We have updated our application forms to include revised privacy notices following the rollout of new data protection legislation on 25 May 2018.

Which application forms are affected?

All our civil and crime application forms. Also, crime eForms.

Why do we have privacy notices?

Privacy notices set out certain standards which your clients can expect from the Legal Aid Agency regarding personal data.

Among the areas covered are:

• our requests for personal data and the way it is managed

• how to obtain a copy of the personal data we hold

• what to do if your client thinks standards are not being met

Will old forms still be accepted?

Previous versions of these forms will continue to be accepted in the coming weeks so that providers have time to adjust. But we would prefer you to use the new versions.

Show all clients updated privacy notices

Your clients need to be aware of the updated privacy notices. This is especially important if you are submitting the older version of the form.

It means directing your clients to the new privacy notices when you are collecting personal information.

These privacy notices are on the new forms and you can use the links at the end of this article to help you.

CCMS privacy notices

We are working on integrating privacy notices into the Client and Cost Management System (CCMS).

Until this happens CCMS users need to refer to the privacy notice available for download on the supporting guidance page for civil legal aid application forms. This was explained in our news article on 23 May 2018.

Why is this necessary?

These changes are part of a comprehensive review of our processes and systems in response to the new General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR).

What is GDPR?

GDPR legislation came into force on 25 May 2018 and is the biggest change to data protection rules for 20 years. The aim is to harmonise data privacy laws across the European Union.

Keeping you informed

Future updates on GDPR and privacy notices will be published on the legal aid news pages on GOV.UK.

These will include letting you know when the new CCMS privacy notice has been integrated into the system.

Further information

Updated forms:

Civil legal aid application forms

Controlled work application forms

Criminal legal aid application forms

CCMS privacy notice:

Civil legal aid application forms: supporting guidance – to download ‘civil legal aid applications privacy notice’

CCMS news story:

Civil news: use revised privacy notice for CCMS applications – GOV.UK article 23 May 2018

The one-year trial, for the 2018 to 2019 funding year, will enable more eligible adults to access AEB funding.

This will help to increase AEB participation and lift social mobility barriers to learning for those who would not otherwise engage due to course fees being unaffordable. It will also support those who have been motivated to move out of unemployment and are in receipt of a low wage to further progress in work and their chosen career.

The current AEB fee remission rules focus on providing full funding for eligible unemployed adults, young people (aged 19 to 23) with skills below level 2, and adults aged 19 and over, without English and maths up to level 2. Currently individuals who do not fall into one of these categories may have to contribute 50% towards the cost of their learning (commonly known as co-funding).

The new eligibility requirements for learners to receive full funding during the trial are:

• those that are eligible for co-funding, and,
• earn less than £15,736.50 annual gross salary based on the Social Mobility Commission’s low pay threshold of £8.07 (hourly rate in 2016) and on the assumption of a 37.5 hour contract with paid statutory holiday entitlement

To confirm learner eligibility providers must:

• see and keep supporting evidence in the learner file, for example, this could be a wage slip within 3 months of the learner’s learning start date, or a current employment contract, which states gross monthly/annual wages)
• enter the ILR monitoring code (363) for every eligible learner they fully fund through this trial, his is imperative as we will use data collected from this trial to inform future adult funding policy development

We have engaged with representative bodies, Mayoral Combined Authorities and the Greater London Authority, who have been supportive of the trial and it’s aims to make learning more accessible for the low paid.

The rules associated with the trial are in version 1 of the adult education budget (AEB) funding rules 2018 to 2019.

It follows the Competition and Markets Authority’s (CMA) year-long market study into the residential and nursing care home sector in the UK for people over 65. The study found that there is a risk of residents being treated unfairly and that some care homes may potentially be breaching consumer law.

The draft advice sets out what the CMA considers care homes should do to comply with consumer law, including:

• what upfront information they need to provide to prospective residents and their representatives to help them make informed choices
• what they need to do to ensure that their contract terms and the way they treat residents and their representatives are fair
• their obligation to provide services to residents with reasonable care and skill
• what they need to do to ensure that their complaint-handling policies and procedures are easy to find, easy to use, and fair

The CMA is seeking views on the draft advice from a range of interested parties including care homes and their representative bodies, enforcers such as local authority Trading Standards Services and sector regulators. The CMA also welcomes views from residents and their families, charities representing the elderly and consumer groups. The consultation closes on 12 July.

The consultation is part of the CMA’s ongoing consumer protection work in the care home sector. As part of this work, the CMA has also today published its final advice on the charging of fees after a resident’s death following a consultation earlier this year.

Road users not heading to the festival are being advised to seek alternative routes to avoid delays.

About 80,000 people are expected at the three-day festival, being staged from Friday 8 to Sunday 10 June, and surrounding roads are likely to be very busy.

Gates to the campsite open at midday on Wednesday 6 June to allow an expected 60,000 or more campers to spread their arrival times. Up to 20,000 visitors are expected to buy day tickets.

Sarah Redfearn, Highways England’s Emergency Planning Officer for the East Midlands, said:

Major roads and motorways in the area, including the M1, A42, A50 and A453, are likely to be busy.

All routes to the festival will be well signposted, but people travelling in the area should plan their journey in advance.

Festival-goers can check the traffic conditions using our Highways England travel app, or follow us on Twitter @HighwaysEMIDS to check the latest traffic updates before you set out.

Donington Park is located next to East Midlands Airport, four miles west of junction 23a of the M1 and five miles from junction 24. Anyone travelling to the airport should allow plenty of extra travel time for their journey.

Highways England will use electronic message boards on surrounding motorways to advise people of any delays. Extra Traffic Officers are also being deployed for the duration, both in event control and around junction 24 of the M1, to assist motorists, clear incidents quickly and keep traffic moving.

Highways England provides live traffic information via its website, local and national radio travel bulletins, electronic road signs and mobile platforms, such as Android and iPhone apps. Further information is available from the Highways England customer contact centre on 0300 123 5000.

Image supplied by Festival Republic // Download Festival taken by Paulo Gonçalves

General enquiries

Members of the public should contact the Highways England customer contact centre on 0300 123 5000.

Media enquiries

Journalists should contact the Highways England press office on 0844 693 1448 and use the menu to speak to the most appropriate press officer.

The Chancellor, Philip Hammond, today (Thursday 31 May) announced the appointment of Professor Jonathan Haskel as an external member of the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC).

The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Philip Hammond said:

I am delighted that Professor Haskel is joining the MPC. I am confident that his expertise in productivity and innovation will further sharpen the Committee’s understanding of the British economy.

I also want thank Ian McCafferty for his six years of service. His insights from business have been invaluable and I wish him well for the future.

The Governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney said:

I am delighted to welcome Jonathan Haskel to the Monetary Policy Committee and am very much looking forward to working with him. His broad academic experience and the depth of his knowledge on productivity and innovation will be hugely valuable to the Committee as we seek to promote the good of the people of the United Kingdom by maintaining monetary stability.

I would also like to thank Ian McCafferty for his service to the Monetary Policy Committee over the past six years. Our discussions have benefitted greatly from Ian’s profound knowledge of the UK economy and his carefully argued views on monetary policy.

Professor Haskel said:

I’m truly honoured to be nominated to the MPC and to follow Ian McCafferty who has been such a dedicated and hard-working member over the last six years, especially with his work visiting schools. I look forward to contributing to the MPC’s vital role in maintaining the UK’s price stability and communicating its thinking.

As an external member of the MPC, Professor Haskel will hold one of nine votes to decide the future path of UK monetary policy. The MPC meets eight times a year to set monetary policy in line with the objectives set out in its remit.

Professor Haskel will replace Ian McCafferty, who will come to the end of his second term on 31 August 2018.

About Professor Jonathan Haskel

Professor Jonathan Haskel has been appointed as an external member of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Bank of England. He was appointed by the Chancellor following an external appointment process.

Professor Haskel is currently a Professor of Economics at Imperial College Business School, where he will continue to teach part time, and prior to that was Head of the Economics Department at Queen Mary, University of London. He is a Non-Executive Director of the UK Statistics Authority and has expertise in productivity growth, and particularly intangible assets. He recently published Capitalism Without Capital: The Rise of the Intangible Economy, co-authored with Stian Westlake. He received his PhD from the London School of Economics.

About the Monetary Policy Committee

The Monetary Policy Committee makes decisions about the operation of monetary policy. It comprises the Governor of the Bank of England, the three Deputy Governors, one member of the Bank with responsibility in the Bank for monetary policy and four external members who are appointed by the Chancellor. External members may serve up to two three-year terms on the MPC.

With this appointment, the full list of MPC members from 1 September 2018 will be:

• Mark Carney (Governor)
• Ben Broadbent (Deputy Governor, Monetary Policy)
• Sir David Ramsden (Deputy Governor, Markets and Banking)
• Sir Jon Cunliffe (Deputy Governor, Financial Stability)
• Andy Haldane (Executive Director, Monetary Analysis and Chief Economist)
• Professor Silvana Tenreyro (external member)
• Michael Saunders (external member)
• Dr Gertjan Vlieghe (external member)
• Professor Jonathan Haskel (external member)

About the appointment process

Professor Haskel has been appointed following an open recruitment process. Twenty-seven applications for the position were received. A panel comprising Clare Lombardelli and Richard Hughes from HM Treasury and Dame Kate Barker, external member to the MPC from 2001 to 2010, interviewed a number of candidates and made recommendations to the Chancellor, which informed his decision.

The Treasury is committed to appointing a diverse range of people to public appointments, including at the Bank of England. The Treasury continues to work to attract the broadest range of suitable applicants for posts. As part of this recruitment process, the Chief Economic Advisor at the Treasury and chair of the interview panel contacted 87 potential applicants to inform them of the vacancy, of whom 44 were women. There were 27 applications, of which five candidates were interviewed.

The gender breakdown for this appointment is below: