WIREDGOV

The Business Secretary, Greg Clark, has outlined the steps the business department has taken following the liquidation of Carillion.

Following the appointment of the Official Receiver as liquidator, the Business Secretary has written to the Insolvency Service and the Official Receiver asking that the statutory investigation into the conduct of Carillion’s directors is fast-tracked & extended in scope.

This means the Official Receiver’s investigation will consider whether those who are, or were previously directors of the company may have caused detriment to those owed money, including workers & businesses affected.

Theresa May has hosted a reception and set out the government's plans to tackle loneliness and combat social isolation.  

Research shows:

• more than 9m people always or often feel lonely
• around 200,000 older people have not had a conversation with a friend or relative in more than a month
• up to 85% of young disabled adults – 18-34 year olds – feel lonely

The PM has implemented the first of the Jo Cox Commission’s recommendations – appointing a ministerial lead on loneliness.  The Minister for Sport & Civil Society, Tracey Crouch, will lead a cross-government group which will take responsibility for driving action on loneliness across all parts of government and keeping it firmly on the agenda.

A number of government initiatives are already in place to help reduce loneliness, including improved mental health support, and the pocket parks programme which has transformed unused spaces into new green areas, giving lonely people the chance to join volunteering groups and interact with neighbours.

Additional funding, aimed to help the NHS get on a financially sustainable footing, has instead been spent on coping with existing pressures, according to a NAO report.

The NHS received an additional £1.8bn Sustainability & Transformation Fund in 2016-17 to give it breathing space to set itself up to survive on significantly less funding growth from 2017-18 onwards.  It was also intended to give it stability to improve performance and transform services, to achieve a sustainable health system.

The Fund has helped the NHS improve its financial position from a £1,848m deficit in 2015-16 to a £111m surplus in 2016-17.  There has also been an improved underspend of £154m across clinical commissioning groups, yet 62 groups reported a cumulative deficit in 2016-17, up from 32 in 2015-16.

Despite its overall financial position improving, the NHS is struggling to manage increased activity & demand within its budget and has not met NHS access targets.  Furthermore, measures it took to rebalance its finances have restricted money available for longer-term transformation, which is essential for the NHS to meet demand, drive efficiencies and improve the service. For example, the Department transferred £1.2bn of its £5.8bn budget for capital projects to fund the day-to-day activities of NHS bodies.

Legal requirement for all bird keepers in England to follow strict biosecurity measures.

A bird flu prevention zone has been declared across the whole of England, Chief Veterinary Officer, Nigel Gibbens, has confirmed.  This means it is a legal requirement for all bird keepers to follow strict biosecurity measures.  It comes as 13 dead wild birds were confirmed to have the virus in Warwickshire.

Since the introduction of Public Spaces Protection Orders under the ‘Anti-social Behaviour, Crime & Policing Act 2014’, various groups & communities have expressed their concern over councils’ use of these powers.

On several occasions, it was argued that PSPOs were being misinterpreted and used to unfairly discriminate against people who were homeless or sleeping rough.  A notable example was the recent case of Oxford City Council warning rough sleepers that they must remove their possessions from doorways, or face fines of up to £2,500 for unreasonable conduct and causing an obstruction, although the council did issue a statement explaining its position.

In a move that should help to avoid the inappropriate issuing of PSPOs in future, in December 2017, the Home Office updated its guidance on the Orders, which now specifically states that PSPOs ‘should not be used to target people based solely on the fact that someone is homeless or rough sleeping, as this in itself is unlikely to mean that such behaviour is having an unreasonably detrimental effect on the community’s quality of life which justifies the restrictions imposed’.

Hidden charges for paying with a debit or credit card have been banned as of 13 January 2018, helping millions of UK consumers to avoid rip-off fees when spending their hard-earned money.

In April 2017 HMRC started rolling out Tax-Free Childcare, which helps working parents with the cost of childcare with up to £2,000 of support per child p.a., or £4,000 for disabled children.

Last week Tax-Free Childcare opened to parents whose youngest child is under 9.  The scheme will open to all remaining eligible families with children under 12 on 14 February 2018. This means all eligible parents will be able to apply for Tax-Free Childcare before the end of this financial year.

The MoD invites expressions of interest from communities across the UK to become host for the eleventh annual Armed Forces Day National event.

In 2019, Armed Forces Day will celebrate 11 years of supporting our Armed Forces Community, from serving personnel & reserves to veterans, cadets & families.