Moving aid and donations to the people of Ukraine will be made easier thanks to a customs easement, the UK Government announced today.

The simplification of customs processes will apply to goods intended to support those affected by the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine which are exported from Great Britain. Provided the goods are not exported to, or through, Russia or Belarus, then these simplified processes apply to qualifying goods regardless of the destination to allow maximum flexibility to get aid to where the need is greatest.

The government still recommends that organisations and people, who would like to help, donate cash through trusted charities and aid organisations, rather than donating goods. Cash can be transferred quickly to areas where it is needed and individuals and aid organisations can use it to buy what is most needed.

However, businesses, charities and community organisations sending aid from British ports will be able to make a customs declaration by speaking to customs officers or simply by the act of driving through a port.

They will no longer need to complete and submit electronic customs declarations to HMRC before exporting these goods, and smaller movements will not need to use the Goods Vehicle Movement Service to pass through ports where it is in operation.

The easement will also remove other customs formalities, such as needing to notify HMRC when the goods have been exported.

The Rt Hon Lucy Frazer QC MP, Financial Secretary to the Treasury, said:

People and businesses across the UK have already responded with immense generosity, donating millions of pounds to support those forced to flee their homes as a result of the war in Ukraine.

Government advice remains that the best way to help the Ukrainian people is to donate money through the Disasters Emergency Committee or other trusted charities.

However, we appreciate that people and businesses may still wish to donate aid directly to the region, so this new customs easement will ensure that humanitarian aid is fast-tracked from Great Britain to help those most affected.

The easement, which excludes all controlled goods and dual use goods, will be in place for a limited time, which will be announced in due course.

The easement comes into effect immediately.

Anyone requiring advice about transporting humanitarian aid to Ukrainian refugees can contact the free-to-use Export Support Service (ESS) or ESS helpline 0300 303 8955 which can be used by individuals, businesses or charities.

Government advice remains that the best way to help the Ukrainian people is to donate money through the Disasters Emergency Committee or other trusted charities.

The UK has committed a £220 million humanitarian aid package for Ukraine to help aid agencies respond to the deteriorating situation, creating a lifeline for Ukrainians with access to basic necessities and medical supplies. Our humanitarian aid takes the UK’s overall support for Ukraine during the current crisis to nearly £400 million, after a £100 million economic package for Ukraine was announced last month.

• Organisations will need to gain a new trustmark to show they can handle people’s identity data in a safe and consistent way.

• New Office for Digital Identities and Attributes established to oversee strong security and privacy standards for digital IDs

People will be able to easily and quickly prove their identity using digital methods instead of having to rely on traditional physical documents, under new plans unveiled by the government today.

Following a public consultation, the government has announced it will introduce legislation to make digital identities as trusted and secure as official documents such as passports and driving licences.

Digital identities, which are a virtual form of ID, reduce the time, effort and expense that sharing physical documents can take when people need to provide legal proof of who they are, for example when buying a home or starting a new job.

A new Office for Digital Identities and Attributes (ODIA) will be set up in the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport as an interim governing body for digital identities.

Digital identity solutions can be accessed in a number of ways such as via a phone app or website and can be used in-person or online to verify a person’s identity. It will be for people and businesses to decide what digital identity technology works for them to prove their identity, should they choose to create a digital identity at all.

For example, if a person wants to prove they are over 18 to buy age-restricted products, they could create a digital identity with a trusted organisation by sharing personal information such as their name and date of birth. This digital identity could then be used to prove to a retailer they are over-18, without the need to reveal the personal information used to create the digital identity, boosting users’ privacy, unlike physical documents which may disclose date of birth, name and address.

The ODIA will have the power to issue an easily recognised trustmark to certified digital identity organisations, to prove they meet the security and privacy standards needed to handle people’s data in a safe and consistent way.

The ODIA will ensure trust-marked organisations adhere to the highest standards of security and privacy.

Digital identities can also help tackle fraud, which hit record highs with an estimated 5 million cases in the year ending September 2021, by reducing the amount of personal data shared online and making it harder for fraudsters to obtain and use stolen identities.

The government intends to bring forward the necessary legislation when parliamentary time allows to:

• Establish a robust and secure accreditation and certification process and trustmark so organisations can clearly prove they are meeting the highest security and privacy standards needed to use digital identities.
• Create a legal gateway to allow trusted organisations to carry out verification checks against official data held by public bodies to help validate a person’s identity.
• Confirm the legal validity of digital forms of identification are equal to physical forms of identification, such as physical passports

It is committed to ensuring digital identities are not compulsory and people will still be able to use available paper documentation.

Data Minister Julia Lopez said:

This government is committed to unlocking the power of data to benefit people across the UK.

The legislation we’re proposing will ensure that there are trusted and secure ways for people and organisations to use digital identities, should they choose to.

Heather Wheeler MP, Parliamentary Secretary to the Cabinet Office, said;

The government is delivering a number of ambitious and interlinked policy initiatives to prepare the UK for the digital world, and to improve the lives of businesses and citizens.

These initiatives, alongside enabling legislation, will help ensure the UK is able to take full advantage of the opportunities that digital identities and the wider digital economy have to offer.

I would like to thank everyone who participated in the consultation exercise. By working together, and sharing knowledge, experience and expertise, we will continue to deliver transformative digital policies.

In advance of the proposed legislation, landlords, letting agents and employers will be able to use certified new technology to carry out the right to work and the right to rent checks online from the 6th April, 2022 and prove their eligibility to work or rent more easily.

Sue Daley, Director for Technology and Innovation, techUK said:

Today’s announcements are a positive step forward in the UK’s implementation of digital identity. techUK has welcomed DCMS’s efforts in working with industry to get us to where we are today.

Given the next steps now being taken, continued cooperation between industry and government remains the best chance for a successful implementation of a digital identity ecosystem in the UK. However, we must also ensure we bring citizens on this journey with us: building public trust and confidence in Digital ID must be a key priority as we move forward.

ENDS

Notes to Editors:

Please find a link to the digital identities and consultation response here

Mr President, I thank High-Representative Nakamitsu for her briefing.

Just ten days ago we discussed Syria’s chemical weapons in this Council. It was clear then that Syria remains uncooperative. The serious outstanding issues on its chemical weapons declaration, which include the fate of thousands of chemical munitions and hundreds of tonnes of chemical agents, remain unresolved. The terms of resolution 2118 continue to be breached. We therefore call on the Syrian regime – as we do every month – to cooperate with the OPCW and return to compliance with the Chemical Weapons Convention.

Mr President,

In the ten days since we last met, Russia has continued its war of aggression against Ukraine. Besieging cities, killing civilians indiscriminately, forcing millions to flee in search of safety. The parallels with Russian action in Syria are clear. Regrettably, the comparison also extends to chemical weapons, as we see the familiar spectre of Russian chemical weapons disinformation raising its head in Ukraine.

Russia has a long history of deflection, denial and obstructive behaviour when it comes to chemical weapons. In 2017, Putin claimed the Khan Shaykhun attack, for which the expert and impartial OPCW-UN Joint Investigative Mechanism found the Assad regime responsible, was staged by the West.

Russia has offered more than 40 different narratives about the chemical weapons attack its military agents carried out in Salisbury four years ago, and we have seen nothing but obfuscation and falsehoods in relation to the Novichok attack on Alexei Navalny.

So colleagues,

As you listen to the Russian statements during this session, I ask you to consider — who should we believe? Should we believe the state with a track record of using chemical weapons, that has denied and deflected questions about attacks by its client, the Assad regime, whether in Khan Shaykhun, Ltamenah or Saraqib? Or should we believe the independent, impartial international organisations that have conducted rigorous investigations, attributing responsibility based on clear evidence?

This Council has heard enough lies about chemical weapons from the Russian Federation. We must stop pretending that the Assad regime is acting in good faith. We should stand up for the rules we have all agreed, look those who break them in the eye and hold them to account for their actions.

Finally Mr President, I note that Libya is on our agenda for next Wednesday — I look forward to discussing it then.

Thank you.

At SLC, our customer vision includes providing an outstanding customer experience, helping customers to invest in their futures by providing an intuitive, supportive and trusted service.

We are making progress and one area in particular where we recognise improvements can be made is the journey for customers in receipt of Disabled Students’ Allowance (DSA). DSA provides support with study related costs and provides vital support to thousands of students with a disability across the UK. It’s hugely valuable in enabling opportunity and widening participation in higher education.

Our customers have told us that accessing this support has challenges, including too much onus on them to take action, it’s a lengthy process and that no organisation takes ownership of their journey.

This is why we have been working on significant reforms that will transform and improve the DSA service. It will remove key pain points in the customer journey, provide the customer with a single point of contact and support throughout the process, and introduce contractual control to ensure consistent quality of service. In addition, these changes will reduce the time taken to access DSA.

More information on the supplier model is available in our recently published procurement prospectus.

Enhancing the customer experience is a crucial element of the reforms and at a recent supplier day, we outlined that new suppliers will work with SLC, the UK Government’s Department for Education and Welsh Government to enhance and strengthen the quality standards to create a service that better meets the needs of our customers. The quality metrics will include agreed service levels, quality standards and processes for resolving exception complaints.

We also confirmed that we are engaging with our customers and non-commercial stakeholders, such as third sector bodies, in these discussions to ensure the quality framework best suits our customers. A DSA Student Finance Customer Panel has been established to hear first-hand experiences of customers in receipt of DSA and help to shape the reforms, building on the insight gathered from customer surveys and a number of in-depth one to one interviews with students with a disability.

Working together will ensure the best outcome for our customers and we look forward to collaborating to improve the journey for customers in receipt of DSA.