Universities will be called on to dramatically improve their mental health offering for students, and will be awarded with a new recognition for meeting new mental health standards.

The Universities Minister Sam Gyimah will announce a new charter that will be developed in partnership with leading charities and Higher Education bodies, outlining the criteria that universities need to meet to gain the recognition, and will call on them to sign up to ‘avoid failing a generation of students’.

It comes on the day that he will host a student mental health summit at the University of the West of England. As part of a new package of measures announced by Sam Gyimah on student mental health:

1. The announcement of a University Mental Health Charter will see the development of new standards to promote student and staff mental health and wellbeing.
2. The set-up of a Department for Education-led working group into the transition students face when going to university, to ensure they have the right support, particularly in the critical in their first year transition.
3. Exploring whether an opt-in requirement for universities could be considered, so they could have permission to share information on student mental health with parents or a trusted person.

Universities Minister Sam Gyimah said:

We want mental health support for students to be a top priority for the leadership of all our universities. Progress can only be achieved with their support – I expect them to get behind this important agenda as we otherwise risk failing an entire generation of students.

Universities should see themselves as ‘in loco parentis’ – not infantilising students, but making sure support is available where required. It is not good enough to suggest that university is about the training of the mind and nothing else, as it is too easy for students to fall between the cracks and to feel overwhelmed and unknown in their new surroundings.

This is not a problem that can be solved overnight, but we need to do a better job of supporting students than is happening at the moment.

Student Minds, the UK’s student mental health charity, will lead a partnership of organisations in the development of the charter. Partners will include the UPP Foundation, Office for Students (OfS), National Union of Students (NUS) and Universities UK.

The Charter’s development, which is supported by a £100,000 grant to Student Minds from the UPP Foundation, the registered charity founded by University Partnerships Programme (UPP), will recognise and reward those institutions that demonstrate making student and staff mental health a university-wide priority and deliver improved student mental health and wellbeing outcomes.

Rosie Tressler, CEO of Student Minds, said:

As the Minister has recognised today, there is much work to be done to ensure that institutions make mental health a strategic priority, supporting the 1 in 4 students and staff experiencing mental ill health and the 4 in 4 with mental health, at universities across the UK.

Student Minds are delighted to have the support of the UPP Foundation and our partners to co-create the University Mental Health Charter with students, and university and health communities. This programme will stretch and reward universities that commit to the improvement required, providing tools and support to help them get there.

Together we will transform the futures of the 2.3 million students that are in Higher Education, whilst equipping the doctors, teachers and business leaders of the future to continue the positive change in wider society.”

Izzy Lenga, Vice President Welfare at NUS:

I am so pleased to support to the launch of this Charter, and specifically the commitment to reach out to underrepresented groups within the student population, to reinforce the importance of having culturally competent support services. Student mental health must be a priority for all institutions and this Charter presents a welcome opportunity for students to co-produce the definition of excellence in the field.

The working group looking at transitions will be based within the Department for Education and the work undertaken will be in tandem with the sector.

They will look at the role universities can play in the often difficult transition from school to university and becoming independent students. It will form a number of recommendations for schools, colleges and universities to adopt.

Sam Gyimah will also outline plans to explore opt-in requirements for universities could be considered, so they could have permission to share information on student mental health with parents or a trusted person.

David Simpson Duffy was the sole director of Annick Structures Ltd (ASL), which traded as a construction and civil engineering company.

ASL was incorporated in 2012 and was ordered into compulsory liquidation in February 2016, following a petition by HMRC.

At liquidation, the company had an estimated deficiency to its creditors of over £900,000.

The investigation by the Insolvency Service, following the conclusion of the liquidation, found that from March 2014 to February 2016, Mr Duffy failed in his duty as a director to preserve or deliver up to the liquidator adequate accounting records for ASL, as he was required to do by law.

The result of which was that it was not possible to verify the true level of income and expenditure to and from the company bank account and specifically:

• whether outstanding loans totalling £308,725 were collected for the benefit of the company or remained outstanding at liquidation
• whether debtor sums totalling almost £35,000 and stock/Work in Progress sums totalling over £582,000 were collected for the benefit of the company
• what the purposes were of transfers totalling £1.8 million and payments totalling £2.5 million related to

This was aggravated further by Mr Duffy’s failure to ensure that ASL prepared and filed annual accounts with Companies House, for the period to 28 February 2015.

Following the Insolvency Service investigation, Mr Duffy signed a six year undertaking, which was accepted on 11 May 2018.

The disqualification commenced on 1 June 2018 and is effective until 1 June 2024 and prevents Mr Duffy from directly or indirectly becoming involved, without the permission of the court, in the promotion, formation or management of a company or limited liability partnership for the duration of his ban.

Robert Clarke, Head of Company Investigation at the Insolvency Service said:

Directors have a duty to ensure that their companies maintain proper accounting records, and, following insolvency, deliver them to the office-holder in the interests of fairness and transparency.

Without a full account of transactions it is impossible to determine whether a director has discharged his duties properly, or is using a lack of documentation as a cloak for impropriety.

Notes to editors

Mr Duffy’s date of birth is June 1974. He was appointed as sole director of ASL on 13 June 2012 and remained in office until the date of liquidation.

Mr Duffy signed a 6 year Undertaking, which was accepted on 11 May 2018. The disqualification commences on 1 June 2018 and is effective until 1 June 2024.

A disqualification order has the effect that without specific permission of a court, a person with a disqualification cannot:

• act as a director of a company
• take part, directly or indirectly, in the promotion, formation or management of a company or limited liability partnership
• be a receiver of a company’s property

Disqualification undertakings are the administrative equivalent of a disqualification order but do not involve court proceedings.

Persons subject to a disqualification order are bound by a range of other restrictions.

The Insolvency Service administers the insolvency regime, investigating all compulsory liquidations and individual insolvencies (bankruptcies) through the Official Receiver to establish why they became insolvent. It may also use powers under the Companies Act 1985 to conduct confidential fact-finding investigations into the activities of live limited companies in the UK. In addition, the agency deals with disqualification of directors in corporate failures, assesses and pays statutory entitlement to redundancy payments when an employer cannot or will not pay employees, provides banking and investment services for bankruptcy and liquidation estate funds and advises ministers and other government departments on insolvency law and practice.

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

Media enquiries for this press release – 020 7674 6910 or 020 7596 6187

You can also follow the Insolvency Service on:

The summit will bring together key figures from business, government and industry to explore new projects and offers that are being developed along the Belt and Road programme.

Baroness Fairhead is the first UK minister to attend and speak at the summit, which is expected to be attended by more than 3,000 people from more than 51 countries on the day.

Whilst at the summit the minister will make the case for London’s financial prowess to be at the heart of the BRI. She will highlight the City’s expertise in working with the public and private sector in emerging markets. This means they are best placed to deliver the high quality services that match the needs of China and other third countries.

Minister of State for the Department for International Trade, Baroness Fairhead, said:

This is my fourth visit to China as a minister and it is clear that there are significant opportunities for British businesses here and along the wider Belt and Road Initiative.

The Department for International Trade is determined to support UK companies who want to make the most of these opportunities through our wide range of export support.

This support includes financial backing from our award-winning export credit agency, UK Export Finance, our in country Trade Commissioner, Richard Burn, and great.gov.uk.

As well as supporting exporters at the event, the UK’s display at the summit will showcase 8 new investment opportunities in the UK with the aim of encouraging investment from Chinese and international businesses.

The government sees China’s flagship Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) as a great opportunity for British businesses who offer high standards and best practice in key BRI sectors. To support this, the Department for International Trade’s export credit agency, UK Export Finance, has made up to £25 billion worth of export support available for UK companies seeking to access key BRI markets.

The UK is already well placed to work with China and third countries on the BRI with British businesses having a strong track record of delivering complex projects in South Asia, the Middle East and Africa. UK firms have led on large scale projects in Hong Kong such as the HK$10 billion midfield concourse at the Hong Kong International Airport which was completed in 2018 by Gammon Construction.

Trade between the UK and China totalled more than £67 billion in 2017, a 13.8% increase compared to the previous year. British exports to the country also increased to £22.2 billion in the same time period (an increase of 32.2%).

• Minister Fairhead’s visit comes following the Silk Road International Expo in May and the Chinese International Industrial Fair in November 2017, both of which saw the UK named ‘Country of Honour’
• the Department for International Trade also hosted the Great Festival of Innovation in Hong Kong in March, which showcased the best of British and Chinese tech over the course of 3 days
• China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is President Xi’s flagship foreign policy and has been enshrined into the Party Constitution during the 19th Party Congress
  • the ‘Belt’ is a series of overland economic corridors from China to Europe
  • the ‘Road’ is maritime trade routes incorporating MENA, South East Asia and East Africa
• the Chinese ‘vision’ is of a more inter-connected region with greater trade, reduced customs barriers, and integration of supply chains
• the Belt and Road Initiative covers 65 countries, accounting for around 63% of the world’s population and 29% of global GDP
• the China Britain Business Council estimates that the UK could gain £1.8 billion per year from greater participation in legal, technical and financial advisory and if international best practices are followed