General News

HMT: In his role as Master of the Mint, the Chancellor recently attended the verdict of the ‘Trial of the Pyx’, one of the longest established judicial procedures in the country. 

Dating back to the Twelfth century, the ‘Trial of the Pyx’ is an annual ceremony to check that newly minted coins are within the legal limits for metallic composition, weight & size. All of the coins submitted for testing at the trial were confirmed as within their legal limit.
Press release & links
 
ACE: The Arts Council England has announced the 62 successful applications to the £7m Catalyst Arts: building fundraising capacity scheme. All funds from the overall Catalyst Arts scheme have now been allocated.
Press release & links
 
TNA: The records of thousands of 19th century immigrants to Britain are now available to search & download online.  The collection, which covers the period 1801 to 1871, includes records relating to more than 7,000 people who applied to become British citizens under the 1844 Naturalisation Act, as well as a small number of papers relating to denization, a form of British citizenship that conferred some but not all the rights of a British subject.
Press release & links
 
DCMS:   A new VisitEngland campaign to encourage ‘staycationers’ has been unveiled by Tourism Secretary Maria Miller. The GREAT Adventure advert is being aired on TV from 12 May 2013.

It sees Aardman Animations’ creations Wallace and Gromit travel up & down the UK, exploring the best of what the country has to offer to inspire more Britons to holiday in the UK.  It forms part of VisitEngland’s award-winning Holidays at Home are GREAT campaign.
Press release & links
 
MO: The Met Office has launched Rain or Shine, their new daily weather forecast for children, which is aimed at children in Key Stages 1 & 2.  The daily forecasts provide children with a quick, fun & easily digestible view of the weather and is available via the MO Education YouTube channel and the TeacherTube website.
Press release & links
 
LSIS: The 10 colleges have received Healthy FE & Skills recognition, part of a programme supported by the Learning & Skills Improvement Service) and Skills Funding Agency, which recognises the promotion of health & wellbeing amongst learners and staff.  To gain recognition providers undertake a self-review and develop a 2-year action plan they will work towards to improve health & wellbeing.
Press release & links
 
TNA: Members of the Nazi-era cultural property project met recently at The National Archives, Kew, to report on progress of the online international research portal for families, historians & researchers to access records on looted art from the Nazi era.
Press release & links
 
ICO: Police have dismantled a suspected organised crime gang believed to be cold-calling & text messaging pension holders across the UK with fraudulent offers that could destroy their retirement plans. Arrests were made as part of an operation prompted by intelligence from several agencies, including the Information Commissioner’s Office.
 
The ICO has seen reports of spam text messages related to reclaiming pensions more than triple in the past 6 months, and 1 in 8 spam messages sent in March are thought to relate to pensions.  The office has seen a similar spike in cold calls relating to pensions.
 
The ICO received more than 175,000 reports of unwanted marketing texts and calls in the last year.  Report spam texts & nuisance calls to the ICO. If you think you may have been a victim of pension liberation fraud, contact Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040.
Press release & links
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