Communities across the UK will benefit from greener journeys thanks to 263 new low emission buses, Minister Nusrat Ghani will announce today (Wednesday 6 February 2019). A £48 million investment from the Office for Low Emission Vehicles will fund new green vehicles and infrastructure to drive forward government plans to clean up the air in towns and cities.

Speaking at the UK Bus Summit this morning, the minister will also announce a new partnership with Greener Journeys to reflect the pivotal role played by the bus industry in tackling loneliness and social isolation.

The partnership will see companies across the sector pledge to do all they can to tackle loneliness, including through innovative vehicle design and initiatives to encourage bus passengers to talk to each other.

Buses Minister Nusrat Ghani said:

Buses are far more than a way of getting from A to B. They are a crucial tool in the fight against loneliness and it is good to see the industry taking steps to tackle isolation.

This government is doing more than ever before to reduce emissions across all modes of transport and I’m delighted to see the bus industry putting itself at the forefront of this.

Nineteen successful bidders across England and Wales will receive funding to purchase new low emission buses and supporting infrastructure, such as charge points.

Benefits of Ultra Low emission buses

This is the latest funding in a long line of investment designed to drive the uptake of zero emission vehicles, following the government’s £1.5 billion Road to Zero strategy published last year.

In line with the Future of Mobility Grand Challenge – set out in the government’s modern Industrial Strategy – these measures chart a path for Britain to become a world leader in the zero-emission revolution, ensuring that the UK has cleaner air, a better environment and a stronger economy.

But buses are not just about cleaning up the air in our towns and cities. As a key mode of transport for older and vulnerable people, buses play a vital role in facilitating social connections.

The government also supports bus travel through a £250 million investment every year, as well as a further £1 billion for the free bus pass scheme, paving the way to a more sustainable future.

On top of this, there have already been several promising schemes launched by the bus sector, including Go Ahead Group’s ‘Chatty Bus’ campaign, encouraging conversations between passengers, and ‘Hattie,’ a community bus from Stagecoach specifically designed to provide a friendly environment where people can chat to others.

Claire Haigh, Chief Executive, Greener Journeys, said:

We’re delighted to be partnering with the government to tackle the epidemic of loneliness affecting millions of people in the UK. Research from Greener Journeys shows that a third of people in Britain go at least a day a week without speaking to anyone – not a friend, colleague or family member.

Buses play a vital role in facilitating social connections among the most vulnerable people, who rely on them to take them to visit friends and family. It’s fantastic to see the industry come together to launch such a brilliant range of initiatives to address the problem of loneliness.

The Prime Minister launched the government’s first loneliness strategy in October 2018, as a vital first step in a national mission to end loneliness in our lifetimes. Loneliness is one of the greatest public health challenges of our time and the strategy, which responds to the findings of the Jo Cox Commission, sets out a range of initiatives to help all age groups build connections.

Terence Coventry (39), from Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, was appointed the sole director of Alliance Traffic Services Limited in April 2016 before he caused the company to enter into a factoring agreement a month later.

The factoring agreement, which Terence Coventry personally guaranteed, set out the terms where an independent finance company would buy Alliance Traffic Service’s invoices in return for advanced finances.

However, between May 2016 and March 2017, Terence Coventry abused his position of trust as a director and caused of Alliance Traffic Service to breach the terms and conditions of the factoring agreement, despite being personally liable.

He failed to ensure company sales invoices were correctly produced and some customers paid money directly to Alliance Traffic Service’s bank account despite it being due to the factoring company. This resulted in the finance company losing more than £177,000

Alliance Traffic Service entered into compulsory liquidation and was wound up in November 2017. With a substantial shortfall owed, the finance company made claims against guarantees Terence Coventry was personally liable for and in January 2018, Terence Coventry was made bankrupt as he could not afford to pay the debt.

Bankruptcy restrictions, such as declaring bankrupt status when borrowing more than £500, typically last until your bankruptcy ends after 12 months. However, the Insolvency Service applied to have Terrence Coventry’s bankruptcy restrictions extended due to his abuse of trust and causing the finance company to lose thousands of pounds.

This led to Lincoln County Court on 10 January 2019 making a Bankruptcy Restrictions Order against Terence Coventry, which means his restrictions last for seven years.

Mr Coventry did not attend the hearing.

Gerard O’Hare, Official Receiver for the Insolvency Service, said:

Terence Coventry’s conduct in running his business fell well below the standards required of an individual in business and this led to his insolvency. The seven-year restriction should help protect the business community and act as a warning to others not to act in this way.

Terence Coventry is of Gainsborough and his date of birth is July 1979.

Alliance Traffic Service (Company Reg No: 09090168)

These are restrictions set out in insolvency law that the bankrupt is subject to until they are discharged from bankruptcy. Further guidance is available on GOV.UK.

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. 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:

Technology and IT expert Jill Lucas has been appointed as a Non-Executive Director to the Board of NS&I, the Economic Secretary to the Treasury announced today (6 February 2019).

Ms Lucas has had an extensive career in technology, most recently at Unilever leading a technology transformation to cloud computing. Before this she served as Chief Information Officer at both Towergate Insurance and Belron International.

Ms Lucas’s three-year term began on 1 February 2019.

Ian Ackerley, NS&I’s Chief Executive, said:

I am delighted to welcome Jill to the NS&I Board. We look forward to drawing on her longstanding experience in the technology sector in order for us to become a digital first organisation, which will continue to benefit our customers and the business.

John Glen, Economic Secretary, has also extended James Furse’s term as a NS&I Non-Executive Director for a further year, up to 31 December 2019. Mr Furse is a Non-Executive Director of Ageas UK Insurance and prior to joining the NS&I board in January 2012, he was Managing Director of John Lewis Partnership financial services.

The current NS&I Board members are:

• Ed Anderson – Non-executive Director and Chairman of the Board
• Ian Ackerley – Chief Executive
• Paul Henry – Director, Risk
• Dax Harkins – Director, B2B
• Jill Waters – Director, Retail
• Urvashi Bhagat – Director, Finance
• Matthew Smith – Director, Partnership
• Sarah Tebbutt – Director, People and Strategy
• Paul Habershon – Director, IT and Change
• James Furse – Non-Executive Director
• Sharmila Nebhrajani OBE – Non-Executive Director
• Christopher Fisher– Non-Executive Director
• Jill Lucas – Non-Executive Director
• Mario Pisani – HM Treasury Representative

Further information

The appointments of Jill Lucas and James Furse as Non-Executive Directors were regulated by the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments.

Jill Lucas and James Furse have confirmed that they have not engaged in any political activity in the past five years.

Non-Executive members of NS&I’s Board ensure a sound strategy is in place to meet the organisation’s remit of raising cost-effective debt financing for the government. They also act as an external source of advice, have oversight of risk control and ensure NS&I’s links with its outsourcing partner, Atos, remain open and transparent.

NS&I is one of the largest savings organisations in the UK, offering a range of savings and investments to 25 million customers who have invested £157 billion. All products offer 100% capital security because NS&I is backed by HM Treasury.

I would like to update the House on the progress of High Speed Two.

As part of this government’s industrial strategy we are investing in High Speed 2, a transformational infrastructure project that will improve people’s journeys, create jobs, generate economic growth and help to rebalance our country’s economy. HS2 is more than a railway and the project’s vision is to be a catalyst for economic growth. It has cross-party support and support from councils, LEPs, metro mayors and businesses who can see the transformational potential.

HS2 is making progress and the benefits are already being seen, notably in the investment and job creation in the West Midlands in advance of HS2 services, and around 7,000 jobs have been supported so far, rising to around 30,000 at peak.

Parliament has approved the powers to proceed with Phase One of the railway, between London and the West Midlands, and we are making significant progress. Early works are well underway:

• HS2 Ltd has revealed the designs for new stations in Old Oak Common, Birmingham Interchange and Birmingham Curzon Street
• enabling works on the route are progressing
• decommissioning and preparatory works are taking place

As has been seen with Stratford station in East London, railway stations have enormous power to transform their local surroundings. It is why I approved the appointment of a master development partner (Lendlease) on 22 February 2018 to assist HS2 Ltd in delivering the new Euston station development. This will not only provide unparalleled levels of accessibility, ease and convenience for our passengers, but ensure work with local communities to help unlock wider regeneration, new jobs, homes and opportunities.

Last year, the tender shortlist for a construction partner for the two southern stations was released. In a clear signal of how work is progressing, this morning I am pleased to announce the intention to award these important positions to a joint venture between Mace Limited and Dragados S.A. for Euston and a Joint Venture between Balfour Beatty Group Ltd, VINCI Construction UK Ltd, VINCI Construction Grands Projets SAS and SYSTRA Ltd for Old Oak Common. They will bring their global construction management expertise to these vitally important pieces of national infrastructure.

This demonstrates how progress is continuing at pace in order to deliver stations that will be embraced by their local communities, drive economic growth and improve rail journeys for passengers, whilst at the same time delivering this phase of the project to schedule and cost.

The progress we are making with HS2 is clear evidence that the government is delivering the infrastructure our country needs to build a stronger, fairer, more prosperous Britain.

The news comes a day after the release of the latest design images for Old Oak Common, where HS2 meets London’s Crossrail line.

Work is already well underway on the transformative high-speed rail project, with more than 7,000 jobs already supported, both directly and across the UK-wide supply chain. In London, more than a thousand people are at work on site, clearing the way for the start of construction and delivering essential pre-construction works, including HS2’s pioneering archaeological programme.

The station Construction Partners will be responsible for working with HS2 Ltd and the station designers, to coordinate the delivery of the station, including platforms, concourse and links to the London Underground and other rail services.

Welcoming the news, HS2 Ltd Chief Executive, Mark Thurston, said:

Euston and Old Oak Common are 2 of the most important elements of the project. Two landmark stations which will help unlock tens of thousands of jobs and new homes across the capital. Together with our Birmingham stations, they will transform the way we travel and set new standards for design, construction and operation.

Mace/Dragados and Balfour Beatty/VINCI have strong track records of delivering some of the world’s most challenging and exciting infrastructure projects and I look forward to welcoming them to the team.

HS2 Minister, Nusrat Ghani, said:

Euston and Old Oak Common will be catalysts for real change and regeneration, driving forward growth in their local communities while providing better journeys for passengers.

I am confident that these leading construction firms will deliver iconic stations that are safe, accessible and open to all.

At Euston, HS2 will more than double capacity, to deal with increasing passenger demand while freeing up space on the west coast mainline for more freight and local and long distance commuter services to places like Watford and Milton Keynes.

Mace and Dragados have a strong track record of delivering complex and demanding infrastructure projects including Battersea Power Station (phase 2), Mumbai International Airport Terminal Two and work on delivering the Spanish high speed rail network, including the major new Madrid Atocha and Barcelona Sants stations.

In February 2018, HS2, on behalf of the Department for Transport and Network Rail, appointed Lendlease to develop a masterplan for the wider Euston site, which could support up to 14,000 new jobs and almost 4,000 new homes, as well as shops, cafes and public spaces.

At Old Oak Common, the arrival of HS2 is expected to help kick-start the UK’s biggest regeneration project, transforming the former railway yards into new neighbourhoods supporting up to 65,000 jobs and 25,500 new homes.

With platforms both above and below ground, Old Oak Common will be the UK’s best connected station, with direct services to three major airports and eight out of Britain’s ten largest cities as well as London’s new Elizabeth Line (Crossrail).

Balfour Beatty and VINCI have experience of some of the world’s most complex construction projects, including the new Tours-Bordeaux TGV, Thames Tideway tunnel and the London 2012 Aquatics Centre.

HS2 services will eventually connect over 25 destinations and 30 million people across the UK. Trains will serve existing city centre stations in places like Glasgow and Liverpool, as well as brand new purpose built stations in Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, and the East Midlands.