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The measures announced include:

• local authorities being able to recoup over 80% of the money they spend on temporary accommodation directly from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) rather than from the claimant, preventing losses of more than £70 million over 2018/19
• extended partnership working with Citizen’s Advice, to provide more face to face support to Universal Credit claimants

This follows the package of improvements for new claimants announced in yesterday’s Autumn Budget, including:

• abolishing the 7 waiting day period to reduce the wait for payment from 6 weeks to 5 from February 2018
• extending the repayment of advances from 6 to 12 months, and allowing people to receive 100% of their payment upfront from January 2018 (people who make a claim in December can get a 50% advance, and then in January can ask for a top up to 100%)
• making it possible for people to apply for advances online from spring 2018, making it even easier for a claimant to access an advance if they need it
• paying an additional 2 weeks’ of housing costs after the end of someone’s Housing Benefit claim and into their Universal Credit claim from April 2018
• making it easier for claimants to continue having their housing costs paid directly to landlords once they are on Universal Credit

To allow these improvements to be made as quickly as possible, we will also be changing the rate of Universal Credit full service rollout for 3 months from February 2018 to 10 jobcentres a month, increasing to 41 in May 2018.

The timetable of the Universal Credit full service transition has been updated.

Minister for Africa Rory Stewart arrived in Harare on 23 November. He will hold meetings with a range of political leaders from various parties, business representatives, human rights groups, NGOs and civil society. He will also see some of the important development work being carried out here by UK.

Minister for Africa, Rory Stewart said:

This is an absolutely critical moment in Zimbabwe’s history.

Zimbabweans suffered for too long as a result of Mugabe’s ruinous rule. The events of the last few days have given people here real hope that Zimbabwe can be set on a different, more democratic and more prosperous path.

What comes next must be driven by Zimbabweans – it must be in line with the Zimbabwean constitution and will be impossible without clear resolve from the incoming government. That is what my visit here is all about.

Britain wants to be a genuine partner for Zimbabweans as they forge a new future.

Further information

• Follow Foreign Office Minister Rory Stewart on Twitter @RoryStewartUK
• Follow the Foreign Office on Twitter @foreignoffice and Facebook
• Follow the Foreign Office on Instagram, YouTube and LinkedIn

Mr Cosgrove had a disqualification order made against him, with effect from 24 October 2017, on behalf of the Secretary of State for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy, which prevents him from becoming directly or indirectly involved in the promotion, formation or management of a company for eight years.

Paul Cosgrove was the director of TBP & Son Ltd, a company trading as a provider of waste management services.

The company went into liquidation on 13 February 2015 owing £1,744,396 to creditors, of which £1,058,168 was owed to trade and expense creditors and £686,128 was owed to HM Revenue & Customs.

The unfit conduct that led to Mr Cosgrove receiving an order was that he failed to maintain, preserve or deliver up the books and records of the company which resulted in it not being possible to:

• determine the reason for company expenditure totaling £4.2 million
• explain what happened to assets totaling £5,242,845.
• determine the true level of VAT due to HMRC

Commenting on the disqualification, Martin Gitner, Deputy Head of Investigations with the Insolvency Service said:

Failure to deliver up the books and records of a company to the Liquidator which results in a loss to creditors and the public purse will be rigorously investigated by the Insolvency Service in liaison with HM Revenue & Customs.

Even where the director chooses not to engage with the investigation process, disqualification as a director is the likely outcome of such activity.

Notes to editors

Paul Cosgrove, date of birth March 1980 and he resides in Newark, Nottinghamshire.

TBP & Son Ltd (CRO No. 06896956) was incorporated on 6 May 2009. The company traded as a provider of waste management services. Mr Cosgrove was a director from 1 October 2013 to liquidation.

The Company went into Creditors Voluntary Liquidation on 13 February 2015 with an estimated deficiency of £1,744,397.

On 3 October 2017, a Disqualification Order was made against Mr Cosgrove on behalf of the Secretary of State, effective from 24 October 2017, for a period of 8 years .

The matters of unfitness, which Mr Cosgrove did not dispute, were that from 1 October 2013 to the date of liquidation on 13 February 2015, Paul Cosgrove failed to ensure that TBP & Son Limited (TBP) maintained and/or preserver adequate accounting records, or in the alternative he failed to deliver up to the Liquidator such records as were maintained. As a consequence it is not possible:

• to determine, in the absence of a complete purchase records, the reason for expenditure totalling £4,283,785 to a third party out of TBP’s bank account during the period 01 October 2013 to 13 February 2015 and in particular, to verify that this was legitimate company expenditure
• to establish whether all of TBP’s assets were disclosed in the statement of affairs and in particular to determine what, if any, stock and book debts were owned by the company at the date of liquidation, and the full and true value of any items transferred or otherwise disposed prior to liquidation, in that purchase invoices show that between 26 October 2013 and 2 December 2014, TBP purchased scrap metals for the sum of £5,004,477 against corresponding sales invoices in the sum of £2,133,430, resulting in scrap metal with an invoice value of £2,871,047 being unaccounted for; and purchase invoices show that between 26 October 2013 and 2 December 2014, TBP purchased waste paper and plastics for the sum of £2,634,076 against corresponding sales invoices in the sum of £262,278 resulting in waste paper & plastics with an invoice value of £2,371,798 being unaccounted for
• for HM Revenue & Customs to determine the true level of TBP’s liability in respect of Value Added Tax which resulted in HMRC raising officers assessments and surcharges against the company totalling £624,485 in respect of the period 1 April 2014 to 2 December 2014

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

Persons subject to a disqualification order are bound by a range of other restrictions.

The Insolvency Service, an executive agency sponsored by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), administers the insolvency regime, and aims to deliver and promote a range of investigation and enforcement activities both civil and criminal in nature, to support fair and open markets. We do this by effectively enforcing the statutory company and insolvency regimes, maintaining public confidence in those regimes and reducing the harm caused to victims of fraudulent activity and to the business community, including dealing with the disqualification of directors in corporate failures. Further information about the work of the Insolvency Service, and how to complain about financial misconduct, is available.

BEIS’ mission is to build a dynamic and competitive UK economy that works for all, in particular by creating the conditions for business success and promoting an open global economy. The Criminal Investigations and Prosecutions team contributes to this aim by taking action to deter fraud and to regulate the market. They investigate and prosecute a range of offences, primarily relating to personal or company insolvencies.

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 7596 6187

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More than 950 Highways England Traffic Officers are being trained in life saving first aid, giving them enhanced skills which may be used to help casualties in need of urgent medical attention.

The traffic officers, who patrol England’s motorways and major A-roads 24 hours a day, are often first on the scene to help when drivers are in trouble.

Safer journeys across England’s motorways and A-roads is the top priority for Highways England, but if incidents do occur what happens in the first minutes following a road traffic collision can be crucial to the outcomes of those involved.

The first priority for Traffic Officers is making the scene safe for everyone, which may mean controlling moving traffic, moving vehicles and helping customers find a place of safety.

Once the scene is safe, Traffic Officers can then put the nationally recognised Driver First Assist training into practice. The training is also specific to the environment Traffic Officers work in, and signals a change in how our staff can provide direct assistance that can save lives in the crucial few minutes before the emergency services arrive.

Highways England Executive Director of Operations, Nick Harris, said:

I strongly feel that traffic officers should be able to perform lifesaving first aid to members of the public using our roads. Combining life-saving first aid training with key scene management will help our staff safely make a real difference for our customers.

By teaming up with Driver First Assist our traffic officers will receive the expert training needed for this important task.

The training began last month in the South East region and will be rolled out nationally.

The one-day course is the same training that is received by emergency services personnel and includes instructions in how to implement the recovery position and CPR, respond to a cardiac arrest and shock, and treat wounds and bleeding.

David Higginbottom, chief executive officer at Driver First Assist said:

Every day, victims of road traffic collisions die needlessly because individuals immediately at the scene lack the ability to administer basic first aid. The training we’re delivering to Traffic Officers will give them the skills to provide medical assistance to those in need, making a vital difference in those first crucial moments before the arrival of paramedics.

Driver First Assist is a not-for-profit organisation comprising drivers who have been trained to provide life-saving first aid and manage the scene at a road traffic collision, prior to the arrival of the emergency services. DFA has been created in partnership with and is supported by the Police, Ambulance and Fire and Rescue services.

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.