Category: Gov Press Releases

Today (Monday 2 July), winners of the first ever National Democracy Week Awards were announced at the People’s History Museum in Manchester.

The awards ceremony has been held to mark the 90th anniversary of the 1928 Equal Franchise Act, which gave women equal voting rights and kicks off celebrations for National Democracy Week.

The awards recognise the exceptional work of individuals and organisations that work tirelessly to increase democratic engagement in the UK.

Six winners were awarded titles for the following categories:

Michael Bryan, Dan Lawes Youth Politics and Rachael Farringdon Voting Counts jointly receive the Young Advocate of the Year:

• This award is for a young person or group of young people aged between 11 and 25 years old who have taken a leadership role in promoting democratic engagement among their peers.
• Michael won for his work with Plan-International on the Learn Without Fear digital campaign, and his efforts to increase voter registration amongst students, in which he organised workshops at over 130 colleges, influencing thousands-of- students to register.
• Dan won for his role in founding Youth Politics in July 2017. Youth Politics equips young people with the skills needed to successfully implement social change by offering free training in debating, public speaking, campaigning, economics, politics journalism and policy-making, and aims to increase voter registration. The movement has reached over 14,000 people in Greater Manchester, with 470 young people attending a conference this year, which featured Mayor of Manchester Andy Burnham and journalist Michael Crick.
• Rachael designed and built the Voting Counts website, which outlines why voting is so important. Information on the site was produced without bias, allowing users to make their own informed decisions without being influenced by others. The website saw over 30,000 visitors on the day of the 2017 General Election alone, and continues to inform users about democracy.

Harris Bokhari OBE, Patchwork Foundation – Diversity Champion of the Year:

• This award is for an individual or organisation that has increased diversity in our democratic process and electoral systems, supporting others to have their say.
• Harris founded the Patchwork Foundation, which has helped over 40,000 people from diverse communities engage in the democratic process through town-hall events and masterclasses with senior political figures and voting campaigns.

My Life My Say – Changemaker of the Year:

• This award is for an individual or organisation that has put a new idea forward to increase access to democracy, convinced others of the merit of their idea and affected a real change that benefits the greater good.
• My Life My Say’s democracy cafes have given the opportunity for young people across the country to participate in political discussion. The cafes equip young people with skills and experience, so they can give back to their own communities.

The People’s History Museum – Collaboration of the Year:

• This award is for individuals and/or organisations that have come together to reach a shared goal.
  Last year, the Museum delivered the Never Going Underground programme, working collaboratively with communities in telling their stories of the fight for LGBT+ Rights. Artists and activists, and LGBT+ organisations were invited to exhibit their own work to the public; bringing new ideas and histories into the museum. The museum engages with over 100,000 people each year, encouraging community engagement with the democratic process.

Minister for the Constitution, Chloe Smith said:

The first ever National Democracy Awards are the ideal opportunity to celebrate the champions of our democracy across the country who have displayed pioneering efforts to increase democratic engagement.

The winners of all four awards, and those who were shortlisted, should be proud of what they’ve achieved to improve understanding of our democracy for thousands of young people.

Ends

Notes to editors

The criteria to be shortlisted for each of the awards can be found here:

• Make your nomination for the Democracy Awards 2018
• The Prime Minister answered a question at Prime Minister’s Question Time on 6 June about National Democracy Week. Read the full transcript here
• National Democracy Week is running for the first time this week. Events will take place on a national and local level to encourage members of the public to get involved with our democracy, in particular those from under-registered groups, including young people, BAME groups, British ex-pats, and people with disabilities. Events can be found here
• The week will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Representation of the People Act 1918 when the first British women over 30 (who met a property qualification) won the right to vote and the 90th anniversary of the Equal Franchise Act 1928 which granted equal voting rights to men and women.
  The week is being delivered in collaboration with the National Democracy Week Council members, the Cabinet Office and partners across the country. Council members can be found here
• Follow us on social media at #talkdemocracy
  You can find out more about National Democracy Week on the website

For further information on National Democracy Week, contact the Cabinet Office Press Office on 0207 276 0436.
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Sir Nigel has been appointed from 2 July 2018 for a term of 4 years.

The appointment has been approved by the devolved administrations.

The ministers and Secretary of State expressed their thanks to the previous Chair, Laurence Williams, and interim chair, Campbell Gemmell for their services.

Sir Nigel Thrift

Until last year, Sir Nigel was the Executive Director of Schwarzman Scholars. He is one of the world’s leading human geographers and previously served as Vice-Chancellor and President of the University of Warwick and as Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research at the University of Oxford.

Information on CoRWM

CoRWM provides independent scrutiny and advice to UK government and devolved administration ministers on the long-term management of radioactive waste, including storage and disposal. The committee’s primary task is to provide independent scrutiny on the UK government’s and Radioactive Waste Management Ltd’s (RWM’s) high profile programme to deliver geological disposal, together with interim storage, for higher activity wastes.

CoRWM is an advisory non-departmental public body, sponsored by BEIS.

The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affiars has appointed two new independent members to the Board of the Consumer Council for Water.

Robert Wilson and Alison Austin have been appointed for four years commencing on 1 July 2018.
Board members provide non-executive leadership challenge and support to the executive through regular Board meetings, committees and groups.

The Consumer Council for Water is the voice of water and sewerage customers in England and Wales. It represents the views of customers to Government, the regulators and water companies. It also handles complaints about water companies where customers are not satisfied with a company’s performance.

All appointments are made on merit and political activity plays no part in the selection process. The appointments have been made in accordance with the Ministerial Governance Code on Public Appointments.

There is a requirement for appointees’ political activity (if significant) in the last five years to be declared. Robert Wilson has declared that he held ministerial office for the Conservative party.

Consumer Council for Water Board members receive remuneration of £7,812 per annum based on a minimum time commitment of 2 days a month.

Biographies

Rob Wilson is the current Chair of The Community Bank and was previously Chair of an IT company. Until June 2017, Rob was a Minister at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and prior to this was a Minister for Cabinet Office. During his time at the Cabinet Office, Rob was responsible for reforming the charity fundraising and the National Citizen Service as well as implementing the Prime Minister’s ‘Big Society’ agenda.

Alison Austin has more than 25 years of consumer affairs experience, having led sustainability, environmental, food safety, corporate and public affairs work for Sainsbury’s Supermarkets Ltd. She established her own sustainability consultancy practice in 2009. She is presently the Independent Board member of Seafish and also chairs their Remuneration Committee.

Alison chaired the Defra-appointed Seafood Industry Expert Group from 2016 to 2018 which resulted in a 25 year plan for a thriving seafood industry in England – Seafood 2040, a strategic framework for England. Alison is currently a Trustee of the Green Alliance, chair of the Soil Association Certification Scrutiny Committee and also the SGS Independent Advisory Committee on Climate change for SGS UK Ltd.

Previously she was a Board member and then Trustee of the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) where she sat on the Audit and Risk Committee.

Alison was awarded the OBE in 2000 for services to sustainable development.

New government funding schemes will no longer be able to use the money for unjustified new leasehold houses, in a continuing push to tackle unfair and abusive practices within the leasehold system.

The move was announced by Communities Secretary, the Rt Hon James Brokenshire MP, as he outlined the government’s next steps towards delivering both the homes the country needs and a fairer, more transparent system for homebuyers.

Among the measures announced today are:

• New proposals for 3-year minimum tenancy terms, with a 6-month break clause, to make renting more secure helping renters put down roots, and give landlords longer term financial security.
• The release of £450 million to speed up delivery of homes on sites of surplus public sector land and encouraging pace and modern methods of construction as a part of the building process.
• The launch of a new £100 million Community Housing Fund, to deliver affordable housing tailored to local needs, putting communities in the driving seat.

The Communities Secretary also confirmed that through Homes England almost 1,000 new affordable homes will be built on a previously undeveloped site at Burgess Hill, Sussex demonstrating how a more strategic – and assertive – approach to getting homes and large scale projects built was delivering results.

The Burgess Hill site will also see essential, new infrastructure built with two new primary schools, a secondary school and a range of leisure facilities including a new public woodland.

Speaking to an audience at the Policy Exchange the Rt Hon James Brokenshire MP, Secretary of State for Communities, said:

We need to get everyone on board to build at scale and pace to build the homes this country needs.

But this isn’t just about getting the numbers up. We don’t have to make a false choice between quality and quantity.

It’s also about building places that people are happy to call home. Places where they can come together in strong, thriving communities for generations to come.

Leasehold generally applies to flats with shared spaces, making multiple ownership more straightforward, but developers have been increasingly selling houses on these terms – adding further costs to over-stretched house buyers.

The government is already working to make it cheaper and easier for existing leaseholders to buy-out their freehold and improve information available about redress for those consumers who face the most onerous terms.

Changes will also be made so that ground rents on new long leases – for both houses and flats – are set to zero.

And with 1.4 million leasehold houses across England and the number of leasehold sales rapidly growing, this latest announcement is another example of the government taking action to make the leasehold market fairer.

The Secretary of State continued:

We have seen leaseholders in new-build homes facing unexpected costs rising every year that bear no relation to services and that’s not fair.

So from now on any new government funding scheme will contain the condition that the money cannot support the unjustified use of leasehold for new homes.

Further information

These measures relate to England only.

Almost £19 million of funding to expand support for survivors of domestic abuse services across the country has been launched today (2 July 2018) by the Secretary of State for Communities.

Councils working in partnership with charities and other organisations will be able to bid for a share of funding to support survivors of domestic abuse.

This will be available for a wide range of services to help survivors rebuild their lives; including the provision of refuge beds, education, and employment and life skills training.

This funding builds on £20 million allocated in 2016 to 2018 which has helped provide more than 2,200 new bed spaces in refuges and other specialist accommodation, supporting more than 19,000 survivors with a safe space to rebuild their lives.

Secretary of State for Communities, Rt Hon James Brokenshire MP said:

Domestic abuse is a devastating crime and this government is committed to ensuring all survivors have access to the support they need, whenever they need it.

This funding will expand the support available for survivors to help them rebuild their lives.

This fund has already helped to support diverse projects across the country, including:

Lancashire County Council – Jane’s Place of Recovery Refuge

• Funding was used to establish ‘Jane’s Place’, to accommodate 46 residents, across 15 self contained flats. In the first 7 months the refuge, specialising in providing safe accommodation for those at most risk of harm, accommodated 52 women and their families.

The Hampshire Making Safe Scheme’, led by Hart District Council

• Covering 11 local authorities in Hampshire, this project aims to fund 3 approaches including access to safe houses, enhanced security measures within client’s own homes and effective ways for life after living in safe houses or refuges. This project is particularly targeted at those from BAME communities or those with complex needs.

The government has also published updated guidelines, created in partnership with experts for councils to share best practice with charities and other organisations in meeting the needs of diverse communities including BAME, disabled and LGBT victims.

Katie Ghose, Chief Executive of Women’s Aid, said:

The release of the next round of funding for refuges and other accommodation for women escaping domestic abuse is desperately needed, and much welcomed. Our national network of refuges not only save lives but transform them, helping women and their children to rebuild their lives.

With a decision about the future of refuge funding after 2020 due to be made in the coming months, we look forward to working with the government to ensure the future safety of survivors.

Together we need to ensure that there is a sustainable, long-term funding solution for all domestic abuse services, including lifesaving refuges. Only then can we guarantee that every survivor and her children can get the support they need to build a life free from domestic abuse.

Further information

The 2015 Spending Review contained dedicated long term funding of £40 million to support victims of domestic abuse.

• The first allocations of the £20 million fund was announced November 2016 led by local authorities working in partnership with service providers for work in 2016 to 2018
• A further £1.2 million will be allocated towards domestic abuse services in due course
• See the full list of allocations

Further case studies of the 2016 to 2018 fund:

• Royal London Borough of Greenwich – The Multiple Needs & Intensive Support Project
  Greenwich used part of the funding to employ a Complex Needs support worker, providing intensive support to survivors across the lifetime of the project.
• North Lincolnshire Council
  Grant funding was used to secure additional resources to ensure that both female and male victims of domestic abuse were able to access immediate support at times of crisis.

Today’s announcement builds on steps taken by government to end domestic abuse, support victims and ensure offenders are prosecuted. Including:

• new powers and laws – a new domestic abuse offence to capture coercive and controlling behaviour, the criminalisation of forced marriage, and the introduction of new stalking laws
• the national roll-out of domestic violence protection orders and the domestic violence disclosure scheme
• £15 million, 3-year Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) Service Transformation Fund
• £3.5 million provided in 2015 that funded 46 successful bids from around the country, providing 710 extra bed spaces
• £10 million funding announced by the coalition government for strengthening provision of safe accommodation in the last Spending Review period
• 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

View the government’s updated priorities for domestic abuse services.

Reporting of serious safeguarding incidents by charities continues to increase, according to the Charity Commission. The regulator has published an update on the work of its interim safeguarding taskforce, and has confirmed that it received 620 safeguarding related reports in April and May 2018, compared to 196 during the same period in 2017.

In total, since February, the Commission has received and been responding to 1,152 reports of serious incidents (RSIs) about safeguarding (to end May 2018).

The Commission established a temporary safeguarding taskforce in February, which has been managing and handling increased serious incident reports, and undertaking a review of historic serious incident and whistleblowing reports on safeguarding issues.

New reports of serious safeguarding incidents

• 1,152 reports of serious safeguarding incidents received between February 2018 and May 2018, compared to
  1,210 during the whole of 2016-17, and 1,580 during 2017-28
• 734 new cases have been opened relating to safeguarding concerns

As set out in previous updates, the reports cover a wide spectrum; some relate to risks of harm that a charity has identified, rather than to incidents of harm – for example internal audits showing that safeguarding procedures were not followed in certain situations.

The Commission has previously raised concerns about under-reporting of serious incidents by charities.

Among the reports are those from some of the 179 charities to which the Secretary of State for International Development wrote in February to seek reassurances that all appropriate incidents had been reported to the Commission. Of the 179 charities DFID issued the assurance request letter to, 34 charities have submitted incident reports to the Commission. In total, these 34 charities have reported 298 incidents. Of these, 218 related to historic incidents.

The Commission has also opened 734 cases relating to safeguarding concerns raised in serious incident reports from charities, or complaints and whistleblowing reports. These have been prioritised according to risk.

Review of historic reports of serious safeguarding incidents

• 5,501 incidents received between 1 April 2014 and 20 February 2018 were selected for review
• 5,238 incidents (95%) have now been analysed

The taskforce has been undertaking a ‘deep dive’ of its records of serious incident reports on safeguarding matters to identify any gaps in full and frank disclosure by charities, and to establish whether appropriate follow-up actions were taken by charities, including whether incidents were reported to other primary regulators or agencies.
This has required the team to analyse a total of 5,501 serious incidents reported to the Commission between 1 April 2014 and 20 February 2018. 5,238 or 95% of the relevant records reports have now been analysed. Analysis so far has not identified any cases where the Commission has serious and urgent concerns that require it to take immediate action, or where it has had to engage with the authorities about any ongoing risk or unreported criminality.

Of these incidents, 3,000 involved allegations of potential criminal behaviour; the Commission’s analysis has identified that in only one of those incidents was it unclear from its records whether it was reported to the authorities at the time. The Commission has now followed this up and verified that this incident was reported appropriately.

Once the work of the taskforce has concluded, the Commission will publish a report setting out the key findings and lessons for charities.

Ends

Notes to editors

1. Of the 179 charities to which the Secretary of State for International Development wrote in February, 158 are registered with the Commission, the remainder are registered with Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) or are exempt charities

Business and Energy Secretary Greg Clark today (2 July) announced the appointment of Leena Nair and Nigel Boardman as non-executive board members at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.

Leena Nair, the Chief Human Resources Officer at Unilever, will chair for the BEIS Nominations and Governance Committee, whilst Nigel Boardman, a partner at Slaughter and May law firm, will chair for the BEIS Audit and Risk Assurance Committee.

Business and Energy Secretary Greg Clark said:

These appointments will add further extensive business experience to our excellent departmental board.

They will offer challenge and support to the department and ensure we are a truly business-facing organisation that is making a real impact on the UK economy.

Alex Chisholm, Permanent Secretary for the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, said:

I am delighted to welcome Leena Nair and Nigel Boardman to the board and look forward to working with them.

They will provide excellent stewardship to both the Audit and Risk Assurance Committee and the Nominations and Governance Committee, ensuring BEIS is on track to be one of the top departments in Whitehall for its assurance and people management.

Non-executive board members are experts from outside government who provide oversight and challenge to the department in the development of policy and the management of resources.

Leena Nair – Chief Human Resources Officer for Unilever

Leena is the first female, first Asian, youngest ever CHRO of Unilever and member of the Unilever Leadership Executive (ULE) which is responsible for delivering Unilever’s business financial performance and its ambitious environmental and positive social impact objectives. Ms. Nair bears overall responsibility for the human capital (160,000 people) for Unilever, which operates across multiple regulatory and labour environments spread over 190 countries.

She has led the launch of technology innovations that have pioneered and transformed Unilever’s approach to the future of work in the connected world. Ms Nair was instrumental in driving their employer brand to a record high and in step-changing their Diversity agenda to industry leadership.

Nigel Boardman – Partner at Slaughter and May

Nigel Boardman has been a partner at Slaughter and May since 1982. His practice at the firm includes domestic and international corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, IPOs, demergers, private acquisitions and disposals, private equity, public takeovers, issues of compliance and corporate governance, investigations and insolvency, restructurings, investigations and sports law and art law. He is a Vice-President for Save the Children UK, Deputy Chair of the British Museum and a member of their Audit and Risk Committee. He has received several accolades in his professional career including, The Financial Times’ Special Achievement Award and the Lawyer of the Decade Award from Financial News.

Notes to editors

1) The key responsibilities of non-executive board members are to:

• Attend meetings of the departmental board, chaired by the Secretary of State
• Advise on strategy, performance and transformation, operational issues and the effective management of the department
• Provide independent scrutiny for the department upon request
• Work with executives and their teams to continue to improve the performance of the department

2) The BEIS Audit and Risk Assurance Committee’s role is to support the Departmental Board and Accounting Officer in their responsibility to ensure that the Department is a financially sound and efficient organisation which makes effective use of its resources in pursuit of its strategic objectives. Specifically, the Audit and Risk Assurance Committee reviews the effectiveness of the risk management framework established by management to identify, assess and manage risk, thereby playing an important role in supporting our reputation for excellent financial and risk management.

3) The BEIS Nominations and Governance Committee’s role is to support the Departmental Board, by providing assurance and input to key decisions and processes. Its purpose is to scrutinise the Department’s strategies and plans for talent management; succession planning; capability building; Board appointments; senior performance management; incentives & rewards and the implementation of corporate governance policy.

4) These two appointments are in addition to the department’s five existing non-executive board members.

With this week marking 100 days to go until the 2018 London Illegal Wildlife Trade Conference, the Government has today (Monday 2 July) announced ambitious new plans and funding for tackling the illegal wildlife trade across the world. The Secretaries of State for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Defra, and DFID announced a £44.5 million boost for anti-wildlife trafficking projects around the world.

The Foreign Secretary set out the Government’s ambition to reduce the illegal killing of African elephants for ivory by at least one third by 2020, and to further halve this rate by 2024. Achieving this will be another significant step to safeguard endangered species from extinction, in a decade of action since the 2014 London Declaration committed to fight the illegal wildlife trade.

To help make this ambition a reality, the Government will launch the Ivory Alliance 2024, bringing together a network of global leaders, conservationists and experts to engage with countries where ivory demand and trafficking is high. It will work with partners globally to increase the number of countries committed to domestic ivory bans to more than 30 by 2020 and for tougher enforcement against those caught breaking the law. The UK has already set itself as a global leader on this issue, with a domestic ivory ban announced in April 2018.

Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said:

More than 20,000 African elephants are killed every year, fuelling the despicable illegal ivory market and poachers’ dirty profits. We need immediate and effective global action to decapitate this terrible trade. The new Ivory Alliance 2024 will play a key role in closing those markets which are driving elephants to extinction.

The UK will be at the vanguard of global efforts to defeat the illegal wildlife trade in 2018 and we will bring world leaders together for talks in October to find a solution. We cannot simply sit back and watch as more endangered species are wiped out by criminal kingpins and corrupt middlemen who are robbing local communities in Africa and Asia of sustainable livelihoods.

Defra have announced £4.5 million for 14 new Challenge Fund projects to combat the illegal wildlife trade by addressing demand reduction, strengthening enforcement and criminal justice, and providing alternative livelihoods.

Projects that will receive funding include supporting eco-guardians and community enforcement networks to protect elephants, a ‘payback’ scheme for the perpetrators of IWT and the development of strong room best practice guidelines for the storage of seized illegal ivory. There will also be funding provided to disrupt the poaching affecting iconic species such as Sumatran tigers and snow leopards.

Environment Secretary, Michael Gove said:

Environmental challenges do not respect borders, and require coordinated international action.

Our Illegal Wildlife Trade Challenge Fund is driving change to combat this despicable criminality. The 14 projects range across 27 countries and showcase measures from criminal justice to education. These priorities reflect our commitment in the 25 Year Environment Plan to work with other nations to stamp out this vile trade.

The fund, alongside our introduction of one of the world’s toughest bans on ivory sales, shows our global leadership in protecting wildlife in its natural environment.

DFID and Defra have also helped secure an increase of up to £40m in international efforts to protect global nature including helping to end the wildlife trade over the next four years. This is through a 30% increase to the Global Environment Facility’s Global Wildlife Programme – the largest single program dedicated to combat poaching, trafficking, and demand for wildlife and wildlife products.

It will see more funding than ever before being spent on projects fighting the illegal wildlife trade across Africa and Asia, including tackling corruption, strengthening border law enforcement and promoting the development of nature-based tourism. It is through these long term solutions that this trade can be ended permanently.

The International Development Secretary Penny Mordaunt said:

The illegal wildlife trade not only puts the world’s most endangered species at risk, but fuels the corruption and crime which hold back development for some of the poorest nations.

The UK is leading the way in raising ambitions around the world to make sure we put an end to this crime for good. We have now secured more international support to protect wildlife than ever before, which will also improve the lives of the vulnerable communities who live alongside it.

Later today, the three Secretaries of State will host an event at the Foreign Office, bringing together NGOs, businesses, country representatives and others who are playing a key role in fighting the illegal wildlife trade. The event will recognise the work already being done to tackle the illegal wildlife trade and encourage increased ambition by all sectors in advance of the October conference.

Dominic Jermey, Director General of ZSL, said:

As an international conservation charity, ZSL warmly welcomes the UK Government’s commitment to tackling the illegal wildlife trade. Wildlife across the globe is being slaughtered for its skin, scales, tusks and feathers. Whether it’s elephants or rhinos, African grey parrots or pangolins – IWT has put many species directly at risk. Fresh thinking is urgently needed by Governments, working in partnership with NGOs, business and wider civil society, to tackle IWT. I’m delighted to see the UK committing to this leading role.

Notes

• The UK has committed £250m to the Global Environment Facility (GEF) over the next four years, (2018-2022) with DFID contributing £150m and DEFRA £100m. This will help protect around 600 million hectares of land and marine habitats – an area equivalent to 24 times the size of the UK.
• The UK, with other donors, successfully lobbied to increase the size of Global Wildlife Programme (GWP), which is part of the GEF, from $131m to $187m over the next four years. With this almost 30% increase, more funding will be allocated to efforts to support wildlife than ever before.
• The Global Wildlife Programme is the largest single programme dedicated to combat poaching, trafficking, and demand for wildlife and wildlife products. Since 2016, the GWP has funded projects in 19 countries across Africa and Asia, it will:

1. Promote investments in cross-border conservation areas
2. Strengthen governance and reduce corruption
3. Support cross-border law enforcement
4. Work to reduce demand for wildlife products
5. Promote the development of nature-based tourism development in Sub-Saharan Africa
6. Coordinate international donors, including working with the private sector

Challenge Fund case studies:

Case study 1

• ZSL Mongolia’s 2018 IWT Challenge Fund project will strengthen border law enforcement by bringing specialist training for border staff and detector dog units at key points; create a multi-agency taskforce on wildlife trade for better intelligence-sharing, and by helping communities living along the borders to keep out criminal groups through the creation of surveillance networks.

ZSL Director of Conservation, Matthew Hatchwell, said:

The illegal trade of wildlife products in Asia presents enormous challenges in preventing the large scale loss of species that can only be tackled by multiple partners working together, in particular to support the conservation efforts of national governments. ZSL is very grateful for the support of the UK government’s Illegal Wildlife Trade Challenge Fund to strengthen frontline law enforcement in Mongolia, home to highly endangered species such as the Saiga antelope, snow leopard and Bactrian camel.

Case study 2

• Ivory, accrued by natural mortality or seizures of illegal stock, is held in government storerooms that often lack adequate security and management procedures, and are vulnerable to corruption and theft. A robust ivory management system will keep these products from returning to and perpetuating the illegal supply chain. In partnership with national government authorities across Africa, we will develop, trial and put into practice storeroom Guidelines and Standard Operating Procedures (SOP), embedding this into government policy to ensure regular use.

John Stephenson, CEO Stop Ivory said:

We are delighted to have the UK Government’s support for a crucial project to fight the illegal wildlife trade. By ensuring that African Governments have comprehensive stockpile storeroom security and procedures in place, this project will prevent illegal wildlife products from leaking back into the supply chain, which perpetuates the illegal trade and poaching of elephants. Through this funding, the UK Government continues to work with the African countries leading the Elephant Protection Initiative to secure a meaningful future for elephants across Africa – the initiative the Government helped launch at the London Conference on Illegal Wildlife Trade in 2014. The unprecedented crisis we face – with Africa’s natural heritage being destroyed and communities put at risk due to poaching by armed gangs – will only stop when ivory is securely put beyond economic use.

Case study 3

• This innovative project will look at how sanctions against IWT can better reflect the injuries to society (For example on livelihoods, biodiversity, culture). It will compare international sanctions to illegal wildlife trade, and initiate international “best practices” standards. In Indonesia, it will work with experts and government officials to review sanctions, and provide expertise to quantify the costs of this illegal trade on society. The project aims to apply these to a first-of-a-kind civil liability suit to hold perpetrators of the illegal trade in wildlife financially responsible for environmental harm.

Dr Jacob Phelps, Lancaster University, said:

This new funding from the UK Government will help the Lancaster Environment Centre to tackle the real-world challenges of taking legal action against illegal wildlife trade. In collaboration with lawyers and conservationists across a dozen countries, we will explore new legal responses to wildlife trade–focused on Indonesia, but with global implications. When an oil spill devastates a coast line, we pursue the perpetrators not only with fines and jail sentences, but also with orders to restore the environment, issue apologies and compensate victims. In contrast, the perpetrators of large-scale, commercial illegal wildlife trade are rarely held accountable for the broad impacts they impose on the environment and society. In this project, we will explore new strategies to hold large-scale perpetrators legally responsible for the environmental harm they cause, including impacts on livelihoods, biodiversity and culture.

Further information

• Follow the Foreign Secretary on Twitter @BorisJohnson and Facebook
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• government has today introduced new consumer protections that will protect an extra 10 million package travel holidays a year and save consumers tens of millions of pounds a year
• the Package Travel Regulations ensures consumers that book package holidays through travel websites enjoy same rights as those who book with a travel agent
• online bookings have transformed the way many people buy holidays, with 83% of Brits booking a holiday online in 2017 compared to 76% in 2016

The government has today (Sunday 1 July) introduced new measures that will protect an extra 10 million UK package holidays a year and help save British holidaymakers tens of millions of pounds a year with strengthened rights for consumers and new protections.

Online bookings have transformed the way many people buy holidays, with 83% of Brits booking a holiday online in 2017 compared to 76% in 2016. According to ABTA, the Travel Association, changes to how we book travel – such as using online booking sites – have created a gap in consumer protections, with 50% of holidays not currently financially protected if a company fails.

To address these gaps, close loopholes and protect more types of holidays, the Package Travel Directive enacted today includes new measures that will:

• ensure people who book holidays online through travel sites enjoy the same rights as those who book with a traditional travel agent
• broaden the definition of package holidays to capture modern booking models such as online and via mobile
• require that travel providers and operators provide better information to travellers, making it clear what their rights to refund are
• make online sites which enable consumers to put travel packages together responsible for the entire holiday, even if services are performed by third parties

Business Minister Andrew Griffiths said:

Britain is a nation of travellers and we each put aside around £23.10 per week to go towards package holidays. Given that commitment, when we are booking holidays it is reasonable for all of us to expect that if something goes wrong we are protected financially.

The measures that come into effect today will ensure holidaymakers are properly compensated if things do go wrong, removing the risks for consumers and building on our long, proud history of high standards when it comes to travel protections.

Since announcing the new protections earlier this year, the government has worked with travel industry leaders to develop guidance for businesses to help them comply with the new regulations which was published today. Alongside this, ABTA have also published detailed guidance for both consumers and businesses on the updated regulations.

The new measures follow the government having launched its Modernising Consumer Markets green paper in April, a key part of its modern Industrial Strategy, which will hold companies who fail consumers to account and looking to strengthen consumer protections.