This morning I met the leaderships of Sinn Fein and the Democratic Unionist Party to discuss the ongoing political stalemate in Northern Ireland.

I made clear the determination of this Government to re-establish the fully functioning, inclusive devolved administration that works for everyone in Northern Ireland.

I also reiterated our steadfast support for the Belfast Agreement and its successors. For their part both the DUP and Sinn Fein expressed their commitment to seeing Stormont back up and running.

From our discussions it is clear that the issues dividing the parties are relatively small in number, focusing mainly around culture, legacy, identity and the future stability of the devolved institutions.

While not in any way underestimating the challenges involved, I believe that a way forward can be found and an agreement reached.

It is therefore imperative that the parties re-engage in intensive discussions next week aimed at resolving the outstanding issues so that the Assembly can meet and an Executive be formed.

Date: Wednesday 22 November 2017 Venue: Parc des Princes, Paris Kick off time: 8.45pm (French time)

Along with this advice, read carefully our travel advice for France and follow us on Twitter at @BritishinFrance. Due to ongoing threats to France by Islamist terrorist groups, and recent French military intervention against Daesh (formerly referred to as ISIL), the French government has warned the public to be especially vigilant and has reinforced its security measures.

Check the French government’s advice about what to do if a terrorist attack occurs. See Terrorism

Passports and visas • You don’t need a visa to enter France. Make sure that your passport is valid until you return to the United Kingdom • Remember your European Health Insurance Card (EHIC), but also take out travel insurance, even if you’re only going for one night – it could save you a lot of money if you get into difficulties • You should carry your ID with you at all times Getting to the stadium • From Paris Gare Du Nord Eurostar Terminal, take Metro line 4 to Strasbourg-Saint-Denis, then Metro line 9 to Porte de Saint Cloud • From Paris Charles de Gaulle airport, take RER B to Gare du Nord, then Metro line 4 to Strasbourg-Saint-Denis and Metro line 9 to Porte de Saint Cloud • From Paris Beauvais airport, take the coach to Porte Maillot, then Metro line 1 to Franklin-Roosevelt and Metro line 9 to Porte de Saint Cloud At the match • Tickets will be available at a collection point on presentation of your voucher and your passport. Details and specific instructions will be given by Celtic Glasgow Football Club to voucher holders. • All official Celtic Glasgow supporters (except VIPs and sponsors) will enter the stadium via Avenue de la Porte de Saint-Cloud, Porte V, and will be seated in stands 101-102 and 301-302 • Full body searches will be carried out by French police. The process will be thorough and time consuming. • The stadium opens 3 hours before kick-off, you are advised to arrive well before the start of match as ticket and security checks can take up to a good hour to complete before admittance to the visitors’ section • Supporters with disabilities are advised to arrive at the stadium no later than 2 hours before kick-off time. • No left-luggage facilities available. Leave your articles on the coaches or at your hotel. • Alcohol is banned inside the stadium • If you appear drunk you may be refused entry to the stadium • Please note that Celtic Glasgow fans will be held back for around 15 minutes while the home supporters disperse

Tips The following items are banned in the stadium and will be confiscated (and are unlikely to be returned): • banners and flags displaying anything which can be construed as racist or homophobic • flagpoles, sticks • fireworks and flares • alcoholic drinks, bottles, glasses, and cans • megaphones and drums • knives, belts, chains or any objects which can be thrown or used as a weapon

Smoking is not permitted in the stands.

Possession and use of recreational drugs is illegal in France and any infringement may result in arrest and imprisonment.

Consulate address British Embassy Consular Services 16 rue d’Anjou 75008 Paris Tel: +33 1 44 51 31 00

Emergency number: 112 Useful links: http://www.celticfc.net/pages/supporters_paris

The Charity Commission says it is pleased with the engagement it has had with charities as part of its consultation on the Annual Return for 2018.

The regulator has to date received 192 responses to the consultation, which concludes on Friday (24th), and has engaged with a further 70 charities as part of targeted user testing of the new system.

This saw the Commission identifying groups of charities most likely to be affected by proposed changes and proactively seeking their help in testing the new digital system that supports the Annual Return. The testing was conducted by individuals who will be responsible for completing the annual return on behalf of their charities.

The Commission says that this testing is a vital way of assessing the practical impact of new questions, including to what extent they represent an additional regulatory burden.

The regulator also held round-table discussions with groups of charities likely to be affected by proposed changes, such as charities with links overseas.

The Commission is yet to conduct a full analysis of consultation responses, but says that early indications are that the feedback is largely positive, with some users pointing to practical issues in responding to proposed new question areas.

David Holdsworth, Registrar of Charities for England and Wales and Deputy Chief Executive at the Charity Commission, says:

Over the past 12 weeks, we have, for the first time, combined modern digital user testing with more traditional consultation methods to achieve better quality engagement than ever before in an Annual Return consultation.

The user testing has enabled those who would complete any future return to test how easy it is to complete and to notify us of any practical issues that they encountered.

As a result of this approach, we have received an extensive range of constructive feedback and responses about our proposed changes to the annual return and the digital service that supports it. I’m very pleased with this level of engagement and the information we’ve gathered during the consultation gives us a sound evidence base as we develop the annual return for 2018.

We’re already beginning to analyse the responses and will take on board the feedback we receive. I encourage charities that have not yet had their say on the new annual return questions to do so before the consultation comes to a close this Friday

The regulator says it will publish a full analysis of consultation responses before the end of February 2018; it expects to make the new Annual Return available during the first half of 2018.

All charities with annual incomes of over £10,000 are required to complete an Annual Return, and the regulator has been consulting on a new, more dynamic system for 2018, which will be more targeted and easier to use for charities. As part of the new system, smaller charities and those with simpler operations will be required to answer fewer questions. The Commission has also proposed new question areas.

Ends

Avian influenza (bird flu) is a disease of birds. The UK is currently free from bird flu, but there is a constant risk the disease may arrive and all poultry keepers should review their biosecurity, sign up for disease alerts and register their birds with APHA. Keepers are reminded that they must report any unexplained deaths or sickness to their vet.

Current situation

The H5N8 strain of bird flu is currently circulating in Europe, with recent cases in poultry and wild birds in Italy, wild birds in Germany and poultry in Bulgaria.

The current risk of incursion in the UK is medium for wild birds and low for poultry, although this depends on levels of biosecurity on individual premises. This is because the wild bird migration season is well under way, bringing birds from areas where we know bird flu is present to the UK for the winter.

Read more about the current situation in the latest veterinary outbreak assessment.

What to do if you keep poultry and captive birds

If you keep poultry – whether that’s a few birds in your garden or a large commercial flock – you should take steps now to review your biosecurity, register your birds with APHA, sign up for disease alerts and report any sick birds.

Review your biosecurity

Bird flu is spread by direct contact between birds and through contamination in the environment, for example in bird droppings. This means wild birds carrying the disease can infect domestic poultry, so the best way to reduce the risk of your poultry catching bird flu is to minimise chances for them to come into contact with wild birds or their droppings by practising good biosecurity.

You should review your biosecurity measures now, as the risk level may increase in the coming weeks. This means reading government guidance on good biosecurity and taking action to:

• Minimise movement in and out of your bird enclosure.
• Clean footwear before and after visiting your birds.
• Keep bird enclosures clean and tidy and regularly disinfecting any hard surfaces.
• Humanely control rats and mice.
• Place birds’ food and water in fully-enclosed areas that wild birds cannot access, and remove any spilled feed.
• Keep your birds separate from wildlife and wild waterfowl by putting suitable fencing around the outdoor areas they access.
• Make sure equipment, feed and bedding are stored undercover so they cannot be contaminated by wild birds.
• Where possible keep chickens and turkeys separate from ducks and geese.

Read and download our advice poster for keepers of poultry (PDF, 1 page).

Register your birds

All keepers are encouraged to register their birds with Defra so we can contact you quickly if there is a disease outbreak in your area and you need to take action. If you have more than 50 birds, you are legally required to register your flock within one month of their arrival at your premises. Find out how to register your birds.

Report signs of disease

If you suspect disease in your own flock, or you find dead wild birds such as wild ducks, wild geese, swans, gulls or birds of prey, you must let Defra know. Call the Defra helpline on 03459 33 55 77.

Sign up for disease alerts

By signing up to the free disease alert system you will get text alerts and emails informing you of the latest news about bird flu and Newcastle disease outbreaks in Great Britain.

Further information

Recent announcements on avian influenza

A Leeds-based house building company has been fined £120,000 for illegally polluting a watercourse from a Huddersfield construction site.

Harron Homes Limited was sentenced yesterday (20 November) at Leeds Magistrates’ Court after admitting one charge of causing illegal discharges from its Farriers Croft estate in 2015.

The Environment Agency prosecuted the firm after investigating reports of contaminated run-off which was entering a tributary of Grimescar Dyke.

Rosalind Emsley-Smith, prosecuting for the Environment Agency, told the court that an officer visited the site on 20 November 2015 and saw polluted water flowing out of the entrance of the construction site. The company was also pumping silt contaminated water from site excavations which also entered the watercourse.

Following the Environment Agency’s visit, Harron Homes attempted to control the silt run-off by setting up settlement tanks. However, further incidents of pollution were reported in November and December 2015 and subsequent inspections revealed that this system was inadequate. Silty water was found to be discharging, resulting in further pollution.

Samples taken from the discharges showed that they were having a significant impact on the water quality in the watercourse up to three kilometres further downstream. Some samples showed there to be nearly 35,000 milligrams of suspended solids per litre of water, whereas a healthy watercourse is expected to have a concentration lower than 30 milligrams per litre.

The firm’s attempt to contain the muddy water was inadequate; silt was seen flowing off the site

Mark West, environment management team leader at the Environment Agency, said:

These pollution incidents had a significant impact on the water environment over a number of weeks, and were entirely avoidable. In West Yorkshire there has been a worrying increase in the number of pollutions incidents reported to us that on investigation are attributable to the construction sector.

Construction companies should consider the potential environmental impact of developments they undertake at the initial planning stage and must adhere to environmental permitting rules and invest in appropriate management systems to prevent their activities from affecting the local environment.

If anyone spots pollution of this kind, they are urged to contact the Environment Agency’s incident hotline on 0800 807060 so we can investigate.

In mitigation, Harron Homes told the court that it had now put procedures in place to prevent future pollution incidents.

In addition to the fine, the company was ordered to pay £8,706.71 in legal costs and a £120 victim surcharge.