The Secretary of State for Business, Energy, & Industrial Strategy has accepted disqualification undertakings from the five directors of McCaskill & Morse Ltd (McCaskill). Timothy Chapple has been disqualified for eight years, Richard Adams for six, Catherine Wood for five, Gary Richards for five and James Bell for four years.

The five directors are now prevented from acting as a director of a company, they cannot take part, directly or indirectly, in the promotion, formation or management of a company or limited liability partnership, as well as being unable to be a receiver of a company’s property.

McCaskill was first incorporated in March 2012, offering claims management services for people miss-sold payment protection insurance and bank charges reclaims.

But clients started to complain to the Ministry of Justice, the regulators of the claims management sector, that while McCaskill claimed to offer a no-win-no-fee service, they had failed to return upfront fees and were often late paying refunds following unsuccessful claims.

The Ministry of Justice issued a warning to McCaskill that they were engaging in unfair trading practices before the company was put into administration in November 2015.

The Insolvency Service investigated McCaskill after it had gone into administration and found that the claims management company had failed to repay upfront fees to clients who were due a refund.

Using complaints data, the Insolvency Service also found that clients received their refunds between 180 and 380 days after the start of the claims process, exceeding the contract terms that stated McCaskill would pay refunds within 90 days.

Further investigations showed that, during their directorships, Mr Bell and Mr Richards failed to properly deal with complaints, prevent delays on refunds and return upfront fees to clients. McCaskill also failed to inform the Ministry of Justice about changes to its business model, including the charging of up-front fees which they had previously declared it did not intend to charge.

Investigators concluded that McCaskill had been engaging in unfair trading practices in breach of the Conduct of Authorised Persons Rules 2006 and 2013 (COAPRs). This meant that they had failed to comply with the Compensation (Claims Management Services) Regulations 2006.

Following the disqualification orders, Robert Clarke, Investigations Group Leader at the Insolvency Service said:

Compensation regulations are there to protect the general public from unfair sales techniques by companies operating within the claims management sector.

It’s ironic that McCaskill, a company established to support consumers claw back money owed to them, consistently failed to return what was rightfully owed to their clients.

The length of the bans should serve as a warning to other directors who may feel tempted to breach legislation intended to protect the public, that the Insolvency Service will seek lengthy periods of disqualification.

He added: “I would also like to thank my colleagues at the Ministry of Justice and the Legal Ombudsman for their hard work and co-operation in achieving this outcome.

McCaskill & Morse Ltd (Company Registration No. 08002835) was placed into administration on 11 November 2015 with a deficiency as regards creditors of £93,700. The company which was incorporated on 2 March 2012, traded in claims management, offering claims management services including mis-sold payment protection insurance and bank charges reclaims. McCaskill traded from Suite 1, 4th Floor, Alexandra House, Alexandra Road, Swansea, SA1 5ED.

Mr Chapple, of Tackley, Kiddlington, date of birth December 1976, has been disqualified for eight years commencing 22 December 2017.

Mr Adams, of Swansea, date of birth August 1977, has been disqualified for six years commencing 23 January 2018.

Mrs Wood, of Swansea, date of birth January 1980, has been disqualified for five years commencing 24 October 2017.

Mr Richards, of Swansea, date of birth July 1974, has been disqualified for five years commencing 19 October 2017.

Mr Bell, of Swansea, date of birth October 1983, has been disqualified for four years commencing 18 October 2017

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 are bound by a range of other restrictions.

The Insolvency Service, an executive agency sponsored by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), administers the insolvency regime, and aims to deliver and promote a range of investigation and enforcement activities both civil and criminal in nature, to support fair and open markets. We do this by effectively enforcing the statutory company and insolvency regimes, maintaining public confidence in those regimes and reducing the harm caused to victims of fraudulent activity and to the business community, including dealing with the disqualification of directors in corporate failures.

BEIS’ mission is to build a dynamic and competitive UK economy that works for all, in particular by creating the conditions for business success and promoting an open global economy. The Criminal Investigations and Prosecutions team contributes to this aim by taking action to deter fraud and to regulate the market. They investigate and prosecute a range of offences, primarily relating to personal or company insolvencies.

The agency also authorises and regulates the insolvency profession, 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.

Media enquiries for this press release – 020 7674 6910 or 020 7596 6187

You can also follow the Insolvency Service on:

Michael Walker, Selvarani Elahi, Franz Ulberth and John Warren

Validating honey authenticity claims with regards to botanical source or geographical origin is a global issue. An EU Coordinated Control Plan on honey adulteration indicated that 38% of the 2,264 honey samples examined in the EU were non-compliant with authenticity criteria.

The European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) convened a Technical Round Table on Honey Authentication on 25 January 2018 to help in the fight against food fraud.

The meeting was opened by the Director of the JRC, Elke Anklam and was chaired by Franz Ulberth (Head of Fraud Detection and Prevention at JRC). It was attended by approximately 45 delegates from EU member States and included policy officials, academic researchers, Official Control Laboratory scientists, industry scientists and the Chairman of the UK Honey Association. Selvarani Elahi, Michael Walker and John Warren, from the UK Government Chemist team, attended and contributed to the meeting.

The meeting identified many technical areas where further work and clarity would be beneficial for the authentication of honey. These will be covered in a forthcoming note from the JRC.

Published 7 February 2018

Ranil Jayawardena – UK trade envoy for Sri Lanka

Mr Jayawardena’s role as trade envoy will be to support and enhance the development of Britain’s trade and investment with Sri Lanka.

The Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy will be visiting Sri Lanka from 15th to 17th February to meet with senior members of the government and engage with British business’s working in Sri Lanka.

Mr. Jayawardena was elected as the Member of Parliament for North East Hampshire in May 2015 and was reelected in 2017. He has a degree in government from the London School of Economics. In Parliament he is the chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Sri Lanka. Mr. Jayawardena’s father is of Sri Lankan origin.

Mr. Jayawardena said:

Given the shared history and close bonds of friendship between Britain and Sri Lanka – and with my family ties to Sri Lanka – I am looking forward to serving as the Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy at an exciting time for both our countries.

There’s lots of scope for further trade and investment between Britain and Sri Lanka. I recently visited ‘Port City’, one among many initiatives that the Sri Lankan Government is pushing forward that demonstrate its commitment to creating the right conditions for economic growth. Port City will provide a range of opportunities for UK-based professional services to work with Sri Lankan partners to take forward our shared ambitions to develop international business. I am confident that engagement by the UK’s professional services sector will help Port City to attract international investment and build its reputation.

British High Commissioner to Sri Lanka James Dauris said:

For centuries Britain has been a global trading nation. Today we have one of the world’s largest economies and strong commercial relationships with countries around the globe. As the Sri Lankan economy grows we are seeing an encouraging increase in the number of British companies wanting to do business with Sri Lanka. Mr. Jayawardana’s appointment will help us to encourage more UK firms to look at options for doing business in and with Sri Lanka and to boost bilateral trade.

Published 7 February 2018

On 19 January, Secretary of State David Gauke told Parliament he had asked Chief Inspector of Probation, Dame Glenys Stacey, to urgently review the way the victim contact scheme engaged with victims in the Worboys case.

Dame Glenys Stacey has completed this report and submitted her findings to the Justice Secretary.

Investigation into the policy and process followed by the Victim Contact Scheme in the Worboys case

Receiving the report, Secretary of State David Gauke said:

I am extremely grateful for Dame Glenys Stacey’s thorough report into the operation of the Victim Contact Scheme in the Worboys case – it will be an invaluable part of our urgent work to review parole transparency and victim contact.

It is reassuring that the correct procedures were followed and that in some respects Victim Liaison Officers have gone above and beyond the victim contact requirements.

However, I fully accept that there are things we can do much better. That’s why we have already changed the letters we send to victims to make them more compassionate, clearer and more informative, but there is more to do. We will take these findings and improve the system.

Read the Secretary of State’s oral statement on Transparency of the Parole Board and Victim Support

Speaking to attendees and delegates at this year’s Dairy Tech event held in Stoneleigh Park, Minister Eustice praised the variety of technology on show at the event and explained how farmers can benefit from the grants.

Many of the items eligible for funding are highly relevant to the dairy sector, including specialist foot trimming crushes and calving detectors, but there is a range of innovative items from which the majority of farmers can find something they would want to apply for.

Farmers can apply online to the Countryside Productivity Small Grant Scheme, requesting a grant between £3,000 and £12,000 towards the costs of farm equipment.

Opening the event alongside Lord Curry and the Chairman of the RABDF Mike King, Minister Eustice explained how the scheme has been designed with simplicity in mind, to save farmers valuable time.

Farming Minister George Eustice said:

It’s fantastic to see the scale of innovation here in Stoneleigh, where over 250 exhibitors are showcasing some truly advanced products and services which have come to the market for dairy farmers to improve productivity.

The dairy industry is our largest agricultural sector and we want to make sure farmers can become more resilient, competitive and able to capitalise on the growing global interest in quality British produce as we leave the EU.

By opening this small grants scheme, we hope more farmers will be able to access this equipment and embark on more innovative and ambitious projects.

Last year Defra also opened a series of offers for larger grants through the Countryside Productivity scheme. Farmers can apply for grants of over £35,000 for a range of different projects, including for making more efficient use of resources, processing products, and other innovative projects.