Category: Gov Press Releases

Essex and London Properties Limited (ELP), was incorporated on 15 April 2005, with a registered office in Sidcup, Kent.

The company claimed to purchase properties with the intention of selling them on at a profit or getting rental income for investors.

Potential investors were approached directly or via intermediary platforms, who received 35% of the invested amounts and offered partnerships in a Limited Partnership scheme.

Investors were enticed to invest by offers of an 8% annual return paid quarterly if the money was held for three years or 12% if the money was held for one year.

Over an 18-month period, more than 800 people invested in the company anywhere between £5,000 to over £100,000. Essex Police, which has an ongoing investigation, calculates that to date, £18.9m has been obtained from creditors and investors.

The reality was that ELP only purchased a single property; a house in Harwich for £147,000 which is less than 1% of the overall amount of money collected from investors.

Despite this insignificant ‘property investment’, the company gave information to investors claiming it had purchased numerous properties that had rapidly increased in value and falsified Land Registry documents showing the company owned more property than it did.

Investors made payments through a number of escrow agencies. Insolvency Service investigators examined the income and expenditure of statements made by one of these agencies and found that existing investors received their interest payments, not from any meaningful return on their investment but from payments made by new investors. The company was in essence operating a Ponzi scheme.

As a result of the investigation by Company Investigations of the Insolvency Service, the Secretary of State for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy issued the petition to wind up the company.

On 27 September 2018, the High Court heard the petition against the company which was unopposed and ordered the company into liquidation.

During the investigation, investors were approached by various recovery room businesses offering to recover the amounts, possibly in excess of the initial sums invested, in exchange of an advance fee. One business falsely claimed to be authorised by the Chief Executive of the Insolvency Service.

Any approach in this way to investors should be ignored. Only communications from the Official Receiver, whose details are listed below, should be responded to. The Official Receiver has not authorised any third party to act on his behalf, especially in regards to recovering investor’s losses.

In January 2018, the company placed itself into voluntary liquidation, claiming to have debts of over £11 million. The creditors, comprised mainly of the investors in the company, initially approved of the liquidation but later supported the Secretary of State’s petition.

Judge Barber as part of her judgement said that on the evidence, this was a case “crying out for a public interest winding up”.

David Hill, Chief Investigator for the Insolvency Service said:

The company persuaded members of the public to part with substantial sums of money to invest in property. Only one property was purchased and the money raised from the public in reality was used to benefit those running the company.

As so often is the case, if an investment scheme appears to be too good to be true, it probably is.
There is an ongoing investigation into those individuals controlling Essex and London Properties Limited by Essex Police, who are liaising with the Crown Prosecution Service with a view to prosecuting a number of suspects.

All public enquiries concerning the affairs of the company should be made to: Paul Warner, Public Interest Unit, 4 Abbey Orchard Street, London SW1P 2HT or PIU.OR@insolvency.gsi.gov.uk.

All criminal enquiries concerning the company should be addressed to Essex Police at Essex Police Headquarters, Chelmsford, Essex CM2 6DA or operation.grapevine.essex.and.london@essex.pnn.police.uk

Notes to editors

The registered office of Essex and London Properties Limited is 142-148 Main Road, Sidcup, Kent, DA14 6NZ. It was incorporated on 15 April 2005.

The petition was presented under s124A of the Insolvency Act 1986.

Company Investigations, part of the Insolvency Service, uses powers under the Companies Act 1985 to conduct confidential fact-finding investigations into the activities of live limited companies in the UK on behalf of the Secretary of State for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS).

Further information about live company investigations is available here.

The Insolvency Service administers the insolvency regime, investigating all compulsory liquidations and individual insolvencies (bankruptcies) through the Official Receiver to establish why they became insolvent. It may also use powers under the Companies Act 1985 to conduct confidential fact-finding investigations into the activities of live limited companies in the UK. In addition, the agency deals with disqualification of directors in corporate failures, 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.

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 7674 6910 or 020 7596 6187

You can also follow the Insolvency Service on:

• Twitter
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David Cooper, 55, from Blyth, Northumberland, was a director of CFM Transport Ltd (CFMT), based in Chester Le Street, Tyne and Wear.

Mr Cooper was a Heavy Goods Vehicle (HGV) mechanic and driver for around 30 years before seeing an opportunity to move into the road haulage business, incorporated CFMT and began trading in 2011.

The business grew and expanded into European markets and on advice, set up two further companies, CFM Cargo Logistics Ltd and CFM Continental Ltd.

In early 2015, however, one of the company’s vehicles was involved in an accident abroad and while waiting for the insurance claim to be settled and the companies’ petroleum tax refund entitlements, Mr Cooper submitted false VAT claims in order to keep the companies afloat.

Mr Cooper’s wrongdoing was discovered and with the prospect of criminal proceedings for tax-related fraud, he opted to cease trading.

Following the end of the liquidation process, the Insolvency Service looked in to Mr Cooper’s role in the collapse of the companies. Those investigations revealed that Mr Cooper had knowingly created and submitted false returns in order to claim VAT to which the company was not entitled.

On 8 October, the Secretary of State accepted a disqualification undertaking from David Cooper, after he admitted knowingly creating and submitting false returns to reclaim Value Added Tax to which the company was not entitled. His ban is effective from 29 October 2018 and lasts for 11 years.

Robert Clarke, Chief Investigator for the Insolvency Service, commented:

The public can be assured that where there have been abuses of public finance provisions which result in losses of this type, the Insolvency Service will investigate the conduct of the parties involved and take action to remove the privilege of limited liability trading for a lengthy period.

Directors have a firm duty to ensure they deal properly with tax matters and pay what is due. Mr Cooper has paid the price for failing to do that, as he cannot now carry on in business other than at his own risk.

In a separate investigation, Mr Cooper was convicted of “being knowingly concerned in fraudulent evasion of VAT”, totalling £148,228 and on 15 June 2017 he was sentenced to 16 months imprisonment, suspended for 24 months.

Notes to editors

David Cooper is of Blyth, Northumberland and his date of birth is June 1963.

CFM Transport (Company Reg no: 07828520)

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 administers the insolvency regime, investigating all compulsory liquidations and individual insolvencies (bankruptcies) through the Official Receiver to establish why they became insolvent. It may also use powers under the Companies Act 1985 to conduct confidential fact-finding investigations into the activities of live limited companies in the UK. In addition, the agency authorises and regulates the insolvency profession, deals with disqualification of directors in corporate failures, 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.

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 7674 6910 or 020 7596 6187

You can also follow the Insolvency Service on:

• Twitter
• LinkedIn
• YouTube

Recognising that the law needs to cater for a variety of family circumstances, the government has confirmed that those who are eligible under the Parental Bereavement (Pay and Leave) Act will be widened beyond parents to all primary carers for children, including adopters, foster parents and guardians.

It will also cover more informal groups such as kinship carers, who may be a close relative or family friend and have assumed responsibility for the care of the child in the absence of the parents.

The Parental Bereavement (Pay and Leave) Act, which is expected to come into force in 2020, ensures bereaved employees who lose a child under 18 will receive 2 weeks’ leave as a day-one right. Eligible employees will also receive 2 weeks statutory pay. This is the first law of its kind the UK.

Business Minister Kelly Tolhurst, said:

Dealing with the loss of a child is an awful tragedy which we recognise people will deal with differently.

It is important this new law is designed so that people are given the space and respect to grieve in their own way.

Following feedback from parents and employers, the government today (2 November 2018) published its response to the public consultation and announced further details about how the new right will work:

• leave can be taken either in 1 block (of 1 or 2 weeks) or as 2 separate blocks of 1 week
• leave and pay can be taken within a 56 week window from the child’s death so as to allow time for important moments such as anniversaries
• notice requirements will be flexible so that leave can be taken without prior notice very soon after the child’s death
• employers will not be entitled to request a copy of death certificate to use as evidence

Francine Bates, Chief Executive of The Lullaby Trust said:

We are very pleased that the government has listened to bereaved families and responded to their concerns in paving the way for the implementation of the new Act.

Losing a baby or child is a devastating experience for all the family and extending the provisions of the act to adopters, foster carers, guardians and kinship carers is very important. Offering time and flexibility to bereaved families at a time that best suits them is also crucial in supporting them through their journey.

Chief Executive of Cruse Bereavement Care, Steven Wibberley, said:

We are pleased that the Parental Bereavement Act has been widened to ensure that everyone who looks after a child is supported when they die.

The death of a child is incredibly traumatic and it is vital the child’s family, whether it be their parents, foster parents or close family relatives who are looking after the child are given time to grieve and time to deal with some of the practical issues.

Lucy Herd from Jack’s Rainbow said:

This is a great start and not having to produce a death certificate to prove that you have lost a child will have a huge positive impact on the grieving process for a parent. I would like to see an adjustment in the way this leave can be taken but hope this can be looked at in the future.

Jack’s legacy is something I had always hoped would become legislation and it’s fantastic knowing that this will hopefully help bereaved parents in the future.

Notes to editors

See the government response to the consultation

The Act was introduced to parliament in July 2017 as a Private Member’s Bill by Kevin Hollinrake, MP for Thirsk and Malton, with government support. It received Royal Assent on 13 September 2018.

It will give all employed parents a day-one right to 2 weeks’ leave if they lose a child under the age of 18 or suffer a stillbirth from 24 weeks of pregnancy. Eligible parents will be able to claim statutory pay for this leave.

This new law honours the Conservative Party’s manifesto commitment to introduce a new entitlement to parental bereavement leave.

The Senior Traffic Commissioner for Great Britain, Richard Turfitt, has reinforced the importance of continuous professional development for those responsible for managing haulage, bus and coach operations.

Introducing the revised Statutory Documents, Mr Turfitt said responsible persons such as transport managers should be proactive in their efforts to keep up to date and make sure they are effective in their roles.

He explains that transport managers and other responsible persons should be able to demonstrate to traffic commissioners that they are able to meet their statutory responsibilities through professional development, in particular when:

• they’ve not been acting for an operator in the last five years
• their qualification is more than 10 years old
• their ability to exercise continuous and effective management is under consideration at a Public Inquiry

The Senior Traffic Commissioner has revised a number of other Statutory Documents, following a consultation, which closed in August.

There is clearer guidance on what will happen if some-one uses an operator’s licence without authority (the practice of ‘fronting’), greater emphasis on the importance of accurate applications, a new section on support for tribunal users, updated guidance on what happens when periods of grace expire and a new section on driver employment status.

Mr Turfitt said:

“It is important that we get the balance right, so that irresponsible people, who ignore the safety of other road users, do not put compliant businesses at a disadvantage.

These documents demonstrate our commitment to transparency in the way we make our decisions.

“On this occasion the majority of changes are dictated by the case law rather than a debate on policy. There is a heavy emphasis on providing continuity but the responses received have helped us to try and clarify our approach to regulation.”

Communities Secretary Rt Hon James Brokenshire MP welcomed the Budget and said it will boost efforts to build the homes communities need, restore the dream of home ownership, help our high streets and support councils to deliver local services.

Building on the current comprehensive package of reform and targeted investment to deliver the homes the country needs, the measures outlined in the Budget include:

• continuing to help people onto the housing ladder by announcing a new Help to Buy scheme from April 2021 and exploring proposals to deliver a new wave of shared ownership homes
• supporting councils and housing associations by removing borrowing restrictions to enable them to deliver a new generation of council housing and affordable homes
• further planning reforms to make the most of available space for homes and ensuring developers pay their fair share to support new and existing communities

Recognising the pressures faced by councils, almost £1 billion of extra funding will be provided to help deliver the services communities need and support the most vulnerable residents:

• a £650 million boost for adults and children’s social care, including £240 million to support vulnerable people over winter months and help manage the impact on the NHS

This is alongside a package to support high-streets meet the new challenges brought about by changing shopping habits, providing short-term relief for struggling retailers and a long-term vision for town centres.

Communities Secretary Rt Hon James Brokenshire MP said:

This Budget provides positive news for those struggling to get on the housing ladder with certainty given on the future of Help to Buy and freeing up councils to deliver a new generation of council housing.

It also supports communities across the country by helping councils deliver services for their most vulnerable residents while also helping our high streets to flourish.

Building the homes communities need

The Chancellor has confirmed that the biggest barrier to councils building homes, the Housing Revenue Account borrowing cap, has been removed entirely – freeing up councils to deliver a new generation of council housing – up to an estimated 10,000 homes a year.

In a move to help more first-time buyers get a foot on the housing ladder, a new Help to Buy scheme has been announced from April 2021 – restricted to first-time buyers and including regional property price caps to ensure it is more targeted on people who need it most.

And with most first-time buyers now exempt from paying Stamp Duty following last year’s Budget – benefitting over 120,000 buyers so far – this year’s Budget went a step further by extending this relief to all first-time buyers of shared ownership properties worth up to £500,000 – and making this retrospective, so any first-time buyer who has made such a purchase since the last Budget will benefit.

To make sure that the infrastructure is in place to support new and existing communities ahead of development of new homes, the Housing Infrastructure Fund has been boosted by £500 million – bringing the total to £5.5 billion with the potential to unlock up to 650,000 homes.

Grant funding of £291 million for vital infrastructure on the Docklands Light Railway in East London has been announced, meaning less pressure on existing services in the area and the potential to unlock over 18,000 homes.

The next wave of deals with 9 housing associations were announced, allocating £653 million from the Affordable Homes Programme to deliver over 13,000 additional affordable housing starts by March 2022 and £1 billion of new guarantees to support small and medium sized builders, implemented by the British Business Bank.

A consultation on a package of planning reform to allow greater flexibility to extend existing buildings upwards and allow a change of use has been launched – to ensure that the planning system is speeding up the delivery of homes and supporting the regeneration of high streets.

Support was confirmed for up to 500 neighbourhoods to develop plans to allocate or permission land for homes sold at a discount.

The government has also committed to working with local partners in the Oxford-Cambridge Arc to maximise sustainable economic growth in a response to the National Infrastructure Commission’s report.

Almost £1 billion extra support for local services

This Budget has provided a boost of £650 million to help councils support the most vulnerable people in their communities. Of this £240 million will be focused on winter pressures next year with flexibility to use the remainder where it is needed most – for adult or children’s services.

This is on top of the £240 million announced last month to address winter social care pressures this year.

An additional £84 million over 5 years will also be made available as a targeted children’s social care fund over the next 5 years, along with an additional £55 million Disabled Facilities Grant in this financial year.

This will mean councils will be able to deliver the services their residents need while also protecting them from excessive Council Tax bills.

The Budget will also provide a further £420 million to councils to fix potholes and carry out other repairs to improve roads, allow better access to workplaces, high streets and other community facilities.

Help for the high street

A £1.5 billion plan that includes a cut to the business rates bills for small retailers worth almost £900 million over 2 years, funding to transform town centres and a relaxation of planning rules has been announced as part of the
Budget to support the country’s high streets.

This includes:

• the launch of a £675 million Future High Streets Fund to transform local high streets so that they can remain firmly at the heart of communities; this will be used to improve infrastructure and transport and also support areas to redevelop under-used retail space into homes and offices, helping to restore high street properties and put historic buildings back into use
• business rates relief targeted at small retailers to cut their bills by a third and a new mandatory relief for public lavatories, building on over £10 billion of business rates support since 2016
• relaxing planning rules to support new mixed-use businesses on the high street and the conversion of under-used retail units into offices and homes

This is accompanied by additional support for local leadership to prepare and implement new strategies for their high street, including a new High Streets Taskforce to offer support and advice to help revitalise high streets.

This Budget also went further to fire-up the Northern Powerhouse, fuel the Midlands Engine and back our regions across the UK by committing to refresh both strategies next year and increasing the Transforming Cities Fund to £2.4 billion to make it quicker and easier for people to get around in some of England’s biggest cities.

In July this year the Foreign Secretary coordinated an international effort to rescue dozens of members of the volunteer rescue service and their families from Southern Syria. This effort was in light of the threat to their lives from the Syrian regime.

The UK has since given a number of the rescue workers and their families a safe haven in communities across the country, as part of the Home Office’s Vulnerable Persons Resettlement scheme.

Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said:

Few people have to make the kind of moral choices that faced White Helmet Raed al-Saleh, who I was privileged to meet today. The White Helmets risked life and limb to save over 115,000 lives during the Syrian conflict, despite attacks at the hands of the Syrian regime and the Russian military. The UK is proud to stand behind them.

Mr Raed al Saleh expressed his gratitude to the people and Government of the UK for their support to the 3,000 men and women of the White Helmets over the past 6 years, which he said, “has enabled our volunteers to provide essential life-saving support to more than 115,000 persons and services to more than 4 million Syrian civilians who live under daily risk of violence in Syria.”

Further information

• Follow the Foreign Secretary on Twitter @Jeremy_Hunt and Facebook
• Follow the Foreign Office on Twitter @foreignoffice and Facebook
• Follow the Foreign Office on Instagram, YouTube and LinkedIn

Caroline Corby starts her permanent appointment as Chair of the Parole Board from today (1 November 2018).

She has been the Interim Chair of the Parole Board since April 2018, as well as a member of its Management Committee since 2015.

“I am delighted to have been appointed as Chair of the Parole Board. Although the announcement was made some time ago, today is my first official day in the permanent post.

“This is a good opportunity to set out a little bit about my priorities for the Board over the coming years.

“My priorities are for us to continue to improve our performance, maximise our influence in the various on-going reviews, take steps to address the lack of ethnic diversity among our Parole Board membership and, finally, I am determined to safeguard the Board’s independence. I cover each of these areas in a little more detail below:

Reviews of the Parole Board

“We are currently subject to a number of reviews including a public consultation on a new internal review mechanism and a departmental review of the 27 Parole Board rules. These present us with a real opportunity to make positive changes to the way in which the Board works. Martin Jones (Parole Board CEO) and I are in frequent dialogue with the MoJ and we are confident that we will emerge in the New Year with a framework that suits the way we want to work and gives us greater powers and control.

Improving Diversity in the Board

“In 2017 David Lammy MP led a review of the treatment and outcomes for Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) individuals going through the Criminal Justice System. A key finding was that trust in the system from people with a BAME background was low and that this was due to the lack of ethnic diversity among those making decisions in the CJS. The Parole Board has 240 members of which only 11 have a BAME background. In order to ensure that we have the confidence of prisoners and the public, a key priority for the Board will be to address the relative lack of ethnic diversity among Parole Board members in the next recruitment round in 2019.

Safeguarding Independence

“As Chair I am determined to safeguard the independence of the Board. The Wakenshaw judgment in August 2018 looked at issues around independence and said that further changes should be made with respect to member tenure and the lack of a formal process for removing a member. We are in discussions with the MoJ about possible changes. Safeguarding our independence is also at the heart of all our responses to the various on-going reviews.

Reducing Deferrals

“Under Martin Jones’s leadership, the Parole Board has done a tremendous job in getting on top of the backlog of cases which has plagued us since the Osborn judgment in 2013. The next challenge is to address deferrals and adjournments. These are currently running at over 40% of all cases, with over 20% of cases being deferred on the day. I am confident that we can make real progress here. Indeed, the outcomes from our project to tackle this issue are very encouraging, with a noticeable reduction in on the day deferrals.

In Conclusion

“It is a real time of change for the Board and I look forward to working with my colleagues in the organisation and wider justice system to improve the experience of parole for all who are affected by it.”

Caroline Corby, Chair for the Parole Board of England & Wales

The Prime Minister welcomed representatives from the European Round Table of Industrialists (ERT) to Downing Street to discuss the progress on Brexit negotiations and hear from some of Europe’s leading businesses about their priorities. The Brexit Secretary and Business Secretary were also present.

First, she recognised the ERT’s valuable contribution to the economy as major multinational companies in the UK and across Europe.

The Prime Minister set out that since their previous meeting, the vision for the future economic partnership with the European Union had been published. The plan would protect frictionless trade, which is in the interests of both UK and EU businesses, employees and citizens. The Prime Minister emphasised that the proposals would not only ensure there was no hard border between Northern Ireland and Ireland, but it would also safeguard jobs, just-in-time manufacturing and integrated supply chains, all of which are important to business.

Second, the Prime Minister spoke about the good progress in negotiations, with 95% of the Withdrawal Agreement complete and with agreement on the structure and scope of the Future Framework. She reiterated that she was confident a deal would be reached.

The Prime Minister heard from the ERT about their priorities, and all agreed that it was in everyone’s interests to secure a good deal for both sides and provide clarity for businesses and employees in the UK and across Europe. The Prime Minister emphasised her commitment to achieving this and all agreed the importance of getting a deal as soon as possible.

Finally, at the end of the meeting, she thanked them for the useful and constructive discussion, which would continue in future.

Attendees:

• Carl-Henric Svanberg – Chairman, ERT
• Vittorio Colao – Vice-Chairman, ERT. Former Chief Executive, Vodafone Group
• José-María Álvarez-Pallete – Chairman and CEO, Telefónica
• Nils Andersen – Chairman, AkzoNobel
• Pierre-André de Chalendar – Chairman and CEO, Saint-Gobain
• Iain Conn – Chief Executive, Centrica
• Ian Davis – Chairman, Rolls-Royce
• Ignacio Galán – Chairman and CEO, Iberdrola
• Leif Johansson – Chairman, AstraZeneca
• Rafael del Pino – Chairman, Ferrovial
• Johannes Teyssen – Chairman and CEO, E.ON
• Jacob Wallenberg – Chairman, Investor AB
• Brian Ager – Secretary General, ERT

A man who stabbed his partner 17 times had his minimum term increased today after it was referred to the Court of Appeal by the Solicitor General, Robert Buckland QC MP, for being too low.

Paul Beddoes, 45, murdered his partner, 46 year old Lynn McNally, at their home in Shropshire, stabbing her repeatedly with at least 2 knives. At the time, Beddoes was under the influence of Class A drugs. Beddoes admitted stabbing McNally to his neighbours the following morning.

Beddoes was sentenced at Stafford Crown Court in August, where he was given a life sentence with a minimum term of 11 years imprisonment. Today, after the Solicitor General’s referral, the Court of Appeal increased his minimum term to 15 years, minus the time already spent on remand.

Commenting on the sentence increase, the Solicitor General said:

“This was a brutal and frenzied attack which resulted in the death of Beddoes’ partner. The offender is a danger to women, and I am pleased the Court has seen fit to increase the prison term.”