Press release: DVLA assists production companies from Hollyoaks to Hollywood

Providing registration numbers and mock driving licences for production companies is one of the services DVLA carries out that people may not know about.

Over the years DVLA has assisted production companies by issuing mock licences for use in a scene. These include Emmerdale (ITV), EastEnders (BBC) and Hatton Garden (ITV).

DVLA has also supplied registration numbers for use by the Grand Tour (Amazon Prime), Saturday Night Takeaway (ITV) and major Hollywood pictures such as Transformers.

DVLA also provided registration numbers for magazine shoots, adverts and programmes including Hollyoaks (Channel 4), Vera (ITV), Shetland (BBC One) and Rownd a Rownd (S4C).

Jody Davies, DVLA Personalised Registrations Sales Manager, said:

While we may not get our name included in the credits, we’re proud to have helped so many production companies over the years find their perfect registration number.

Our personalised registrations website helps motorists find their perfect number every day. And with prices starting from £250 you don’t need a studio’s budget to make your car stand out.

Notes to editors

Follow DVLA Personalised Registrations on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram for the latest updates and information.

Press office

DVLA Press Office

Longview Road

Morriston

Swansea
SA6 7JL

Link: Press release: DVLA assists production companies from Hollyoaks to Hollywood
Source: Gov Press Releases

Press release: June 2018 Transaction Data

In June:

  • HM Land Registry completed more than 1,701,270 applications to change or query the Land Register
  • the South East topped the table of regional applications with 391,741

HM Land Registry completed 1,701,272 applications in June compared with 1,723,578 in May and 1,690,237 last June, of which:

  • 367,516 were applications for register updates compared with 373,423 in May
  • 825,155 were applications for an official copy of a register compared with 848,600 in May
  • 226,333 were search and hold queries (official searches) compared with 209,803 in May; and
  • 24,801 were postal applications from non-account holders compared with 26,695 in May

Applications by region and country

Region/country April applications May applications June applications
South East 373,677 398,029 391,741
Greater London 314,534 332,546 324,861
North West 184,504 194,722 189,790
South West 159,528 169,351 166,626
West Midlands 140,096 147,196 146,855
Yorkshire and the Humber 121,756 131,727 128,441
East Midlands 115,347 121,511 121,551
Wales 75,111 78,038 77,307
North 73,765 78,596 79,945
East Anglia 66,644 71,749 74,017
Isles of Scilly 69 41 66
England and Wales (not assigned) 67 72 72
Total 1,625,098 1,723,578 1,701,272

Top 5 local authority areas

Top 5 local authority areas April applications Top 5 local authority areas May applications Top 5 local authority areas June applications
Birmingham 25,990 Birmingham 26,902 Birmingham 25,724
City of Westminster 22,505 City of Westminster 24,121 City of Westminster 23,468
Leeds 18,630 Leeds 19,782 Leeds 19,257
Manchester 16,698 Cornwall 18,301 Cornwall 17,591
Cornwall 16,343 Manchester 17,347 Manchester 16,765

Top 5 customers

Top 5 customers April applications Top 5 customers May applications Top 5 customers June applications
Enact 48,943 Enact 53,314 Enact 53,868
Optima Legal Services 26,741 Infotrack Limited 28,453 Infotrack Limited 29,175
O’Neill Patient 25,473 Optima Legal Services 28,173 O’Neill Patient 26,523
Infotrack Limited 24,411 O’Neill Patient 26,645 Optima Legal Services 26,239
TM Group (UK) Ltd 18,058 TM Group (UK) Ltd 22,706 TM Group (UK) Ltd 21,465

Access the full dataset on data.gov.uk.

Notes to editors

  1. Transaction Data is published on the 15th working day of each month. The July Transaction Data will be published at 11am on Tuesday 21 August 2018 at HM Land Registry Monthly Property Transaction Data.
  2. The monthly Transaction Data showing how many applications for new titles, leases, splitting titles, updating existing titles, official copies of the register and search and hold queries (official searches) were received, reflects the volume of applications lodged by customers using an HM Land Registry account number on their application form.
  3. We are challenging ourselves to reassess our language to make our terms understandable to both our commercial and our citizen customers. This is in line with our commitment set out in the Business Strategy 2017-2022 under the ‘simplicity’ element of our ambition.
  4. Completed applications in England and Wales shown by region and by local authority include postal applications as well as those sent electronically.
  5. Transaction Data excludes: pending applications, bankruptcy applications, bulk applications and discharge applications (to remove a charge, for example a mortgage, from the register).
  6. Transactions for value are applications lodged involving a transfer of ownership for value. For an explanation of other terms used, see abbreviations used in the transaction data.
  7. Most search and hold queries (official searches) carried out by a solicitor or conveyancer are to protect the purchase and/or mortgage. For example, a search and hold query will give the buyer priority for an application to HM Land Registry to register the purchase of the property. This can give an indication of market activity.
  8. Reasonable skill and care is used in the provision of the data. We strive to ensure that the data is as accurate as possible but cannot guarantee that it is free from error. We cannot guarantee our data is fit for your intended purpose or use.
  9. Transaction Data is available free of charge for use and re-use under the Open Government Licence (OGL). The licence allows public bodies to make their data available for re-use.
  10. If you use or publish the Transaction Data, you must add the following attribution statement: Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2018. This data is licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
  11. HM Land Registry’s mission is to guarantee and protect property rights in England and Wales.
  12. 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.
  13. HM Land Registry safeguards land and property ownership worth in excess of £4 trillion, including around £1 trillion of mortgages. The Land Register contains more than 25 million titles showing evidence of ownership for some 85% of the land mass of England and Wales.
  14. For further information about HM Land Registry visit www.gov.uk/land-registry.
  15. Follow us on Twitter @HMLandRegistry our blog and LinkedIn and Facebook.

Contact

Press Office

Trafalgar House
1 Bedford Park
Croydon
CR0 2AQ

Link: Press release: June 2018 Transaction Data
Source: Gov Press Releases

Press release: Sellafield travel scheme success

A new travel programme at Sellafield has resulted in 500 fewer cars using site car parks.

Sellafield Ltd introduced a raft of new travel to work options in February this year.

These included park and ride bus services and direct commuter coaches.

Estimates have indicated that since then traffic accessing the site has reduced by 500 vehicles a day.
Building on that success, the company is launching the next phase of its travel improvements on Monday, 23 July 2018.

These include:

  • a requirement for vehicles entering the site to have 3 or more occupants
  • minimum occupancy of 2 people or more for vehicles using the off-site Yottenfews car park
  • a new car sharing database

The measures supplement existing park and ride schemes in:

  • Workington,
  • Cockermouth
  • Whitehaven
  • Egremont
  • Gosforth

This also includes direct coaches from north and south of the Sellafield site.

A shuttle service between satellite offices and the main site runs every 15 minutes.

Steve Bostock, Sellafield Ltd site director said:

I want to thank everyone who has embraced these changes.

These changes are necessary for us to deliver our mission of making Sellafield safer, sooner.

To clear space for future decommissioning projects, we needed to remove 1,300 parking spots on the site.

We’re doing it in phases to give people time to adjust and to ensure we balance the needs of the business.

I’m delighted at the success so far. We’re already seeing genuine benefits for people who work on the site and the local community.

Recorded benefits so far:

  • 500 fewer cars using on-site car parks
  • 300 fewer cars a day using the off-site Yottenfews car park, compared with June 2017
  • 9,500 journeys on the direct commuter coaches in June 2018 alone
  • 120 people a day using the Gosforth park and ride and commuter routes

For more information contact Ruth Hutchison: +44 (0)19467 86227, ruth.hutchison@sellafieldsites.com

Link: Press release: Sellafield travel scheme success
Source: Gov Press Releases

Press release: Boaters’ views sought in consultation on proposed charges

Boat owners who keep or use a boat on waterways managed by the Environment Agency are being encouraged to have their say in plans to increase charges.

A public consultation into proposed increases to boat registration charges for 2019-20 and 2020-21 launched today and will run until the 30 August 2018.

The Environment Agency is the second largest navigation authority in the UK and is responsible for more than 1,000 km of navigable waterways including the non-tidal River Thames, River Great Ouse and Upper Medway Navigation.

The proposed charges form part of plans to create a financially sustainable service on waterways used by almost 30,000 boats. Currently the cost of running the service far exceeds the income generated from charges, risking a reductions in the levels of maintenance of waterway structures such as locks and the standard of customer service boat users expect.

The two year proposal gives time to complete a wider review of navigation charges alongside bringing in other measures to make the waterways less reliant on government grant-in-aid funding.

Mark Ormrod, the national manager for navigation at the Environment Agency, said:

Our navigation service plays an important role in protecting our waterways and supports both recreation and business for thousands of people.

This consultation is a valuable opportunity for our customers to tell us what parts of our service are most important and give us their ideas about how we should fund them so I would encourage as many boaters as possible to take part.

An increase in charges is essential to work towards creating a sustainable service that covers the cost of maintaining our valued waterways and delivering a safe and efficient service for our customers.

The proposed increases will raise an additional £930k to invest in the waterways over the proposed 2-year period. The increases by waterway are:

  • River Thames: 5.7%
  • Anglian Waterways: 7.5%
  • Upper Medway Navigation: 10%
  • Unpowered and boats covered by joint registration agreements: 7.7%

Subject to the consultation response, new charges could be implemented from 1January 2019 on the River Thames and 1 April 2019 for our Anglian Waterways and the Upper Medway Navigation.

To take part in the consultation, please visit GOV.UK

Link: Press release: Boaters’ views sought in consultation on proposed charges
Source: Environment Agency

Press release: Construction director banned for failing to declare sales income

Martin Baker was the sole director of C.J.M Tiling Limited (CJMT), which was incorporated in 2007 and traded as a construction company in Cradley Heath, West Midlands.

On 3 December 2015 and 4 March 2016, HMRC made unannounced visits to CJMT and identified the construction company had under-declared its VAT liabilities by failing to disclose all its sales.

Furthermore, an additional bank account was identified in which sales income was deposited. HMRC raised an officer’s assessment for additional VAT liabilities of £205,262 for the period June 2012 to December 2015, as well as applying civil penalties of £90,146 to the company.

CJMT later entered liquidation on 26 January 2017 owing £469,673 to creditors, including at least £344,221 for VAT, and following the company’s liquidation, the Insolvency Service carried out its own investigations, leading to Martin Baker’s disqualification.

On 21 May 2018, the Secretary of State for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy accepted a disqualification undertaking from, Martin Baker, effective from 11 June 2018, for a period of 7 years.

In giving the undertaking, Martin Baker admitted that he failed to ensure the company declared its true VAT liabilities on returns submitted to HMRC between June 2012 to December 2015, by failing to disclose all its sales.

Martin Baker further admitted that a second company bank account was not disclosed to HMRC. This resulted in under-declarations of VAT due, as a consequence of which penalties were raised.

His ban means Martin Baker cannot promote, manage, or be a director of a limited company.

Commenting on the disqualification, Jane Knight, deputy head of insolvency investigations for the Insolvency Service, said:

Under-declaration of the VAT due by a company deprives the exchequer of the monies needed to provide public services.

In co-operation with HMRC, the Insolvency Service will not hesitate to investigate such misconduct with disqualification as a director the likely outcome.

Notes to editors

C.J.M Tiling Limited (Company Reg No. 06318407) was incorporated on 19 July 2007 and traded from 213 Halesowen Road, Cradley Heath, West Midlands, B64 6HE. Martin Baker was appointed as a director from 19 July 2007 to 26 January 2017, the date of liquidation.

Martin Baker is of Oldbury, in the West Midlands and his date of birth is April 1968.

The matters of unfitness, which Mr Baker did not dispute in his disqualification undertaking, were that:

I failed to ensure that C.J.M. Tiling Limited (CJM) declared its true Value Added Tax (VAT) liabilities on returns submitted to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) between the quarters ended 30th June 2012 to 31st December 2015, by failing to disclose all its sales. In addition a second bank account was not disclosed to HMRC. This resulted in under-declarations of VAT due over this period of at least £205,262 and as a consequence penalties of £90,146 were raised.

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 administers the insolvency regime, investigating all compulsory liquidations and individual insolvencies (bankruptcies) through the Official Receiver to establish why they became insolvent. It may also use powers under the Companies Act 1985 to conduct confidential fact-finding investigations into the activities of live limited companies in the UK. In addition, the agency deals with disqualification of directors in corporate failures, 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

Media enquiries for this press release – 020 7674 6910 or 020 7596 6187

Press Office

The Insolvency Service


4 Abbey Orchard Street
London
SW1P 2HT

This service is for journalists only. For any other queries, please contact the Insolvency Enquiry line on 0300 678 0015.

For all media enquiries outside normal working hours, please contact the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Press Office on 020 7215 1000.

You can also follow the Insolvency Service on:

Link: Press release: Construction director banned for failing to declare sales income
Source: Gov Press Releases