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CIC Regulator’s telephones technical fault
Customers are able to leave a voicemail message but we are unable to call back at present. We would like to apologise for any inconvenience caused during this disruption.
We ask that all enquiries are sent to cicregulator@companieshouse.gov.uk and we will respond within 24-48 hours.
We are hoping the telephone service will be back up and running shortly and will keep you updated via this page and @CICRegulator.
Published 15 March 2018
We are aware of a traveller who has returned from Brazil with yellow fever. Yellow fever does not pass from person to person, you usually only get infected by being bitten by a mosquito that carries the virus. Such mosquitoes are not found in the UK and so there is no risk to public health here.
There is a risk of yellow fever transmission in parts of the tropical and sub-tropical regions of Africa and South and Central America (including Trinidad). It does not occur in the UK, Europe, Asia, Australia, New Zealand or the Pacific Islands.
A highly effective vaccine is available for people travelling to areas where yellow fever transmission is reported or where yellow fever vaccination is a condition of entry under the International Health Regulations (2005). Vaccines should be administered at least 10 days prior to travel and provides lifelong protection. The vaccine can only be administered in registered yellow fever vaccination centres; a list of yellow fever vaccination centres in England, Wales and Northern Ireland is available on the Yellow Fever Zone website. For travellers in Scotland, details of centres can be found on the Health Protection Scotland website.
If you’re travelling to an area where yellow fever transmission is reported, you should try to avoid mosquito bites, even if you’ve been vaccinated. This includes wearing loose-fitting clothing with long sleeves and trousers; wearing insect repellent on exposed areas of the skin, and using mosquito nets while sleeping. Mosquitoes can also spread other serious illnesses, such as malaria, dengue, chikungunya and Zika.
There has been a surge of human cases of yellow fever in Brazil since December 2017. Other cases of yellow fever in unvaccinated travellers who travelled to risk areas in Brazil have also been reported recently. This resurgence of yellow fever virus circulation in Brazil highlights the importance of seeking pre-travel advice and, if appropriate, vaccination before travelling to Brazil even if you didn’t need vaccine previously.
If you have recently returned from Brazil and have any symptoms, such as fever or flu-like illness, you should seek medical advice and make sure your doctor knows your travel history.
Improvements to application and billing processes are set to be made on 20 March 2018.
Changes are being made to make it easier to apply and bill for criminal legal aid work to reduce the number of rejected applications.
The improvements will be made on 20 March 2018 and affect:
Help buttons and guidance notes added to help providers see the information required before financial assessments can be carried out.
New fields to allow providers to explain client’s circumstances in more detail, e.g. when the client’s outgoings exceed their income.
Additional tick boxes added to help explain why a client may not be declaring any income e.g. “living with parents”, “living on the streets” and “supported by friends”
We hope these changes will make it easier for providers to see the information we need to process your applications quickly and easily.
This should reduce the number of rejected applications and save time and money for both providers and the Legal Aid Agency.
Please refer to the guidance document for more information.
Legal aid crime eForm guidance – to view supporting guidance
Published 15 March 2018
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Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Michael Gove, has appointed Catherine Dugmore as Chair of the Audit, Risk, Assurance Committee and Lord Blencathra, Professor Sue Hartley, Henry Robinson and Marian Spain to the Board of Natural England.
The appointments will take effect from 12 March 2018 for three years.
Board members provide non-executive leadership challenge and support to the executive through regular Board meetings, committees and groups. They also undertake individual lead roles on relevant issues and with local operational teams.
All appointments to the Natural England Board are made on merit and political activity plays no part in the selection process. The appointments comply with the Ministerial Governance Code on Public Appointments.
Natural England is a non-departmental public body, set up under the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006. Its remit is to ensure the natural environment is conserved, enhanced and managed for the benefit of present and future generations.
There is a requirement for appointees’ political activity (if significant) to be declared during the past five years. The Rt. Hon. the Lord Blencathra has declared that he speaks publically, generally in support of Conservative policies, in the House of Lords and that he usually votes with the Government. The other four Board members have not declared any significant political activity during the past five years.
Natural England Board Members receive £11,808 per annum based on a time commitment of 36 days. As Chair of the Audit, Risk, Assurance Committee Catherine Dugmore will receive £14,760 per annum based on a time commitment of 45 days.
Catherine is a qualified Chartered Accountant, from 1988 to 2002 Catherine worked at PricewaterhouseCoopers latterly as an audit partner based in Johannesburg. Catherine is currently a Trustee of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and WWF-UK. She has worked in the NHS since 2012 and currently holds a non-executive role at Hertfordshire Partnership Foundation Trust. She was formerly Vice Chair and Trustee of Action for Children and Chair of Victim Support.
Lord Blencathra is a Member of the House of Lords where he chairs a Select Committee and has been appointed to the Council of Europe. He was formerly Minister of State at the Home Office and a Minister at the Department of the Environment in the 1990s. At the Earth Summit in Rio in 1992 he led for the UK and launched the Darwin Initiative. He formerly represented England’s largest rural constituency as the Member of Parliament for Penrith and The Border. Lord Blencathra has multiple sclerosis and uses a wheelchair.
Sue is Professor of ecology at the University of York and Director of the York Environmental Sustainability Institute, a pioneering interdisciplinary research partnership generating solutions to global environmental challenges. She served as President of the British Ecological Society (2016-2017) and she is a Trustee of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. In 2009 she delivered the Royal Institution Christmas Lectures, becoming only the fourth woman to do since they began in 1825.
Henry has farmed in the Cotswolds since 1978. He has had various roles at the Country Land & Business Association (CLA), from joining the CLA Council representing Gloucestershire in 1999, to stepping down as President in 2015. He is also currently a trustee of two large estates, Chairman of The Deer Initiative, a Trustee of the Hawk and Owl Trust and Chairman of Trustees at Rendcomb College.
Marian is Chief Executive of Plantlife International, the UK’s leading wildplant conservation charity, a role she took up in 2014. She is also a Secretary of State appointed Member of the New Forest National Park Authority. She was formerly Ofwat’s Senior Director of Policy and Communications (2010-13) and Director of Strategy at the Energy Saving Trust (2007-10). Prior to that she worked for the Environment Agency and also held a number of roles at the Countryside Agency.