The first local authority’s local land charges (LLC) data to be available will be Warwick District Council’s.

After this date, anyone requiring LLC searches for property or land in the local authority area of Warwick District Council will be able to get them directly from HM Land Registry.

HM Land Registry is working in partnership with up to 26 local authorities in England over 2018 and 2019 to migrate their LLC data to a central, digital register as part of a phased migration approach. Once the data is migrated, anyone will be able to get instant online search results via GOV.UK and the other HM Land Registry business customer channels; portal and Business Gateway.

The official LLC search provided by HM Land Registry will:

• cost £15 for each search – providing a reduction to the current national average price
• provide guaranteed search results
• provide the full spatial extent of every charge on the search result so the exact area affected by the charge is visible
• provide consistent, clear and accurate search results
• allow instant online search result with 24/7 access to the data – reducing delays in receiving searches
• allow unlimited repeat searches for six months to check for any new charges before completing a transaction
• provide a search history dashboard, giving access to previous searches at any time
• provide secure, tamperproof results

For an overview of the new service, watch our video:

Creating a national Local Land Charges Register

HM Land Registry will be keeping customers informed when each local authority’s LLC records are migrated to the new digital register.

For more information, read about our Local Land Charges programme.

Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) for North Yorkshire Julia Mulligan’s proposal to take on responsibility for North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service has today been approved by the Home Secretary.

The PCC is set to join Roger Hirst of Essex, who became the country’s first police, fire and crime commissioner in October 2017, alongside other PCCs who have had their proposals to take on responsibility for their local fire and rescue services approved. These include Stephen Mold, PCC for Northamptonshire, John Campion, PCC for West Mercia, Matthew Ellis, PCC for Staffordshire, and Jason Ablewhite, PCC for Cambridgeshire.

Through the Policing and Crime Act 2017, the government has introduced a range of measures to drive greater collaboration between emergency services, enabling services to share best practice and become more efficient and effective. This includes enabling PCCs to take on governance of fire and rescue services where a local case is made.

Before submitting her proposal, PCC Julia Mulligan was required to undertake local consultation, considering the views of the public and relevant local stakeholders. As the relevant local authorities in the area did not support the transfer of governance, the Home Secretary commissioned an independent assessment of the PCC’s proposal in November 2017.

The Home Secretary carefully considered the contents of the proposals, consultation materials, the views and representations made by statutory consultees and the PCC responses to them, together with the conclusions of the independent assessment.

The Home Secretary was satisfied the proposals demonstrated that a transfer of governance would be in the interests of economy, efficiency and effectiveness, without having an adverse effect upon public safety. In the interests of transparency, and in line with the provisions of the Policing and Crime Act 2017, the independent assessment has today been published.

One unknown soldier of the Machine Gun Corps (MGC) and 3 unknown soldiers of unknown regiments have finally been laid to rest after they were killed during World War 1. The 4 soldiers were buried earlier today (Wednesday 13 June) at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) Loos British Cemetery, France.

The service, organised by the MOD’s Joint Casualty and Compassionate Centre (JCCC), part of Defence Business Services, was conducted by the Reverend Stephen Pratt CF, Chaplain to the Royal Tank Regiment (RTR). The RTR provided both the bearer and firing party for the ceremony.

Nicola Nash, JCCC said:

It’s a great honour to be here today to lay these brave men to rest, who fought so courageously alongside their comrades. Although we have not been able to identify them, they were still buried with the dignity and respect that they deserved.

The remains were found in December 2016 during construction work in the Vendin-le-Vieil area of northern France. Two MGC shoulder titles and a cap badge were found along with the soldiers, plus numerous items of British Army kit.

Reverend Stephen Pratt CF said:

It was a great privilege to lead the service for 4 unknown soldiers who sacrifices themselves, that we might have freedom.

The heavy branch of the MGC was the first to use tanks in combat during the Battle of the Somme and was subsequently amalgamated into the Tank Corps, later known as the RTR. The RTR is the oldest tank unit in the world and the regiment has been deployed on all major conflicts since the end of World War 2. The RTR recently celebrated their Centenary and are fiercely proud of their history.

Warrant Officer (WO1) Harley Upham, Royal Tank Regiment said:

I am deeply honoured and moved to have been here today. The Machine Gun Corps and Tank Corps is in our DNA. We who are the current custodians of the Regiment and of what came before us, will never forget the sacrifice and immense debt which we all owe to them and especially to all the Officers and Soldiers of the Machine Gun Corps and Royal Tank Regiments who have made this Regiment what it is today.

Mel Donnelly, CWGC said:

Two new headstones, one engraved with ‘Unknown Soldier of Machine Gun Corps’ and one engraved with 3 ‘Unknown Soldiers of the Great War’ have been provided by the CWGC, who will now care for their final resting place in perpetuity.

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The Ministry of Justice (MOJ) is inviting nominations for appointment as Queen’s Counsel (QC) Honoris Causa, also known as honorary silk. Nomination forms must be completed and returned to MOJ by 12pm on Monday 13 August 2018.

The rank of QC is awarded to advocates (barristers and solicitors) who have demonstrated particular skill and expertise in the conduct of advocacy. It has been awarded in various forms for around 400 years. The rank of QC Honoris Causa is separate to these awards and are awarded to lawyers and legal academics that have made a major contribution to the law of England and Wales outside practice in the courts, which has not been recognised through other forms of honours.

Honorary silks were first awarded in the late nineteenth century and it has been the practice for the monarch to appoint a small number of lawyers and legal academics for the honorary silk with each round of substantive QC appointments. The nomination and appointment of QC Honoris Causa is administered separately to the honours system.

Eligibility criteria

In making a nomination you should ensure that your nominee meets the required criteria set out below:

• the award is open only to qualified lawyers and to legal academics
• the individual should have made a ‘major contribution to the law of England and Wales’
• ‘Outside practice in the courts’ will generally mean that the award is made for an achievement other than a person’s normal practice as a lawyer or academic
• QC Honoris Causa is not a ‘working rank’. It cannot be used in practice as a lawyer. QC Honoris Causa cannot be awarded as an alternative to the substantive QC rank for people who, for whatever reason, do not fit its eligibility criteria
• QC Honoris Causa is awarded only to those who have made a major contribution to the law of England and Wales. There is no exact equivalent in Scotland or Northern Ireland. However, this does not mean that achievements of a similar nature cannot be recognised in those jurisdictions. If you would like to nominate someone, whose work is in Scotland or Northern Ireland, for an honour you can contact the Scottish Government or the Honours Secretariat for Northern Ireland.

We recognise that those who are not lawyers or legal academics make equally valuable contributions to public life, and may have done so in similar fields as legally qualified individuals. If you feel a non-legally qualified individual ought to be recognised, you can instead nominate them for an honour.

If someone is nominated for QC Honoris Causa who has been nominated for an honour this year or has already been honoured in the last year, it is very unlikely that their name will be put their name forward for honorary silk.

Please note that anyone nominated may be subject to criminal record checks with ACRO Criminal Records Office.

You can see examples of previous successful nominees by viewing some Case studies of successful nominations (PDF, 109KB, 1 page) .

How to make a nomination

We welcome nominations for QC Honoris Causa from anyone, no matter what your background. If you would like to suggest someone for appointment, please complete the Honorary QC nomination form (MS Word Document, 87KB) .

When completing the form please give as much detail as possible. The more we know about a nominee, the easier it is to assess whether they meet the QC Honoris Causa criteria. If we have only a limited amount of information about someone, it is unlikely that we will be able to recommend them for appointment. You can nominate as many people as you like, but please ensure that you keep their details separate.

You need to complete the nomination form and send it to us by 12pm on Monday 13 August 2018 preferably by email or alternatively post to:

Email: honoraryqc@justice.gov.uk

Please note, we will only accept nominations which are submitted on the nomination form attached to this webpage. Letters of support for a candidate will not be accepted. In cases where more than one person wishes to nominate a single candidate, each individual must send in a separate form for the nominee. This gives a fuller representation of the candidate’s suitability for QC Honoris Causa.

Timing

Please ensure that your nominations reach us no later than 12pm on Monday 13 August 2018. Nominations made after this date cannot be accepted.

Contact us

If you would like additional information on honorary silk or how to make a nomination, please feel free to contact us by email: honoraryqc@justice.gov.uk.