Tag Archives: HM Government

In a world of serious threats to UK and global stability, Britain’s leadership on the world stage is more important than ever. When we look around the world today, people are drowning on perilous migration routes. Children are dying from preventable diseases while drug-resistant infections are brewing that threaten us here at home. Violence and conflict are pulling people back into poverty.

As we exit the EU, Britain will be more, not less, outward-looking and engaged on the world stage. Intensifying our efforts as a global leader in international development is a crucial part of this. A safer and more prosperous world, supported by our international development work, is firmly in the UK’s interest.

Our humanitarian leadership helps Britain stand tall in the world. Since the beginning of the year we have faced the largest humanitarian crisis since the creation of the United Nations. Now, more than 20 million people across four countries face starvation and famine.

The UK is a world leader on humanitarian responses and today I am announcing that the UK will increase funding to tackle humanitarian crises in both Yemen and Nigeria for this coming year. We will lead the world in supporting famine stricken areas by stepping up our emergency assistance.

The UN has described the situation in Yemen as “the largest food security emergency in the world” and last month declared that the country is now on the brink of famine. We will provide £139m for Yemen for financial year 2017-18; an increase of £27m on the £112 million delivered by the UK last year.

UK support will provide lifesaving aid to hundreds of thousands of desperate people, in recognition of the scale of the current crisis which has left some 19 million Yemenis – two thirds of the population – in urgent need of humanitarian aid.

Nigeria is one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises. More than 20,000 people have been killed there since the start of Boko Haram’s violent insurgency in 2009 and millions more are in need of food, water and shelter. The UK was one of the first on the ground to respond to the humanitarian crisis in North East Nigeria. Last year alone we reached over a million people with food and provided 34,000 children suffering from malnutrition with lifesaving treatment.

We continue to lead this challenge by increasing our support this year to £100 million, making the UK the largest donor in 2017. Last year (2016), we provided around £70 million for emergency food, shelter and health care for hundreds of thousands of people displaced by Boko Haram’s violent insurgency. The funding will assist the UN, the International Committee of the Red Cross and International NGOs to reach the most vulnerable people displaced by Boko Haram:

• Over 1 million people will receive food assistance
• 60,000 children will be treated for severe acute malnutrition
• Clean water will be provided for over 530,000 people
• At least 100,000 children will gain access to education.

The humanitarian needs in 2017 are unprecedented. More than 20 million people across four countries face starvation and famine. In Syria, Iraq and elsewhere, we see ambulances being used as car-bombs; girls stolen as sex slaves; children made to conduct executions, barrel bombs being dropped amongst civilians. The UK will continue to speak out against these outrages, and stand up for respect for the rules of war and for basic humanitarian principles.

This is why Britain pledged £110 million of UK aid to provide up to 1 million people in Somalia with emergency food assistance, over 600,000 starving children and pregnant and breastfeeding women with nutritional help, 1 million people with safe drinking water, and more than 1.1 million people with emergency health services. In South Sudan, where 7.5 million people are in need of assistance after famine was declared, the UK was one of the first major donors to confirm our response to a UN appeal, announcing £100 million of support less than 24 hours after the appeal was launched. This will provide: food for over 500,000 people; life-saving nutritional support to more than 27,500 children and safe drinking water for over 300,000 people.

The UK is at the forefront of the humanitarian response to the Syria crisis, providing lifesaving support to millions, supporting refugees to remain in countries in the region and enabling their hosts to accommodate them. The crisis in Syria is the UKs largest ever response to a single humanitarian crisis.

The £2.46 billion provided to Syria and the region since 2012 has provided nearly 25 million food rations, over 9.5 million relief packages and over 7 million health consultations.

We co-hosted the “Supporting Syria and the Region” conference in London in February 2016, which secured the largest amount of pledges ever in one day for a humanitarian crisis. On 4-5 April this year, we co-hosted the Brussels Conference on the “Future of Syria and the Region”, which secured pledges of $9.7 billion.

I am pleased to announce the UK will pledge an additional £75 million, as part of our Brussels commitment, to help kick start economic growth and create jobs in Lebanon and Jordan over the next three years. These funds will leverage up to £250 million of concessional finance from Multilateral Development Banks, including through the Global Concessional Financing Facility.

As the global migration crisis has made clear, the challenges facing the international development system in the 21st Century go beyond anything witnessed before. More than ever, the world needs strong global institutions and leadership for today and for the future. The UK is a founding member of many of the world’s leading international organisations and we remain deeply committed to the spirit and values of the international system.

The UK will continue to champion an open, modern and innovative approach to development and will use our leading position to build a coalition for reform of the global aid system so that it is ready for the challenges of the 21st century. We are promoting investment in the poorest countries, helping them to get on the road to industrialisation. We are, driving progress on economic development and working with businesses to stimulate investment in the world’s most difficult, frontier markets, where jobs and economic opportunities are desperately needed. In the long run, it is sustainable growth, trade and investment that will provide a sustainable route to poverty reduction. Defeating poverty is a joined-up effort across the whole of Government including using the opportunity of leaving the EU to free up trade with the world’s poorest.

I also would like to update the House on how we are reforming UK Aid to maximise its impact by driving new standards and outcomes. DFID’s Economic Development Strategy sets out how Britain will establish new trade, investment and economic links and end global poverty. The Multilateral Development Review spells out how we are raising the bar, requiring more of our partners, by following the money, people and outcomes. The Bilateral Development Review confirms how DFID is reforming the entire global development system to tackle the global challenges of our time.

As a key part of this, my ministerial team and I have conducted a detailed line-by-line review of every programme in DFID’s portfolio, either already approved or in design phase. Each of these programmes has been scrutinised on the basis of their value for money and their strategic fit with the Government’s priorities for Global Britain. The savings from programmes which will not continue will be recycled to fund better value programmes aligned to our priorities, whilst still delivering our planned results and commitments.

In the 2015 Spending Review the Government announced plans to make over £400 million of efficiency savings by 2019/20. DFID will save closer to £500 million in this period, through reform of procurement and commercial practices, estates, IT and departmental pay. These changes are included in the Department’s ambitious new value for money ‘Agenda for Action’.

In addition, a comprehensive review of DFID’s management and relationship with suppliers is underway. This review will drive greater transparency and efficiencies from DFID’s suppliers through new Codes of Practice and contractual obligations; more competition, innovation and choice in our supplier market; and increased transparency of fees and costs throughout our supply chain.

These bold measures will drive value for money without compromising our commitment to being a global leader in international development. In 2015/16, it is estimated that DFID supported:

• The immunisation of approximately 20 million children, saving 250,000 lives: we are on track to meet DFID’s commitment of immunising 76 million and saving 1.4 million lives
• Reaching 13.3 million children under 5, women of childbearing age and adolescent girls through our nutrition-relevant programmes; on track to meet DFID’s commitment of 50 million
• 5.9 million women from 2012 to 2015, and 1 million women in 2015–16, to use modern methods of family planning. This gives a total of 6.9 million for the period 2012–16; on track to meet DFID’s commitment of 24 million between 2012 and 2020
• 3.1 million children to gain a decent education; on track to meet DFID’s commitment of 11 million
• 11.3 million people to access clean water and/or better sanitation; on track to meet DFID’s commitment of 60 million.

UK taxpayers can be equally proud of our record on humanitarian response: in 2015/16 we reached 5.1 million people, including 1.6 million women and girls.

Our support has been life-saving and life changing, as shown by DFID’s leadership of the international response to Ebola in Sierra Leone. The British response to Ebola in 2015 was an example of Britain’s development impact and influence. Experts from DFID coordinated a joined-up effort across Government, bringing together the best of British expertise to defeat that disease.

UK Aid is being focused on where the need is greatest. From fragile and conflict-riven states that need help the most urgently, to protecting lives, reducing poverty, and working with governments who receive our aid to get them to step up and take responsibility for investing in their own people. When we invest in stability, jobs and livelihoods, and sound governance, we address the root causes of problems that affect us here in the UK. It is not in our national interest to simply sit on our hands and wait until these problems reach breaking point or find their way to our doorstep.

This is where our aid budget along with our world-class defence and diplomacy acts not only in the interests of the world’s poorest, but also in Britain’s long term national interest.

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Michael Lear and Jantiene Klein Roseboom van der Veer have been appointed to the Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew by Lord Gardiner of Kimble.

Additionally, Trustees Ian Karet and Val Gooding have been reappointed for second terms.

The two new appointments will run from 1 April 2017 to 31 March 2020 and 1 November 2017 to 31 October 2020, respectively. The reappointments will run from 1 April 2017 to 31 March 2020 and 1 October 2017 to 30 September 2020, respectively.

The appointments have been made in accordance with the Governance Code on Public Appointments. All appointments are made on merit and political activity plays no part in the selection process.

In accordance with the original Nolan recommendations, there is a requirement for appointees’ political activity to be made public. The appointees have not declared any political activity in the past five years.

Trustees do not receive any direct remuneration for their services, although reasonable travel and subsistence expenses can be reimbursed.

Michael Lear

Michael Lear is currently a co-Director and Landscape Architect for Lear Associates and, among other roles, is a member of the National Trust’s Historic Environment Panel and a member of the Northern Ireland Heritage Gardens Committee.

Jantiene Klein Roseboom van der Veer

Jantiene Klein Roseboom van der Veer is a landscape architect. She has been Managing Director since 2007 of Imagination Design Ltd, which has a strong focus on heritage, conservation and habitat restoration, with experience of working with heritage assets and protected landscapes. Since 2006, Jantiene has been Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Henri Moerel Foundation, which supports the development of musicians and heritage projects. Previously, Jantiene worked at a senior level in investor relations in large companies in the Netherlands and the UK.

Ian Karet

Ian Karet read Chemistry at Oxford before qualifying as a solicitor. He is a partner at Linklaters where he specialises in intellectual property and technology. He has served on the board of the International Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property and writes and speaks on intellectual property issues.

Val Gooding

In addition to her role on Kew’s Board of Trustees, Val Gooding is currently a non-executive director of the BBC, Standard Chartered and J Sainsbury’s. Val joined Bupa in 1996, becoming Chief Executive in 1998, doubling the company’s turnover and customer numbers in her ten-year tenure, before retiring from Bupa in 2008.

Further information

• RBG Kew is an Executive Non-Departmental Public Body created under the National Heritage Act 1983, sponsored by Defra and which operates under a Board of Trustees.

• The Board of Trustees for RBG Kew comprises a Chairman and 11 members. Ten members and the Chairman are appointed by the Secretary of State. Her Majesty the Queen appoints her own Trustee on the recommendation of the Secretary of State.

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International Trade Minister, Mark Garnier, has praised the UK’s South Coast recognising its world leading maritime and marine industries on a visit to Portsmouth.

The UK has the largest marine and maritime sector in Europe contributing £22 billion to the UK economy and sustaining around 500,000 jobs.

Beginning his visit at Clipper Ventures, the Minister announced that the GREAT Britain campaign will partner with Clipper Round the World Yacht Race for a third consecutive year.

This will see a Clipper Yacht ‘GREAT’ branded providing an unparalleled opportunity to promote the UK on a global stage, as the yacht sails around the world and competes in the global challenge.

The minister then visited ASV Global – a leading supplier of unmanned and autonomous marine systems – where he officially opened the company’s new mission control centre. The new facility will be the hub for ASV Global’s on-going development of their pioneering autonomous vessel control system.

International Trade Minister, Mark Garnier, said:

With world-renowned research institutions and leading innovative businesses the UK’s south coast really is a leading marine and maritime hub.

Today I have seen the UK’s maritime excellence in operation and how UK companies, such as Clipper and ASV Global, are playing their part in the helping the UK forge new trading relationships and become a truly Global Britain.

I want more companies to follow their example and seize the global opportunities and demand for UK goods and services.

Although in its third year, this is the first time a yacht will be branded ‘Welcome to GREAT Britain’. Circumnavigating the globe along historic trade routes, the yacht will promote the UK as a place in which to visit, study and with which to do business.

While visiting Clipper Ventures the Minister met with Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, founder and Chairman of the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race. He met with a number of skippers that will take the yachts around the world and was given a tour of the ‘GREAT’ branded yacht.

Following this the minister visited ASV Global headquartered in Portchester. The company designs, builds and operates unmanned surface vessels and maritime robotics. With offices in the UK, US and Brazil the company exports to 10 countries and is a world leader in its field.

The minister was given a tour of the new facility which will be enable the control, operation and monitoring of their global fleet as well as operator training and simulation exercises. He also visited ASV Global’s workshops and took the opportunity to discuss the company’s exporting success and plans for the future growth.

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Richard Turfitt has been appointed as the new Senior Traffic Commissioner by Transport Minister John Hayes.

Currently the Traffic Commissioner for the East of England, he will begin his new role on 1 June 2017, taking over from the current Senior Traffic Commissioner, Beverley Bell.

Traffic commissioners are responsible for the regulation of bus, coach and goods vehicle operators, and registration of local bus services. Where appropriate, they can call operators to a public inquiry to examine concerns about vehicle and driver safety. They also deal with professional drivers at conduct hearings.

Richard has been Traffic Commissioner for the East of England since 2008, and worked as a government prosecutor for over a decade. He is a serving Justice of the Peace.

Transport Minister John Hayes said:

I’m delighted that Richard will be the new Senior Traffic Commissioner, following his tenure as Traffic Commissioner for the East of England. His knowledge and vast experience means he is well-placed to regulate services appropriately, and I wish him all the best in this important role.

Richard Turfitt, said:

I am excited to be asked to take up the role of Senior Traffic Commissioner for Great Britain.

There is no doubt that I have a hard act to follow and I want to thank Beverley for her work as Senior Traffic Commissioner over the last 5 years. We have a strong, dedicated team of traffic commissioners and I look forward to continuing that work with them, to support responsible, compliant operators and drivers and focus our scrutiny on those who pose serious risks to safety standards.

Current Senior Traffic Commissioner, Beverley Bell, said:

Richard has been an unstinting source of support for me in my time as Senior Traffic Commissioner and I feel comfortable leaving the role in his capable hands

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Richard Charles Nichols, Phillip Raymond Neale and Gillian Birkett were directors of Enterprise The Business Credit Union Ltd T/A DotcomUnity Credit Union (EBCU) which went into administration on 14 May 2015 with estimated total creditor claims totalling £7,277,425.

The Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has accepted a disqualification undertaking from Richard Charles Nichols for a period of 9 years, commencing on 24 April 2017. Mr Nichols had not disputed that he had failed to ensure that the rest of the EBCU Board either agreed, or were even aware of, changes in the contract with a company of which he was also a director. This caused additional fees of £392,629 to be charged by that company. Additionally, by failing to include the monies charged and paid out to his other company in EBCU’s accounts, he failed to ensure that EBCU filed accurate accounting information to the Prudential Regulatory Authority (PRA), at a time when EBCU’s capital position was below the required level and it was subject to the PRA’s regulatory enquiries.

The Secretary of State has also accepted disqualification undertakings from Phillip Raymond Neale and Gillian Birkett for 6 years each. Both they and Mr Nichols did not dispute that they had failed to ensure that EBCU obeyed a voluntary imposition of requirements, agreed with the PRA on 24 December 2014, to cease the normal operation of the credit union until such time that it was able to meet regulatory requirements: In the following weeks EBCU further damaged the liquidity of the company, by continuing to issue loans in direct breach of the restriction.

The disqualification prevents Mr Nichols, Mr Neale and Mrs Birkett from directly or indirectly becoming involved in the promotion, formation or management of a company for the duration of their disqualification terms without the permission of the Court.

Commenting on the disqualification, David Brooks, Group Leader at The Insolvency Service, said:

On 19 December 2014, Mr Nichols told the Board of EBCU that the company had ‘broken all rules in the book’ and ‘can’t continue to flout the rules’. However, both he and Mr Neale and Mrs Birkett then allowed the company to do just that, leading directly to its failure.

In addition, Mr Nichols allowed a serious conflict of interests to occur regarding a second company, which carried out all almost-all administrative functions within the credit union. He then failed to prioritise his duties to EBCU regarding both the agreement of a fee structure with that company and the accurate reporting of the intercompany transactions in its accounts. This is serious misconduct and the high tariff of disqualification reflects the seriousness of such behaviour.

We are grateful for the assistance of the Prudential Regulation Authority, in particular, in this matter.

Notes to editors

Enterprise The Business Credit Union Ltd (Company Reg No. IP00469C) T/A DotcomUnity Credit Union was incorporated on 11 June 1996 and latterly traded from 3rd Floor, Enterprise House, Oxford Road, Bournemouth, BH8 9EY.

It was previously named:

• Federation of Small Businesses Credit Union Ltd
• Lancashire and Cumbria FSB Credit Union Ltd

The Company went into administration on 14 May 2015 and then into liquidation on 17 August 2015, with an estimated deficiency as regards creditors of £1,466,161. Creditor claims up to October 2016 totaled £7,277,425.

Richard Charles Nichols’ date of birth is in January 1959 and he resides in Hampshire.

The Secretary of State accepted a Disqualification Undertaking from Mr Nichols for a period of 9 years on 3 April 2017. The disqualification is due to commence on 24 April 2017. The matters of unfitness, which Mr Nichols did not dispute in the Disqualification Undertaking, were that he failed from July 2014 to 2 March 2015 to ensure that the Board of Enterprise The Business Credit Union Ltd either agreed, or were aware of, changes to a contract with a company of which he was director, leading to additional fees of £392,629 being charged. Specifically:

• the EBCU Board had given interim agreement to an unsigned contract with the associated company on 22 March 2013 to operate, create and carry out all functions for the administration of the Credit Union it operated. Fees for this service included 50% of all loan interest actually received
• however, the associated company produced to the liquidator an altered agreement, purportedly signed by EBCU’s then Chairman, altering the loan interest to be 50% of the total interest due per loan and adding an investment fee for New Savings Accounts, including ISAs. The Chairman denies knowingly signing the altered contract and all directors deny agreeing to it. I stated that I knew the altered contract was being operated from July 2014
• as a consequence the associated company invoiced £65,212 in investment fees and £633,117 (before VAT) for loan fees when the original contract fees are estimated at £305,700

He failed to ensure that EBCU filed accurate accounting information to the Prudential Regulatory Authority, in that:

• the accounts to 31 March 2014, signed on 23 September 2014 and sent to the PRA on 7 October 2014, schedule an amount of £93,070 owed to EBCU by a company of which he was also director. This figure included £23,940 of accrued commission to be charged by that company for the period to 31 March 2014. However, by 10 July 2014, he knew or ought to have known that that company had invoiced £176,362 in respect of the services provided for the period to 31 March 2014 and net assets had been therefore overstated by £152,422 (before VAT)
• on 13 November 2014, EBCU he emailed a letter to the PRA stating that it acknowledged that it had a shortfall in its regulated capital reserves and attached profit and loss and cash flow accounts supporting its strategy for correcting the position by March 2015.The profit and loss account stated that the aforementioned associated company had not charged any fees in the previous 8 months and intended not to do so in the next 4 months. However, the company had already invoiced £310,508 by that date, and invoiced another £571,621 in the following 4 months. In addition, the cashflow forecast stated that there would be no payments to the associated company in respect of fees from October 2014 to September 2015. However, £38,262 had already been paid to it in October 2014, another £13,000 was paid on the day of the email, and £257,293 was paid thereafter

He failed to ensure, from 24 December 2014 to 2 March 2015, that EBCU met its regulatory requirement to not make new loans, or make further advances in relation to, or otherwise vary the terms of, any existing loans. In that period, EBCU was subject to a Voluntary Imposition Of Requirements agreed with the Prudential Regulatory Authority to cease the normal operation of the credit union until such time that it was able to meet regulatory requirements. EBCU made payments in the period of £518,115 in respect of 134 loans; a regulatory breach which then contributed to its insolvency.

Gillian Birkett’s date of birth is in May 1956 and she resides in Bournemouth. The Secretary of State accepted a disqualification undertaking from Mrs Birkett for a period of 6 years on 9 March 2017. The disqualification commenced on 30 March 2017.

Phillip Raymond Neale’s date of birth is January 1964 and he resides in Bournemouth.The Secretary of State also accepted a disqualification undertaking from Mr Neale on 7 March 2017 for a period of 6 years. The disqualification commenced on 28 March 2017.

The matters of unfitness, which Mr Neale and Mrs Birkett did not dispute in their Disqualification Undertakings, were that they failed to ensure, from 24 December 2014 to 8 May 2015, that Enterprise The Business Credit Union Ltd met its regulatory requirement to not make new loans, or make further advances in relation to, or otherwise vary the terms of, any existing loans. In that period, EBCU was subject to a voluntary imposition of requirements agreed with the Prudential Regulatory Authority to cease the normal operation of the credit union until such time that it was able to meet regulatory requirements. EBCU made payments in the period of £635,511.67 in respect of 175 loans; a regulatory breach which then contributed to its insolvency.

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 Prudential Regulation Authority (‘PRA’) was created as a part of the Bank of England by the Financial Services Act 2012 and is responsible for the prudential regulation and supervision of around 1,700 banks, building societies, credit unions, insurers and major investment firms. The PRA’s objectives are set out in the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FSMA). Further information about the work of the PRA is available.

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

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