Tag: communications

Sections of the A19 dual carriageway travel through the County Durham Magnesian Limestone belt, an area of unique and internationally important habitat, and Highways England and its contractors Sir Robert McAlpine have worked hard to protect and restore this area.

By discouraging invasive weeds and removing the existing vegetation, the nutrient value of the soil has been lowered, which has created an environment much more suited to desired wildflower species.

The grass cutting has helped create habitat piles and animal refuges, which might look like a stack of branches but make excellent homes for small animals.

The team has now been recognised with an environmental award as part of the CIRIA 2018 BIG Biodiversity Challenge Awards which took place in London.

Highways England’s route manager Ben Dobson said:

This is a fantastic achievement not just for the team but for wildlife along the A19. By carrying out this work we have increased the amount of rich grasslands to 115 sites.

We have also been working closely with Durham Wildlife Trust to see what further improvements we can carry out along the route to create more wildflower meadows on the A19.

Keith Polson from Sir Robert McAlpine who maintain the A19 between Dishforth and the Tyne Tunnel, said:

We are proud to have received this award, which recognises both the commitment of Highways England and Sir Robert McAlpine to responsibly managing our environment and the collaborative working relationship we enjoy.

Mark Dinning, Head of Conservation, from Durham Wildlife Trust said:

We are pleased to be working in partnership on a scheme bringing benefits to such a nationally important habitat as the Magnesian Limestone grassland. This project has connected and restored valuable wildlife sites and unearthed what is a truly special resource of plants and insects which are benefiting under Sir Robert McAlpine’s and Highways England’s stewardship.

Highways England is committed to a national Biodiversity Plan which is being supported by a £30 million national investment programme over the next five years.

The plan recognises road verges and associated land can be managed to provide areas of habitat, relatively free from human access that may be scarce in the surrounding landscape.

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.

In his first event at this year’s UN General Assembly, the Prime Minister’s Special Representative on Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict, Lord Tariq Ahmad of Wimbledon, co-chaired a roundtable event with Pramila Patten, the UN Secretary General’s Special Representative for Sexual Violence in Conflict, on galvanising the international community’s response to this heinous crime.

The event brought together representatives from around the world to work out how the international community can be more responsive to the needs of survivors, and improve their access to justice.

Lord Tariq Ahmad of Wimbledon, Minister of State for Human Rights and the UN said:

Sexual violence as a weapon of war is used to brutalise, torture innocent civilians and ethnically cleanse
communities.

We must stand together against the culture of impunity which perpetuates this violence and strengthen the routes to justice for the survivors, ensuring perpetrators are held to account.

UN agencies estimate that more than 60,000 women were raped during the civil war in Sierra Leone, more than 40,000 in Liberia and at least 200,000 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Lord Tariq Ahmad also canvassed the group on possible themes for the UK’s Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict international meeting in November 2019. The meeting will seek real commitments from governments and international organisations to accelerate the drive to end impunity; advance justice and accountability; tackle stigma; and develop new ways to prevent and address sexual violence.

The Prime Minister held a bilateral meeting with President Rouhani of Iran in New York earlier today.

She began by offering her condolences over Saturday’s attack in Ahvaz, noting that we condemn terrorism in all its forms.

She then reiterated the UK’s commitment to the Iran nuclear deal (the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action), noting that as long as Iran abided by its obligations under the deal, we would continue to take steps to ensure that Iran receives economic benefits from sanctions relief.

She also emphasised our ongoing concern at Iran’s ballistic missile programme and its destabilising regional activity, including in Yemen.

She then raised our consular cases in Iran, including that of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, before expressing her serious concern at Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s ongoing detention, and called for her release.

The Prime Minister held a bilateral meeting with President Erdogan of Turkey in New York earlier today (25 September 2018).

They agreed that the trade and investment relationship between the UK and Turkey was strong and would continue to strengthen as the UK left the European Union.

They discussed Syria, agreeing on the need for a reinvigorated political process.

The Prime Minister welcomed Turkey’s recent agreement with Russia to avert an offensive on Idlib, which would have caused immense humanitarian suffering. The Prime Minister said:

We now needed to see full implementation of the agreement, offering any assistance the UK can provide, to ensure the maintenance of the ceasefire.

A man who sexually abused a 14 year old boy has been jailed today after the Attorney General, Geoffrey Cox QC MP, referred his sentence to the Court of Appeal for being too low.

Gerard Francis Drew, 46 at the time of the offending (now 64), returned to his Redditch home where a friend and the victim were drinking. Drew and his friend are both hearing impaired, and had a conversation in sign language which the victim could not understand. The two then proceeded to sexually assault the victim for around an hour.

Drew was originally sentenced at Hereford Crown Court in July, where he was given 2 years imprisonment suspended for 2 years. Today, after the Attorney General’s referral, the Court of Appeal found that the decision to suspend the sentence was unduly lenient, and that the sentence ought to be 2 years immediate imprisonment.

Speaking after the hearing, the Attorney General said:

“Sexual abuse is one of the most psychologically damaging things that can happen to a person, especially during their formative years. It is important that we send a clear message to offenders like Drew that crimes of this nature will not be tolerated.”

Alongside the leaders of France, Canada, Kenya, Niger and Jordan, the Prime Minister Theresa May asked delegates at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) to join the commitment to ensuring all girls can access 12 years of quality education and learning by 2030.

Currently, 90% of primary school children in low-income countries are unable to read or write. This next generation has the potential, energy and ambition to lift themselves out of poverty and transform their countries, yet millions of children leave school without a basic education.

Prime Minister Theresa May said:

“By denying girls an education we deny them a voice, we deny them choice, we deny them their future.

“I am calling on everyone here to join our campaign (Girls Education Challenge). To commit to the individual, collective and governmental action that is needed to break down barriers to girls’ education.

“To increase girls’ access to schools and learning. And to ensure that every girl, in every corner of the world, can access the 12 years of education they need to unleash their potential, to embrace the opportunities before them, and to help change the world for the better.”

To tackle this crisis the Prime Minister announced nine new projects supported by UK aid that will specifically target the most vulnerable and marginalised girls.

These nine projects, which part of the second phase of the Department for International Development’s flagship Girls Education Challenge, will support more than 170,000 of the world’s most marginalised girls including up to 3,500 girls with disabilities.

The UK is a world leader on education. Over the last three years DFID has spent nearly £700 million a year on education on average through bilateral programmes. Over this time (since 2015) DFID supported 11.4 million children to gain a decent education, of which at least 5.6 million were girls.

International Development Secretary Penny Mordaunt also announced further UK aid support to help tackle the global learning crisis and better target development support.

International Development Secretary Penny Mordaunt said:

“Girls have the power and potential to play a transformational role in their communities, societies, economies and political institutions. Yet over 130 million girls around the world are currently missing out on school.

“To tackle this crisis and reach the most marginalised girls, we need to fully understand the current global situation and identify who is being left behind. UK aid is focused on gathering the right data to help us find out what children are learning and the progress being made.

With a quality education girls can go on to get jobs and help lift their families out of poverty, helping countries move beyond aid dependence. This is a win for the UK and a win for the developing world.”

At the UNGA event, Ms Mordaunt announced UK aid support to improve education data and analysis. This will allow a better understanding of those who are in the greatest need, and help track collective progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals.

The data gathered through this programme will be crucial in identifying where and how to target UK aid and global support, as well as monitor the progress we are making towards the Education Goal.

This will lead to the development of policies and programmes which are better able to improve and monitor children’s learning, including marginalised groups such as girls and children with disabilities, which can be tracked and monitored effectively.

NOTES TO EDITORS:

• Ms Mordaunt announced a £7.8 million worth of UK aid support to improve education data and analysis helping the UK and partners to better understand who is in most need and track collective progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals.

• The projects (in Ghana, Somali, Nepal, Ethiopia, Zimbabwe and Malawi) announced by the UK Prime Minister will support up to 171,723 girls including 13,146 girls with disabilities.

• Over 130 million girls around the world are missing out on school. In conflict-affected countries girls are twice as likely as boys to be out of school. Girls have the power and potential to play a transformational role in their communities, societies, economies and political institutions. In conflict-affected countries girls are twice as likely as boys to be out of school.

• In order to tackle this crisis and achieve the education Sustainable Development Goals, we need to fully understand the current global situation and where the gaps are in existing learning levels. Currently, there is insufficient data to understand who is learning and what progress is being made.

• DFID’s flagship Girls’ Education Challenge focuses on getting girls into school and learning. The first phase (GEC I) directly provided quality education for over a million marginalised girls. It has also benefited many more girls and communities through 37 different projects in 18 countries across Africa and Asia, many operating in conflict and crisis.

• At the G7, the PM pledged an additional £187 million of UK Aid funding to the second phase of the GEC, to support 427,779 girls who we have already supported into school to continue their education through primary, secondary school and training – providing them with the opportunity to get twelve years of quality education. This announcement built on the announcement made at CHOGM in April, where the PM pledged £212 million to get almost one million girls in developing countries across the Commonwealth learning. This means that in total the UK is now supporting over 1.5 million girls around the world, through the second phase of the GEC programme.

• The UK recently committed £225 million to the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) for the period 2018-2020, to keep 880,000 children in school each year for three years, train 170,000 teachers and build 2,400 new classrooms. The UK has also founded and contributed £30m to Education Cannot Wait, of funds for education in emergencies.

General media queries:

Email: mediateam@dfid.gov.uk

Telephone: 020 7023 0600

Follow the DFID Media office on Twitter – @DFID_Press

Karl Dunlop, Stuart Grehan and Ian Dunsford previously accepted disqualification undertakings for their management roles within the group of companies involved in the transfer of pension funds.

Stuart Greehan, Director of Sycamore Crown Ltd, agreed to a 9-year voluntary ban as a result of false and misleading statements made to encourage investors to transfer their pension pots.

Karl Dunlop (9 years), Director of Imperial Trustee Services Ltd, and Ian Dunsford (7 years), Director of Omni Trustees Ltd, agreed to voluntarily bans for failing to act in the best interests of pension members and subsequently failing to ensure investments were adequately diverse.

And despite not formally being appointed a director of Transeuro Worldwide Holdings Ltd, Stephen Talbot recently accepted a 9-year disqualification undertaking for failing to explain what happened to millions pounds worth of assets.

The investigation, led by the Insolvency Service, centred on the conduct of the directors connected with Transeuro Worldwide Holdings Ltd (TWH), who helped fund two introducer firms Sycamore Crown Ltd (Sycamore) and Jackson Francis Ltd (JF).

The introducer firms cold-called members of the public, inviting them to transfer their pension pots into Self Invested Personal Pension plans (SIPPs) and pension schemes operated by Omni Trustees Ltd (Omni) and Imperial Trustee Services Ltd (Imperial), who provided trustee and administrator services for two occupational pension schemes – Henley Retirement Benefit Scheme (HRBS) and Capita Oak Pension Scheme (COPS).

However, investigators found that the introducers from both Sycamore and Jackson Francis misled clients about their expertise and experience, offering ‘guaranteed’ returns designed to encourage them to transfer their existing pension funds.

As a result, more than £39m was paid into SIPPs, over £10m into COPS and more than £8m to HRBS. Members’ funds were then largely invested in unregulated investments in storage units which ultimately did not yield the level of returns promised to members.

Ken Beasley, Official Receiver for the Insolvency Service’s Public Interest Unit, said that unfortunately he has seen an increase in cases where members of the public have been persuaded to transfer their hard-earned pension pots into new schemes on the basis of unsubstantiated promises of higher returns which inevitably never materialise.

He said:

You may have seen the current campaign by the Financial Conduct Authority, where they recommend that you reject unexpected offers, especially those originating from a cold call. You should check who you are dealing with, avoid being rushed or pressured into making decisions and seek out impartial advice before going ahead with any pension transfer.

Suspicions should also be raised if you are promised high or guaranteed returns, unusual investments or complicated structures, high-pressure sales tactics, involvement of several parties, all taking a fee which significantly cuts into your pension pot, and long-term pension investments which could take years before you realise something is wrong.

Omni and Imperial are currently the subject of an ongoing investigation by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) who are inviting members of HRBS and COPS to complete a questionnaire.

Notes to editors

On 21 January 2017 The Pension Regulator appointed Dalriada Trustees Ltd as trustee of HRBS and COPS. Work is still ongoing in relation to the status and value of individual members’ pensions.

About the directors

Stephen Michael Talbot

Director of Transeuro Worldwide Holdings Ltd (Company number: 103954) from Salford and DOB: Jan 1972

On 6 July 2018, the Secretary of State accepted a disqualification undertaking from Stephen Michael Talbot, who whilst acting as a director of TWH despite not being formally appointed as such:

• failed to ensure that TWH maintained or delivered up adequate accounting records.
• as a result of this it has not been possible to ascertain whether payments out of the bank account of over £37 million were for a purpose connected with the business, the reason over £740k was paid out to Mr Talbot, the reason why £7.5 million (net) was paid out to a Panamanian foundation for which Mr Talbot was protector, show commissions due to or received from the company, show the nature of receipts into the company or establish the presence of any claims for the liquidator to pursue.

His ban was effective from 27 July 2018 and lasts for 9 years.

Ian Dunsford

Director of Omni Trustees Ltd (Company number: 08175702) from Barnet, Hertfordshire and DOB: Jan 1974

On 19 July 2017, the Secretary of State accepted a disqualification undertaking from Ian Dunsford, after he admitted that he:

• failed to ensure that Omni, as trustee of a retirement benefit scheme, had acted in the best interest of members.
• took the appointment as director despite lacking the relevant knowledge and understanding to manage a pension scheme, allowed a third party to make investment decisions, failing to ensure that the investments were sufficiently diverse.
• failed to take sufficient steps to safeguard returns on investments promised to members resulting in potential losses to the scheme of at least £560k.
• failed to take sufficient steps to prevent the transfer of £3.7 million of scheme assets to a third party outside the jurisdiction.

His ban was effective from 10 August 2017 and lasts for 7 years.

Karl Dunlop

Director of Imperial Trustee Services Ltd (Company number: 08133190) from Worcester and DOB: May 1965

On 3 July 2017, the Secretary of State accepted a disqualification undertaking from Karl Dunlop, after he admitted that he:

• failed to ensure that Imperial, as trustee of a retirement benefit scheme, had acted in the best interest of members.
• took the appointment as director despite lacking the relevant knowledge and understanding to manage a pension scheme
• failed to ensure that adequate accounting records had been maintained (in particular relating to member transfers in of over £4 million when he was director)
• failed to ensure that over £9m investments were sufficiently diverse
• failed to take sufficient steps to safeguard returns on investments promised to members resulting in potential losses to the scheme of at least £1.6 million.

His ban was effective from 25 July 2017 and lasts for 9 years.

Stuart Grehan

Director of Sycamore Crown Ltd (Company number: 08023102) and Jackson Francis Ltd Company number: 07763545) from Salford Worcester and DOB: August 1981

On 6 October 2016, the Secretary of State accepted a disqualification undertaking from Stuart Grehan, after he admitted:

• false and misleading claims had been made about Sycamore and JF’s level of expertise and experience to induce prospective investors to transfer their pension funds.
• claims were also made about the companies offering a range of investment products and ‘unbiased advice’ despite the only product actively promoted being unregulated investments in storage units which the companies had a vested interest in promoting due to the way in which they were funded.
• claims were made that a strict due diligence process was followed but there was no evidence that independent checks were carried out meaning so called ‘guaranteed’ returns were not received by pension members.

His ban was effective from 27 October 2016 and lasts for 9 years.

Disqualifications

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

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