News story: New environment law to deliver a Green Brexit

A new Environmental Principles and Governance Bill will ensure environmental protections will not be weakened as we leave the EU, the government has confirmed.

A consultation has started today on the contents of the Environmental Principles and Governance Bill, which will establish a world-leading body to hold government to account for environmental outcomes.

The body will support our commitment to be the first generation to leave our environment in a better state than that in which we inherited it. It will provide scrutiny and advice as we protect and enhance our precious landscapes, wildlife and natural assets and would be able to hold government to account on environmental legislation.

Subject to consultation, the new body could specifically be responsible for:

providing independent scrutiny and advice on existing and future government environmental law and policy;
responding to complaints about government’s delivery of environmental law; and
holding government to account publicly over its delivery of environmental law and exercising enforcement powers where necessary.

The Government is also consulting on its intention to require ministers to produce – and then have regard to –a statutory and comprehensive policy statement setting out how they will apply core environmental principles as they develop policy and discharge their responsibilities. Currently environmental decisions made in the UK – from improving air and water quality to protecting endangered species – are overseen by the European Commission and underpinned by a number of these principles, such as the precautionary principle, sustainable development and the ‘polluter pays’ principle.

While these principles are already central to government environmental policy, they are not set out in one place besides the EU treaties. The new Environmental Principles and Governance Bill will ensure governments continue to have regard to important environmental principles through the policy statement, which would be scrutinised by Parliament. The consultation seeks views on whether or not the principles to be contained in the policy statement should be listed in primary legislation.

Environment Secretary Michael Gove said:

As the Prime Minister has made clear, we will not weaken environmental protections when we leave the EU. A new Environmental Principles and Governance Bill will ensure core environmental principles remain central to government policy and decision-making. This will help us to deliver a Green Brexit and the vision set out in our 25 Year Environment Plan.

But we will only achieve our aims by also creating a strong and objective voice that champions and enforces environmental standards. That’s why our Environmental Principles and Governance Bill will also create an independent and statutory watchdog. This will hold governments to account for delivering their commitments to the natural world.

The consultation, which will run for 12 weeks, seeks views on the most effective way for the new body to hold government to account, which would include, as a minimum, the power to issue advisory notices. The consultation asks what further enforcement mechanisms may be necessary.

The Environmental Principles and Governance Bill will be published in draft in the autumn. Public consultation on the environmental principles policy statement will follow in due course. The Bill will be introduced early in the second session of this Parliament, ensuring these measures are introduced in time for the end of the implementation period in December 2020. EU environmental governance structures will continue to apply during the implementation period.

The consultation is concerned with environmental governance in England and reserved matters throughout the UK, for which the UK government has responsibility. However, we are exploring with the devolved administrations whether they wish to take a similar approach. We would welcome the opportunity to co-design proposals with them to ensure they work across the whole UK, taking account of the different government and legal systems in the individual nations.

Background

You can respond to our consultation on the Citizen Space website
Read ‘A Green Future: Our 25 Year Plan to Improve the Environment’

Press release: Budget 2018 and Industrial Strategy priorities for Wales

Capitalising on the Industrial Strategy and Wales’ key priorities for Budget 2018 will top the agenda at a meeting of Welsh business representatives and the UK Government in Wales in Cardiff today (10 May).

Secretary of State for Wales Alun Cairns will welcome members of his Economic Advisory Board to Caspian Point where they will explore how the positive impact of the Industrial Strategy can be maximised in Wales. Discussions will focus particularly on exploring Sector Deals, cross-border growth opportunities, removing barriers to innovation and developing new trade and investment deals to increase exports.

Welsh Secretary Alun Cairns said:

The Industrial Strategy is a vital part of the UK Government’s plan to drive growth across the whole of the United Kingdom and create more high-skilled, high paid jobs and opportunities.

New Sector Deals, growth corridors and investment in research and development are set to support the industries of the future where the UK – and Wales in particular – has the potential to lead the world. I’m keen to hear how our key businesses leaders feel Wales can play to its strengths and capitalise on the benefits to be had from embedding the Strategy firmly into our growth plans.

The Economic Advisory Board provides the UK Government with a platform to hear first-hand how businesses in Wales are faring on the ground, to hear their views on how UK Government policy is benefiting them, and what more can be done to support their ambitions for growth.

Today’s meeting will also provide the opportunity to share ideas on the measures the Welsh business community would like to see included in the Budget when it is announced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Autumn.

The Secretary of State will share the proposals with the Treasury for consideration in the run up to the fiscal event later this year.

Alun Cairns added:

Since 2010, the UK Government has been implementing robust measures to help rebuild the Welsh economy.

From the commitment to abolish the Severn Crossing tolls to the City and Growth Deals that span the country, these are firm statements of our intent to boost Wales’ prosperity.

But there is still more work to be done. As we look ahead to the Chancellor’s Budget, it is important for me to have the opportunity to hear the type of policy proposals business representatives in Wales would like the UK Government to consider to further stimulate our economy.

I will be particularly interested to hear their views on the main barriers to growth and what they feel key infrastructure priorities should be. I will be sharing the outcome of these discussions with the Chancellor of the Exchequer to ensure the voice of the Welsh business community is heard loud and clear in Westminster.

News story: Finding explosives hidden in electrical items collaboration event

This event will enable the winning suppliers from the competition to showcase their research proposals to end users, government and other organisations. The outcome of this event is to enable future collaboration between organisations to enable these innovative ideas to be developed and integrated into working products. We are interested to understand if you are a company working in this area or whether you would like to hear about exciting new developments in this field.

Finding explosives in electrical items programme

In March 2017, the UK introduced a ban on large electronic devices in the cabin of UK-bound aircraft from certain airports in the Middle East and North Africa. Restrictions like these are of great concern to the aviation industry, and equally to passengers. Stopping passengers from travelling with electrical items can have a huge impact on personal and business activity.

Background to the competition

The competition is seeking to help the UK Government, Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and the aviation industry to improve aviation security processes, by staying ahead of evolving threats whilst reducing delays at checkpoint screening. The suppliers which have now been funded as part of the competition process, could provide an alternative to imposing bans on electrical items or implementing additional laborious screening measures.

To register

The event is taking place on Thursday 7 June 2018 in London. If you would like to register your expression of interest to attend, please reply to accelerator@dstl.gov.uk by Thursday 24 May 2018 at 1pm, with the subject title of ‘FASS Collaboration day 7 June 2018’ stating the following information:

name of attendee
organisation
why you would like to attend

Successful applicants will then be sent a link to register for attendance. Please note that if the event is oversubscribed, we will have to limit the number attending from a single organisation. Joining instructions for the event, including the venue details and agenda will be distributed on Thursday 31 May 2018.

Press release: HR boss banned after diverting insurance pay-out into personal bank account

Dean Jacobs, 29 of Birmingham, was the sole director of L & H Construction Limited, a specialist recruitment company helping people in the mechanical and electrical industries find new work.

But after trading for a little over two and a half years, the business ran into difficulties and L & H Construction entered into administration on 4 January 2017 after HMRC presented a winding up petition for an outstanding tax bill. Upon administration, L & H Construction owed creditors close to £800,000.

Insolvency practitioners were brought in to deal with the administration but Dean Jacobs failed to cooperate with their investigations.

Administrators were then made aware that L & H Construction was awarded an insurance settlement and when asked where the money had gone, Dean Jacobs could not provide any explanation of what he did with the funds.

Further investigations by the Insolvency Service found that despite being fully aware that L & H Construction had stopped trading and owed money to creditors, Dean Jacobs diverted £60,000 from an insurance settlement straight into his personal bank account.

As a result, on 16 April 2018 the Secretary of State accepted a disqualification undertaking from Dean Jacobs. The ban became effective from 7 May 2018 and he is now banned from directly or indirectly becoming involved, without the permission of the court, in the promotion, formation or management of a company for 10 years.

Susan MacLeod, Chief Investigator of Insolvent Investigations, Midlands & West at the Insolvency Service, said:

Dean Jacobs put his own interests ahead of the company’s creditors and the timing of the funds he took from the insurance settlement showed a cynical disregard to those creditors.

Directors who put their own personal financial interest above those of creditors damage business confidence. We will take action against directors who do not take their duties seriously and abuse their position and they will therefore lose the privilege of limited liability trading.

Dean Jacobs date of birth is February 1989 and he is known to have resided in Birmingham.

L & H Construction Limited (CRO No.09278805) was incorporated on 24 October 2014 and traded from Birmingham as a provider of specialist recruitment in the mechanical and electrical industry.

Dean Jacobs was the sole registered director from 25 October 2015 until the company went into administration on 4 January 2017. The estimated deficiency as regards creditors and shareholders was £799,361.

On 16 April 2018 the Secretary of State accepted a Disqualification Undertaking from Dean Jacobs, effective from 07 May 2018, for a period of 10 years. The matters of unfitness that were accepted were that:

On/after 06 December 2016, Dean Jacobs caused an insurance settlement due to L & H Construction Limited in the sum of £60,000 to be paid into his own personal bank account at a time when he knew L&H was insolvent and as a result creditors suffered a loss.

Disqualification

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 (England and Wales)

The Insolvency Service, an executive agency sponsored by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), administers the insolvency regime, and aims to deliver and promote a range of investigation and enforcement activities both civil and criminal in nature, to support fair and open markets. We do this by effectively enforcing the statutory company and insolvency regimes, maintaining public confidence in those regimes and reducing the harm caused to victims of fraudulent activity and to the business community, including dealing with the disqualification of directors in corporate failures.

BEIS’ mission is to build a dynamic and competitive UK economy that works for all, in particular by creating the conditions for business success and promoting an open global economy. The Criminal Investigations and Prosecutions team contributes to this aim by taking action to deter fraud and to regulate the market. They investigate and prosecute a range of offences, primarily relating to personal or company insolvencies.

The agency also authorises and regulates the insolvency profession, 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 7596 6187 or 020 7637 6498

You can also follow the Insolvency Service on:

News story: Japanese nuclear specialists will learn from UK expertise

Representatives from the Japan Atomic Energy Authority (JAEA) visited Dounreay and Sellafield to learn more about the nuclear decommissioning and hazard reduction programmes, and to find out if the UK’s nuclear innovation could be used at sites in Japan.

Dounreay – in Caithness, Scotland – is the former centre of fast reactor research and development, and is one of the UK’s most complex nuclear decommissioning projects.

Sellafield, which has been at the forefront of the UK’s nuclear industry for several decades, is now making significant progress in cleaning up the legacy from the earliest days of nuclear.

Dr Adrian Simper, the NDA’s Strategy and Technology Director, said:

These visits are an important part of the work being done by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA), its subsidiary International Nuclear Services, and the Department for International Trade to highlight the UK’s nuclear decommissioning expertise to overseas customers.

The work being done on the NDA sites is pioneering the way nuclear facilities are decommissioned all over the world and showcases the unique expertise that is on offer within the UK’s nuclear supply chain.

Cockermouth-based Createc has recently won a Queen’s Award for Enterprise for its work on nuclear decommissioning projects in Japan and the United States. Createc produced radiation mapping equipment, developed for use at Sellafield, which has gone on to be used in the damaged Fukushima reactor.