Damien will begin his new role on Monday 17 October, which follows the current MCA Chief Executive Brian Johnson’s retirement.

Chairman and board member Christopher Rodrigues said:

Damien has had a number of high-profile roles within the MCA since joining in 2001 and he will bring a wealth of maritime experience and knowledge.

Damien has been responsible for major projects and programmes, procurement, commercial management and innovation, maritime business development which includes the UK Shipping Register and Shipping Concierge within the MCA.

More recently, he has led on the programme to replace the current Coastguard aviation arrangements with the second-generation search and rescue aviation contract (UKSAR2G). And also been in charge of the project to replace the radio network infrastructure for HM Coastguard”.

I am delighted that Damien Oliver will be fulfilling the role of interim Chief Executive, he will help us to maintain the momentum achieved under Brian’s leadership.

I wish Damien every success in this vital role.

Damien Oliver said:

It is a great privilege to be appointed as interim CEO of the MCA. I am very much looking forward to leading the Agency through the coming months.

Transport Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan said:

Damien has achieved great things during his impressive career with the agency to date, and I look forward to seeing the direction he gives to the organisation as interim Chief Exec.

The UK’s maritime industry is among the most advanced in the world, but growth is still so important. We’ll continue working together to build a more environmentally-friendly sector, support job creation, and promote the UK flag around the globe.

Local areas’ multi-agency arrangements for helping children and families early will be the focus of upcoming thematic JTAIs carried out by Ofsted, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS), starting in November 2022.

These JTAIs will consider how different agencies across children’s social care, education, health, and the police, work together to reduce risks to children and families, and meet their needs early.

The JTAIs follow research commissioned by Ofsted in early 2022 ‘Early help: concepts, policy directions and multi-agency perspectives’. The independent study, produced by Research in Practice, discussed current early help provision in England, government policy, and how agencies work together to prevent longer-term intervention. Today’s guidance refers to this report and the independent review of children’s social care’s recommendation that government combines targeted early help and help for children in need.

Yvette Stanley, Ofsted National Director for Regulation and Social Care:

Getting the right response at the right time is critical for children and families. All agencies have their part to play in helping children and families early.

Working with CQC and HMICFRS, our JTAIs will help establish a shared understanding of how multi-agency partners work effectively together to help families before significant harm happens, and take timely action to protect children.

The Department for Transport has placed Avanti West Coast on a short-term contract and challenged it to deliver the urgent increase in services required.

Over the past few months, Avanti has seen major operational issues primarily caused by a shortage of available drivers. Nearly 100 additional drivers will have entered formal service this year between April and December. This has meant the company has begun to add more services as new drivers and those who need re-training become available to work. They have also added extra trains on its key London-Manchester and London-Birmingham routes, bringing service levels closer to normal running.

With Avanti’s previous contract coming to an end, the short-term extension will see it continue to run services on the route until 1 April 2023. This window is designed to provide Avanti with the opportunity to improve their services. The government will then consider Avanti’s performance while finalising a National Rail Contract that will have a renewed focus on resilience of train services and continuity for passengers.

Alongside rolling ahead with training new drivers, Avanti’s service improvement plans include:

• the successful delivery of its timetable recovery plan and a significant, sustained and reliable increase from about 180 trains per day to 264 trains per day on weekdays as new and retrained drivers become available
• continuing to deliver on its traincrew recruitment and plans to reduce reliance on rest day working to operate services
• extending booking options for passengers, making the full range of tickets available as early as possible

Transport Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan said:

We need train services which are reliable and resilient to modern day life. Services on Avanti have been unacceptable and while the company has taken positive steps to get more trains moving, it must do more to deliver certainty of service to its passengers.

We have agreed a 6-month extension to Avanti to assess whether it is capable of running this crucial route to a standard passengers deserve and expect.

The problems facing Avanti over recent weeks stem from old working practices that mean shifts are often covered by existing drivers volunteering to work above their 35 contracted hours. This antiquated practice shows just how urgent it is for us to modernise our railways, so passengers benefit from reliable services that don’t rely on the goodwill of drivers volunteering to work overtime.