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• UK Government publishes its vision for a modern Industrial Strategy.
• Welsh Secretary marks launch during visit to Airbus’ Newport Campus
• Industrial Strategy to drive growth across the whole of the UK, boosting skills and improving productivity and infrastructure.

Business Secretary Greg Clark has today (Monday 27 November) launched the government’s ambitious Industrial Strategy, setting out a long-term vision for how Britain can build on its economic strengths, address its productivity performance, embrace technological change and boast the earning power of people across the UK.

Wales has a world-leading reputation in the aerospace, steel, technology and life science sectors and through the Industrial Strategy the UK Government will build on these strengths and create new opportunities.

With a clear ambition of boosting productivity and economic growth, the Industrial Strategy contains a number of announcements set to benefit Wales including:

• increasing national research and development spending to 2.4 per cent by 2027, boosting Wales’s strength in research and innovation
• sector deals for life sciences, construction, automotive and artificial intelligence
• boosting 5G connectivity for Wales vital SMEs
• delivering City and Growth Deals and cross border growth corridors to strengthen links between Wales and England
• Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund announcements for transforming construction, agricultural and productivity

Secretary of State for Wales Alun Cairns has marked the launch of the Industrial Strategy at the Airbus Campus in Newport, a company helping to put the UK at the forefront of the Artificial Intelligence and data revolution.

He said:

This Industrial Strategy delivers on the conversations we have had with businesses and employees right across Wales.

From the growth corridors which will facilitate more cross-border working, to the commitments to exploring city and growth deals to cover every part of the country, this is a strategy that plays to our economic strengths and address some of the big challenges we face.

Wales also stands to benefit from the major investments in infrastructure and research, including the place based innovation fund and the sector deals for artificial intelligence, life sciences and construction– areas where we hold particular expertise across the length and breadth of Wales.

This is the start of an exciting, long-term partnership with industry, academia, civil society and business. Together, we can make Wales a world leader in the areas we choose to compete in and play a key role in driving productivity and prosperity across the whole of the UK.

Business Secretary Greg Clark said:

Our new, ambitious Industrial Strategy will build on the UK’s strengths, boost productivity and earning power and will ensure we are one of the most competitive places in the world to start and grow a business.

We recognise no two economies within the UK are the same – for Wales, strengths include aerospace, agriculture and food and drink. But we also recognise that our Industrial Strategy is not something that is done to business, it is done with, and indeed, by business. This strategy is about firms from across the UK coming together and working with government to build a better, more productive UK economy – fit for the future.
Wales is world renowned for its steel industry and the UK has a good track record in steel innovation based on both strong industrial heritage and outstanding research and development and the Steel Science Centre forms part of the £1.3bn Swansea Bay City Region Deal.

The government has been working closely with the steel industry to map the current capability of the sector and discuss a series of proposals developed since the publication of Building our Industrial Strategy. The government will aim to identify opportunities for steel markets and build on these innovation assets across the UK and will continue to engage with industry, as well as with the unions, the devolved administrations and other partners to develop a commercially sustainable proposition in a competitive global market.

The Charity Commission, the independent regulator of charities in England and Wales, has opened a new statutory inquiry into Into the Light Ministries, registered charity number 1143539. The investigation was opened on 11 October 2017.

The charity’s objects are to advance the Christian faith and to relieve sickness and financial hardship and promote and preserve good health through the provision of funds, clothing or other basic essentials.

After receiving information from a third party that questioned the adequacy of the charity’s financial controls, the Commission obtained bank account records and reviewed accounts previously filed. This revealed significant concerns regarding the charity’s accounts, potential conflicts of interest, non-primary purpose trading and public benefit, indicating a possible risk to charitable property.

The accounts submitted for the financial year ending 31 August 2016 were also not compliant with the Statement of Recommended Practice (SORP) which sets out how charities must prepare their accounts.

As a result we took regulatory action under section 76 of the Charities Act to safeguard the charity’s property and funds, and have opened a statutory inquiry to examine the governance, management and administration of the charity. The inquiry will focus particularly on whether:

• the charity has adequate control systems in place to enable the timely preparation and submission of accounting and returns information
• any trading carried out by the charity is compliant with current legislation;
• the trustees are responsibly managing the charity’s resources and financial affairs
• conflicts of interests and transactions with connected parties have been adequately managed
• receipt of any payments and benefits to trustees and connected parties have been validly authorised in accordance with the provisions of the charity’s governing document

We will also consider to what extent the charity operates for the public benefit, and whether there has been mismanagement and/or misconduct.

The Commission stresses that opening an inquiry is not in itself a finding of wrongdoing. The purpose of an inquiry is to examine issues in detail, investigate and establish the facts so that the regulator can ascertain whether there has been mismanagement and/or misconduct; establish the extent of any risk to the charity’s property, beneficiaries or work and decide what action needs to be taken to resolve the serious concerns, if necessary using its investigative, protective and remedial powers to do so.

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 by the Commission are available on GOV.UK.

The charity’s details can be viewed on the Commission’s online charity search tool.

Ends

PR 75/17

Notes to editors

1. The Charity Commission is the independent regulator of charities in England and Wales. To find out more about our work, see our annual report.
2. Search for charities on our check charity tool.
3. Section 46 of the Charities Act 2011 gives the Commission the power to institute inquiries. The opening of an inquiry gives the Commission access to a range of investigative, protective and remedial legal powers.

An investigation found a further 11 million calls were made but not connected.

Hassim Iqbal has been disqualified from acting as a director for failing to ensure that Check Point Claims Ltd (CPC) complied with regulations relating to the conduct of its business leading to the Ministry of Justice withdrawing its authorisation to provide claims management services.

The Information Commissioners Office also issued a monetary penalty notice for £250,000 as CPC had sent almost 6.4m automated marketing calls with prior consent having been obtained from the recipients.

Mr Iqbal signed a disqualification undertaking on 17 October 2017 for 7 years, which means he is banned from acting as a director of a limited company until November 2024.

CPC traded from July 2013 to February 2016 and generated leads for local solicitor firms pursuing personal injury claims, specifically relating to noise induced hearing loss and went into liquidation in March 2016.

In June 2015, the Information Commissioners Office (ICO) identified a total of 248 online complaints had been made about CPC and automated marketing calls made between 6 April and 30 September 2015, the details provided by complainants demonstrated the detrimental effect that such calls had had on them.

In October 2015 the Ministry of Justice audited CPC’s conduct and as a result of that audit, together with information provided by the company, the MoJ cancelled CPC’s authorisation to provide claims management services as it had not complied with the Conduct of Authorised Persons Rules 2014.

In May 2016 the ICO issued a final Monetary Penalty Notice for £250,000 which stated that the Commissioner:

• found that CPC had breached Regulation 19 of the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003 by sending or instigating almost 6.4m automated marketing calls between 30 March and 30 September 2015 to subscribers without their prior consent
• was satisfied that the breach was serious and considered that it was deliberate.

Commenting on the case Joanne Covell of Investigation & Enforcement Services, part of the Insolvency Service, stated:

This is a serious case where the actions of the director and the company have caused distress to members of the public in contravention of UK and EC regulations.

This ban reflects the seriousness of these actions and the robust stance that the Insolvency Service will take against those whose conduct falls below accepted commercial standards.

Andy Curry, Enforcement Group Manager at the Information Commissioner’s Office, said:

The people behind nuisance calls cause upset and distress and we’re in the business of cracking down on them.

We will pursue all options in the event of unpaid fines, and work closely with other regulators such as the Insolvency Service and Claims Management Regulator. The disqualification of a director behind a nuisance call firm is another welcome step in the fight.

Notes to Editors

Check Point Claims Ltd (Company Registration No. 07693783) was incorporated on 5 July 2011.

Hassim Iqbal is of Blackburn, Lancashire and his date of birth is March 1983.

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. Further information about the work of the Insolvency Service, and how to complain about financial misconduct, is available.

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.

Contact Press Office

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In all, 20 directors in 16 separate businesses across the United Kingdom have been disqualified recently, following investigations by the Insolvency Service, all of whom were already fined for employing illegal workers.
Eighteen people have been banned from being company directors or being involved in the management of companies for six years each, whilst two have been disqualified for 7 years.

The businesses, which include 11 restaurants, four takeaway/fast food establishments, and a shop, are based in London (4), Sussex (3), North West (3) South Wales (2), Glasgow, Antrim, Frome and High Wycombe.

Between them, they employed 41 illegal workers and were fined a total of £505,000 by the Home Office, none of which was paid. Two of the companies have now entered into liquidation, with a further two having been dissolved.

The Insolvency Service is continuing to work very closely with Home Office Immigration Enforcement to take action in cases where the company is still active and not subject to insolvency proceedings.

The matters leading to all of the disqualifications are that the directors failed to ensure that the companies complied with statutory obligations under The Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006 to ensure that relevant immigration checks were completed and copy documents retained, resulting in the employment of illegal workers.

Following visits from Home Office Immigration, during which the breaches were discovered, the companies were issued with penalty notices ranging from £10,000 to £15,000 per worker, which remain unpaid.

All were directors of the companies at the time of the Home Office visit.

Commenting on the disqualification, Cheryl Lambert, Chief Investigator at the Insolvency Service, said:

Employing illegal workers is not consequence free, either for the employer, the employee or the consumer.

These directors sought an unfair advantage over their law abiding competitors by employing people who were not entitled to work legally in the UK. By definition this is a set of people who are without the protection of the law and knowledge of the authorities, and thereby extremely vulnerable to exploitation in all its forms.

It is bad for business and bad for society as a whole.

If a company is found to be employing illegal workers and not carrying out the checks they are required to by law, then the Insolvency Service will continue to liaise with the Home Office to ensure that not only the workers, but the employers will be removed from the market place. This is regardless of the whether the company remains trading or is in Liquidation

These actions are a warning that the Government is pursuing bad employers.

A Home Office spokesperson said:

Illegal working is not victimless. It undercuts honest employers, cheats legitimate job seekers out of employment opportunities and defrauds the taxpayer.

Businesses should be aware that they have a duty to check that their staff have permission to work in the UK.

We are happy to work with employers who play by the rules but those who do not, should know that they will not go under our radar.

The disqualified directors are:

London

• Mohammed Aleem Tayyab and Mohammed Waseem Tayyab directors of Tayyab & Sons Limited which traded as a restaurant known as Tayyabs, 83 Fieldgate Street, London, E1 1JU were disqualified for 7 years each on 4 September 2017. Eight illegal workers were found in two separate Home Office raids and fines totalling £95,000 were levied
• Naqibullah Azizi, a director of Ameen Foods Ltd which traded as a restaurant/takeaway known as Bella Pizza, 101 Church Lane, Kingsbury, NW9 8JU, disqualified on 5 May 2017. Two illegal workers were found resulting in a fine of £20,000 being levied
• Mohammed Qahhar Choudhury, a director of Majestic Romford Limited which traded as a restaurant known as Indian Fusion, 27 Station Road, Chadwell Heath, Romford, RM6 4BE, disqualified on 6 July 2017. One illegal worker was found resulting in a fine of £15,000 being levied
• Ashim Kumar Saha, a director of Save & Pick Limited, which traded as a shop known as Savers, 372-374 High Road, Leyton, E10 6QE, disqualified on 4 August 2017. One illegal worker was found resulting in a fine of £10,000 being levied

Sussex

• Muhammad Furqan, director of Hsg Capital Ltd which traded as a pizza takeaway known as Slicebox, 6 Broadwalk, Crawley, RH10 1 HQ, disqualified on 27 July 2017. Two illegal workers were found resulting in a fine of £20,000 being levied
• Sujon Miah, a director of Jaipur Restaurant (Worthing), which traded as a restaurant known as Royal Jaipur, 35 Brighton Road, Worthing, BN11 3EF, disqualified on 11 August 2017. Three illegal workers were found resulting in a fine of £45,000 being levied
• Saleha Hussain Lucky, director of Curry Direct Limited, which traded as restaurant known as Cardamom Bay, 43 Queensway, Bognor Regis, PO21 1QN, disqualified on 8 September 2017. Two illegal workers were found resulting in a fine of £20,000 being levied

North West area

• Mohammad Seraz Ullah, director of Blue Cloud Limited which traded as a restaurant known as Last Monsoon, 54 King Street West, SK3 0DY, disqualified on 11 July 2017. Two illegal workers were found and a fine on £30,000 was levied
• Abbas Rashid Ahmed, director Aa Foods (UK) Limited, which traded as a takeaway known as K2 Taj, 32 Hamilton Road, M13 4PD, disqualified on 6 April 2017. One illegal worker was found and a fine of £15,000 was levied
• Helena Tohamy, and Mohammed Fathelbab, directors of Old Swan Grill Limited, which traded as a takeaway known as The Charcoal Hob, 379 Prescot Road, Old Swan, Liverpool, United Kingdom, L13 3BS, were disqualified on 14 September 2017 and 3 October 2017 respectively. Two illegal workers were found resulting in a fine of £20,000 being levied.

South Wales

• Sazzadur Rahman. A director of The 3 Mughals Restaurant Ltd, which traded as restaurant known as The 3 Mughals, 7 Western Valley Road, Rogerstone, Newport, NP10 9DS, disqualified on 30 June 2017. Two illegal workers were found resulting in a fine of £20,000 being levied
• Bunyamin Hurum, a director of BH Catering Limited, which traded as a takeaway known as Best Kebabs, 3 Caerlon Road, Newport, NP19 7BU, disqualified on 14 August 2017. One illegal worker was found resulting in a fine of £15,000 being levied

Glasgow

• Manoj Barua and Vipan Kumar Sharma, directors of MV Hospitality Limited which traded as restaurant known as Café India, 29 Albion Street, Glasgow, G1 1LH, disqualified on 18 July 2017 and 23 June 2017 respectively. Four illegal workers were found and a fine of £40,000 levied

Northern Ireland

• Wen Qing Chen and Guanda An, directors of China Express (N.I.) Limited which traded as restaurant known as China Express, 76 Main Street, Crumlin, Antrim, BT29 4UU, disqualified on 24 July 2017 and 30 June 2017 respectively. Four illegal workers were found and a fine of £60,000 was levied

Somerset

• Abdul Rahim, director of Jhalmuri Limited which traded as a restaurant known as Jhalmuri, 14 Palmer Street, Frome, BA11 1DS, disqualified on 18 April 2017. Three illegal workers were found and a fine of £30,000 was levied

High Wycombe

• Mohammed Zinuk Khan, director of Royel Taj HW Limited, which traded as Memsaab Indian Restaurant, London Road, Wooburn Green, High Wycombe, HP10 0NJ, disqualified on 14 September 2017. Three illegal workers were found resulting in a fine of £30,000 being levied

Notes to editors

All disqualifications take legal effect 21 days after the date shown.

The personal details of the directors and current status of the limited companies are shown below, in the same order as presented as above.

London

• The directors of Tayyab & Sons Limited (CRO 06816002) were Mohammed Aleem Tayyab (born September 1973 and residing in London, E1 1JU) and Mohammad Wasim Tayyab born January 1975 and residing in London
• Naqibullah Azizi, a director of Ameen Foods Ltd (CRO 08930382) was born July 1974 and resides in Colindale
• Mohammed Qahhar Choudhury, a director of Majestic Romford Limited (CRO 08876907) was born August 1993 and resides in Southampton. Majestic Romford Limited entered liquidation on 13 July 2017 with Stephen Gordon Franklin, Panos Eliades Franklin & Co, Olympia House, Armitage Road, London, NW11 8RQ appointed liquidator
• Save & Pick Limited (CRO 09367312) was dissolved 21 March 2017. Ashim Kumar Saha, the director was born February 1981 and resides in London

Sussex

• Muhammad Furqan, director of Hsg Capital Ltd (CRO 09154310) was born August 1979 and resides in Greenford
• Sujon Miah, a director of Jaipur Restaurant (Worthing) Limited (CRO 07147296) was born December 1972 and resides in Worthing
• Saleha Hussain Lucky, director of Curry Direct Limited (CRO 08421972) was born on 7 March 29183 and resides at 3 Sandymount Avenue, Bognor Regis, West Sussex, PO22 9ET. Curry Direct Limited entered liquidation on 18 July 2017 with Muhammad Usman Nazir, 1 Friary, Temple Quay, Bristol, Avon, BS1 6EA appointed a liquidator

North West area

• Mohammad Seraz Ullah, director of Blue Cloud Catering Limited (CRO 09584282) was born June 1968 and resides in Oldham
• Abbas Rashid Ahmed, director Aa Foods (UK) Limited, (CRO 09271804) was born August 1992 and resides in Manchester
• The directors of Old Swan Grill Limited (CRO 10232862.) were Helena Tohamy (born March 1987) and Mohammed Fathelbab (born January 1986) both reside in Liverpool

South Wales

• Xia Cua Xia, a director of Tin Sang Treham’s Limited (CRO 10306416), was born January 1985 and resides in Treharris
• Sazzadur Rahman, a director of The 3 Mughals Restaurant Ltd (CRO 07481949) was born August 1959 and resides in Newport
• Bunyamin Hurum, a director of BH Catering Limited (CRO 07231445) was born February 1988 and resides in Uxbridge

Glasgow

• MV Hospitality Limited (CRO SC458793) was dissolved on 25 April 2017. Manoj Barua was born on 27 July 1963 and resides in Glasgow and Vipan Kumar Sharma was born August 1975 and resides in Glasgow.
  Northern Ireland
• The directors of China Express (N.I.) Limited (CRO NI635323) were Wen Qing Chen ( born March 1978 and resides in Belfast) and Guanda An (born August 1979 residing in Crumlin, Antrim)
  Somerset
• Abdul Rahim, director of Jhalmuri Limited (CRO 07499776) was born February 1987 and resides in Frome, Somerset

High Wycombe

• The director of Royel Taj HW Limited (CRO 09415059 ), Mohammed Zinuk Khan, was born on December 1989 and resides in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire

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. Further information about the work of the Insolvency Service, and how to complain about financial misconduct, is available.

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.

All public enquiries concerning the affairs of the companies should be made to: Cheryl Lambert, Head of Outsourced Investigations, Investigations and Enforcement Services, The Insolvency Service, 3rd Floor, Abbey Orchard Street, London SW1P 2HT. Tel: 0207 596 6117. Email: Cheryl.Lambert@insolvency.gsi.gov.uk.

Contact Press Office

Media enquiries for this press release – 020 7596 6187

You can also follow the Insolvency Service on:

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This money was won during a period that Mrs Holtom was undischarged from bankruptcy while she had a duty to notify the Official Receiver that she had acquired the money, but she failed to do so.

A bankruptcy order was made against Mrs Holtom on 7 October 2015 and an investigation by the Insolvency Service found that Mrs Holtom won the £46,100 between 19 July 2016 and 22 July 2016. Mrs Holtom then disposed of the winnings between 19 July 2016 and 1August 2016 and by not disclosing this to the Official Receiver it caused a loss to her creditors.

Mrs Holtom had explained to the Official Receiver leading up to the Court hearing in November 2017 that a third party had access to her online account and that they won the money but no evidence was provided to the Official Receiver or the Court to verify this.

The Bankruptcy Restriction Order, made by the Court on 3 November 2017, means Mrs Holtom will be bound for nine years by the restrictions set out in insolvency law that a bankrupt is subject to until they are discharged. Bankruptcy normally lasts for 12 months, but Mrs Holtom will now not be discharged until 2026. In addition, she cannot manage or control a company during this period without leave of the court.

Commenting on the case, the Official Receiver, Kevin Read at the Insolvency Services said:

The Insolvency Service always looks very closely at individuals who demonstrate dishonesty and takes action where wrongdoing is uncovered.

Notes to editors

Susan Holtom at the time of her bankruptcy was residing at Coventry and her date of birth is June 1971.

If the Official Receiver considers that the conduct of a bankrupt has been dishonest or blameworthy in some other way, he (or she) will report the facts to court and ask for a Bankruptcy Restrictions Order (BRO) to be made. The court will consider this report and any other evidence put before it, and will decide whether it should make a BRO. If it does, the bankrupt will be subject to certain restrictions for the period stated in the order. This can be from 2 to 15 years.

The bankrupt may instead agree to a Bankruptcy Restrictions Undertaking (BRU) which has the same effect as an order, but will mean that the matter does not go to court.

Restrictions are set out in insolvency law that bankrupts are subject to until they are discharged – normally after 12 months – and these include that bankrupts:-

• must disclose their status to a credit provider if they wish to get credit of more than £500
• who carry on business in a different name from the name in which they were made bankrupt, they must disclose to those they wish to do business with the name (or trading style) under which they were made bankrupt
• may not act as the director of a company nor take part in its promotion, formation or management unless they have a court’s permission to do so
• may not act as an insolvency practitioner, or as the receiver or manager of the property of a company on behalf of debenture holders

Additionally, a person subject to a Bankruptcy Restrictions Order/Undertaking or a Debt Relief Restrictions Order/Undertaking may not be a Member of Parliament in England or Wales.

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.

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 7596 6187

You can also follow the Insolvency Service on:

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PHE is calling on all men and women, aged over 60, to get screened for bowel cancer after the latest figures show over 40% are not getting tested – with embarrassment over providing a stool sample one of the reasons, among men in particular, that is putting thousands unnecessarily at risk of dying.

PHE wants wives, partners and daughters to encourage the older men in the family – as well as the women – to overcome any embarrassment and ensure they send in a sample to be tested.

A new PHE report today (24 November 2017), Screening Programmes in England 2016 to 2017, shows that despite a 3% increase on the previous year, the take-up for bowel cancer screening (59%) is still significantly lower compared to other cancer screening programmes – breast screening (76%) and cervical screening (72%).

Bowel cancer screening is offered to all men and women aged 60 to 74, who are sent a home test kit to provide stool samples.

There were over 3,000 bowel cancers diagnosed as a result of screening in 2016 to 2017. In over 90% of these cases, cancers were found at an early stage, where treatment is more likely to be successful.

Bowel cancer is the fourth most common cancer in England, but the second leading cause of cancer deaths, with around 13,000 people dying from it every year.

If detected early, bowel cancer is very treatable which is why screening is vital and it has been shown to reduce the risk of dying from bowel cancer by 16%. Thousands more lives could be saved if more people, particularly men, returned their stool samples to be tested.

Improvements are being made to make screening easier and next year there will be a new home test, the faecal immunochemical test (FIT), which requires just 1 sample rather than the current 3, and will detect bowel cancer more accurately.

In addition to the home test, a one-off test called bowel scope screening is offered to men and women at the age of 55.

Professor Anne Mackie, PHE’s director of screening, said:

It’s of great concern that 4 out of every 10 over 60 year olds are not taking up the offer of getting tested for bowel cancer. Men in particular are less likely to send in a sample, so we’re asking their partners, children and grandchildren to encourage them to do so.

Bowel cancer causes 13,000 deaths every year, which is why screening is so important. Embarrassment over giving a stool sample may be causing thousands of preventable deaths. But with a new home test kit next year making it much easier to get screened, we are hoping to see numbers increase.

Judith Brodie, Interim Chief Executive at Beating Bowel Cancer, said:

People may feel uncomfortable completing their home screening tests, but they can be crucial in the early diagnosis of bowel cancer – which is very treatable if caught early. We strongly encourage the use of these bowel screening tests – they can be life-saving.

PHE is committed to improving bowel cancer screening attendance and has a programme of work which includes:

• providing local services with clearer information to encourage better screening take-up
• encouraging GPs to endorse screening invitation letters

The Bowel Cancer Screening Programme, recommended by the UK National Screening Committee, began in 2006 and the expert Committee has reviewed the evidence every 3 years. The Committee recommends the programme as it shows clear benefits and saves lives. Screening remains a choice, based on a person’s individual circumstances.

Background

1. The risk of bowel cancer increases with age, with over 80% of bowel cancers arising in people who are 60 or over.
2. Bowel scope screening, also known as flexible sigmoidoscopy, is a one-off test offered to men and women at the age of 55. It is normally used as a routine outpatient appointment procedure to examine the inner lining of the lower large intestine – the part where most cancers are found. It can also be used to evaluate gastrointestinal symptoms, such as abdominal pain, rectal bleeding, or changes in bowel habit.
3. The NHS Bowel Cancer Screening Programme offers screening every 2 years to all men and women aged 60 to 74. People in the invitation age range are automatically sent an invitation, then their screening kit, so they can do the test at home. Those over the invitation age range can ask for a screening kit every 2 years by calling a Freephone number – 0800 707 60 60.
4. PHE is currently working with NHS England on the introduction of a new home test kit, the Faecal Immunochemical Test (FIT), which can quantify the amount of blood found in a stool sample. It has a number of potential advantages over the current test, faecal occult blood (FOB), as it is more accurate and more acceptable to use.
5. Anyone with any symptoms, such as a persistent change in bowel habit or bleeding from the back passage, or who has concerns about their bowel health, should speak to their GP, who can arrange for a referral with a specialist, if necessary.
6. For more information about the bowel cancer screening programme, visit NHS Choices
7. Public Health England exists to protect and improve the nation’s health and wellbeing, and reduce health inequalities. We do this through world-leading science, knowledge and intelligence, advocacy, partnerships and providing specialist public health services. We are an executive agency of the Department of Health, and are a distinct organisation with operational autonomy to advise and support government, local authorities and the NHS in a professionally independent manner.