Category: Press Releases

The press release issued by HM Treasury on 11 May 1999.

A new future for the 150,000 16-18 year olds not in work, education or retraining was outlined today by the Chancellor Gordon Brown.

Speaking to the Foyer Federation Conference in London the Chancellor said that the current support system for 16-18 year olds was “perverse and indefensible” and outlined a system of Educational Maintenance Allowance of up to £40 a week to persuade teenagers to stay on at school.

The Chancellor said:

“This is a wasted generation. There are 150,000 teenagers who are neither in work, education or training.

“This system of Education Maintenance Allowances of up to £40 we propose is developed to persuade them to stay in school. They will offer real scope to make a difference to the lives of many young people who are in danger of losing out.”

The allowances will be paid in pilot areas where more young people leave school early than is the national norm. The Government will pay up to £40 a week for young people in families where the household income is below £13,000.

Educational Maintenance Allowances will start in September this year in 12 pilot areas. The areas are: Bolton, Nottingham, Cornwall, Doncaster, Gateshead, Leeds, Middlesborough, Oldham, Southampton, Stoke-on-Trent, Walsall and the four London boroughs of Lambeth, Lewisham, Southwark and Greenwich.

The Chancellor said that more must be done than just home the homeless. He said:

“Our ambition is not limited to bricks and mortar; it is to enable young men and women bridge the gap between what they are and what they have in themselves to become. So we must not only deal with the consequences of poverty, we must tackle its causes.

“We are determined to provide a new future for the many thousands of people who had been written off for too long, unable to realise their potential.

“Our challenge amongst young people is to persuade them to stay on at school or college, to take careers advice and to recognise the need for even the most basic qualifications is they are to secure a job.”

This was one of the most powerful motivating force behind the introduction of the new Educational Maintenance Allowance.

The Chancellor said the allowances “will make a real difference to the lives of many young people from disadvantaged backgrounds”. And there would be a true partnership between the Government, educational authorities, schools, colleges and foyer and housing agencies to make them a success.

The Chancellor said:

“What most people remember of the 1930s is unemployed men standing on street corners. What people identify with the 1980s are youngsters begging and sleeping rough in our city streets.

“I want the 1990s and the new Millennium to be remembered for inclusion – when individuals, the voluntary sector and Government work together with a shared purpose.”

The press release issued by HM Treasury on 4 May 1999.

Chancellor Gordon Brown has pledged UK Government support for reform in Nigeria, but said Nigeria must demonstrate real commitment to economic and institutional reform. Economic Secretary Patricia Hewitt gave further details of the assistance that could be made available at a conference on Nigeria today.

Gordon Brown set out his plan in a letter to the Nigerian Finance Minister, Mallam Ismaila Usman, following their meeting at the IMF and World Bank Spring meeting in Washington last month. He said that Nigeria had a unique window of opportunity to accelerate the process of economic and institutional reform, and outlined a new package of measures to support Nigeria’s efforts.

Mr Brown said:

“I have offered the UK’s support to Nigeria on a wide range of issues in order to help build a stable platform upon which reform can be based.

“A clear commitment to openness, transparency and good financial management are essential parts of the reform process, and will be seen by the international community as major steps on Nigeria’s reform path.”

The UK aims to help Nigeria to build a stable platform upon which reform can be based, by:

• pro-actively seeking support for an IMF funded programme for Nigeria in the autumn and a quick return to World Bank lending;
• arguing for a permanent IMF monitoring mission at the Ministry of Finance and Central Bank to instill international confidence in the progress of reform;
• building support for a rescheduling of Nigeria’s substantial Paris Club debt, which amounts to $20 billion;
• advocating a partial debt cancellation, subject to the successful completion of funded programmes and reforms, and a debt sustainability analysis showing that Nigeria’s debt burden is unsustainable;
• sending a Treasury debt team to Nigeria in the autumn to assist in preparing their bid for debt rescheduling at the Paris Club, together with a team to provide advice on privatisation.

DFID are also providing technical assistance to the Nigerian government in the area of debt management, in addition to their significant aid programmes in the areas of health, water, education and rural livelihoods.

This assistance is offered on the basis that Nigeria demonstrates a real commitment to reform. The first step must be getting back on track with the current IMF Staff Monitored Programme (SMP) and regularising their position with the Paris Club in order to prepare for a debt rescheduling once a funded IMF programme is established.

Nigeria needs to rebuild its financial and economic reputation by moving towards greater openness and transparency. Progress in this regard will seen by the international community as major steps on Nigeria’s reform path.

A permanent IMF monitoring mission at the Ministry of Finance and Central Bank would help to ensure cooperation and would contribute to international confidence in the progress of reform. Independent audits of the Central Bank and Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) would be valuable in demonstrating this new commitment to sound financial management

These measures, along with early steps to tackle corruption, will be essential in building investor confidence in Nigeria.

Speaking at the FT Nigeria conference in London today, Patricia Hewitt said:

“This Government believes that poverty and social exclusion must be tackled worldwide as well as at home. This is a moral duty, fully in line with the humanitarian instincts which the people of the UK display when confronted with the plight of people in desperate need.

“Our joint aim with the Nigerian government must be no less than the elimination of abject poverty and social exclusion amongst the Nigerian people. Nigeria must take the lead, but we will support them as a partner in this effort alongside the rest of the international community.

“It is absolutely essential that Nigeria makes significant and rapid progress on economic and institutional reform. It is Nigeria’s responsibility to lead on undertaking reform itself.

“Assistance from the international community will only be of benefit in the context of wide ranging reform, undertaken by Nigeria itself. This must encompass not just economic and institutional restructuring, but also the introduction of anti-poverty policies and efforts to build public support for reform.”

The assistance is offered on the basis of continuing commitment to economic and institutional reform on the part of Nigerian government and its successors. The UK and international assistance will be effective on the basis of the Nigerian government’s commitment to economic and institutional reform continuing and accelerating leading to Nigeria’s international credibility being restored.

The press release issued by HM Treasury on 30 June 1999.

Latest developments on anti-fraud measures in the European Community were published today as part of the Government’s annual statement on the EC Budget.

Commenting on the publication of European Community Finances – the nineteenth statement in the series – Economic Secretary, Patricia Hewitt said :

“As in previous years, this Statement clearly sets out the latest key developments and measures to counter fraud and financial mismanagement in the EC.

“We are determined to crack down on fraud at every level within the European Community. That is why we pressed hard, and won agreement for, UK proposals to reform the EU’s anti-fraud system, drawing on a number of strengths of the UK model:

• a strong, independent Head of Fraud investigations, with statutory protection from dismissal, like the independent Comptroller and Auditor General;
• a Head with wide ranging powers to initiate any investigation on his own initiative, with rights of immediate and unannounced access to papers and buildings and to question officials and Commissioners;
• powers matched by responsibility for making recommendations and ensuring speedy follow up when problems are found;
• powers matched by accountability through the Council and the European Parliament to the taxpayer.

“The new European Anti-Fraud Office meets our requirements. The EU fraud buster will be independent, will initiate its own investigations, and will make sure its recommendations are followed up.

“But getting the new Anti Fraud Office in place is only the vital first step. We need thorough reform in Brussels. And it is coming. The Cologne European Council stressed the importance of reform and modernisation of the Commission and of the European civil service, and proposals will come forward soon.”

Details about EC financial management and measures to counter fraud include:

• the European Court of Auditors’ Annual Report for 1997 and Statement of Assurance, published on 17 November 1998;
• the Council’s recommendation to the European Parliament on the discharge to be given to the Commission for its implementation of the 1997 budget;
• details of progress on the major areas of work under the Commission’s Sound and Efficient Management 2000 Programme;
• the 1998 “Fight against Fraud” report;
• the new European Anti-Fraud Office.

The Annual Statement also sets out a breakdown of expenditure and sources of revenue in the 1999 Community Budget, along with details of the UK’s contributions to, and receipts from, the Budget.

The press release issued by HM Treasury on 24 June 1999.

Further steps to improve the flow of new PFI hospitals and schools were unveiled by the Government today when Chief Secretary to the Treasury Alan Milburn published new accounting guidance on Private Finance Initiative(PFI).

Mr Milburn said that the revised guidance on PFI accounting transactions will remove ambiguity and build a platform of certainty and clarity upon which PFI can continue to grow.

Already this Government has signed 140 deals worth £4.7 billion since May 1997 including the largest programme of new hospital building in the history of the NHS, he said.

The document reflects extensive consultation between the Treasury and the accounting profession, including the Accounting Standards Board (ASB) and contractors, and offers the clarity of approach that the industry has been waiting for.

Mr Milburn said:

“The Government’s commitment to partnership between the public and private sector has never been greater. The Government’s new guidelines will make PFI work more effectively and more fairly. This will help deliver higher levels of investment to modernise Britain’s key public services such as the NHS.

“By providing a platform of certainty, the new guidance will help the PFI continue to grow.

“Value for money deals go hand in hand with the key test of genuine risk transfer achieved under PFI contracts. This clarity of approach will enable the revised guidance to work in practice.”

The Treasury’s PFI Interim Accounting Guidance was the basis by which rules were first introduced for determining PFI accounting treatment in September 1997. Last year, the ASB published new principles for making such judgements in an Application Note. The ASB has said that the Revised Accounting Guidance is to be kept under review and updated as necessary in the light of developments in PFI to ensure that it remains both “useful in practice and is consistent with the ASB’s Application Note”.

The press release issued by HM Treasury on 17 June 1999.

Following his Internet link-up with Elenata Kasanga from Zambia the Chancellor Gordon Brown said:

“We set ourselves the objective of securing reforms which will deliver faster, deeper and wider debt relief.

“The debt package to be agreed this weekend will deliver quickly to more of the poorest countries a lasting exit from their unsustainable debt burdens and bridge the gap between what the HIPC initiative promised and its current reality.

“The package will:

• mean that 38 of the world’s poorest countries could get up to $50 billion of debt reduction under the enhanced HIPC initiative – the target we set ourselves. It will help an extra 7 countries – Benin, Central African Republic (CAR), Ghana, Honduras, Laos, Senegal and Togo – qualify for HIPC relief;
• on top of that, debt relief will offer another $30 billion; and cancellation of overseas development debt another $20 billion;
•  a result equivalent, in total, to cancellation of two-thirds of the poorest HIPC countries’ official debts.

“Specifically, it will

• ensure that the full financing benefit of debt relief would be felt by countries after a maximum of 3 years rather than after the current maximum of 6 years; and
• deliver more debt relief because the debt sustainability criteria have been substantially reduced. We have lowered the sustainability criteria: the debt -exports ratio and the fiscal criterion. And we have changed the criteria of the calculation to increase the relief and give countries the upside of economic growth after debt relief rather than reducing debt relief to reflect growth.

“Equally important, the link between debt relief and poverty reduction will be strengthened. A new relationship will be formed between the Bretton Woods institutions and the poorest countries and the civil society in those countries. The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund will be asked to listen to poor countries, to protect investment in health and education and to strengthen the link between their programmes and the international target to halve world poverty by 2015. Developing this framework will be the challenge between now and September.

“We greatly welcome the contribution the churches and non-governmental organisations have already made to securing public support for reform, and we support their desire to pursue the issues further. The package is a good one – but it is not the ceiling of our ambitions.”

The press release issued by HM Treasury on 20 December 2022.

Brendan Michael Gaughan, 40, from Glasgow has been disqualified as a director for 12 years, after using his companies to take out Bounce Back Loans totalling £135,000 that the companies were not eligible for.

Gaughan was director of three separate property management companies, Gaughan Group Ltd, Gaughan Property Ltd, and Rentl Property Ltd. They were only incorporated in February 2020 and did no business until April 2020.

As a result, they were not eligible for funds through the Bounce Back Loan (BBL) scheme, which was available only to firms that had been doing business on 1 March 2020.

However in May 2020, Gaughan Group received a BBL of £50,000, Gaughan Property received a BBL also of £50,000, and Rentl Property Ltd received a BBL of £35,000.

Gaughan transferred all the funds into a single account and proceeded to use the money to buy a property on Warden Rd in Glasgow for over £115,000 in August 2020. He then sold the property in March 2021 for just over £120,000, and on the same day transferred £100,000 of the proceeds to his personal account.

All three companies were put into liquidation on 11 October 2021, which triggered an investigation by the Insolvency Service.

The Secretary of State accepted disqualification undertakings from Brendan Michael Gaughan, after he did not dispute that none of his companies had been eligible for Bounce Back Loans. He has been banned for 12 years, effective from 27 October 2022. He has separately agreed compensation with the Insolvency Practitioner.

The disqualification undertakings prevent him from directly, or indirectly, becoming involved in the promotion, formation or management of a company, without the permission of the court.

Steven McGinty, Investigation Manager at the Insolvency Service said:

Bounce Back Loans were made available for trading companies adversely affected by the pandemic. Brendan Gaughan should have known his companies weren’t entitled to the loans yet he took them anyway and used the funds for personal gain.

We will not hesitate to take action against directors who have abused Covid-19 financial support like this.

The press release issued by HM Treasury on 14 June 1999.

Staff transferring from Government Departments and Agencies to the private sector under PFI and other PPP deals are to have their pensions better protected through a new five point plan announced by Chief Secretary Alan Milburn today.

Launching the new five point plan Alan Milburn said that this was a major step forward in taking forward the Government’s PFI and PPP programmes and one that would guarantee fair treatment to employees.

Mr Milburn said:

“PFI has a key part to play in delivering the Government’s modernisation of public services. For it to work in giving value to the taxpayer it also needs to be trusted by the staff who deliver those services.

“In the past some staff have felt that their pensions have suffered when they have transferred from public to private sector employees. It is not fair or right that staff pensions should be a casualty in PFI deals.

“I want future PFI deals to guarantee fair treatment to employees. This new guidance protects staff pensions. In this way we can ensure that when private sector contractors are selected as partners in delivering services, the decisions are not distorted by handling of pension issues. It is fair to staff, employers and taxpayers alike.”

The Statement of Practice on the Treatment of Staff Pensions in Government PFI deals supercedes existing guidance on procurement practices through a new five point action plan:

• requiring business contracts to be conditional upon staff being offered ‘broadly comparable’ pension packages by the new employer in a way that guarantees that employees are no worse off when they move from the public sector;
• extending these rights for some public sector staff who may be subsequently transferred to another private sector employer or who are involved in integral sub-contracting;
• publishing a Statement of Practice of the Government Actuary’s Department on how ‘broad comparability’ will be assessed;
• making it a standard requirement before a business contract is signed for a new employer’s pension scheme to allow transferring staff the option of moving their accrued credits into that scheme on a fully protected basis;
• ensuring that business deals involving staff transfers will not be signed unless any unresolved employee concerns have been considered by the appropriate Departmental Minister.

The new procurement practices will be introduced immediately. This is without prejudice to the outcome of the Government’s current review of the coverage of the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) – ‘TUPE’ – Regulations, which is expected to report later this year.

The new practices will be followed by Government Departments and Agencies. Alan Milburn said that he would be expecting other parts of the public sector to adopt them too, and would be expecting them to do so as quickly as possible.