First nine-ship for 2017 Red Arrows team

THE 2017 Red Arrows
team have flown their first “nine-ship” ahead of this year’s display season.

Carrying out their
winter training at RAF Scampton, the Lincolnshire home of the Royal Air Force
Aerobatic Team,the Squadron is renowned for displaying with nine, British-built
fast-jets and bringing the whole formation together is a key moment in the
six-month winter training programme.

The Red Arrows begin
training for the forthcoming season almost as soon as the previous year has
ended.

For the latest season,
full preparations got underway after the team returned from a nine-week,
20,000-mile, tour of the Asia-Pacific and Middle East regions supporting UK
interests at the end of 2016.

Typically, this winter
training starts with small groups of three or four aircraft formations.

Each pilot flies three
sorties a day, five days a week, and the formations grow in aircraft number as
training progresses.

The occasion saw the
team’s trademark Diamond Nine formation flown, among other manoeuvres that will
feature in this year’s show.

Squadron Leader David
Montenegro, Red 1 and Team Leader, said: “We have flown 13 weeks of intensive
training and the result is being able to get 9 aircraft airborne today which is
testament to the perseverance and dedication of the team pilots; tireless and
enduring effort of our engineering team; brilliant work from our PR and
administrative teams on the squadron and indeed, support from the Station
services at RAF Scampton.

“On a personal
note, this is the third and final year that I will achieve this milestone and I
can say in all honestly that the adrenaline build-up and sense of achievement
is as strong as it was in 2015.

“In the pursuit of
professional excellence, we now transition to the next phase of training during
which we will perfect the display and ensure we maintain the RAF Red Arrows’
benchmark of being a world-leading team, able to represent our Service and our
Nations’ interests in all corners of the globe”.

Three of the Red
Arrows’ nine pilots are new to the team for 2017.

Flight Lieutenant Dan
Lowes, who is Red 3 and a former Typhoon pilot, said: “That was a truly
memorable experience. It was an honour and a privilege to have flown in my
first Red Arrows 9 ship.

“The training has been
tough, and there’s still a long way to go, but it’s great to have achieved our
first 9.

“I’m now looking
forward to deploying on our spring training camp and working towards PDA.”

These flights involve a
thorough brief, debrief and discussion to ensure safety is paramount and the
formations are precise.

Winter training in the
UK lasts until mid-spring, when the team usually moves overseas to a location
with more predictable, settled weather to maximise flying hours and perfect the
display. This is known as Exercise Springhawk.

Flight Lieutenant Si
Taylor, Red 7, who also previously flew operationally in the Tornado and
Typhoon and joins Red 6 to form the 2017 Synchro pair, said: “This feels like
it’s happened so fast since we got back from the tour in December.

“It’s a great
feeling to have achieved a significant milestone through some hard graft and
dedication throughout the winter months. Hopefully now we can kick on and make
the show look incredible for all the crowds in the 2017 Season. I’m really
looking forward to it”.

The first nine-ship is
an important occasion for the whole Squadron – including the ground team, who
number more than 100 and comprise technicians, suppliers, drivers,
photographers, administrators, operations staff and a public relations
department.

Each has a crucial part
to play in ensuring the Red Arrows can fly and perform precision displays
around the world.

Among those people with
a role in today’s nine-ship were the technicians on the flightline –
responsible for checking the aircraft are safe for flight, assisting the
crewing-in of the pilots into the cockpits and marshalling the jets from their
parking stands.

Flight Lieutenant
Alicia Mason, the team’s Junior Engineering Officer responsible for day-to-day
engineering issues on the Squadron, and who is also new to the Red Arrows this
season, said: “Today has been a superb achievement for all concerned. It’s
another milestone in our calendar that the groundcrew have been preparing for
behind the scenes for the past few weeks.

“Luck was not on our side
this week though and we’ve had a tricky few days with the jets not behaving
themselves but I’m proud to say that the team have put in a tremendous
performance over the past 2 days working together day and night to ensure that
we had 9 serviceable aircraft for the programme this morning. It was great to
see the fruits of our labour when all 9 took off and landed safely and the
aircrew were able to practice some of their 9-ship manoeuvres. Even some of the
groundcrew were able to take a break for a few minutes this morning to come
outside and watch part of the first 9-ship practice to show their support and
enjoy this moment as a team.

“We can’t rest on our
laurels though, there is still much to be done ahead of our deployment to
Greece for Exercise SPRINGHAWK. The groundcrew will be busy over the next 4
weeks ensuring that we have 11 serviceable aircraft and equipment prepared and
ready to take with us for the duration of the Exercise”.

During Springhawk the
team is assessed by senior Royal Air Force officers, with the aim of gaining
Public Display Authority.

If this is awarded, the
Squadron’s pilots change from green coveralls into their famous red flying
suits and the ground crew are allowed to wear their royal blue display
coveralls.

The season then officially
begins and public performances by the Red Arrows are permitted.

It is hoped the first
display to the public in the UK will be on 3 June this year, for the Torbay
Airshow, Torbay.

More information about
the 2017 season will be release on the Red Arrows website shortly.

For
more information about the team, follow @rafredarrows on Twitter, like RAF Red
Arrows on Facebook or visit www.raf.mod.uk/reds

Editor – RAFAT PR Manager

© MOD Crown Copyright 2017

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RAF Tornados join NATO partners to put
defences to the test

1,100
personnel and 48 aircraft from 7 NATO nations, including the RAF’s 31 Sqn “The
Goldstars,” have descended on Leeuwarden Air Force Base in the Netherlands for
the start of the two-week-long “FRISIAN FLAG” exercise.

The
local Dutch population have been treated to the spectacle of Tornados,
Typhoons, Mirage and F16 aircraft taking off on the exercise, which is
organised by the Royal Netherlands Air Force (RNLAF) and runs from 27 March to
7 April 2017.

The
RAF has deployed six Tornado GR4s for the exercise in which they will at times
simulate the “Red Force Element, effectively playing the part of the enemy that
will attempt to breach the defences of opposing forces from the USA, France,
Germany, Portugal, Belgium and the Netherlands, they will also be playing
“Blue” friendly forces.

EX
FRISIAN FLAG aims to provide aircrew with experience of the planning, execution
and debriefing of large scale composite air operations (COMAO) in realistic
scenarios by allowing partner NATO nations to work alongside one another, test
each other’s capabilities and develop a close working relationship. Missions
being flown include various air defence scenarios including protection / escort
of high value aircraft and the attack of ground targets on land and sea in a
high threat environment, which include opposing fighter aircraft and ground
based Patriot and SA-6 missile batteries.

Wing
Commander Matt Bressani, OC 31 Squadron & the Detachment Commander of the
RAF contingent at FRISIAN FLAG, said: “Working with NATO countries helps us to
better understand our own strengths and weaknesses by testing each other’s
defences. With the Tornado GR4 going out of service in a few years’ time, this
is an ideal opportunity to train our crews for their future beyond this air
frame. The time working alongside our allies means that we will expose both air
and ground crews to working closely with Typhoon deployments from our partner
nations, allowing our boys and girls to get up close to an aircraft they could
be working on themselves in the near future. The aircrew will get to see
German, Dutch and Portuguese Typhoons in action and see how they work alongside
the American and French aircraft too.”

The
Commander of the Royal Netherlands Air Force, Lieutenant General Luyt said: “In
the current security situation, air superiority can no longer be taken for
granted. Our colleagues from the army and navy count on us to achieve air
superiority wherever required. Large-scale deployment as part of a NATO air
campaign can no longer be ruled out. What’s more, we could be called on as
early as tomorrow. As the Royal Netherlands Air Force, we must once again be
prepared to meet the challenge.”

Editor – Ken Pike

© MOD Crown Copyright 2017

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6 Apr 2017

Crucial funding to tackle Scotland’s drugs and drink crisis has been cut across Scotland, new figures have revealed today.

In half of all Scotland’s 14 Health Board areas, support for Alcohol and Drug Partnerships has fallen this year, the statistics show.

It contradicts a promise by Health Secretary Shona Robison to ensure that treatment would be maintained at “existing levels” across Scotland.

The cuts follow changes to the way drug and alcohol partnerships are funded.

Ministers have reduced their own funding but said earlier this year that Health Boards would top it up to ensure cash was maintained.

However, a Freedom of Information request by the Scottish Conservatives has shown that, in several health board areas in Scotland, this has not happened.

The biggest cut is in Lanarkshire. Spending from central government and the NHS board amounts to a cut of £700,000 on 2015-16. Funding has also gone down in Dumfries and Galloway, Fife, Grampian, Orkney, Shetland and the Western Isles.

This is despite the fact Ms Robison said in January that she would be “maintaining alcohol and drugs treatment performance at existing levels across ADP locales.”​

Scottish Conservative lifestyle spokesman Brian Whittle said:

“When she announced this changes, Shona Robsion could not have been clearer – overall spending on alcohol and substance misuse would be maintained at existing levels across Scotland.

“It has taken our own research to show this is simply not the case. A fall of nearly three quarters of a million pounds in some areas can only mean that support for drug and drink addiction is being cut.

“Cutting funding on alcohol and drug support  is a false economy – because people with addictions often cost far more to the justice system and the NHS, not to mention to themselves, if they do not get treatment earlier on.

“Once again, we see SNP pledges falling apart at the seams.

“The Scottish Government must now urgently review the funding of this vital projects to assess whether people who need support are not getting it because of these cuts.”

Please see a copy of Shona Robison’s letter on ADP funding, dated January 16^th.

In it, Robison wrote:

“From the increased board baseline budgets we would expect a total of £15 million to also go towards supporting these efforts and maintain the overall spending on addressing alcohol and substance misuse, maintaining alcohol and drugs treatment performance at existing levels across ADP locales.”

Document including full figures of ADP funding:
http://www.scottishconservatives.com/adp-funding/ 

Spending cuts are as follows:

NHS Lanarkshire: -£693,740

NHS Grampian: -£243,922

NHS Dumfries and Galloway: -£233,834

NHS Western Isles: -£130,510

NHS Fife: -£125,000

NHS Orkney: -£68,843

NHS Shetland: -£66,515

Gleeson Bessent Trustee Services Ltd administered nine occupational pension schemes and Gleeson Bessent Trustees Ltd, was the trustee of three of those schemes, namely, the Focusplay Retirement Benefit Scheme, the Focusplay No 2 Retirement Benefit Scheme and the P.S.P. Retirement Benefit Scheme.

The court action follows an investigation by the Insolvency Service which found the companies did not market the various schemes but approved a series of investments which were then offered to the general public through a network of introducers and sub-introducers.

Those who chose to take up the offer were charged an initial fee of up to £1,645 in addition to a percentage annual management fee which could be as much as £2,500, with total fees generated by the nine schemes being in excess of £3.5m over 3 years.

The investigation also found the companies failed to adequately carry out their trustee role by neglecting to obtain independent investment advice, failing to comply with their own governance statements and by failing to adhere to pensions legislation and guidance issued by the Pensions Regulator; In particular, by making loans from the schemes to the sponsoring employer as well as to associated companies and individuals.

The court heard there had been a failure to ensure share certificates were obtained in return for investments made, that the companies had operated with a lack of transparency, particularly in not ensuring that investors were aware their funds were being put into high risk investments, and that members of the schemes were offered contrived and artificial employment in order to comply with guidance then in place.

Scott Crighton, Group Leader with Company Investigations North said: –

The Insolvency Service will investigate and bring to a halt the activities of companies that fail to meet the required standard for dealing with investment funds placed with them by members of the public and that are found to be operating against the public interest.

For their own protection, members of the public need to be wary of any uninvited contact offering them a free pension review and to be aware that many of the products on offer are unregulated and high risk or may even be outright scams and the safest course of action is to simply ignore them.

Notes to editors

Gleeson Bessent Trustee Services Ltd – company registration number 07235880 – was incorporated on 27 April 2010. The company’s registered office is at 1 Navigation Business Village, Navigation Way Ashton On Ribble, Preston, Lancashire, PR2 2YP.

Gleeson Bessent Trustees Ltd – company registration number 08207804 – was incorporated on 10 September 2012. The company’s registered office is at 1 Navigation Business Village, Navigation Way Ashton On Ribble, Preston, Lancashire, PR2 2YP.

The petitions to wind-up Gleeson Bessent Trustee Services Ltd and Gleeson Bessent Trustees Ltd were presented under s124A of the Insolvency Act 1986 on 16 February 2017. The Official Receiver was initially appointed as Provisional Liquidator of both Gleeson Bessent Trustee Services Ltd and Gleeson Bessent Trustees Ltd on 16 March 2017 and was then appointed as Liquidator of both companies on 28 March 2017.

Company Investigations, part of the Insolvency Service, uses powers under the Companies Act 1985 to conduct confidential fact-finding investigations into the activities of live limited companies in the UK on behalf of the Secretary of State for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS). Further information about live company investigations is available

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.

BEIS’ mission is to build a dynamic and competitive UK economy that works for all, in particular by creating the conditions for business success and promoting an open global economy. The Criminal Investigations and Prosecutions team contributes to this aim by taking action to deter fraud and to regulate the market. They investigate and prosecute a range of offences, primarily relating to personal or company insolvencies.

The agency also authorises and regulates the insolvency profession, assesses and pays statutory entitlement to redundancy payments when an employer cannot or will not pay employees, provides banking and investment services for bankruptcy and liquidation estate funds and advises ministers and other government departments on insolvency law and practice.

Further information about the work of the Insolvency Service, and how to complain about financial misconduct, is available.

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

You can also follow the Insolvency Service on:

Debbie
Abrahams MP, Labour’s Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, commenting on the
Joseph Rowntree Foundation report, which shows the Tory Government’s two child benefit
limit could push 200,000 children into poverty, said:

“Labour
is calling on the Tories to scrap this inhumane policy, which will have a
devastating impact upon many families on the lowest incomes in our society.

“An
arbitrary cap on the number of children that the Government will help families
to bring up is not only cruel, but is bad policy. This evidence shows that it
will increase child poverty.

“As
90 per cent of lone parents are female it is a further example of how these six
years of wasted austerity have been borne on the backs of low income mothers.

“That’s
why Labour will stand up for low income families, including providing free
school meals to all primary school children.”