Business Secretary Greg Clark has appointed Cynthia Dubin as a non-executive director and Paul Hughes, Robin Foster, Colleen Keck, Karthik Subramanya, Shrinivas Honap and Maria da Cunha as panel members to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).

The CMA is a non-ministerial department and the UK’s primary competition and consumer authority. It has responsibility for carrying out investigations into mergers, markets and the regulated industries, and enforcing competition and consumer law.

Non-executive directors of the CMA Board play a key role in providing leadership and direction to the organisation, working with the chair and chief executive, responsible for setting the organisation’s strategic direction, developing priorities and monitoring performance against its objectives. Members are appointed to the CMA Board for up to 5 years.

Panel members join independent groups to make decisions on ‘phase 2’ merger and market investigations and on regulatory appeals. Members are appointed to the CMA Panel for up to 8 years.

The new members appointed by the Secretary of State are:

Cynthia Dubin

Cynthia Dubin is Chair of the Audit and Finance Committee of Babcock & Wilcox Enterprises, Inc. and chief financial officer of Pivot Power LLP in the UK. Cynthia has previously held senior positions at Edison Mission Energy and JKX Oil & Gas plc. Her role as a board member commenced in January 2019.

Paul Hughes

Paul is a former partner of international law firm Herbert Smith Freehills, and has specialised in competition law and regulation for some 30 years. His appointment as a panel member commences in February 2019.

Robin Foster

Robin Foster is a non-executive member of the Content Board at media regulator Ofcom, and of the Advertising Advisory Committee at the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA). He was previously Strategy Partner at Ofcom and led the strategy and competition teams at the BBC. His appointment as a panel member commences in February 2019.

Colleen Keck

Colleen Keck is currently General Counsel and Company Secretary at Parkinson’s UK and Deputy Chair of the Copyright Tribunal. Prior to that she was a partner at international law firm Allen & Overy LLP for over 20 years. Her appointment as a panel member commences in February 2019.

Karthik Subramanya

Karthik Subramanya is currently Senior Advisor with Boston Consulting Group. He is also a board member of Scottish Enterprise and Creative Scotland. His appointment as a panel member commences in February 2019.

Shrinivas Honap

Shrinivas Honap’s roles include a non-executive directorship at the British Transport Police Authority, where he is Chair of the Pensions Committee. He has held senior roles in Capita Plc, Vodafone and Egg Financial Service. His appointment as a panel member commences in April 2019.

Maria da Cunha

Maria da Cunha is currently a non-executive director of De La Rue plc and a trustee of Community Integrated Care. She was previously General Counsel and Director of HR at British Airways plc. Her appointment as a panel member commences in February 2019.

International Trade Secretary Liam Fox has today announced UK Export Finance (UKEF) will provide £49 million worth of support for Darlington-based firm Cleveland Bridge to construct 250 bridges for rural Sri Lankan communities.

This project has been designed to accelerate Sri Lanka’s development through improvements in its rural transport infrastructure. Families and businesses will benefit directly from the project, reducing the distance people need to travel to reach essential services such as healthcare and education, as well as bringing rural communities closer together by cutting transport costs.

The financing of these 250 bridges follows the provision of support in 2011 for 210 bridges and in 2014 for 618 bridges. The Sri Lankan government estimates that collectively the bridges will benefit more than 100,000 families as well as businesses in the country.

The company has designed and built a number of iconic landmarks including the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Tyne Bridge. Cleveland Bridge designs its modular bridges in the UK and they are easily assembled to meet the specific needs of each project.

International Trade Secretary, Rt Hon. Dr Liam Fox MP, said:

Cleveland Bridge demonstrates the value British design and engineering can bring to the world stage. Over the course of the last 100 years UK Export Finance has led the way in delivering innovative finance to help British companies achieve international success across a wide range of industries and countries.

I am delighted that as UKEF marks its centenary year, it continues not only to support the UK’s exporters but also those transformational projects that will have a direct impact on the lives of citizens across the globe.

Don Underwood, Commercial Consultant, Cleveland Bridge said:

We are delighted UKEF has chosen to support this project, and Cleveland Bridge’s continued growth. UKEF’s flexible support is hugely important for our international success, helping us build confidence with our overseas customers and access financing to deliver dynamic projects.

This announcement follows recent support from UKEF for projects to improve Iraq’s power provision and Bahrain’s water supply.

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.

The UK provides one of the very best intellectual property (IP) environments in the world. This is according to the latest US Chamber of Commerce Global Intellectual Property Index, published 7 February 2019.

The UK again ranks 2nd in the report, which compares 50 jurisdictions globally. The index considers factors that ensure businesses can obtain, exploit and enforce IP rights.

The UK is praised for its sophisticated IP environment and effective enforcement. This was highlighted by the work of its specialist crime unit and cross-industry and government cooperation.

The report recognises some challenges presented by the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union (EU). However, it does note the supportive advice provided by the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) to business through its publications like IP and BREXIT: The Facts.

Published 7 February 2019

At around 12:36 hrs on 28 January 2019, a passenger train consisting of two coaches became derailed by the leading bogie at a set of points at Penryn station, while travelling at around 15 mph (24 km/h). The accident resulted in minor damage to the track, and there were no injuries to passengers.

We have undertaken a preliminary examination into the circumstances surrounding this incident. Having assessed the evidence which has been gathered to date, we have decided to publish a safety digest.

The safety digest will be made available on our website in the next few weeks.

Published 7 February 2019

Welfare reform shows success with record employment and more than 55,000 households moving off the benefit cap and into work.

Families across the UK are experiencing the wider benefits of moving into and progressing in work.

New figures released today (7 February 2019) by the Department for Work and Pensions show that thousands more benefits households are working more, boosting their earnings and are no longer subject to a benefit cap as a result. Other figures out this month show that UK employment is now at a record high.

According to today’s statistics, more than 55,000 households have either moved off the cap from Housing Benefit or Universal Credit by being exempt due to starting a job or increasing their hours or earnings.

Introduced in 2013, the benefit cap incentivises work, including part-time opportunities, as anyone eligible who moves into work and earns over a certain amount becomes exempt from the cap.

The policy also aims to transform families’ futures by showcasing the wider benefits of employment to younger generations. Those with working parents are more likely to achieve higher levels of educational attainment and move into work in adulthood. The latest figures show that at least 190,000 more children are living in a household that moved into work and off the benefit cap.

And this follows separate figures last quarter which reported the number of children living in workless households had fallen by more than 30% since 2010.

Justin Tomlinson, Minister for Family Support, Housing and Child Maintenance said:

It’s really encouraging that the number of people moving off the cap and into work continues to increase in the UK. Our changes to the welfare system have been instrumental in encouraging people to move into employment and improve their lives, while providing the right support for those who need it.

We know that children in working families perform better at school and families moving off the benefit cap are not only reaping the rewards of progressing in work, but are inspiring the next generation to fulfil their potential.

Regionally, the South East has the highest percentage of households under Housing Benefit moving off the benefit cap and into employment (43%).

The new statistics follow the news that the UK employment rate has increased to a new record high of 75.8%, making a difference to homes across the country as wages grow at their fastest rate in almost a decade.

Under the benefit cap, anyone eligible who moves into work and then earns enough for Working Tax Credit (or the equivalent under Universal Credit) becomes exempt.

The estimate of the number of children in households that were capped but went into work is for households that had their Housing Benefit capped only. It is calculated by multiplying the number of children in these households by the number of households. Households with more than 5 children are grouped together, so for this calculation we have assumed that there are 6 children in these households.

There are 140,000 Housing Benefit households that are no longer subject to the benefit cap, with 55,000 of these becoming exempt from the cap due to starting work or increasing their hours.

9,900 Universal Credit households are no longer subject to the cap with more than 2,400 now exempt due to increased earnings through employment since October 2016 .

The percentage of households under Housing Benefit moving off the benefit cap and into employment is calculated by taking the number of households with an open Working Tax Credit claim as a percentage of the total off flows for each region. These figures are available in Table 4 of the published ODS tables.

Media enquiries for this press release – 020 3267 5144

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