Category: Gov Press Releases

Two men who sexually abused two 14 year old girls have been sent to prison after the Solicitor General, Robert Buckland QC MP, appealed their sentences.

Lee Pollard and Marc Allen were each originally sentenced to 15 months’ imprisonment suspended for 24 months at Exeter Crown Court for the offence of sexual activity with a child.

Pollard and Allen who were both 24 at the time knew their victims were under-age when they had sex with them but they later denied this. The offences took place while the young girls were under the influence of alcohol and drugs at a party in Dawlish.

Today, after the action of the Solicitor General, the Court of Appeal quashed the original sentences and replaced them with immediate prison terms. Pollard has been sentenced to 2 years 9 months imprisonment and Allen 3 years 6 months imprisonment.

Commenting after the hearing today, the Solicitor General said:

Despite knowing that the girls were only 14 years old Pollard and Allen engaged them in sexual activity and provided them both with alcohol and drugs. They have no excuse for their behaviour. I hope that the increased sentences will bring some comfort to the girls’ families.

Minister for the Constitution, Chloe Smith, today met with senior counter-fraud experts from Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States as they attend the first ever International Public Sector Fraud Symposium in London to share experience and expertise in tackling fraud in the public sector.

According to the latest Crime Survey of England and Wales fraud is now the most prevalent crime in the UK, and within the public sector the loss from fraud is estimated to cost the UK taxpayer between £31 billion and £49 billion a year.

The UK is leading efforts to identify and stamp out fraud, and building on the strength of our strategic Five-Eye partners Minister Smith hosted a roundtable to share best practice and explore the mutual challenges this kind of fraud presents to developed democracies.

Minister for the Constitution, Chloe Smith MP, said:

The UK Government is already taking proactive and rigorous steps to tackling public sector fraud.

This is demonstrated by the National Fraud Initiative which has helped detect and prevent the most public sector fraud in its history in the last two years – over £275 million.

Today, I hosted the first International Fraud Symposium to build on the progress we are making in this area, and to develop our work with global partners.

Let me be clear: anyone committing fraud is stealing directly from the UK taxpayer and is diverting vital resources from much needed public services. This government will do everything it can to root out fraudsters and put a stop to their activities.

Minister for the Middle East Alistair Burt met his Iranian counterpart, Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, in London yesterday for talks on bilateral issues, including the Iran nuclear deal and cases of British dual nationals detained in Iran. During the meetings, held at the Foreign Office, the Ministers also discussed Iran’s role in the Middle East.

Speaking following the meetings, Minister Burt said:

Continuing constructive engagement with Iran is vital on issues ranging from the preservation of the Iran nuclear deal to the ongoing detention of British dual nationals in Iran. The Foreign Secretary had useful meetings on these areas when he visited Tehran in December last year, and it was good to have an opportunity to build on this with some positive discussions in London today.

Iran is, in addition, a pivotal actor in the wider Middle East. In my meetings I urged the Iranian Government to play a more positive role in the region, particularly in the conflicts in Yemen and Syria.

Further information

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

Fewer than one in four auditors alerted the charity regulator to matters of material significance identified in their charity audit reports, according to a new review. The Charity Commission has found that, of the 114 auditors who gave audit opinions containing information they were required to report to the regulator in the six months to October 2017, only 28 contacted the Commission.

The Commission says it is now working with the accountancy profession to raise auditors’ awareness of requirements and address this under-reporting, which it describes as raising a ‘significant concern’ about the adequacy of reporting to the Commission by auditors.

The regulator undertook the review to test compliance with rules that came into force from May 2017, extending the list of reportable matters to include modified audit opinions, such as paragraphs about an emphasis of matter or a material uncertainty regarding going concern – meaning there are doubts as to the charity’s ability to remain solvent.

The new rules are designed to help the regulator intervene in a more timely way, notably where charities face financial difficulty putting their future at risk. They follow the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Select Committee’s inquiry into the collapse of Kids Company, which recommended clearer guidance to auditors on the issues regulators expected them to report.

Of the 28 auditors who made a required report to the Commission, only 6 did so promptly, or within one day of signing the audit opinion; 3 waited more than two months to alert the Commission.

Michelle Russell, Director of Investigations and Enforcement at the Charity Commission, says:

Auditors provide vital reassurance that a charity’s accounts are true and fair and by extension in helping ensure charities are transparent and the Commission can regulate effectively. So it is very important that accountancy professionals understand the requirements on them in auditing charities’ accounts.

This review shows that, at this time, too few auditors are complying with their statutory duty to report matters of material significance to us as soon as they identify them. This potentially puts charities at risk. It is important that we identified and responded to this quickly and so we are working with the accountancy profession to help raise awareness of auditors’ reporting requirements and ensure they meet them.

A review published last year analysed the reasons auditors gave modified audit opinions in 2016; these included concerns, on the part of the auditor, that charities did not have sufficient evidence to support their stated income or expenditure.

The Commission has been liaising with both the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) and ACCA, the global body for Professional Accountants, about the findings from the report.

ACCA has welcomed the report, saying that “there is a responsibility on the profession to uphold the highest of standards” and that it would work with the regulator to “ensure the value of audit and all reporting for the charity sector remains a top priority”.

Independent examiners were not included in this review, as the revised directions and guidance that referred to their duty to report matters of material significance to the UK regulators, only took effect from 1 December 2017. The regulators published updated guidance for independent examiners in September 2017.

Ends

Arts Minister Michael Ellis has placed a temporary export bar on The Destruction of Pharaoh’s Host, by the British artist John Martin (1789-1854), to provide an opportunity to keep it in the country.

The watercolour is at risk of being exported from the UK unless a buyer can be found to match the asking price of £1,509,102.

The drawing illustrates the Biblical story (Exodus 14) of Moses releasing the waters of the Red Sea, after they had miraculously parted to allow the fleeing Israelites to cross, thereby drowning the pursuing Egyptian army.

Employing a panoramic composition to magnificent effect, Martin plays with the scale of the figures and the scenery to maximise the epic nature of the drama. The emotional force of this scene of deliverance and retribution is heightened by a blood red sunset below a sweeping black sky.

Although Martin is best known for his spectacular oil paintings and mezzotints (a tonal print technique that was ideally suited to capturing his bold use of light and shade for dramatic effect) illustrating John Milton’s Paradise Lost and the Bible, he also created a series of framed ‘exhibition watercolours’, which in scale and visual impact were intended to compete for attention and patronage with oil paintings.

Martin’s mezzotints of Biblical subjects, such as The Destruction of Pharaoh’s Host published in 1833, were hugely popular and influential with admirers including Charles Dickens and the Bronte sisters who grew up with them on the walls of their father’s parsonage.

Martin’s large-scale watercolour treatment of the same subject from three years later was intended to capitalise on his popular success, and The Destruction of Pharoah’s Host demonstrates his bold use of the medium in the eye-catching brightness of the colours, with the tonal range expanded through extensive use of black pigment, bodycolour, and gum arabic.

Martin’s artistic reputation did not endure – despite the influence he played in shaping the epic scale and grandeur of Biblical and historical epics in films by directors like Cecil B. DeMille – as his standing suffered from the disapproval of the art critic John Ruskin and the artist’s focus later in his life shifted to planning ambitious engineering schemes to deliver clean water and an efficient sewage system to London.

The subsequent and enduring shift in taste away from the use of watercolour for grandiose narrative subjects, allied to a longstanding critical downplaying of the significance of the medium to British art, meant that Martin’s stature as a watercolourist was long overlooked, until interest in his work began to revive in the early 1950s.

Martin’s importance is now more widely recognised and celebrated, and the ambition, boldness and grandeur of The Destruction of Pharoah’s Host exemplifies his unique contribution to British watercolour history.

Arts Minister Michael Ellis said:

This incredibly dramatic picture captures the imaginative and apocalyptic subjects for which Martin is best known.

I hope it can remain in the UK, where it can be admired and studied for many years to come.

The decision to defer the export licence follows a recommendation by the Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art and Objects of Cultural Interest (RCEWA), administered by The Arts Council.

RCEWA member Lowell Libson said:

Working in watercolour played a significant part in Martin’s art throughout his career although he is now best remembered for his exhibition works in oil. The Destruction of Pharaoh’s Host not only demonstrates Martin’s mastery of the medium but underlines how he employed it to achieve emotional and dramatic effects of a subtlety which were impossible in his larger scale oil paintings. The Destruction of Pharaoh’s Host numbers amongst the greatest of Martin’s watercolours.

The RCEWA made its recommendation on the grounds of the picture’s outstanding significance in the reassessment of John Martin – the most popular artist of his day, dismissed by the art establishment and ignored for almost a century – whose influence on the development of epic, visionary landscape painting, both in Britain and in America, is now widely acknowledged.

The decision on the export licence application for the picture will be deferred until 21 May. This may be extended until 21 September if a serious intention to raise funds to purchase it is made at the recommended price of £1,509,102.

Organisations or individuals interested in purchasing the picture should contact the RCEWA on 0845 300 6200.

An image of the picture can be downloaded via our flickr site.

ENDS

Notes to editors

1. Details of the picture are as follows:
   Watercolour by John Martin (1789-1854), The Destruction of Pharaoh’s Host, signed and dated: ‘J. Martin/1836’ (lower right). Pencil and watercolour with gum arabic heightened with body colour and with scratching out; 23 x 33 ¾ in. (584 x 857 mm).
2. Provenance: (Probably) J.E. Jesse, by 1876; with Agnew’s, London; with Leger & Son, London, by September 1954, sold in or after 1958 to George Goyder; Sotheby’s, London, 11 July 1991, lot 192, where purchased by private owner (sold for world auction record price for watercolour by this artist £107,800); Christie’s, London, 3 July 2012, lot 139 (est. £300,000-500,000, sold for £758,050, also world auction record).
3. The Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art and Objects of Cultural Interest is an independent body, serviced by The Arts Council, which advises the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport on whether a cultural object, intended for export, is of national importance under specified criteria.
4. The Arts Council champions, develops and invests in artistic and cultural experiences that enrich people’s lives. It supports a range of activities across the arts, museums and libraries – from theatre to digital art, reading to dance, music to literature, and crafts to collections. www.artscouncil.org.uk.

Theresa May has hosted a Chinese New Year reception at Downing Street to celebrate the enormous contribution of the Chinese community to British life and a ‘Golden Era’ for UK-China relations.

On Wednesday (21 February) the Prime Minister welcomed a number of Chinese students in Britain who are involved in higher education and language learning exchanges. She highlighted the academic achievements of the community and the talent they bring to our educational institutions, and pointed to the huge learning benefits to both countries through partnerships such as the UK-China mathematics teacher exchange, which has been extended for a further two years to 2020.

Building on her recent trip to China alongside 50 businesses and organisations from across the country, the Prime Minister also welcomed guests from a range of sectors with trade links to China.

British nursery provider Busy Bees, who secured a significant early years education deal with the Oriental Cambridge Education Group during the Prime Minister’s visit to China, were also in attendance. The partnership between these two businesses will generate £75m in exports in the next five years and deploy 20 British teachers to China each year.

Andrew Wong, Head Chef and owner of Michelin star restaurant A. Wong in London’s Victoria, was the guest chef for the reception.

The Prime Minister also presented James Wong, Chair of the Birmingham Chinese Festival Committee, with a Point of Light Award in recognition of his inspiring work to attract thousands of visitors to the city, creating the UK’s largest Chinese New Year festival. His restaurant also gives hundreds of free meals to elderly people in the local community.

Prime Minister Theresa May said:

It was great to welcome people from all parts of the United Kingdom to Downing Street to celebrate Chinese New Year, the vibrancy of the Chinese community in Britain, and the deepening ties between our two countries.
I was delighted to take a 50-strong business delegation with me on my recent trip to China, and found a real enthusiasm for the links between us and the opportunities we share.

But the ties that bind our country are of course about more than just business – they’re about people.

James Wong’s huge contribution to life in Birmingham is one shining example of someone who has helped broaden and deepen our cultural ties and I was pleased to award him a Point of Light.

I would like to extend my best wishes to everyone celebrating this special day, as we mark the Year of the Dog and a golden era of UK-China relations.

James Wong, Chair of Birmingham Chinese Festival Committee, said:

I’m fiercely passionate about raising awareness of Chinese culture and supporting the Chinese community.

Birmingham is a fantastic, multicultural city that endorses diversity and I feel fortunate to have had the backing of so many wonderful friends and colleagues on the ‘Chinese Festival Committee’ and beyond. I look forward to seeing our great city continue to work closely and hopefully welcome more investment from China in years to come.

Andrew Wong, Head Chef at A. Wong and guest chef at the reception, said:

Chinese New Year is the biggest celebration for my family and for the whole of China, and it’s a time of year where family time is truly celebrated.

It’s wonderful that Downing Street takes the time out to celebrate this event and to celebrate the diversity of London – and obviously the Chinese community is a big part of that diversity.

For the first time, prisons, probation services, Jobcentres and NHS Trusts will be among the organisations that have a duty to help those at risk of becoming homeless and refer them to a housing authority, Minister for Homelessness Heather Wheeler confirmed today (22 February 2018).

The Homelessness Reduction Act published today – the most ambitious legislative reform for decades – places new legal duties on English councils to intervene at an earlier stage to prevent homelessness.

Councils will now be required to ensure the advice and information they provide is designed to meet the needs of particular at risk groups including care leavers, people leaving prison, people who have left the armed forces, survivors of domestic abuse and those suffering from a mental illness.

In addition to new duties to refer those at risk of homelessness, the reforms will include:

• providing free information and advice on preventing homelessness and the rights of homeless people, to all residents, including information tailored to the needs of particularly vulnerable groups
• a new duty for those who are already homeless so that that local authorities will work with them for 56 days to help secure accommodation

Minister for Homelessness Heather Wheeler said:

Everyone should have a home to call their own and we have put in place strong protections to guard families and individuals against the threat of homelessness.

Our reforms – putting prevention at the heart of everything we do – are designed for lasting change and to back this up we’re investing almost £1 billion over the next 4 years to break the homelessness cycle once and for all.

The government has backed the Act with £72.7 million of funding to help councils to deliver these changes. In time, it is expected that the increased preventative work brought about by the Act will lead to substantial savings for councils.

The confirmation of which public bodies have a duty to refer is part of a wider package of regulations made ahead of the roll-out of the Homelessness Reduction Act in April.

Alongside the new duty to refer, the government is continuing to work closely with key sector organisations to identify different ways services can contribute to preventing homelessness and supporting the successful implementation of the Act.

In particular, the department is working with the National Housing Federation to explore how housing associations can support the Act, including by making referrals, and working with the National Police Chiefs’ Council to develop a ‘test and learn’ project in Brighton & Hove focusing on homelessness prevention.

The government is already taking significant action to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping through:

• providing £315 million to local authorities for their work on homelessness, and an additional £402 million in Flexible Homelessness Support Grant funding, which local authorities can use to work more strategically to prevent and tackle homelessness pressures in their areas
• announcing £28 million for 3 Housing First pilots in Manchester, Liverpool and the West Midlands to support long-term rough sleepers off the streets and help them to end their homelessness. Individuals will be provided with stable, affordable accommodation and intensive wrap-around support. This will to help them recover from complex health issues, for example substance abuse and mental health difficulties and sustain their tenancies
• investing £9 billon to build more social housing, including council homes

Case study: Southwark council

Southwark council receives the third largest numbers of homelessness applications in England. MHCLG funded Southwark to be an ‘early adopter’ of the act and implement measures that mirror key elements of the new legislation, including assessments and personalised housing plans and delivering bespoke prevention and relief services to households regardless of whether they are in priority need.

The latest statistics from Southwark show that from the 1 April 2017 until 31 January 2018 the number of households accepted as owed the main housing duty had decreased by 49% compared to the same period the previous year (April 2016 to January 2017), from 789 to 405. In addition, Southwark has eliminated its use of bed and breakfast accommodation for homeless families.

The council also report that they have successfully trained staff to focus on the prevention of homelessness. This is reflected by a marked increase in positive feedback from families and a decline in the number of reviews requested by applicants. Southwark have been actively sharing their learning with over 250 other authorities across the country.

Further information

The government supported the Homelessness Reduction Bill which was introduced to the House of Commons in summer 2016 by Bob Blackman MP, and progressed through Parliament with cross party support. The Act received Royal Assent on Thursday 27th April 2017.

The government worked with a group made up of local authority and charity representatives, as well as specialists relevant to particular issues, to inform the review of the code of guidance. The new code brings together and updates existing guidance, as well as providing new guidance to cover the duties brought in by the Act. An 8 week consultation was launched on 16 October 2017 and closed on 11 December 2017.

The Homelessness code of guidance provides direction on how local authorities should exercise their homelessness functions and apply the law in practice. It also applies to local housing and social services authorities, who are required by law to have regard to this guidance when exercising their functions relating to people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness.to have regard to the guidance in exercising their functions in relation to homelessness.

The duty to refer is one element of a wider package of regulations required to enable the implementation of the Homelessness Reduction Act. The regulations also set out the procedure to be followed by housing authorities when carrying out reviews of homelessness decisions, and issuing notices to applicants who deliberately and unreasonably refuse to co-operate with them. See factsheets on the regulations.

How the duty to refer works in practice will be determined in each local area. For example, housing authorities may want to develop standard referral mechanisms, and public bodies may want to undertake training to support their staff in identifying people who are homeless or threatened with homelessness.

These improvements contribute to a wider goal of tackling road safety in Thailand, with an aim to cap the rising number of foreign nationals involved in road traffic accidents.

Improvements will focus on guidelines for obtaining a driving licence; how to prepare for the driving test; raising awareness of specific risks on the road unique to Thailand; and recaps on internationally-recognised driving standards.

Deputy Head of Mission for the British Embassy Bangkok, Margaret Tongue, says:

Reducing the number of road accidents involving British people in Thailand remains a key priority for the British Embassy. This important collaboration illustrates a shared aim of improving driving standards and raising awareness of specific risks on the roads, through developing engaging and accessible materials to aid the driving test process that not only British people will benefit from, but also any other foreigners residing in Thailand.

Deputy Director General of Department of Land Transport, Kamol Buranapong, says:

Department of Land Transport sees the importance in creating the understanding for foreigners wishing to attain a Thai driving licence. This collaboration with the British Embassy Bangkok on this Road Safety initiative to improve process and standard of licencing process will help enhance the understanding for foreigners and, meanwhile, protecting their right as a road user under Thai laws. Foreigners can receive a Thai driving licence with the same standard procedures with any other vehicle types by receiving training about relevant laws, rules for using roads in Thailand, written and practical tests.

Based on a survey conducted with British customers needing consular services, the partnership has helped kick start three initiatives that include the production of a 45-minute English language instructional video, covering road traffic laws, road usage, techniques for driving safely and driving etiquette. This is a part of the Thai driving test for foreign nationals.

Other initiatives are the production of a 3-minute English language video explaining the process for renewing, transferring and applying for a driving licence as a foreign national and re-translation of the online driving test for English speaking applicants.

The Department of Land Transport will use these materials for English speaking applicants at all driving test centres and transport offices across Thailand. This will ensure that foreign drivers are aware of road safety rules and regulations; the consequences of their own behaviour to themselves and to others; and law enforcement in Thailand.

Further information

• Thailand welcomes just over 1,000,000 British visitors each year and it is also home to over 50,000 British people and their families.
• Safety for British people visiting, living and working in Thailand is a key priority of the British Embassy Bangkok, with road safety being an important aspect of this.
• Last year (2017), 5% of total casework (71 cases) from the Consular Department at the British Embassy Bangkok involved providing assistance to British people involved in road accidents.
• The top five provinces for road traffic accidents involving British people are Surat Thani, Phuket, Chiangmai, Chonburi (Pattaya) and Bangkok.

Songsang.Jatupornsathien

Songsang.Jatupornsathien@fco.gov.uk