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Press release: Government steps up the fight against waste criminals

Waste criminals act illegally to evade landfill tax, undercut responsible waste disposal businesses, operate illegal waste sites, export waste illegally and fly-tip – blighting communities with bad smells, fly infestations and fires.

Their activity cost the English economy more than £600 million in 2015 and the review announced by the Environment Secretary today is the next step in the government’s ongoing work to tackle the crime – which is already a serious offence with tough penalties.

A Call for Evidence launched today (10 June) will enable a wide group of people to have their say on ways to crack-down further on Organised Crime Groups (OCGs), who profit from waste crime.

The review will be chaired by Lizzie Noel, a Non-Executive Director at Defra.

Environment Secretary, Michael Gove, said:

Organised criminals running illegal waste dumps and fly-tipping are blighting local communities. They cost our economy vast amounts of money, pollute our environment and harm our wildlife.

We must crack-down on these criminals who have no regard for the impact they have on peoples’ lives. The time is right for us to look at how we can best tackle these antisocial and inexcusable crimes.

The review will:

  • Consider the types of crimes being committed and organised crime groups involved;
  • Consider the environmental, community and economic impacts of serious and organised waste crime;
  • Consider how the Environment Agency, other organisations, and the law enforcement system can work together to tackle the threat;
  • Make recommendations for a strategic approach to serious and organised waste crime.

Minister of State for Security and Economic Crime, Ben Wallace, said:

Organised crime groups exploit any opportunity to make money. Our local communities are being scarred by the illegal dumping of waste, while at the same time people are being conned into placing contracts with dodgy waste firms.

We are committed to ending this scourge and I look forward to exploring what more Defra, local authorities, the private sector and police can do on this issue.

More than 850 new illegal waste sites were discovered by the Environment Agency in 2016-17. While an average of two illegal waste sites are shut down every day, they continue to create severe problems for local communities and business, particularly in rural areas, as well as posing a risk to key national infrastructure.

A study by the Home Office suggests that criminals may also use waste management activities such as operating illegal waste sites as a cover for crimes such as theft, human trafficking, fraud, drugs supply, firearms supply and money laundering.

Review chair Lizzie Noel has more than 20 years’ experience of senior roles in both the private and public sectors. She will engage with a wide range of stakeholders, and the Call for Evidence will enable a wider group of people to have their say.

Lizzie Noel said:

The health of our communities, environment, and economy is being harmed by organised groups committing serious waste crimes.

This review is an opportunity to properly understand the extent of this criminal activity, and I look forward to working with a range of partners to ensure our response is robust and effective.

Since 2014, the Government has given the Environment Agency an extra £60million towards enforcement work to tackle waste crime. This extra investment has shown a return of about £5 for every £1 extra spent.

Today’s announcement builds on a range of new measures from the government to tackle waste crime, including new powers for the Environment Agency to lock the gates to problem waste sites to prevent waste illegally building up and powers to force operators to clear all the waste at problem sites, and extending landfill tax to include material disposed of at illegal waste sites with effect from April 2018.

Sir James Bevan, Chief Executive of the Environment Agency, said:

Last year, we closed down two illegal wastes sites a day and were granted new powers to complement our existing enforcement efforts. Our officers are also out in communities, preventing and disrupting criminals through our intelligence led investigations, and also dealing with the consequences of illegally dumped waste to the environment and the wider community.

We welcome the opportunity to review how best we deploy our resources and strengthen ties across government and with the police to target organised criminal rings behind illegal waste operations, and bring perpetrators to justice.

The Government has also recently given councils powers to hand out on-the-spot fines to fly-tippers, made it easier for vehicles suspected of being used for fly-tipping to be stopped, searched and seized, and later this year will introduce new fixed penalty notices for householders who pass their waste to a fly-tipper, subject to Parliamentary approval.

The review is due to be completed by September 2018.

Further information:

  • Serious organised crime is the planning, coordinating and committing serious offences, whether individually, in groups and/or as part of transnational networks
  • Lizzie Noel will be supported by an advisory panel bringing a wide range of experience in serious organised crime, security, and waste. The panel comprises Julia Mulligan, Police and Crime Commissioner for North Yorkshire, Colin Church, Chief Executive Officer at Chartered Institute of Waste Management, and Craig Naylor, Deputy Chief Constable in Lincolnshire Police.
  • Householders can check if a waste carrier is an approved carrier on the Environment Agency website.
  • The cost of waste crime to the English economy being over £600m in 2015 is from Rethinking waste crime, Environmental Services Association Educational Trust, 2017.
  • The figure of the extra investment in the EA having shown a return of about £5 for every £1 extra spent on tackling waste crime is from Waste crime interventions and evaluation project report.
  • The Home Office study referred to is Understanding organised crime: estimating the scale and the social and economic costs, October 2013.
  • For further information please contact Defra press office on 020 8225 7317 or out of hours on 0345 051 8486

Terms of Reference

  • The Serious and Organised Waste Crime review is initiated by, and will report to, the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Purpose

  • To consider, in depth, serious and organised waste crime – including our response to it – so that we can make actionable recommendations for a strategic approach to waste crime.
  • This review will directly inform a strategic approach to waste crime, which will be published in the new resources and waste strategy. This strategy is part of the Government’s environmental policy following the 25-year plan and the Clean Growth strategy. The review will also help shape future direction of work in this area.

Objectives

The review will:

  • consider the extent and nature of crimes being committed, and the types of organised crime groups involved
  • consider the environmental, community and economic impacts of serious and organised waste crime
  • consider how the Environment Agency is responding to the threat
  • consider the ability of the Environment Agency, other organisations, and the law enforcement system as a whole, to work together to tackle the threat
  • make recommendations for a strategic approach to serious and organised waste crime
  • make recommendations for the future direction of work

In implementing the review, the review team should also take account of:

  • the enforcement landscape and the multiple organisations involved
  • the sustainability, scalability, deliverability and cost-benefit trade-offs of responses to serious and organised waste crime
  • wider work underway in Defra, the Home Office and the Environment Agency
  • lessons learnt and examples of best practice from a wide range of stakeholders

Scope

  • The review will take a broad approach, to understand the scale, nature and impact of serious and organised crime and current and potential response to it. The focus will be on England only.
  • The review will concentrate on organised criminal involvement in waste crime, characteristics of criminal enterprises, intelligence gathering and enforcement effectiveness. It will consider fly-tipping and smaller waste crime incidents only in connection to the review’s understanding of organised criminality.

Roles and responsibilities

  • The review will be chaired by Defra Non-Executive Director Lizzie Noel. The review will report to the Defra Secretary of State and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State.

Ways of working

  • The Chair will be responsible for overseeing the strategic direction and progress of the review and delivery of the final report. The Chair will work closely with the Head of Waste and Recycling, who will oversee the review within Defra. Progress reviews will be conducted monthly.
  • The Chair, with advice taken from the core working group, may seek to access wider expertise dependent on need.
  • The review will be supported by a Secretariat within Defra, and by staff within Defra and the Environment Agency throughout.
  • A communications strategy and stakeholder engagement plan will be developed. All communication with the media will be undertaken through Defra Communications Team or the Environment Agency Communications team.

Timing

  • The review will commence in June 2018 and is due to be completed by September 2018.

Reporting

  • An evidence-based report will be submitted to Defra Ministers for consideration, detailing the findings of the review.

Link: Press release: Government steps up the fight against waste criminals
Source: Environment Agency

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Press release: Hostile states to face rapid and unified international response

Hostile state activity will be met with a rapid and unified G7 response, including greater intelligence sharing, under an agreement secured by Prime Minister Theresa May.

The move will also see hostile states publicly ‘called out’ for their egregious behaviour – with coordinated international attribution of cyber and other attacks.

Speaking at the G7 Summit in Quebec, the Prime Minister has emphasised that recent events, including the reckless use of ‘NotPetya’ ransomware and the attempted murder of the Skripals in Salisbury, have demonstrated the importance of a unified international response to send a clear message that such hostile state activity will not be tolerated.

The Prime Minister has stated that calling out malicious activity helps to end hostile states’ false sense of impunity, demonstrates our awareness of their activity, and underlines our willingness to defend ourselves.

At the G7 Foreign Ministers meeting last month, the UK proposed a new, more formalised approach to tackling foreign interference across the G7.

And today, G7 leaders have agreed to establish a new Rapid Response Mechanism (RRM).

The Prime Minister said the agreement sent a strong message that interference by Russia and other foreign states would not be tolerated.

This G7 initiative will support preventative and protective cooperation between G7 countries, as well as post-incident responses.

It includes:

  • sharing of threat intelligence, including hostile activity, techniques and practices
  • Improving understanding of partner countries’ policies and thresholds for taking action
  • support for independent international institutions
  • work with industry to strengthen physical and digital infrastructure
  • co-ordinated attribution of hostile activity
  • joint work to assert a common narrative and response

Speaking at the G7 Summit, the Prime Minister said:

There is no doubt that foreign interference in our democratic institutions and processes, and other forms of hostile activity, pose a strategic threat to our shared values and interests.

So I welcome today’s agreement that the G7 will exchange information, co-ordinate action, and develop strategies to reinforce our democracies, strengthen our societies’ resilience and uphold freedom of expression and a free and independent media in the face of this growing threat.

Today’s announcement shows that the G7 will not tolerate foreign interference in any one of our democracies, that we are getting organised, and that we will take coordinated action against those who seek to violate the rules-based international system.

Calling out malicious activity helps to end hostile states’ false sense of impunity, demonstrates our awareness of their activity, and underlines our unwavering willingness to defend ourselves.

The Prime Minister has also called for additional measures to curb Russia’s ability to undermine the international rules-based system, including:

  • doing more together as the G7 to better understand illicit money flows and then agree concrete actions to stop dirty money undermining our democracies
  • sharing more information so that Russian intelligence agents expelled from one country do not simply enter another country

The UK has also lobbied for a robust, united international position to uphold and strengthen the global prohibition on the use of chemical weapons.

Today the G7 has discussed its collective commitment to the Chemical Weapons Convention and called on all countries to support the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) special Conference of States Parties, which is expected to take place later this month.

The Prime Minister has urged fellow leaders to capitalise on the important opportunity this meeting presents to empower the OPCW to attribute responsibility for chemical weapons attacks, strengthening the global norm against chemical weapons use.

Link: Press release: Hostile states to face rapid and unified international response
Source: Gov Press Releases

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Press release: James Brokenshire announces £30 million immediate support for rough sleepers

83 areas will share £30 million to boost the immediate support available to people living on the streets and help them into accommodation Housing Secretary Rt Hon James Brokenshire MP confirmed today (9 June 2018).

Councils across England with the highest numbers of rough sleepers will receive a share of this funding to significantly increase the support they are able to offer people now and also those at risk this coming winter.

Funding will be used to provide an additional 1,750 additional bed spaces for rough sleepers and an additional 531 dedicated homelessness workers. The funding will also help improve the co-ordination of services available to those in need and at risk.

Howard Sinclair, Chief Executive of St Mungo’s, said:

Given how dangerous it is to sleep rough, we are pleased that ministers have recognised that urgent action is needed to support people off the street and out of danger, as well as to prevent people ending up on the streets in the first place.

Effective outreach services are a crucial part of this along with sufficient emergency accommodation and assessment and support for people with mental health and substance use problems.

While this money is a welcome first step, we hope that the government will provide sufficient funding alongside its forthcoming rough sleeping strategy to achieve the Prime Minister’s goal of halving rough sleeping in this parliament and ending it within 10 years.

Among the projects this funding will cover:

  • Camden – will receive £870k for a significant expansion of their outreach team to deliver targeted street interventions focusing on hot spot areas, as well as new staff to support rough sleepers to keep their own accommodation
  • Cornwall – will receive over £430k for crisis hostel accommodation, cold weather provision and support for the most disengaged rough sleepers with chronic needs
  • Manchester City Council – will receive £418k to fund specialist staff to work with young rough sleepers and offenders and provide additional night shelter beds and supported hostel beds

Councils will be supported by the government’s new Rough Sleeping Initiative Team consisting of experts from the sector with a proven track record of successfully helping rough sleepers and preventing those at risk from becoming homeless.

Housing Secretary Rt Hon. James Brokenshire MP said:

No one should ever have to sleep rough. I am determined that more people living on the streets and those at risk this coming winter get the help they need now.

That’s why I am making £30 million available that will help councils boost the immediate support they are able to offer. Whether this pays for more beds or more outreach workers this will make a real difference now.

Many challenging factors lie behind rough sleeping, from mental health problems to addiction and our long-term strategy to be published this summer will outline how we plan to tackle them and eliminate rough sleeping for good.

This funding builds on significant government action already taken including the new Housing First Pilots announced last month to get people into stable and affordable accommodation. In April the Homelessness Reduction Act was introduced which will ensure more people are provided with the support they need sooner. In total the government is investing more than £1.2 billion to tackle all forms of homelessness.

Next month government will publish its long-term Rough Sleeping Strategy that has been developed in partnership with charities and local government. It will set out a comprehensive plan to halve rough sleeping by 2022 and eliminate it entirely by 2027 by ensuring those sleeping rough have appropriate routes away from the streets – and prevent them from sleeping rough in the first place.

This latest funding will help local authorities using tried and tested methods in their area such as:

  • Brighton – will receive just under £0.5 million for new outreach staff, psychological support and temporary accommodation for rough sleepers
  • Camden – will receive £870,000 for a significant expansion of their outreach team to deliver targeted street interventions focusing on hot spot areas, as well as new staff to support rough sleepers to keep their own accommodation
  • Cornwall – will receive £437,000 for crisis hostel accommodation, cold weather provision and assertive outreach, which targets the most disengaged rough sleepers with chronic support needs, offering a range of support to end their homelessness
  • Leicester – will receive £265,000 to increase outreach provision, create a Rough Sleeper Co-ordinator role and establish an innovative “Housing Led” scheme enhancing options for those sleeping rough in the city
  • Lincoln – will receive £376,000 to increase outreach and specialist support provision; the funding will also provide 15 bed spaces for rough sleepers with complex needs and create a Rough Sleeper Co-ordinator post
  • Manchester City Council – will receive £418,000 to fund specialist staff including staff who will work with young rough sleepers and offenders, additional night shelter beds and supported hostel beds
  • Plymouth – will receive £363,000 to develop a multi-agency team to deliver bespoke interventions for rough sleepers as well as temporary accommodation and housing coupled with support for rough sleepers
  • Westminster – will receive over £534,000 to deliver new Housing First units, to support rough sleepers with complex needs get off the streets into stable and affordable accommodation; the funding will also provide for 18 staff including mental health specialists, bed spaces for women and couples and extended night shelter provision

This latest announcement builds on government action to date, in the efforts to halve rough sleeping by 2022 and end it altogether by 2027. This includes:

  • £1.2 billion investment in a number of programmes, including protecting core funding of £315 million to local authorities for their work on homelessness, and an additional £617 million in Flexible Homelessness Support Grant funding, which councils can use to work more strategically to prevent and tackle local homelessness pressures
  • piloting the internationally-proven Housing First approach – last month Greater Manchester, Liverpool City Region and the West Midlands received the go-ahead from government to launch new pilot projects worth more than £28 million to support rough sleepers with complex needs get off the streets into stable and affordable accommodation
  • introducing the Homelessness Reduction Act – the new Act came into force in April 2018 and is the most ambitious legal reform in decades; it places new duties on councils to prevent and relieve homelessness, including for single homeless people who are at greater risk of sleeping rough
  • a cross-government homelessness and rough sleeping taskforce supported by a panel of homelessness experts, charities and local government that is driving forward a new national strategy to be published in July that will make life on the streets a thing of the past
  • investing £9 billion to build more affordable housing, including new council homes
  • up to £135 million of investment in housing for vulnerable people including those most at risk of homelessness or rough sleeping; the funding from dormant assets will be directed to Big Society Capital for them to deploy; the first investment opportunities in this programme will be launched in the autumn

Further information

A full list of the individual allocations for 2018 to 2019 for local authorities with high levels of rough sleeping is available here:

Funding allocations

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The Rough Sleeping Initiative Fund was announced on 30 March 2018.

The Rough Sleeping Team based at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government is made up of rough sleeping and homelessness experts, drawn from, and funded by government departments and agencies with specialist knowledge across a wide-range of areas from housing, mental health to addiction.

The Homelessness Reduction Act came into effect on 3 April 2018. Read more on the Homelessness Reduction Act.

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Link: Press release: James Brokenshire announces £30 million immediate support for rough sleepers
Source: Gov Press Releases

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Press release: Charities who help people with disabilities receive UK aid funding boost

AbleChild Africa, Humanity and Inclusion, British and Irish Agencies Afghanistan Group, Orbis Charitable Trust and Deafkidz concentrate a lot of their work on people with disabilities who can be marginalised by society.

They work with people of all ages in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Rwanda, Ethiopia and Afghanistan where people with disabilities are often the most vulnerable in society.

Many of these charities work in health and education to ensure people with disabilities are getting the support they need including; eye care services in hard to reach areas, support to deaf communities and where possible helping people with disabilities find suitable employment.

These grants come in the second round of funding from UK Aid Direct, announced by the Department for International Development. In total, 30 small and medium sized civil society organisations, who work on a wide range of issues throughout the developing world will benefit. As well as projects focussed on disability inclusion, funding will also be provided to projects working on food security and nutrition as well preventing violence against women and children.

UK Aid Direct has already reached more than 3 million people, through 147 grants, across 31 countries.

Announcing the latest round of funding, Secretary of State for International Development, Penny Mordaunt said:

An estimated 800 million people with disabilities live in developing countries. Many of these people continue to face appalling levels of stigma, discrimination and abuse, and all too often miss out on the opportunities that are the right of every person.

Small and medium sized charities offer a wealth of experience, expertise and skills essential to our mission to find innovative new solutions to complex development problems.

Many of these charities represent the best of British expertise and I am extremely proud that through UK Aid Direct, we are strengthening our great partnerships with them to improve the lives of those living in extreme poverty.

The UK government will co-host its first-ever Global Disability Summit in London in July alongside the International Disability Alliance and the Government of Kenya. The summit will bring together leaders from the private sector, governments, donor agencies and charities to raise awareness of this under-prioritised issue and show our commitment to transform the lives of people with disabilities. It will secure ambitious commitments to make a tangible difference to the lives of millions of people around the world.

Lauren Watters, Head of Programmes at AbleChild Africa said:

The UK government is leading the way for disability inclusive development and we are tremendously excited that it has identified the need to empower Youth with Disabilities in Rwanda through UK Aid Direct. Our project will facilitate meaningful youth involvement tackling the multiple barriers this group face and supporting their full inclusion into society.

Steve Crump, Founder of Deafkidz:

It is extremely gratifying that the UK government has acknowledged our important mission to help deaf children around the world live safely and without fear through the UK Aid Direct scheme. Our work is vital, not only to provide vulnerable children with the ear and hearing care they need, but also to change the dangerous stigmas they face each day.

Notes to Editors

There are 30 Aid Match Direct grants being announced with a total funding of £28,968,130

Further information and the full list of recipients of the latest UK Aid Direct grants are available here: www.ukaiddirect.org/news/

UK Aid Direct is a five-year; £150 million programme currently changing the lives of over 3 million of the world’s poorest people with UK aid from the UK Government.

Funded by the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID), UK Aid Direct was established in 2014 as a successor to the Global Poverty Action Fund (GPAF), which was created in 2010.

UK Aid Direct is a challenge fund designed to support the UK’s commitments to achieving the Global Goals.

Funding rounds will continue until 2020.

The UK Government will co-host its first ever disability summit later this year that will focus on four central themes:

  • tackling stigma and discrimination
  • inclusion in education
  • routes to economic empowerment
  • harnessing technology and innovation

General media queries

Follow the DFID Media office on Twitter – @DFID_Press

Link: Press release: Charities who help people with disabilities receive UK aid funding boost
Source: Gov Press Releases

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Press release: The Queen’s Birthday Honours: Sister Imelda Poole

On 9th June 2018, Sr Imelda Poole, IBVM was made Member of the Order of the British Empire in The Queen’s Birthday Honours 2018, for her achievements and services to end modern slavery.

On the announcement of the award, the British Ambassador to the Holy See, Sally Axworthy, said:

I am delighted to learn that Sr. Imelda Poole has been awarded this honour by Her Majesty The Queen.

It is well-deserved recognition of Sr. Imelda’s outstanding service in combatting human trafficking and modern slavery, through the European religious sisters’ anti-trafficking network RENATE which she leads, and through and Talitha Kum, the religious sisters’ worldwide anti-trafficking network.

Sister Imelda is a key ally in Her Majesty’s Government’s campaign to eradicate modern slavery. It is wonderful to see such a distinguished friend of this Embassy honoured in this way.

Note for editors:

· Read more about Sr. Imelda Poole in the case study written by HM Ambassador Sally Axworthy to mark 2017 International Women’s Day.

Follow @SallyAxworthy @UKinHolySee

Link: Press release: The Queen’s Birthday Honours: Sister Imelda Poole
Source: Gov Press Releases

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Press release: Welsh Secretary hails outstanding individuals in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list

The Queen’s Birthday Honours List recognises the achievements of a wide range of extraordinary people across the United Kingdom.

Marking the achievements of the recipients from Wales, Secretary of State for Wales Alun Cairns said:

It is with great delight that I congratulate those who have been recognised in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list.

These honours acknowledge the incredible achievements of outstanding individuals who work tirelessly to improve the lives of others and inspire those around them.

I am proud to see people from all walks of Welsh life being recognised for their achievements and I am grateful for their commitment and dedication to their communities. Congratulations to you all.

Notable names from Wales in the honours list include Chief Constable of North Wales Police Mark Polin and Welsh sports stars Jessica Fishlock and Menna Fitzpatrick.

Congratulating Mark Polin, who received an OBE for services to policing, Welsh Secretary Alun Cairns said:

During his long and distinguished policing career, Mark Polin has provided excellent leadership and exemplified his very deep commitment to community policing at every turn.

He has been a credit to North Wales Police and is held in the highest regard not just by his colleagues, but across the range of partners that the Force works with and the communities that it serves. My sincerest congratulations to him on this very worthy honour.

Congratulating Welsh international football star, Jessica Fishlock on her MBE for services to women’s football and the LGBT community, Alun Cairns said:

From becoming the first Welsh player of any gender to make 100 appearances for their country, to league titles and player of the year awards for her clubs in Melbourne and Seattle, the accolades have been coming thick and fast for Jessica over recent years. That roll of honour is bolstered again today as she is named among the Queen’s Birthday Honours recipients.

She is a great sportswoman, an enduring role model and an inspiration to all. My warmest congratulations to Jessica – a worthy recipient of this honour.

Congratulating Welsh Winter Paralympics GB multi-medallist, Menna Fitzpatrick, Alun Cairns said:

There were few performances at this year’s winter Paralympic Games that captured the imaginations more than those exemplified on the slopes of Pyeongchang by Menna Fitzpatrick. Together with her guide Jennifer Kehoe, Menna displayed the sheer grit and determination needed to bring home a haul of four medals – including a gold – and secured the title of Britain’s most successful Winter Paralympian.

Today, and at just 20 years old, she takes her rightful place on the honours list as the youngest recipient. My congratulations to Menna on this worthy accolade and I wish her every success for the future.

Link: Press release: Welsh Secretary hails outstanding individuals in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list
Source: Gov Press Releases

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Press release: The Queen’s Birthday Honours List 2018

Each recipient exemplifies the very best of our nation – from our oldest recipient, 103 year old Rosemary Powell receiving an MBE for her charitable service, having spent over 97 years volunteering for the Royal British Legion – to the youngest at 20 years old, Menna Fitzpatrick. Menna, Team GB’s most decorated Winter Paralympian, receives an MBE for her services to Paralympic Winter Sport alongside her guide, Jennifer Kehoe.

Read the full Birthday Honours 2018 lists.

Awards include:

  • a damehood for actress Emma Thompson, for services to drama
  • a knighthood for Nobel Prize-winning novelist Kazuo Ishiguro, for services to literature
  • a damehood for Professor Mary Beard, Professor of Classics, University of Cambridge, for services to the study of classical civilisations
  • a knighthood for historian and broadcaster Professor Simon Schama
  • a knighthood for former footballer and manager Kenny Dalglish
  • a CBE for actor Tom Hardy
  • a CBE for television presenter and author Bamber Gascoigne
  • a CBE for journalist and Kate Adie
  • an OBE for boxer Anthony Joshua
  • an OBE for Winter Olympian gold medalist Lizzie Yarnold

This honours list continues to demonstrate the breadth of service given by people from all backgrounds.

In total 1,057 people have received an award:

  • 920 candidates have been selected at BEM, MBE and OBE level: 318 at BEM, 392 at MBE and 210 at OBE
  • 71% of the recipients are people who have undertaken outstanding work in their communities either in a voluntary or paid capacity
  • 519 women are recognised in the List, representing 49% of the total
  • 10% of the successful candidates come from a BAME background
  • 5.7% of the successful candidates consider themselves to have a disability (under the Equality Act 2010)

The Prime Minister provided a strategic steer to the Main Honours Committee that the honours system should support children and young people to achieve their potential, enhance life opportunities, remove barriers to success and work to tackle discrimination.

Women

In the 100th anniversary year of women’s suffrage, there are a range of awards for women at the forefront of their professions or who have championed women’s rights. At the highest level (CBE and above), 41% of awards are for women – an increase from 39% at NY18.

Amongst these there is:

  • a Companion of Honour (CH) for soprano Dame Kiri Te Kanawa
  • a damehood for Dr Frances Carolyn Saunders, a distinguished engineer who has been instrumental in improving diversity within STEM and attracting young people from all backgrounds into engineering
  • a CBE goes to Margaret Casely-Hayford, a lawyer and businesswoman, for her services to charity in the UK and abroad, and her work to create diversity on boards
  • a CBE for award-winning writer Jeanette Winterson for services to literature
  • a CBE for Kanya King, the founder of the MOBO awards (in its 21st year)
  • an OBE for Vanessa Vallely, Managing Director of wearethecity.com, for services to women and the economy

Local Communities

In total, 71% of awards in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List will go to people who have undertaken outstanding work in or for their local community.

Awards include:

  • a knighthood for Ber Helfgott, who has used his public profile as a Holocaust survivor to encourage community cohesion and combat intolerance
  • a CBE for Dr John Kirkby for his services to debt counselling as the founder of Christians Against Poverty
  • an OBE for Amandeep Madra for services to Punjabi and Sikh heritage and culture
  • an MBE for Michael Nield, for services to mountain rescue in Lancashire
  • an MBE for Dr Susan Martin, for services to mental health welfare in Liverpool
  • an MBE for Akeela Ahmed for her work with Muslim women as founder of the She Speaks, We Hear charity
  • an MBE for Halford Hewitt for his work as CEO of the Ipswich Housing Action Group, for his tireless work with the homeless in Ipswich

Education

Around 11% of honours are for work in education. The Honours Education Committee has recommended a knighthood for Professor Leslie Ebdon, the former director of Fair Access to Higher Education.

Other senior awards in education include CBEs for:

  • Professor Rosemary Davis, Professor Emeritus, Institute of Education, UCL
  • Professor Carole Hillenbrand, Emerita Professor in Islamic History, University of Edinburgh
  • Pat Smart, Chief Executive Officer, Create Partnership Trust
  • Professor Billie Hunter, Professor of Midwifery, Cardiff University

There is also an MBE for Carol Russell, chair of Hope Autism.

Health

Marking the NHS’s 70th year, a wide range of contributors to the NHS have been recognised, with health sector recipients making up 12% of all honours. There is a rich breadth of vocations, innovative practice and outstanding patient care recognised throughout the NHS.

In total, 64 awards have been made to NHS recipients, including:

  • a damehood for Chief Scientific Officer Professor Susan Hill
  • an OBE for Veronica Donovan, Consultant Midwife at the Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS Foundation Trust
  • an MBE for Stephen Hudson at the Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Foundation Trust, who for 30 years has supported vulnerable people in Devon both through his work and through voluntary organisations
  • a BEM for Debra Smith, a specialist in palliative cancer care in Wythenshawe, Manchester
  • a BEM for surgeon Nadine Hachach-Haram, whose entrepreneurship through her company Proximie has helped to pioneer virtual access to surgical expertise for people living in remote areas, including plastic surgery for children in Peru

Elsewhere in the health sector, the Health Committee recommended:

  • a knighthood for Professor Christopher Ham, lately Chief Executive of the Kings Fund
  • a knighthood for Professor David Haslam, chair of NICE
  • a damehood for Professor Jane Dacre, President of the Royal College of Physicians

Also in the list is:

  • a CBE for Professor Robert Steele, Senior Research Professor at the University of Dundee for his work on the prevention, early detection and treatment of colorectal cancer
  • an OBE for Anne Moore, Senior Vice President, Royal College of Surgeons
  • an MBE goes to Dr Susannah Clarke, founder of Embody Orthopaedic, who has pioneered the use of 3D print technology to revolutionise minimally-invasive joint replacement procedures

Industry and the Economy

Industry and the economy make up 13% of this honours list. The Economy Committee recommended:

  • a damehood for Moya Greene, Chief Executive, Royal Mail
  • a knighthood for James Ratcliffe, Chair and Chief Executive of Ineos Chemical Group

A number of entrepreneurs and individuals supporting greater diversity are also recognised, including:

  • a CBE for Jo Malone, for services to the British economy and the GREAT campaign
  • a CBE for Thomas Ilube, for services to technology and philanthropy
  • a CBE for Brenda Trenowden, Global Chair, 30% Club

Science and Technology

Science and Technology recipients make up 3% of the list. There is:

  • a knighthood for Professor Christopher Dobson, Professor of Chemical and Structural Biology and Master, St John’s College, University of Cambridge
  • a CBE for Principal Soil Scientist, Professor Lorna Dawson
  • a CBE for David Eyton, Group Head of Technology, BP plc

Sport

Awards for Sport make up 5% of the total recipients. There are awards to celebrate the success of individuals in the Winter Olympics and Paralympics including an OBE for Mike Hay, Chef de Mission, Team GB.

Alongside these there are OBEs for:

  • Roisin Wood, Chief Executive of Kick It Out
  • Director of Child Protection in Sport, Anne Tiivas

There is an also an OBE for footballer Jermain Defoe recognising his charitable work through the Jermain Defoe Foundation, and an OBE for Jeffrey Savory, for his support to disability sport.

Awards to grassroots sport include BEMs for:

  • Wyndham Davidson, a swimming coach in Shropshire and the West Midlands
  • Charlotte MacDonald, for her services to the Special Olympics and Riding for the Disabled

The Arts, Music and Dance

In the Arts, there is:

  • a knighthood for Dr Charles Saumarez Smith, Chief Executive of the Royal Academy, marking its 250th year
  • a CBE for Dinah Casson for her services to design
  • an OBE for curator, Gus Casely-Hayford

In music there is:

  • a knighthood for baritone Simon Keenlyside
  • a CBE for composer, pianist and conductor Thomas Ades
  • an OBE for prominent jazz musician, Julian Joseph

There is also an MBE for musician Niomi McLean-Daley, aka Miss Dynamite.

There are CBEs for:

  • Director of the Royal Ballet, Kevin O’Hare
  • Director of Music at the Southbank Centre, Professor Gillian Moore

There are MBEs for:

  • actor Gary Wilmot
  • underwater photographer, Alexander Mustard

Law and Order

In Law and Order, the awards include:

  • a knighthood for Mark Rowley, lately Assistant Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Service
  • a CBE for Alexander Marshall, lately Chief Executive of the College of Policing
  • Dionne Collins, Chief Constable of West Yorkshire Police
  • Robert Ayling, Chair of HM Courts and Tribunals Service

Parliamentary

The Parliamentary and Political Service Committee has recommended damehoods for:

  • Eleanor Laing, MP for Epping Forest
  • Louise Ellman, MP for Liverpool Riverside

There are also knighthoods for:

  • David Natzler, Clerk of the House of Commons
  • Bernard Jenkin, MP for Harwich and North Essex

Link: Press release: The Queen’s Birthday Honours List 2018
Source: Gov Press Releases

Posted on

Press release: Scottish people recognised in the Queen’s Birthday Honours 2018

Following on from the publication of the Queen’s Birthday Honours 2018 list today (June 8 2018), Scottish Secretary David Mundell passes on his congratulations to Scottish honourees:

I am pleased to see the Queen’s Birthday honours recognise the achievements of a diverse and inspiring number of our fellow Scots. From sporting icons to key players in business and academia, these individuals have been influential in shaping our nation.

As Scotland’s most capped footballer and joint leading goal scorer, Kenny Dalglish was rightly crowned ‘king’ by his fans around the world. His glittering achievements in football and dedicated service to communities, including through his unwavering support for the families of the Hillsborough victims and the millions of pounds raised by his family’s cancer charity, mean that ‘King Kenny’ now deservedly becomes a Knight.

I also welcome the Knighthood for Jim Ratcliffe, chair and chief executive of Ineos Chemical Group, who has built a business empire which contributes so much to the Scottish economy. And I’m pleased to see awards to celebrate the success of individuals in the Winter Olympics and Paralympics including an OBE for Mike Hay, Chef de Mission, Team GB.

I offer my sincere congratulations to these recipients on their worthy honours. What they have accomplished is an inspiration.

Link: Press release: Scottish people recognised in the Queen’s Birthday Honours 2018
Source: Gov Press Releases

Posted on

Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust today pleads guilty following investigation

Before Woolwich Crown Court, Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust today pleaded guilty to a charge under Sections 2(1) and 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Etc Act 1974. This follows a HSE investigation into serious injuries to two members of staff at the Bracton Centre on Bracton Lane, Dartford on 17 July 2016.

Link: Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust today pleads guilty following investigation
Source: Health and Safety