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The Department for Work and Pensions has announced that Sir Hector Sants has been appointed as chair of the Single Financial Guidance Body. He will take up the post from 3 October 2018 for a 5 year term.

Work and Pensions Secretary, Esther McVey, said:

Consistent with the Public Appointments Code and following a fair and open competition, I welcome Sir Hector Sants as the first chair of the Single Financial Guidance Body. He will play a pivotal role and lead on improving financial capability across Great Britain.

Sir Hector brings with him vast experience and knowledge from across a range of private and third sector organisations, including how best to support people with problem debt and build wider financial capability. I and my department look forward to working with him.

Sir Hector Sants said:

I am delighted to be appointed chair of the Single Financial Guidance Body. This is an important leadership role with 2 key challenges. In the short-term the dissolution of the 3 existing government sponsored guidance providers and the transition to a single financial guidance body, longer term the new organisation has the opportunity to materially help people better manage their money and in consequence enhance their wellbeing. I look forward to working with the new Board and the executive team to take forward this exciting and important mandate.

More information

Since retiring from full-time work Sir Hector Sants’ focus has been on working to help people manage their money as well as circumstances allow, and promoting a fairer financial system which works for everyone. This reflects his belief that being able to manage money well is an essential life skill.

He is currently chairman of StepChange Debt Charity, the UK’s biggest debt advice charity. He is also a trustee of Just Finance, a charity which collaborates with the Church of England to promote a fairer financial system, and a member of the UK’s Financial Capability Board.

Between 1977 and 2014 he had an executive career in financial services and regulation, which included serving as the CEO of the Financial Services Authority from 2007 to 2012, European CEO of Credit Suisse and a partner of stockbrokers Phillips & Drew.

Remuneration during the set-up phase is £80,000 for a minimum of 21 hours a week. Time commitment will be reviewed once the organisation is in a steady state.

Sir Hector’s appointment follows an open and competitive process which was overseen by The Office for the Commissioner of Public Appointments.

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A bank holiday weekend blitz to check anglers were fishing legally saw bailiffs net 14 people for offences on rivers and stillwaters across the North East.

A total of 14 anglers out of 389 checked were found to be in breach of rod licence and close season legislation and were reported for it.

Environment Agency Fisheries Enforcement Officers visited 80 waters across the North East from the Borders in the north down to North Yorkshire in the south.

It brings the total number of first time rod licence checks to 650 during May, with 37 offence reports issued.
Kevin Summerson, Environment Agency Fisheries Technical Specialist, said:

Our officers were out in force this weekend patrolling our rivers and stillwaters ensuring people were fishing legally and taking action against those flouting the law.

People who don’t buy a licence are not only cheating other anglers and the future of the sport but they are running the risk of a criminal conviction and a fine. There is no excuse.

Intelligence-led patrols

The Environment Agency acts on information received to target their patrols to areas where its suspected illegal fishing is taking place. They work with partners at the police and local angling clubs, supported by the Angling Trust, to gather intelligence.

Just last week, Three men were ordered to pay fines and costs totalling more than £1,300 for poaching with illegal fishing nets in the River Derwent in Gateshead. Kevin added:

We track criminal activity on an intelligence led basis using information gathered by ourselves, partner organisations and reports from the public.

Anyone fishing illegally can expect to be prosecuted and face a fine. I’d urge people to report illegal fishing to us so we can investigate.

All income from rod licence sales is used to fund Environment Agency work to protect and improve fish stocks and fisheries, including improving habitats for fish and facilities for anglers, tackling illegal fishing and working with partners to encourage people to give fishing a go.

Buying a rod licence is quick and easy – they start from just £30 for the year and are free for 13-16 year olds. Under 13s do not need a licence. You can buy them online

A Downing Street spokesperson said:

Prime Minister Theresa May spoke with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed on the phone this morning. She congratulated him on his recent appointment and said that the UK firmly supported his reform and reconciliation efforts.

The Prime Minister thanked Prime Minister Ahmed for the release of prisoners including British national Andargachew Tsege.

They discussed the importance of development assistance, including the support the UK provides to bolster education, economic reform, industrialisation, anti-corruption and job creation in Ethiopia.

They also discussed how the two countries could deepen their trade links, and touched on how the UK’s expertise in infrastructure and financing could support Ethiopia’s economic development agenda.

Today I briefed a number of Ambassadors from State Parties to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).

We recognised that the global norm against chemical weapons use is being threatened. The United Kingdom is working alongside our partner states to strengthen the OPCW’s existing mechanisms.

We welcome strong initial support from the international community in response to our request for a Conference of State Parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention in June. We are confident that states will recognise this threat – that respects no borders – and act in defence of human dignity.

I look forward to further close cooperation with our international partners. We can prevent impunity for the use of chemical weapons, but only by acting together.

Road users not heading to the festival are being advised to seek alternative routes to avoid delays.

About 80,000 people are expected at the three-day festival, being staged from Friday 8 to Sunday 10 June, and surrounding roads are likely to be very busy.

Gates to the campsite open at midday on Wednesday 6 June to allow an expected 60,000 or more campers to spread their arrival times. Up to 20,000 visitors are expected to buy day tickets.

Sarah Redfearn, Highways England’s Emergency Planning Officer for the East Midlands, said:

Major roads and motorways in the area, including the M1, A42, A50 and A453, are likely to be busy.

All routes to the festival will be well signposted, but people travelling in the area should plan their journey in advance.

Festival-goers can check the traffic conditions using our Highways England travel app, or follow us on Twitter @HighwaysEMIDS to check the latest traffic updates before you set out.

Donington Park is located next to East Midlands Airport, four miles west of junction 23a of the M1 and five miles from junction 24. Anyone travelling to the airport should allow plenty of extra travel time for their journey.

Highways England will use electronic message boards on surrounding motorways to advise people of any delays. Extra Traffic Officers are also being deployed for the duration, both in event control and around junction 24 of the M1, to assist motorists, clear incidents quickly and keep traffic moving.

Highways England provides live traffic information via its website, local and national radio travel bulletins, electronic road signs and mobile platforms, such as Android and iPhone apps. Further information is available from the Highways England customer contact centre on 0300 123 5000.

Image supplied by Festival Republic // Download Festival taken by Paulo Gonçalves

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.

This June sees the 50th anniversary of work starting to build Spaghetti Junction – the amazing Midlands road structure, used daily by tens of thousands of people travelling in and out of Birmingham, and through the region to go up and down the country.

In a video released today by the Government company, celebrities line up to sing the praises of Spaghetti Junction, officially named Gravelly Hill Interchange.

In a video released today

Award-winning chef and proud ‘Brummie’ Glynn Purnell said:

Whenever I think of Spaghetti Junction, I think of home. Whenever I’d been on my holidays to Weymouth as a child or to see my nan, I always knew I was home whenever I saw the Spaghetti Junction.

There is also a special appearance from music-mogul and proud-Midlander Pete Waterman. He said:

When I think of Spaghetti Junction, for me I think of record industry. In the 70s, I wouldn’t have been able to get in and out of Birmingham as quickly as I did without Spaghetti Junction.

Every day radio shows broadcast Highways England traffic news to listeners wanting up to the minute information about what is happening on the roads.

Radio presenter Ed James from Heart FM’s breakfast said he thought the road was “iconic” while Tim Warwood from Free Radio said:

It is amazing because as a kid whenever I went out with my parents, they’d be like, look its Spaghetti Junction. It is amazing.

The launch of the video coincides with the UK currently facing a shortfall of 20,000 engineering graduates a year, with half of companies in the sector saying this has a significant impact on productivity and growth.

By bringing young people face to face with engineering experiences and role models, the Year of Engineering campaign aims to showcase the creativity and innovation of engineering careers and widen the pool of young people from all backgrounds who are willing to consider the profession, diversifying a workforce that is 91% male and 94% white.

Highways England Customer Service Director, Melanie Clarke said:

This special video is a fitting tribute to the famous structure and clearly captures the pride that the people of Birmingham and those that use it every day continue to hold for the road. When it was designed 50 years ago nobody could have predicted that the anniversary of work starting on the road would coincide with the Year of Engineering and there is no better tribute to the role of engineering than Spaghetti Junction.

The strategic road network in England connects businesses, families and friends. Yet the country needs more of the people that build them. At Highways England we’re backing the Year of Engineering campaign and appealing to young people to consider engineering as a rewarding career.

HM Government Envoy for the Year of Engineering, Stephen Metcalfe MP, said:

The Year of Engineering is a chance to show young people from all backgrounds the amazing things they could achieve as engineers, so it’s fantastic to be celebrating 50 years of one of the UK’s most iconic engineering feats.

Spaghetti Junction is a great example of how engineering transforms the way we live, work and travel. Advances in technology, energy, healthcare and infrastructure mean engineers will continue to play a vital role in all our lives, so it’s more important than ever that we inspire young people and their parents to take a closer look at the opportunities that this creative, innovative profession could offer them.

Any young people inspired to explore a career in engineering are encouraged to visit the Year of Engineering website which has further information.

Spaghetti Junction in numbers:

• It is the interchange of the M6, A38, A38 (M) connecting Birmingham and the M6
• Work started to build the road in 1968
• It took four years to build and is subject to regular maintenance programmes many of which take place underneath the road
• Some of the columns elevating the structure reach some 80ft
• Spaghetti Junction continues to hold international acclaim having formed the backdrop for filming for Ready Player One with some scenes filmed underneath the structure
• The towering concrete columns, some reaching to 80 feet high, formed the ideal backdrop to the film, which was in cinemas earlier this year
• For the filming, special templates featuring graffiti were stuck to the concrete structures and various props added into the set, including cars and tyres, with a ‘camp’ constructed for the new film
• The film crew took considerable effort to protect the structure and ensure nothing was damaged during filming

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.