UK leads the way in tackling the scourge of marine pollution
A ban on the sale of products containing microbeads has come into force today as part of the Westminster Government’s world-leading efforts to prevent these harmful pieces of plastic entering the marine environment. Continue reading World leading microbeads ban comes into force today
“The Department has kept pushing the Universal Credit rollout forward through a series of problems. We recognise both its determination and commitment, and that there is really no practical choice but to keep on keeping on with the rollout.
“We don’t think DWP has shown the same commitment to listening and responding to the hardship faced by claimants. Maybe a change of mind set will follow the publication of the claimant survey on 8 June. We think the larger claims for Universal Credit, such as boosted employment, are unlikely to be demonstrable at any point in future. Nor for that matter will value for money.”
Amyas Morse, head of the National Audit Office, 15 June 2018 Continue reading Audit Office report condemns Universal Credit roll-out
Marking 100 years of the Royal Air Force (RAF), the RAF100 Baton Relay made its way to Edinburgh on Monday (28 May 2018) as part of its procession across 100 sites in 100 days. Lord Duncan was joined by serving RAF personnel, veterans and the Lord Provost in carrying the specially-created commemorative baton, following a Legion Scotland piper from Parliament to Edinburgh Castle. Continue reading Flying the flag for RAF100
Budget increased in the run up to Tokyo 2020 to cement UKAD’s position as one of the leading anti-doping agencies in the world
UK Anti-Doping is to receive an additional £6 million of funding from the government to further strengthen its armoury in the fight against doping, Sports Minister Tracey Crouch announced today.
The move comes after the first full-scale review of the organisation since it was set up in 2009 that has resulted in a number of recommendations to help make further progress in anti-doping.
These include:
The move means that over the next two years UKAD’s budget will be increased by around 50 per cent to help it implement the recommendations in the tailored review.
Sports Minister Tracey Crouch (above) said: “We must do all we can to make sure sport is free from doping and that players and fans are confident that there is a level playing field. This £6 million additional funding for UKAD will help us take the fight even harder to those trying to cheat through doping. It will also help educate people at all levels of sport about the dangers of image and performance enhancing drugs and maintain UKAD’s standing as one of the leading anti-doping agencies in the world.”
UKAD will now work with the DCMS on the specifics of what the additional £6.1 million will be spent on.
UK Anti-Doping Chair Trevor Pearce said: “We are delighted at the news from DCMS today, to significantly increase the funding available to UKAD for the next two years. This clear commitment to clean sport from government will allow us to increase the effectiveness of our current investigation, testing and education programmes, and also importantly to expand our investment into new approaches in the fight against doping. We look forward to working with DCMS on the implementation of recommendations for UKAD and we share their ambition for the UK to lead the world in Anti-Doping.”
Today Tracey Crouch has also published the second annual report to Parliament on the government’s sport strategy ‘Sporting Future.’ Progress made on the implementation of the strategy over includes:
Tracey Crouch added: “We are making good progress on a number of fronts. We are ensuring our governing bodies have world leading standards of governance as well as targeting funding to encourage new participants in sport and physical activity. There is still more work to do. This year I will particularly focus on mental health in sport and encouraging the sector to continue to step up on safeguarding all participants – from the grassroots to the elite.”
Hidden charges for paying with a debit or credit card have been banned, helping millions of UK consumers to avoid rip-off fees when spending their hard-earned money. Continue reading Debit or credit card payment ‘surcharge’ banned
Prime Minister Theresa May will today pledge to eliminate all avoidable plastic waste within a quarter of a century. Launching the 25 Year Environment Plan, the PM will set out the government’s determination to leave our environment in a better state than we found it. Continue reading Theresa going green? PM to announce plans for cleaner, greener Britain
A ban on the manufacture of products containing microbeads has come into force today – a landmark step in the introduction of one of the world’s toughest bans on these harmful pieces of plastic. Continue reading Microbeads ban comes into force today
More than 60,000 people respond to the Government’s proposed ban on ivory sales to help bring an end to elephant poaching
There has been a massive public response to the Government’s proposed ban on ivory sales – with over 60,000 responses to the public consultation, making it one of Defra’s most popular ever. Of the responses analysed so far the overwhelming majority support a ban. In the past week more than 30,000 responses were submitted before the consultation closed. Continue reading Massive public response to ivory sales ban consultation
One in four Syrian refugees settles in Scotland
New figures have revealed that Scotland has welcomed just over 25% of the total number of Syrian refugees that have arrived in the UK through the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Programme (SVPRP) since 2015.
Since the SVPRP scheme was expanded in 2015, 7,055 Syrians have arrived in the UK in total, 1,800 of whom have settled in Scotland.
This news comes the same week it was revealed the UK Government has not taken in any child refugees under the Lord Dubs scheme this year, despite committing to resettle 3,000 unaccompanied child refugees from Syria by 2020.
Commenting, Northern and Leith MSP Ben Macpherson said: “It’s excellent that Scotland has welcomed over a quarter of those Syrian refugees who have arrived in the UK, under the resettlement programme, since 2015.
“But more needs to be done – in what is an off-the-scale humanitarian crisis that’s difficult to comprehend here at home.
“A recent all-party inquiry revealed that the UK public would not tolerate the UK Government turning away from this humanitarian crisis if they were more aware of what was happening. It also reported that UK ministers have done “as little as legally possible” to help unaccompanied lone children who have fled war and conflict, which has left them vulnerable to trafficking.
“It’s time for the UK Government to significantly step up its refugee resettlement efforts in the midst of what is possibly the worst humanitarian crisis since the Second World War.”
In a separate development, the Scottish and Welsh Governments have written jointly to the UK Minister for Immigration expressing concern about the treatment of unaccompanied child refugees.
Cabinet Secretary for Communities, Social Security and Equalities, Angela Constance and Cabinet Secretary for Communities and Children, Carl Sargeant sent the following letter to Brandon Lewis, urging the UK Government to take into consideration the views and issues of the devolved Governments:
Dear Brandon,
Thank you very much for the time you have taken to meet with both of us on separate occasions over the summer months. We both look forward to working with you and we wish you well in this new portfolio. With regard to the meetings which have taken place, you have and will be hearing from both of us separately on the issues that were raised.
Both the Welsh Government and the Scottish Government are subject to UK Government process and procedure with regard to s67 of the Immigration Act 2016 (the Dubs amendment); and, s69-72 of the Act (transfer protocol and national transfer mechanism). Due to our mutual responsibilities for these areas in our devolved legislatures, we thought it would be helpful for all parties if we laid out our thoughts to you jointly.
With regard to s67, we have discussed these matters and our experience so far has been the same. From the start of the implementation of this scheme, we have struggled with the lack of information that has been forthcoming from those running this operation. This continues to be the case and we are aware that only a couple of hundred unaccompanied children have been transferred of the 480 placements identified. We are aware of the difficult circumstances that the emergency clearance of the Calais camps led to, and that at present, you are awaiting the outcome of the judicial review which makes it difficult to comment. However, we both feel that overall, the lack of planning and sharing of useful information from coordinators has inhibited our ability to plan ahead. We are seeking assurances from you that steps have been taken or are being put into place to mitigate against a repeat of these circumstances.
We understand you were meeting with your counterpart Ministers in the Member States as a means of resolving the transfer delays and we hope these meetings have achieved a positive outcome.
Separately, we would also like to refer to s69-72 of the Act which would put the National Transfer Mechanism onto a statutory footing in Wales and Scotland. We have discussed with you the requirement for a SI derives from the legal advice that our local authorities have received which describes a local authority’s liability requiring legislative underpinning. We understand this will result in the necessary timetable which allows for parliamentary process and we were pleased to hear of your commitment to pursuing this. We both remain committed to this piece of work and look forward to a satisfactory outcome.
We also note the report of the Human Trafficking Inquiry, initiated by the All Party Parliamentary Group on Human Trafficking and Modern Day Slavery, published on 10 July. We highlight statements with which we agree, and whilst we appreciate there is a difference in opinion as to the why and the how from the UK Government perspective, these statements provide for an outcome which we can all support, that of supporting vulnerable unaccompanied children:
‘The inquiry found no evidence that providing a safe route for children to travel to the UK acted as a ‘pull factor’ or encouraged traffickers. Instead the evidence showed that leaving children without safe and legal options left them in limbo, stranded in dangerous and often violent situations. In many instances this resulted in children turning to smugglers, putting themselves at risk of dangerous journeys and of exploitation to pay the smugglers.’
And the recommendation which says: The ‘Dubs scheme’, or Section 67 of the Immigration Act, needs to be open to children in practice and more children need to be included. This will require expanding the criteria so that it doesn’t exclude vulnerable children due to their age or nationality and a revised cut-off date. Most urgent is the quick and transparent processing of these applications. The administration of the Dubs scheme requires multi-agency teams of specialists on the ground where most children are located, including Calais and Dunkirk to build confidence in safe routes and resistance to traffickers.’
We are grateful for the recent meetings we have had with you, to discuss s67 and wider refugee and asylum seeker matters and look forward to continuing our engagement with you on these important concerns for all of our Governments. We also look forward to receiving replies to our as yet unanswered correspondences.
We are copying this letter to the Home Secretary, Amber Rudd MP, the Secretary of State for Scotland, David Mundell MP and the Secretary of State for Wales, Alun Cairns MP.
Yours sincerely
Carl Sargeant AC/AM Angela Constance MSP
Ysgrifennydd y Cabinet dros Gymunedau a Phlant Cabinet Secretary for Communities,
Cabinet Secretary for Communities and Children Social Security and Equalities
Cc.:
Home Secretary
Secretaries of State for Scotland and Wales
Report finds that many low-cost government backed home ownership schemes are most likely to benefit better-off buyers
Flagship government schemes to help more people get on the UK housing ladder have little impact on improving social mobility as better-off buyers are most likely to benefit from the support. A new report published by the Social Mobility Commission today into the impact of low-cost home ownership schemes found that those benefitting from schemes – such as Help to Buy – earn more than one and a half times the national working age median income. Continue reading Government ‘help to buy’ housing schemes have little impact on social mobility
