Tag: Press Release

PRESS RELEASE : Second major investment boosts fees for legal aid lawyers [November 2022]
The press release issued by the Ministry of Justice on 30 November 2022.

Criminal legal aid lawyers will receive the biggest boost to their pay in decades thanks to wide-ranging reforms announced by the government today.
solicitors see a further £21 million investment in fees and long-term reforms

an extra £138 million to be spent on legal aid every year to ensure long-term sustainability

overhaul of how legal aid funding is paid to reflect time spent on complex cases

The reforms are part of the second phase of the response to the independent review into criminal legal aid.

With an extra £85 million for solicitors on top of the £43 million investment for barristers in legal aid payments, there will also be an additional £11 million for expert fees to eventually be paid each year and ensure long-term sustainability for the sector.

Changes includes £16 million to raise the lowest fees payable to solicitors representing clients in police stations – the first step towards simplifying and improving fee schemes over the next three years.

Currently, fixed fees do not differ between case complexity, so a lawyer spending 20 minutes on a shoplifting case and four hours on a murder trial would likely receive the same fixed fee for both jobs.

The restructure will standardise payments to distinguish between these cases, paying a different lower or higher standard fee to reflect the hours of work done. By increasing the lowest fees in the system, the government will boost solicitor pay packets and overall funding for police station work will rise by 30 per cent.

In 2024, the government will also bring forward proposals for reform on a new Litigators’ Graduated Fee Scheme (LGFS) – how legal aid funding is paid to law firms – to ensure solicitors are properly paid for work carried out in a range of more complex cases in the crown court.

Proposals will include a new way to calculate payments reflecting the type of offence, trial outcome and length, and the amount of evidence in each case – rather than the current system which is mainly based on the number of papers served to the prosecution, regardless of if these are ever read and how much time was involved in preparing them.

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

We are reforming criminal legal aid so our lawyers are fairly paid for the vital work they do delivering high-quality legal support for those who need it.

We have taken on board the recommendations of the independent review and are modernising the system to deliver justice for victims now and in the future.

Additionally, £5 million per year will be invested in the youth court to ensure solicitors representing children involved in the most serious cases receive higher fees to better reflect the complexity of this work. This will secure quality representation for young people and will benefit solicitors as well as junior barristers.

With this additional £21 million of investment a year, solicitor firms will see a total fee increase of around 11 percent for all criminal legal work.

This is part of £138 million to be invested into the legal aid sector per year alongside our full response to the Criminal Legal Aid Review. It will ensure high-quality legal support is available for those who need it, and that lawyers are better and more fairly paid in line with the work they carry out.

The latest measures also come following the package confirmed by the Ministry of Justice last month that saw criminal barristers vote to return to work.

This included a 15 percent fee rise for barristers working on existing as well as new criminal cases. Over the next 2 years, there will also be £3 million for case preparation, like written work and special preparation, and a further £4 million for lawyers involved in pre-recorded cross-examinations, used to reduce the trauma of a trial for vulnerable victims and witnesses.
November 30, 2022
PRESS RELEASE : Scottish Secretary responds to Scotland’s GDP for third quarter of 2022 [November 2022]

The press release issued by the Scottish Office on 30 November 2022.

The latest Scottish GDP figures for the third quarter of 2022 (July-September) are published here today and show a 0.2 per cent decline on the previous quarter’s figures. The same was noted earlier this month for UK-wide GDP.

Commenting on the figures, Scottish Secretary Alister Jack said:

The UK Government is doing everything in its power to restore economic stability, reduce inflation and achieve sustainable long-term growth – as we deal with global challenges.

We are giving extra support to those who need it most through help with energy bills, increasing benefits and pensions in line with inflation and raising the National Living Wage. All of this is on top of an additional £1.5 billion for the Scottish Government to help support public services in Scotland.

November 30, 2022
PRESS RELEASE : Ukrainian families join Downing Street Christmas switch-on [November 2022]

The press release issued by 10 Downing Street on 30 November 2022.

Ukrainian families joined the Prime Minister at 10 Downing Street as he turned on the street’s Christmas tree lights on Monday.

The Prime Minister welcomed Ukrainians to the event, including families from conflict zones in the east and south of Ukraine, who are now being hosted across Greater London through the Homes for Ukraine and Ukraine family schemes.

He was also joined by Points of Light award winners who have been commended for their charitable work, Catterick Garrison soldiers from the Prime Minister’s constituency in Richmond, Yorkshire and the winners of this year’s the Champion Christmas Tree Grower of the Year Awards who provided Downing Street’s Christmas Tree.

During the event attendees enjoyed a rendition of Silent Night outside Number 10 sung by the Millbank Academy Year 3 student choir and music from the Ensemble of the Central Band of the Royal Air Force.

Guests were then invited to a reception inside Number 10 to enjoy a hot chocolate, together with mince pies and gingerbread.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said:

At its heart, the Christmas story is one of compassion and hospitality. I’m delighted to welcome our friends from Ukraine, who have chosen to make the UK their home during Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine, to join in our Christmas tradition of lighting the Downing Street tree this year.

Sentiments of hope are never stronger than during the festive season and no one has displayed this more this year than the people of Ukraine in their fight for freedom. We continue to stand wholeheartedly behind Ukraine in this fight.

While Christmas is a time of celebration, I know it can be a difficult time, especially if you are away from your loved ones. Wherever you are this Christmas, I wish you joy and peace, and a very happy New Year.

The UK has been a leader in humanitarian support for Ukraine, including by supplying generators, fuel trucks and ambulances. We recently announced a further £10 million for NATO’s Comprehensive Assistance Package to provide winter clothes and shelters for the Ukrainian Armed Forces to keep them warm this Christmas.

Kateryna Balabanova, PhD, a Ukrainian displaced person living in the UK, said:

My family and I are deeply grateful to the British people on behalf of all the Ukrainians. The help provided by the UK Government and the nation as a whole is an unprecedented sign of brotherhood. Now my children can plan to develop a bright future, and we all can be safe before we are able to go home. This Christmas, we hope Ukraine wins this war soon, liberating itself from the invaders, and that Russia’s barbarity will become history.

The 19ft tree was provided by Bishops Offley Christmas Trees from Staffordshire, who are the winners of the British Christmas Tree Growers Association’s (BCTGA) annual Champion Christmas Tree Grower of the Year Awards. For over 20 years, BCTGA has provided the tree to stand outside Downing Street.

November 30, 2022
PRESS RELEASE : Statement on inaccurate claims about Country of birth statistics and the Census [November 2022]

The press release issued by the National Census on 30 November 2022.

Inaccurate claims about the future of nationality and country of birth statistics

Following yesterday’s release of Census 2021 ethnic group, national identity, religion and language bulletin, there have been misleading claims regarding the ONS’ plans on the future publication of nationality and country of birth statistics. It has been suggested that in future the ONS will not ask people their country of birth or publish data on the subject.

This is simply not true. No decision has been taken on the future of the census. The National Statistician will be making a recommendation to government at the end of 2023 on what is needed for us to continue to realise our ambitions for more frequent, timely and inclusive population and social statistics.

On our regular, annual, population statistics by country of birth and nationality we have recently released a statement which makes clear why we have taken the decision to change our way of producing our Population of the UK by country of birth and nationality series, which is based on our Annual Population Survey (APS), not Census 2021.

Essentially, this is because of an underlying issue with the data used to produce it. On Thursday 24 November we published a more timely measure of the non-UK population, for England and Wales, which rolls forward Census Day 2021 data for that population with net migration and deaths. At this moment in time this is the best measure we can produce because of the data issues explained in the statement. Going forward, we plan to produce provisional measures of the non-UK born population, depending on user needs and working closely with colleagues in National Records of Scotland, Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency and other government departments, next year. We will provide an update on this in early 2023.

Misleading statistics

There have also been misleading statistical claims that the latest census data show that white people are now a minority in London and Manchester.

This is confusing responses from people who have identified with the ‘white British’ ethnic group with responses which identify with ‘white’ ethnic group.

In London, 53.8% of usual residents identify their ethnic group within the high-level white category. In Manchester, 56.8% of usual residents identify their ethnic group within the high-level white category.

November 30, 2022
PRESS RELEASE : UK sanctions Russian officials behind conscription, mobilisation and criminal mercenaries [November 2022]
The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 30 November 2022.

The Foreign Secretary has announced a new package of 22 sanctions targeting officials who have promoted and enforced mobilisation in Russia.
- Deputy Prime Minister of Russian Federation and officials behind the forced mobilisation of citizens in Russia sanctioned
- Arkady Gostev, Director of the Federal Penitentiary Service of the Russian Federation, also sanctioned for supporting the recruitment of prisoners into Wagner Group
- The UK has now sanctioned over 1,200 individuals and over 120 entities in response to Putin’s war in Ukraine
The Foreign Secretary has today (Wednesday 30 November) announced a new package of 22 sanctions targeting the officials who have promoted and enforced the conscription of citizens to fight in Russia’s illegal war in Ukraine.

This includes the Deputy Prime Minister Denis Valentinovich Manturov, who is responsible for overseeing the Russian weapons industry and responsible for equipping mobilised troops.

10 governors and regional heads have also been sanctioned. This includes the heads of Dagestan, Ingushetia and Kalmykia – some of Russia’s poorest ethnic republics, from which a significant number of conscripts have been drawn. In July, the UK sanctioned 29 regional governors for their role in providing financial support to Russian proxy administrations in Ukraine.

Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said:

The Russian regime’s decision to partially mobilise Russian citizens was a desperate attempt to overwhelm the valiant Ukrainians defending their territory. It has failed.

Today we have sanctioned individuals who have enforced this conscription, sending thousands of Russian citizens to fight in Putin’s illegal and abhorrent war.

The UK will continue to use both sanctions and military aid to support Ukraine in the defence of their independence.

Arkady Gostev, Director of the Federal Penitentiary Service of the Russian Federation and Dmitry Bezrukikh, the head of the Federal Punishment Service of the Rostov region, have also been sanctioned.

Bezrukikh and Gostev have reportedly worked closely with oligarch Yevgeny Prigozhin, ally of Putin and head of the Wagner Group, to fill the ranks of the mercenary gang that is supporting Russia’s army in Ukraine.

They have drafted criminals, including murderers and sex offenders, in exchange for pardons from President Putin – resulting in Bezrukikh’s region being dubbed ‘The Wagner Group recruitment hub’.

Also sanctioned today are Ella Pamfilova, chairperson of the Central Election Commission and Andrey Burov, head of the regional election commission in Rostov, who were both responsible for organising the sham referendums in the four temporarily occupied areas of Ukraine. Pamfilova has since actively supported Russia’s forced mobilisation.

The UK has continued to support Ukraine through delivering vital military equipment, as well as implementing targeted sanctions to undermine the Russian war machine.

The UK has committed over £2.3 billion in military aid to Ukraine, including most recently a package including 25 anti-aircraft guns and technology to counter deadly Iranian-supplied drones.

UK sanctions are also having a significant impact on Russia’s ability to maintain their war machine. Technology imports have forced them to mobilise Soviet-era tanks and use semiconductors from kitchen appliances to restock equipment. Recent Defence Intelligence has shown that Russia is likely removing nuclear warheads from ageing cruise missiles, and using them in Ukraine, as a desperate attempt to maintain their assault.
November 30, 2022
PRESS RELEASE : Increased prison sentence for man convicted of rape and controlling or coercive behaviour [November 2022]

The press release issued by the Attorney General on 30 November 2022.

A man who raped a victim will spend longer in prison after his sentence was referred to the Court of Appeal under the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme.

The offender, who cannot be named for legal reasons, raped the victim after his behaviour towards her had become controlling and coercive for a number of years. The controlling and coercive behaviour both included physical violence and taking away her bank cards. Following the rape, the victim called the police and the offender was subsequently arrested.

On 25 August 2022 at Snaresbrook Crown Court the offender was sentenced to 4 years and 6 months’ imprisonment for one count of rape and one count of controlling or coercive behaviour.

His sentence was then referred to the Court of Appeal for being too low.

On 30 November 2022 the Court ruled that the original sentence was unduly lenient, and handed down a new sentence of 8 years imprisonment.

Speaking after the hearing, the Solicitor General Michael Tomlinson MP said:

“The offender displayed utterly shameful behaviour before committing a dreadful act of rape. While no sentence can repair the harm brought about his actions, I am satisfied with the Court’s decision to hand down a sentence which is a better reflection of the severity of his crimes.”

November 30, 2022
PRESS RELEASE : Government response to the Regulatory Horizons Council report on the regulation of Neurotechnology [November 2022]

The press release issued by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy on 30 November 2022.

The Business Secretary has responded to recommendations made by the Regulatory Horizons Council on the regulation of neurotechnology.

Letter (in .pdf format)

November 30, 2022
PRESS RELEASE : Defence accelerates digital skills development with Amazon [November 2022]
The press release issued by the Ministry of Defence on 30 November 2022.

Amazon and the Ministry of Defence are teaming up to scale up and accelerate work on advancing digital skills development across UK defence.

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the MOD and Amazon Web Services (AWS) will see AWS supporting MOD’s Digital Skills for Defence Programme for the next three years.

It will deliver cloud-based skills development and training to thousands of personnel across UK defence, equipping the next generation of future leaders in the British Armed Forces and wider supply chain with the data and digital skills to defend the UK from emerging threats.

The MoU sets out a number of initiatives designed to directly push the MOD’s Digital Skills for Defence programme forward at scale and pace. Key aspects of the collaboration will see the provision of:
- Training resources across the defence enterprise and in particular supporting the Digital Foundry, the visionary hub formed within Defence Digital that harnesses emerging technology to tackle some of the country’s most pressing defence challenges.
- A tailored programme of attachments for senior leaders responsible for driving the UK MOD’s digital transformation.
The agreement – the first of its kind globally – was announced at the AWS re:Invent 2022 conference, with the work taking place as part of a wider UK government programme with AWS to boost digital skills.

Laurence Lee, Second Permanent Secretary at the MOD, said:

It is crucial we keep Defence personnel at the forefront of digital skills as we’re faced with emerging threats in an ever-changing battlespace. The speed of digital change cannot be underestimated, and the Digital Skills for Defence programme will help us match global competitors.

This agreement with AWS exemplifies our focus on harnessing cutting-edge ways of working within Defence, drawing on the expertise of the public and private sectors, and we’re excited at the new opportunities for skills development this presents.

Charles Forte, Chief Information Officer at the MOD, said:

Today marks a key milestone in our delivery of our Digital Skills for Defence programme and the development of digital skills across UK Defence. Amazon’s agreement to build upon and scale up our work within the Digital Skills for Defence programme is a crucial priority that will help us realise digital transformation across Defence.

It serves as an important symbol of how we must deepen our work with the tech sector to realise our objectives. We are grateful for this commitment and look forward to developing this partnership with AWS and other companies and organisations across the sector.

The MoU will enable deeper collaboration between AWS and Defence Digital on skills development, outlining plans for equipping defence leaders and military and civilian personnel with game-changing technical skills to sustain military and business advantage.

Chris Hayman, Director Public Sector UK & Ireland at AWS, said:

We are proud to be the first company to sign an MoU of this nature with the UK Ministry of Defence. We are fully committed to supporting the Government’s skills agenda across the whole of the public sector, and this agreement reflects our determination to support the defence community in their development of a world-leading skills environment.

To better help defence organisations with their digital transformations, a clear understanding across Government and amongst senior military leaders about the benefits of emerging technology, such as cloud, to deliver critical missions is needed.

We are excited to be working with MOD to help upskill senior officials and military leaders in their understanding of cloud and associated technologies, such as quantum technology and artificial intelligence.

Digital Skills for Defence aims to deliver a critical digital skills capability uplift, for Defence Leaders, Digital Professionals and the whole Military and Civilian workforce. This is fundamental in building and retaining operational and business advantage, keeping up with and ahead of the competition. This ambition goes beyond education but looks to transform our learning culture and the way we work collaboratively across Defence.
November 30, 2022
PRESS RELEASE : Plans to support students in 2023 exams confirmed [November 2022]
The press release issued by the Department for Education on 30 November 2022.

Decisions for GCSE maths, physics, combined science and modern foreign languages published following consultations.

Proposals to support students taking exams in some GCSE subjects in summer 2023 have been given the go-ahead after 2 Ofqual public consultations.

Permanent changes to assessment requirements in modern foreign language (MFL) GCSEs will also be introduced.

The outcome of a consultation on proposed changes to the assessment of mathematics, physics and combined science and a consultation outcome on proposed changes to the assessment of MFL from 2023 published today show:
- more than 90 per cent of respondents – including students and teachers – supported proposals to continue to require exam boards to provide formulae and revised equations sheets for GCSE mathematics, physics and combined science exams in 2023
- more than 95 per cent strongly agreed or agreed with proposals in GCSE modern foreign language (MFL) to remove permanently the requirement for exam boards to include unfamiliar vocabulary that is not on vocabulary lists. This will take effect for assessments from 2023 onwards
The Department for Education (DfE) confirmed its expectations for subject content in September. Ofqual then published its consultations on the arrangements for each, while the DfE hosted a separate consultation on minor amendments to the MFL subject content.

Ofqual Chief Regulator Dr Jo Saxton said: “In 2023, students will again have the opportunity to show what they know and can do in exams. We have listened to feedback and today’s decisions, together with some protection on grading, offer the degree of support students need as we move towards normality, while guarding against over-testing.”

Ofqual also today publishes the outcome of its joint consultation with the DfE on proposals to build resilience in the exam system for GCSE, AS, A level, Project and AEA qualifications. Ofqual and the DfE have decided to introduce guidance to support schools and colleges to gather evidence of student performance that could be used to determine grades, in the unlikely event that exams are not able to go ahead as planned.
November 30, 2022
PRESS RELEASE : Cyber laws updated to boost UK’s resilience against online attacks [November 2022]
The press release issued by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport on 30 November 2022.

Outsourced IT providers will be brought into scope of cyber regulations to strengthen UK supply chains.
- Changes will boost security standards and increase reporting of serious cyber incidents to reduce risk of attacks causing disruption
- Laws can be updated in the future to cover new organisations or sectors if they become vital for essential services
Essential everyday services, such as water, energy and transport, will be better protected from online attacks following changes to laws which set the UK’s cyber security standards.

In response to a public consultation earlier this year, the government today confirms the Network and Information Systems (NIS) Regulations will be strengthened to protect essential and digital services against increasingly sophisticated and frequent cyber attacks both now and in the future.

The UK NIS Regulations came into force in 2018 to improve the cyber security of companies providing critical services. Organisations which fail to put in place effective cyber security measures can be fined as much as £17 million for non-compliance.

But high profile attacks such as Operation CloudHopper, which targeted managed service providers and compromised thousands of organisations at the same time, show the UK’s cyber laws need to be strengthened to continue to protect vital services and the supply chains they rely on.

MSPs provide IT services such as security monitoring and digital billing and can have privileged access to their customer’s IT networks. This makes them an attractive target for cyber criminals who can exploit MSP software vulnerabilities to compromise a wide range of clients.

The UK is able to change the NIS regulations, which were originally derived from the EU’s NIS directive, because the UK has left the EU and can update these laws to better fit the country’s cyber security needs.

Under the new changes MSPs, which are key to the functioning of essential services that keep the UK economy running, will be brought into scope of the regulations to keep digital supply chains secure.

Cyber minister Julia Lopez said:

The services we rely on for healthcare, water, energy and computing must not be brought to a standstill by criminals and hostile states.

We are strengthening the UK’s cyber laws against digital threats. This will better protect our essential and digital services and the outsourced IT providers which keep them running.

The updates to the NIS regulations will be made as soon as parliamentary time allows and will apply to critical service providers, like energy companies and the NHS, as well as important digital services like providers of cloud computing and online search engines.

Other changes include requiring essential and digital services to improve cyber incident reporting to regulators such as Ofcom, Ofgem and the ICO. This includes notifying regulators of a wider range of incidents that disrupt service or which could have a high risk or impact to their service, even if they don’t immediately cause disruption.

The new measures will give the government the power to amend the NIS regulations in future to ensure it remains effective. This change will allow more organisations to be brought into scope if they become vital for essential services and add new sectors which may become critical to the UK’s economy.

The updated rules will allow regulators to establish a cost recovery system for enforcing the NIS regulations that is more transparent and takes into account the wider regulatory burdens, company size, and other factors to reduce taxpayer burden.

The Information Commissioner will be able to take a more risk-based approach to regulating digital services under the updated cyber laws and will be allowed to take into account how critical providers are to supporting the resilience of the UK’s essential services.

These changes to legislation are part of the government’s £2.6 billion National Cyber Strategy which is taking a stronger approach to getting at-risk businesses to improve their cyber resilience and making the UK digital economy more secure and prosperous.

Paul Maddinson, NCSC Director of National Resilience and Strategy, said:

I welcome the opportunity to strengthen NIS regulations and the impact they will have on boosting the UK’s overall cyber security.

These measures will increase the resilience of the country’s essential services – and their managed service providers – on which we all rely.

Carla Baker, Senior Director of Public Policy UK and Ireland, Palo Alto Networks, said:

Palo Alto Networks supports the development of an agile policy framework to reduce cybersecurity risks to our economy and society.

We welcome the opportunity to engage with the UK Government as it reviews the legislation and develops guidance for industry to enhance cyber resilience and combat the risk that malicious actors pose to the UK’s national security.
November 30, 2022