Category: 0 Archive

The major independent review of deaths and serious incidents in police custody was commissioned by Prime Minister Theresa May in July 2015, whilst Home Secretary, following her meetings with bereaved families. It has been carried out by Dame Elish Angiolini DBE QC:

• a new presumption that legal aid should be awarded to families in cases of deaths in police custody
• use of police cells banned for under 18s in mental health crisis from December
• ministerial council to develop further solutions to healthcare in police custody, in both the inquest process and the post-incident support available for bereaved families

The review makes 110 recommendations, regarding the use of restraint, the custody environment, training for officers and making it easier for families facing inquests into deaths in police custody to access legal aid.

The government’s response commits to review existing guidance so that the starting presumption is that legal aid should be awarded for representation of the bereaved at an inquest following a suspicious death or suicide in police custody or in prison.

It also makes clear that from December, police cells will not be used as places of safety for those under the age of 18 detained under the Mental Health Act and that transparency and accountability in police use of force has been improved through better data collection.

Home Secretary Amber Rudd said:

This report shines a light on this profoundly important issue and the government thanks Dame Elish Angiolini for her comprehensive review which sets out a clear need for action.

When my predecessor Theresa May met the bereaved families, she was struck by the difficulties they faced as they sought answers about what happened to their loved ones. This simply isn’t right, and is why the government is taking steps to ensure that families bereaved in this way in future get the support and answers they need.

The government is committed to tackling this issue, and when tragically deaths in police custody do occur, we are clear that they must be investigated thoroughly and action taken to support families better in future.

In relation to the new presumption that legal aid should be awarded, the Lord Chancellor will make clear in the guidance that bereaved families should be spared the distress of filling out complex paperwork around means testing where possible.

This work will be completed by the end of the year, alongside steps to ensure the bereaved are made fully aware of their rights under this guidance in every case.

Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, David Lidington, said:

We recognise that the route to legal aid in inquests relating to deaths in police custody and prison can be complex and intrusive for families.

That is why I am taking immediate steps to make it the starting presumption that legal aid should be awarded in such cases. I want to prevent the distress for families of having to fill out complex forms on means testing, and to make sure the bereaved are fully aware of their rights.

Work is also already in progress across a number of areas raised in the review:

• a cross government ministerial council, consisting of ministers from the Home Office, Department of Health and Ministry of Justice and an Independent Advisory Panel, will consider further recommendations for healthcare, inquests and support for families
• limiting the use of police cells as places of safety. From December, police cells will not be used as places of safety for those under the age of 18 detained under the Mental Health Act and stringent controls will be put in place about their use for adults. The government has provided £30 million to the NHS to ensure there is sufficient provision of alternative and health-based places of safety
• publishing the Concordat on Children in Custody – already signed by all police forces and the majority of local authorities in England – representing a commitment to ensure children who are charged and denied bail are transferred from police custody to local authority care, and never held overnight in a police cell
• improving transparency and accountability in police use of force through better data collection

Also, because it is crucial that the public has faith in the police, in independent investigatory bodies, and in the justice system as a whole, the government is:

• reforming the IPCC (which will be renamed as the Independent Office for Police Conduct in January) to increase its powers and give it greater independence from the police, including giving the new Director General powers to determine which roles within the watchdog are barred to former police officers
• introducing independent legally qualified chairs for police misconduct proceedings and greater independence in decision-making in such cases

A Downing Street spokesperson said:

The Prime Minister met with the First Minister of Wales Carwyn Jones in Downing Street today.

As well as discussing domestic issues, they spoke about Brexit and the Prime Minister explained how the UK Government’s priority was delivering a successful EU exit that works for the whole of the UK.

On the important engagement with Wales and the other devolved administrations, they spoke about constructive dialogue at the recent Joint Ministerial Committee and the progress made on working together to establish principles on common frameworks.

They also discussed the EU Withdrawal Bill and the Prime Minister made clear that we are working to ensure that as powers are repatriated from Brussels back to Britain, the right powers are passed to the devolved administrations of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland in a way that works for all parts of the UK.

Minister for Africa Rory Stewart said:

I have followed closely developments in Kenya over the last few days as the elections have taken place. This is an important moment for Kenya and African democracy. The UK stands together with all Kenyans at this critical time.

I have been deeply concerned by outbreaks of ethnic and political violence. Leaders and politicians should categorically and publicly reject violence and make every effort to ensure their supporters do so as well. I welcome the work of many Kenyans to help keep the peace and assist those affected by the violence.

I urge security forces to exercise maximum restraint and call on protestors who are exercising their constitutional rights to do so peacefully. All allegations of abuses on the part of the security forces should be fully investigated and action taken against security personnel found to have committed violations.

I appeal for calm as the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission prepares to announce the result of the election. I call on all Kenyans to come together at this critical moment in an open and transparent national dialogue, to reject the politics of hatred, and to resolve divisions, so that Kenya moves forward towards greater peace and prosperity.

The Foreign Secretary spoke with both Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government Nechirvan Barzani and the Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi on Sunday afternoon. He urged both parties to seek a quick, peaceful resolution within the constitution to the current Kurdish/Iraqi tensions and reiterated the UK’s continued support to the Kurds within a unified Iraq.

Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said:

Last night, I spoke to Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi and the Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, Nechirvan Barzani. I encouraged both to continue to de-escalate the situation on the ground in Iraq and to avoid misunderstandings that could lead to conflict. The UK welcomes the willingness of the Government of Iraq and Kurdistan Regional Government to engage in dialogue on the basis of the Iraqi Constitution. The UK encourages both sides to agree a timetable for talks.

The UK remains committed to the sovereignty, territorial integrity and unity of Iraq and will continue to support all Iraq’s people, including Iraq’s Kurds, within a unified Iraq.

It is also critical that all parties continue to focus on the fight against Daesh, prevent its re-emergence and work together to rebuild liberated towns, villages and lives.

Yesterday, Masoud Barzani also retired from the office of the President of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. We welcome the opportunity this presents for leadership of the Kurdistan Region to pass to a new generation of Kurds. They must build strong democratic institutions and resolve the historic differences between the Kurdistan Regional Government and the Government of Iraq consistent with the Iraqi Constitution. They will have the UK’s full support.

The Government of Iraq and Kurdistan Regional Government have been staunch allies of the UK in recent years as we have jointly fought the scourge of Daesh in the region. I want to pay tribute to former President Barzani’s leadership in that fight, to his years of service to the Iraqi Kurdish people and to the role he played in the formation of modern Iraq.

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

The Regulator of Social Housing has published a Fees Statement today (30 October 2017) and held its first Fees and Resources Advisory Panel (FRAP) as part of its commitment to be open and transparent with the social housing sector.

The Fees Statement outlines the regulatory priorities for 2018 to 2019, the associated budget breakdown and the fee per social housing unit. It also sets out background information on the regulator’s role, its approach to regulation and the measures it will apply to its work.

The Statement was discussed at the inaugural FRAP meeting on 24 October with representatives nominated by sector umbrella bodies and individual stakeholders. Attendees included representatives from Chartered Institute for Housing, g15, g320, Homes for the North, National Housing Federation, Placeshapers, Tenants Participation Advisory Service, and UK Finance.

Julian Ashby, Chair of the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) Regulation Committee said:

While the regulator is accountable to Parliament for the delivery of its statutory objectives, it is important that we are transparent with stakeholders in relation to the fees we have started charging and the quality of the regulation that we deliver.

The annual Fees Statement supports our commitment to transparency. The twice yearly Panel meetings are alongside our extensive stakeholder engagement and will ensure an appropriate geographical, sectoral and stakeholder coverage of views. I hope these steps demonstrate our determination to deliver value for money regulation that supports our ability to retain investors’ confidence in the sector.

The Fees Statement; the FRAP membership and Terms of Reference and fees guidance for registered providers is available on the HCA regulation website.

Further information

1. The consultation on fees is available on the website.
2. Funding for some aspects of the regulation function, such as reactive regulation including consumer regulation, will be continued through government grant in aid.
3. The Homes and Communities Agency is the single, national housing and regeneration delivery agency for England, and is the regulator of social housing providers. As regulator, its purpose is to promote a viable, efficient and well-governed social housing sector able to deliver homes that meet a range of needs. It does this by undertaking robust economic regulation, focusing on governance, financial viability and value for money that maintains lender confidence and protects the taxpayer.

For more information visit the HCA website or follow us on Twitter.

Our media enquiries page has contact details for journalists.

For general queries to the HCA, please email mail@homesandcommunities.co.uk or call 0300 1234 500.

New guidance to ensure victims of domestic abuse can easily access safe, long-term accommodation is published today (30 October 2017).

The guidance, which is subject to a 10-week consultation, makes it clear that local authorities should treat victims of domestic abuse, currently in safe accommodation such as a refuge, as a priority for social housing. It also makes clear that those victims who have fled to refuges in other parts of the country should not be disadvantaged in accessing social housing.

In addition, local authorities are being encouraged to use their existing powers to help victims of domestic abuse to remain safely in their own home without their abuser, if they wish to.

Communities Minister Lord Bourne said:

Domestic abuse is a devastating crime with complex challenges that extend far beyond the boundaries of local authorities.

That’s why we’re committed to providing local authorities with the robust guidance they need to improve victims’ access to long-term and secure housing they need to rebuild their lives.

The guidance comes during Domestic Violence Awareness Month, and is one of a number of measures the government has introduced to ensure that those who have to flee their homes due to violence have the specialist support they need to rebuild their lives:

• In March 2016 we confirmed £80 million of funding to 2020 to combat violence against women and girls. In the March 2017, we announced a further £20 million for this work, bringing the total funding up to £100 million over the Parliament to support victims
• In November 2016 we launched a £20 million fund over 2 years for specialist accommodation based support and service reform in local areas. As a result we were able to help 76 projects in England, creating more than 2,200 bed spaces and giving support to over 19,000 victims

We will shortly be introducing a new landmark Domestic Violence and Abuse Bill to protect and support victims, recognise the life-long impact domestic abuse has on children and make sure agencies effectively respond to domestic abuse.

The guidance published will build on and clarify existing guidelines which encourage local authorities to make exceptions to the residency tests and give appropriate priority to the most vulnerable in our society.

The government has also been considering the recommendations of the joint report on the future of supported housing produced by the Department for Communities and Local Government and the Department for Work and Pensions. It will be publishing its response to this on Tuesday 31 October 2017.

The Prime Minister announced earlier this week that as part of our response to this review we will not be applying the Local Housing Allowance cap to supported housing.

Further information

The consultation will be open until 5 January 2018.

We recently confirmed plans for a new generation of council and housing association homes through a further £2 billion funding boost bringing investment in affordable housing to over £9 billion.

Secretary of State for Wales Alun Cairns is to host a roundtable with International Trade Secretary DR Liam Fox and leading dairy businesses to discuss future trade opportunities once we leave the EU.

Wales exported £14.6bn worth of goods in 2016, up 10.4% from £13.3bn in 2015, with growing non-EU markets including UAE, Canada, Turkey and China all featuring in its top 15 export destinations.

Wales continues to be a hub for global investment, with latest statistics showing the number of jobs in Wales either created or safeguarded as a result of Foreign Direct Investment projects rising to 11,000 in the last year, up from 7,000 in 2015/16.

Secretary of State for Wales, Alun Cairns said:

Wales is an ambitious outward-looking nation. Our country is home to some of the most innovative and exciting companies and products in Wales are sold right around the globe.

As part of the United Kingdom, Wales benefits from the economic security and international influence that comes from pooling our resources.

The UK Government is ready to support Welsh businesses to take advantage of every opportunity available to them to grow and expand into new markets.

International Trade Secretary, Dr Liam Fox also said:

The Department for International Trade is committed to helping Welsh businesses boost exports, find new markets and showcase their international reputation for excellence, from agriculture to aerospace.

As an international economic department we will also continue to build on the impressive increase in jobs backed by in Foreign Direct Investment, and work closely with the Welsh Government to design a future trade policy in the national interest of the whole UK.

Trade White Paper

The Trade White Paper published by the Department for International Trade establishes the principles that will guide future UK trade policy as well as laying out the practical steps that will support those aims.

These include:
* taking steps to enable the UK to maintain the benefits of the World Trade Organisation’s Government Procurement Agreement;
* ensuring the UK can support developing economies by continuing to give them preferential access to UK markets;
* preparing to bring across into UK law existing trade agreements between EU and non-EU countries, providing certainty to businesses and global investors; and
* creating a new, UK trade remedies investigating authority

Feedback from businesses can be sent to stakeholder.engagement@trade.gsi.gov.uk by 6 November.

Further information

• Latest statistics show over the last 12 months the UK secured more foreign direct investment projects than ever before, UK exports have increased 13.1% on the previous 12 months in the year to August 2017 and the current account deficit narrowed to £101.3 billion in the year to 2017 Q2, from £113.8 billion in the year to 2016 Q2.
• In 2016/17 Wales welcomed 85 Foreign Direct Investment projects creating or safeguarding over 11,000 jobs.
• Wales exported £14.6bn worth of goods in 2016.
• While Europe is a key market for Wales, non-EU countries including UAE, Canada, Turkey and China all feature in the top 15 destinations for Welsh exports of goods with the USA remaining Wales’ largest export market for goods.
• The UK Government has developed the Wales Export Guide – a document that sets out the full range of support available to Welsh businesses from the UK Government and contains inspiring stories of companies based in Wales that are successfully exporting.
• You can download a copy of the guide here

This month’s Price Paid Data includes details of more than 97,000 sales of land and property in England and Wales that HM Land Registry received for registration in September 2017.

In the dataset you can find the date of sale for each property, its full address and sale price, its category (residential or commercial) and type (detached, semi-detached, terraced, flat or maisonette and other), whether it is new build or not and whether it is freehold or leasehold.

The number of sales received for registration by property type and month

Property type	September 2017	August 2017	July 2017
Detached	22,377	22,782	21,204
Semi-detached	24,911	26,056	24,117
Terraced	25,829	26,515	24,952
Flat/maisonette	17,958	17,085	16,682
Other	6,027	6,075	6,519
Total	97,102	98,513	93,474

Of the 97,102 sales received for registration in September 2017:

• 72,519 were freehold, a 3.2% increase on September 2016
• 9,013 were newly built, a 21.6% decrease on September 2016

There is a time difference between the sale of a property and its registration at HM Land Registry.

Of the 97,102 sales received for registration, 27,553 took place in September 2017 of which:

• 568 were of residential properties in England and Wales for £1 million and over
• 320 were of residential properties in London for £1 million and over
• one was of a residential property in Birmingham for £1 million and over
• three were of residential properties in Greater Manchester for £1 million and over
• none were of residential properties in Cardiff for £1 million and over

The most expensive residential sale taking place in September 2017 was of a flat in the City of Westminster, London for £15,200,000. The cheapest residential sale in September 2017 was of a semi-detached property in Birmingham, West Midlands for £17,500.

The most expensive commercial sale taking place in September 2017 was in Wakefield, West Yorkshire for £39,477,000. The cheapest commercial sales in September 2017 were in the London boroughs of Harrow and Southwark, each for £100.

Access the full dataset

Notes to editors

1. Price Paid Data is published at 11 am on the 20th working day of each month. The next dataset will be published on 28 November 2017.
2. Price Paid Data is property price data for all residential and commercial property sales in England and Wales that are lodged with HM Land Registry for registration in that month, subject to exclusions.
3. The amount of time between the sale of a property and the registration of this information with HM Land Registry varies. It typically ranges between 2 weeks and 2 months. Data for the two most recent months is therefore incomplete and does not give an indication of final monthly volumes. Occasionally the interval between sale and registration is longer than two months. The small number of sales affected cannot be updated for publication until the sales are lodged for registration.
4. Price Paid Data categories are either Category A (Standard entries), which includes single residential properties sold for full market value or Category B (Additional entries), such as sales to a company, buy-to-lets where they can be identified by a mortgage and repossessions.
5. HM Land Registry has been collecting information on Category A sales from January 1995 and on Category B sales from October 2013.
6. Price Paid Data can be downloaded in txt format, csv format and in a machine-readable format as linked data and is released under the Open Government Licence (OGL). Under the OGL, HM Land Registry permits the use of Price Paid Data for commercial or non-commercial purposes. However, the OGL does not cover the use of third party rights, which HM Land Registry is not authorised to license.
7. The Price Paid Data report builder allows users to build bespoke reports using the data. Reports can be based on location, estate type, price paid or property type over a defined period of time.
8. HM Land Registry is a government department created in 1862. It operates as an executive agency and a trading fund and its running costs are covered by the fees paid by the users of its services. Its ambition is to become the world’s leading land registry for speed, simplicity and an open approach to data.
9. HM Land Registry safeguards land and property ownership worth more than £4 trillion, including more than £1 trillion of mortgages. The Land Register contains more than 25 million titles, which show evidence of ownership, covering more than 84% of the land mass.
10. For further information about HM Land Registry visit www.gov.uk/land-registry.
11. Follow us on Twitter @HMLandRegistry, our blog, LinkedIn and Facebook