Day: August 1, 2018

The government has re-committed today (1 August 2018) to putting the Grenfell Tower bereaved, survivors and community at the heart of deciding what happens to the future of the site.

As part of this, the government has announced it will take responsibility for the Grenfell Tower site. It will make operational decisions, such as on the site’s safety, security and access arrangements, until the future of the site has been determined by the community. A formal agreement will be finalised in the autumn.

The Metropolitan Police have said they are preparing to release the site as a crime scene, ahead of this the government is announcing the next step on the journey to a fitting memorial.

As these arrangements are put in place, the site will continue to be managed by the independent Site Management team who have been in place since July 2017.

Led by Doug Patterson, Chief Executive of the London Borough of Bromley, the team is responsible for all aspects of the on-going day-to-day management, such as health and safety and security. This ensures the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (RBKC) will continue to take no role in making decisions regarding the site.

The local policing team will continue to work closely with the Site Management team and patrol the surrounding area to protect the integrity of the site.

The Prime Minister has given her own personal commitment that the bereaved, survivors and wider community will lead the decision making process regarding the long term future of the site. This has been formalised in a set of written principles governing consultations on the future of the site and signed by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, RBKC, Grenfell United and Lancaster West Residents’ Association.

The principles stated that the land will be transferred to a body represented by the bereaved and survivors once an appropriate body has been established and the site has been made ready and available for future use.

Further information

The government will take over the responsibility for the Grenfell Tower site from the autumn. As these arrangements are put in place, the site will continue to be managed by the independent Site Management team who have been in place since July 2017.

The council remain the legal owners of the site until the future is decided. They take no role in the management or decision making.

The Metropolitan Police have indicated they remain on schedule to release the site at the beginning of August as their police work at the Tower reaches completion.

There remains a need for core participants and expert witnesses of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry to access the tower, which must continue to take priority.

No decision has yet been taken on the future of the Grenfell Tower site. The government will make operational decisions on the site, regarding the site’s safety, security and access, in consultation with relevant experts and public authorities whose priorities are responsibility for safety and security of the site, the health and safety of those working on the site and living in the surrounding area.

Nick Hurd, the Minister for Grenfell Victims, and Doug Patterson, site management lead and Chief Executive of the London Borough of Bromley, have committed to engaging the bereaved, survivors and the community on all matters relating to the Grenfell Tower site, including sharing information on technical aspects relating to the site management and process to bring down the Tower.

Following the driest June since 1925 and a dry July, farmers have reported water supply concerns which could affect the irrigation of crops and welfare of livestock. Ahead of the National Farmers Union’s drought summit today (Wednesday 1 August), the Environment Agency issued guidance to farmers detailing options to flex abstraction licences in serious cases.

The arrangements will allow farmers to trade water allowances – as set out in their abstraction licence – on a short-term basis, without the need to change their licence. The EA will fast-track the process to enable farmers to act quickly and arrangements will be agreed locally where the EA is satisfied that there will not be any adverse effects on the environment or the rights of other lawful water users. The EA also monitors river flow and will maximise access to water when it is available, such as following heavy rain.

In severe cases where there is a real or imminent threat to crops and livestock, the EA may temporarily allow additional, emergency abstraction. Each case will be assessed to minimise impacts to the environment or the rights of other water users.

Paul Hickey, head of water resources, Environment Agency said:

We know that farmers are facing considerable pressures in responding to drought conditions and we want to support them by allowing them to flex their abstraction licences in the most serious cases to safeguard food production and animal welfare.

We must also balance farmers’ needs with those of wildlife and other water users so we will only allow these arrangements where we are satisfied there won’t be any adverse effects on the environment.

As the hot, dry weather is set to continue we urge everyone to use water wisely to protect the environment and help prevent the need for water restrictions.

The Environment Agency will continue to carry out compliance checks on abstraction licences to ensure that abstractors keep to their licences and any agreed flexible arrangements.

The temporary arrangements do not apply to water companies as they are able to use a variety of drought measures defined in law to manage droughts and public water supply. The Environment Agency works closely with water companies to ensure they are following drought plans and implementing actions to conserve water in a timely way.

Notes to Editors

It is up to abstractors to ensure that they use water wisely, efficiently and have sufficient water for their needs.

Any flexible arrangements will be one-off, limited to this event. If any abstraction outside a licence is likely to need to re-occur, licence holders must apply to vary the licence at the earliest opportunity.

It is important that water abstraction licence holders check their licence details – licence holders can now view and manage water abstraction licences online

The Environment Agency can review hands off flow conditions more frequently to allow abstractors to take advantage of any peak flows when significant rainfall occurs.

Use of water company headroom by other abstractors where this is sustainable. Southern and Anglian Water have said that in principle this can be provided and we are awaiting details from the companies on their proposals.

For the first time ever 100% of UK employers identified as being in scope of gender pay gap regulations have published their data.

The UK is one of the few countries in the world to require employers to publish such comprehensive gender pay gap data.

Under new regulations that came into force in April 2017, all employers with over 250 employees are required to report their gender pay gap data. All 10,000 UK employers that the Government has identified as having over 250 workers have now published their data.

The data has shown that more than three out of four in scope UK companies pay their male staff more on average than their female staff, more than half give higher bonuses to men, on average, than women, and over 80% have more women in their lowest paid positions than in their highest paid positions.

The Government Equalities Office has also published today [Wednesday 1 August] a new ‘What Works’ guidance for companies to help them improve the recruitment and progression of women and close their gender pay gap.

Minister for Women and Equalities, Penny Mordaunt, said:

It is appalling that in the twenty-first century there is still a big difference between the average earnings of men and women.

While I am encouraged that over 10,000 employers have published their data, these figures set out in real terms for the first time some of the challenges and the scale of this issue.

We need to take action to ensure businesses know how they can make use of their best talent and make their gender pay gaps a thing of the past.

Sheila Flavell, Chief Operating Officer, FDM Group, a global professional services provider with a focus on IT, said:

At FDM diversity and equality have always been our core values and we are proud once again to report a zero per cent gender pay gap for the second year in a row.

Achieving this required a huge effort at all levels of the organisation, including major initiatives such as our women returners and graduate recruitment programmes which help women train and enter the world of technology. We also had honest conversations about senior pay, job roles and increased opportunities for introduced flexible working initiatives to ensure strong representation of women at the top of the company.

Fiona Dawson, Global President of Mars Food, said:

Delighted to see the launch of the Government Equalities Office, ‘What Works’ guidance and to see that the evidence based recommendations within it echo so many of those made by the Women’s Business Council particularly in relation to the importance of flexible, agile and dynamic working.

The gender pay gap regulations and first year of reporting has focused the attention of the businesses community and its leaders on understanding the causes behind their organisations, and sector’s, gender gaps and the importance of putting into place practical solutions and actions to tackle their causes. Supportive guidance such as this document and best practice case studies of what has worked are vital for organisations to now take the next step in ensuring their staff have the same access to opportunity regardless of their gender.

Equality and Human Rights Commission Chief Executive, Rebecca Hilsenrath, said:

Building on the work by the Government Equalities Office, our enforcement approach has proved to be successful, resulting in full compliance by all those considered to be in scope.

We have been clear that it is not only the right thing to do but that we would use all our enforcement powers where employers failed to report. They have taken our warnings seriously and avoided costly court action. We will now be turning our attention to the accuracy of reporting.

The ‘What Works’ advice to employers published by the Government Equalities Office today includes recommendations to:

• Assess candidates based on actual tasks they would be expected to perform in their role, and make interviews more structured to avoid unfair bias creeping in.
• Encourage salary negotiation by showing salary ranges, as women are currently less likely to negotiate their pay than men.
• Introduce transparency to pay, promotion and reward processes.

NOTES TO EDITORS:

• The ‘What Works’ guidance was produced in partnership with the Behavioural Insights Team.
• The guidance, including details of all of the research evidence, has been published on the gender pay gap website, https://gender-pay-gap.service.gov.uk/
• For more information please contact the GEO press office on 0207 023 0600.
• Sheila Flavell, Chief Operating Officer, FDM Group, also said:

The gender pay gap reporting process has been an incredibly positive initiative for UK companies, elevating a vital issue to the top of the boardroom agenda and forcing business leaders to face up to the extent of the problem.

Whilst in some cases the reporting has shown major pay discrepancies in companies, it’s important to recognise that tackling this issue is no easy task. These businesses should be judged on the plans and promises they put in place to reduce the gap, and the willingness shown to make change happen.

• Fiona Dawson, Global President of Mars Food, also said:

Last year Mars partnered with the Women’s Business Council to create ‘The Pipeline Effect’, a toolkit enabling gender parity beyond middle management where the gender gaps within most sectors dramatically increase.

In the toolkit we’ve identified three primary obstacles to women’s mid-career progression. The visibility of relatable role-models, the need for supportive line management and most importantly the access to flexible, dynamic and agile working patterns.

In Mars we’ve embraced this by rolling out multi-level sponsorship and mentoring programmes to support more women into senior leadership positions.

This is supported by our in depth line manager training which ensures our family friendly policies including parental leave and flexible working are applied consistently across the business and ensures all employees hold authentic conversations with their managers allowing our male and female associates to enjoy balanced lives with thriving families and careers.

The Charity Commission has today announced the appointment of an interim manager to Capricorn Animal Rescue and Sanctuary (inc. Aston, Hawarden Animal Aid) due to continued concerns about the governance and management of the charity.

Interim managers are appointed to take over the running of a charity where the Commission has identified misconduct or mismanagement, or there is a need to protect the charity’s property.

The Commission opened a statutory inquiry into Capricorn Animal Rescue and Sanctuary on 9 February 2017 to examine regulatory concerns about the governance of the charity, potential unauthorised trustee benefit, and whether the trustees have properly exercised their responsibilities under charity law – particularly their duty to account for the charity’s funds.

The Commission made an order under Section 76 (3)(g) of the Charities Act 2011 on 30 July 2018 to appoint Guy Hollander of Mazars as interim manager to the exclusion of the trustees.

He will take on full control of the day-to-day management and administration of the charity from the current trustee until the Commission makes a further order.

Harvey Grenville, Head of Investigations and Enforcement at the Charity Commission said:

We are not satisfied that the current governance procedures and practices are working properly, or are likely to be rectified by the trustees. A decision by the Charity Commission to appoint an interim manager is not taken lightly and reflects the seriousness of our regulatory concerns.

Part of the interim manager’s duties will be to establish the viability of the charity and determine the most appropriate option regarding its future.

The Commission’s investigation continues.

Ends

Notes to editors

1. This appointment is a temporary and protective power that will be reviewed at regular intervals. It will continue until the Commission makes a further Order for its variation or discharge.
2. The Commission is aware that the charity has been the subject of concerns from members of the public relating to the welfare of animals in the charity’s care; this does not fall within the Commission’s remit and concerns on this matter should be directed to the RSPCA. Their 24-hour cruelty and advice line can be reached at 0300 1234 999.
3. 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 are available on GOV.UK.
4. The Charity Commission is the independent regulator of charities in England and Wales. For more information see the about us page on GOV.UK.
5. Search for charities on our online register.