The Queen has been pleased to approve the appointment of Mrs Justice Carr as a Lady Justice of Appeal and the appointment of Mr Justice Arnold, Mr Justice Dingemans, Mr Justice Phillips and Mr Justice Popplewell as Lord Justices of Appeal.

These appointments will fill forthcoming vacancies in the Court of Appeal arising from autumn 2019.

These appointments are made by Her Majesty The Queen on the advice of the Prime Minister and the Lord Chancellor following the recommendation of an independent selection panel.

New statistics show wages are booming for UK workers, with regular pay rising 1.7% in real terms (above inflation) – meaning people’s earnings are rising at their fastest since October 2015.

As 354,000 more people entered the workforce in the last year, female employment in the UK also continued to increase, remaining at its record high of 72.0%,

New figures also show the level of youth unemployment in the UK has nearly halved since 2010, falling by 47%.

Overall the UK’s unemployment rate remains at its lowest since 1974 at 3.8%, with female unemployment reaching a new record low of 3.6%. The largest fall in unemployment was also among people unemployed for over a year – showing the success of a reformed welfare system designed to help people overcome their personal barriers to work.

Employment Minister Alok Sharma said:

Wages outpacing inflation for 16 months in a row, more people in work than ever before and joint-record female employment, means better prospects for many thousands of UK families and shows the continued resilience of the UK labour market.

With unemployment still falling, remaining at its lowest level since 1974, its clear that UK employers continue to have confidence in our hard-working workforce.

And with many schools breaking up this week there are some great opportunities for young people to get a taste of work over the summer – boosting their CVs as well as their bank balances as they prepare for their future careers.

Vacancies stood at 827,000 in March to May 2019, showing the continued willingness of UK employers to invest in new roles.

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This note sets out the UK Government’s approach to the prevention of mass atrocities, primarily in conflict situations around the world. The Government’s approach is regularly reviewed and updated as new information on geographical situations and research on best practice in the field of atrocity prevention comes to light.

Who leads in government on atrocity prevention?

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) leads on mass atrocity prevention policy within the UK Government, with other parts of Whitehall in support. Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon, the FCO’s Minister of State responsible for the United Nations and the Commonwealth, also has oversight of policy on Human Rights and our work on atrocity prevention. The FCO’s Director of Multilateral Policy is the senior official responsible for these policy areas, and serves as the UK’s “Focal Point” for the Responsibility to Protect (R2P).

What is the British Government doing to prevent mass atrocities?

Given that the majority of atrocities occur in and around conflict, the UK has dedicated significant resources to addressing crises and conflict by means of a comprehensive cross-government response. The FCO’s Geographical Departments work closely with the Department for International Development (DFID), Ministry of Defence (MoD) and others, to assess the risk of potential atrocities and conflict and decide how best to respond.

Tools available to the UK Government include:

• Early warning mechanisms to identify countries at risk of instability, conflict and atrocities;
• Diplomacy to help de-escalate tensions and resolve disputes;
• Development/programmatic support to address the root causes of conflict;
• Defence and policing tools, which may include deployments of UK armed forces, to assist with training and capacity building in the security sector.

Early warning tools help the UK Government to identify and understand the emerging risk of mass atrocity. This includes the Countries at Risk of Instability process, an internal annual exercise, which helps policy-makers to prioritise countries and regions for potential Government engagement. Other sources of information include reporting from our diplomatic missions overseas, in-depth internal analyses, as well as reporting from international partners, multilateral and non-governmental organisations and wider open-source reporting. The Joint Analysis of Conflict and Stability is a particularly useful tool: all source cross-government analyses that are used to underpin National Security Council Strategies. All these instruments help the Government to identify situation-specific interventions that are most likely to prevent conflict, build stability and prevent atrocities.

Diplomatic engagement plays a crucial role in helping to prevent atrocities and conflict through, for example, visits to risk-prone areas, active support for mediation initiatives either directly or through third parties, and the use of international fora to cast a spotlight on potential flashpoints. Where we see a risk of atrocities, we use diplomacy to highlight our concerns: bilaterally with the countries concerned and with regional neighbours, and multilaterally through international organisations such as the United Nations (UN), European Union and the Commonwealth, and with smaller likeminded groups and others.

The UK supports the deployment of all appropriate tools available to the UN in dealing with potential atrocities and conflict such as sanctions (diplomatic, travel bans, asset freezes, arms embargoes, and commodity interdiction), and is a strong advocate for securing accountability and justice for atrocities committed. In the UN context, UK diplomatic activity includes engaging with the Security Council, the General Assembly, and the Human Rights Council. The UK is mindful that left unchecked, human rights abuses and violations can be a first step towards mass atrocities. Freedom of the media is also important in an open society, to hold the powerful to account without fear of retribution.

Development/programmatic support aims to foster environments where atrocities are less likely to take place – by addressing the root causes of conflict and drivers of instability through tackling corruption, promoting good governance, improving access to security and justice, and inclusive economic development.

The UK’s substantial development budget is a key component of the Government’s effort to reduce conflict and build stability overseas. The UK spends 0.7% of its Gross National Income on Official Development Assistance, a figure that we have enshrined in law. With more than 50% of DFID’s budget spent in fragile and conflict affected states, effective development initiatives can help to reduce the risk of atrocities.

The cross-Whitehall Conflict, Stability and Security Fund (CSSF) brings together resources and expertise from across government to deliver security, peacekeeping, peacebuilding and stabilisation activity to help countries become safer and more secure. The CSSF’s £1.2 billion supports and delivers programmes bilaterally in over 70 countries, and multilaterally through organisations such as the UN. This work is co-ordinated through the National Security Council and the Cabinet Office.

As the 2015 Strategic Defence and Security Review sets out, the UK uses defence tools, including the armed forces, to strengthen the rules-based international order including through conflict prevention and capacity building, training, support to humanitarian assistance and disaster response, and conducting operations to restore peace and stability. Each of these can have a positive impact in preventing atrocities, as does the deployment of policing and justice sector expertise, funded through the CSSF.

A strong commitment to do more

The UK remains committed to early and effective international action to prevent conflict and mass atrocities using a range of tools. As a strong defender of the rules-based international order, committed to preventing conflict and atrocities before they occur, we support the vision of UN Secretary-General António Guterres for “Sustaining Peace”: using the full range of UN instruments flexibly in order to address situations upstream, through early warning, prevention and peacebuilding.

The UK remains an active supporter of the principle of the Responsibility to Protect (R2P), working with international partners – both states and civil society – to identify situations where the risk of atrocities is growing and find ways to forestall violence using the tools outlined above. We continue to work actively with international partners to develop effective policy approaches to promote R2P and prevent atrocities.

The UK Government is firmly committed to efforts which highlight injustice, protect civilian populations and prevent and resolve conflict. We will continue to press ahead with work which builds inclusive and stable environments through initiatives on Women, Peace and Security, Girls’ Education, the Protection of Civilians, Children and Armed Conflict, Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict, tackling Modern Slavery, promoting Freedom of Religion or Belief (including tackling the persecution of Christians) and Freedom of the Media.

Four Independent Commissioners will join the Board of the Geospatial Commission alongside its Chair, Sir Andrew Dilnot, and Deputy Chair, Nigel Clifford.

Dame Kate Barker, Kru Desai, Edwina Dunn and Steve Unger have been appointed by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, the Rt Hon David Lidington CBE MP, in consultation with the Chair of the Commission.

The Chair of the Geospatial Commission, Sir Andrew Dilnot, said:

I am pleased to welcome Kate, Kru, Edwina and Steve to the Geospatial Commission. Their combined expertise and experience will be invaluable to the Commission’s goal to unlock the potential of geospatial data and improve the UK’s social, natural and economic environment.

The Minister for Implementation, Oliver Dowden added:

I’m looking forward to working with the new Commissioners and seeing the Geospatial Commission benefit from their expertise, which will help to ensure the UK remains a geospatial world leader.

The Commissioners will be responsible for providing expert, impartial advice to the government on geospatial data, including on strategic priorities and value for money, to inform the UK’s Geospatial Strategy. The Board of Commissioners will meet formally up to nine times per year.

About the Commissioners:

• Dame Kate Barker served three terms on the Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of England. She was previously Chief Economist at Ford of Europe and Chief Economic Adviser at the CBI. She currently holds a number of private sector roles and is a member of the National Infrastructure Commission. Her appointment will help ensure the Geospatial Commission has a strong basis to approach the fundamental economic questions about the value of data and the wider economic benefits to the UK.
• Kru Desai has spent her career leading large and complex transformation programmes. She began in the public sector at Westminster City Council and went on to have a successful private sector career. Most recently she was a senior partner and Head of Infrastructure, Government and Healthcare at KPMG. Her experience will help the Commission shape workable solutions in a complex cross-sector context.
• Edwina Dunn OBE is an experienced leader, entrepreneur and pioneer in the field of data science and customer-centric business transformation. She is co-founder of dunnhumby, the company behind Tesco’s Clubcard and other loyalty programmes around the world. She is now CEO at Starcount, a data science consultancy working with some of the UK’s leading brands. Her strong background in commercial data analysis will add significantly to the Commission’s strategy for accessing and providing insight from data.
• Dr Steve Unger was until recently a board member of Ofcom where he was responsible for setting regulatory strategy for the UK, representing the UK in international negotiations and leading Ofcom’s technology programme. Previously, Steve spent several years in the private sector, working for Silicon Fen startups whose focus was the commercial exploitation of new wireless technologies. His regulatory experience will be of immediate use in the Commission’s Underground Assets Register programme and for longer term consideration of the regulation of data markets.

The Geospatial Commission was created in April 2018 in the centre of government, as an independent, expert committee. It aims to unlock the significant economic opportunities offered by geospatial data and to reinforce the UK’s geospatial expertise on the global stage.

It has been set up to:

• advise independently, making recommendations on how best to coordinate or adapt existing geospatial activities and structures; and
• deliver beneficial changes in partnership with others where there is evidence of value.

The Geospatial Commission has nine Commissioners:

• Sir Andrew Dilnot (Chair)
• Nigel Clifford (Deputy Chair)
• Dame Kate Barker (Independent Commissioner)
• Kru Desai (Independent Commissioner)
• Edwina Dunn (Independent Commissioner)
• Steve Unger (Independent Commissioner)
• Thalia Baldwin (Director of the Commission, from 1 August 2019)
• Michael Mire and Steve Blair are the two commissioners nominated by the six Partner Bodies of the Commission to represent them.

The Independent Commissioners were appointed through an open competition. They will commence appointment on 25 July 2019.

Detailed Biographies:

Dame Kate Barker

From 2017 Dame Kate Barker has been a commissioner at the National Infrastructure Commission – an executive agency of HM Treasury whose role is to provide impartial, expert advice on major long-term infrastructure challenges. In this role, Kate leads on water-supply, flooding and on the relationship between housing development and infrastructure.

Kate was a Chief European Economist for Ford of Europe from 1985-94 and Chief Economic Advisor for the Confederation of British Industry from 1994-2001. In 2003 she was appointed by the government to conduct an independent Review of UK Housing Supply and subsequently was appointed as a board member of the Housing Corporation. She then continued on the board of the Homes and Communities Agency from 2008 – 2011. From 2010-2015, Kate was the Chair of the Northern Ireland Economic Advisory Group and was appointed as a non-executive member of the UK government’s Office for Budget Responsibility from 2011-2017.

Kate was awarded a CBE in 2005 for services to social housing and a DBE in 2014 for services to the economy. She was educated at St Hilda’s College, Oxford, where she received a degree in politics, philosophy and economics.

Kru Desai

Kru Desai has spent her career leading large and complex transformation programmes. She started out in the public sector as a business and policy analyst at Westminster City Council.

After 5 years, she left to join KPMG as a consultant for local government and then the public sector in East Africa. After a successful career at KPMG Kru left to become a Managing Director at Atos where she focused on public sector digital transformation work. She then joined Hedra and subsequently Mouchel where she helped to build up the public sector practice, securing large IT and workforce development contracts. She returned to KPMG in 2010 as a Partner and Head of Infrastructure, Government and Healthcare. In this role, she secured important digital contracts and won the first contract for the UK Independent Commission for Aid Impact to provide assurance and evaluation services on UK spending in international aid. As a member of the Mayor of London’s Smart London Board Kru was involved in promoting the open data store to drive growth in SME led platform and apps businesses. She was also responsible for the early adoption and integration of cloud- based data analytic solutions for public sector clients through her leadership role as a member of KPMG’s Government and Public Services Team.

Kru left KPMG in 2018 and has since been the Chair of Zinc Network, a communications agency that supports communities, brands and governments drive positive social change. Kru is also an Independent Council Member of City University.

Edwina Dunn

Edwina is co-founder of dunnhumby, the pioneering company behind Tesco’s Clubcard and other loyalty programmes around the world. She is an experienced leader, entrepreneur and pioneer in the field of data science and customer-centric business transformation. She is now CEO at Starcount, a data science consultancy working with some of the UK’s leading brands. She also champions women’s stories and motivations as the Founder of The Female Lead campaign.

Edwina chaired a Government backed campaign “Your Life” to promote the uptake of Maths and Physics. She has served as a non-executive director on the HMRC board and was recently appointed to the board of the Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation. She studied Geography at University and started her career working for an American software consultancy that provided statistics for army recruitment. In 2019, Edwina was awarded an OBE for her services to Data and Business.

Steve Unger

Steve Unger was until recently an executive Board member at Ofcom, the UK regulator responsible for digital communications. He held a variety of roles, including Strategy Group Director, Chief Technology Officer and Acting Chief Executive. His responsibilities included setting the regulatory strategy for the UK, representing the UK in international negotiations and leading Ofcom’s technology programme.

At Ofcom, Steve led a strategic review of digital communications, which drove a step change in fibre investment in the UK. Recognising that this fibre deployment will take time to implement, and risks creating a new digital divide, he also led the initiative to give everyone in the UK the right to a decent broadband connection. He led a number of other initiatives with a more immediate consumer focus, including the introduction of automatic compensation for broadband customers, and a collaboration with network operators to reduce the volume of nuisance calls

Before Ofcom, Steve spent several years in the private sector, working for a variety of Silicon Fen start-ups whose focus was the commercial exploitation of new wireless technologies. More recently Steve was a board member for Cambridge Wireless and chaired their annual technology conference.

Since leaving Ofcom in 2018, Steve has been a Senior Advisor at Flint Global, a Board Member of the International Institute of Communications, as well as an Advisory Board Member at ASSIA Incorporated. Steve also has a part-time research position at the Bennett Institute for Public Policy at the University of Cambridge.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office wishes to underline that the UK Government’s longstanding position on Papua has not changed. We support Indonesia’s territorial integrity and regard Papua as an integral part of Indonesia.

Mr Wenda’s presence in the UK does not mean that the UK Government supports his position on Papuan sovereignty, and the award by Oxford City Council has no bearing on UK Government policy. Local councils are politically independent from central government and so this is a matter for Oxford City Council.

The UK Government continues to support the efforts of the authorities and civil society to address the needs and aspirations of the Papuan people, including to strengthen human rights protections and to ensure that Papuans benefit from sustainable and equitable development. Officials from the British Embassy Jakarta regularly visit Papua, and meet a wide range of authorities, NGOs and interest groups.