Category: Gov Press Releases

Faith Minister, Lord Bourne today (14 November 2018) urged people and faith groups across the country to reach out to one another and build local networks to support their communities and to bridge divides and extend understanding.

The call came as the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government published a new report to mark Inter Faith Week, championing the role faith groups play in their communities and highlighting the valuable inter faith work taking place around the country.

The report, Belief in communities: bridging the divide, follows the Minister for Faith, Lord Bourne’s second national faith tour, which saw him visit places of worship around the country to better understand their role bringing people of different faiths and backgrounds together.

From Holy Island in Northumberland to Canvey Island in Essex, Lord Bourne travelled far and wide to witness the work many religious institutions do alongside other faith groups from their communities to support the most vulnerable, help make their areas safer and cleaner, and tackle social issue such as loneliness.

Minister for Faith Lord Bourne said:

Over the past year I have travelled across the country meeting many religious communities, which have established hugely impressive interfaith networks, where religious groups come together to bridge divides and raise awareness.

As we mark Inter Faith Week, there is no better time to celebrate faith groups around the country who are making a profound impact on their communities, and to encourage people of all faiths to support and lead inter faith activity in their area.

The report details how inter faith networks can encourage social mixing and play a key role in building strong, resilient communities. Reflecting on this evidence, Lord Bourne issued a call for individuals and religious institutions around the country to:

• recognise the valuable contribution of faith and belief institutions
• remain open to understanding those of other faiths and beliefs within your community
• reach and establish partnerships with other organisations
• encourage your faith institutions to join a local interfaith network
• establish interfaith networks in those areas where they don’t already exist

Further information

Read the full report, Belief in communities: bridging the divide.

To see where Lord Bourne visited use #FaithTour2 on Twitter.

Lord Bourne visited approximately 55 places of worship/faith projects during Faith Tour 2 – see below for a full list.

Islamic

• London – Muslim Association of Nigeria (MANUK)
• North West – Khirza Mosque
• North East – Razia Jamia Mosque
• North East – Abu Bakr Mosque and Community Centre
• West Midlands – Bahu Trust
• West Midlands – Abrahamic Foundation
• Luton – Ali-Hira Centre
• Luton – Al-Hikmah School Madrasahs Bury Park site
• Leicester – Baitul Ikram Mosque
• Leicester – Masjid al Husayn
• North West – Islamic High School for Girls

Multifaith

• Manchester Multifaith Centre
• Bristol Cathedral (Multifaith)
• Solihull Faith Forum
• Birmingham Council of Faiths

Hindu

• Hindu Cultural Society of Bradford
• Manchester – Gita Bhavan Hindu Temple
• Luton – Hindu Mandir
• Leicester – BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir

Jewish

• Kent – Moses Montefiore Synagogue and Mausoleum
• London – Bevis Marks Synagogue
• Manchester – Jewish Museum
• Canvey Island
• Bristol and West Progressive
• Progressive Synagogue Newcastle
• Luton United Synagogue

Church of England

• Bath Abbey

Sikh

• Manchester – Sikh Gurdwara
• West Mids – Sikh Council UK
• Luton – Sikh Temple

Other Christian

• Kent – Greek Orthodox Church and Community
• Hull – Seventh-Day Adventist Church
• Essex – Mountain of God, Calvary Church of God in Christ
• Bristo l- Methodist New Room
• Bath Moravian Church
• Lindisfarne Priory / The Parish Church of St. Mary the Virgin/ St.Cuthbert’s Centre / St.Aidan’s Roman Catholic Church
• West Midlands – Lozells Methodist Centre & Church
• London – Newington Green Unitarian Church
• London – Oasis Church and Hub (Baptist)

Krishna

• West Midlands – Shree Krishna Temple

Faith Projects

• Bradford – Thornbury centre
• Bradford – Anchor Project (Near Neighbours)
• North East – The Holy Biscuit
• Open Door North East

Other

• Kent – Global Generation Church
• Manchester – Chinese Buddhist Temple
• Kent – Shrine of St Augustine
• Luton – Roma Church
• Leicester – Jain Centre
• Leicester – Bahá’í Community
• North Lincolnshire Museum (Gypsy/Roma Roundtable)
• Wilberforce House Museum
• London – Green Room St Mungos
• Kent – Global Generation Church

Rogue waste crime operators could be slapped with new fines if they mislabel their waste to dodge tax rules, an independent review ordered by Environment Secretary Michael Gove has recommended.

The review also concluded that compulsory electronic tracking of waste could help clamp-down on illegal movements of waste at home and abroad, and that there should be financial penalties for producers if their waste is found to be deposited illegally.

The recommendations come from a major independent review ordered in June. It looked at the government’s approach to tackling waste crime, which cost the English economy more than £600 million in 2015. The recommendations of the review will now be considered and responded to in Defra’s forthcoming Resources and Waste Strategy.

The review found that the government should give the criminals responsible greater cause to fear the consequences of their actions.

Welcoming the findings, Environment Secretary Michael Gove said:

The threat to society from waste crime is real. Criminals are running illegal waste sites as a cover for theft, human trafficking, drug running and money laundering.

It is costing our economy millions of pounds each year, and blighting our communities.

I welcome today’s review. We are committed to clamping down on these unscrupulous groups and we will set out our next steps in our forthcoming Resources and Waste Strategy.

Other recommendations include:

• A Joint Unit for Waste Crime (JUWC) led by the Environment Agency with the Police, Crime Commissioners, HMRC and waste industry representatives working together to tackle the most serious cases; and,
• a national database of registered waste brokers to make it harder for unscrupulous operators to do businesses.

Lizzie Noel who chaired the review said:

In this report, we set out how we can modernise the structures, capabilities and powers to manage and reduce the problem of organised waste crime now and in the future.

Our intention must be to give the criminals responsible real cause to fear the consequences of their actions. Today that is not the case.

I would like to record my thanks to my review team, my advisory board, colleagues at Defra and the Environment Agency.

Between 2011 and 2017, the Environment Agency stopped the operation of 5411 illegal waste sites.

While an average of two illegal waste sites are shut down every day, they continue to create severe problems for local communities and business, particularly in rural areas, as well as posing a risk to key national infrastructure.

Since 2014, the Environment Agency has been given an extra £60million by the government towards enforcement work to tackle waste crime. The extra investment has shown a return of about £5 for every £1 extra spent.

Sir James Bevan, Chief Executive of the Environment Agency, said:

I welcome this review. Serious waste crime is the new narcotics – it damages the environment and harms local communities.

The review rightly recognises the dedication of Environment Agency officers who work tirelessly to bring the criminals to justice. In the last year, the Environment Agency has closed down over 800 illegal waste sites and brought almost 100 successful waste crime prosecutions.

But there is still more to be done. This report represents an opportunity to ensure we have the right powers, resources and coordination to win this fight.

The review builds on recent government measures to tackle waste crime, including new powers for the Environment Agency to lock the gates to problem waste sites to prevent waste illegally building up and powers to force operators to clear all the waste at problem sites, and extending landfill tax to include material disposed of at illegal waste sites. The government also recently announced a new pilot scheme that will make available up to £10 million to the Environment Agency to work with partners to clear the worst abandoned waste sites that blight local communities.

The recommendations of the review will now inform a strategic approach to waste crime, which will be published in the government’s forthcoming Resources and Waste Strategy later this year.

Further information:

• Serious and organised crime is the planning, coordinating and committing serious offences, whether individually, in groups and/or as part of transnational networks.
• The review was chaired by Lizzie Noel, who was supported by an advisory panel bringing a wide range of experience in serious organised crime, security, and waste. The panel comprises Julia Mulligan, Police and Crime Commissioner for North Yorkshire, Colin Church, former Chief Executive Officer at Chartered Institution of Wastes Management, and Craig Naylor, Deputy Chief Constable in Lincolnshire Police.
• A study by the Home Office suggests that criminals may use waste management activities such as operating illegal waste sites as a cover for crimes such as theft, human trafficking, fraud, drugs supply, firearms supply and money laundering.
• Examples of recent prosecutions for waste crimes include arrests made earlier this year in London for fraud and money laundering offences across the country, and enforcement action taken in April 2017 after the illegal dumping of 20,000 tonnes of waste at 17 sites across the Midlands, North West and North East.
• Householders can check if a waste carrier is an approved carrier on the Environment Agency website.
• For further information please contact Defra press office on 020 8225 7317 or out of hours on 0345 051 8486

The ten recommendations of the report are:

• The Joint Unit for Waste Crime (JUWC) should be established.
• Strategic relationships between the Environment Agency and PCCs should be established.
• The Environment Agency should be equipped with the necessary tools and powers to pursue and disrupt organised crime.
• Waste sector legislation should be amended to allow for more effective prevention and disruption of organised crime.
• Mandatory electronic tracking of waste, and a national database of registered brokers, should be introduced at the earliest opportunity.
• The Environment Agency should be granted full access to relevant police databases.
• Registration and duty of care requirements for carriers, brokers and dealers should be reformed (including in relation to hazardous waste).
• Waste producers should be held accountable for the end destination of their waste products.
• Plans for additional 2018-22 Environment Agency funding should be reviewed to ensure consistency with plans for a Joint Unit for Waste Crime
• Government should reform funding for the regulation and policing of the waste sector at the earliest opportunity.

The Charity Commission has today announced a class statutory inquiry into Idaara Maarif-E-Islam (506755) and The Voice of Truth (1094754).

Idaara Maarif-E-Islam’s objects include the advancement, preservation and welfare of Islam. The Voice of Truth, which is no longer in operation, had objects to promote the benefit of the community in Birmingham and the West Midlands in particular, but not exclusively, the Shia Muslim faith.

The Commission has concerns about financial irregularities linked to Gift Aid claims involving both charities. Further concerns include inconsistencies between the income and expenditure reported in The Voice of Truth accounts for the year ending 31 March 2016, and the charity’s bank records for the same time period.

The Commission’s records show significant connections between the two charities, as substantial payments have been transferred between them, and that at least one trustee of Idaara Maarif-E-Islam has also served as a trustee of The Voice of Truth. The inquiry will therefore seek to establish if this close relationship has been in the best interest of the charities and if any resulting conflicts of interest have been adequately managed by the trustees.

The Commission is also concerned about payments made by The Voice of Truth to individuals and a company who may be connected to the charity, and will seek to establish if these payments have been made in the best interests of the charity and if any conflicts of interests have been adequately managed by the trustees.

As a result of its concerns, the Commission opened a class statutory inquiry on 26 October 2017. The inquiry is examining:

• The administration, governance and management of the charities with specific regard to the extent to which trustees have:

  • Responsibly managed the charities’ resources and financial affairs, in particular the adequacy of the charities’ financial controls.
  • Managed any conflicts of interest or loyalty arising between Idaara Maarif-E-Islam and The Voice of Truth and individuals connected to both charities, and ensured that any transactions between the two charities have served the charities’ best interest.
  • Adequately managed risks to the charities, their property and reputation.
  • Maintained an accurate record of the identity of the trustees on the register of charities.

• The extent to which any weaknesses in the management and administration of the charities identified by the inquiry were a result of misconduct and/or mismanagement by the trustees.

With specific regard to trustees of The Voice of Truth, the inquiry will also examine the extent to which they have:

• Ensured that the submission of accounting and returns information comply with statutory requirements.
• Prudently managed Gift Aid claims.
• Adequately processed sensitive data such as the personal details of individuals collected directly by Idaara Maarif-E-Islam or received from third parties pursuant to the relevant legislation at the time.
• Properly authorised and monitored payments to connected persons and/or companies.

And, with regards to the trustees of Idaara Maarif-E-Islam, the extent to which they have:

• Adequately protected sensitive data such as personal details of donors pursuant to the relevant legislation at the time.

In January 2018, The Voice of Truth was removed from the register of charities after the inquiry found that it had ceased to operate.

The Commission’s investigation continues. The inquiry intends to publish a report setting out its findings and conclusions on conclusion of the inquiry. Reports of previous inquiries are available on GOV.UK.

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 the about us page on GOV.UK.
2. Search for charities on our check charity tool.
3. Under section 34 of the Charities Act 2011, the Commission has a duty to remove charities from the register that no longer exist or cease to operate.
4. 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.
5. The opening of an inquiry is not in itself a finding of wrongdoing.

We’ve been given a prestigious award by the Ministry of Defence for our continued commitment to inspiring and supporting both veterans and reservists. The award is given to employers who support defence and inspire others to do the same.

It was presented to company representatives Royal Naval Reservist Lieutenant Commander Robert Jaffier, now an asset and resource manager, and Ron Calderwood-Duncan, Head of Engagement and Culture Change.

Robert, who nominated the company, said:

I am delighted that the hard work carried out by Highways England to recognise the achievements and skills of ex-military personnel has been recognised.

In practical terms, Highways England appeared a good fit for me to be able to continue my civilian career while pursuing my personal development as a reservist.

The main challenge was settling back down to civilian life from my time out on operations and become reacquainted with the culture of the business that had evolved while I was away. So, it’s great that my workplace offers successful applicants a buddy who is someone who has experienced making the transition from military life to working for Highways England. I am delighted to offer my support as a buddy for new recruits, and I urge anyone from the forces looking for a career change to consider Highways England.

The Ministry of Defence makes awards under its Defence Employer Recognition Scheme. Employers have to show their values are aligned with the Armed Forces Covenant.

Since signing the Armed Forces Covenant in June 2017, we’ve actively been supporting leavers from the Armed Forces reintegrate into civilian careers, and to help operate, maintain and improve motorways and major A roads in England.

We launched an ex-military recruitment programme earlier this year which incorporated an insight day for service leavers to find out more about how it works, and the roles it can offer. It employs and supports both reservists and veterans, with up to 10 days paid special leave for reservists to attend military-related training.

There are many career routes available, from working on major projects or support functions such as HR finance and IT through to hands-on operational roles running the everyday traffic operations.

You can search and apply for jobs at Highways England via our careers webpage.

You can also read the Armed Forces Covenant promise in full.

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.

Local agencies must learn lessons from past sexual exploitation cases if they are to effectively respond to ‘county lines’ drug running and other forms of child criminal exploitation, a new report finds.

The thematic report, from inspectorates Ofsted, HMI Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS), the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and HMI Probation, also calls on agencies not to underestimate the risk of child criminal exploitation in their areas.

The in-depth inspections scrutinised practice in children’s social care, education, health services, the police, youth offending services and probation services across 3 local authority areas.

Today’s report illustrates the nationwide scale of criminal exploitation, with all areas – urban, rural, affluent as well as deprived – affected. Child victims come from a wide range of backgrounds. And while the most vulnerable are obvious targets for gangs, there are examples of private school children being groomed too.

Much has been done by many local partnerships across the country to deal with child sexual exploitation in their areas, the report recognises. But this success must be built upon and shared so that other forms of exploitation, like county lines drug running, can be dealt with effectively.

Inspectors found that some partners do not have a grip on the scale of criminal exploitation in their area. Poor intelligence-sharing sometimes hampers wider recognition and understanding of criminal exploitation, and, in turn, the ability to effectively respond to children. This includes missing the risks to some children, or identifying them too late.

The report calls on all agencies to get the basics right. Making sure that there are clear systems in place at the ‘front door’ of services that first come into contact with children is essential, so that children at risk are identified and receive a prompt and appropriate response.

Ofsted’s Chief Inspector, Amanda Spielman, will also raise her concerns about the scale of criminal exploitation at the National Children and Adults Services conference in Manchester today.

Ms Spielman is expected to say:

Local partners must be quick to learn and quick to act. But not all agencies fully understand the scale of the problem in their area. And regional and national networks of exploitation of children are even less well understood.

It is also a concern that some agencies are still not looking past the behaviour of grooming victims to the root cause. If we have learnt anything from past exploitation cases, it should be to ‘see the child, not the problem’.

The inspectorates call for a ‘culture shift’, so that front line staff both recognise the signs of criminal exploitation, and see children as victims despite their apparent offending behaviour.

Better training for all agencies, but especially the police, is vital, the report argues. In the areas inspected, police had made some progress in recognising the context of criminal exploitation when dealing with children in possession of drugs. However, all police forces admitted that it was still possible that children could be prosecuted, despite clear evidence that they were being exploited.

The report calls for a whole system approach to address the perpetrators, to protect and support victims, as well as preventing exploitation by raising awareness in the community and disrupting criminal activity. In one of the areas visited, inspectors saw examples of innovative work to disrupt criminal exploitation from some agencies.

Agencies and professionals must work together with parents and children to alert them to the signs of grooming, exploitation and county lines. The report shows that children are often being groomed or tricked into working before they recognise the dangers, and often before parents or professionals realise what is happening. Inspectors saw clear efforts to raise awareness in the local community in the areas visited.

Schools and colleges are also essential partners in the whole-system approach. Some schools are working hard to understand, reduce and prevent the risks of county lines. However, this awareness needs to be developed and supported across the country.

Yvette Stanley, Ofsted’s National Director for Social Care said:

Tackling child criminal exploitation, including county lines, is a big challenge for agencies and professionals nationally and locally. It can be done, but agencies must make sure that they have the building blocks in place to work quickly and effectively.

Children who are being exploited cannot wait for agencies that are lagging behind or failing to recognise this issue. In responding to this dangerous situation, we must not repeat the mistakes of the past, where some partners were too slow to recognise the risk of child sexual exploitation in their areas, or somehow felt that it ‘doesn’t happen here’.

Wendy Williams, Her Majesty’s Inspector of Constabulary, said:

Criminally exploited children can only get the help they need when they’ve been recognised as a victim. We’ve found that when frontline officers handle cases involving children suspected of a criminal offence, they can be too quick to accept what they see at face value. Instead of seeing a vulnerable child in desperate need, they can see a criminal in the making. When officers ask the right questions – is this child being exploited? Are they at risk? – they can take the right steps to keep children safe and bring the real perpetrators to justice.

Professor Ursula Gallagher, Deputy Chief Inspector at the Care Quality Commission and lead for children’s health and safeguarding, said:

Healthcare professionals and anyone working with children have a responsibility to look for the signs of exploitation, to use their curiosity and compassion, and not judge a child for their behaviour or the situation they are in.

This is why we work with other regulators to test how well individual parts of a system are working together to protect children and young people and to make clear what we expect of a high-performing area.

But it doesn’t stop there. Services and systems as a whole need to consider how they share what they know with people working beyond their own locality, because people exploiting children do not limit their activity by geographical boundaries, and important safeguarding information must be able to follow children in order to protect them.

Dame Glenys Stacey, HM Chief Inspector of Probation, said:

We welcome this important report. The inspection shows that children of all backgrounds can be forced into criminal and sexual exploitation. What is also clear is that agencies and professionals need to do more to recognise the extent of the problem and intervene early. Youth offending teams are well placed to spot the signs of exploitation and we were pleased to see some good work recognised in this report. However it is clear that more needs to be done to make sure that all agencies are working together to protect children.

The inspectorates’ findings are published today [14 November 2018] as an addendum to the 2016 report: ‘Time to listen – a joined up response to child sexual exploitation and missing children’.

Opened in 1994, Thorp is one of only two commercial nuclear fuel reprocessing plants in the world.

It has reprocessed more than 9,000 tonnes of fuel from 30 customers in nine countries around the world. It generated an estimated £9bn in revenue.

The last batch of fuel to be reprocessed began its journey through the plant at 11.32am on Friday 9 November.

There will be no redundancies as a result of the switch-off. All employees in roles no longer required have been offered alternative jobs in the business.

Thorp will continue to serve the UK until the 2070s as a storage facility for spent fuel.

Meanwhile, Sellafield is being reinvented as a centre of expertise for nuclear clean-up.

This will unlock 100 years’ worth of opportunity for the site’s workforce, supply chain, and community.

Paul Foster, Sellafield Ltd’s Chief Executive Officer, said:

As we look forward to an exciting future, we want to celebrate the best of our past.

The end of reprocessing at Thorp is one of the most important events in Sellafield’s history.

Thorp has been a West Cumbrian success story. It has delivered jobs, skills, pride, and prestige.

Our community came together in the fight to get it built, through the ‘Trust Us’ campaign.

Together we completed one of the largest and most complex construction projects ever undertaken in Europe.

And during 24 years of operations, we safely reprocessed 9,331 tonnes of fuel from 30 customers in nine countries.

We helped to keep the lights on in the UK and around the world and generated £9bn in revenue for the UK.

I’m immensely proud of Thorp’s contribution and I’d like to thank the workforce for their unwavering dedication and professionalism throughout a period of unprecedented change.

Thorp (or the Thermal Oxide Reprocessing Plant) is one third of a mile long.

It dominates a huge central strip of the Sellafield site and is the largest structure on the site.

Costing £1.8bn to build, it was paid for by its future customers.

The decision to cease reprocessing was taken in 2012 in response to a significant downturn in demand.

The international market for reprocessing has shifted significantly since Thorp’s construction, with the majority of customers now opting to store rather than reprocess their fuel.