Category: Gov Press Releases

Minister of State for Trade and Export Promotion, Baroness Fairhead, will today (Friday 11 May) open the British pavilion at the Silk Road International Expo in Xi’an, where the UK is the country of honour.

The Minister will be accompanied by a delegation of more than 50 British businesses from a wide range of sectors, including healthcare, infrastructure and education as the UK looks to make the most of the vast exporting opportunities presented by the Belt and Road initiative.

The government sees the UK as a natural Belt and Road partner, and visits from the Prime Minister and International Trade Secretary in recent months have highlighted the initiative as a means for global growth and connectivity between the 2 countries.

With DIT estimating that £1.8 billion worth of opportunities related to the Belt and Road initiative are available for UK companies, delegates will benefit from a series of workshops and forums, introducing them to Chinese counterparts and regional government officials as they present what their businesses have to offer.

Delegates will also be able to attend sector tours of the Expo, provided by the China-Britain Business Council, where they will build bridges with potential partners in their sector.

Total trade between the countries currently stands at £67.5 billion, and UK goods and services exports to China grew by 25.9% between January and September 2017.

Launching the UK pavilion at the Expo, Baroness Fairhead highlighted the support that is available for British companies seeking to export to China. The Minister emphasised the £25 billion of support that is available to businesses across key Belt and Road markets through the government’s export credit agency UK Export Finance.

Minister of State for Trade and Export Promotion, Baroness Fairhead:

UK exports to China are growing strongly, but it’s clear that there is still vast untapped demand for British goods and services in the Chinese market.

The Belt and Road initiative is creating opportunities for British businesses across Asia, and the Department for International Trade will continue to offer support through Trade Missions, our award winning export credit agency UK Export Finance and GREAT.gov.uk.

Baroness Fairhead will also launch the ‘Be Yourself: Pledge for Progress’ campaign with HM Ambassador to China Dame Barbara Woodward. The campaign will promote empowerment for women across the Chinese business world following the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) last year between the UK’s Equalities Office and the All China Women’s Federation.

The visit comes shortly after the UK signed a MoU with Chinese giants Tencent to establish strategic collaboration in the Cultural Creative Industries. Tencent will kick-off collaboration with leading British enterprises and corporations in the arena of digital creativity, with a focus on film and television, gaming and fashion in the initial phase.

Further information

• the Silk Road International Expo 2018 will take place between 11-15 May in Xi’an. Last year the event was attended by over 42 countries, with 300 companies represented – this year’s event is expected to be a similar size
• the British companies attending are from across the country, including contingents from the Northern Powerhouse and the Midlands Engine
• contact the DIT Media and Digital Team on 020 7008 3333
• follow us: @tradegovuk, gov.uk/dit

A Downing Street spokesperson said:

The Prime Minister held a telephone call with the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier today.

The Prime Minister condemned the Iranian rocket attacks against Israeli forces, and said we strongly support Israel’s right to defend itself against Iranian aggression.

The Prime Minister noted our statement calling on Iran to refrain from any further attacks, and for calm on all sides.

They agreed it was vital for the international community to continue working together to counter Iran’s destabilising regional activity, and for Russia to use its influence in Syria to prevent further Iranian attacks.

The Prime Minister reiterated our position on the Iran nuclear deal, noting that we and our European partners remain firmly committed to ensuring the deal is upheld, as the best way of preventing Iran from developing a nuclear weapon.

Mr Samuel Thomas has been appointed Her Majesty’s first ever resident Ambassador to the Islamic Republic of Mauritania. Previously Mr Thomas Reilly was Her Majesty’s non-resident Ambassador, based in Rabat, Morocco. The UK is also upgrading its existing office in Nouakchott to an Embassy.

Mr Thomas will take up his appointment during May 2018. The UK has had an office in Mauritania since 2011. The move to upgrade it to an Embassy is a sign of the UK’s growing bilateral relationship with Mauritania and its commitment to the region.

On Mr Thomas’s appointment, the Foreign Secretary said:

I am delighted that we are enhancing our representation in Mauritania, and hope that our relationship continues to grow, particularly in trade. We are strengthening our diplomatic, security and development engagement across North Africa and the Sahel, and this Mission is another example of Global Britain: outward facing and forging stronger relationships around the world.

Minister of State for the Middle East at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Minister of State at the Department for International Development, Alistair Burt added:

This is an exciting new chapter as we deepen our links across the region and I particularly look forward to visiting later in the year.

Mr Thomas has worked in the public and private sector, focusing on energy, trade and terrorism. He joined the FCO in 2009 to work on UN Security Council policy, before moving to the Middle East and North Africa Directorate. He has previously served overseas in Tripoli, Moscow and Baghdad.

CURRICULUM VITAE

Full name: Samuel Thomas

2018 to present	Pre-posting training
2015 to 2017	Baghdad, Head Counter-Terrorist Finance, Economic and Energy Section
2015	Moscow, Energy Policy
2013 – 2015	Tripoli, Political and Economic Consultant (on leave from FCO)
2011 – 2013	Tripoli, Deputy latterly Head, Commercial Section
2011	FCO/Cabinet Office, Chief of Staff, Cross-Whitehall Libya Oil Cell
2009 – 2011	FCO, UN Security Council Desk Officer, International Organisations Department

Further information

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

A man with history of drug offences has today had his latest sentence increased after the Solicitor General, Robert Buckland QC MP, referred it for being too low.

Wesley Usherwood, 20, was arrested in February as part of Operation Blade and found to be in possession of drugs with a street value of £18,000. It is estimated he was supplying £1,000 worth of heroin and cocaine a day in the Worcester area.

Usherwood has several previous convictions, and failed to complete the unpaid work, drug treatment, and rehabilitation requirements imposed after a previous conviction for a drugs offence in April 2017.

Usherwood was originally sentenced to 4 years imprisonment at Worcester Crown Court in March. Today, after the Solicitor General’s reference, the Court of Appeal increased his sentence to 6 years 9 months in prison.

Speaking after the hearing, the Solicitor General said:

“Usherwood’s extensive history of drug dealing will have destroyed the lives of many individuals, families, and communities. Crimes of this nature will not be tolerated and I am pleased to see his sentence has been increased.”

The International Development Secretary Penny Mordaunt today (Thursday 8 May 2018) praised the heroic efforts of Scottish aid workers delivering life-saving assistance to people that have fled violence in Burma and are now sheltering in neighbouring Bangladesh.

Visiting the British Red Cross offices in Glasgow today, she spoke to Scottish aid worker Kenny Hamilton, from Glasgow and currently stationed in Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh.

Mr Hamilton leads a sanitation project building safe toilets and overseeing the treatment and safe disposal of human waste to help prevent the spread of deadly diseases.

The risk of a cholera outbreak in Cox’s Bazar is extremely high and will increase further with the looming monsoon season, which is expected to flood camps and could contaminate around half of the clean water sources.

Earlier this week, Ms Mordaunt announced fresh UK aid support for people living in Cox’s Bazar to provide medication, sturdier shelters, food, clean water and support for women to give birth safely.

Speaking at the British Red Cross offices in Glasgow, the International Development Secretary said:

With the devastating cyclone and monsoon season looming over the crowded camps in Cox’s Bazar, hundreds of thousands of vulnerable people are in danger of landslides or of falling ill with potentially fatal diseases.

The UK is leading the way to provide vaccinations, strengthen shelters and deliver food and clean water to those that have been forced to flee their homes because of brutal violence and persecution.

The Red Cross and Red Crescent continue to play a vital role in the response to this crisis and Scottish aid workers are among those remarkable humanitarians delivering life-saving assistance to the men, women and children who have suffered so much.

The Red Cross and Red Crescent have already provided emergency support to 254,000 people – backed by UK aid – including fresh water, jerry cans and hygiene kits.

A 24 hour surgical field hospital with 100 beds, including 40 isolation beds, is operating opposite one of the largest makeshift camps, staffed by Bangladeshi doctors and midwives with international medical and support staff.

British Red Cross aid worker Kenny Hamilton said:

Our priority is water hygiene, health promotion and making existing sanitation facilities more robust for the upcoming monsoon season. UK aid support will help our response effort to limit the impact of the rains both in terms of potential damage to infrastructure from landslides and promoting hygiene.

To do this we are decommissioning unsafe latrines and building new, safe, sustainable ones that will be cleaned on a regular basis. We are not only making these latrines safer to protect against disease, but also for women and vulnerable people by building them in appropriate areas and making sure they are properly lit and dignified.

As the monsoon season sets in, it is more imperative than ever that cleaning happens regularly so that people can go to the toilet safely and to protect against the spread of disease.

From the onset of the crisis the UK has been a leading donor, and this week’s announcement of an additional £70 million of humanitarian support will help ensure hundreds of thousands of persecuted people who have fled neighbouring Burma will be better protected during this dangerous time.

UK aid supported work to prepare the Cox’s Bazar camps for the monsoon season began in January, when the UN estimated 102,000 men, women and children were living in areas at risk of flooding and 12,000 people were at risk from landslides.

Notes to editors

1. The UK Government has contributed £129 million to the crisis since 25 August 2017. As part of this, £70 million announced on Monday 7 May is a new package of support, not previously allocated to this humanitarian programme.
2. UK support totalling £4 million is enabling the Red Cross Red Crescent to provide up to 200,000 vulnerable people with food, healthcare, water and sanitation in response to the crisis in Bangladesh.
3. This crisis resonates with the British public who have shown remarkable generosity raising £25.9 million for the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) Appeal. This includes £5 million which has been matched pound for pound by the UK Government.
4. There are approximately 941,000 people living in Cox’s Bazar camps. Of these 681,000 are new arrivals since August 2017.
5. The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Red Cross Movement is the world’s largest humanitarian network. The Movement is made up of 190 individual National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, working through 17 million volunteers who are dedicated to the Fundamental Principles of Humanity, Neutrality, Impartiality, Independence, Voluntary Service, Unity and Universality.

The project involves concrete repairs and waterproofing along a two-mile section of the ageing viaduct in the West Midlands.

Work on the southbound carriageway, between junctions 1 and 2, is approaching completion and in the coming weeks the entire operation, involving more than 500 workers, transfers to the northbound carriageway.

Already more than 5,000 separate repairs have been carried out on the southbound carriageway, 3,500 more than anticipated.

The majority of work is scheduled to continue until autumn 2018, with other work continuing into spring 2019.

Highways England senior project manager, Zbigniew Twarowski, said:

The scale of this project is vast and has involved a large number of repairs.

On top of that we’ve had one of the harshest winters in years, which has added to the challenges.

We will not know the full extent of the repairs needed on the northbound carriageway until work there is under way.

We appreciate the level of disruption this project involves and I’d like to thank motorists, businesses and residents for their patience. Meanwhile, our teams are working as hard as they can to get the job done.

At more than £100 million, M5 Oldbury is believed to be the largest concrete repair project, by value, ever carried out in Britain.

Much of the work takes place underneath the viaduct and so workers cannot always be seen on the surface itself.

To keep the motorway open, a contraflow system is in place with traffic currently using the northbound carriageway with two lanes operating in each direction, along with a 30mph speed limit. Traffic is anticipated to move to the southbound carriageway in June.

Slip roads at junctions 1 and 2 are being kept open to ease effects on the local network.

However, as part of the work, a number of closures of the southbound off-slip at junction 2 are planned, for more information check the Highways England Roadworks Finder.

General enquiries

Members of the public should contact the Highways England customer contact centre on 0300 123 5000.

Media enquiries

Journalists should contact the Highways England press office on 0844 693 1448 and use the menu to speak to the most appropriate press officer.

Local Government Secretary, the Rt Hon James Brokenshire MP, has today (10 May 2018) announced he is sending commissioners into Northamptonshire County Council to ensure residents receive the high quality services they need and deserve.

Mr Brokenshire confirmed 2 commissioners would meet senior officials and councillors before beginning their work to help rebuild the authority.

The action follows the publication of an independent report which highlighted serious failings within the council.

In a written ministerial statement to Parliament, the Secretary of State said the commissioners would be led by Tony McArdle, former Chief Executive of Lincolnshire County Council. He will be supported by Brian Roberts, former Deputy Chief Executive of Leicestershire County Council, and an expert in financial management.

Local Government Secretary, the Rt Hon James Brokenshire MP, said:

Action of this kind is rare and is not taken lightly, but I simply cannot ignore the scale of the problems facing Northamptonshire.

It is essential residents are able to have faith in their council, particularly in the responsible use of taxpayers’ money.

That’s why I’m taking swift action by appointing commissioners who carry with them a wealth of experience. I am confident they will dedicate themselves to the task at hand.

Northamptonshire County Council, the district and borough councils and voluntary organisations have all supported the appointment of commissioners.

Directions given to the commissioners will see them take over the council’s functions associated with governance and scrutiny, appointment of statutory officers and strategic financial management.

The commissioners are due to be in place until 31 March 2021 and will update the Secretary of State every 3 months on progress.

Further information

Lead commissioner – Tony McArdle

Tony McArdle was Chief Executive of Lincolnshire County Council between 2005 and 2018. He took up post at a time when the council was suffering from significant corporate governance and service failures and was under the immediate threat of government intervention. He left Lincolnshire with the authority enjoying a reputation as progressive and innovative with a strong profile in a range of areas of work and an established record of high-quality service delivery.

Prior to moving to Lincolnshire, for 7 years Tony was Chief Executive of the Borough Council of Wellingborough in Northamptonshire. He has held interim appointments in other councils and has also been involved in delivering elements of the Council of Europe’s programme to improve local government practice in Croatia, Bulgaria and Russia.

Tony chaired the Association of County Chief Executives from 2015 to 2017. He is a Director of the National Centre for Rural Health and Care and a member of the Courts of both the University of Lincoln and Bishop Grosseteste University.

Tony also served as an infantry officer in the Territorial Army for 22 years.

Finance commissioner – Brian Roberts

Brian is the former Director of Corporate Resources and Deputy Chief Executive at Leicestershire County Council.

Previously he worked at Staffordshire County Council, Hampshire County Council, the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, Hart District Council and Merseyside County Council.

Brian qualified as an accountant in 1980. He is immediate past president of the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA). He was a member and past president of the Society of County Treasurers and he has also been a Local Government Association core finance adviser and past president of the Association of Local Government Treasurers. Brian is currently a national council member of CIPFA and a trustee of the Centre for Public Scrutiny.

The Foreign Secretary said:

The United Kingdom condemns in the strongest terms the Iranian rocket attacks against Israeli forces. We strongly support Israel’s right to defend itself.

We urge Iran to refrain from further actions which will only lead to increased instability in the region. It is crucial to avoid any further escalations, which would be in no one’s interest. We also continue to call on Russia to use its influence to press those in Syria to cease their destabilising activity and work towards a broader political settlement.

Further information

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

The latest in a line of reports by the Committee on Standards in Public Life says there has been little real progress on measures to reinforce ethical standards in outsourced public services and calls for a consultation on whether the Freedom of Information Act should apply to private sector providers where information relates to the performance of a public service contract.

Publishing its 2018 progress report today, Lord Bew, Chair of the Committee on Standards in Public Life, said:

From waste disposal to health care and probation services, all kinds of public services are routinely supplied to many of us by private or voluntary sector organisations, paid for with public funds – accounting for almost one third of government spending in 2017.

The public is clear that they expect common ethical standards – whoever is delivering the service – and that when things go wrong there is transparency and accountability about what has happened.

Our report in 2014 looked at departmental commissioning activity and the ethical standards of service providers and made a number of important and straightforward recommendations to enhance the government’s capability to commission services from providers who focus on high ethical standards in service delivery.

Today’s report shows that, disappointingly, very little progress has been made on implementing these recommendations and evidence shows that most service providers need to do more to demonstrate best practice in ethical standards.

In particular, we remain concerned over the lack of internal governance and leadership on ethical standards in those departments with significant public service contracts. Departmental and management boards spend little, if any, time considering ethical considerations and tend to delegate such issues ‘down the line’. Those involved in commissioning and auditing contracts remain too focused on the quantitative rather than the qualitative aspects of their role. And departments lack clear lines of accountability when contracts fail.

While many service providers have developed a greater awareness of their ethical obligations in recent years, partly due to the high-profile failure of some organisations to adhere to these standards, some remain dismissive of the Nolan Principles or adopt a ‘pick and mix’ approach, which is not in the public interest. And many service providers continue to expect that setting and enforcing ethical standards remain a matter for government alone.

The Committee remains of the view that more must be done to encourage strong and robust cultures of ethical behaviour in those delivering public services. To that end, the Committee reaffirms the recommendations made in its 2014 report and has made a further set of more detailed, follow-up recommendations to address particular issues of concern.

In particular, the Committee calls for service providers to recognise that the Nolan Principles apply to them, for greater moral courage among key financial and other professionals in securing and maintaining high ethical standards, and for consultation on the extension of the application of the Freedom of Information Act to private sector providers where information relates to the performance of a contract with government for the delivery of public services.

Following the corporate failures of a number of the biggest providers of services to government since 2013,
including the devastating collapse of Carillion early in 2018, it is now essential that the government confirm their expectations of ethical standards among those who deliver services with public money.”

The report can be downloaded online.

Notes to Editors: Interview requests and media enquiries should go to Maggie O’Boyle on 07880 740627. You can follow the Committee on twitter @PublicStandards.

1. The independent Committee on Standards in Public Life advises the Prime Minister on ethical standards across the whole of public life in the UK. It monitors and reports on issues relating to the standards of conduct of all public office holders.
2. To find out more about the Committee’s work go to the Committee on Standards in Public Life’s website
3. The Committee on Standards in Public Life was established in October 1994 with the following terms of reference: “To examine current concerns about standards of conduct of all holders of public office, including arrangements relating to financial and commercial activities, and make recommendations as to any changes in present arrangements which might be required to ensure the highest standards of propriety in public life.” Additional terms of reference were announced on 12 November 1997: “To review issues in relation to the funding of political parties, and to make recommendations as to any changes in present arrangements.” On 5 February 2013 the terms of reference were clarified by the Government in two respects: ‘…in future the Committee should not inquire into matters relating to the devolved legislatures and governments except with the agreement of those bodies’ and ‘…the Committee’s remit to examine “standards of conduct of all holders of public office” [encompasses For] all those involved in the delivery of public services, not solely those appointed or elected to public office.’ Hansard (HC), 5 February 2013, Col 7WS .The Committee’s terms of reference were further clarified in a House of Lords written Parliamentary Question on 28th February 2013 to explain that the Committee’s remit means it “can examine issues relating to the ethical standards of the delivery of public services by private and voluntary sector organisations, paid for by public funds, even where those delivering the services have not been appointed or elected to public office.” Hansard (HL) Column WA347.
4. The members of the Committee for this report are: Lord (Paul) Bew, Chairman, Rt Hon Dame Margaret Beckett DBE MP (Labour), Sheila Drew Smith OBE, Simon Hart MP (Conservative), Dr Jane Martin CBE, Dame Shirley Pearce OBE, Jane Ramsey, Monisha Shah, Rt Hon Lord (Andrew) Stunell OBE (Liberal Democrat) and Richard Thomas CBE. Richard Thomas CBE finished his 5-year term in office in May 2017. Sheila Drew Smith OBE, who led on this series of reports, finished her 5-year term of office in February 2018.