Author Archives: HM Government

Introduction

With permission, Mr Speaker, I should like to make a statement on the independent Recovery Taskforce that is working with the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea in the wake of June’s tragic fire at Grenfell Tower.

The people of North Kensington have been failed by those who were supposed to serve them.

They were failed by a system that allowed the fire to happen.

And they were failed once again by a sluggish and chaotic response in the immediate aftermath.

It was clear that if RBKC was to get a grip on the situation and begin to regain the trust of residents it would have to change and change quickly.

That started with a change in leadership of the council, new senior officers, and new support brought in from other councils, and central government.

To ensure that this translated into better service for the victims and people of North Kensington and assure me that the council would be capable of delivery, I announced on 5 July 2017 that I was sending in a specialist independent Taskforce.

The Taskforce is made up of experts in housing, in local government, public services and community engagement.

I deliberately appointed independent-minded individuals who would not hesitate to speak their minds.

I have now received the first report from the Taskforce, reflecting on its first 9 weeks on the ground.

The report has been shared with the Rt Hon Gentleman opposite.

And I will be placing copies in the library of the House, and it will be published in full on GOV.UK.

Green shoots

It is clear from the report that progress is being made. That much-needed change has happened and continues to happen. That the council today is a very different organisation from the one that failed its people so badly back in June.

And the Taskforce is satisfied that RBKC under its new leadership recognises the challenges it faces and is committed to delivering a comprehensive recovery programme. For that reason, they do not see any practical advantage for a further intervention at this time, which would risk further disruption.

Room for improvement

But while the green shoots are there, the report pulls no punches about the fact that there is still significant room for improvement.

The Taskforce has identified 4 key areas in which the council need to step up.

The first is pace. The speed of delivery needs to be increased, more work needs to be done more quickly.

The second area is innovation. The scale and impact of the fire was unprecedented in recent history but RBKC is relying too much on tried-and-tested solutions that are not up to the task. The council should be much bolder in its response.

The third area is skills. Too many of the officers and councillors working on the response lack specialist training in how to work with a traumatised community. This needs to change.

And the final area, arguably the most important going forward, is a need for greater empathy and emotional intelligence. The people of Grenfell Tower, Grenfell Walk and the wider community have already suffered so much.

Yet the Taskforce has heard too many accounts of that suffering being compounded by bureaucratic processes that are not appropriate. When so many deeply traumatised men, women and children have complex individual needs.

So a greater degree of humanity must be put at the heart of all of RBKC’s recovery work.

I have discussed these recommendations with the council’s leadership and they have accepted them all without question. Culture change is never quick or easy to achieve in any organisation. But I am in no doubt that the leadership and staff of RBKC genuinely want to do better. It is their community too, and they desperately want to help it heal.

I am particularly encouraged that the council are now drawing on NHS expertise to secure specific training for those front-line staff responsible for providing direct support to the survivors.

I have assured the council that I will continue to support them in building capacity. However, I have also made it clear that my support will not be uncritical or unqualified. I expect to see swift, effective action to deal with all the issues highlighted in the report. I am not taking any options off the table if progress is not made, and I shall continue to monitor the situation closely.

Meetings

Until now, one aspect of that monitoring has involved weekly meetings, chaired by myself, that bring together ministers from across government and senior colleagues from RBKC.

Although these have proved effective, the Taskforce expressed concern that meeting so often is beginning to become counter-productive the time required to prepare properly is cutting into the time available for frontline work.

As a result, the report recommends that we meet less often. I have accepted this recommendation. However, let me reassure the House that this does not mean our priorities are shifting elsewhere or that the level of scrutiny is being reduced.

It is simply a matter of ensuring time and resources are focused to the maximum on those affected by the fire.

Rehousing

One area to which the House knows I have been paying particularly close attention is the rehousing of those who lost their homes in the fire.

Whilst I have always been clear that rehousing must proceed at a pace which represents the needs, wants and situations of survivors, I have been equally adamant that bureaucratic inertia must not add delay.

Clearly some progress is being made.

The latest figures that I have from RBKC are that 122 households out of a current total of 204 have accepted an offer of either temporary or permanent accommodation. 73 of these have now moved in, of which 47 households have moved into temporary accommodation, and 26 households have moved into permanent accommodation.

However, the report is also clear that that the process is simply not moving as quickly as it should.

RBKC’s latest figures show that 131 Grenfell households still living in emergency accommodation. Behind every one of these numbers there are human faces.

There can be no doubt that there are families who desperately want a new home but for whom progress has been painfully slow.

Almost 5 months after the fire, this must improve. Responsibility for re-homing ultimately lies with RBKC. However, in central government we cannot shy away from our share of responsibility.

I expect the council, in line with the Taskforce’s report, to do whatever is necessary to ensure households can move into settled homes as swiftly as possible.

I will continue to do all I can to ensure this is done.

Conclusion

Mr Speaker, when I announced the creation of the Taskforce, I said it would stay in place for as long as it was needed.

Based on this first report, there is still much to be done, so the Taskforce will remain for the foreseeable future. I have asked the Taskforce to ensure that proper action is taken on all the fronts they identify, and to come back to me in the New Year with a further update, which I will, of course, share with this House.

I must of course thank the 4 expert members of the Taskforce for their tireless efforts:

• Aftab Chughtai,
• Javed Khan,
• Jane Scott,
• and Chris Wood.

Mr Speaker, this weekend I read the Right Reverend James Jones’s excellent report on the appalling experiences of those who lost loved ones in the Hillsborough disaster.

It’s a sobering piece of work reminding us that, and I quote, “the way in which families bereaved through public tragedy are treated by those in authority is in itself a burning injustice”.

We saw that all too clearly in the hours and days after the Grenfell fire.

The clock cannot be turned back, the woeful inadequacies of the early response cannot be undone.

But I can say, once again, that as long as I am in public life, I will do all I can to ensure the failures of the past are not repeated and the people of Grenfell Tower get the help and the support they deserve.

The Hillsborough families had to fight for a quarter of a century to get their voices heard. To be taken seriously. To be treated properly by those in authority.

We cannot allow that to happen again. I will not allow it to happen again.

The Public Inquiry established by the Prime Minister will play the major role but for its part, I am confident that the continued work of the Taskforce will also help ensure that the survivors receive the support and the respect they deserve.

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Mochi Mode from Cardiff (University of South Wales) and Shuttershade Studios from Huddersfield (University of Huddersfield) are the winners of Tranzfuser, a graduate talent competition funded by the Government’s UK Games Fund, that saw startup video game studios from across the country battling it out for grants.

The two winning teams, both receiving £25,000, have joined the prestigious portfolio of professional games development studios working with the UK Games Fund community.

Matt Hancock, Creative Industries Minister, said:

The UK games industry is a fantastic success story and we want to see it continue to grow from strength to strength. The Tranzfuser programme is aimed at identifying and supporting the talented young games developers and the original and innovative games they are producing right here in the UK.

Last year’s Tranzfuser alumni went on to publish their own game and I wish this year’s winners the same success in turning their creativity into a reality for us all to enjoy.

Over the summer, Tranzfuser tasked 23 teams with just ten weeks to take their idea for a great game from concept to playable demo to be showcased in front of 80,000 games fans and a panel of expert judges at the UK’s most popular video games festival, EGX. The teams developed all manner of fun and innovative games, from single-player puzzles to multiplayer room-scale Virtual Reality experiences.

Awarded a grant of £5,000 from UKGF, the teams developed their games with invaluable support provided by a nationwide network of Tranzfuser Local Hubs based at some of the best universities for video game design and development.

Mochi Mode wowed the judges and public alike with their game of bright visuals and simple one touch gameplay that sees players controlling a herd of cows. The setting changes to different locations across the Wild West but the goal is the same: players must guide the herd to safety through a host of colourful obstacles in this fun arcade game.

Laura Wells, Team Leader at Mochi Mode said:

After graduating, it’s tough to know what steps will help you ‘breakthrough’ into the games industry. That was especially true for us with the aspiration to start up our own studio. Tranzfuser has given us guidance at a crucial point of our development. Most importantly, it has allowed us to make a little magic!

Shuttershade Studios is a team of graduates from the University of Huddersfield. The small group of four individuals created a virtual reality game, VR Party Ware, primarily consisting of a collection of various minigames. Players can compete globally through an online leader board system or locally with their own friends in a casual competitive environment.

Marcus Nichols from Shuttershade Studios said:

Winning Tranzfuser has had a life changing effect on both me and the entire Shuttershade Studios team. We’re now able to do our dream jobs which is to have very little sleep but to have a tonne of fun developing our own video games. It’s the most varied job that we’ve all had and we wouldn’t change it for the world.

New for 2017 is the Tranzfuser Accelerator, a unique programme where the runner-up teams from the competition receive tailor-made consultancy packages to give them the best chance of successfully applying to the UK Games Fund.

The UK Games Fund and Tranzfuser are both funded as part of the £4m UK Government programme of games development and talent funding announced in 2016, run by UK Games Talent and Finance Community Interest Company (UKGTF).

Paul Durrant, UKGTF’s founder, said:

All of the teams worked hard after securing their place on Tranzfuser 2017. Each of the 23 teams has put in a huge effort and each has benefitted significantly from real-world learning throughout. The winning teams are the ones that best managed the scope of their projects, had a shared creative objective across the team and better understood the target audience for their particular games.

ENDS

Notes to Editors:

1. Many startup studios lack the capital to help develop their ideas and attract private investment. Now in its second year, Tranzfuser was created to help bridge that gap and allow developers to take their ideas from the drawing board to production.
2. The Mochi Mode studio is comprised of four members – team leader and designer Laura Wells, programmer Liam Jones, artist Thomas Woodward, animator Amy Baldwin and level designer Kevin Ho. They aim to develop small, engaging games for app markets.
3. Also at the ceremony was an exclusive screening of the first ever Tranzfuser documentary; a broadcast-quality 30 minute long film charting the summer-long competition and the competitor’s journey from applicant to professional games developer.
4. The Tranzfuser competition is unique in being a UK-wide talent programme linked directly to a prototype fund allowing new teams to benefit from grants and peer to peer interaction with a host of other early stage games development companies. 85% of the UK Games Fund and Tranzfuser’s spend to date has been outside London.
5. Teams that secured support from UKGF in the first Tranzfuser in 2016 are now successful studios. Cold Sun Studios and Miracle Tea Studios are both working towards release of their funded projects.
6. Outside of Tranzfuser, the UK Games Fund supports young start-ups who can apply for funding. Companies such as White Paper Games (based in Manchester) and Coatsink (based in Sunderland) are both excelling as established indie games developers.

Additional quotes

Since first being selected for funding, Coatsink has grown significantly with nearly 50 employees in the business and further growth plans to take that number up in the next couple of quarters. Their latest VR title, the critically-acclaimed Augmented Empire, was released in July.

Eddie Beardsmore, Chief Operations Officer at Coatsink said:

Coatsink expanded rapidly over the last year. Due to our current project roster of over a dozen titles – all in various stages of development – we’re looking to employ a further 15 to 20 developers by April next year.

We continue to develop for multiple platforms and recently announced a partnership with Nintendo to bring our much-loved platformer Shu to the Nintendo Switch later this year. The UK Games Fund has provided a huge amount of support for the studio and we wouldn’t be in this amazing position without them.

White Paper Games, a team of graduate colleagues who were supported by YEAR (the predecessor to the UK Games Fund) is doing incredibly well with the imminent release of a much-anticipated game The Occupation.

Pete Bottomley, Co-Founder of White Paper Games said: > Working with the UKGF has been a great experience. The fund afforded us the additional time to push the quality and design of the game which ultimately allowed us to announce it in a strong position. This was instrumental to The Occupation’s early success and interest and without this, I don’t believe we would be in the position we are now. I can’t recommend and praise the fund enough.

The 23 participating teams and hubs this year were:

Teesside Launchpad, Teesside University (North East England)

Fox Byte Games


Futureworks Media School (North West England)

Broken Pixel Studios, Foxtrot 203


University of Bradford* (West Yorkshire) 


Gebba Games


University of Huddersfield, Enterprise Team (West Yorkshire)

Giant Games, Nocturnals, Shuttershade Studios

Sheffield Hallam University (South Yorkshire) 


Final Forge, Inside Out Games, Grim Inc 


Brunel University (London)

A Loaded Teaspoon, Drift, Slime Time Studios

Slime Time Studios 
Eastern Enterprise Hub (South East England) 


IndieByte

Wrexham Glyndwr University (North Wales) 


Ethereal, Round Square Studios, Static Shell Studios 


University of South Wales (South Wales) 


Mochi Software, Dark Planet Studios 


Filthy Fresh 
Northern Ireland Screen (Northern Ireland) 


No Piknik


Abertay University (East Scotland)

Pocket Sized Hands

Glasgow Caledonian University (West Scotland)

Pioneer Games

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Alun Cairns has today (6 Nov) delivered a clarion call to Welsh businesses, urging them to seize UK Government support and take a leap into the world of innovation.

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The Environment Agency’s field team, along with support from Hereford & Worcester Fire and Rescue Service, Bewdley Town Council and other partners, will be testing out the deployment of temporary flood barriers and the local community flood plan.

The exercise, which will start at 09:00am, will provide an opportunity to test our barrier deployment plan and procedures in this training exercise. We will be testing our working arrangements with partners and the local Community Flood Group, so the barriers can be quickly and safely erected when needed during a flood, with minimum disruption to residents and businesses.

Pedestrians and traffic will be unable to use this section of road and pathway between Millside Court to where it joins with Kidderminster Road, via the Stourport Road. Access to Bewdley Bridge and the town will remain fully accessible by using the Kidderminster Road.

Mark Bowers, Flood Risk Manager said:

This is a test of our operational equipment and local community flood plan. Although we have carried out numerous barrier deployment exercises at our training depots, doing it on location will give our field team invaluable experience.

It’s important to remember that we can never protect 100% against flooding, and we can’t guarantee that specific communities will always have access to temporary barriers.

Local residents and businesses should be prepared by checking their flood risk, signing up to flood warnings and finding out what they can do to protect themselves and their property by visiting the Prepare for Flooding page on GOV.UK or calling Floodline on 0345 988 1188.

Nick Farress, Bewdley Town Council Clerk added:

This will be a vital practice run to test our new community led flood plan which has been developed to support the Environment Agency in retaining the temporary barrier at Beale’s Corner. The Town Council are very grateful to our band of volunteers who have put themselves forward to help with this vital work”.

The temporary barrier deployment is also being supported by Hereford & Worcester Fire and Rescue Service who is a key partner in the project. Wyre Forest Station Commander, Daryl Justice, said:

Our involvement with the Bewdley Flood Barrier response is new arrangement that will see our Firefighters add even more value to the Wyre Forest community.

When flooding is predicted our on-call firefighters will be given a period of notice which will minimise the impact on their primary employment and, although deployed under the direction of the Environment Agency, they will remain available for life threatening emergencies.

This is one of the first initiatives of its type in the UK and is a great example of how fire crews can add value in other areas. It also supports Hereford & Worcester Fire and Rescue Service’s wider vision of ‘Saving More Lives’.

Environment Agency staff and Community Flood Group members will be available during the exercise to provide the public with information about access restrictions, alternative routes and general flood advice. The exercise is likely to conclude around 13:00pm.

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