Day: June 26, 2018

Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, the Rt Hon Karen Bradley MP said:

Today’s announcement is fantastic news for Belfast, Derry-Londonderry and indeed the entire Northern Ireland economy.

Over the next five years, more than 600 new jobs will be created and over £15million in additional annual salaries will be generated for the local economy. On top of this, FinTrU will benefit from a projected £20million in additional export sales.

This significant investment is testament to the exceptional talent and attractive locations the North West and Belfast has to offer and once again goes to prove that Northern Ireland is leading the way in Financial Services.

O encontro aconteceu em Exeter, Inglaterra, e foi organizado pelo programa Climate Science for Services Partnership (CSSP), no âmbito do Fundo Newton. O evento integra o calendário do Ano Brasil-Reino Unido de Ciência e Inovação 2018/19.

O uso da ciência climática para auxiliar em políticas públicas de prevenção e mitigação de desastres naturais foi debatido entre cientistas do Brasil e do Reino Unido em um encontro em Exeter, na Inglaterra, no dia 25 de junho. Esta discussão integra o workshop anual do programa Climate Science for Services Partnership (CSSP), programa de pesquisa climática que visa desenvolver modelos científicos conjuntos para análise de mudanças climáticas.

Este acordo bilateral de parcerias científicas para estudos climáticos é financiado pelos governos do Reino Unido e do Brasil, por meio do Fundo Newton, em parceria entre o UK Met Office Hadley Centre e três institutos subordinados ao Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia, Inovações e Comunicações (MCTIC): o Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia (INPA), o Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais (INPE) e o Centro Nacional de Monitoramento e Alertas de Desastres Naturais (CEMADEN).

O objetivo da reunião foi estudar os resultados dos programas de cooperação atuais, e investigar formas de integrá-los às decisões políticas para auxiliar no planejamento contra possíveis ocorrências de desastres naturais. Nos próximos dois dias, o workshop estudará como aperfeiçoar os modelos científicos existentes para análise de mudanças climáticas para contribuir com a prevenção e redução de desastres associados à influência humana sobre o clima. “É essencial que os tomadores de decisão, do planejamento de contingência até os que respondem aos desastres, sejam capazes de utilizarem as melhores e mais robustas ferramentas científicas, e o CSSP Brasil está trabalhando para fornecer isso”, disse o diretor do Met Office Hadley Centre, o Prof. Albert Klein Tank. “O projeto está apoiando a Quarta Comunicação Nacional do Brasil para a Convenção-Quadro das Nações Unidas sobre Mudança do Clima. As melhorias da compreensão do que gera ganhos e perdas de carbono no Brasil fornecerão evidências que sustentem os esforços em direção às metas do Acordo de Paris”, explica Tank.

Estiveram presentes em Exeter representantes de todos os parceiros citados: o diretor do UK Met Office Hadley, Professor Albert Klein-Tank, a supervisora de Meteorologia e Clima, também do UK Met Office Hadley, Dra. Kirstine Dale, o diretor do Centro Nacional de Monitoramento e Alertas de Desastres Naturais (Cemaden), Dr. Osvaldo Luiz Leal de Moraes, o diretor do Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia (INPA), Luiz Renato França, e o diretor do Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais (INPE), Ricardo Magnus Osório Galvão.

O Fundo Newton, que financia o CSSP Brasil, tem como objetivo construir parceiras igualitárias em ciência e inovação e é administrado pelo Departamento de Negócios, Meio Ambiente e Estratégia do Reino Unido (BEIS). O evento em Exeter é parte do calendário do Ano Brasil-Reino Unido de Ciência e Inovação: uma oportunidade para que os países aprofundem seus laços em pesquisa e desenvolvimento ao longo de um ano de eventos, conferencias e workshops onde pesquisadores, organizações cientificas e centros de pesquisa podem estreitar parcerias. O calendário tem atividades nas áreas de Saúde & Ciências da Vida, Clima & Biodiversidade, Agricultura Sustentável e Energia.

Christopher John Stoddard, 68, from Ross on Wye, Herefordshire, was the director of CS Fundraising Limited (CSF).

CSF was incorporated in June 2008 and commenced to trade in late 2012 as a professional fundraiser for charities from premises in Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire.

The company took over the assets and contracts of an associated professional fundraising company that entered into formal insolvency proceedings in June 2012.

At its peak the company was sending out approximately 150,000 mail donation letters each month, on behalf of charities, for whom it acted as a direct marketing agency.

However, under sustained pressure from various sources, Mr Stoddard took the decision to cause the company to cease trading in November 2014 and on 19 December 2014 the company was placed into creditor’s voluntary liquidation (CVL).

This brought to nine, the number of companies where Mr Stoddard had a significant role, to have gone into some form of insolvency.

An Insolvency Service investigation, which followed CSF’s insolvency found, and Mr Stoddard admitted:

• causing CSF to solicit money from the general public in a way that was contrary to laws governing charities
• causing and/or allowing CSF to mislead the public in that the solicitation statement of the company did not comply with the requirements of charity laws
• between July 2013 and September 2014 he caused CSF to retain public donations of at least £125,634, which the company had received in its capacity as a professional fund-raiser on behalf of a charity
• that between July 2013 and December 2014 he breached the duty of trust owed to CS Fundraising in that he failed to act in the best interest of the company. He did so by allowing a conflict of interest to arise which caused a separate company, which he controlled, to earn revenues from the renting out of the mailing list of CS Fundraising without accounting for money due to CSF for the income earned. In addition, It has not been possible to ascertain the income received by the associated company

On 13 June 2018, the Secretary of State for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy accepted a disqualification undertaking from Christopher John Stoddard, which prevents him from directly or indirectly becoming involved, without the permission of the court, in the promotion, formation or management of a company or limited liability partnership, for nine and a half years.

Commenting on the ban, Martin Gitner, Martin Gitner, Deputy Head, Insolvent Investigations, part of the Insolvency Service, said:

Members of the public who donate their money to worthy causes need to be confident that all funds, less agreed costs, are forwarded by the professional fundraising companies employed by the charities.

In this case, Mr Stoddard failed to fully adhere to legislation directly relevant to the business of his company, he failed to ensure that all due funds due to a charity were paid over and he failed to act in the best interests of the creditors of CS Fundraising Limited.

Directors who engage in such conduct will be investigated and by the Insolvency Service and enforcement action taken to remove them from the market place.

Since 15 June 2010 Mr Stoddard has been director and/or major shareholder in nine companies that have entered into formal insolvency:

• CSDM: appointed as a director 13 Jan 2005; company entered administration 15 June 2010; company placed in CVL 15 June 2011
• Millfield Concepts: appointed as a director 8 May 1997; company placed into CVL 15 March 2011
• CSDM Response LLP: appointed as a director 11 June 2007; company placed into CVL 27 April 2011
• C S Incentive: appointed as a director 26 April 2007; company placed into CVL 3 July 2012
• CSDM Fundraising: appointed as a director 7 Dec 2009; company entered into administration 26 June 2013; placed into CVL 18 June 2014
• Listening People: appointed as a director 2 Oct 2012; resigned as director 27 June 2013; company placed into CVA 2 April 2014; company placed into CVL 13 November 2014
• CS Fundraising: appointed as a director 4 June 2008; company placed into CVL 19 Dec 2014
• Inspire Fundraising: appointed as director 18 March 2011; company entered administration 20 Jan 2015; company placed into CVL 22 Sept 2015
• Cleardata Direct Media: appointed as a director 28 July 2010; company placed into CVL 23 Oct 2015

Notes to editors

Christopher John Stoddard is of Ross-on-Wye and his date of birth is January 1950.

CS Fundraising Limited (Company Reg no. 06611490) was placed into creditor’s voluntary liquidation on 19 Dec 2014.

In signing the undertaking, Mr Stoddard admitted:

• causing CS Fundraising Ltd to solicit monies from the general public in a way that was contrary to Section 59(1) of the Charities Act 1992
• causing and/or allowing CS Fundraising to mislead the public in that the solicitation statement of the company did not comply with the requirements of Section 60(1) of the Charities Act 1992
• between July 2013 and September 2014 he caused CS Fundraising to retain public donations of at least £125,634, which the company had received in its capacity as a professional fund-raiser on behalf of a charity
• that between July 2013 and December 2014 he breached the fiduciary duty owed to CS Fundraising in that he failed to act in the best interest of the company by allowing a conflict of interest to arise which caused a separate company that he controlled to earn revenues from the renting out of the mailing list of CS Fundraising without accounting for monies that were due to CS Fundraising for the income earned. In addition. It has not been possible to ascertain the income received by the associated company

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 administers the insolvency regime, investigating all compulsory liquidations and individual insolvencies (bankruptcies) through the Official Receiver to establish why they became insolvent. It may also use powers under the Companies Act 1985 to conduct confidential fact-finding investigations into the activities of live limited companies in the UK. In addition, the agency deals with disqualification of directors in corporate failures, 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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Today the EU (Withdrawal) Bill received Royal Assent from Her Majesty the Queen and became an Act of Parliament.

This historic Act will make sure the UK’s laws – entwined with over 40 years of EU law – continue to work from the day we leave, ensuring a smooth and orderly exit.

It does this by transferring EU law into UK law where appropriate and creating temporary powers to correct the laws that will no longer operate appropriately.

Now that the Act has become law, the Government can start to use the powers in the Act to prepare our statute book for our exit from the EU. Work on this will begin in the coming weeks as Departments start to lay the relevant secondary legislation in Parliament.

This marks the next essential step in ensuring that the UK is ready for life after we have left the European Union.

Secretary of State for Exiting the EU, David Davis said:

This is a landmark moment in our preparations for leaving the European Union.

The EU (Withdrawal) Act is a vital piece of legislation that will ensure we have a functioning statute book for exit.

Since the Bill was introduced in Parliament last year, MPs and peers have spent more than 250 hours debating its contents and more than 1,400 amendments have been tabled.

We will now begin the work of preparing our statute book, using the provisions in this Act, to ensure we are ready for any scenario, giving people and businesses the certainty they need.

In total, it’s expected that around 800 pieces of secondary legislation will be needed. As part of the first tranche to be laid, the Government will use powers in the Bill to repeal the European Union Act 2011 as agreed by Parliament.

Alongside this programme of secondary legislation, Departments are delivering on a further package of Bills which will deliver the more significant policy changes needed as a result of our exit from the EU.