Admiral Sir Mark Stanhope

Admiral Sir Mark Stanhope retired from the Royal Navy in April 2013 after 43 years of service. He was the First Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Staff for nearly 4 years, which was the culmination of a career that included command of submarines HMS Orpheus and HMS Splendid, the frigate HMS London and the aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious. He has had a number of appointments in NATO including working in the USA as a Deputy Supreme Commander. He is now the President of the Marine Society and Sea Cadets, a member of the Council of Management of the White Ensign Association and holds a number of other maritime related charitable positions.

Jeremy Penn

Jeremy Penn has been a Trustee of RMG since 2015 and a Trustee of the Marine Society and Sea Cadets (MSSC) since 2017 and serves on the Board of Advisors for London International Shipping Week 2019 (LISW), having chaired the Steering Group for LISW 2015 and 2017. He is also a Trustee of a defined benefit pension plan. He was Chief Executive of the Baltic Exchange from 2004 to 2016. Prior to that he worked for 20 years at Reuters Group PLC in a range of positions specialising in technology and marketing related to financial information as well as general management. He has lived and worked in France, Zimbabwe, Morocco, Hong Kong, Australia, Singapore and the USA as well as the UK. He was educated at Warwick School and Corpus Christi College, Oxford and later took the Advanced Management Programme at Harvard Business School.

These roles are not remunerated. These reappointments have been made in accordance with the Cabinet Office’s Governance Code on Public Appointments. The process is regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments. The Government’s Governance Code requires that any significant political activity undertaken by an appointee in the last five years is declared. This is defined as including holding office, public speaking, making a recordable donation or candidature for election. Admiral Sir Mark Stanhope and Jeremy Penn have made no such declarations.

New research published highlights that National Nature Reserves (NNRs) managed by Natural England offer huge value for money, with a wide range of economic, environmental and societal benefits totalling £36 million.

Our NNRs are some of the most important sites for wildlife and geology in England. They conserve biodiversity and geodiversity, provide an outdoor space for education, learning and research, and opportunities to access, enjoy and engage with our natural heritage, championed within the Government’s 25 Year Environment Plan.

A new Natural Capital Accounts report published today provides an innovative insight into the health of our NNRs as natural assets, as well as demonstrating the ecosystem services, benefits and value they provide to society in one extended balance sheet. The report will provide a new perspective to inform investment and management decisions around NNRs.

The report shows the most significant benefits provided by our NNRs are wildlife, positive cultural impacts, and climate change reduction through carbon sequestration. The report estimates that the 141 NNRs managed by Natural England will remove up to 185,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent per year from our atmosphere providing an annual benefit of approximately £12 million. NNRs are an important recreational resource, attracting an estimated 5.5 million visits a year. NNRs do not charge for access so these visits represent free recreational experiences which we estimate are worth £22 million per year.

Other benefits of NNRs, such as wildlife and health improvement, and water quality and pollination, are also highlighted in the report, although we are not yet able to place a monetary value on them.

Tim Hill, Chief Scientist at Natural England said:

National Nature Reserves are the crown jewels of our natural heritage, important natural capital assets that need to be understood to ensure they are resilient so we can continue to provide environmental, societal and economic benefits for generations to come.

I believe that these accounts demonstrate not only how important National Nature Reserves are, but also how a more inclusive approach to natural capital accounting is essential if we are to invest in, and manage, our natural capital for the full suite of benefits that they offer.

Natural Capital Accounting organises the available evidence, quantifying and expressing NNRs in monetary terms where possible, demonstrating the benefits of investment. Like other assets, the NNRs will continue to provide benefits if they are maintained and invested in.

Natural Capital Accounting is an experimental accounting method which has been used by the Environment Agency, Forest Enterprise and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds.

UKEF will support a €30.2 million contract for the refurbishment of Al Mussaib power station in southern Iraq, the UK government announced today (21 February). The support will enable the rehabilitation of a 320 megawatt (MW) turbine, that will help improve the overall efficiency and output at the power station.

Al Mussaib power station, located close to Baghdad, is one of the main providers of electricity for the city. Increasing its output will help secure the supply of basic electricity to Baghdad residents.

Minister of State for Trade and Export Promotion, Baroness Fairhead said:

I am delighted that UK Export Finance is supporting the first phase of the refurbishment, which will have such a significant impact on the supply and security of electricity in southern Iraq.

The demand for UK expertise on complex projects like this highlights the UK’s leadership in this sector and I am delighted that UK Export Finance is supporting projects that will have such a direct impact on improving the country’s infrastructure and the lives of the Iraqi people. I encourage likeminded businesses to get in touch with UKEF to learn more about the kind of financial support we can provide.

This announcement follows the agreement between the governments of the UK and Iraq signed in March 2017, which re-affirmed the UK’s commitment to Iraq’s continued economic development.

Darren Davidson, Managing Director – Power Generation Services, Power & Gas, Siemens UK said:

The refurbishment of the Al Mussaib power plant will be hugely important both for the citizens of Baghdad and for our international business. UKEF’s support demonstrates the UK government’s commitment to improving Iraq’s infrastructure and the UK’s energy sector.

UK Export Finance is the UK’s export credit agency and a government department, working alongside the Department for International Trade as an integral part of its strategy and operations.

Our mission is to ensure that no viable UK export should fail for want of finance or insurance from the private market. We provide finance and insurance to help exporters win, fulfil and ensure they get paid for export contracts.

Sectors in which UKEF has supported exports include: aerospace, healthcare, infrastructure, telecommunications and transport.

UKEF has a national regional network of 24 export finance managers supporting export businesses.

Our range of products includes:

• Bond insurance policy
• Bond support scheme
• Buyer & supplier credit financing facility
• Direct lending facility
• Export insurance policy
• Export refinancing facility
• Export working capital scheme
• Letter of credit guarantee scheme

Our country cover positions outline our current cover policy and risk appetite for each country.

In January:

• HM Land Registry completed more than 1,797,030 applications to change or query the Land Register
• the South East topped the table of regional applications with 412,262

HM Land Registry completed 1,797,037 applications in January compared with 1,274,031 in December and 1,782,088 last January, of which:

• 398,058 were applications for register updates compared with 306,302 in December
• 909,149 were applications for an official copy of a register compared with 578,979 in December
• 212,934 were search and hold queries (official searches) compared with 199,533 in December
• 23,040 were postal applications from non-account holders compared with 18,104 in December

Applications by region and country

Region/country	November applications	December applications	January applications
South East	442,882	289,089	412,262
Greater London	441,362	230,749	338,286
North West	204,499	145,147	203,371
South West	174,105	125,765	169,585
West Midlands	157,744	109,261	156,126
Yorkshire and the Humber	140,167	104,949	144,169
East Midlands	131,654	95,112	131,926
North	85,231	60,968	83,163
East Anglia	74,312	53,130	73,402
Isles of Scilly	62	69	48
Wales	86,231	59,740	84,618
England and Wales (not assigned)	95	52	81
Total	1,938,344	1,274,031	1,797,037

Top 5 local authority areas

Top 5 local authority areas	November applications	Top 5 local authority areas	December applications	Top 5 local authority areas	January applications
Hounslow	71,338	Birmingham	20,015	Birmingham	30,192
Richmond upon Thames	41,992	City of Westminster	15,677	City of Westminster	23,156
Birmingham	28,388	Leeds	15,669	Leeds	21,625
Windsor and Maidenhead	27,253	Cornwall	13,531	Cornwall	17,981
City of Westminster	24,887	Manchester	13,468	Manchester	17,818

Top 5 customers

Top 5 customers	November applications	Top 5 customers	December applications	Top 5 customers	January applications
WSP Management Services Ltd	114,339	Enact	39,404	Enact	14,622
Enact	52,463	Infotrack Limited	25,145	Optima Legal Services	8,994
Infotrack Limited	36,291	Optima Legal Services	21,820	O’Neill Patient	8,153
SupportaTerraquest	27,451	O’Neill Patient	21,302	Infotrack Limited	7,454
Optima Legal Services	27,179	Eversheds Sutherland	14,877	My Home Move Limited	4,878

Access the full dataset on data.gov.uk

Next publication

Transaction Data is published on the 15th working day of each month. The February data will be published at 11am on Thursday 21 March 2019.

Published 21 February 2019