Category: Gov Press Releases

The Charity Commission has today announced the appointment of an interim manager to Hope House School Limited due to continued concerns about the governance, management and administration of the charity.

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

The Commission opened a statutory inquiry into Hope House School Limited on 9 October 2017 to examine regulatory concerns about the governance of the charity, whether the trustees had exercised sufficient oversight and control of the charity, the adequacy of financial controls and whether funds had been properly spent on the objects of the charity, whether potential conflicts of interest and connected party transactions have been properly managed and whether there has been unauthorised trustee benefit.

The Commission made an order under Section 76 (3)(g) of the Charities Act 2011 on 20 August 2018 to appoint Guy Hollander of Mazars as interim manager to the exclusion of the trustees. One of the trustees is the principal of the school but the order does not exclude this trustee from that employee role.

The interim manager has taken on full control of the day-to-day management and administration of the charity from the current trustees until the Commission makes a further order. The school term commenced on 6 September 2018 and it is the interim manager’s intention that the charity will continue to provide education and services to the school’s pupils who are all faced with a wide spectrum of autism.

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

We were not satisfied that the current governance and administration arrangements were adequately meeting the needs of this charity. This appointment is an important protective measure for the charity and those it was set up to help.

Part of the interim manager’s duties will be to establish the viability of the charity and determine the most appropriate option regarding its future. He is tasked with ensuring that the charity continues its service provision while he completes his appointment.

The Commission’s investigation continues.

Ends

Notes to editors

1. This appointment is a temporary and protective power that will be reviewed at regular intervals. It will continue until the Commission makes a further Order for its variation or discharge.
2. It is the Commission’s policy, after it has concluded an inquiry, to publish a report detailing what issues the inquiry looked at, what actions were undertaken as part of the inquiry and what the outcomes were. Reports of previous inquiries are available on GOV.UK.
3. The Charity Commission is the independent regulator of charities in England and Wales. For more information see the about us page on GOV.UK.
4. Search for charities on our online register.

On Thursday 26 July 2018, at Southwark Crown Court, Ms. Harvinder Kaur Thethi, aged 46 years, of Old Hall Gardens, Solihull, West Midlands, was found guilty of six counts of fraud by false representation. Ms. Thethi was remanded in custody pending a sentencing hearing.

The offences took place between 1 June 2013 and 8 September 2014 in Hounslow, West London. Ms.Thethi, an unqualified person, falsely claimed to be a barrister, solicitor and a Home Office official with the ability to progress immigration applications. She obtained £68,000 from vulnerable people in payment for immigration related services which were promised but not delivered. Ms. Thethi ingratiated herself to the victims and was treated as a daughter or sister.

This prosecution was the result of an OISC led investigation in partnership with Immigration Enforcement and the Metropolitan Police Service.

On Thursday 6 September 2018 Ms. Thethi appeared before His Honour Judge Loraine-Smith at Southwark Crown Court for sentencing.

Ms. Thethi was sentenced to 5 years imprisonment on each count to run concurrently
In sentencing HHJ Loraine-Smith stated:

“You decided to embark on a fantasy life, when you claimed to be a successful lawyer earning a large income. You were nothing of the sort. The large amounts of money you obtained came entirely from money you had stolen from people you had befriended and cheated. People whose immigration status is precarious are very, very vulnerable. It is not surprising that if they found somebody they thought was a family friend, they could be convinced to part with large sums of money they could ill afford. You preyed on their vulnerability again and again…the investigation was thorough, fair, and – it is clear from the Victim Personal Statements – kind. I commend both officers in this case.”

Speaking about the decision, Deputy Immigration Services Commissioner, Dr Ian Leigh, stated:

“Securing the conviction of Ms Thethi is an excellent example of collaborative working by agencies operating within the immigration environment. The OISC is here to ensure that people seeking immigration advice are treated fairly by qualified people they can trust. Ms Thethi was operating outside of the law, preying upon vulnerable victims without regard for their protection or the consequences of her criminal behaviour. I am delighted with the outcome of this case, and I hope it sends a clear deterrent message to anyone considering acting similarly.”

Josephine (Josie) Broadstock, 33 of Warrington, together with Robert Jones, 39 of Stockport, have been banned from being company directors following an Insolvency Service investigation.

Husband and wife, Josie and Mark Broadstock, along with Robert Jones, were directors of Smooth Financial Consultants Ltd (Smooth). The company was incorporated in June 2005 and traded as The Debt Advice Centre before trading from Jackson House, Sale, Cheshire in 2012.

Mark Broadstock was the Managing Director and Robert Jones was appointed as the Finance Director in January 2012, while Josie Broadstock was appointed a director on 26 May 2011.

In return for a monthly fee, Smooth administered debt management plans and made payments to creditors on behalf of individuals experiencing difficulties in making payments to their creditors, for loans and credit cards.

However, Smooth went into administration on 2 August 2013 and on 24 July 2014, went into creditors’ voluntary liquidation.

During a 5-day trial in July 2018, the court heard that regulations governing debt management companies state that funds belonging to clients are to be held in a separate ‘ring-fenced’ client account. However, from at least 12 February 2013 onwards, Smooth made transfers from the client account to its own company account in excess of the agreed fees.

The transfers were used for on-going running costs and for the benefit of the directors, who between them received salaries and dividends of £115,992 from 12 February 2013 to 2 August 2013, as well as third parties connected to Mr and Mrs Broadstock.

The court also heard that between 12 February 2013 and 2 August 2013, Smooth failed to pay an estimated value of £572,001 to its clients’ creditors and after a winding up petition had been presented against the company on 1 July 2013, Mark Broadstock transferred £109,512 from the client account to a connected company.

None of the funds were used for the benefit of the clients and after Smooth had gone into Administration, the administrators only recovered £49,678 from the connected company. Administrators estimated the shortfall on the client account to be £848,690.

Before the court hearing, the Secretary of State accepted a disqualification undertaking from Mark Broadstock, on 9 June 2017 in which he did not dispute that he failed to ensure Smooth made all payments due to clients’ creditors, he caused or allowed transfers to be made from the client account in excess of fees due to Smooth, and after a winding up petition had been presented, he transferred £109,512 from the client account to a connected company for no genuine trading purpose. His ban became effective on 30 June 2017 and lasts for 10 years.

On 8 August 2018 the Court made disqualification orders against Josie Broadstock (8 years) and Robert Jones (7 years), both of which commenced on 29 August 2018.

The Court found that in failing to prevent the clients’ funds which were held on trust from being misused between 12 February 2013 and 2 August 2013, during which time cheques raised for clients’ creditors but withheld amounted to £572,001, Josie Broadstock’s conduct fell below the standards of probity and competence that could reasonably be expected of her as a director.

Robert Jones left the company in May 2013 and while he was not aware that cheques to clients’ creditors totalling £69,223 were withheld prior to his departure, the court found he was aware that a substantial shortfall to clients had accrued by 12 February 2013, and in not taking any steps to prevent the company from continuing to misuse trust monies to meet its own cash requirements, his conduct also fell below the expected standards of probity and competence.

Robert Clarke, Group Leader of Insolvent Investigations North at the Insolvency Service, said:

Not only was there continued misuse of the client funds and breaches of regulatory guidelines, the directors breached the trust of their clients, which is particularly distasteful given the financial difficulties they already experienced.

Despite the detriment that was being caused to the clients, the directors continued to be handsomely remunerated, and Mr and Mrs Broadstock, or third parties connected to them, even benefitted from spending of over £14,000 on the company’s credit card on a legal dispute, a holiday and airline tickets, an anniversary party, and a payment towards the cost of 4 season tickets in the executive lounge of a premier league football club.

The lengthy bans the directors have all received are entirely justified.

Notes to editors

Smooth Financial Consultants Ltd (Company Reg no 05346052) was incorporated on 28 January 2005. The business also traded under the name of ‘The Debt Advice Centre’. The company went into Administration on 2 August 2013, with an estimated deficiency as regards creditors of £967,569.

Mark John Broadstock is of Rixton, Warrington and his date of birth is February 1980. He was appointed as a director of Smooth on 1 March 2005, and remained so appointed until the date of Administration.

Josephine Lester Broadstock is of Rixton, Warrington and her date of birth is March 1985. She was appointed as a director of Smooth on 26 May 2011 (having previously resigned on 1 October 2009), and remained so appointed until the date of Administration.

Robert Marek Jones is of Bramhall, Stockport and his date of birth is November 1978. He was appointed as a director of Smooth on 31 January 2012. He left the company in May 2013, and resigned his directorship on 28 June 2013.

The disqualification orders against Mrs Broadstock and Mr Jones were pronounced by HHJ Halliwell in the High Court of Justice, Chancery Division, Manchester District Registry on 8 August 2018.

Miss Lucy Wilson-Barnes of Cobden House Chambers appeared for the Secretary of State and Mr Louis Doyle of Kings Chambers appeared for Mr Jones. Mrs Broadstock represented herself.

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 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

Lyndon Porretta, 47, from Newport was a carpenter, who held management positions in a number of joinery installation companies.

In 2000, Lyndon Porretta set up Kruz Developments Ltd (Kruz) after he spotted a gap in the market caused by increasing demand for disability access. The company provided installation services to clients such as rehabilitation centres, banks and retailers across South Wales.

However, work declined during the recession and in late 2015, after inspecting company records, HMRC discovered that Kruz Developments had deliberately filed 14 VAT returns between December 2011 and September 2015 which understated the amount of tax due by a total of £521,814.

This led to a demand for VAT and penalties of £743,464, which Kruz was unable to pay in full. The company later entered into voluntary liquidation in 2016.

The Insolvency Service conducted an investigation following the company’s liquidation and confirmed that between at least 7 February 2012 and 6 November 2015 Lyndon Porretta caused Kruz to provide inaccurate VAT information to HMRC.

On 20 August 2018, the Secretary of State accepted a disqualification undertaking from Lyndon Porretta after he did not dispute the findings of the investigation. His ban is effective from 10 September 2018 and lasts for seven years.

Wendy Jones, the Insolvency Service’s deputy head of Insolvent Investigations, said:

Mr Porretta gave false information to HMRC about the VAT owed by the company thus obtaining a significant financial advantage compared to other companies filing correct returns.

Unlike normal trade creditors, HMRC relies on the taxpayer to disclose the correct amount that is owed to them, so a failure to file accurate returns puts them at a disadvantage to other creditors.

Deliberately understating sales in order to reduce the VAT to be paid to HMRC is dishonest. This can also result in understated company profits leading to underpayments of Corporation Tax. Both give a company an unfair advantage over competitors. Taking action against Mr Porretta is a warning to all directors to seriously consider and ensure they perform their duties and obligations.

Notes to editors

Lyndon Porretta is of Newport, Gwent and his date of birth is October 1970.

Company Kruz Developments Ltd (Company Reg no.04005898).

In giving his disqualification undertaking, Lyndon Porretta did not dispute that:

Between at least 7 February 2012 and 6 November 2015 he caused Kruz to provide inaccurate information to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) in respect of Value Added Tax (“VAT”) due as a result of which HMRC are owed £637,197 at liquidation, in that :

• Kruz registered for VAT from 24 March 2000
• Kruz submitted VAT returns totalling £86,361 to HMRC for the periods 12/11 to 09/15. Payments were made totalling £86,361 against these returns
• Following an inspection of Kruz’s records in 2015, on 7 December 2015, HMRC identified a failure to disclose the full amount of sales between 12/11 and 09/15 resulting in under-declarations of VAT due on returns totalling £521,814. Interest of £38,320 and civil penalties of £183,330 were additionally due in respect of these periods.

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

Innovators in the UK and Canada have been challenged to help aircraft reach unprecedented levels of performance in extreme weather and make them more eco-friendly by using artificial intelligence (AI).

Start-ups and researchers will need to showcase ideas as to how AI could make aircraft more aerodynamic and cut down on ice build-up on the ground and in flight. It is hoped the new solutions, part of the UK-Canada AI Innovation Challenge, could cut costs for operators and make aircraft more eco-friendly by burning less fuel.

Applicants will be invited to pitch their ideas directly to Bombardier and industry experts. The winner will have the opportunity to meet with Bombardier to explore a potential future collaboration.

Business Secretary Greg Clark said:

This is a unique chance for the best and the brightest minds in artificial intelligence to come up with revolutionary ways to help aircraft operators to burn less fuel and cut costs. The UK has unrivalled heritage and world leading expertise in both aerospace and AI, and our Industrial Strategy aims to build on that success in aerospace and make the UK a global centre for AI and data-driven innovation.

Science and innovation has no borders, with most of the world’s best discoveries made through international and interdisciplinary collaborations. I have no doubt that working alongside Canadian researchers and innovators, UK experts will generate inspiring new approaches to this emerging technology.

As part of a wider trade promotion visit to Montréal, the Department for International Trade’s Minister for Trade and Export Promotion, Baroness Fairhead will launch the Challenge in front of more than 100 notable figures from business, academia and government.

Minister of State for the Department for International Trade, Baroness Fairhead, said:

The UK and Canada already enjoy a fantastic trading relationship which increased to £17.4 billion last year. I am therefore delighted to see initiatives such as this which will only help to further boost this relationship.

British businesses are quickly earning a reputation as a world leader in AI, and it is clear that this innovation, combined with Canadian expertise, can produce yet another innovative step forward in the aerospace industry.

The challenge, organised by the UK Science and Innovation Network (SIN) in Canada, Digital Catapult, Bombardier, and the Consortium in Aerospace and Research & Innovation in Canada (CARIC), will encourage skills sharing and trade opportunities between the 2 countries while attracting highly talented and motivated individuals.

Senior Director, Strategic Technologies and Innovation at Bombardier, Dr. Fassi Kafyeke, said:

Artificial Intelligence holds promises of vast improvements in all areas of our industry: design, development, manufacturing and operations. Bombardier is collaborating with AI experts in Canada and the UK to realize these promises and apply these emerging technologies towards the development of the next generation aircraft and rail products. With this challenge, we are creating opportunities for a potential collaboration that could evolve our on-going research in icing dynamics and further improve the predictions of our simulation.

Bombardier’s UK-Canada AI Innovation Challenge, led by SIN Canada and coordinated by Digital Catapult and Canada’s CARIC, builds on the 2017 Canada-UK memorandum of understanding on science, technology, innovation and entrepreneurship as announced last year by the Prime Minister.

Dr Jeremy Silver, CEO, Digital Catapult said:

This is a unique opportunity for cutting edge tech start-ups to tackle a serious challenge faced by the aviation industry and apply innovative new approaches to a real world problem. We’re proud to be working with Bombardier, the UK government and the British Consulate in Montreal to launch this exciting Open Call to top tech talent and we urge companies from across the UK and Canada to apply.

Industries across the UK and Canada use artificial intelligence to boost productivity and create high value jobs. The modern Industrial Strategy sets out plans to make the UK a global centre for AI and data-driven innovation and the government has recognised the benefits of this growing sector in the Artificial Intelligence Sector Deal through the creation of the Office for AI.

Notes for editors

The AI Innovation Challenge has been funded through the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy with a £30,000 investment, with sponsors contributing £70,000.

The aim of the Challenge is to engage a network of external innovators who will propose different solutions that an influential judging panel can review and select a winner.

The objectives of the challenge are as follows:

• the UK-Canada AI Innovation Challenge aims to strengthen relationships between the UK and Canada and help to positively impact the AI ecosystem in both countries
• facilitate contacts with a multinational aerospace and transportation company to SMEs, start-ups and R&D centres that could lead to a potential collaboration
• provide a platform to attract (and retain) highly motivated and talented individuals in the UK and Canada
• strengthen collaboration and knowledge transfer and trade/investment opportunities between the two countries.

In 2015, the government and industry committed to spend £3.9 billion to further transform aerospace research until 2026 to help this sector build on our unique strengths in the UK through the Industrial Strategy.

UK-based interested parties should visit the Digital Catapult website.

Canada-based interested parties should visit CARIC website.

• The money will go towards tackling social issues and help people reach their full potential
• Funding is provided through Social Impact Bonds

People and communities across the country are set to benefit from up to £48 million from the Life Chances Fund, the Minister for Sport and Civil Society announced today.

The money will be distributed to 22 projects including those that boost young people’s employability through work experience, help older people live enriched lives through tailored health plans, and support former drug and alcohol dependent people as they reintegrate into their communities.

Each project will be funded through a Social Impact Bond, meaning external investors will provide up-front funding for projects and get reimbursed by government when projects meet previously agreed targets.

The £48 million is in addition to money from local authorities and other funders who are planning to provide a combined £148.9 million to the successful projects.

Minister for Sport and Civil Society, Tracey Crouch, said:

We are committed to building a fairer society that works for everyone and social impact bonds are already having a transformational impact on people’s lives.

This next round of funding will help make a difference to many more lives and I am looking forward to working alongside local councils to deliver projects and new services that help people reach their full potential.

Examples of the projects that will receive funding are:

Age Concern South Gloucestershire will receive £1,181,570 for its Personalised Integrated Care programme which brings together voluntary, health and social care services to provide personalised support to older people with multiple long term conditions.

Kirklees Council will receive £6,600,000 to support people with vulnerabilities into independent living by addressing and combating issues that affect their health and wellbeing, such as domestic violence or substance misuse.

Staffordshire County Council will receive £3,497,520 for its children’s services, providing therapeutic services and support to looked after children across the West Midlands

The money is the third and final round of funding from the £80 million Life Chances Fund, which opened in July 2016, with the aim of tackling entrenched social issues to help people lead happy and productive lives.

The Big Lottery Fund, the largest funder of community activity in the UK, is delivering the Life Chances fund on behalf of the DCMS.

ENDS

NOTES TO EDITORS

• A Social Impact Bond is an innovative funding model, where a socially-minded investor provides up-front funding to an organisation such as a charity or social enterprise to deliver a service. Once this service achieves results, government will make payments and the social investor will be reimbursed.
• The Life Chances Fund supports local councils and other commissioners to develop social impact bonds and is structured around six key themes: drug and alcohol dependency, children’s services, early years, young people, older people’s services, and healthy lives.
• Full
  list
  (PDF, 87.3KB, 3 pages)
  
  of successful applicants

We, the leaders of France, Germany, the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, reiterate our outrage at the use of a chemical nerve agent, known as Novichok, in Salisbury on 4 March. We welcome the progress made in the investigation into the poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal, and take note of the attempted murder charges brought yesterday against two suspects. We commend the work of the UK Police and all those involved in this investigation.

We also note the UK’s analysis, independently verified by the OPCW, that the exact same chemical nerve agent was used in the poisoning of Dawn Sturgess and Charles Rowley as was used in the poisoning of the Skripals. We urge Russia to provide full disclosure of its Novichok programme to the OPCW. And we encourage those with information about the attack in Salisbury on 4 March, as well as the further poisoning in Amesbury, to come forward to the UK authorities.

We have full confidence in the British assessment that the two suspects were officers from the Russian military intelligence service, also known as the GRU, and that this operation was almost certainly approved at a senior government level. We have already taken action together to disrupt the activities of the GRU through the largest ever collective expulsion of undeclared intelligence officers. Yesterday’s announcement further strengthens our intent to continue to disrupt together the hostile activities of foreign intelligence networks on our territories, uphold the prohibition of chemical weapons, protect our citizens and defend ourselves from all forms of malign state activity directed against us and our societies.