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12 new multi-purpose and digitised courtrooms, more modern public space, and 19 new rooms for the judiciary have been built – bringing together all the courts and tribunals for the first time, within a combined Civil, Family and Tribunal Justice Centre. The building now hosts 59 courtrooms and chambers, 60 judges and around 223 members of staff – whose roles range from ensuring trials progress and assisting the judiciary to helping people who are attending court.

The investment into Birmingham Civil Justice Centre is part of the Government’s £1bn reform and modernisation of the justice system – ensuring Britain’s courts and tribunals are fit for the 21st century.

The County Court is one of the busiest in the country and was responsible for 3.3% of all national civil cases issued in the past 12 months. The Family Court is also one of the largest and received 496 care and 1,945 private law applications. 3.5% of national Social Security and Child Support cases were listed at Birmingham over the last 12 months.

The state-of-the-art Civil Justice Centre is bringing together knowledge and expertise in managing court and tribunal cases from across the region – meaning a better service for citizens in the county and beyond.

Justice Minister Lucy Frazer, said:

We are ensuring the justice system is fit for the 21st century. This investment is just one example of how our reform programme will modernise our courts and ensure swifter justice.

HMCTS CEO Susan Acland-Hood, said:

Birmingham Civil Justice Centre is a prime example of the future of our courts and tribunals.

We are spending £1 billion to make our system more accessible for all citizens, more sensitive for witnesses, and to deliver better value for taxpayers’ money.

Regional Tribunal Judge Rhead said:

Myself and my colleagues are delighted to relocate to the refurbished 4th Floor at Birmingham Civil Justice Centre. The refurbishment is the result of the determination and hard work of HMCTS staff and all associated with the project.

It provides 12 multi-jurisdictional hearing rooms suitable to hear a range of tribunal hearings including social security and child support appeals with appropriate facilities for tribunal users. The hearing rooms and judicial accommodation are an excellent example of a modern ‘fit for purpose’ justice centre.

HMCTS have developed digital services so that, where appropriate, instead of taking time out to attend a physical court building, working people can now make a number of claims online. These include filing for divorce, challenging rogue traders for money owed, or making a tax appeal. In criminal courts the increasing use of video links means more vulnerable victims can give evidence away from the courtroom and without having to meet their attacker face to face. Across the country, people are also now able to indicate their plea online for low level motoring offences – 80,000 online pleas were made last year. This enables the court to better prepare for the hearing – saving time in the courtroom. £114.7m has already been raised from the sales of underused and poorly-equipped courts to reinvest in the reform and modernisation of the justice system.

The third to be named in the City Class of eight brand new, cutting-edge, anti-submarine warfare frigates, HMS Cardiff will provide advanced protection for the likes of the UK’s nuclear deterrent and Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carriers, and offer an unrivalled anti-submarine warfare capability.

Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson said:

HMS Cardiff will be a terrific tribute to Wales and its capital city. She will bolster the United Kingdom’s defences across the seven seas – protecting our aircraft carriers and defending our waters from intensifying threats.

Secretary of State for Wales Alun Cairns said:

This is a very proud moment not only for the Royal Navy but for the whole of Wales.

Wales has a strong military footprint, and this announcement is a celebration of the contribution our nation makes to the defence of the UK.

I’m proud to see the name of our capital city on a Royal Navy warship that will take to international waters to defend our national security and protect our servicemen and women around the world.

First Sea Lord Admiral Sir Philip Jones said:

It’s great to see the name HMS Cardiff returning to the Fleet as one of our new Type 26 Frigates, reflecting the Royal Navy’s long-standing bond with the city and the people of Wales. The name HMS Cardiff brings with it a proud history. A century ago the light cruiser HMS Cardiff famously led the German High Seas Fleet into internment at Scapa Flow at the end of the First World War. The last HMS Cardiff, a Type 42 destroyer, also distinguished herself on operations around the world, including the 1982 Falklands campaign, the 1991 Gulf War and service in the Adriatic during the 1999 crisis in Kosovo.

This next generation of frigates will encompass the very latest innovations and technological advances to deliver a world class anti-submarine warfare capability within a globally deployable and highly versatile platform. For years to come, as part of a Royal Navy carrier-led task group or working with our international partners, HMS Cardiff and her sister ships will be ready to deliver a wide spectrum of operations from diplomatic and humanitarian missions to high end warfighting, promoting and protecting Britain’s interests worldwide.

The naming was marked by an event at Mansion House in Cardiff this morning, led by students from the Welsh University Royal Naval Unit. The training establishment for a group of undergraduates from across the nation who show potential as future leaders of society.

Welcoming the news, Defence Minister Guto Bebb said:

As a proud Welshman, it is a great honour to herald another era of a warship with the name HMS Cardiff protecting the UK at home and abroad. These students have shown great passion for everything the Royal Navy stands for, and if they do go on to be captains of the future, they could be at the helm of a truly formidable, cutting-edge warship in HMS Cardiff.

The new HMS Cardiff is set to enter service in the 2020s and, along with her fellow Type 26 frigates, will deliver high-end warfighting wherever it is needed, whilst protecting the UK’s interests as well as Britain’s nuclear submarines. Its flexible design will also enable these capabilities to be adapted to counter future threats, and the ships will benefit from the latest advances in digital technology.

She will be the fourth ship to be named in honour of the Welsh capital city, and the announcement comes 100 years after the first HMS Cardiff led the surrendered German High Seas Fleet into Scapa Flow at the end of the First World War.

The St. David’s Day announcement is a further example of Defence’s commitment to Wales, where the MOD has today announced it spends £300 for every member of the population, £20 more per person than last year. The work being done in Wales includes the UK’s biggest single order for an armoured vehicle in 30 years: the £4.5bn Ajax vehicles being built at General Dynamics’ Merthyr Tydfil factory.

Also, this years’ Armed Forces Day will be held in Wales, on the 30 June in the historic North Wales seaside town of Llandudno. The event, which will also mark Armed Forces Day’s tenth birthday, will celebrate the work of our servicemen and women with a spectacular military parade, fly pasts and impressive displays of equipment.

North Wales has many current and historic links to the Armed Forces, including many Regular and Reserve Army units. Many North Walians are proud to serve in the Royal Welsh and nearby RAF Valley on Anglesey is home to a fast jet training base. Nearly 10,000 veterans live in Conwy, supported by a number of local and national charities.

The announcement also comes as BAE Systems have awarded Lockheed Martin a contract to equip the Type 26 with the only system of its kind capable of launching anti-air, anti-submarine, surface-to-surface and strike-length missiles. Three MK 41 Vertical Launching Systems will be fitted on each ship. The Royal Navy has ordered an initial nine modules for the first three ships, including HMS Cardiff.

A number of close allies, including Australia and Canada, are also considering the state-of-the-art Type 26 design. HMS Sutherland is currently in Australia demonstrating the UK’s world-class anti-submarine capability.

The Royal Navy’s Type 26 frigates are being built at the Clyde shipyards in Scotland. The MOD announced an unprecedented 20 years of work there in 2017, safeguarding over 4,000 jobs, with the £3.7bn contract for the first three of eight submarine hunting Type 26 frigates to be built there. Two other ships in the class have already been named HMS Glasgow and HMS Belfast. HMS Cardiff is the third ship to be named and will be the second to enter production.

ENDS

The Charity Commission has published a report detailing the findings of its statutory inquiry into Anatolia People’s Cultural Centre.

The Commission opened an inquiry into the charity on 22 April 2016 after information was shared with the Commission, by the Metropolitan Police’s Counter Terrorism Command, following the arrest of one of the charity’s then trustees on suspicion of offences under the Terrorism Act 2006. The police also made the Commission aware that the charity’s premises had been searched resulting in the seizure of funds, and that following the search the premises were subject to a temporary closure order.

The Commission announced the opening of the inquiry on 19 June 2017 after the trustee was found not guilty of 2 counts of disseminating terrorist publications relating to a proscribed group at London’s Central Criminal Court.

In addition to the arrest, cash seizure and closure order, the Commission had a number of regulatory concerns relating to the management and administration of the charity by the trustees including the lack of a bank account despite receiving donations, failure to correspond with the Commission and the trustees failure to ensure statutory returns were filed.

The inquiry concluded that the charity was mismanaged by its trustees for a number of reasons as set out in the report.

The police’s investigation identified images and items with explicit links to the Revolutionary Peoples’ Liberation Party/Front (‘DHKP-C’), a proscribed terrorist organisation, on display at the charity’s premises. The inquiry concluded that allowing such inappropriate and unacceptable images to be displayed at the charity’s premises would lead an ordinary member of the public to infer that the charity supported what was displayed at the premises and endorsed acts of terrorism and/or extremism.

Michelle Russell, the Charity Commission’s Director of Investigations, Monitoring, and Enforcement said:

The association of any charity with terrorism and/or extremism is wholly unacceptable. The role of charity trustees is to protect their charities from abuse of this kind and the trustees’ failure to do this or to cooperate with the regulator is evidence that they are unfit to act as charity trustees.

As was the case here, we work closely with the police and other authorities to tackle the threats that terrorism and extremism pose to charities, their beneficiaries and their work.

The inquiry concluded that the charity had ceased to operate following the closure order and the charity was removed from the register on 6 September 2017. Prior to this and as a result of the various failings all of the individuals recorded as trustees of the charity were removed or disqualified by the Commission and are as a result banned from serving as charity trustees in the future.

Ends

Notes to Editors

1. The Charity Commission is the regulator of charities in England and Wales. To find out more about our work see the about us page on GOV.UK.
2. Search for charities on our online register.
3. The DHKP-C (Devrimci Halk Kurtulus Partisi – Cephesi) aims to establish a Marxist-Leninist regime in Turkey by means of armed revolutionary struggle. It was proscribed in March 2001.
4. The consequence of disqualification/removal under the Charities Act 2011 is disqualification from being a trustee of any other charity without a waiver from disqualification from the Commission or the courts. It is an offence to act as a trustee whilst disqualified.
5. The Charity’s former trustees who were disqualified under section 181A of the Charities Act 2011, were disqualified for a period of 10 years. The maximum period is 15 years.

The government has today (1 March 2018) reaffirmed its commitment to putting bereaved families and the community at the heart of deciding what happens to the future of the Grenfell Tower site.

A set of written principles, agreed with the community and signed by government and Kensington and Chelsea council, will guide the way future decisions are made.

The common assumption is that the decision-making process on the future of the site will lead towards agreement on a fitting memorial to remember those who lost their lives.

Kensington and Chelsea council will ensure that work on the future of the site is taken forward alongside work on the improvements to the Lancaster West estate, so that the area becomes a place where the tragedy can be remembered and the local community thrives.

Shahin Sadafi, Chair of Grenfell United, said:

The future of Grenfell Tower site has been a major source of anxiety for the bereaved, survivors and local community not least because it is the final resting place of the loved ones we lost in the fire.

We are pleased that 8 months on from the fire we finally have agreement that the bereaved, survivors and community will be at the heart of deciding the legacy of the site. We hope working together to create a fitting memorial will be part of a healing process for everyone affected.

The government and Kensington and Chelsea council have treated this issue with dignity and respect. We can only hope the government applies the same seriousness to our need for truth and justice at the Inquiry, this includes listening to our requests for changes to ensure a thorough Inquiry.

Our door will always be open for genuine cooperation on substantive issues.

Secretary of State for Housing, Sajid Javid said:

I am pleased that after hearing the concerns raised by the community, the government and Kensington and Chelsea council have confirmed there are no existing plans for the site on which the Tower stands.

I have always been clear that only by first listening to the community can we begin to rebuild their trust. This public commitment is a demonstration of us being true to that word and I am pleased we have been able to agree a way forward.

Councillor Elizabeth Campbell, Leader of Kensington and Chelsea council, said:

Since day one of my leadership I have been clear – the council will listen every step of the way to the survivors, the bereaved, and the wider community and assist in any way it can to ensure that a lasting memorial is put in place.

Further information

The principles can be found on GOV.UK.

The principles have been agreed and signed by Sajid Javid MP; Elizabeth Campbell, Leader of Kensington and Chelsea council; Grenfell United on behalf of survivors and bereaved families; and Lancaster West Residents’ Association on behalf of local residents and community.