Month: July 2018

Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt and International Development Secretary Penny Mordaunt said:

Following a joint diplomatic effort by the UK and international partners, a group of White Helmets volunteers from southern Syria and their families have been able to leave Syria for safety.

They are now being assisted by the UNHCR in Jordan pending international resettlement.

The White Helmets have saved over 115,000 lives during the Syrian conflict, at great risk to their own. Many White Helmets volunteers have also been killed while doing their work – trying to rescue civilians trapped in bombarded buildings or providing first aid to injured civilians. White Helmets have been the target of attacks and, due to their high profile, we judged that, in these particular circumstances, the volunteers required immediate protection. We therefore took steps with the aim of affording that protection to as many of the volunteers and their families as possible.

We pay tribute to the brave and selfless work that White Helmets volunteers have done to save Syrians on all sides of the conflict.

Following the announcement made by the Secretary of State for Communities Rt Hon James Brokenshire MP at the Local Government Association (LGA) Conference earlier this month regarding establishing a new BREXIT Ministerial Local Government Delivery Board – on Thursday 19 July the Delivery Board held its inaugural meeting.

The meeting, which was chaired by the Secretary of State for Communities, was productive and provided an opportunity for Government Ministers and local government sector representatives from the LGA, County Councils Network, District Councils Network and the Core and Key Cities Groups to share updates and views on latest developments.

The meeting heard from senior Home Office officials on the development of the EU Citizens Settlement Scheme, discussed the recently published Government White Paper and agreed to prepare a future work programme for the Board to provide oversight of EU Exit preparedness, including the future for EU funding and the opportunities to review EU law post EU Exit.

During a positive and constructive discussion council leaders placed on record their concerns relating to the timely replacement for EU funding, the potential to review EU laws post EU-Exit and stressed the need for joined-up engagement across Whitehall to ensure that the issues and opportunities facing communities up and down the country are properly captured and considered by Government.

Communities Secretary Rt Hon James Brokenshire MP said:

It is essential that local views are properly represented, captured and considered as Government develops policy and I thank colleagues for a very helpful meeting.

Cllr Kevin Bentley, Chairman of the LGA’s Brexit Task Force welcomed the meeting, saying:

This meeting was an excellent example of joined-up engagement across Whitehall considering the issues and opportunities facing communities up and down the country.

Over the summer, the Local Government Association and officials from MHCLG will work to develop a detailed work programme for the Board and prioritise those issues for discussion at the next meeting of the Board in early Autumn.

The Economy Secretary confirmed that following a meeting of the Deeside Enterprise Zone on 13 July, the Welsh Government has declared its intention to work with the Enterprise Zone Board and the Ministry of Defence led by the Defence Electronics and Components Agency (DECA), to develop a proposal that would see Wales’ second AMRI situated on MOD land adjacent to the Deeside Industrial Park Interchange.

Wales second AMRI follows the first in Broughton which is currently under construction and due to open by the end of 2019.

Speaking ahead of his visit to the Farnborough Air Show, Ken Skates said:

News that DECA are keen to work with us to develop an AMRI on Deeside is incredibly positive and exciting, particularly given DECA’s prominence as a world leader in the test and repair of avionic and electronic component support services.

Both I and the Deeside Enterprise Zone are hugely encouraged that the MOD supports, in principle, the use of such a prominent and accessible piece of land at the gateway to North Wales for this exciting project, and I am delighted to announce this as I travel to Farnborough to celebrate Wales’ thriving and successful aerospace sector.

In developing our plans for Wales’ second AMRI we have listened carefully to the needs of business. As a result of that dialogue we intend to develop the second AMRI as an open access centre, which will include a real focus on skills development across the advanced manufacturing & materials and technology sectors. Delivering everything from apprenticeships right through to postdoctoral research it will be a real jewel in North Wales’ crown.

I am confident the second AMRI in Wales will be of huge benefit to companies across North Wales, including in the aerospace sector, and I look forward to attracting significant high value inward investors to the region, many of whom are already showing a keen interest.

Defence Minister Guto Bebb said:

The development of a second AMRI in Wales will provide a real boost to industry and demonstrates how Defence delivers for Wales. This announcement follows the publication of the Dunne Review this week which highlights that defence invests £945 million in Welsh industry and supports over 6,000 industry jobs.

Speaking before attending the Farnborough Air Show where DECA are exhibiting, Geraint Spearing, Chief Executive, Defence Electronics and Components Agency said

Following the announcement in November 2016 that DECA and its industry partners BAE Systems and Northrop Grumman would become the global hub for F-35 component repair, I am delighted to be able to support Welsh Government, in principle on behalf of MOD, in taking forward their proposed plans for a second AMRI at DECA.

I am also tremendously proud that, should this proposal proceed, we will be able to continue DECA’s commitment to growing apprenticeships and high-end manufacturing skills now and in the future supporting local, regional and national job sustainment, Welsh Government’s advanced manufacturing and skills strategies and the UK Government’s Prosperity Agenda.

The Economy Secretary is visiting Farnborough to meet key players from the Aerospace Sector and celebrate the successes of companies based in Wales.

While at the show he will meet representatives of a range of Aerospace companies and organisations including Raytheon, Thales, Dennis Ferrati, Otto Fuchs and DECA.

The Economy Secretary will also visit the Qatar Airways Stand who have recently begun daily direct flights between Cardiff and Doha.

These, along with the direct Manchester flights serving North Wales, are opening up tourism and business links between Wales and vibrant markets in the Middle East, Australia, New Zealand China and India.

A new UK aid package will help governments in developing countries stamp out corruption and improve accountability, Minister of State for International Development Harriett Baldwin announced yesterday (Thursday 19 July).

It is estimated that up to £2 trillion is lost globally to corruption every year, which reduces the amount that governments can invest in vital services such as healthcare and education.

The support, announced at the Open Government Partnership’s (OGP) Fifth Global Summit in Tbilisi, Georgia, will drive transparency reforms through locally-led National Action Plans produced by governments and civil society, with the support of expertise from OGP.

The support is a part of the UK’s Transparency Agenda ‘Open Aid, Open Societies’, launched by Minister Baldwin in February 2018.

Minister of State Harriett Baldwin said:

“Corruption hurts the world’s poorest and most vulnerable the most. We must clamp down on the spaces where rogue money can operate if we are to end poverty and create a fairer world.

“Transparency transforms people’s lives for the better by helping developing countries to collect taxes, improve public services and ensure a level playing field in which businesses can flourish.

“Too many governments publish incomprehensible spreadsheets that do little to increase transparency. Today’s UK aid package will help some of the world’s poorest people access easily understandable information so that they can really see how their taxes are spent, and properly hold their leaders to account.”

The UK helped to found the Open Government Partnership in 2011. It has since grown from eight to 76 participating countries.

Notes to editors:

• The UK announced a £12 million programme of support over three years for the Open Government Partnership (OGP) at the OGP Fifth Global Summit in Tbilisi, Georgia – ‘Support for Open Government and Transparency’ yesterday. Today’s funding is an allocation from the Governance, Open Societies and Anti-Corruption programme budget for 2018/19.

• Of the £12 million, £6.8 million will help the OGP to scale up support to member countries in implementing open government reform commitments, including a focus on DFID priority countries Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Nigeria and Pakistan.

• The programme also includes up to £4.7m for a new World Bank managed Multi-Donor Trust Fund which will provide technical and financial assistance to design and implement open government reform commitments.

The International Development Secretary, Penny Mordaunt, hails UK and Nigeria co-operation and announces UK aid support to help rural communities become self-sufficient.

Ms Mordaunt has praised the close partnership between the UK and Nigeria, which is helping the West African country lay the foundations on which to build a sustainable future.

During her first visit to Nigeria as International Development Secretary, Ms Mordaunt visited rural communities in Kaduna in the north of the country.

She announced extended support to the Propcom Mai-karfi scheme which, with UK aid funding, will support the livelihoods of farmers in some of the poorest parts of rural Nigeria.

By utilising simple and effective innovations, such as developing a private sector tractor hire service model providing over 53,000 farmers with access to tractors, the programme will open up markets for vulnerable communities and ensure stability and economic recovery in the north east.

Since 2012, DFID’s Propcom Mai-karfi programme has successfully generated over £27.3 million of additional income for the programme’s 676,316 beneficiaries including 150,561 women.

Ms Mordaunt also witnessed the impact UK tax-collecting expertise is making in Northern Nigeria. Thanks to a robust and efficient UK-supported tax collection system, Kaduna now has more money to spend on public services including hospitals and schools.

In a symbolic moment, Ms Mordaunt provided the final ever UK aid package of medical supplies to one of the region’s health centres. The state will now take over the running of the health clinic, paid for with taxes generated in Kaduna.

International Development Secretary Penny Mordaunt said:

The UK has a key role to play in ensuring Nigeria, one of the fastest growing countries in the world, has a bright, stable and prosperous future.

We are working to help Nigeria invest in its people and create more jobs, giving it a future beyond aid. British expertise in tax collection is ensuring Nigeria can build better schools and health centres.

Nigeria is our trading partner. Together we are working towards a mutually prosperous future, which is firmly in Nigeria’s, but also the UK’s national interest.

The Secretary of State saw how UK aid is driving a step-change in the relationship between the people of Kaduna, their Government, and the role of taxes in funding everyday services, which can improve lives in a practical way.

During her visit the International Development Secretary visited a health centre and school:

• the Badarawa Primary Healthcare Centre in Kaduna. Here the Secretary of State completed the formal handover of the final consignment of UK Aid funded medicine and equipment to Kaduna. While at the clinic, the Minister witnessed UK Aid’s contribution to the Government of Kaduna’s investment in primary health systems, which is giving women and children under five better access to essential health services.
• LGEA Primary School, supported by UK Aid’s Teacher Development Programme (TDP). The school has benefitted from UK Aid through DFID’s Teacher Development Programme which supports teacher training in English, Maths and Science. The programme supports teachers by providing print and audio visual materials on low cost mobile devices. TDP has also supported Kaduna to improve the quality of initial teacher training provided in Colleges of Education in the state.

In Abuja, the Secretary of State also:

• attended a roundtable discussion with the British High Commission and representatives from disability charities to discuss disability in Nigeria and Nigeria’s commitment to the Global Disability Summit next week, co-hosted by DFID in the UK on Tuesday, July 24;
• met with Vice President Yemi Osinbajo to further strengthen UK Nigeria relations and sought commitments from the Vice President on using Nigerian resources effectively to reduce poverty, and on resolving the humanitarian crisis in the North East;
• met with staff from the British High Commission, and thanked them for their support and hard work.

Notes to editors

Propcom Mai-karfi is DFID’s rural markets and livelihoods programme that has been working to address the challenges of access to market for smallholder farmers in Northern Nigeria.

The extension to Propcom Mai-karfi (PM) will supply an additional £24 million made available over three additional years. This extension covers three broad areas.

• Expand the programme into conflict affected states in the north east to work towards sustained stability and economic recovery that improves livelihoods of the rural poor.
• Increase resilience of the rural poor to climate change by growing a portfolio of Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) interventions such as encouraging the market for solar powered driers for post-harvest loss reduction in vulnerable crops such as tomato and pepper.
• Improve access to rural and agricultural markets of Northern Nigeria for the poorest and most vulnerable including 162,500 women.

The programme extension will increase the resilience of 487,500 rural entrepreneurs and smallholder farmers in northern Nigeria, over 250,000 of which will now be based in the north east.

A man who burgled multiple Northampton homes has today had his sentence increased after it was referred to the Court of Appeal by the Attorney General’s Office for being too low.

Darren Barry Williams, 39, was caught after he broke into a house on Prescott Close in Northampton in April. He damaged a window and door, as well as attempting to steal jewellery. Before he could make his escape, two neighbours apprehended him, having been alerted to his crime by an alarm. Once in police custody, Williams pleaded guilty to this burglary, as well as five other home burglaries.

Williams was originally sentenced at Northampton Crown Court in May, where he was given 2 years 6 months’ imprisonment and ordered to pay a £170 victim surcharge. Today, after the Attorney General’s referral, the Court of Appeal increased his sentence to 3 years 8 months’ imprisonment.

Commenting on the sentence increase, Attorney General Geoffrey Cox QC MP said:

“Burglaries leave owners feeling unsafe within their own homes, and can cause a wider sense of disquiet in the community. Williams had an extensive criminal history, including multiple burglaries. I therefore welcome the Court of Appeal’s decision today to agree to increase his sentence.”