Tag: News Story

STORY

The Government has published the latest update from the Keep Britain Working programme, saying nearly 200 workplaces have signed up as Vanguards to help prevent people leaving work because of ill health. The Department for Work and Pensions said employers, mayoral authorities and devolved administrations had worked with Sir Charlie Mayfield on the review.

The report said shared responsibility between employers, Government and individuals would be needed to improve support for people with disabilities and health conditions. It also identified better data, earlier intervention and more personalised plans as central to helping people stay in or return to employment.

Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden said employers had shown strong interest in improving support. Ministers said the programme was intended to reduce economic inactivity linked to ill health while improving outcomes for workers and businesses.

STORY

The Government has announced a £4.6 billion international contract for the next stage of the Global Combat Air Programme, the joint UK, Italy and Japan project to develop a sixth generation fighter jet. Ministers said the contract, awarded to industry joint venture Edgewing, would advance the aircraft’s design and support skilled manufacturing jobs in Britain.

The Ministry of Defence said the aircraft was targeted to enter service from 2035 and would work alongside Typhoons, F-35s and autonomous systems as part of the future Royal Air Force. The programme is expected to use digital engineering, artificial intelligence and advanced manufacturing techniques.

Defence Minister Luke Pollard said the agreement was a major step towards delivery of the future aircraft. The announcement follows the Defence Investment Plan, which confirmed that the UK would invest £8.6 billion in the programme over four years.

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The UK and France have issued a joint statement with Oman on efforts to restore safe passage for ships through the Strait of Hormuz, describing the waterway as a vital artery for the global economy. Downing Street said Prime Minister Keir Starmer and President Emmanuel Macron were working with the Sultanate of Oman to support freedom of navigation in the region.

The statement said Oman had agreed to work with the United Kingdom and France to ensure that its sovereign territorial waters were safe for navigation. The UK and France also said they stood ready to deploy the wider Multinational Military Mission to support safe transit through the Strait.

The Government said the UK and France remained committed to regional stability, respect for state sovereignty and international law. The statement follows earlier talks between Starmer and Sultan Haitham Bin Tarik Al Said of Oman in Downing Street on efforts to reassure shipping using the route.

STORY

Keir Starmer has said Labour should be able to win the next general election under Andy Burnham, saying his successor would inherit a platform built during his time in Government. In his first major interview since announcing that he would stand down, the Prime Minister said he bore no personal animosity towards Burnham and wanted the next administration to succeed.

Starmer pointed to Labour’s 2024 general election victory, work on child poverty, improvements in NHS waiting lists and efforts to stabilise the economy as areas on which the next leader could build. He also defended his wider record as Labour leader, including the party’s recovery after its 2019 defeat and action on antisemitism.

The Prime Minister said he intended to remain an MP until the next election and rejected speculation that he was preparing to become NATO secretary general. He also warned that any future Prime Minister would still have to spend significant time on diplomacy because domestic and international issues could not be separated in modern Government.

STORY

The Government has appointed Professor Sir Anthony Finkelstein CBE to lead an independent review into the use of non-corporate communications channels in Government. The review will examine how officials, advisers and Ministers use personal messaging apps, personal emails and similar channels for Government business.

The Cabinet Office said the Government was committed to maintaining high standards of information security, transparency, propriety and record keeping. It said these standards were needed to ensure public trust in how decisions are made.

The review was announced by Darren Jones, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. Sir Anthony will consider the human, organisational, legal and technical factors involved in the use of non-corporate communications channels across Government.

The Cabinet Office said there was a need for greater clarity over the use of non-corporate communications channels, including personal messaging apps and emails, for Government business. It said the aim was to ensure communications remained secure and that decisions were recorded appropriately.

The review will define non-corporate communications channels in the context of Government business. It will also cover the use of disappearing messages and similar auto-deletion features. The Cabinet Office said the review would identify security risks linked to the use of these channels. It will also make practical and actionable recommendations intended to improve Government record keeping.

STORY

The Food Standards Agency has published the results of its sixth annual retail surveillance survey, which found most food tested was safe and authentic but identified problems with Dubai-style chocolate, goat meat and some slush-ice drinks. The targeted programme sampled 845 products from national supermarkets, independent retailers and online sellers between July and December 2025.

The agency said products were checked to ensure they were safe, accurately labelled and contained what they claimed to contain. Unsatisfactory results from the survey were shared with local authorities so that they could consider whether further action was required.

The survey found significant issues with Dubai-style chocolate, with only one of 45 samples passing every test and labelling requirement. The Food Standards Agency said the results led it to issue consumer warnings before Christmas 2025.

Labelling problems were found in 42 of the 45 Dubai-style chocolate samples. These included incorrect or missing use-by and best-before dates, allergens not being clearly highlighted, ingredients not being listed in the correct order and missing UK importer details.

The agency said it advised businesses to be vigilant and warned people with allergies not to eat Dubai-style chocolate. Rebecca Sudworth, the Food Standards Agency’s director of policy, said consumer safety was the agency’s biggest priority and that immediate action had been taken when the problems were identified.

The survey also found authenticity problems in goat meat products. Of 40 goat meat samples tested, 20 contained only sheep, while one contained a mixture of sheep and goat meat and another was found to be wholly deer.

STORY

A Hampshire-based goods vehicle operator has had its licence revoked after repeatedly failing to engage with the Traffic Commissioner and the Office of the Traffic Commissioner. Hampshire Group Southern Ltd, which held a restricted operator’s licence authorising two vehicles, will lose its licence from 11.45pm on 2 August 2026.

Traffic Commissioner Miles Dorrington made the decision following a public inquiry in Bristol on 3 June 2026. He also proposed disqualifying the company and its sole director, Vicky Steere, from holding or obtaining any operator’s licence for two years, unless a hearing is requested by 13 July 2026.

The company, which was previously known as JCT Group Holdings Ltd, had been granted its licence in July 2025. The licence was subject to an undertaking that a director would complete an approved operator licence management course and provide evidence of attendance, but the Commissioner found that the undertaking had been breached and that no satisfactory explanation had been provided.

The inquiry heard that the operator had failed to respond properly to regulatory correspondence. The Office of the Traffic Commissioner had sent reminders, warning letters and a formal request for explanation, but key questions remained unanswered.

Further concerns were raised after the company failed to comply with case management directions ahead of the public inquiry. Required maintenance and drivers’ hours records were not submitted in advance, and much of the requested evidence was still missing on the day of the hearing.

Dorrington said the case was unusual because it centred on the operator’s failure to co-operate with the Office of the Traffic Commissioner and the Traffic Commissioner, rather than on evidence from a Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency investigation. He said he had “absolutely no confidence or trust” that the operator would comply with the licensing regime in future.

STORY

Kismet Kebabs Limited has been fined £500,000 after a major Trading Standards investigation exposed fraudulent food mislabelling involving kebab products sold to food outlets across the UK. The Chelmsford-based company was sentenced at Swansea Crown Court after pleading guilty to one offence of fraud by false representation.

The case is a deeply damaging example of food fraud, with customers, retailers and consumers misled over what was actually being supplied. Swansea Council said products marketed and sold as lamb were found in many cases to contain little or no lamb, with lower-grade ingredients including skin, fat and other meats used instead.

Kismet Kebabs was also ordered to pay £259,298.67 in costs, taking the financial penalty to more than £759,000. The fine reflected the seriousness of the offending, which involved products being misdescribed and incorrectly labelled in relation to their meat content and composition.

The investigation was launched by Swansea Council’s Trading Standards team in 2020/21 after samples taken during a regional exercise raised concerns that products labelled as lamb kebabs did not match their declared contents. Further enquiries and formal analysis found significant discrepancies between the labels and the actual composition of the products.

Evidence gathered by the council included product samples, production records, recipes, invoices and material recovered during a multi-agency visit to the company’s premises. The court was told that the company had been manufacturing and supplying kebab products to food outlets across the UK with labels that falsely described the meat content.

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A Derby builder who took more than £200,000 from homeowners while knowing his company was insolvent has been jailed for fraudulent trading. Michael Haslam, of Oaklands Avenue, Littleover, was sentenced to two years and four months in prison at Derby Crown Court on Wednesday 1 July after pleading guilty in May.

The Insolvency Service said Haslam ran M&J Builders Limited while it was insolvent, taking money upfront from seven customers between 2020 and 2022. Victims were left with unfinished and dangerous building work, including unsafe structures, homes without running water and projects which required thousands of pounds in additional repair work.

One victim from Darley Abbey paid more than £150,000 for work on a property she had intended to renovate for her retirement, but received about £40,000 worth of work. Another victim in Allestree paid for an extension and garage refurbishment before being left without running water for seven months, while a further household was told by council inspectors that botched work might need to be demolished entirely.

Investigators found that money from the company’s accounts was used for cash withdrawals, Amazon and eBay purchases and payments to Haslam’s family. The Insolvency Service said almost £400,000 was paid from the M&J Builders Limited business account under the reference ‘MG Haslam Expenses’, while a personal account used by some customers showed £164,229 in cash withdrawals and £77,376 paid to the couple’s daughter.

Haslam was also disqualified from acting as a company director for 15 years. Mark Stephens, chief investigator at the Insolvency Service, said the case showed the human cost of fraudulent trading and said the agency would continue to pursue fraudsters who exploited innocent people.

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Changes to councils’ financial reporting are being proposed by CIPFA in an effort to improve transparency and reduce the risk of future financial failures on the scale of Woking Borough Council.

The MJ reported that the proposed changes to the prudential code are intended to strengthen reporting around council borrowing and investment decisions. Woking’s financial collapse has remained a significant reference point in debate about local authority risk management.

The proposals come as councils continue to face pressure over debt, commercial investments and long-term financial sustainability. Any changes would be closely watched by section 151 officers, auditors and councillors responsible for financial oversight.