courts in May 2018.

Between 2012 and 2013, 520 people were encouraged to transfer their pension savings from existing providers into one of 15 schemes, with Fast Pensions acting as the sponsoring employer. A total of at least £21 million was invested and people were persuaded to transfer their savings through various methods, including cold calls questioning the performance of their pension funds or offering free pension reviews.

Advice provided was inadequate and advisors also failed to disclose information around returns and the high risk and illiquid nature of the investments made by the schemes, as well as the benefits members would be entitled to***.

To help prevent you from becoming a target for pension abuse, the Insolvency Service recommends:

• Be wary of calls out of the blue. Get the company’s name and establish their credentials using the FCA’s Financial Services Register
• Seek financial guidance or advice before changing your pension arrangements or making investments
• Don’t be rushed or pressured into making any decision about your pension and be wary of promised returns that sound too good to be true

For further information about scams you can visit the ScamSmart website and if you suspect a scam, you can report it to Action Fraud UK.

Further examples of companies being shut down can be found on the Protect your pension microsite.

*£91,000 average lost to scammers sourced from ScamSmart campaign material

** Case study connected to the disqualifications of Karl Dunlop, Stuart Grehan, Ian Dunsford and Stephen Talbot

*** Case study connected to the wind-ups of six pension and finance companies in the high court

Statistics date from 2015 onwards, with figures based on information gathered during investigations by the Insolvency Service.

The Insolvency Service is a member of Project Bloom, a cross-industry initiative created in 2012 and brings together government departments, agencies, regulators, law enforcement bodies and representatives of the pension industry to tackle pension scams.

Further information about the work of the Insolvency Service, and how to complain about financial misconduct, is available.

You can also follow the Insolvency Service on:

[unable to retrieve full-text content]Funding for 17 conservation projects worth more than £3.5 million in the UK Overseas Territories has been announced from the Darwin Plus initiative to deliver commitments in the 25 Year Environment Plan.