Category: Gov Press Releases

Highways England announced the preferred route for the dualling of a 30 mile section of the A303 between Sparkford and Ilchester.

The move for the £179 million scheme follows the recent announcement of the preferred route for the £1.6 billion upgrade of the A303 further up the road near Stonehenge.

Transport Secretary Chris Grayling said:

The government is taking the big decisions for Britain’s future and investing in the biggest roads upgrade in a generation.

Our major upgrade to the A303, linking the M3 in the south-east and the M5 in the south-west, will create an expressway to boost the regional economy and provide better transport links.

As part of this work, the £179 million upgrade between Sparkford and Ilchester will cut congestion, reduce journey times and improve safety for all road users.

Jim O’Sullivan, Highways England chief executive, said:

The A303 is a vital route between the South West and the rest of the country and this upgrade is absolutely necessary to provide much needed capacity and to relieve the congestion which drivers have suffered for years.

People who responded to our consultation earlier this year demonstrated strong support for option one, which closely follows the route of the existing A303 and so would have less impact on the rural setting.

We now look forward to continue to work with our partners and the local community to develop more detailed proposals to start construction in 2020.

In the meantime, we invite visitors to our planned drop-in sessions where we can discuss the preferred route with those interested.

As part of its £15bn investment in motorways and main ‘A’ roads the Government is committed to upgrading all remaining sections of the A303 between the M3 and M5 to dual carriageway standard, starting with three schemes: those on the A303 at Stonehenge and between Sparkford and Ilchester, and the third on the A358 between Taunton and Southfields.

Two options for the three-mile section between Sparkford and Ilchester were consulted on earlier this year. The preferred route will support the local economy to grow by making the area more accessible for both
tourism and business.

The proposed route will offer a high quality dual carriageway with new two-level junction access with local roads and communities. The proposal will protect biodiversity and road users would benefit from the shorter route.

It will improve local access for pedestrians, equestrians and cyclists.

Formal consultation is due to take place early next year along with the submission of a development consent order planning application.

Two public drop-in events where people can view the preferred route and talk to our project experts will be held at:

• Haynes Motor Museum, Wolverlands, Sparkford, Yeovil BA22 7LH Tuesday 7 November 2017 3pm to 7pm
• Haynes Motor Museum, Wolverlands, Sparkford, Yeovil BA22 7LH Friday 10 November 2017 3pm to 7pm

Information points

Copies of the preferred route plans and supporting reports will also be available at the following local information points from Tuesday 24 October:

Public Information Points

• Wincanton Library, 7 Carrington Way, Wincanton, Somerset, BA9 9JS Barrington Court, Barrington, Ilminster, TA19 0NQ
• Yeovil Library, King George Street, Yeovil, Somerset, BA20 1PZ Lytes Cary Manor, near Somerton, Somerset, TA11 7HU
• South Petherton Library, St. James Street, South Petherton, Somerset, TA13 5BS Montacute House, Montacute, TA15 6XP
• Taunton Library, Paul Street, Taunton, Somerset, TA1 3XZ Somerset County Council, County Hall, Taunton, Somerset, TA1 4DY
• Martock Library, The Shopping Centre, Martock, Somerset, TA12 6DL South Somerset District Council, Brympton Way, Yeovil, Somerset, BA20 2HT

More information about the preferred route can be viewed on the scheme website.

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.

The Department for Education has today (24 October) announced a programme to recruit a team of high-performing leaders to provide specialist support to struggling FE colleges.

The National Leaders of Further Education (NLFE) will be comprised of experts from the FE sector who will work to improve colleges judged as “Requires Improvement” or “Inadequate” in their most recent Ofsted inspection.

Successful applicants will provide mentoring and support to develop the skills of senior staff at impacted colleges and will partner their colleges on the delivery of improvement programmes.

They will also work with other NLFE as part of a network and share best practice with institutions across their region.

Apprenticeships and Skills Minister Anne Milton said:

This country has fantastic leaders across the FE sector and we want to harness their ability to raise standards across the FE Sector.

We want to make sure that improvements to schools are replicated in colleges. The National Leaders of Further Education, which will sit alongside the Strategic College Improvement Fund can ensure this happens. I look forward to welcoming these leaders into this exciting programme.

ENDS

Notes to editors

The NLFE programme is modelled on the highly successful National Leaders of Education scheme in schools.

Interested applicants should contact FE.leaders@education.gov.uk. Applications will close on 14 November 2017.

The sole registered director of AS Diamonds Limited in Arlington Court, Stevenage, has been disqualified from acting as a company director for six years failing to provide adequate company records, whilst also treating HMRC detrimentally in comparison to other creditors.

The Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy accepted an undertaking from Gary Wright effective from 11 October 2017.

Although Gary Wright provided some accounting records to the liquidator they were inadequate and it was not possible in particular to verify the purpose of payments to himself of over £160,000 as well as cash withdrawals of £40,000 and the validity of a supplier invoice to the value of £33,000.

During the period of trading, Gary Wright caused AS Diamonds Limited to treat HMRC detrimentally in comparison to other creditors. Although AS Diamonds Limited charged VAT on its sales invoices, no VAT returns were ever submitted and HMRC therefore duly issued assessments totaling £123,922. An analysis of the company’s bank account revealed that in excess of £490,000 was paid out, of which, nothing was paid to HMRC in respect of its accruing VAT debt.

Additionally, during the period 11 December to 22 December 2014, £49,967 was transferred to Gary Wright’s personal bank account which was to the detriment of creditors in general.

Commenting on the disqualification, David Brooks, a Chief Investigator with the Insolvency Service said:

The period of this disqualification contained within the undertaking signed by Gary Wright sends a clear message to other company directors.

Company directors have a statutory duty under the Companies Act to keep adequate company records which should amongst other things satisfactorily explain payments.

Further, much of the public service is funded by the correct amount of taxes being paid. By not declaring and paying the correct amount of taxes, Gary Wright has ultimately deprived the public services and the public from receiving the services it deserves. The Insolvency Service therefore will not hesitate to remove them from the business environment in order to protect the public.

Notes to editors

Gary Wright, 37 – date of birth, December 1980, was a registered director of AS Diamonds Limited (Company No. 08514671), which was incorporated in May 2013 and traded as a wholesaler of watches and jewellery from Arlington Court, Stevenage.

Gary Wright, of Stevenage, has been disqualified for 6 years from 11 October 2017.

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:

• Twitter
• LinkedIn
• YouTube

Public Health England (PHE) has today (24 October 2017) published new child vision screening materials and guidance to help improve consistency and quality of sight tests for children in schools during their early years.

There are almost 25,000 blind and partially sighted children in the UK – around 2 in every 1,000 children. Vision screening is an important way to identify problems as early as possible, helping to prevent young children from completely or partially losing their sight.

Early detection of reduced vision means that effective treatment, such as glasses or patching, can be quickly offered. The tests are carried out in schools to help maximise screening coverage of 4 to 5-year-olds.

Vision screening for 4 to 5-year-olds is part of the healthy child programme, and the new materials will summarise best practice for commissioners and those who carry out the tests, including school nurses, to ensure screening is of a consistent high-quality across schools.

The materials were developed by an expert advisory group, including PHE, and are all evidence based. They include a leaflet for parents, which clearly explains:

• the importance of vision screening
• how the test is carried out
• what support is offered if there is a problem

There is also guidance for vision screeners, outlining the expected requirements to ensure they carry out safe and effective tests.

Dr Anne Mackie, PHE’s Director of Screening, who chaired the expert advisory group to develop the new materials, launched the resources during her speech today at the Westminster Health Forum Seminar in London, which focused on eye care services and treating visual impairment.

Dr Anne Mackie said:

There are almost 25,000 blind and partially sighted children in the UK – 2 in every 1,000 children, which is why it is essential that all young children have their vision tested.

A child’s eyes are in constant use in the classroom and at play. If they have any undetected problems with their vision, their education and participation in activities and sports can suffer.

The child vision screening programme is the only chance for all children to get their vision tested formally so that problems can be identified and tackled quickly at the start of their school life – helping ensure they can reach their full potential.

These new resources will help ensure high-quality, local vision screening services in schools across England.

The UK National Screening Committee has recommended vision screening on a number of occasions, most recently in 2013.

Background

1. Public Health England chaired an expert advisory group, including professional organisations representing orthoptists, optometrists and ophthalmologists, academics and the Association of Directors of Public Health, to develop the resources, which includes public and parental information sheets, educational resources and commissioning guidelines. The documents were also the subject of a formal consultation.
2. Read the latest UK NSC recommendation on child vision screening.
3. Public Health England exists to protect and improve the nation’s health and wellbeing, and reduce health inequalities. It does this through world-class science, knowledge and intelligence, advocacy, partnerships and the delivery of specialist. Follow us on Twitter @PHE_Screening

An investigation by the Insolvency Service found Langton misappropriated £21,517 from three banks by making false claims for reimbursement of sums paid out of his account.

Mr Langton (24), employed, of Leicester, has agreed to be bound by the restrictions set out in insolvency law until 11 October 2025.

On 2 December 2016, a bankruptcy order was made after Mr Langton applied for his own bankruptcy. His total deficiency at the time was around £36,421.

Commenting on the case Gerard O’Hare, Official Receiver for Nottingham said:

Mr Langton falsely claimed reimbursements for money paid out of his account from three banks receiving £21,517. He knew he was not entitled to the money but claimed the reimbursements regardless of the consequences, which resulted in incurring debt.

This eight year restriction should act as a deterrent to him and others from acting in the same way.

Notes to editors

The bankruptcy order was made on 2 December 2016 following a petition presented on 1 December 2016.

Mr Langton’s date of birth is October 1993.

If the Official Receiver considers that the conduct of a bankrupt has been dishonest or blameworthy in some other way, he (or she) will report the facts to court and ask for a Bankruptcy Restrictions Order (BRO) to be made. The court will consider this report and any other evidence put before it, and will decide whether it should make a BRO. If it does, the bankrupt will be subject to certain restrictions for the period stated in the order. This can be from 2 to 15 years.

The bankrupt may instead agree to a Bankruptcy Restrictions Undertaking (BRU) which has the same effect as an order, but will mean that the matter does not go to court.

These are restrictions set out in insolvency law that the bankrupt is subject to until they are discharged from bankruptcy – normally 12 months and include that bankrupts:

• must disclose their status to a credit provider if they wish to get credit of more than £500
• who carry on business in a different name from the name in which they were made bankrupt, they must disclose to those they wish to do business with the name (or trading style) under which they were made bankrupt
• may not act as the director of a company nor take part in its promotion, formation or management unless they have a court’s permission to do so
• may not act as an insolvency practitioner, or as the receiver or manager of the property of a company on behalf of debenture holders

Additionally, a person subject to a bankruptcy restrictions undertaking may not be a Member of Parliament in England or Wales.

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:

• Twitter
• LinkedIn
• YouTube

The Statistical Data Return 2016 to 2017, published today (24 October 2017) by the Regulator of Social Housing, shows that housing associations in England continued to increase the number of homes that they own and manage at the same time as implementing the social rent cuts introduced through the Welfare Reform and Work Act.

The SDR national statistics are collated from an annual survey of private registered providers of social housing in England. This year’s SDR is the first to systematically record the actual rents charged by housing associations since the rent reduction policy came into effect; it shows that rents have fallen accordingly. The reported average net rent for general needs properties of £96.61 per week represented a -1.3% decrease since 2016 for providers with more than 1,000 units or bed spaces.

Some of the trends in this year’s figures include:

• PRPs reported a continued increase of 0.7% from 2016 in the amount of housing stock that they own – although this was the smallest increase since 2014, this was the first year since then in which no new stock transfers took place
• large PRPs built a total of 36,438 units in 2016 to 2017 – this includes 23,907 sub-market rental units, which fell 14.2% from 2015 to 2016 due mainly to transition between HCA funding programmes
• over 10% (288,048 units) of all stock within the sector is owned by a combination of five providers

The regulator collects data on stock type, size, rent and location of social housing stock at 31 March each year, and data on sales and acquisitions made between 1 April and 31 March. The information is used to inform its risk-based and proportionate approach to regulation and to help a range of stakeholders better understand the housing association market.

Fiona MacGregor, Executive Director of Regulation, said:

The publication of today’s SDR shows that the housing association sector has continued to increase the number of homes that it owns and manages for the benefit of social housing tenants throughout England, at the same time as implementing the requirements of the Welfare Reform and Work Act.

The figures reported in the 2017 Return show that, across the sector, rents have fallen in line with the terms of the Act. If SDR data raises concerns that individual providers may not be setting rents in line with the relevant standards and legislation, we will continue to seek assurance from the landlords concerned and if necessary will reflect this in published governance judgements.

The SDR 2016 to 2017 is available on the Gov.uk website.

Further information

The SDR consists of a statistical release document, a full data spreadsheet, full data set zip file, additional tables and a pre-release access list. All these documents are available from the SDR 2016-17 Statistical Release page on Gov.uk.
Previous SDRs are also available on the website.

Figures do not include non-social housing units built by unregistered entities within PRP groups, which are outside the scope of the SDR.

A total of 1,432 providers completed this year’s Return compared with 1,490 providers in 2016. The drop was mainly as a result of changes in the structure of the sector, such as de-registrations and mergers.

The Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) is the single, national housing and regeneration delivery agency for England, and is the regulator of social housing providers. As regulator, its purpose is to promote a viable, efficient and well-governed social housing sector able to deliver homes that meet a range of needs. It does this by undertaking robust economic regulation, as enshrined in legislation, focusing on governance, financial viability and value for money that maintains lender confidence and protects the taxpayer. For more information visit the HCA website or follow us on Twitter.

The UK has increased its own support for innocent families who have been forced to flee relentless violence in Burma and make the treacherous journey to Bangladesh to find refuge. This is an increase from £35 million to £47 million (US $63 million) committed since the end of August, including £5 million to match the generous donations of the UK public to the Disaster Emergency Committee appeal.

Ahead of the landmark international pledging conference, which took place in Geneva today (Monday 23 October 2017), the UK had given more than a third of the overall money donated by the international community and the International Development Secretary Priti Patel called on other countries to follow the UK’s lead and step up their support.

At the conference today countries including Sweden, Australia, Denmark and the UAE, have in total pledged over $300 million. This reaches over half of the total funding required to meet urgent humanitarian needs as set out in the UN appeal. Countries are continuing to pledge.

International Development Secretary Priti Patel said:

The international community has followed the UK’s lead and stepped up support which is absolutely vital to save the lives of victims of the world’s fastest growing humanitarian crisis.

UK aid is helping hundreds of thousands of people who have lost everything and our further support announced today will relieve the suffering of thousands more.

Ethnic cleansing, sexual violence, starvation and the murder of children have no place in our world. Today’s pledges are only just the start, and the world cannot afford to wait as innocent men, women and children continue to lose their lives.

Minister of State for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Mark Field said:

During my recent visits to Burma and Bangladesh, I saw for myself some of the communities which have been so badly damaged by what is happening in Burma.

I am delighted to be in Geneva to announce the UK’s latest contribution of £12 million to the Burma crisis response. Alongside the £30 million we provided to meet the urgent humanitarian need, and the £5 million of public donations that the UK matched pound for pound for the Disasters Emergency Committee Appeal, the total contribution of the UK government is now £47 million.

I hope that the international community will continue to unite with the UK in its efforts, and help bring an end to this terrible humanitarian crisis.

Today’s announcement of extra support builds on existing UK aid which is already helping to provide:

• Emergency food to 174,000 people;
• Lifesaving nutritional support to more than 60,000 children under-five and over 21,000 pregnant and breastfeeding women;
• Safe drinking water, emergency latrines and hygiene kits for more than 138,000 people;
• Essential items including soap, cooking utensils and water cans for over 131,000 people;
• Emergency shelter for over 130,000 people and support to make shelters more resilient to rain and heavy winds for 450,000 people as the cyclone season approaches;
• Access to female bathing cubicles and sanitary items for more than 35,000 girls and women;
• Counselling and psychological support for over 10,000 women suffering from the trauma of war and over 2,000 survivors of sexual violence;
• Medical help for over 50,000 pregnant women to give birth safely.

With UK aid support in Bangladesh, malnourished children on the brink of death are now able to eat, families who have been forced to live out in the open after their villages were burned are getting shelter and clean drinking water is helping stop the spread of disease.

Our existing work in the region meant that we were already in position to provide life-saving support when the crisis flared – without this, aid would have taken much longer to arrive.

The UK is also leading the charge to reform the humanitarian system, to ensure the international community responds efficiently and effectively to crises, pooling resources together rather than competing and working in isolation.

Notes to Editors:

1. Prior to the conference the UN appeal for the Rohingya crisis was just 24% funded, with over a third of the $106 million pledged coming from the UK. A total of $434 million is needed overall.
2. The UK is appalled by the inhumane violence that has taken place in Rakhine State, which has forced nearly 600,000 people to leave everything behind in Burma and make the perilous journey to Bangladesh.
3. The events in Rakhine look like ethnic cleansing. The Burmese authorities need to stop the violence and ensure immediate access into northern Rakhine so that UK aid can provide a lifeline to those still suffering in Rakhine State. Unacceptable intimidation and restrictions on the movement of humanitarian workers must be ended. Burma must work with international partners to put in place the conditions that will allow people to return to their homes safely, with dignity and hope for the future.
4. Recognising the unprecedented scale of the crisis in Bangladesh and Burma, the UK has been a leader in responding – in speed and size – providing an addition £47 million since August to help meet the urgent humanitarian needs of innocent men, women and children who have been forced to flee the relentless violence and atrocities in Burma, and make the treacherous journey to Bangladesh to seek refuge. We are working with international partners including UNICEF, IOM, UNHCR and World Food Programme to deliver this on the ground. The UK is also providing £1m to the Red Cross in Burma, the only organisation that currently has access to Northern Rakhine.
5. Alongside this, the UK Government is matching pound for pound £5 million raised by the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) Appeal for people fleeing the violence and destruction in Burma, doubling the impact of the public’s own donations and ensuring that charities working on the ground can reach even more people in need.