Month: June 2018

Newly released footage shows how two New Forest ponies had gone the wrong neigh and ended up horsing around on the A31 eastbound in Hampshire at around 9.15am. Traffic officers worked with Hampshire Police as the two equines headed down the mane road, before they turned onto the M27. A rolling road block was put out on the M27 by police and Highways England closed the A36 slip road before an agister helped to get the ponies trough the road at 10.40am.

By then the ponies has travelled a furlong way down the three roads, and despite being saddled with the task of getting them off the road, it was a canter for Highways England traffic officer Michael Maidment who has been trained for situations like this.

Usually we’re dealing with crashes or cars that have broken down, so it is different to be called out to deal with this type of horseplay.

When my partner and I got there we worked with our partners in the police to shoe them off the motorway, as the only studs we want on our roads are the ones between lanes.

There was quite a bit to do with closing the different roads and directing the ponies to safety, so our voices were a bit horse afterwards but fortunately the ponies were unhurt and were still stable to get home after we’d reined them in.

New Forest ponies on the M27

A spokesperson for Hampshire Police said:

We would like to thank the agister, Highways England’s traffic officers and the members of the public for their assistance in dealing with this incident.

Highways England provides up-to-date traffic information via its website, local and national radio travel bulletins, electronic road signs and mobile platforms.

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.

The footage shows two 28-metre-long beams – each weighing ten tonnes – being lifted into place on the bridges, at the Saddlebow interchange in Kings Lynn.

The work to repair the bridges after they were damaged when they were struck by an over-height vehicle, started last October. The bridges at the Saddlebow interchange to the south of the town are being repaired as part of a wider £18 million package of work to maintain the A47 in Norfolk, which consists of around 70 different schemes.

Highways England project manager Ajith Nair said:

We’re very grateful for drivers for their patience while we completed this vital work. This footage shows the amount and the scale of the work we’ve been doing, and will help drivers to realise how busy we’ve been and why the roads over the bridges needed to be closed while we were repairing them.

Safety is at the heart of everything we do at Highways England, and this work we have been doing on Saddlebow Bridge and elsewhere on the A47 will improve both safety and journey quality for drivers.

A47 Saddlebow bridge repairs at King’s Lynn

The £3.1 million work on the bridges began last October, and was completed in May. Work was slightly delayed by the recent cold snap and the unexpected discovery of a crack on one of the bridge decks which requires further repair work, as well as Highways England’s commitment to keep the A47 open over the Easter weekend.

The works mainly involved jacking the bridge, hydro demolition of the bridge deck, removal of the steel edge beam, replacing the damaged beams on each bridge, and concreting the deck.

Both the bridges carrying the A148 over the A47 at the Saddlebow interchange have been closed throughout the project. During the closures, drivers were diverted via the nearby A47 Pullover roundabout (when heading westbound) and A47 Hardwick interchange (eastbound). There were also several overnight and weekend closures beneath the interchange, whereby drivers were diverted to exit at Saddlebow and go ‘up and over’ the closure.

While the closures were in place, Highways England also completed resurfacing of the four slip roads and the junction roundabout itself.

This wider £18 million package of work has included resurfacing, bridge strengthening, replacing street lights, repairing drainage along with safety improvements and renewing signs and road markings at key locations along the road.

Now completed, the width restrictions previously in place on the A148 over the bridge have been removed, while drivers will also see improvements to the road signs and markings approaching the roundabout and a smoother surface across it.

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.

The Elite Bargains and Political Deals research indicates that greater focus on the politics of conflicts, and those who control power and resources on the ground, is crucial to reducing violence.

The Minister for the Middle East and for International Development Alistair Burt said:

“This research report sets out to answer two of the most difficult questions in foreign policy today: How can we help reduce levels of violent conflict? And how do we deal with the often unsavoury groups and individuals that sustain them?

Today, thousands are suffering in seemingly intractable conflicts across the world. We must do what we can to reduce their plight and minimise the dangers that conflict and instability pose to our own national security.

We need to keep reviewing our approach in light of experience, and that is what this report seeks to do.”

The report is the result of 18 months of research by cross-government and independent academics and was launched on 14 June at Chatham House.

The study seeks to provide a more robust evidence base for the UK’s approach to stabilisation and to help policymakers provide more effective interventions in conflict contexts. Lessons from global conflicts, past and present, are identified in the report.

Further information

The Stabilisation Unit is an agile, cross-government unit that provides advice and expertise to prevent and de-escalate conflict and meet national security challenges in high-risk environments.

Follow Minister Burt on Twitter @AlistairBurtUK

Media enquiries

For journalists, email r-burley@dfid.gov.uk

The tax gap for 2016 to 2017 is 5.7%, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) confirmed today.

Had the tax gap remained at its 2005/06 level the UK would have lost £71 billion in revenue destined for public services.

The tax gap is the difference between the tax that should be paid to HMRC and the actual tax that has been paid. Keeping the tax gap consistently low is a result of HMRC’s work to help customers get things right from the start, and the department’s sustained efforts to tackle evasion and avoidance.

The tax gap trend shows a long-term decline – it has reduced from 7.3% in 2005 to 2006 to an estimated 5.7% in 2016 to 2017, or £33 billion. This is the same percentage tax gap as for 2015 to 2016, which has been revised down from last year’s estimate of 6%.

Mel Stride, Financial Secretary to the Treasury, said:

These really positive figures show that the tax gap is the lowest in the last 5 years, which reflects the hard work that HMRC and I have been doing to ensure we support businesses to pay the right tax at the right time and clamp down on tax evasion and avoidance.

Collecting taxes is essential for funding our vital public services such as the NHS – indeed, had the tax gap remained at its 2005/06 level the UK would have lost £71 billion in revenue destined for public services, enough to build 200 hospitals.

Key findings from the Measuring the Tax Gap publication include:

• small businesses made up the largest proportion of unpaid tax by customer group at £13.7 billion;
• taxpayer errors and failure to take reasonable care made up £9.2 billion of unpaid taxes by behaviour, while criminal attacks made up £5.4 billion;
• income Tax, National Insurance Contributions, and Capital Gains Tax made up the largest proportion of the tax gap by tax type at £7.9 billion for 2016 to 2017, equivalent to 16.4% of Self Assessment liabilities;
• the VAT gap showed a declining trend over time, falling from 12.5% in 2005 to 2006 to 8.9% in 2016 to 2017.

Jon Thompson, HMRC’s Chief Executive, said:

The UK is the only country in the world to regularly publish their tax gap in detail and at 5.7%, it remains at its lowest for five years. I am pleased that the downward trend shows HMRC and HM Treasury’s continued hard work to tackle evasion and avoidance is working.

HMRC is also working hard to help taxpayers get their tax right by offering support and investing in digital services to improve businesses’ record keeping and reduce errors.

HMRC is working with small businesses to help them get their tax right first time around. The department aims to make sure the tax system is not a barrier to setting up, running and growing a business; which is why the department offers businesses support and provides information, to help businesses start up, sustain and grow.

HMRC is continuing to roll-out Making Tax Digital (MTD) for businesses. Once fully operational, MTD will help to reduce the tax gap by helping to prevent error and failure to take reasonable care. Digital record keeping combined with a modern, more automated tax system will help businesses get their affairs right the first time.

Notes for Editors

1. Measuring the Tax Gap 2018 can be found here
2. Since 2010, HMRC has secured and protected over £175 billion in additional tax revenue as a result of actions to tackle tax evasion, tax avoidance, and non-compliance.
3. HMRC has been measuring the tax gap annually since 2005 to 2006.
4. HMRC is the only revenue authority in the world that measures and publishes the tax gap in this level of detail, covering both direct and indirect taxes, every year. It publishes the tax gap because the department believes it’s important to be transparent in their work.
5. Follow HMRC’s Press Office on Twitter @HMRCpressoffice
6. HMRC’s Flickr channel

It’s a great time to get out there and go fishing, but the Environment Agency is reminding anglers to make sure they have a fishing licence before they go.

You can buy a fishing licence online and don’t forget that all fishing licence income is used to fund work to protect, improve and develop fisheries, fish habitats and angling. If you want to fish a new river this season, why not visit fishinginfo to find details of different venues, river levels and angling clubs.

Volunteers helping to tackle illegal close season angling

The Environment Agency reported 87 close season offences during the first 10 weeks of the annual restricted period for coarse fish. Officers undertook 729 targeted patrols, also detecting 115 other offences, mainly unlicensed fishing, but also several illegally set traps.

Environment Agency Fisheries Enforcement Officers were supported again by Angling Trust Voluntary Bailiff Service members on Operation CLAMPDOWN. Now in its sixth year, Operation CLAMPDOWN is a joint initiative between the Environment Agency, Angling Trust’s Fisheries Enforcement Support Service and police forces, aimed at gathering intelligence about illegal fishing and responding through targeted patrols.
Patrols took place across rivers, streams, drains and on specific canals and stillwaters that still retain the close season.

Kevin Austin, Environment Agency Deputy Director Agriculture, Fisheries and the Natural Environment, said:

It’s a great time to go fishing. So I’d encourage anglers to get out there, enjoy yourselves fishing and make sure you are doing the right thing.

I’d like to thank the Angling Trust volunteers for the significant role they play in stopping illegal fishing through their work on Operation CLAMPDOWN.

The vast majority of anglers fish legally; sadly there are a small number of anglers who cheat others by fishing during the close season. It is still possible for anglers to fish during this time on many stillwaters and canals, which are open all year round.

We respond to the intelligence we receive about illegal fishing by ensuring our patrols are targeted at the right places – and the right people.

Dilip Sarkar MBE, Angling Trust National Enforcement Manager, said:

These figures show that during Operation CLAMPDOWN 6 Volunteer Bailiffs throughout England are demonstrating their massive commitment to protecting fish and fisheries and cracking down on illegal fishing.

All anglers can help this process, in fact – at any time of year – by reporting information and offences in progress to the Environment Agency on 0800 80 70 60, or the police on 101/999 as appropriate.”

Anyone who suspects illegal fishing to be taking place should report the matter to the Environment Agency’s incident hotline on 0800 80 70 60.

The Foreign Secretary, Boris Johnson, met British fashion icon and philanthropist Naomi Campbell on Thursday 14 June, to discuss the importance of girls’ education.

The Foreign Secretary and Ms Campbell discussed the #LeaveNoGirlBehind campaign, which aims to promote the opportunity for all girls to receive 12 years of quality education by 2030.

Ms Campbell, a Unicef women’s empowerment envoy and girls’ education activist, told the Foreign Secretary about her work to get the world’s poorest girls into school.

The two committed to working together to ensure girls’ education remains on the top of the global political agenda.

Speaking after the meeting the Foreign Secretary said:

Naomi is a force of nature, fizzing with energy and ideas, and it was great to hear her thoughts about how to galvanise the worlds of fashion and entertainment to really put the tragedy of the 131 million girls missing out on a quality education behind us.

Education is a fundamental right for all girls and is manifestly in the global interest. It can help solve a multitude of the world’s problems. The UK is doing its bit but the rest of the world must follow suit.

We can and must challenge the sexism that says this is not a political issue, and we must break down the barriers that hold girls back. As a global community we can end female illiteracy to create a more stable, prosperous world for everyone.

Naomi Campbell said:

I had a great discussion with Boris Johnson at the Foreign Office today to discuss ways to improve education for the world’s most vulnerable girls.

We both have a passionate belief that this is vital for the world to address. It’s great that Britain is leading by example and the Commonwealth is putting so much into this initiative.

I recently organised a Fashion For Relief event for equality that included gender, so this really ties in with my beliefs.

The meeting is part of Mr Johnson’s push to build a global coalition of influencers in business, politics and entertainment to drive through progress on girls’ education and stamp out illiteracy.

In recent weeks, the Foreign Secretary has met former Prime Minister Gordon Brown and has discussed his campaign with girls’ education activist and Nobel Prize Laureate Malala Yousafzai, senior adviser to President Trump, Ivanka Trump and philanthropist Melinda Gates.

Appallingly, 90% of world’s poorest children leave school unable to read and write. Britain is leading by example by providing £400 million through the Department for International Development to enable over 1.5 million vulnerable girls to receive 12 years of quality education by 2030.

The Foreign Secretary wants emerging and world powers to take up the mantle, be more ambitious and end female illiteracy.

Further information

• Follow the Foreign Secretary on Twitter @BorisJohnson and Facebook
• Follow the Foreign Office on Twitter @foreignoffice and Facebook
• Follow the Foreign Office on Instagram, YouTube and LinkedIn