The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) continues to closely engage with local authorities so that they and their residents are well-prepared for the UK leaving the European Union on 29 March 2019.

To support this activity, a network of 9 local authority chief executives from across England has been established

The chief executives will engage with councils in their region to share information on preparations to support an orderly exit.

Simultaneously, the chief executives will be kept well-informed on national policy on EU exit that could have implications for local services, businesses and residents.

This new network is just the latest in a series of actions by MHCLG to ensure local authorities have the resources they need, including:

The names of the chief executives can be found in the table below.

Local Authority Information Network

Region	Lead Chief Executive	Authority
South West	Phil Norrey	Devon County Council
South East	Becky Shaw	East Sussex County Council
London	John O’Brien	London Councils
West Midlands	Nick Page	Solihull MBC
East Midlands	Anthony May	Nottingham City Council
North West	Tony Reeves	Liverpool City Council
North East	Martin Swales	South Tyneside Council
Yorkshire and Humber	Tom Riordan	Leeds City Council
East of England	Richard Carr	Central Bedfordshire Council

Published 5 February 2019

Paul Rossi (53), also known as Paolo Rossi, was a director of Independent Derivative Traders Ltd. The company traded as ‘Futex’ and provided access to a financial markets trading platform for sub-contracted independent traders.

Paul Rossi was joined in the management of the company by Paul’s brother Mark Rossi (51), also known as Marco Rossi, and Daniel Michael Goldberg (42).

Independent Derivative Traders was incorporated in March 1995 but 11 years later in February 2016, the company was insolvent due to difficult trading conditions and increased running costs, which meant it could not meet all of its liabilities.

The directors received professional advice that all of Independent Derivative Traders’ creditors should be treated equally and the directors had an obligation to look after its creditors’ interests and not to worsen their position.

However, despite Independent Derivative Traders being insolvent, the company obtained deposits from two new traders totalling £75,000, which were then used in general trading, while also paying-out over £79,000 to Paul and another director, as well as to an associated company. This was contrary to the advice given and detrimental to their creditors.

The company went into liquidation in November 2016 and the Secretary of State has since accepted disqualifications undertakings from Mark Rossi (eight years), Paul Rossi (six years) and Daniel Goldberg (three and a half years) for their various roles in causing or allowing the company to take money from clients and make self-serving payments while being insolvent.

Daniel Goldberg’s ban started on 11 September 2018, while Mark and Paul’s disqualifications are effective in February 2019 and their disqualifications mean the directors are banned from directly or indirectly becoming involved, without the permission of the court, in the promotion, formation or management of a company.

David Brooks, Chief Investigator of at the Insolvency Service, said:

When the company became insolvent, the directors were specifically instructed not to do anything that was detrimental to creditors. However, they decided to completely disregard that advice, putting their creditors at risk.

These disqualifications should serve to further underline that such behaviour is unacceptable and we will seek disqualifications against those directors that do not uphold their duties.

Disqualification details

Independent Derivative Traders Ltd (Company number: 03038982). Previous Trading Address: 6th Floor Harmsworth House, 13-15 Bouverie St, London EC4Y 8DP

Paul Rossi’s date of birth is in December 1965 and he resides in Poland. Mark Rossi’s date of birth is in July 1967 and he resides in Leatherhead, Surrey. The Secretary of State has accepted disqualifications undertakings from Mark and Paul Rossi for periods of 8 years and 6 years respectively on 18 January 2019. The disqualifications are due to commence on 8 February 2019. The matters of unfitness that Paul and Mark Rossi did not dispute were:

“I caused Independent Derivative Traders Ltd (“IDT”) from 22 February to 5 April 2016 to make net transactions of approximately £79,184, to the benefit of Paul Rossi and associated parties and the comparative detriment of un-associated creditors, whilst I knew, or ought to have known, that IDT was insolvent and after IDT had received professional advice that all creditors should be treated equally.”

“I caused [Paul Rossi: “allowed”] Independent Derivative Traders Ltd (“IDT”) from 14 April to 12 May 2016 to obtain deposits of £75,000 from 2 customers, to their unreasonable risk and ultimate detriment, whilst I knew, or ought to have known, that IDT was insolvent and after it had received professional advice that IDT’s directors had an overriding obligation to look after the interests of its creditors and not to worsen their position.”

Daniel Michael Goldberg date of birth is August 1976 and he resides in Houghton Regis, Bedfordshire. The Secretary of State has accepted an undertaking from Mr Goldberg on 21st August 2018 for a period of 3 years and 6 months. The disqualification commenced on 11th September 2018. The matters of unfitness that Mr Goldberg did not dispute were:

“I abrogated my duties as a director of Independent Derivative Traders Ltd (“IDT”) from 14 April to 12 May 2016. In this period it obtained deposits of approximately £75,000 from 2 customers , to their unreasonable risk and ultimate detriment, whilst I knew, or ought to have known, that IDT was insolvent and after IDT had received professional advice; both that its directors had an overriding obligation to look after the interests of its creditors and not to worsen their position”

About disqualifications

A disqualification order has the effect that without specific permission of a court, a person with a disqualification cannot:

• act as a director of a company
• take part, directly or indirectly, in the promotion, formation or management of a company or limited liability partnership
• be a receiver of a company’s property

Disqualification undertakings are the administrative equivalent of a disqualification order but do not involve court proceedings.

Persons subject to a disqualification order or undertaking are bound by a range of other restrictions.

The Insolvency Service administers the insolvency regime, investigating all compulsory liquidations and individual insolvencies (bankruptcies) through the Official Receiver to establish why they became insolvent. It may also use powers under the Companies Act 1985 to conduct confidential fact-finding investigations into the activities of live limited companies in the UK. In addition, the agency deals with disqualification of directors in corporate failures, assesses and pays statutory entitlement to redundancy payments when an employer cannot or will not pay employees, provides banking and investment services for bankruptcy and liquidation estate funds and advises ministers and other government departments on insolvency law and practice.

Further information about the work of the Insolvency Service, and how to complain about financial misconduct, is available.

You can also follow the Insolvency Service on:

Today (5 February 2019) the government has awarded more than £6 million to support ultra-low emission taxis right across the country, furthering its ambition for a zero emission future.

Announced at the Smart Transport conference by the Future of Mobility Minister, the funding will see almost 300 rapid chargepoints and 46 fast chargepoints installed for ultra-low emission taxis in 17 local authorities, including in Greater Manchester, Brighton and Hove, Leicester and the north east.

This announcement marks another milestone in the delivery of the government’s Road to Zero strategy and the Future of Mobility Grand Challenge which aims to usher in cleaner, greener journeys through UK engineering and technological innovation.

Jesse Norman, Future of Mobility Minister, said:

The government wants all new cars and vans to be effectively zero emission by 2040. Getting the right infrastructure and investment in place is a crucial part of this.

Today’s funding will support almost 4,000 ultra low emission vehicles across the country. It is a further sign that the UK is making real progress in the transition to greener transport.

Richard Harrington, Automotive Minister, said:

The UK has led the world in cutting emissions while maintaining growth in our economy.

These new charge points for greener taxis will help accelerate a cleaner environment for people across the UK. This will also point the way for a better, healthier future for us all as part of the government’s modern Industrial Strategy which builds on the government’s long-standing partnership with the UK automotive sector.

It is estimated that more than 800 ultra-low emission black cabs and more than 3,000 ultra-low emission private hire vehicles will benefit from the new chargepoints, supporting a shift towards cleaner, greener transport.

In another boost for the zero emission vehicle and automotive sector, winners of a £14 million competition to fund hydrogen fuel cell vehicle projects have also been announced.

The innovative technology these vehicles use has long range (300+ miles) and fast refuelling (3-5 minutes) capability, and will support the Industrial Strategy Future of Mobility Grand Challenge to place the UK at the forefront of the design and manufacturing of zero emission vehicles.

OPG has published a new practice note to make clearer how it handles and shares information held on its registers of lasting and enduring powers of attorney and court-appointed deputies.

It explains the approach OPG takes to its legal duty to establish and maintain registers as set out in the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and Lasting Powers of Attorney, Enduring Powers of Attorney and Public Guardian Regulations 2007.

Anyone can ask for a search of OPG’s registers by completing an OPG100 search form. This is a free service.

The OPG100 search form has changed so that you can ask for additional information at the same time as requesting to search OPG’s registers. This is to avoid the need to ask for two separate search requests. The donor’s address and date of birth must also now be provided as an additional safeguard. We hope this approach will speed up the search process and avoid any delays.

If there is a reasonable, justified reason or a legal basis, OPG will share additional information. For example, we prioritise requests that support safeguarding of vulnerable adults and the statutory duties of other public authorities, such as social services or the police.

Published 5 February 2019