Month: February 2018

The first hearings will take place this spring, and will enable people to have their tax appeal heard through a video hearing. This will save them the time and money spent travelling to court and waiting for their hearing – which can mean taking an entire day off work. It will also make it easier for people with health problems that can make it harder to attend a physical court building.

By testing and evaluating the pilot, HMCTS will explore how video hearings might be used to improve access to justice and help cases progress faster.

Video technology is already used in criminal courts to allow some victims and witnesses to give evidence without having to come face to face with the accused – examples include a 97 year old victim of an aggravated burglary, and a witness to a gang murder who was not comfortable giving evidence in court. This pilot is taking this concept a step further – with all attendees, including the judge, participating in the hearing via video technology. Making use of technology to hold video hearings for technical parts of cases that mainly involve legal professionals and judges could save court time and help cases to progress faster. Technology is used in a variety of ways in courts and the various ways in which video links are used in proceedings are kept under regular internal review by HMCTS.

Justice Minister Lucy Frazer, said:

We are spending £1 billion on transforming and modernising the justice system. Video hearings have the potential to improve access to justice and speed up cases.

This pilot will provide important information – together with an increasing body of evidence from other countries – to drive innovation to make the wider system quicker, smarter, and much more user-friendly.

HMCTS are writing to potential participants this week to invite them to take part in the pilot. The video hearings will take place over the internet, with each participant logging in from a location of their choice, using a webcam and, for the purposes of the pilot, the judge located in the court room.

HMCTS are working closely with the judiciary to ensure the majesty of a physical courtroom will be upheld. The choice to use this new type of hearing would always be made by the Judge in the case. It will be possible for private online conversations to be had before the hearing, and the format and process of the hearing will be the same as in a usual court room.

The move is part of the Government’s £1 billion investment to modernise the court service, making it swifter, simpler, and easier to access for everyone. HMCTS is exploring how justice can best be served in the digital age.

Other examples of the Government’s court reforms which are making access to justice easier for everyone include:

• Launching the first divorce application services online at four sites – making the process easier to understand for divorce applicants and helping to progress applications.
• A new paperless system, in operation at Lavender Hill Magistrates’ Court, which means thousands of offenders caught dodging fares or using fraudulent tickets can now be punished more swiftly and effectively.
• A new service which allows people to submit their tax appeals online – drastically cutting the number of applications being returned as incomplete or inaccurate.

Almost 2,000 prison officers have been recruited since the launch of a campaign to bring in 2,500 additional officers by the end of this year, new figures released by Justice Secretary David Gauke have revealed today (15 February 2018).

And a further 1,582 new recruitsghave been offered roles and are booked onto Prison Officer Training (POELT) courses, meaning the Government is on target to recruit the 2,500 officers nine months ahead of schedule.

Figures released today show there was a net increase of 1,970 officers from October 2016 to December last year, up from 17,955 to 19,925. The boost in staffing numbers will help deliver our new Offender Management in Custody model which will provide prisoners with a keyworker to support them in custody.

The recruitment efforts form part of a wider drive to ensure that all prisons are fully staffed so that they can deliver safe and decent regimes. Prison officer recruitment will continue over the coming months and new recruits, alongside existing staff, are being given improved Suicide and Self Harm (SASH) prevention training, with 14,300 staff members having now received it.

Justice Secretary David Gauke said:

I want to commend our hard-working prison officers who do a vital job in protecting the public every day, often in very challenging, difficult and dangerous circumstances. These figures show we are on target to recruit 2,500 additional prison officers.

I am determined to tackle the issues in our prisons head on and I am committed to getting the basics right so we can focus on making them safe and decent places to support rehabilitation. Staffing is the golden thread that links the solutions we need to put in place to drive improvement, so I am delighted our recruitment efforts are working.

Today’s announcement shows that the government’s nationwide drive to recruit the best talent from around the country into the prison service – regardless of age or background – is working.

Governors are being given greater flexibility over their local recruitment and encouraged to engage with new schemes and initiatives to attract the best and most committed talent.

By having more staff on the ground, staff will be better supported to do the job they came into the prison service to do, and spend more time reforming offenders.

Notes to editors

Since publication of the White Paper:

• we are making a substantial investment in marketing and targeted recruitment to generate even more interest in these valuable roles
• we have increased our POELT training capacity by more than 75% for this year and next

Starting pay for a National based Prison officer ranges from £20,751 to £23,052 for a 37 to 41 hour week and this increases to a maximum range of £23,122 to £25,685 for the same hours.

Find out more about Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Careers

William Robert Howard (45) director of the now liquidated Expeditors Limited has entered into an undertaking that prevents him from acting as a director for 12 years.

The mobile phone business was incorporated in 2004 and a petition was made to wind up Expeditors Limited in June 2017 by HM Revenue & Customs regarding an unpaid VAT bill of £22,545.40.

The Insolvency Service then conducted an investigation, which focused on the mobile phone company’s participation in a form of VAT fraud known as Missing Trader Intra Community fraud (MTIC).

Commonly known as ‘carousel’ fraud, MITC fraud sees large consignments of high-value electrical or small items invoiced rapidly and repeatedly around trading chains. On paper the goods look like they are being moved repeatedly from customer to customer but the goods are only moved as they enter or exit the UK.

In the case of Expeditors Limited, William Howard used the scheme to offset VAT and reclaim close to £350,000 in its 2005 to 2006 VAT return.

Examples of MITC conducted by William Howard were indicated by the rapid succession of same-day trades within the UK but goods weren’t delivered and remained on a shared freight forwarder, there were common uses of the same offshore bank, as well as payments being arranged with third parties who were neither suppliers nor customers.

Additionally, all the traders banked with the First Curacao International Bank which was shut down by the Netherlands Antilles authorities in September 2006 in order to prevent money laundering.

William Howard’s disqualification started on 5 February 2018 and means that he cannot promote, manage, or be a director of a limited company until 2030.

Anthony Hannon, Official Receiver in the Public Interest Unit of the Insolvency Service, said:

This type of VAT fraud is very serious and a high priority for HMRC and the Insolvency Service.

MTIC fraud has caused loss to the public purse and has cost the tax payer substantial sums in fraudulent VAT claims. The Insolvency Service is committed to making directors accountable for their actions.

Notes to editors

Expeditors Limited (CRO No. 05266310) was incorporated on 21 October 2004. It traded from premises in Oxford.

The petition to wind up the company was presented by HM Revenue & Customs in respect of unpaid VAT of £22,545.40. The winding up order against Expeditors Limited was made on 26 June 2017.

Mr Howard was born in November 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.

Contact press office

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

You can also follow the Insolvency Service on:

• Twitter
• LinkedIn
• YouTube

Consultation starts today, Thursday 15 February and will continue until Thursday, 20 March.

Known locally as the ‘missing link’ at Air Balloon roundabout this stretch of single carriageway road between the Brockworth bypass and Cowley roundabout restricts the flow of traffic on a key route which is otherwise a continuous dual carriageway between the M5 at Gloucester and the M4 at Swindon.

Upgrading this section to dual carriageway will help unlock Gloucestershire’s potential for growth and secure opportunities for housing and jobs, as well as improving life in the adjoining local communities.

Two options are being presented following a detailed consideration of potential routes to upgrade this three-mile stretch of the A417. The improvement is being made possible by the Government’s £15bn investment in motorways and major A roads and will be delivered by Highways England.

The A417/A419 route passes through the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and so any solution will be designed sensitively to meet the special character of the landscape, environment and history.

Project manager Mike Goddard said:

This is your opportunity to get involved in developing the right solution for this well-known Gloucestershire traffic hotspot. We urge everyone to tell us what they think of the two proposals so we can deliver a scheme that will support growth and prosperity.

Improving this missing link will be a benefit to local residents, users of this important route, and those accessing the walking routes of the Cotswold Way and the Gloucestershire Way. Reducing unpredictable delays will encourage motorists to stay on the A417 with reduced journey times, leaving local roads less congested.

We have worked with local partners to offer a safer route while recognising this very special area. We are keen to hear from drivers, businesses, local residents and other road users, and we invite them all to visit us at one of our exhibitions, or respond to the information available online or at one of our local information points.

The consultation starts on 15 February and closes on 29 March. For further information and to have your say on the consultation visit the consultation page, where you can also find details of the public exhibitions taking place and find out where to pick up consultation booklets and feedback forms.

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.

When you tell DVLA that you’ve sold your car, you’re eligible for a refund of vehicle tax for any unused months.

While the quickest and simplest way to tell DVLA that a vehicle has been sold is online, the latest figures from DVLA show that more than 60% do not use the service. This means they will be waiting longer for their refund.

The online service only takes a few minutes to complete, the seller will get confirmation instantly that they are no longer the vehicle keeper and the refund will arrive within 3 to 5 working days. Further information is available in the following video.

Tell DVLA about a sale of a vehicle online.

DVLA Vehicles Service Manager Rohan Gye said:

While some of our digital services have over 90% take-up there are still millions of motorists who tell us they’ve sold their vehicle by post. This means that they will have to wait longer for their automatic refund of any unused tax. My advice is the next time you sell your car – tell us online.

Motorists can also go online to put a personalised registration on a vehicle or to take one off – this service is proving popular with the majority (more than 85%) choosing the online route rather than posting paperwork to DVLA.

Notes to editors

The online service is available on GOV.UK seven days a week from 7am to 7pm.

Since it was launched the service has been used over 12 million times.

UK aid-backed The HALO Trust has, after a mammoth 10-year clear-up operation, handed back Afghanistan’s most deadly province for landmines to its governor, after making land safe once again for homes, schools and farmland.

The NGO’s Afghan staff have cleared 39 million square metres of mine fields and 45 million square metres of battlefield in Herat with UK aid support.

In total, more than 600 minefields have been cleared in the province in the west of the country.

Minelaying during previous conflicts had left Herat with the highest landmine accident rate in the country. Before mine clearance began there, on average 125 people each year were maimed or killed by landmines each year in the province.

International Development Secretary Penny Mordaunt said:

Landmines are an abhorrent and indiscriminate killer that causes suffering across the world. It is often children who are the most affected by landmines, playing in dangerous areas where one wrong step can maim them forever or take their life.

Clearing land of mines gives people a chance to rebuild their lives through new schools, farming the land and starting businesses that allow them to support their families.

The HALO Trust was founded 30 years ago in Afghanistan and has grown to be the world’s largest humanitarian mine clearance organisation. The handover of the land to the governor is yet another milestone for them to celebrate and shows how UK aid is supporting one of the most fragile countries in the world to stand on its own two feet.

This is one of the many ways that UK aid is making the world safer, healthier and more prosperous for us all.

James Cowan, The Halo Trust CEO, said:

Among the achievements of this project, one that makes me most proud is the USAID-funded women’s dormitory built at Herat University on land cleared by HALO with UK funding. Hundreds of young women now have access to higher education at Afghanistan’s second-largest university. This has given hope to an entire province of one of the world’s most heavily-mined countries.

We have witnessed the amazing contribution that DFID is making to clearing the country of landmines. DFID’s support is saving lives and creating livelihoods.

In Herat City an entire new district, Jebrail, has been built on land cleared of landmines and has become home for 60,000 people – many of them returning refugees.

New schools and colleges have been built on the cleared land as well as several businesses and new railway infrastructure, which will allow for safer travel throughout the region.

Among Herat City’s historic sites cleared of landmines are the 15th century minarets of the Husain Baiqara Madrasa.

The removal of landmines has had a major impact on Herat’s potential for economic development.

Around 75 per cent of the population of the province is rural and millions of square metres of prime agricultural land were unusable because of the fear of landmines.

With UK funding, HALO has made 40 million square metres of agricultural land safe to farm, and in doing so has immeasurably improved and made more secure the futures of farming families.

Notes to Editors

• Representatives from The HALO Trust attended a handover ceremony in Heart City with Mr. Haji Kamran, Chairman of the Provincial Council of Herat Province and Mrs. Monesa Hassanzada, Deputy Governor of Herat Province. Two districts in the province, have not yet been cleared because of insecurity where they are located.
• The UK Government committed £100 million over three years to demining in April 2017. This £100m commitment comprises:‎
• £12.6 million in the current financial year as an extension to the pre-existing contract of the Global Mine Action Programme, which is delivered by the Halo Trust, MAG and Norwegian People’s Aid in Burma, Cambodia, South Sudan, Somalia, Zimbabwe, Laos, Sri Lanka and Vietnam.‎
• £20 million for Afghanistan in financial years 2018/19 and 2019/20.‎
• £15.4 million for the Middle East including Syria, Iraq, Lebanon and Yemen in financial years 2018/19 and 2019/20.‎
• The remainder will be for demining programmes in financial years 2018/19 and 2019/20 in Angola, South Sudan, Sudan, Zimbabwe, Somalia, Burma, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam.
• Last year Global Mine Action Programme ensured that more than 140,000,000 square meters of land have been released. Mine risk education programmes have reached more than 426,000 people this year, including near 360,000 women and children.
• DFID will be continuing its programming in Asia and Africa including Afghanistan, Burma, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Zimbabwe, Somalia and South Sudan.
• In January this year, DFID invited organisations to bid for work in Angola, South Sudan, Lebanon, Zimbabwe, Somalia, Burma, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam.
• In Afghanistan the UK has supported demining activities, through the HALO Trust in Herat (Western Afghanistan), Baghlan, Balkh and Samangan (Northern Afghanistan) since 2008, through two five year phases with a total of £20.5 million. This support to the HALO Trust in Afghanistan will end in March 2018. Through UK aid:
• 193,650 families have benefited from cleared lands in Herat, Baghlan, Balkh and Samangan
• 2,900 hectares have been unblocked for development purposes (agriculture, grazing, residential and road access)‎
• 96% of households surveyed reported increased income as a result of mine clearance
• 43 communities have been cleared of all known mine/ unexploded ordnance hazards
• 380 direct and 660 indirect jobs have created in all target provinces
• Over 39,147,860 square metres of accessible minefields have been cleared in target provinces
• Over 45,609,000 square metres of remaining area of battlefield with unexploded ordnance and ammunition are cleared in target provinces