Category: Gov Press Releases

• Welsh Secretary joins President of the Board of Trade Dr Liam Fox at the first new Board of Trade today in Bristol
• First meeting attended by representatives from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
• Advisers from across the United Kingdom present, providing local expertise to guide the Board on trade and investment matters

Secretary of State for Wales Alun Cairns will today (12 October) take his place at the table of the new Board of Trade convened to help boost exports, attract inward investors and ensure the benefits of free trade are spread equally across the country.

The new Board of Trade will bring together prominent figures from business and politics from each part of the UK to provide local expertise and guide the Board on trade and investment matters.

Alun Cairns will be joined two expert business advisers from Wales, Lord Rowe Beddoe and Heather Stevens CBE.

Lord Rowe Beddoe has a distinguished international business career and brings with him decades of experience gathered during his years as Chairman of the Welsh Development Agency and Cardiff Airport.

Heather Stevens CBE was part of the small team which launched the insurance group Admiral in 1993 in Cardiff. Since its launch Admiral has grown to become one of the largest private sector employers in Wales with a turnover of more than £2bn. She is also currently the chair and founding member of The Waterloo Foundation, an independent grant-making foundation, dedicated to projects that help globally such as support for child development and protecting the environment.

Secretary of State for Wales Alun Cairns said:

Every day in every country around the world, there are business opportunities for Welsh companies’ products and services. But we know that striking out into new and unfamiliar markets can sometimes look daunting – particularly now as the UK prepares to leave the EU.

The Board of Trade will engage with the whole of the UK on our global trade and investment agenda and aim to demonstrate that there has never been a better time for Welsh companies to export overseas.

I’m delighted to be joined by Lord Rowe Beddoe and Heather Stevens in this effort. Together, we will be a strong voice for Wales as we aim to help more businesses across the nation build their brand abroad and encourage more inward investment to our shores.

Wales is already an exporting nation. There are currently more than 3,800 businesses in Wales that export, with a combined value of £13billion in the first quarter of 2017. Wales is also an attractive place for inward investment, with latest figures showing that 85 foreign direct investment projects were secured in Wales, creating 2,581 new jobs and safeguarding almost 9,000 more.

To mark the reconvening of the Board of Trade, Mr Cairns will visit Pontypridd based business Concrete Canvas which is celebrating another record breaking year of export growth, with 85 per cent of turnover directly resulting from export sales. (See case study below). The company has benefitted from UK Government support to access new global markets and is now looking to explore export opportunities across Russia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and other neighbouring countries in the region.

Darren Hughes, International Business Development Manager, Concrete Canvas said:

When we first started exporting, we received invaluable support from the Department for International Trade (DIT), both with specific market advice and funding for trade missions and in-market projects. We gained a lot from visiting our target markets in person and meeting local contacts whilst we were there.

DIT provided important advice to us when entering new markets and the potential risks, helping us to grow our revenue streams, but whilst safeguard our intellectual property – the foundation of our business.

The Board of Trade will meet four times a year with meetings rotated around the UK guaranteeing all parts of the union have a chance to raise the issues most important to them.

The first meeting will be held today at Bristol Robotics Lab. The lab which brings together over 200 academics, researchers and industry practitioners, is the most comprehensive academic centre for multi-disciplinary robotics research in the UK, and is spearheading Britain’s efforts to become a world leader in modern advanced robotics.

The agenda of the meeting will include a Bristol Airport Presentation on Regional Transport Access, an area that will be key in the promotion of future UK exports for the whole of the UK.

The President will also invite a discussion on how the Board will promote a culture of exporting and investing across the whole of the UK and celebrate the very best of British businesses which are already creating jobs and driving prosperity through their international outlook.

Case Study

Concrete Canvas

Welsh business Concrete Canvas is celebrating another record breaking year of export growth, with 85 per cent of turnover directly resulting from export sales.

Founded by Peter Brewin and Will Crawford, Concrete Canvas manufactures a range of innovative products that disrupt traditional construction techniques. The material is a flexible concrete impregnated fabric that hardens on hydration to form a thin, durable, water proof and fire resistant concrete layer. The duo invented their unique material technology whilst studying Innovation Design Engineering at Imperial College and the Royal College of Art.

Their first concept was the Concrete Canvas Shelter, a rapidly deployable hardened shelter which only requires air and water for construction. Essentially, the Shelter is a “building in a bag”. This product won numerous accolades, including a Saatchi & Saatchi award for World Changing Ideas and was the subject of a National Geographic short video which has received over 10 million views and generated immeasurable international interest in the product.

Whilst the domestic market was key to proving the business model and providing early growth during the company’s infancy, international markets were quickly identified as an enormous potential opportunity and key to the long-term success of the business. In the last six years, the company has attended numerous trade missions, OMIS and ITO projects across South East Asia, Oceania and MENA resulting in the strong distribution network that Concrete Canvas now has in place as its primary route to market.

The company has now exported to 85 countries globally, with continued double-digit growth year on year.

In the last financial year, over 85 per cent of turnover came from export sales.

Concrete Canvas is now looking to explore export opportunities across Russia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and other neighbouring countries in the region. The company recently attended a trade mission to Kazakhstan with support from the Department for International Trade (DIT). In-country DIT International Trade Advisers were on hand to provide specialist advice on international market research, product assessment and sourcing local partners to work with.

The company has grown rapidly and now employees over 40 staff, with 4 based overseas in regional hub offices in Sydney, Kuala Lumpur, Durban and Brussels.

Notes to Editors

Further info

• Membership of the Board of Trade is restricted to Privy Councillors.

• The only member is

(i) Secretary of State for Department for International Trade and President of the Board of Trade (Chair)

• Advisers to the Board

(i) Secretary of State for Scotland

(ii) Secretary of State for Northern Ireland

(iii) Secretary of State for Wales

England (6)

(i) Patricia Hewitt – outgoing Chair of UK India Business Council

(ii) Andrew Mills – CEO Virtualstock

(iii) Collette Roche – Chief of Staff, Manchester Airport

(iv) Marnie Millard – CEO Nichols PLC

(v) Iqbal Ahmed – Chairman, Chief Executive and Founder of Seamark Group

(vi) Edward Timpson – former Minister of State for Children and Families

Scotland (2)

(vii) Brian Wilson – former Trade Minister

(viii) Ian Curle – CEO of Edrington Group

Wales (2)

(ix) Lord Rowe-Beddoe – former Chair of Welsh Development Agency

(x) Heather Stevens – Chair and founding member of The Waterloo Foundation

Northern Ireland (1)

(xi) Mark Nodder (CEO of Wrights Group)

• Latest auction brought forward over 1GW of clean electricity for Scotland
• UK decarbonising faster than any other G20 nation, with renewables now providing 30% of the UK’s electricity supply

The UK government intends to allow wind projects on the remote islands of Scotland to compete in the next competitive auction for less established renewable technologies (Contracts for Difference) to be held in spring 2019, it was announced today. The UK government has also announced that up to £557 million of support will be available for future Contracts for Difference auctions.

Ahead of the launch of the UK government’s Clean Growth Strategy, Energy Minister Richard Harrington said:

The UK government’s Clean Growth Strategy has set out how the whole of the UK can benefit from the global move to a low carbon economy.

Scotland already has a strong record in exploiting the potential of clean growth, with more than half of Scottish electricity consumption coming from renewable sources.

We want to go further creating thousands of good jobs and attracting billions of pounds worth of investment. That’s why we are ensuring that remote island wind projects in Scotland, which have the potential to benefit the island communities directly, have access to the same funding opportunities as offshore wind in the next renewables auction round.

Scottish Secretary David Mundell said:

Wind projects on the remote islands of Scotland have the potential to generate substantial amounts of electricity for the whole of the UK and I am delighted they will have the opportunity to compete in the next round of Contracts for Difference. This UK government investment is vital in realising the potential of less established renewable technologies, as well as providing Scottish jobs in the projects supported.

Clean Growth is at the heart of the Industrial Strategy, and the UK government is determined to unlock opportunities across the UK, while cutting carbon emissions as the world moves to towards a low carbon future.

The last competitive auction to bring more renewable projects into the market ended in September and brought forward commitments for enough electricity generation to power 3.6 million homes. It secured 3.2GW of electricity from offshore wind projects including the Moray East offshore wind farm which will provide 950MW of capacity, capable of powering over 950,000 homes.

A 2013 report for the UK and Scottish governments concluded that wind projects on the Western Isles, Orkney and Shetland could supply around 3% of the UK’s total electricity demand.

With over 700MW of wind projects with current planning consents on these islands, this announcement gives certainty that the UK is an attractive place to invest. This will also benefit the skilled UK supply chain, with many projects expected to spend over 50% of their capital and operating costs within the UK.

The Clean Growth Strategy looks across the whole of the economy and the country. It includes ambitious proposals on housing, business, transport and the environment, as well as the power sector.

Greg Clark, Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, met members of the Scottish Island Renewable Delivery Forum in April on the Isle of Lewis, in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. In August UK Energy Minister Richard Harrington chaired a roundtable in Aberdeen with a range of stakeholders to discuss how wind projects on the islands of Scotland (Orkney, Shetland and the Western Isles) can directly benefit the local communities.

Notes to editors

• The UK government has submitted an application to the European Commission seeking State aid approval for this change to the Contracts for Difference scheme.

The two discussed Catalonia. Following the meeting, the Minister for Europe said:

As Spanish courts have ruled, the poll on 1st October was not held within the Spanish legal and constitutional framework. Holding it was therefore illegal and an attempt to undermine the rule of law. We would not recognise any declaration of independence based upon it. I was pleased to convey this message to the Spanish Ambassador when we met this morning.

Further information

Follow Foreign Office Minister Alan Duncan on Twitter: @AlanDuncanMP.

Follow the Foreign Office on Facebook & Twitter.

Follow the Foreign Office on Instagram, YouTube and LinkedIn
 

 

We have notified the Information Commissioner’s Office of a limited breach of our information security policy.

On Monday 9th October, we sent an email in three batches to a total of 508 housing associations that made visible other recipients’ email addresses. While the information disclosed was not sensitive, we are taking this breach very seriously and apologise unreservedly.

This incident should not have happened and we are committed to acting transparently with all relevant parties. We are in the process of contacting all of the providers affected by the breach and we are taking urgent steps to ensure this never happens again.

A new Education Advisory Group, run by the Department for International Trade (DIT) and UK Skills Partnership, will help the sector unlock its commercial potential and meet the huge demand for British education around the world.

The UK is already a world-leader in education exports. British higher education (HE) is delivered in all but 5 countries in the world, and school-level curriculum is the most popular globally, with thousands of schools based upon the British model.

Despite this success, some areas, such as technical and vocational training education (TVET), have not kept pace with the huge potential for growth in overseas markets.

Member organisations of the UK Skills Partnership will now work together to address this and build the UK TVET sector’s capacity, reach and engagement in international markets.

Partners will include bodies such as the Association of Colleges, Universities UK and the Federation for Industry Sector Skills and Standards.

At the same time the DIT Education Advisory Group will provide a forum for senior leaders in the education sector to explore global trade and investment opportunities, and discuss how the government can support the UK education sector overseas.

It will consist of key representative bodies covering universities, vocational training organisations, international schools, education technology, early years education and English language training.

Minister for Investment Mark Garnier said:

The UK is already a world-leader in education exports and this sector will be vital for our future trading relationships. We know the demand is there, and I want to see even more UK education providers exporting their expertise.

So I’m delighted that we’re creating two new platforms to help the sector operate in overseas markets. As an international economic department we will work with the industry to unlock its exporting potential, and create a new generation of young people with a personal connection to Britain.

In 2014 total UK education related exports climbed 18% in 4 years, rising to more than £18 billion.

DIT offers practical help and support to all exporters, whether looking to expand a large operation, or exploring overseas markets for the first time. Earlier this month, DIT took 5 institutions, including a UK university and colleges, on a 2 day trade mission to Colombia focussing on HE and professional technical and vocational training focussing in the oil and gas sector.

Latin America offers a range of exciting opportunities in this sector and delegates had the opportunity to take part in networking events and roundtables with key decision makers, universities and TVET institutions, raising the profile of UK excellence in Colombia and the wider region.

Further information

Contact the DIT Media and Digital Team on 0207 215 2000

Follow us: @tradegovuk or gov.uk/dit

The government today invited views on how reward and return schemes for drinks containers could work in England by issuing a call for evidence.

More than eight million tonnes of plastic are discarded into the world’s oceans each year, putting marine wildlife under serious threat.

Up to 80% of this is estimated to have been originally lost or discarded on land before washing out to sea, and plastic bottles are a particular concern – with figures showing just 57% of those sold in the UK in 2016 collected for recycling.

This compares to a record 90% of deposit-marked cans and bottles that were returned to dedicated recycling facilities in Denmark, and a return rate of almost 80% of beverage containers in South Australia, both of which have a form of deposit return scheme.

To improve these numbers and increase recycling, Environment Secretary Michael Gove has asked organisations and individuals to share their views with the government on the advantages and disadvantages of different types of reward and return schemes for plastic, metal and glass drinks containers that could help reduce the number of bottles entering our waterways.

The call for evidence opened on 2 October for four weeks. On 27 October this was extended by three weeks to close on 20 November. This will allow as many people as possible to feed in their views on this important inquiry. Ministers have asked the Voluntary and Economic Incentives Working Group, set up as part of the Litter Strategy, to accelerate its work and report back early in the New Year – this timetable has not been altered.

Environment Secretary Michael Gove said:

We must protect our oceans and marine life from plastic waste if we are to be the first generation to leave our environment in a better state than we found it.

That means tackling the rise in plastic bottles entering our waters by making it simpler and easier to recycle and dispose of them appropriately.

Today we are launching a call for evidence to help us understand how reward and return schemes for plastic bottles and other drinks containers could work in England.

This approach has already seen great success in other countries such as Denmark in curbing plastic pollution and we want to hear people’s ideas on how we could make it work in England.

This adds to the progress we have already made in cleaning up our oceans by significantly reducing plastic bag use and drawing up one of the world’s toughest bans on plastic microbeads.

The evidence submitted will be examined by the government’s working group which includes brand and retail giants such as Coca Cola and Tesco.

This builds on successful waste initiatives already launched by the government, including the 5p plastic bag charge which has seen enormous success in changing consumer behaviour by reducing use by 83 per cent.

Some nine billion fewer carrier bags have been distributed since the charge was introduced, with more than £95million raised donated to environmental, educational and other good causes.

In addition, legislation for the government’s ban on microbeads – welcomed by campaigners as one of the toughest in the world – will be introduced later this year and we are now assessing how best to tackle other sources of microplastics from polluting the seas.

KHV is a serious viral disease of fish, and is notifiable in the United Kingdom. It affects all varieties of common and ornamental carp (Cyprinus carpio), and can result in large scale mortalities.

Fish with KHV disease may show the following signs, especially when water temperatures are between 16 to 28 degree centigrade:

• necrotic (white or brown) patches on the gills
• rough patches on the skin and sloughing mucous
• sunken eyes

You must contact the FHI if you suspect an outbreak of KHV. This includes fish with the above signs, or deaths of carp or carp hybrids.

There is no risk to public health.

New outbreaks

When laboratory testing confirms KHV disease at a site, the FHI place statutory controls to limit the spread of the disease. These controls restrict movement of animals and ensure equipment is disinfected.

Disease controls have been applied at:

• Swanborough Fishing Lakes, Lewes, East Sussex – 19 July
• The Lakeside, Camberley, Surrey – 24 July
• Risby Park Fisheries, East Yorkshire – 25 July
• Mansfield Lake, Kent – 27 July
• Meadows Fishery and Manor Park Fishery, Staffordshire – 02 August
• Bannister House Fishery, Lancashire – 04 August
• Newlake, Humberside – 08 August
• Tyersal Hall Fishery, West Yorkshire – 09 August
• Willows Farm Fishery, Hertfordshire – 11 August
• Sam Hosticks Fisheries, East Yorkshire – 14 August
• Cleveley Bridge Fishery Complex, Lancashire – 15 August
• Danson Park Lane, Kent – 04 September
• Frogmore Fishery, Hertfordshire – 06 September
• Windsor View Lakes, Berkshire – 07 September
• Birch House Lakes, Derbyshire – 07 September
• Monkhall Fishery, Shropshire – 08 September
• Lea Farm Lakes, Berkshire – 22 September
• Hampstead Heath Ponds, London – 27 September
• White Shots Reservoir, Essex – 29 September
• The Cunneries, Lancashire – 29 September
• Boating Lake, Northamptonshire – 12 October

Finished outbreaks

Sites with KHV disease must undergo a 4 year monitoring programme. The FHI visit these sites to look for evidence of disease and to inspect compliance with the conditions of the statutory controls in place. The controls are removed if the disease doesn’t reoccur during this period.

Some sites choose to cull and disinfect their stocks, rather than have 4 years of monitoring.

Disease controls have been removed from:

• Porton Ventures – UK Ltd, Wiltshire – 10 August
• The Jungle, Derbyshire – 15 September

Further information

You can:

• view all KHV disease outbreaks, their locations, and controls
• find out more about KHV disease
• take steps to prevent the introduction and spread of KHV disease

Background

Koi herpesvirus (KHV) is a notifiable disease under The Aquatic Animal Health (England and Wales) Regulations 2009. KHV outbreaks have been subject to statutory control in Great Britain since 2007. The UK maintains a surveillance programme for this disease.

When the FHI confirm an outbreak, they take steps to control and, wherever possible, remove the disease. This may involve movement controls on susceptible species in the area, enhanced biosecurity, culling of fish, and cleaning and disinfecting of the premises.

Site operators must write to the FHI to get permission to move live fish into, out of, or within the designated area, and to make material changes to the site or site activities. This also applies to fish eggs and gametes.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) and the Crown Commercial Service (CCS) have worked together to create the e-learning module which will help more than 4,000 central government procurers root out attempts to win contracts through anti-competitive conduct.

In 2013/14 the UK public sector spent £242 billion on procurement of goods and services. Evidence suggests that cartels – of which bid-rigging forms a part – overcharge by up to 30%, costing taxpayers millions of pounds and leading to poor service.

John Kirkpatrick, CMA Senior Director Research, Intelligence and Advocacy, said:

It is vital that taxpayers’ money is spent well on projects that are of benefit to the public, rather than costs being pushed up unfairly by bid-rigging. We hope this bid-rigging e-learning package will prove to be a very useful tool for procurers in helping them spot and prevent attempts to rig procurement processes.

The CMA has a hotline which people can call if they suspect cases of bid-rigging or other anti-competitive practices, so I urge anyone with doubts to call.

Ian Mackie, CCS Head of Commercial Learning and Development, said:

Increasing commercial capability is a priority skills area for the civil service, so we, along with our departmental colleagues, were delighted to work with CMA to support this learning module. Hosting this on the Civil Service Learning Commercial College will enhance the contract management learning already available to staff.

Bid-rigging involves competing businesses which are invited to bid in competitive tenders secretly colluding so that, contrary to appearances, they are not fully competing for the contract. Bid-rigging tends to drive up prices by removing genuine competition between bidders.

It is a serious infringement of competition law, which can lead to fines and liability to damages for the companies involved. It can also result in criminal sanctions (including possible imprisonment) for individuals.

The e-learning module can be found on the Commercial College, hosted on Civil Service Learning.

The module, which is intended to take no more than 40 minutes to complete, will help students to gain an awareness of why bid-rigging is harmful, what kinds of activities and patterns of behaviour they should watch out for, what they can do to mitigate risks and where they can go to get help if they suspect a case.

Notes for editors

1. 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 more information see the CMA’s homepage on GOV.UK. For CMA updates, follow us on Twitter @CMAgovuk, Flickr and LinkedIn.
2. Please contact the cartels hotline on 0800 085 1664 or 020 3738 6888 or email cartelshotline@cma.gsi.gov.uk, if you suspect instances of bid-rigging.
3. To learn more, look at CMA guidance ‘Bid-rigging: advice for public sector procurers’.
4. For more information on the Crown Commercial Service see its webpages.
5. Enquiries should be directed Simon Belgard (simon.belgard@cma.gsi.gov.uk, 020 3738 6472).