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Author Archives: HM Government

News story: Civil news: checklist for CLA escape fee claim 1 forms

Checklist issued for use with CLA EC-CLAIM 1 on civil escape case billing in CLA cases.

A checklist for CLA escape cases is now available to help ensure you are paid as quickly as possible when billing for work in this area.

We decided to introduce this new checklist for consistency with the approach adopted in the other escape case categories.

Our checklists are relied on by our processing teams and were introduced to try and reduce the number of rejected claims.

But they are also useful for providers because they detail:

  • our requirements
  • documentation we need
  • guidance on form completion and payment rules

Are there any changes to the process?

There are no major changes to the case submission requirements. The introduction of the checklists for CLA escape cases:

  • adds clarity to the process
  • standardises the format and approach for all controlled work escape case claims

How to use checklists

We recommend that the checklists are used as a pre-submission check. If the checklist is correctly used the required information will be submitted for assessment and the matter will not be rejected.

If the checklist is not used and your claim is rejected, you can use the checklist to help ensure that there will be no further rejects.

Further information

EC-Claim 1: escape fee case claim form – to download new civil checklist

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News story: Call for bids – Gender Policy and Programmes Consultancy

The British Consulate General in Jerusalem is seeking bids for a consultancy position focussed on gender issues in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. The consultant will provide policy advice and make recommendations on possible gender-focussed programme interventions for the upcoming financial year, beginning in April 2018.

The successful bidder will be expected to deliver:

  • Quarter 1 of the project: provide detailed recommendations on areas of gender equality policy focus for the Consulate, based on a thorough literature review.

  • Quarter 2 of the project: provide a market analysis of existing gender programme interventions by international and domestic donors in the OPTs.

  • Quarter 3 of the project: provide recommendations for future areas of gender-specific programming for British government’s programme portfolio in the OPTs, including analysis of potential partners’ capabilities.

  • Quarter 4 of the project: provide further recommendations to ensure gender is effectively mainstreamed throughout the BCG programmes portfolio.

During the course of the consultancy, the candidate will also provide advice and support for the Consulate’s participation in International Women’s Day.

The ideal candidate will meet the following criteria:

  • A graduate degree and experience working on development and gender-focussed projects

  • Experience in writing research papers and reports

  • A good knowledge of legal and social issues surrounding gender in the OPTs and surrounding countries

  • Familiarity with organisations active in the field of women’s rights and gender issues.

  • Enthusiastic, self-starter, team-player, knowledgeable about the legal and social environment of the OPTs.

  • Fluent English and Arabic.

  • Able to travel around the West Bank and, ideally, to Jerusalem.

Working arrangements

The successful consultant will mainly work remotely, away from the Consulate, using their own IT and other equipment. However, regular engagement with Consulate staff by telephone and in face to face meetings will be expected.

To apply:

Please send the following to: BritishConsulate-General.JerusalemHR@fco.gov.uk, no later than 23.59pm on Thursday 9 November. Late applications will not be considered.

  • An up to date Curriculum Vitae which is no longer than three pages in length and includes two referees.

  • A statement of suitability, no longer than one page in length.

  • An example of previous written work. This could include relevant research or other policy work.

  • An activity based budget. This should break down the costs of the consultancy by activity in as much detail as possible. The budget should also indicate in what month of the consultancy the expenditure is expected to occur.

  • A short narrative accompaniment to the activity based budget, explaining how activity lines relate to the overall deliverables.

It is anticipated that the maximum budget for the consultancy will be £19,000, with a maximum duration of four months. The budget should cover all anticipated costs, such as transportation.

Short listed candidates will be invited to a short telephone interview on Thursday 16 November, with the selected candidate expected to start work on Monday 20 November.

On appointment, the successful candidate will be provided with a copy of the Consulate’s internal gender sensitivity review of our existing programme portfolio.

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News story: Level 4 & 5 technical education to be reviewed

The Department for Education has today (31 October) confirmed its intention to conduct a review into higher level technical education.

The review will look across Level 4 & 5 education, focusing on how technical qualifications at this level can better address the needs of learners and employers.

This includes ensuring that learners can progress from the government’s new T Levels, and other full time education, into the workplace. It will also consider how these qualifications work for those in the workforce looking to upskill or retrain.

Employers, providers, learners, and others with expertise in this area will all feed into the review, which is part of the Government’s commitment to support routes to higher-earning technical roles and address the skills needs of the economy.

It follows the recent announcement of the first T level subjects that will be taught from 2020.

Apprenticeships and Skills Minister Anne Milton said:

High quality technical education helps young people and adults get into new, fulfilling and better paid careers. That’s good for them and good for our economy. This is the way we build a better, higher skilled workforce.

We are already taking steps to improve technical education with investment in apprenticeships and the creation of T levels. This review is the next logical step in that process.

Further Information

This review builds on the Post-16 Skills Plan, the recommendations of the Sainsbury Panel, and will be shaped by the Technical and Further Education Act 2017 and Higher Education Research Act 2017.

The review covers the whole of Level 4 and 5 education, with a particular focus on technical qualifications.

Stakeholders can engage with us by contacting Level4-5.Team@education.gov.uk

Level 4 qualifications are:

  • certificate of higher education (CertHE)
  • higher national certificate (HNC)
  • level 4 award
  • level 4 certificate
  • level 4 diploma
  • level 4 NVQ

Level 5 qualifications are:

  • diploma of higher education (DipHE)
  • foundation degree
  • higher national diploma (HND)
  • level 5 award
  • level 5 certificate
  • level 5 diploma
  • level 5 NVQ
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News story: Changes to the trade mark search tool

Through our commitment to continuous improvement, we’ve made a few additional enhancements.

Earlier this year, as part of ongoing work to our digital services, we implemented changes to our online trade mark search service. The functionality of the three search options stayed the same, but their look and style was changed, especially to the search by word, phrase and or/ image. We introduced tabs to categorise details with the option to also ‘display content without tabs’.

Your feedback informed us that having the search pages default to the tab based layout, resulted in not enough information being shown. This added additional clicks to the user journey meaning it took longer to find information.

To rectify this, if you choose to ‘display content without tabs’, your browser will now remember your choice on your next visit. You can also revert back to ‘displaying content with tabs’ at any time. Additionally, we have made the following changes:

  • selecting ‘Open all’ will expand all the case classes and terms – your browser will remember your choice on your next visit

  • you will now have the ability to copy and paste the trade mark logo / text if you choose to ‘display content without tabs’

  • when displaying content without tabs, series marks are displayed vertically on a single page

  • selecting ‘New search’ from the trade mark case details page will now return you to the ‘Search for a trade mark’ start page, enabling you to select a different search method.

  • when you start a new search from the ‘Search for a trade mark’ start page your browser will now clear all the terms you entered for a previous search

We would welcome your feedback

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