Press release: Interim Chair of the Parole Board announced by Secretary of State

The Secretary of State has announced today that Caroline Corby will be the Interim Chair of the Parole Board.

Caroline Corby said: “I am delighted to have been appointed by the Secretary of State as Interim Chair of the Parole Board. I have been working with the Board for a number of years as a non-executive director and am acutely aware of the challenging and important work they do.

“I look forward to working with staff and members to deliver on changes to improve how the Board works for victims and the public and will keep everyone informed of our progress.”

Martin Jones, CEO of the Parole Board, said: “I am very pleased that Caroline has agreed to step in as interim chair. Caroline has a wealth of experience and understands the work of the Board extremely well. I look forward to working with her.”

Notes to Editors

Short biography of Caroline Corby

Mrs Corby worked in the city for 13 years specialising in private equity where she also served on a number of private sector boards across a range of industries. In 2007 she joined the Board of London Probation Trust (LPT) and she served as Chair of LPT from 2012 until July 2014.

As well as being a member of the Architects Registration Board, Caroline is also a Non-Executive Director of the Children and Family Court Advisory Support Service (Cafcass), the Criminal Cases Review Commission and One Housing.

She is also a Non – Executive member of the Parole Board management committee. She chairs interim order panels for the Nursing and Midwifery Council and chairs the General Optical Council’s Investigation Committee.

Press Queries

For all press queries please call the Parole Board media line on 0203 880 0809 or email comms@paroleboard.gov.uk

Link: Press release: Interim Chair of the Parole Board announced by Secretary of State
Source: Gov Press Releases

Press release: Carillion: Official Receiver’s update

A spokesperson for the Official Receiver said:

A further 133 jobs have been saved with employees transferring to new suppliers who have picked up contracts that Carillion had been delivering. This takes the number of employees who have been found secure ongoing employment to more than 11,000.

Regretably 59 employees whose positions are no longer required as Carillion’s business transfers to new suppliers will leave the business.

I continue to liaise with potential purchasers for Carillion’s remaining contracts and remain committed to keeping staff, elected employee representatives and unions informed as these arrangements are confirmed.

further information:

  • In total, to date 11,093 jobs have been saved and 2,221 jobs have been made redundant through the liquidation
  • This information does not include jobs attached to contracts where an intention to purchase has been entered into but has not yet formally occurred
  • More than 3,700 employees are currently retained to enable Carillion to deliver the remaining services it is providing for public and private sector customers until decisions are taken to transfer or cease these contracts
  • Further information about rights in redundancy is available on gov.uk

To be notified of future updates from the Official Receiver please register to receive an email alert.

Link: Press release: Carillion: Official Receiver’s update
Source: Gov Press Releases

Press release: CMA clears Co-op / Nisa merger

After closely examining all the evidence, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has found that the proposed merger does not give rise to competition concerns.

The Co-operative Group Ltd (Co-op), as a groceries retailer, and Nisa Retail Ltd (Nisa), as a groceries wholesaler, do not compete head-to-head. However, since Nisa supplies over 4,000 groceries stores, the CMA has carefully considered the potential impact of the merger on competition between shops.

During the course of its ‘Phase 1’ investigation, the CMA took into account that Nisa-supplied stores would still be free to set their own prices and decide which products to stock after the merger, and so the merged company would not be able to directly determine how they compete.

It also examined whether the merged company could raise prices or reduce service quality for retail or wholesale customers. It found that existing retail and wholesale competition made this unlikely.

This is because there are enough local alternatives to both Co-op and Nisa-supplied stores to ensure that people could still shop around to get the best value for them.

Furthermore, Nisa-supplied stores are able to choose between several different wholesalers and would be able to switch supplier if prices were to increase or the quality of service go down as a result of the merger with Co-op.

This all means that the merged company would be unlikely to be able to raise prices or offer a worse service to either stores or to shoppers.

Sheldon Mills, Senior Director of Mergers at the CMA, said:

Millions of people throughout the UK shop at convenience stores and supermarkets, and it is vital that they continue to have enough choice to get the best value for them.

After careful consideration, we’ve found that there is sufficient competition in both the wholesale and retail sectors to ensure that shoppers are not worse off.

The merger will therefore not be referred for an in-depth investigation.

Information relating to this investigation can be found on the case page.

Link: Press release: CMA clears Co-op / Nisa merger
Source: Gov Press Releases

Press release: March 2018 Transaction Data

In March:

  • HM Land Registry completed more than 1,688,240 applications to change or query the Land Register
  • the South East topped the table of regional applications with 384,760

The transaction data shows HM Land Registry completed 1,688,244 applications in March compared with 1,632,969 in February and 1,796,056 last March, of which:

  • 359,219 were applications for register updates compared with 376,546 in February
  • 824,859 were applications to get an official copy of a register compared with 796,961 in February
  • 211,464 were search and hold queries (official searches) compared with 186,329 in February
  • 26,228 were postal applications from non-account holders, compared with 23,910 in February

Applications by region and country

Region/country January applications February applications March applications
South East 403,526 376,385 384,760
Greater London 339,286 313,340 337,656
North West 222,150 185,253 193,405
South West 173,058 158,433 159,147
West Midlands 150,292 143,338 142,764
Yorkshire and the Humber 139,207 122,513 128,654
East Midlands 122,812 115,725 119,374
Wales 80,315 74,301 76,650
North 77,912 71,772 75,246
East Anglia 73,345 71,764 70,448
Isles of Scilly 110 75 79
England and Wales (not assigned) 75 70 61
Total 1,782,088 1,632,969 1,688,244

Top 5 local authority areas

Top 5 local authority areas January applications Top 5 local authority areas February application Top 5 Local authority areas March applications
Birmingham 27,561 Birmingham 26,256 Birmingham 26,895
City of Westminster 25,488 City of Westminster 21,991 City of Westminster 24,562
Leeds 20,256 Leeds 18,730 Leeds 19,505
Manchester 19,350 Manchester 16,972 Manchester 17,708
Cornwall 18,367 Cornwall 16,606 Cornwall 17,174

Top 5 customers

Top 5 customers January applications Top 5 customers February applications Top 5 customers March applications
Enact 50,327 Enact 50,488 Enact 50,160
Nationwide Building Society 31,589 Optima Legal Services 27,904 Optima Legal Services 28,113
Optima Legal Services 27,284 O’Neill Patient 23,851 O’Neill Patient 26,056
O’Neill Patient 26,073 Devonshires 20,684 Infotrack Limited 22,948
My Home Move Limited 19,103 TM Group (UK) Ltd 19,558 TM Group (UK) Ltd 19,320

Access the full dataset on data.gov.uk

Notes to editors

  1. Transaction Data is published on the 15th working day of each month. The April Transaction Data will be published at 11am on Tuesday 22 May 2018 at HM Land Registry Monthly Property Transaction Data.
  2. The monthly Transaction Data showing how many applications for new titles, leases, splitting titles, updating existing titles, official copies of the register and search and hold queries (official searches) were received, reflects the volume of applications lodged by customers using an HM Land Registry account number on their application form.
  3. We are challenging ourselves to reassess our language to make our terms understandable to both our commercial and citizen customers. This is in line with our commitment set out in the Business Strategy 2017-2022 under the ‘simplicity’ element of our ambition.
  4. Completed applications in England and Wales shown by region and by local authority include postal applications as well as those sent electronically.
  5. Transaction Data excludes: pending applications, bankruptcy applications, bulk applications, discharge applications (to remove a charge, for example a mortgage, from the register).
  6. Transactions for value are applications lodged involving a transfer of ownership for value. For an explanation of other terms used, see abbreviations used in the transaction data.
  7. Most search and hold queries (official searches) carried out by a solicitor or conveyancer are to protect the purchase and/or mortgage. For example, a search and hold query will give the buyer priority for an application to HM Land Registry to register the purchase of the property. This can give an indication of market activity.
  8. Reasonable skill and care is used in the provision of the data. We strive to ensure that the data is as accurate as possible but cannot guarantee that it is free from error. We cannot guarantee our data is fit for your intended purpose or use.
  9. Transaction Data is available free of charge for use and re-use under the Open Government Licence (OGL). The licence allows public bodies to make their data available for re-use.
  10. If you use or publish the Transaction Data, you must add the following attribution statement: Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2017. This data is licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
  11. HM Land Registry’s mission is to guarantee and protect property rights in England and Wales.
  12. HM Land Registry is a government department created in 1862. It operates as an executive agency and a trading fund and its running costs are covered by the fees paid by the users of its services. Its ambition is to become the world’s leading land registry for speed, simplicity and an open approach to data.
  13. HM Land Registry safeguards land and property ownership worth in excess of £4 trillion, including around £1 trillion of mortgages. The Land Register contains more than 25 million titles showing evidence of ownership for some 85% of the land mass of England and Wales.
  14. For further information about HM Land Registry visit www.gov.uk/land-registry
  15. Follow us on Twitter @HMLandRegistry, our blog, LinkedIn and Facebook

Contact

Senior Press Officer

Marion Shelley
Trafalgar House
1 Bedford Park
Croydon
CR0 2AQ

Press Officer

Paula Dorman
Head Office

Trafalgar House

1 Bedford Park
Croydon
CR0 2AQ

Link: Press release: March 2018 Transaction Data
Source: Gov Press Releases