Month: December 2017

As Brits are looking ahead at travel plans for 2018, the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) is advising holidaymakers to make sure they are properly insured.

Travelling abroad uninsured can cost thousands of pounds if a trip goes wrong. The price can range from £4,000 for medical repatriation aftercare for a heart attack in France to £80,000 for an air ambulance due to a fractured hip in Thailand.

Yet according to new research from the Foreign & Commonwealth Office, being sure to take out the appropriate travel insurance policy features at the bottom of travellers’ holiday priorities:

• getting to the airport (18%)
• going through airport security (20%) and
• waiting for luggage (11%)

are the biggest concerns for travellers going on holiday abroad. Only 2% worry about remembering to take out appropriate travel insurance.

72% of people aged over 55 plan to travel abroad in 2018 and with half of these identify themselves as having a pre-existing medical condition. The FCO is advising British holidaymakers to research the appropriate travel insurance options, understand the potential cost of not being adequately insured and to give a detailed and accurate medical history to insurers.

Research shows that:

• the price of travel insurance is the most important factor for the over 55s when considering whether or not to buy it (23%), and
• 1 in 20 have knowingly not declared their medical condition due to the increased cost of their travel insurance

The fact is that overseas emergency medical bills far outweigh the average cost of a policy.

The Department for International Trade (DIT) has this week announced that it will recruit 2 new Directors General to oversee the department’s growing export and investment agendas.

The creation of the Director General Investment and the Chief Exports Officer positions will build significant new senior capability in the department as it pursues an ambitious, targeted and strategic approach to promoting exports, and supporting greater inward and outward investment.

The Directors General will work with businesses from across the UK to generate wealth and prosperity, and ensure that companies of all sizes can take full advantage of global investment opportunities and the growing appetite for British goods and services abroad.

The Director General Investment will lead a global DIT team, co-ordinating government departments and working in partnership with the private sector to attract and retain high quality overseas investment.

The Chief Exports Officer will lead the implementation of a new export strategy to ensure that new and existing exporters can access the right financial, practical and promotional support to sell overseas. Export promotion is an essential element of the recently published government Industrial Strategy, with details of a new export strategy review unveiled in the Autumn Budget.

Find candidate information packs for:

• Director General – Chief Exports Officer
• Director General Investment

Applications close on the 3rd January 2018 with the view to appoint in the new year.

Notes to editors

Building on the Autumn Budget, Minister for Trade and Exports, Baroness Rona Fairhead today (1 December 2017) announced a new Export Strategy Review to consider how the UK can encourage and support British businesses to take advantage of the huge potential to grow our exports.

The Charity Commission, the independent regulator of charities in England and Wales, has opened a new statutory inquiry into Island Health Trust (1127466). The investigation was opened on 20 November 2017.

The charity operates in the London boroughs of Tower Hamlets and Newham and promotes the provision of primary healthcare.

The Commission has been monitoring the charity’s governance and financial administration since February 2017 after concerns were raised regarding the use of the charity’s funds and potential private benefit to one or more trustees.

The Commission’s enquiries confirmed that a consultancy company, solely owned by a trustee of the charity, received significant benefits from the charity relating to a strategic development project.

Based on the information provided to date, the Commission has regulatory concerns whether the:

• expenditure of these funds upon strategy development falls wholly within the charity’s objects
• trustees have managed the charity’s resources responsibly and acted in the best interest of the charity. These concerns include whether the decision to enter into the contract with the consultancy company was properly taken in the best interests of the charity and whether the charity exercised sufficient oversight and adequately monitored its performance.

The inquiry will examine the following regulatory issues:

• the administration, governance and management of the charity by the trustees with specific regard to the extent to which the trustees have:
  • prudently managed the charity’s financial resources since 1 April 2012
  • expended funds on activities which fall wholly within the charity’s purposes
  • ensured the decision to enter into contracts/pay trustees or connected parties (resulting in significant expenditure) were properly taken and adequately supervised
• whether and to what extent any issues or weaknesses in the administration of the charity during the period under review:
  • were as a result of misconduct and/or mismanagement by the trustees
  • require rectification by the trustees or the Commission

The Commission stresses that opening an inquiry is not in itself a finding of wrongdoing. The purpose of an inquiry is to examine issues in detail, investigate and establish the facts so that the regulator can ascertain whether there has been mismanagement and/or misconduct; establish the extent of any risk to the charity’s property, beneficiaries or work and decide what action needs to be taken to resolve the serious concerns, if necessary using its investigative, protective and remedial powers to do so.

It is the Commission’s policy, after it has concluded an inquiry, to publish a report detailing what issues the inquiry looked at, what actions were undertaken as part of the inquiry and what the outcomes were. Reports of previous inquiries by the Commission are available on GOV.UK.

The charity’s details can be viewed on the Commission’s online charity search tool.

Ends

PR 77/17

Notes to editors

1. The Charity Commission is the independent regulator of charities in England and Wales. To find out more about our work, see our annual report.
2. Search for charities on our check charity tool.
3. Section 46 of the Charities Act 2011 gives the Commission the power to institute inquiries. The opening of an inquiry gives the Commission access to a range of investigative, protective and remedial legal powers.

The new appointees are:

• David Chrimes
• Philip Jones

Existing committee member, Seyi Obakin, has also been appointed for a second term.

The appointments were made following open competition. The new members will start their 5-year terms on 1 February 2018.

Lady Buscombe said:

I am delighted to welcome David and Philip to the Social Security Advisory Committee, and to welcome Seyi back for a second term. They each have considerable knowledge and experience which will be of great value to the Committee, and I look forward to working with them.

Paul Gray, SSAC Chair, said:

These appointments bring a wide-range of expertise and skills to the committee. In particular, they will strengthen the committee’s insight to how the benefit system impacts some of the most vulnerable people in our society. As Universal Credit full service continues to roll out to more complex cases, their understanding of issues affecting employers and workers will be especially valuable.

At the same time we will be losing 2 valued and highly-respected colleagues as their terms expire early next year. I would like to place on record my thanks to Rachael Badger and our vice Chair Colin Godbold for their excellent contributions to our work over recent years, and wish them well for the future.

David Chrimes said:

I am delighted and honoured to be invited to join SSAC. I hope that my experience of disability, welfare and workforce representation will add to the considerable breadth and depth of knowledge and skill held by the committee, with whom I look forward to working.

Philip Jones said:

I am thrilled to have been appointed to SSAC. I look forward to working with the committee, government, employers and others in my area of focus in Wales to ensure we give the most vulnerable in our society, and especially disadvantaged young people, a real opportunity to show their true potential and make a positive contribution to society.

About the committee

The Social Security Advisory Committee is an independent statutory body established in 1980. It provides advice to the Secretary of State on proposals for the amendment of secondary legislation and on general social security matters.

The Commissioner for Public Appointments regulates all appointments made by the Secretary of State to SSAC. All such appointments are made in accordance with the Governance Code for Public Appointments published by the government.

SSAC members receive a daily fee of £256.80, for a time commitment of 2 to 3 days a month. The appointments are for a period of 5 years.

About the appointees

David Chrimes

Crown Advocate, Crown Prosecution Service and member of the FDA Trade Union Executive Committee. David will be the committee’s representative of workers, a reserved post by statute.

Philip Jones

Director, Prince’s Trust Cymru. Philip will be the committee’s representative of employers, and will represent the interests of Wales. Both are reserved posts, the former by statute.

Seyi Obakin

Chief Executive Officer, Centrepoint. Seyi will represent the interests of Black, Asian and minority ethnic groups, a reserved post.

Contact the committee