Category: Gov Press Releases

A Downing Street spokesperson said:

This afternoon Prime Minister Theresa May welcomed President Nana Akufo-Addo of Ghana to Downing Street for a bilateral meeting.

The Prime Minister congratulated President Akufo-Addo on Ghana’s 60th Anniversary of Independence and affirmed her wish to renew the UK-Ghana partnership for the next 60 years and beyond.

They discussed how to build on bilateral trade ties, including by encouraging more UK companies to invest in Ghana.

The Prime Minister said that she looked forward to welcoming the President back to London in April for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting. They agreed on the importance of engaging with young people and putting them at the heart of the Commonwealth agenda.

The leaders noted the importance of UK and Ghana’s close co-operation on key security challenges including counter-terrorism, organised crime and human trafficking.

Gheorghe Betianu, gave a disqualification undertaking to the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy on 12 October 2017, which, prevents him from managing or controlling a company without leave of the court from 14 November 2017 until November 2024.

Mr Betianu, a former Olympic boxer, was the sole appointed director of Riverside Group (London) Ltd (RGLL) from 1995 to the date of creditors’ voluntary liquidation on 2016. He was also the company’s sole shareholder.

RGLL traded under the name of Media Cars and provided taxi services in the London area and private ambulance transportation to various London hospitals.

An Insolvency Service investigation found that Mr Betianu failed to ensure that RGLL maintained adequate accounting records and caused RGLL to trade to the detriment of HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC). At liquidation HMRC were owed at least £343,664 for PAYE/NIC and VAT.

Aldona O’Hara, Investigation Leader, Insolvent Investigations Midlands & West at the Insolvency Service, said:

Directors have a duty to ensure that their companies maintain proper accounting records, and, following insolvency, deliver them to the office-holder in the interests of fairness and transparency.

Without a full account of transactions it is impossible to determine whether a director has discharged his duties properly, or is using a lack of documentation as a cloak for impropriety.

In addition, directors who fail to ensure that HMRC are treated on an equal basis with other classes of creditor gain an unfair advantage over those companies who pay their taxes correctly and on time. They can expect to be investigated by the Insolvency Service and enforcement action taken to remove them from the market place.

Notes to editors

Riverside Group (London) Limited – Company Registration Number 03066834 – was incorporated on 12 June 1995. It traded from 1997 to May 2016 from 12 West Lane, Bermondsey, London, SE16 4NY.

Gheorghe Betianu, date of birth: September 1959 was the sole appointed director of RGLL from 15 June 1995 to the date of Creditors’ Voluntary Liquidation on 03 June 2016. He was also the sole shareholder of RGLL.

RGLL went into liquidation on 3 June 2016, with assets of £11,050 and owing an estimated £473,582 to creditors.

A disqualification order has the effect that without specific permission of a court, a person with a disqualification cannot:

• act as a director of a company
• take part, directly or indirectly, in the promotion, formation or management of a company or limited liability partnership
• be a receiver of a company’s property

Disqualification undertakings are the administrative equivalent of a disqualification order but do not involve court proceedings.
Persons subject to a disqualification order are bound by a range of other restrictions.

The Insolvency Service, an executive agency sponsored by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), administers the insolvency regime, and aims to deliver and promote a range of investigation and enforcement activities both civil and criminal in nature, to support fair and open markets. We do this by effectively enforcing the statutory company and insolvency regimes, maintaining public confidence in those regimes and reducing the harm caused to victims of fraudulent activity and to the business community, including dealing with the disqualification of directors in corporate failures.

BEIS’ mission is to build a dynamic and competitive UK economy that works for all, in particular by creating the conditions for business success and promoting an open global economy. The Criminal Investigations and Prosecutions team contributes to this aim by taking action to deter fraud and to regulate the market. They investigate and prosecute a range of offences, primarily relating to personal or company insolvencies.

The agency also authorises and regulates the insolvency profession, assesses and pays statutory entitlement to redundancy payments when an employer cannot or will not pay employees, provides banking and investment services for bankruptcy and liquidation estate funds and advises ministers and other government departments on insolvency law and practice.

Further information about the work of the Insolvency Service, and how to complain about financial misconduct, is available.

Contact Press Office

You can also follow the Insolvency Service on:

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A temporary bridge over the A14 at Swavesey will be taken down this week, having played its part in keeping construction traffic away from the busy A14 during construction of Britain’s biggest road upgrade.

The bridge, part of the £1.5 billion A14 Cambridge to Huntingdon improvement, has been used to carry 160,000 cubic metres of construction materials – enough to fill 65 Olympic swimming pools – from the south to the north of the A14 in just over two months. Without it, 40,000 extra lorry movements would have been needed on the current A14.

Now all the construction materials have been moved across, the bridge is no longer needed and can be removed.

Highways England project manager for the A14 Cambridge to Huntingdon Chris Griffin said:

Using this temporary bridge has helped us to carry out work to prepare the construction of the future Swavesey interchange with minimal impact on people’s journeys, and is just one of the ways in which we are keeping traffic moving while we deliver these vital improvements for the A14. The bridge will be taken down using temporary overnight closures on the A14, so I encourage drivers to plan ahead and find out what to do if they are affected.

To carry out this work safely, the A14 will need to be closed between junctions 24 (Godmanchester) and 31 (Girton interchange) from 9pm to 5am as follows:

• A14 eastbound closure only on Monday 20 November
• A14 westbound closure only on Tuesday 21 November
• Full A14 closure in both directions on Saturday 25 November

During the closures, clearly signed diversions will be in place. Drivers heading east will be diverted to take the A1198 to Caxton Gibbet, then the A428 to re-join the A14. Traffic heading west will follow this route in reverse.
Local traffic will still be able to continue eastbound on the A14 to reach junction 27 (Fenstanton) and exit, at which point the A14 will be closed. Similarly local traffic heading westbound will still be able to reach junction 28 (Swavesey) and exit.

To check the latest traffic information, listen to traffic bulletins on local and national radio stations, visit the Traffic England website. and follow Highways England on Twitter via @HighwaysEAST.

Three directors of Speed-e-Loans.com Limited (SEL) have been disqualified from acting as a directors. The Secretary of State for Business, Energy, & Industrial Strategy, accepted disqualification undertakings from Philip Miller for nine years, Robert Alan Davies for six years and Daniel Jonathan Miller for five years – following an investigation by the Insolvency Service.

At administration, Speed-e-Loans.com Limited had assets listed at £150,269 and liabilities to creditors of £4,364,313.

All three directors breached their fiduciary duties and the duties of care, skill and diligence. Philip Miller caused, whilst his son, Daniel Jonathan Miller, and Robert Alan Davies allowed, SEL, at a time when it was not solvent and had ceased lending to new clients to receive funds from private investors via pension liberation schemes. These investors became liable to pay a substantial tax charge and were also exposed to the risk of penalties. SEL received £1,210,860.06 from private investors, funds which were in jeopardy and were lost in the events that happened.

SEL traded as a pay-day loan provider from February 2010 until July 2012, when it’s then managing director was suspended. A new managing director was appointed and SEL ceased lending to new clients by August 2012, thereby ceasing active new trading. At a board meeting, the directors sought new opportunities for the investment of new moneys into SEL.

Phillip Miller (who had previously been a formally appointed director and was a major shareholder) presented a proposal for SEL to receive moneys from a pensions liberation scheme set up by third party brokers. SEL was to be the investment through which members of the public derived guaranteed annual dividend payments of 5% as well as a guaranteed return of the whole of their “investments” in ten years. The terms were that SEL would receive 54% of the moneys provided by the public but be contractually obliged to repay 100% plus that annual 5% dividend. The board agreed by majority to the proposals and set in place the necessary pension trusts and paperwork.

From October 2012, members of the public invested through brokers at least £2.6m, of which at least £1.2m was received by SEL, and none of which was used by SEL to trade. These moneys were utilised to meet existing debt repayments of SEL.

In January 2013 SEL became aware that that one of the brokers responsible for the scheme was on trial for fraud. SEL continued receiving investments until May 2013.

During May 2013 a BBC documentary was shown raising clear concerns over such schemes. SEL sought professional advice and entered into administration in June 2013.

Cheryl Lambert, Chief Investigator at the Insolvency Service, said:

The directors were collectively, and at the kindest interpretation, recklessly negligent in their desperation to save the company. None of them asked simple, obvious questions when it should have been clear to them the brokers were taking nearly 50% in fees, nor the type of scheme they had become involved with and the individuals who were pushing the scheme.

Philip Miller, the proposer and principal character, stood to gain financially from individual the transactions through a commission and so his actions demand the harshest criticism.

Taking action against the people most responsible is a warning to all directors that such behaviour will attract in a very significant sanction. You cannot hide behind a lack of technical knowledge of specialist schemes – you have to exercise independent and critical thought.

Notes to editors

Speed-e-Loans.com Ltd (CRO 06781893) was incorporated on 2 January 2009. Its registered office was 19-20 Bourne Court Southend Road Woodford Green Essex IG8 8HD, immediately prior to insolvency. It traded from 1st Floor, 507 Centennial Park, Elstree, Hertfordshire, WD6 3FG.

Speed-e-Loans.com Ltd was placed into administration on 28 June 2013 with Alan Simon of Langley House Park Road, London, N2 8EY appointed administrator.

Speed-e-Loans.com Ltd entered creditors voluntary liquidation on 11 June 2014 with Alan Simon of Langley House Park Road, London, N2 8EY appointed liquidator.

Philip Miller is of Eilat 88000, Israel. His date of birth is March 1947. The Secretary of State accepted an undertaking from Philip Miller on 28 June 2017 for nine years. The disqualification commenced on 19 July 2017.

Robert Alan Davies is of, Woodford Green, Essex. His date of birth is April 1979. The Secretary of State accepted an undertaking from Robert Alan Davies on 25 September 2017 for six years. The disqualification commenced on 16 October 2017.

Daniel Jonathan Miller is of London. His date of birth is December 1952. The Secretary of State accepted an undertaking from Daniel Jonathan Miller on 27 October 2015 for five years. The disqualification commenced on 17 November 2015.

A disqualification order has the effect that without specific permission of a court, a person with a disqualification cannot:

• act as a director of a company
• take part, directly or indirectly, in the promotion, formation or management of a company or limited liability partnership
• be a receiver of a company’s property

Disqualification undertakings are the administrative equivalent of a disqualification order but do not involve court proceedings.

Persons subject to a disqualification order are bound by a range of other restrictions.

The Insolvency Service, an executive agency sponsored by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), administers the insolvency regime, and aims to deliver and promote a range of investigation and enforcement activities both civil and criminal in nature, to support fair and open markets. We do this by effectively enforcing the statutory company and insolvency regimes, maintaining public confidence in those regimes and reducing the harm caused to victims of fraudulent activity and to the business community, including dealing with the disqualification of directors in corporate failures.

BEIS’ mission is to build a dynamic and competitive UK economy that works for all, in particular by creating the conditions for business success and promoting an open global economy. The Criminal Investigations and Prosecutions team contributes to this aim by taking action to deter fraud and to regulate the market. They investigate and prosecute a range of offences, primarily relating to personal or company insolvencies.

The agency also authorises and regulates the insolvency profession, assesses and pays statutory entitlement to redundancy payments when an employer cannot or will not pay employees, provides banking and investment services for bankruptcy and liquidation estate funds and advises ministers and other government departments on insolvency law and practice.

Further information about the work of the Insolvency Service, and how to complain about financial misconduct, is available.

All public enquiries concerning the affairs of the company should be made to: Cheryl Lambert, Head of Outsourced Investigations, Investigations and Enforcement Services, The Insolvency Service, 3rd Floor, Abbey Orchard Street, London SW1P 2HT. Tel: 0207 596 6117. Email: Cheryl.Lambert@insolvency.gsi.gov.uk

Contact Press Office

You can also follow the Insolvency Service on:

• Twitter
• LinkedIn
• YouTube

From 20-24 November, MHRA is running a social media campaign to promote recognition and reporting of suspected side effects from over-the-counter medicines, as part of an EU-wide awareness week.

While medicines are safe and effective, side effects can happen, even with over-the-counter medicines. It is important the risks associated with all medicines are understood and communicated to health professionals and patients.

Potential side effects may range from a headache or sore stomach, to flu-like symptoms or just ‘feeling a bit off’ and reporting these can help regulators monitor medicines on the market and take action as appropriate.

Regulators such as MHRA rely on the reporting of suspected side effects to make sure medicines on the market are acceptably safe. Unfortunately, all reporting systems suffer from under reporting – this is why our campaign is important to both raise awareness and help strengthen the system.

SCOPE ADR Campaign

Mick Foy, Group Manager for MHRA’s Vigilance and Risk Management of Medicines division, said

The most important part of our work is making sure the medicines you and your family take are effective and acceptably safe.

Our campaign will help the public, patients and healthcare professionals report potential side effects and have confidence that their reports are making a difference.

You can help make medicines safer by reporting any suspected side effects easily and quickly online through the Yellow Card Scheme.

The campaign is part of the Strengthening Collaboration for Operating Pharmacovigilance in Europe (SCOPE) Joint Action project. One of its main aims is to raise awareness of national reporting systems for suspected side effects in medicines.

Notes to Editor

1. National reporting systems for the collection of suspected adverse drug reactions (commonly known as side effects) have acted as early warning systems to help identify numerous important safety issues, many of which were not recognised as being related to a particular medicine until reports were received by medicines regulators.

2. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency is responsible for protecting and improving the health of millions of people every day through the effective regulation of medicines and medical devices, underpinned by science and research. The agency consists of three centres: CPRD, NIBSC and MHRA.

3. The public is advised that they should take prescription-only medicines after an appropriate consultation with their GP. Only healthcare professionals can take into account risks and benefits associated with every medicine.

4. To report a counterfeit medicine or device contact MHRA’s dedicated 24-hour hotline on 020 3080 6701, or email counterfeit@mhra.gov.uk, or write to: Counterfeits, The Intelligence Unit, MHRA, 151 Buckingham Palace Road, Victoria, London, SW1W 9SZ.

5. To report a suspected side effect from an unlicensed medicine visit the Yellow Card Scheme

6. The SCOPE Joint Action project (scopejointaction.eu) social media campaign is being taken forward through the Heads of Medicines Agencies Working Group for Communications Professionals.

As part of the Industrial Strategy’s aim to improve productivity and create better and higher-paying jobs across the UK, the government will:

• Work with industry to boost spending on R&D to 2.4 per cent of GDP by 2027, which could increase public and private R&D investment by as much as £80 billion over the next 10 years. We will start by making an extra investment of £2.3 billion in 2021/22, raising total public investment in R&D to £12.5 billion that year alone.

• Launch a £1.7 billion Transforming Cities Fund that will improve transport links and promote local growth within city regions, placing cities at the heart of our industrial strategy. This includes £250 million for better transport in the West Midlands.

The Prime Minister will visit the West Midlands today with the Chancellor and Business Secretary beginning a week in which the government will set out its plan for a stronger economy and fairer society.

Writing in The Times today, the Prime Minister said:

“One of my first actions as Prime Minister was to begin the development of a modern industrial strategy that will help businesses to create high-quality, well paid jobs right across the country.

“This is a new long-term approach to shaping a stronger and fairer economy for decades to come.

“It helps young people to develop the skills they need to take up the high-paid, high-skilled jobs of the future.

“Our Industrial Strategy will propel Britain to global leadership of the industries of the future, seizing the big opportunities of our time – from Artificial Intelligence and Big Data to clean energy and self-driving vehicles.”

This investment will see public R&D spending increase as a share of GDP for each of the next five years and bring investment to levels last seen in the 1980s. It builds on the commitment made last year to raise R&D spending from £9bn in 2015/16 to £12bn in 2020/21.

Next Monday the launch of the Industrial Strategy White Paper will announce four Grand Challenges that reflect global trends that will shape our future and industries where the UK has an edge, these are artificial intelligence and the data economy; clean growth; healthy ageing; and the future of mobility.

The government will work with business, academia and civil society to build on UK strengths in these areas and ensure Britain’s economy is fit for the future. The Business Secretary will set out more detail on these Grand Challenges next week.

The Business Secretary, Greg Clark said:

“Through our Industrial Strategy we are committed to building a knowledge and innovation-led economy and this increase in R&D investment, to 2.4 per cent of GDP, is a landmark moment for the country.

“The UK is a world leader in science and innovation. By delivering this significant increase as part of our Industrial Strategy, we are building on our strengths and working with business to ensure that UK scientists and researchers continue to push the boundaries of innovation.

“We want the UK to attract, and create, the best and brightest talents, from Nobel Prize winners to ambitious graduate students, and this game-changing investment will ensure we are the home of the industries of the future and high-quality, good jobs.”

The Transforming Cities Fund will address weaknesses in city transport systems in order to raise productivity and spread prosperity. It will fund new local transport links, making it easier to travel between often more prosperous city centres and frequently struggling suburbs.

This will help make sure people across the country have better options to combine different modes of transport – supporting projects which will improve connectivity, reduce congestion and introduce new mobility services and technology.

The Secretary of State for Transport, Chris Grayling said:

“Investment in transport is crucial to a strong and resilient economy. The Transforming Cities Fund will drive productivity and growth in cities where this is most needed, connecting communities and making it quicker and easier for people to get around.

“We have already seen the impact of better integrated transport links for both passengers and the local economy in cities like Nottingham and Manchester. This new fund will enable more English cities to reap these benefits, helping to deliver the opportunities and ambition of the Industrial Strategy across the country, as well as driving forward the Northern Powerhouse and Midlands Engine.”

On her first overseas visit International Development Secretary Penny Mordaunt has reaffirmed that the UK stands by those Overseas Territories and independent Commonwealth Caribbean countries devastated by the recent hurricanes and seen how British aid is helping to rebuild people’s lives.

The International Development Secretary accompanied His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales during a visit to the British Virgin Islands and Dominica, where she thanked British humanitarian heroes and the military for working tirelessly on the relief efforts on the worst-hit islands. She also visited Antigua and Barbuda.

The Secretary of State set out a new £15 million package for Dominica (£12m) and Antigua and Barbuda (£3m) to help recovery and long-term reconstruction on the islands. This is in addition to a further £15m recently allocated to the affected Overseas Territories.

Speaking during the visit, Ms Mordaunt, said:

We can be proud that in their time of crisis the UK stepped up to provide the vital immediate relief that was fundamental in getting these islands back on their feet.

The UK aid mission was huge, covering small islands stretching more than 1,000 miles apart, where buildings, airports and infrastructure had been razed to the ground. I want to pay tribute to the governments of the Overseas Territories, our humanitarian staff and to the military effort, which has been absolutely essential in delivering relief.

Now as we move on from the immediate response phase, on to the long-term future of the islands, Britain will continue to stand by people whose lives were devastated. We are also talking to the international private sector who can support the reconstruction efforts to make sure the islands can build back, and better.

The support package, which brings the total UK contribution to £92m, will include £10m to help Dominica to rebuild critical infrastructure damaged during the hurricanes. In Dominica 97% of the water system was destroyed. This is one example of where UK funding could help rebuild so Dominica is better able to withstand future natural disasters.

The UK contribution to Dominica also includes an additional £2m for early recovery, building on the £5m committed in September, which will support:

• Repairs to homes and roofs, through the International Organization for Migration, to provide hundreds of households with urgent shelter;
• Debris clearance through the UN Development Programme and the National Employment Programme to help establish healthy and safe living conditions in communities, to enable agricultural land to be put to use once again, and to support restoration of economic activity and livelihoods;
• Cash assistance through the World Food Programme, helping those worst affected to meet their needs flexibly and to revitalise the local economy.

For Antigua and Barbuda, the UK stands ready to assist with a £3m fund which will be deployed once the priorities for reconstruction on Barbuda are agreed with the local government.

For the Overseas Territories of Anguilla, the British Virgin Islands and Turks and Caicos, the £15m being announced today is delivering accelerated power reconnection and support to prisons, repairs to air and sea ports and support for policing. This is short-term funding to aid the territories’ early steps to recovery.

The UK Government continues to work with the governments of the Overseas Territories as they develop their longer-term recovery plans.

At the World Bank meetings last month the UK announced a private sector task force will mobilise business to play a prominent role in the reconstruction in the Overseas Territories. The task force will identify and drive forward practical ways of increasing flows of private sector financial support to reconstruction in the region.

Notes to editors:

• The International Development Secretary will arrive into Antigua on Friday 17 November where she will visit the shelters where people evacuated from Barbuda are staying. The next day she will travel to the British Virgin Islands where she will meet volunteers for the Red Cross who played a huge role in rescues and aid distribution. That evening she will attend a reception where she will thank the military who have helped restore critical infrastructure on the islands, including power and water plants. On Sunday she will travel to Dominica to see the impact of the UK’s response. She will meet farmers to discuss efforts to rebuild the island’s agriculture and will travel to Pointe Michel, to meet residents and see the destruction Hurricane Maria caused. She will also have a chance to thank the humanitarian staff who have been coordinating the UK’s response.
• Hurricane Irma (category 5) hit the British Virgin Islands, Turks and Caicos and Antigua and Barbuda at the beginning of September. It was closely followed by Hurricane Maria which affected Dominica, leaving 98% of buildings damaged and thousands without power. It was the first category five hurricane to hit the island in living memory, affecting almost the entire 70,000 population.
• The support announced is on top of £62m the government has committed so far to the hurricane response. The UK is also matching public donations to the British Red Cross Appeal up to £3m.

Boris Johnson and Simon Coveney discussed the strong, unique and enduring relationship between the UK and Ireland, as well as key foreign policy issues such as Africa and the Middle East, and the protection of human rights.

The Ministers also discussed the UK’s exit from the European Union, and our aims for the future relationship.

The Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said:

There are no closer friends than the UK and Ireland. Our two nations share a special, unique and enduring bond, which will not change when the UK leaves the European Union.

I am proud to have visited Dublin today to play my part, as the British Foreign Secretary, in that bond, celebrating the contribution British and Irish people make to each other’s nations.

The Foreign Secretary also met Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin TD, and visited the National Gallery of Ireland where he saw the Sir William Orpen exhibition of First World War paintings.

The final stop on the visit was to Dublin’s Trinity College, where the Foreign Secretary attended an event at the Science Gallery showcasing Science Week. He met members of the Irish science and innovation community and young scientists. The Foreign Secretary heard about the deep ties and collaboration between Irish and British academics and scientific institutions.

Further information

• Follow the Foreign Secretary on Twitter @BorisJohnson and Facebook

• Follow the Foreign Office on Twitter @foreignoffice and Facebook

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