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Tag: 2023

  • PRESS RELEASE : Haverhill carwash boss, Vasile Matcas, banned for 10-years for Covid Loan abuse [January 2023]

    PRESS RELEASE : Haverhill carwash boss, Vasile Matcas, banned for 10-years for Covid Loan abuse [January 2023]

    The press release issued by HM Treasury on 9 January 2023.

    Suffolk director exaggerated the turnover of his Hertfordshire-based business by 5 times the true amount to falsely claim a £50,000 loan.

    Vasile Matcas, 30, from Haverhill in Suffolk, has been disqualified as a company director for 10 years after claiming government-backed Covid support money to which his business was not entitled.

    Matcas was the sole director of Matcas Ltd, which was incorporated in October 2016 and initially traded as a construction and cleaning company until the Covid-19 pandemic affected trade, when Matcas pivoted the firm to operate as a carwash.

    In June 2020 Matcas applied for a £50,000 Bounce Back Loan to support the transition of the business, based on Matcas Ltd’s 2019 turnover, which he stated as £280,000.

    Bounce Back Loans were a government scheme to help support businesses through the Covid-19 pandemic. Under the rules of the scheme, companies could apply for loans of between £2,000 and £50,000, up to a maximum of 25% of their turnover for 2019.

    The company received the maximum loan amount, and began trading as The Pavilions Car Wash, in Waltham Cross, Hertfordshire. But the carwash folded and Matcas Ltd went into liquidation in July 2021, owing more than £50,400, including the full amount of the loan, and triggering an investigation by the Insolvency Service.

    Investigators discovered that Matcas Ltd’s actual turnover in 2019 had been around £49,200, and that Matcas had exaggerated the figure by more than 5 times to receive the maximum amount from the Bounce Back Loan scheme. The company should have been entitled to a loan of around £12,300 based on its true turnover.

    The Secretary of State accepted a disqualification undertaking from Vasile Matcas after he did not dispute that he had caused Matcas Ltd to obtain a Bounce Back Loan in excess of the amount allowed by the loan scheme.

    Matcas was banned for 10 years, beginning on 14 November 2022. His disqualification prevents him from directly or indirectly becoming involved in the promotion, formation or management of a company, without the permission of the court.

    Nina Cassar, Deputy Head of Investigations at the Insolvency Service, said:

    The Bounce Back Loan Scheme was set up to support businesses in genuine need during the COVID-19 pandemic.

    Vasile Matcas used the loan to start up a new business and gained an unfair advantage by applying for a loan in excess of what was entitled.

    Matcas’ lengthy ban should serve as a warning to others that the Insolvency Service will act to tackle financial wrongdoing.

  • PRESS RELEASE : Tim Reid appointed Chief Executive Officer of UK Export Finance [January 2023]

    PRESS RELEASE : Tim Reid appointed Chief Executive Officer of UK Export Finance [January 2023]

    The press release issued by the Department for International Trade on 9 January 2023.

    Tim Reid has been appointed CEO of UK Export Finance (UKEF), the UK government’s export credit agency, taking up the role on 1 January 2023.

    Tim was previously UKEF’s Director of Business Group and joined UKEF from HSBC in 2022, where he held senior positions around the world, focusing on connecting businesses with international opportunities. At HSBC, his most recent role was Global Head of Transaction Banking within the bank’s Global Banking division. Previously he managed businesses across Europe, the Americas, the Middle East, and North Africa.

    Secretary of State for International Trade, Kemi Badenoch said:

    “I’m pleased to welcome Tim to his new role as CEO of UKEF. Tim brings a wealth of experience and has a proven track record for helping businesses expand internationally. I look forward to working with him to deliver the government’s export strategy – helping businesses to grow, create jobs, and deliver the best of British innovation and quality around the world.”

    Tim Reid said:

    “It’s an honour to be appointed CEO of UK Export Finance. UKEF plays a vital role in helping UK businesses open the doors to international trade, and removing barriers to exporting through access to government-backed trade finance and insurance. With a strengthened commitment to sustainability and continued drive to support SMEs across the UK, I look forward to working with our talented team to deliver the government’s ambitions for export growth.

    Thank you to Samir Parkash for his leadership of the department in the interim.”

  • PRESS RELEASE : Up to £250 million to speed up hospital discharge [January 2023]

    PRESS RELEASE : Up to £250 million to speed up hospital discharge [January 2023]

    The press release issued by the Department of Health and Social Care on 9 January 2023.

    NHS will buy thousands of extra beds in care homes and other settings to help discharge more patients to free up hospital beds.

    • Backed by up to £200 million, local areas will buy thousands of extra beds in care homes and other settings to help discharge more patients who are fit to leave hospital and free up hospital beds for those who need them
    • Discharged patients will be given the support they need from GPs, nurses and other community-based clinicians to continue their recovery
    • Additional £50 million capital funding to upgrade and expand hospitals including new ambulance hubs and facilities for patients about to be discharged
    • As part of measures set to be announced later today, six national ‘Discharge Frontrunners’ will lead the way to explore new long-term initiatives to free up hospital beds

    Thousands of extra medically fit patients will be discharged from hospitals into community care settings, such as care homes, over the coming weeks to free up hospital beds and reduce pressure on the NHS, the Health and Social Care Secretary Steve Barclay is set to announce today [Monday 9 December].

    The government will make available up to £200 million of additional funding to immediately buy short-term care placements to allow people to be discharged safely from hospitals into the community where they will receive the care they need to recover before returning to their homes.

    The move will free up hospital beds so people can be admitted more quickly from A&E to wards, reducing pressure on emergency departments and speeding up ambulance handovers. There are currently around 13,000 people occupying hospital beds in England who are fit to be discharged.

    The additional £200 million – on top of the £500 million Adult Social Care Discharge Fund already announced which reached the frontline in December and is already helping discharge people more quickly – will fund maximum stays of up to four weeks per patient until the end of March. Integrated care boards – organisations that arrange health services in each local area – will begin booking beds that are most appropriate to patients’ needs.

    The government is immediately making available additional £50 million in capital funding to expand hospital discharge lounges and ambulance hubs. Ambulance queues in some areas are made worse due to a lack of physical space – the new money will create new ambulance hubs where vehicles can manoeuvre more easily to avoid delays handing over patients. The funding boost will also expand discharge lounges in NHS Trusts – areas where patients can be moved out of acute beds while they wait to be discharged, freeing up beds in the meantime.

    In a statement in Parliament later today, the Health and Social Care Secretary will outline a series of further measures to address current pressures facing the NHS over winter, including long waits for emergency care and delays to discharging patients who are medically fit to leave hospital.

    This will include six areas trialling innovative long-term solutions to free up hospital beds and make sure patients get the right care at the right time, which could be rolled out across the NHS if successful.

    Health and Social Care Secretary Steve Barclay said:

    The NHS is under enormous pressure from Covid and flu, and on top of tackling the backlog caused by the pandemic, Strep A and upcoming strikes, this winter poses an extreme challenge.

    I am taking urgent action to reduce pressure on the health service, including investing an additional £200 million to enable the NHS to immediately buy up beds in the community to safely discharge thousands of patients from hospital and free up hospital capacity, on top of the £500 million we’ve already invested to tackle this issue.

    In addition, we are trialling six National Discharge Frontrunners – innovative, quick solutions which could reduce discharge delays, moving patients from hospital to home more quickly.

    Sussex Health and Care, the Northern Care Alliance, Humber and North Yorkshire, One Croydon Alliance, Leeds Health and Care Partnership and Warwickshire Place have all put forward ideas that will help the patients in their area move out of hospital more quickly whilst providing continuity of care. These ideas include dedicated dementia hubs, new offers of provision for rehabilitative care and creating effective data tools to help manage demand for discharge of medically fit patients – giving them the help they need to live comfortably in the community after a hospital stay.

    This new programme will trial long term solutions to issues which result in patients staying in hospital longer than necessary. For example one area, Leeds, is looking to improve how health teams in their local hospitals are working with those providing community services such as rehabilitation, which will mean better support locally for patients who need support after a hospital stay.

    Prolonged stays in a hospital bed can contribute to poorer outcomes, particularly for older people, with increased muscle loss making rehabilitation harder, as well at the ongoing risk of exposure to infections and the impact on mental health. These delays also have a knock-on impact for other people, including those awaiting elective care and those needing urgent medical treatment.

    The new measures follow the Prime Minister’s speech last week on building a better future, where he set out one of his key promises that NHS waiting lists will fall and people will get the care they need more quickly.

    Minister for Care Helen Whately said:

    Getting people out of hospital on time is more important than ever. It’s good for patients and it helps hospitals make space for those who need urgent care.

    We’re launching six Discharge Frontrunners to lead the way with innovations to help get people out of hospital and back home.

    Winter is always hard for the NHS and social care, and this year especially with flu in high circulation. That’s why we provided the £500 million Adult Social Care Discharge Fund earlier in the winter.

    As well as helping people right now, we’re looking ahead to make our health and care system work better next winter and beyond. These problems are not new but now is the time to fix them for the future.

    People eligible for a Covid booster and flu vaccine is advised to take up the offer as soon as possible to protect themselves and others, and reduce pressure on the NHS.

    In total, up to £14.1 billion additional funding will be invested by government over the next two years to improve urgent and emergency care and tackle the backlog – the highest spend on health and care in any government’s history. £7.5 billion of this support is for adult social care and discharge over the next two years which will also help deal with immediate pressures.

    The NHS is rolling out virtual wards across England as part of plans to deliver the equivalent of 7,000 more beds using a mix of hospital and virtual wards. The NHS has an ambition to set up 40-50 virtual beds per 100K population by 2024. Virtual wards as where people, for example, who have acute respiratory infections can actually be treated at home with telemedicine or pulse oximeters and there is also a new fall service which can save about 55,000 ambulance call outs a year by treating people with falls at home.

    91 Community Diagnostic Centres have been opened so far, delivering over 2.7 million tests, checks and scans already to help diagnose patients earlier.

    The government is also continuing to grow the NHS workforce, with around 42,000 more staff than a year ago, including over 10,500 more nurses and almost 4,700 more doctors.

    Sarah-Jane Marsh, National Director of Urgent and Emergency Care said:

    There is no doubt the NHS is under pressure with latest weekly data showing flu cases in hospital increased by almost half putting additional strain on already busy wards and departments.

    We want to ensure all patients ready to leave hospital do so quickly and safely, and NHS staff are working closely with local authority colleagues to help get more patients out of hospital when they are medically fit to do so.

    We hope the frontrunner programme will offer new solutions for local systems to help patients access the services they need and help to free up bed space in NHS hospitals.

    Background

    The frontrunners are:

    • Sussex Health and Care Integrated Care System: Trialling a new data tool to help services manage performance, give operational oversight and manage demand.
    • The Northern Care Alliance: Trialling specialised dementia hubs to support people who have a greater chance of re-admission.
    • Humber and North Yorkshire Integrated Care System: Supporting patients to move across health and social care organisations through innovative use of data and real-time intelligence.
    • One Croydon Alliance: Trialling a fully integrated team between acute and community, integrated IT system, integrated financial systems and integrated leadership, to better coordination between hospitals and community care settings like rehabilitation services.
    • Leeds Health and Care Partnership: Focused on intermediate care, establishing an Active Recovery Service providing short term community rehabilitation and reablement. Focus on rehabilitation and reablement not only improves patient experience but helps prevent future re-admission.
    • Warwickshire Place: Trialling a partnership between NHS and Social Care to help provide care and support to patients when they are released from hospital into the community, increasing capacity for home care, and expanding recruitment.
  • PRESS RELEASE : £7 million tech fund to decarbonise freight and boost innovation [January 2023]

    PRESS RELEASE : £7 million tech fund to decarbonise freight and boost innovation [January 2023]

    The press release issued by the Department for Transport on 9 January 2023.

    Government launches a new fund to help small to medium-sized businesses to develop greener and more efficient solutions for freight.

    – new funding to scale up and roll out innovative tech across the industry to decarbonise freight and improve transport links

    – £7 million over 3 years to develop ways to make it easier to move freight from one mode of transport to another and improve journey times and predictability

    – new solutions could help clean our air, reduce traffic, create UK jobs and allow people to get their packages and goods more quickly

    Delivering freight across the UK could become more efficient and cleaner thanks to a £7 million government-backed fund launched today, 9 January 2023 that will roll out innovative new ideas and technology across the industry.

    The freight innovation fund (FIF) will go to up to 36 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). They will then work with industry-leading companies to develop innovations to make freight more efficient, resilient and greener, such as ways to improve how freight moves between rail, road and maritime transport.

    By giving innovators the opportunity to test their ideas, the fund aims to help SMEs roll out new technology and ways of working to unlock potentially huge efficiencies and emissions reductions across the sector. This can include how to organise containers better so they can be more easily broken up for the final part of their journey or how to improve links between rail, maritime and road transport.

    Roads Minister Richard Holden said:

    Our freight industry is vital to underpinning the economy and keeps Britain moving, so it is crucial we invest in new innovations to make it greener and quicker.

    This fund will accelerate new ideas and technologies, helping to develop a future pipeline of innovations that can be rolled out to create jobs and allow everyone to get their goods faster and easier.

    The innovation fund was announced last year within the government’s future of freight plan, the first-ever cross-modal and cross-government plan for the UK freight transport sector. It targets the 5 priorities for the freight sector identified in the plan, including being cost-efficient, reliable, resilient, environmentally sustainable, and valued by society.

    Working to bolster the capacity of the freight network – for example, to anticipate, absorb, resist or avoid disruption and quickly recover from disruption when it does occur – can increase the resilience of supply chains across the country for a wide variety of industries.

    The fund will look to support ideas and tech addressing, in particular, 3 long-standing issues in the freight sector.

    – a lack of large-scale cross-industry data collection and sharing between different modes of freight transport, such as road, rail and maritime, that could improve efficiencies and coordination

    – difficulties in inter-modal transport, such as between rail and road, and ways to improve how large consignments are broken up into smaller ones, which could reduce emissions and traffic

    – improvements in freight distribution in ports across different transport modes that could create knock-on benefits with timings, efficiencies, and predictability of the rest of the journey

    The government’s future of freight plan sets a strategy for the government and industry to work closely together to deliver a world-class, seamless flow of freight across the UK’s roads, railways, seas, skies and canals.

    The plan also explains how identifying a National Freight Network will help to better understand freight movements and their value to the economy.

    The FIF builds on previous government initiatives designed to support increased research and development in the freight industry; previous technologies supported in other funds include:

    – Hypermile who developed an artificial intelligence programme that offers real-time feedback to help heavy goods vehicle drivers save fuel

    – Fishbone Solutions developed a programme that uses vibrational data from rail freight wagons and artificial intelligence analysis to determine whether the wagons are working correctly

    – CGA Simulation created a tool that simulates urban environments to predict the best place for infrastructure to enable radical development in logistics

    – Delivered by Connected Places Catapult, the fund will give SMEs access to technical and business support from the organisation.

    Nicola Yates OBE, CEO at Connected Places Catapult, said:

    Each year in the UK, we transport 1.6 billion tonnes of freight using many different modes of transport, and it has never been quicker or easier. The freight sector makes a huge contribution to our economy and contributes significantly to domestic carbon emissions.

    Today, we are delighted to be working with Department for Transport to launch this freight innovation fund as part of their future of freight strategy. The fund will help us to work with innovators and industry partners to develop a pipeline of technology and data innovations that will tackle the freight sector’s emerging needs, ensuring that resilience, efficiency and carbon reduction are core to the sector’s future.

    Kate Jennings, policy director at Logistics UK, said:

    Efficient logistics is vital to the UK and, as a sector, businesses are innovating to drive down emissions while ensuring the availability of the products households, businesses and public services rely on every day. Achievement of the UK’s net zero target is a challenge our members are committed to but this will require continued partnership between the government and industry to achieve. This innovation fund will be a welcome route for our member organisations to develop and access the technologies needed for goods to be moved in an increasingly green and cost-efficient way.

    SMEs will benefit from a freight innovation fund accelerator, which will provide bespoke business support to innovators to help them access private investment, as well as a freight innovation cluster, a community of innovators within the freight industry that hosts regular networking events and activities.

  • James Cleverly – 2023 Statement on the Executions of Mohammad Mahdi Karami and Seyyed Mohammad Hosseini

    James Cleverly – 2023 Statement on the Executions of Mohammad Mahdi Karami and Seyyed Mohammad Hosseini

    The statement made by James Cleverly, the Foreign Secretary, on 7 January 2023.

    The execution of Mohammad Mahdi Karami and Seyyed Mohammad Hosseini by the Iranian regime is abhorrent.

    The UK is strongly opposed to the death penalty in all circumstances and the Iranian regime has done further lasting damage to its reputation at home and overseas with yet another disproportionate response to the Iranian people protesting legitimately against their oppression.

    We have and will continue to make our views clear to the Iranian authorities – Iran must immediately halt all executions and end the violence against its own people.

  • PRESS RELEASE : Iran – UK responds to executions of protestors [January 2023]

    PRESS RELEASE : Iran – UK responds to executions of protestors [January 2023]

    The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 7 January 2023.

    The UK has condemned the executions of Mohammad Mahdi Karami and Seyyed Mohammad Hosseini who were part of the recent protests in Iran.

    Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said:

    The execution of Mohammad Mahdi Karami and Seyyed Mohammad Hosseini by the Iranian regime is abhorrent.

    The UK is strongly opposed to the death penalty in all circumstances and the Iranian regime has done further lasting damage to its reputation at home and overseas with yet another disproportionate response to the Iranian people protesting legitimately against their oppression.

    We have and will continue to make our views clear to the Iranian authorities – Iran must immediately halt all executions and end the violence against its own people.

  • PRESS RELEASE : PM to hold NHS Recovery Forum at Downing Street [January 2023]

    PRESS RELEASE : PM to hold NHS Recovery Forum at Downing Street [January 2023]

    The press release issued by 10 Downing Street on 7 January 2023.

    Clinical leaders, health experts and ministers to convene in Downing Street for an NHS Recovery Forum today.

    In addition to his regular meetings on the health service, the Prime Minister will host the Forum to bring together experts from across the health and care sector to identify opportunities to go further and faster on improving performance and outcomes.

    The Forum will major on four crucial issues: social care and delayed discharge; urgent and emergency care; elective care; and primary care.

    Some of the best health and care minds in the country will use the session to share best practice and to understand whether any innovations developed at a local level could be applied to other regional areas or on a national basis.

    As the Prime Minister set out in his speech earlier this week, innovation is at the heart of the government’s approach and will be a vital aspect of the solution, and so Forum attendees will include representatives from both the public and independent sector to ensure we’re harnessing a wide spread of expertise and talent.

    The Forum is the next step in the significant action that the government has taken to improve outcomes and relieve the immediate pressures on the NHS and in social care caused by the pandemic, with further pressures due to the recent rise in covid and flu cases.

    On improving capacity in the NHS, the government has provided an extra £500 million to speed up hospital discharge this winter and we’re also increasing bed capacity by the equivalent of 7,000 more beds.

    The NHS is rolling out virtual wards across England, with an ambition to establish 40-50 virtual ward beds per 100k population, by December 2023. Virtual wards are where people, for example, who have acute respiratory infections can actually be treated at home with telemedicine or pulse oximeters and there is also a new fall service which can save about 55,000 ambulance call outs a year by treating people with falls at home.

    In total, the government will invest up to £14.1 billion additional funding over the next two years to improve urgent and emergency care and tackle the backlog – the highest spend on health and care in any government’s history. £7.5 billion of this support is for adult social care and discharge over the next two years, which will also help deal with immediate pressures.

    91 Community Diagnostic Centres have been opened so far and they have delivered over 2.7 million tests, checks and scans to help diagnose patients earlier.

    The government is also continuing to grow the NHS workforce, with around 42,000 more staff than a year ago, including over 10,500 more nurses and almost 4,700 more doctors.

    The government is investing at least £1.5 billion to create an extra 50 million general practice appointments by 2024, while the NHS is accelerating the rollout of new state-of-the-art telephone systems to make it easier for patients get through to their GP surgeries.

    Earlier in the week, the Prime Minister set out one of his key promises that NHS waiting lists will fall and people will get the care they need more quickly. He also pledged to make sure the NHS is built around patients.

    The Forum will run for the majority of Saturday and attendees will include chief executives and clinical leaders from NHS organisations, local areas and councils from across the country, clinical experts from Royal Colleges and independent sector organisations working with health and social care services to deliver services for patients.

    The Health and Social Care Secretary, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of NHS England will attend the Forum.

    A Downing Street Spokesperson said:

    As the Prime Minister made clear this week, easing the immediate pressures whilst also focussing on the long-term improvement of the NHS is one of his key promises.

    That’s why we’re bringing together the best minds from the health and care sectors to help share knowledge and practical solutions so that we can tackle the most crucial challenges such as delayed discharge and emergency care.

    We want to correct the unwarranted variation in NHS performance between local areas, because no matter where you live you should be able to access quality healthcare.

  • PRESS RELEASE : London to host major international meeting on war crimes [January 2023]

    PRESS RELEASE : London to host major international meeting on war crimes [January 2023]

    The press release issued by Ministry of Justice on 7 January 2023.

    • Justice ministers from across the world will meet in London in March
    • Co-hosted by UK Deputy Prime Minister and Dutch Minister of Justice and Security
    • Nations to focus on practical support to the International Criminal Court

    The meeting at Lancaster House will be hosted by Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab and the Minister of Justice and Security of the Netherlands, Dilan Yeşilgöz-Zegerius.

    It aims to increase the global financial and practical support being offered to the ICC and coordinate efforts to ensure it has all it needs to carry out investigations and prosecute those responsible.

    The group will hear from Prosecutor of the ICC, Karim Khan KC, on the Court’s work and the role of the international community in supporting its investigations.

    The meeting comes as Russia steps up its campaign of terror against Ukraine, striking at crucial energy infrastructure and plunging people into the dark and freezing cold of winter. In reclaimed areas of Ukraine, prosecutors continue to gather evidence of atrocities and sexual violence.

    Deputy Prime Minister, Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, Dominic Raab, said:

    Russian forces should know they cannot act with impunity and we will back Ukraine until justice is served.

    Almost a year on from the illegal invasion, the international community must give its strongest backing to the ICC so war criminals can be held to account for the atrocities we’re witnessing.

    The meeting will allow countries to determine how to provide further help to the Court. This includes practical support such as helping to gather information and share evidence of atrocities committed on the ground. Ministers will also discuss how to help victims and witnesses provide testimonies without causing them further distress.

    Minister of Justice and Security of the Netherlands, Dilan Yeşilgöz-Zegerius said:

    The reports and images of Russia’s unlawful and unprovoked armed attack on Ukraine are horrific. For us it is crystal clear: these crimes may not go unpunished.

    During this timely meeting we will continue to coordinate with our partners to ensure that support to the ICC and the Ukrainian authorities is offered.

    Last year, the UK offered a bespoke package of support to the ICC, which included an additional £1 million funding and dedicated police assistance.

    It follows action taken by the UK to galvanise allies to refer atrocities in Ukraine to the ICC last March. The state party referral, now supported by 43 countries, meant that the Prosecutor was able to proceed straight to an investigation, without the need for judicial approval.

    The UK Government also continues to support Ukraine’s domestic investigations. Along with the US and the EU, the UK established the Atrocity Crimes Advisory Group to support investigations and has funded a training programme for Ukrainian judges set to conduct trials for war crimes. There are 30 judges already taking part and a similar training programme for prosecutors in Ukraine, led by the Crown Prosecution Service, is due to start later this year.

    Sir Howard Morrison KC, a war crimes expert, has been appointed as an Independent Adviser to the Ukrainian Prosecutor General to offer legal advice in relation to the investigations and prosecutions and is overseeing the judges’ training programme. Court proceedings have begun in more than 200 cases of alleged war crimes and over 50,000 war crimes files have been opened to date.

    Around £400 million in UK economic and humanitarian grant support has been provided to Ukraine, while over £1.25 billion in multilateral loans has been unlocked via UK guarantees. Funding has also recently been provided to the Ukraine Energy Support Fund which will enable the provision of emergency energy equipment and resources to repair damaged infrastructure.

    The UK has now provided £2.3 billion in military support to Ukraine in 2022 – more than any country other than the United States – and has already committed to sustain that level of military support into 2023. The PM also recently announced a new contract worth £250 million that will ensure a constant flow of critical artillery ammunition to Ukraine throughout 2023.

    In 2022, the Netherlands dispatched two forensic investigation teams to collect evidence that can be used in investigations into crimes committed in Ukraine. The teams operated under the banner of the ICC and two additional missions are envisaged for 2023.

    The Netherlands has also made a voluntary financial contribution of €2 million to the Trust Fund of the Office of the Prosecutor of the ICC and has seconded personnel from the National Police and the Public Prosecutor’s Office of the Netherlands to the ICC.

  • PRESS RELEASE : Health and social care pressures in Scotland [January 2023]

    PRESS RELEASE : Health and social care pressures in Scotland [January 2023]

    The press release issued by the Scottish Government on 6 January 2023.

    FM chairs resilience and response meeting.

    First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has chaired a meeting of the Scottish Government resilience committee (SGoRR) to discuss the response to ongoing winter pressures on the health and social care system.

    In addition to the FM, the meeting today was attended by Deputy First Minister John Swinney, Health Secretary Humza Yousaf, other Cabinet ministers, and key partners from across the system including senior representatives from NHS Boards, COSLA, Integration Joint Boards and the Scottish Ambulance Service.

    The latest situation with flu and COVID-19 infections was covered, along with the increased demands on acute sites and social care which have been experienced over the Christmas and New Year period.

    A number of measures are being taken to alleviate pressures on the system, improve patient flow and ensure people receive the right care in the right setting. These include the use of Flow Navigation Centres as part of the redesign of urgent care, Hospital at Home and ambulance service staff providing treatment, where appropriate, to help avoid hospital admission.

    The Health Secretary will update parliament at the earliest opportunity on ongoing work to support the system, and further resilience meetings will be held to monitor the situation in the coming days and weeks as required.

    The First Minister said:

    “It is clear that health and social care is currently experiencing a period of intense and indeed unprecedented pressure. Staff are working exceptionally hard and have been doing so throughout the Christmas and New Year period. This comes after nearly three years of pandemic-related demands on the system, and we are all incredibly grateful to them for their efforts.

    “I am clear that the Scottish Government must and will do everything it can to support our health and care service throughout the next few weeks. We remain in daily contact with Health Boards and there is already a huge amount of work being done, but we will leave no stone unturned to explore and implement any additional measures that could be taken to help alleviate pressures. With that in mind we will continue to work with all partners to implement actions that can help ensure the workforce is supported to deliver the high standards of care that we want everyone to receive.

    “This will include actions to reduce unnecessary attendances at A&E – ensuring people get care in more appropriate settings, and those who need hospital care get it quickly, and also on effective discharge arrangements to reduce pressure on hospital occupancy. My thanks go to all those working incredibly hard across the whole health and care system during this period of exceptional pressure.”

  • PRESS RELEASE : Veterans’ partnership steps up in Scotland [January 2023]

    PRESS RELEASE : Veterans’ partnership steps up in Scotland [January 2023]

    The press release issued by the Scottish Government on 6 January 2023.

    Support for former services personnel on medical appointments.

    A Scottish Government-backed initiative supporting veterans on hospital visits is expanding to cope with increased demand.

    Veterans can be accompanied to hospital and receive help with transport under a unique collaboration between the Defence Medical Welfare Service (DMWS), which provides trained welfare officers, and Fares4Free, a charity offering transport through their outreach support drivers.

    The organisations were awarded £40,000 from the Scottish Veterans Fund in July as part of an overall £500,000 fund, which this year benefitted 25 projects across the country.

    The service is now so popular that Fares4Free is appealing for volunteers to meet demand in rural areas.

    Veterans Secretary Keith Brown said:

    “This initiative is a fantastic example of the work supported by the Scottish Veterans Fund and I am delighted the grant has allowed the expanded roll-out of this vital service.

    “Scotland has a long and proud military tradition. There are some fantastic organisations supporting our veterans in Scotland and money provided by the fund – totalling over £2.3m since 2008 – will help continue some really good work.

    “We are committed to supporting our veterans and ensuring that they are not disadvantaged as a result of their service. Projects such as this will ensure our veterans are given the help that they need, when they need it.”

    Bob Reid, DMWS Regional Manager Scotland and Overseas, said:

    “Thanks to the support received we’re geared up to provide welfare support on journeys to appointments. Transport to healthcare appointments is a big issue for older veterans especially. It’s complex. Some people want to be accompanied on journeys, some just want a phone call, and others want someone to meet them when they arrive. We’ve learned to be flexible and imaginative to ensure everyone gets the support they need.”

    Leon Fisher, Fares4Free Operations Manager, said:

    “We continue to enhance and grow our volunteer network throughout the country but are actively seeking additional drivers to help us deliver this unique collaboration. It’s one which is tailored to users to establish exactly what’s needed so we can arrange a suitable solution and powered by dedicated staff, frequent meetings, and efficient administration to ensure the service is of the best quality – made evident by the growing popularity of the service.”