Day: November 3, 2017

Clive Cobb, who had been a director of Our Bakery Number Two Ltd which traded as The Royal William Bakery, a bakery and restaurant at The Royal William Yard in Plymouth, has been disqualified from acting as a director for 5 years.

The disqualification follows an Insolvency Service investigation which last year had already resulted in another director, Alexander Charles Eugene Qaun, being disqualified for 4 years.

The investigation found that Cobb and Quan were responsible for the company failing to pay VAT, PAYE and NIC from at least May 2013. This led to an arrears of £130,361 with the total amount owed in unpaid tax when the company went into liquidation in October 2015 coming to £142,666.

On 17 October 2017 the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy accepted a disqualification undertaking from Cobb, effective from 7 November 2017.This follows an undertaking from Quan which was accepted on 15 November 2016.

Commenting on the disqualification, Sue MacLeod, Chief Investigator at the Insolvency Service, said:

These actions have resulted in honest taxpayers losing out. If you run a business in a way that is unfairly detrimental to any of its creditors, including tax authorities, the Insolvency Service will investigate you, and you may find yourself disqualified from acting as a director.

Notes to editors

Our Bakery Number Two Ltd (CRO No. 07725530) was incorporated on 2 August 2011. Its registered office was at Flat 1, Rousden Village Bakery, Rousden, Lyme Regis, Dorset DT7 3XW.

Mr Clive John Cobb is of Dorset and his date of birth is October 1947.

Alexander Charles Eugene Qaun is of Exeter and his date of birth is October 1972.

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 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.

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Funeral Payments are available to people who receive certain income-related benefits to help pay towards the cost of a funeral for an immediate friend or relative.

The government consulted on reforms to make it clearer who is eligible for a payment and make it easier for people to claim.

Minister for Family Support, Housing and Child Maintenance Caroline Dinenage said:

Losing a loved one is a sad and difficult time and we want to make the process of claiming a funeral payment as simple as possible.

I want to thank those who responded to our consultation and I am pleased that we will be bringing in all its recommendations to make it easier for people to make a claim.

The improvements include:

• allowing recipients of a Funeral Payment to receive contributions from relatives, friends or charities without it being deducted from the payment
• extending the claim period from 3 to 6 months from the date of the funeral
• allowing applicants to submit evidence electronically to speed up the processing of claims and get decisions to claimants sooner
• introducing a shorter application form for children’s funerals

More information

Funeral Payments can help pay for the costs of a simple, respectful funeral for people on qualifying benefits. This includes:

• burial fees and exclusive rights of burial in a particular plot
• medical certification fees needed for cremations, including the cost of the doctor’s certificate
• travel to arrange or go to the funeral
• the cost of moving the body within the UK, if it’s being moved more than 50 miles
• death certificates or other documents
• up to £700 for other funeral expenses, such as funeral director’s fees, flowers or the coffin

People in receipt of the following benefits may be eligible for a Funeral Payment:

• Income Support
• income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance
• income-related Employment and Support Allowance
• Pension Credit
• Universal Credit
• Housing Benefit
• Working Tax Credit which includes a disability or severe disability element
• Child Tax Credit

The changes will be brought in next year.

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Follow DWP on:

• Twitter – www.twitter.com/dwppressoffice
• Facebook – www.facebook.com/dwp
• LinkedIn – www.linkedin.com/company/dwp
• YouTube – www.youtube.com/dwp

Highways England today announced its preferred route for the A57 Mottram bypass which will cut congestion and improve safety.

The company also confirmed it would deliver improvements at Westwood roundabout at Tankersley in South Yorkshire which links the A61 and A616, and would do further work to refine options for the dualling of the A61 between Westwood roundabout and the M1.

All 3 improvements were part of a consultation held earlier this year.

Tim Gamon, Highways England’s Regional Delivery Director for the North West, said:

More than 1,000 people attended the public information events we held on both sides of the Pennines earlier this year and almost 900 people responded to the consultation – with half backing the option selected for a new link from the M67 terminal roundabout to a new junction at A57(T) Mottram Moor – near Back Moor – and a link from there to a new junction on the A57 at Brookfield.

Most people felt these improvements struck a good balance in terms of convenience for drivers, reduced impact on local communities and improved safety. So we will present them in a statutory consultation next year with a plan to starting construction in early 2020.

Plans for climbing lanes on the A628 are also being considered further following the recent consultation.

Highways England is already starting to deliver some localised safety schemes along the Trans-Pennine route.

More information on the announcement and on the timetable for statutory consultation and project delivery can be found on the scheme website.

General enquiries

Members of the public should contact the Highways England customer contact centre on 0300 123 5000.

Media enquiries

Journalists should contact the Highways England press office on 0844 693 1448 and use the menu to speak to the most appropriate press officer.