Tag: Foreign Office

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

£76 million tied up in forgotten accounts to be used to support people to get out of debt and assist social enterprises with innovative energy saving solutions.

• Dormant Assets Scheme redirects money from forgotten accounts to good causes
• £76 million will go to those struggling with the cost of living, including through no-interest loans
• In England, Scheme is being expanded to include community wealth funds, pots of money that will allow local residents to improve their communities

The most vulnerable people in society will be given additional support to deal with the cost of living, as £76 million tied up in forgotten accounts is unlocked.

The cash will support people to get out of debt and assist social enterprises with innovative energy saving solutions.

Beneficiaries include no-interest loans for 69,000 individuals struggling with finances via a £45 million grant distributed by Fair4All Finance, and hundreds of charities and social enterprises which will receive support from a pot of £31 million, distributed by social investors Access and Big Society Capital. This will be used to retrofit premises with cleaner, greener, and more efficient energy systems, such as new boilers or heat pumps, solar panels, and new lighting.

Dormant assets are financial assets left untouched for long periods. Led by the financial services industry and backed by the government, the Dormant Assets Scheme aims to reunite people with these lost funds. Where this is not possible, it can be transferred to the Dormant Assets Scheme to be distributed to important social and environmental initiatives.

The Dormant Assets Scheme unlocks money from forgotten bank and building society accounts, and will soon include further assets from the insurance and pensions, investment and wealth management, and the securities sectors.

An estimated £738 million more will be made available over time thanks to the expansion of the Scheme to the new sectors.

Since 2011, £892 million has been released via the Scheme. In England, dormant assets money has been used to support young people, help those in financial difficulty, and generate social investment.

The government is also today announcing that community wealth funds will become an additional beneficiary of the Dormant Assets Scheme. A community wealth fund is a pot of money distributed to communities in deprived areas and released over a long time period, with local residents empowered to make decisions on how to use the money.

To ensure that local decision-making sits at the heart of a community wealth fund, the government will shortly launch a public consultation to gather public and industry views on the overarching design of this important new initiative.

Youth, social enterprises, and people in financial difficulty will continue to be supported, with previous beneficiaries including community centres and charities providing care for the socially isolated and elderly.

Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer said:

“Today we are announcing that millions of pounds will be redirected from dormant accounts to help the most vulnerable in society deal with the cost of living.

“This will have a real impact on people’s lives, help alleviate debt and provide money saving solutions for charitable organisations.”

DCMS Minister Stuart Andrew said:

“The public consultation on dormant assets funding provided people with the opportunity to name how money that will be unlocked should be spent, and I’m delighted to announce our plans to introduce a community wealth fund as a new cause.

“The creation of a community wealth fund will give local residents in some of the more deprived areas of the country the power to improve where they live and invest in what’s important to them.”

David Knott, Chief Executive, The National Lottery Community Fund said:

“As the distributor of dormant assets, The National Lottery Community Fund sees first-hand the life changing difference this funding makes. I welcome the Government’s plans to include community wealth funds alongside existing causes. This reflects The National Lottery Community Fund’s experience of funding and supporting communities over decades. I look forward to turbo charging efforts through this expansion. ”

Jane Hanson, CBE, Chair, Reclaim Fund Ltd and Dormant Assets Expansion Board  said:

“The Government’s announcement on future dormant assets funding comes at a particularly important time given the pressures on so many households. Thanks to the collaborative efforts of the Dormant Assets Expansion Board, which brings together industry, government and regulators, the Scheme is now poised for expansion, which could result in £880 million in additional dormant assets funding to good causes across the UK. Reclaim Fund Ltd is making the final preparations to launch the expanded Scheme and we look forward to welcoming participants from the insurance and pensions sector, followed by other sectors, including investment and wealth management, later this year.”

Kirsty Cooper, Champion for the Insurance and Pensions sector and Group General Counsel and Company Secretary, Aviva said:

“I’m delighted with the Government’s new announcement on future dormant assets funding. The expanded Scheme will help to make a real difference to the lives of those people who need it most across society, freeing up millions of pounds at a time when financial hardship is a real cause for concern, and I welcome the news that financial inclusion will receive additional funding to support this.”

Reclaim Fund Ltd is making the final preparations to launch the expanded Scheme. This will welcome the first participants from the insurance and pensions sector in the coming months, with other sectors joining later this year.

The Dormant Assets Scheme has supported many projects across the country already. These include:

• Following the pandemic, Chanctonbury Community Leisure in Storrington, West Sussex were provided with a £50,000 grant and £100,000 loan from CAF Venturesome which was partly used to install a new 3G pitch. This has become a major community asset with 20 local teams training each week on the facility, including a new girls’ football team and women’s football and rugby teams.
• Supported by Big Society Capital, The Greater Manchester Homes Partnership have enabled 355 of Greater Manchester’s homeless people to be housed.
• Youth Futures Foundation has supported 802 young people in the Greater Manchester region with employability skills, including through the Manchester Deaf Centre, which helps children and young people who are deaf, deaf/blind, or children of deaf adults and have experienced increased isolation due to Covid-19.
• Fair4All Finance has committed £25 million to the Affordable Credit Scale Up Programme, which is projected to help triple the availability of affordable credit to approximately £900 million by 2025.
• Big Society Capital committed £8.5 million to Black Country Reinvestment Society, which invests in local enterprises, such as Miss Macaroon, a social enterprise which reinvests 100% of its profits into helping unemployed young people gain employability skills.
• Access’s Growth Fund supported 41 projects across the Liverpool City Region with £3.7 million investment. This includes support for Homebaked, a co-operative bakery and community land trust based opposite Liverpool FC’s Anfield stadium, enabling them to meet growing demand through the development of a dedicated catering unit with specialised equipment and freeing up space in their own kitchens for classes for local children.

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 6 March 2023.

A joint statement following the Foreign Secretary’s call with Catherine Colonna, French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs.

Catherine Colonna, Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs, and James Cleverly, Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, spoke by telephone on 6 March 2023.

The exchange helped prepare for the 36th Franco-British Summit to be held on 10 March in Paris and will deepen the long-standing bilateral relationship between the two countries by deepening cooperation in a number of areas, including foreign affairs, security and defence, the economy, youth, energy and migration.

In this context, the ministers discussed the major international issues of the day, including joint support for Ukraine in the face of Russian aggression and the defence of the rules-based international order.

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 6 March 2023.

Statement by Alice Jacobs, UK Deputy Political Coordinator at the Security Council briefing on Syria.

I thank USG Nakamitsu for her excellent briefing, as ever.

As we discussed last month, the Douma report is further confirmation of Syria’s disdain for its basic obligations under international law.

We again commend the Investigation and Identification Teams’ integrity, impartiality and professionalism in reaching its conclusions through rigorous scientific methodology.

The Douma report has also further exposed Syria and Russia’s repeated attempts to discredit and undermine the OPCW to protect the Assad regime from accountability. Their reprehensible scapegoating of the White Helmets is aimed at deflecting attention. The White Helmets’ life-saving work has been demonstrated time and again, including during the recent earthquake response.

President, it is also worth noting that today marks five years since two Russian GRU agents carried out a chemical weapons attack in the UK killing a British citizen and injuring others. It is, therefore, perhaps not just the Assad regime that it is attempting to protect.

President, Douma represents the ninth attributed instance of chemical weapons use by the Assad regime. Given this consistent pattern of behaviour and without progress on any of Syria’s outstanding declaration issues, we cannot exclude the possibility that the Assad regime might use chemical weapons again.

As we have said many times, the outstanding issues on Syria’s declaration are neither academic nor historic. While Syria continues to fail to comply with its obligations under the CWC, its chemical weapons programme presents an ongoing threat to international peace and security. It is therefore incumbent on this Council to continue to discuss the matter and to continue to bring pressure on Syria to cooperate with the OPCW.

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 6 March 2023.

Statement by Ambassador James Kariuki at the UN Security Council briefing on South Sudan.

Thank you, President. Let me join others in congratulating Malta for their successful Presidency in February and wishing you the best for yours in March.

Thank you also to SRSG Haysom and to our briefers for their updates. I also welcome the presence of the Permanent Representative of South Sudan in our meeting today.

First, I would like to echo the messages delivered by the Pope, Archbishop of Canterbury, and Moderator of the Church of Scotland during their historic visit to South Sudan.

The UK endorses their calls on the Government of South Sudan to stop violence, end corruption, and deliver basic services for the South Sudanese people.

Recent legislative steps, such as progress on the Constitution-Making Process Bill and the Public Procurement and Disposal of Assets Authority, are welcome.

The key is now to implement such laws. We also call on the Government to take immediate steps to reconstitute the Political Parties Council and adopt The National Elections Act, among other urgent tasks. We echo SRSG Haysom’s message that 2023 needs to be the year that the South Sudanese Government delivers for its people.

Second, I would like to note our concerns about the escalation of subnational conflict across South Sudan.

The Church leaders were clear that failure to implement the peace agreement is driving subnational conflict and humanitarian suffering.

Violence has caused significant loss of life, displaced thousands of civilians, and led to large-scale abductions of women and children.

The United Kingdom commends UNMISS’s continued efforts to protect civilians under such challenging circumstances.

We are therefore deeply concerned by reports of intimidation of UN peacekeepers and UNMISS personnel by armed groups across the country.

We call upon the South Sudanese authorities to respect the SOFA and where necessary ensure thorough investigations take place to ensure accountability.

Third, we reiterate our call for the South Sudanese Government to remove all constraints on humanitarian access, and to act urgently to address ongoing theft of humanitarian resources. It is imperative that safe, unimpeded help can reach the most vulnerable, including those along the River Nile.

In closing, President, the United Kingdom remains committed to the South Sudanese people’s quest for peace, prosperity and democracy.  The leadership must now deliver real change to that end.

Thank you.

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 6 March 2023.

The UK’s Ambassador to the WTO and UN in Geneva, Simon Manley, delivered this statement on Afghanistan at the 52nd session of the UN Human Rights Council.

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 6 March 2023.

During the 52nd session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, the UK delivered a statement on Eritrea on 6 March 2023.

Thank You, Mr Vice-President, and thank you to the panellists for their presentations.

The UK continues to be deeply concerned about the dire state of human rights in Eritrea, which shows no signs of improving. We recall that Eritrea’s policy of indefinite national service violates the human rights of its people, affecting the lives of thousands and as the Deputy High Commissioner has said is the primary reason so many of Eritrea’s young people seek to leave the country. We also call yet again for all those in Eritrea who have been arbitrarily detained and held incommunicado, including thousands detained solely based on their religion or belief, to be released at once.

Mr Vice-President, we must also mention the conflict in Ethiopia, and the grave conclusions by the Joint Investigation of the Office of the High Commissioner and the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission, that Eritrean troops had likely committed human rights abuses and violations, as well as violations of international humanitarian law and international refugee law while in Ethiopia, including against Eritrean refugees living in camps just across the border.
We call on the Eritrean Government to cooperate with any inquiry into these serious allegations, including any accountability or transitional justice processes arising from the Pretoria Peace Agreement.

Mr Vice President, we would like to ask the Panel what, if any, further steps this Council could be taking to encourage Eritrea to abide by its human rights obligations, including to cooperate fully with this Council, and with the mandate of the Special Rapporteur for Eritrea.

Thank you.

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 4 March 2023.

A joint statement with France, Germany, Italy, Poland and Spain on Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPTs).

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 4 March 2023.

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 3 March 2023.

During the 52nd UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, the UK co-sponsored a Joint Statement relating to human rights in Nicaragua. This was delivered 3 March 2023.

Mr. President,

On behalf of 53 countries, Canada thanks the High Commissioner for his update, which sheds light on concerning developments in Nicaragua and evidences the importance of renewing the OHCHR’s monitoring mandate.

Whilst we welcome the recent release of 222 political prisoners, and thank the facilitating States, we condemn the Government of Nicaragua’s decision to strip these individuals and 94 other Nicaraguans of their citizenship and political rights. Nationality is a right, which cannot be revoked without due process.

We are troubled by the testimonies of mistreatment of released political prisoners. We urge the authorities to cease arbitrary detention and release all remaining political prisoners, including leaders of the Catholic Church.

We are further alarmed by the deteriorating human rights situation of Indigenous Peoples and Afro-descendants in Nicaragua, who face increasing repression, persecution and discrimination.

We reiterate our concern over Nicaragua’s refusal to cooperate with international human rights mechanisms. We call on the authorities to grant them access in order to address and investigate allegations of human rights violations and torture, and to renew cooperation with the OHCHR.

The trend to bar and expel foreign representatives from the country only isolates Nicaragua. We call on Nicaragua to open a dialogue in good faith with the international community.

Mr. High Commissioner, what more can this Council do to bring accountability for egregious human rights violations in Nicaragua?

The press release issued by the Department for Work and Pensions on 3 March 2023.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) today confirmed it will support proposals to expand Automatic Enrolment, enabling millions of people to save more and to start saving earlier.

Jonathan Gullis MP’s Private Members Bill, backed today by the government, grants two extensions to Automatic Enrolment – abolishing the Lower Earnings Limit for contributions and reducing the age for being automatically enrolled to 18 years old.

Minister for Pensions, Laura Trott, said:

We know that these widely supported measures will make a meaningful difference to people’s pension saving over the years ahead.

Doing this will see the government deliver on our commitment to help grow the economy and support the hard-working people of this country, particularly groups such as women, young people and lower earners who have historically found it harder to save for retirement.

Jonathan Gullis MP, said:

Auto-enrolment of pensions will benefit scores of young people in all four corners of the country, which is why I am delighted that Minister for Pensions Laura Trott is supportive of the bill.

With all the evidence of the huge positive impact it can have, it is a no-brainer that we now need to extend auto-enrolment to those aged 18 and above. I am confident this Bill will make a huge difference to people from Kidsgrove to Consett.

Lowering the age at which eligible workers must be automatically enrolled into a pension scheme by their employers from 22 to 18 will make saving the norm for young adults and enable them to begin to save from the start of their working lives.

In addition, the bill provides for the removal of the Lower Earnings Limit, supporting those with low earnings and multiple jobs by ensuring they are saving from the first pound earned.

Following the success of the Automatic Enrolment, the government intends to continue its work with thousands of employers and pension providers to further boost the amount of people in a workplace pension and the amount they save for retirement.

It will also continue its work on empowering savers to know their pension options by introducing revolutionary products such as Pensions Dashboards and Mid-life MOTs, providing accessibility and innovation in how people save for their retirement.