Category: Gov Press Releases

A stark social mobility postcode lottery exists in Britain today where the chances of someone from a disadvantaged background succeeding in life is bound to where they live, the Social Mobility Commission’s ‘State of the nation’ report, published today (Tuesday 28 November) has found.

The report uncovers a striking geographical divide with London and its surrounding areas pulling away from the rest of the country, while many other parts of the country are being left behind economically and hollowed out socially.

It warns that Britain is in the grip of a self-reinforcing spiral of ever-growing division and calls on government to increase its proportion of spending on those parts of the country that most need it. Estimates suggest that the North is £6 billion a year underfunded compared to London.

At the heart of the report is the Social Mobility Index, which ranks all 324 local authorities in England in terms of their social mobility prospects for someone from a disadvantaged background. It uses a range of 16 indicators for every major life stage, from early years through to working lives, to map the nation’s social mobility hotspots and coldspots. A similar, but not comparable, approach has been taken for Scotland and Wales.

The report debunks the assumption that a simple north-south divide exists. Instead, it suggests there is a postcode lottery with hotspots and coldspots found in almost every part of the country. London dominates the hotspots, while the East and West Midlands are the worst performing regions. The best performing local authority area is Westminster and the worst performing area is West Somerset.

The index finds that the worst performing areas for social mobility are no longer inner city areas, but remote rural and coastal areas, and former industrial areas, especially in the Midlands. Young people from disadvantaged backgrounds living in these areas face far higher barriers than young people growing up in cities and their surrounding areas – and in their working lives, face lower rates of pay; fewer top jobs; and travelling to work times of nearly four times more than that of urban residents.

There is also no direct correlation between the affluence of an area and its ability to sustain high levels of social mobility. While richer areas tend to outperform deprived areas in the index, a number of places buck the trend. Some of the most deprived areas in England are hotspots, including most London boroughs – such as Tower Hamlets, Hackney and Newham. Conversely, some affluent areas – such as West Berkshire, Cotswold and Crawley – are amongst the worst for offering good education, employment opportunities and affordable housing to their more disadvantaged residents.

The report highlights that local policies adopted by local authorities and employers can influence outcomes for disadvantaged residents. But it also warns that there is a mind-blowing inconsistency of practice in how to improve social mobility outcomes, with little pooling of experience or evidence-based strategies.

The Rt Hon Alan Milburn, chair of the Social Mobility Commission, said:

The country seems to be in the grip of a self-reinforcing spiral of ever-growing division. That takes a spatial form, not just a social one. There is a stark social mobility lottery in Britain today.

London and its hinterland are increasingly looking like a different country from the rest of Britain. It is moving ahead as are many of our country’s great cities. But too many rural and coastal areas and the towns of Britain’s old industrial heartlands are being left behind economically and hollowed out socially.

Tinkering around the edges will not do the trick. The analysis in this report substantiates the sense of political alienation and social resentment that so many parts of Britain feel. A new level of effort is needed to tackle the phenomenon of left behind Britain. Overcoming the divisions that exist in Britain requires far more ambition and far bigger scale. A less divided Britain will require a more redistributive approach to spreading education, employment and housing prospects across our country.

Key findings include:

• London accounts for nearly two-thirds of all social mobility hotspots
• The Midlands is the worst region of the country for social mobility for those from disadvantaged backgrounds – half of the local authority areas in the East Midlands and more than a third in the West Midlands are social mobility coldspots
• Some of the worst performing areas such as Weymouth and Portland, and Allerdale, are rural, not urban
• Coastal and older industrial towns – places such as Scarborough, Hastings, Derby and Nottingham – are becoming entrenched social mobility coldspots
• Some of the richest places in England, such as West Berkshire, Cotswold and Crawley, deliver worse outcomes for their disadvantaged children than places that are much poorer such as Sunderland and Tower Hamlets
• Apart from London, English cities are punching below their weight on social mobility outcomes. No other city makes it into the top 20%
• Early years – disadvantaged children are 14 percentage points less likely to be school ready at age 5 in coldspots than in hotspots: in 94 areas, under half of disadvantaged children reach a good level of development at age 5
• Schools – 51% of London children on free school meals achieve A* to C in English and maths GCSE compared to an average of 36% of children on free school meals in all other English regions: in the best place (Westminster), 63% get good English and maths GCSEs whereas in the worst (Isle of Wight), only 27% do
• A critical factor in the performance of top local authorities is the number and quality of teachers available. A secondary teacher in the most deprived area is 70% more likely to leave
• Schools in rural and coastal areas are isolated and lack partnerships with other schools. In Lancashire and West Yorkshire only 19% of all schools are either in a multi-academy trust or an equivalent trust compared to 35% in north east London and the East of England
• Youth – In Kensington and Chelsea, 50% of disadvantaged young people make it to university, whereas in Hastings, Barnsley and Eastbourne, the university participation rate for this group falls to just 10%
• One quarter of young people are NEET (not in education, employment or training) in the worst local authority area a year after GCSEs (South Ribble), compared to 1% in North Hertfordshire
• Working lives – In 71, largely rural areas, more than 30% of people earn below the voluntary living wage: average wages in the worst performing area, West Somerset, are £312 a week, less than half of the best performing areas of London such as Wandsworth, Richmond upon Thames and Westminster
• In Bolsover, just 17% of residents are in jobs that are professional and managerial positions, compared to 51% in Oxford
• City residents face barriers in their working lives with high housing costs and high rates of low paid work compared to commuter belt residents who benefit from higher rates of the top jobs and with more families owning their homes
• In Blaby, Rochford and Harborough, 80% of residents own their homes whereas in Tower Hamlets it is just 18%

Key recommendations:

• Every local authority should develop an integrated strategy for improving disadvantaged children’s outcomes and Pupil Premium funds should be invested in evidence-based practice
• Local authorities should support collaboration between isolated schools, subsidise transport for disadvantaged young people in isolated areas and encourage Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEP) to follow the North East LEP’s approach to improving careers support for young people
• Local authorities should all become accredited Living Wage employers and encourage others in their communities to do likewise
• Central government should launch a fund to enable schools in rural and coastal areas to partner with other schools to boost attainment
• Regional School Commissioners should be given responsibility to work with universities, schools and Teach First to ensure that there is a good supply of teachers in all parts of their regions
• The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy should match the Department for Education’s £72 million for the opportunity areas to ensure there is a collaborative effort across local education systems and labour markets
• Central government should rebalance the national transport budget to deliver a more equal share of investment per person and contribute towards a more regionally balanced economy

Notes for editors

1.The Social Mobility Commission is an advisory, non-departmental public body established under the Life Chances Act 2010 as modified by the Welfare Reform and Work Act 2016. It has a duty to assess progress in improving social mobility in the United Kingdom and to promote social mobility in England. It currently consists of four commissioners and is supported by a small secretariat.

2.The commission board currently comprises:

• Alan Milburn (chair)
• Baroness Gillian Shephard (deputy chair)
• Paul Gregg, Professor of Economic and Social Policy, University of Bath
• David Johnston, Chief Executive of the Social Mobility Foundation

3.The functions of the commission include:

• monitoring progress on improving social mobility
• providing published advice to ministers on matters relating to social mobility
• undertaking social mobility advocacy

This month’s Price Paid Data includes details of more than 101,000 sales of land and property in England and Wales that HM Land Registry received for registration in October 2017.

In the dataset, you can find the date of sale for each property, its full address and sale price, its category (residential or commercial) and type (detached, semi-detached, terraced, flat or maisonette and other), whether it is new build or not and whether it is freehold or leasehold.

The number of sales received for registration by property type and month

Property type	October 2017	September 2017	August 2017
Detached	22,849	22,377	22,782
Semi-detached	25,558	24,911	26,056
Terraced	26,394	25,829	26,515
Flat/maisonette	19,048	17,958	17,085
Other	7,159	6,027	6,075
Total	101,008	97,102	98,513

Of the 101,008 sales received for registration in October 2017:

• 74,649 were freehold, a 9% increase on October 2016
• 11,949 were newly built, a 8.5% decrease on October 2016

There is a time difference between the sale of a property and its registration at HM Land Registry.

Of the 101,008 sales received for registration, 27,229 took place in October 2017 of which:

• 479 were of residential properties in England and Wales for £1 million and over
• 253 were of residential properties in Greater London for £1 million and over
• 3 were of residential properties in Greater Manchester for £1 million and over

The most expensive residential sale taking place in October 2017 was of a flat in the City of Westminster, London for £15,750,000. The cheapest residential sale in October 2017 was of a terraced property in Bishop Auckland, County Durham for £18,500.

The most expensive commercial sale taking place in October 2017 was in the City of Westminster, London for £148,922,635. The cheapest commercial sale in October 2017 was in Taunton Deane, Somerset, for £100.

Access the full dataset

Notes to editors

1. Price Paid Data is published at 11 am on the 20th working day of each month. Due to the public holidays in December, the November dataset will be published on 2 January 2018.
2. Price Paid Data is property price data for all residential and commercial property sales in England and Wales that are lodged with HM Land Registry for registration in that month, subject to exclusions.
3. The amount of time between the sale of a property and the registration of this information with HM Land Registry varies. It typically ranges between 2 weeks and 2 months. Data for the two most recent months is therefore incomplete and does not give an indication of final monthly volumes. Occasionally the interval between sale and registration is longer than two months. The small number of sales affected cannot be updated for publication until the sales are lodged for registration.
4. Price Paid Data categories are either Category A (Standard entries) which includes single residential properties sold for full market value or Category B (Additional entries) for example sales to a company, buy-to-lets where they can be identified by a mortgage and repossessions.
5. HM Land Registry has been collecting information on Category A sales from January 1995 and on Category B sales from October 2013.
6. Price Paid Data can be downloaded in txt, csv format and in a machine readable format as linked data and is released under Open Government Licence (OGL). Under the OGL, HM Land Registry permits the use of Price Paid Data for commercial or non-commercial purposes. However, the OGL does not cover the use of third party rights, which HM Land Registry is not authorised to license.
7. The Price Paid Data report builder allows users to build bespoke reports using the data. Reports can be based on location, estate type, price paid or property type over a defined period of time.
8. HM Land Registry is a government department created in 1862. It operates as an executive agency and a trading fund and its running costs are covered by the fees paid by the users of its services. Its ambition is to become the world’s leading land registry for speed, simplicity and an open approach to data.
9. HM Land Registry safeguards land and property ownership worth more than £4 trillion, including about £1 trillion of mortgages. The Land Register contains around 24 million titles, which show evidence of ownership, covering some 84% of the land mass.
10. For further information about HM Land Registry visit www.gov.uk/land-registry.
11. Follow us on
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After a thorough investigation into the sector, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has identified widespread concerns about the information people are given, and gathered evidence which it considers reveal breaches of the law.

The CMA is raising its concerns with a number of these websites and will be requiring them to take action where necessary. While it notes that some sites have already made changes since it opened the investigation, the CMA wants to ensure all sites comply with the law and that their customers are better informed about the tickets they are buying:

• it must be clear if there are restrictions on using a resold ticket that could result in buyers being denied access to an event;
• people should know whom they are buying from – for example if the seller is a business and/or an event organiser – and can benefit from their legal rights; and
• customers need to be told where exactly in a venue they will be seated.

In addition, the CMA will be acting to address a failure by one website to comply fully with formal commitments it had previously given to improve the information provided about tickets advertised on its site.

The CMA has also broadened the scope of its original investigation to include a number of additional issues, prompted by new information gathered in the course of its work, specifically:

• pressure selling – whether claims made about the availability and popularity of tickets create a misleading impression or rush customers into making a buying decision;
• difficulties for customers in getting their money back under a website’s guarantee;
• speculative selling – where businesses advertise tickets for sale that they do not yet own and therefore may not be able to supply; and
• concerns about whether the organisers of some sporting events have sold tickets as a primary seller directly through a secondary ticket website, without making this clear to consumers.

The CMA will gather and assess evidence on these additional issues before deciding on whether further enforcement action is required.

Andrea Coscelli, CMA Chief Executive, said:

Secondary ticketing websites can offer an important service – by allowing people the chance to buy tickets at the last minute or giving them a chance to re-sell tickets they can no longer use. But our investigation has identified concerns that the law protecting consumers is being broken.

Thousands of people use these sites and they have a right to know if there is a risk that they will be turned away at the door, who they’ve bought their ticket from or exactly what seat at the venue they’re getting for their money.

He added:

We are putting our concerns to these websites and will be requiring the changes necessary to tackle them. We will use the full range of our powers to get the right outcome for these sites’ customers – including taking action through the courts if needed.

In addition, the CMA will continue to work closely with partner agencies and enforcers including:

• the Advertising Standards Authority which is investigating whether secondary ticketing websites have broken advertising rules; and
• National Trading Standards (NTS) and Trading Standards Scotland which are looking at the practices of businesses that buy and sell tickets in bulk. In NTS’s case this will include looking at how these businesses acquire tickets.

The CMA will also be engaging with event organisers to help them to avoid being challenged for using unfair terms to restrict the resale of their tickets. The CMA has today proposed a number of steps that the industry could take in order to stop consumers losing out. The CMA is inviting feedback from the industry on this proposed approach.

Notes for editors

1. In June 2016, the CMA launched a compliance review of secondary ticketing websites. The review revealed concerns about information provision and compliance with consumer protection law across the sector as a whole, which prompted the CMA to launch an enforcement investigation in December 2016.
2. The CMA has not reached a final view on whether the practices it is concerned about breach consumer protection law, and will listen to the websites’ responses to its concerns. If necessary the CMA will take action through the courts to enforce that law under Part 8 of the Enterprise Act 2002. Ultimately, only a court can rule that a particular practice infringes the law.
3. During the course of the investigation some secondary ticketing websites have already made changes to their practices in relation to the CMA’s areas of concern, which it welcomes. Where appropriate the CMA will seek commitments to ensure that changes already made are maintained as well as seeking any additional steps required to address its outstanding concerns.
4. The CMA is the UK’s primary competition and consumer authority. It is an independent non-ministerial government department with responsibility for carrying out investigations into mergers, markets and the regulated industries and enforcing competition and consumer law. For CMA updates, follow us on Twitter @CMAgovuk, Flickr and LinkedIn and like our Facebook page.
5. The key pieces of consumer protection legislation relevant to the CMA’s investigation are the Consumer Rights Act 2015 (CRA), the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 (CCRs), the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 (CPRs) and the Electronic Commerce (EC Directive) Regulations 2002 (ECRs).
6. As an enforcer under Part 8 of the Enterprise Act 2002, the CMA cannot levy administrative fines but it can enforce the above legislation through the courts, and where appropriate, obtain additional measures to improve consumer choice, drive better compliance with the law, or obtain redress for consumers.
7. Media Enquiries should be directed to press@cma.gsi.gov.uk or 0203 728 6790.
8. Non media enquiries should be directed at general.enquiries@cma.gsi.gov.uk.

A new service which allows people to get forecasts for river levels to help them manage their risk of flooding is available in the Calder Valley.

It is being provided by the Environment Agency on the website Gov.UK and shows a 36 hour forecast alongside observed data for the past 5 days. The service covers the River Calder at Walsden, Todmorden, Hebden Bridge, Mytholmroyd and Sowerby Bridge. The aim is to help people be more aware of risks and be able to plan for potential flood incidents.

Previously, people could view river levels for the previous 5 days, but now they can search by postcode on the river and sea levels service page and see what levels are expected to look like for these rivers over the next 36 hours. These new river forecasts are calculated by computer models that take into account data like current flows and expected rainfall.

The introduction of this service follows a successful pilot for people living in the community, including flood wardens, between March and June 2017. The plan is to continue to refine the service, based on feedback from users, before it is rolled out more widely in the future.

Forecast information can change quickly, often because of the weather, so people are still advised to sign up for our free flood warning service to get the most up-to-date and accurate situation. our flood warning service is updated every 15 minutes.

Why do residents find it useful?

Simon Hildon, from the Environment Agency’s flood resilience team in Calderdale, said:

We are always looking at ways to use technology to better share information with people. Residents have told us that they would find it really useful to see these river forecasts to help them manage their flood risk.

We want people to know if they’re at risk of flooding, be prepared, and take action to protect themselves and their families. A wealth of information is available on our website and we’d encourage everyone to check whether they’re at risk.

Mytholmroyd flood warden says river forecasts help them

Karl Boggis, one of the flood wardens in Mytholmroyd, said:

As flood wardens we use the river levels service to see what is happening at, not just, our measuring station, but also those up stream. Having the addition of the 36 hours of forecasted level, helps us better prepare and inform our community of what might be expected.

People who live in areas where the 36-hour river level forecasts are not available yet can still view data on river levels from the previous 5 days and check for flood warnings.

Leaders from 11 British Overseas Territories will meet in Downing Street on Tuesday 28 November at the start of their annual Joint Ministerial Council meeting where Prime Minister Theresa May will confirm a new £70 million package of recovery and reconstruction support for British islands hit by recent, devastating hurricanes.

This new, long-term support will add to the UK’s continued efforts to help the region recover and rebuild in the wake of hurricanes Irma and Maria, which affected more than two million people. It will be supplemented by up to £300 million of UK loan guarantees, for territories that need support to access finance.

At today’s meeting, the Prime Minister will invite Territory leaders to speak of their experiences in the hurricanes and to discuss progress already made. Leaders of Anguilla, the British Virgin Islands and Turks and Caicos, the worst impacted British territories, will be among those in attendance.

While substantial progress has been made already in the region, the UK is committed to supporting long-term reconstruction efforts so that each overseas territory can continue its important work of recovering essential services such as schools, medical facilities and ports, as well as power and water supplies.

Speaking ahead of the meeting, the Prime Minister said:

I am pleased to welcome leaders of the Overseas Territories to Downing Street today, as they begin regular consultations with their counterparts in the UK Government. I see this as a mark of the strong and enduring partnership that exists between us.

This set of meetings is not only a chance to work together on our shared priorities, but also to hear directly from those territories who suffered from Hurricanes Irma and Maria.

This new £70 million package of support demonstrates the UK’s ongoing commitment to help its Overseas Territories as they get on with the difficult work of recovery.

When the first hurricane struck, the UK responded immediately, supplying humanitarian aid and disaster response expertise to the area. We have continued to provide support since then, having already committed £92 million to the region-wide relief effort to date.

The Prime Minister will also take the opportunity today to update leaders on the progress of our discussions with the European Union as we prepare to leave, and to invite leaders to express their views so we can ensure they are properly reflected in our strategy for Brexit negotiations.

The Secretary of State for International Trade, Dr Liam Fox, has this week announced that the Department for International Trade (DIT) will recruit for a new team of Her Britannic Majesty’s Trade Commissioners (HMTCs) to represent the UK in key markets across the world.

The HM Trade Commissioners, one of the government’s manifesto commitments, will play a vital role as the UK leaves the European Union and takes its place as a global champion of free trade in charge of its own independent trade policy. The HM Trade Commissioners will head the global operations of DIT, leading on export promotion, inward and outward direct investment, and trade policy overseas on behalf of the UK government.

The 9 geographical areas that the HM Trade Commissioners will cover are:

• Africa
• Asia-Pacific
• China
• Eastern Europe and Central Asia Network (EECAN)
• Europe
• Latin America
• Middle East
• North America
• South America

The HM Trade Commissioners will be senior Civil Service appointments. It is anticipated that appointments will be confirmed during the first half of 2018.

International Trade Secretary, Dr Liam Fox, said:

This is an exciting and challenging opportunity to represent the UK in key markets around the world. We will be seeking the brightest and the best, from both the public and private sectors to use their extensive regional and in-country knowledge, together with their business and government expertise to help build a global Britain.

The new HM Trade Commissioners will be providing a clear vision and direction to my Department’s global operations. That will require providing intelligence on the ground, deciding what tailored action is required in their region, and playing a vital role in our future global trading relationships.

Further information

Karen is the first woman appointed to this role, and is uniquely suited for the position having previously served as Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN in New York, and more recently as the Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva.

The current Ambassador and Permanent Representative, Matthew Rycroft, has been in the post since 2015 and will handover in January 2018 when he returns to London to take up his new role as Permanent Secretary at the Department for International Development.

On being announced as the new Ambassador to the United Nations, Karen Pierce said:

The UK has long been a strong supporter of the UN and its role at the heart of the global rules-based international system at a time when it is coming under challenge. Through our role as a permanent member of the Security Council and position as the UN’s third largest donor, the UK will continue to work with others to tackle the pressing security, stability, development and prosperity challenges of today.

Our security and economic interests depend to a large extent on a strong and effective United Nations. I am honoured to be appointed as the UK’s Ambassador and to head the UK cross-government effort at the UN. I undertake to ensure we are an active force in New York for progress and partnership.

Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said:

Britain has a proud history of working for positive change through the United Nations, not least in addressing the problems in Libya and Syria. I know Karen has the diplomatic skills, energy and patience to continue this vital work, and I congratulate her on her appointment.

Notes to editors

Karen Pierce’s full career history can be found here.

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The Queen has been pleased to approve that the honour of Knighthood be conferred upon Antony James Zacaroli QC on his appointment as a Justice of the High Court.

Background:

Antony James Zacaroli was called to the Bar in 1987 and took Silk in 2006.

Over the last 12 months the Environment Agency has seen an increase in illegal waste activity across Bristol, Dorset, Somerset and Wiltshire.

The first of these events took place on Tuesday 21 November 2017. Environment Officers visited 15 locations in the Bristol, Dorset, Somerset and Wiltshire area. They confirmed 6 illegal waste sites and found a number of unauthorised waste disposal activities, including waste being burnt.

Tackling waste crime is a top priority for the Environment Agency. Waste stored or disposed of without the proper environmental controls can have a huge impact on the environment, polluting watercourses, land and underground aquifers, and in some cases contributing to flooding. It is often an eyesore that attracts further dumping, while creating issues for neighbours such as smells and pests. The Environment Agency is determined to make life hard for criminals and to support legitimate businesses by disrupting the criminal element and taking tough enforcement action.

Andy Hicklin, Environment Agency Area Environment Manager for Wessex area, said:

Waste crime is a blight on communities and the environment and undermines legitimate business. Acting on reports from members of the public, days of action are just the first step in tackling waste crime. We will work with our partners in local authorities and use all of the tools at our disposal to disrupt, prevent and stop illegal waste activity.

The Environment Agency is asking members of the public to be vigilant; to contact them with information on anything suspicious. Illegal treatment and disposal of waste is a crime that blights lives and communities and damages the environment. Individuals involved in this type of illegal activity can be hostile and we would urge members of the public to avoid any direct contact with the culprits.

If you see or suspect illegal waste activities, report it anonymously to Crimestoppers or call 0800 555 111 or via the Environment Agency incident hotline on 0800 80 70 60.