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Tag: Press Release

  • PRESS RELEASE : Economic Secretary re-establishes the Asset Management Taskforce [April 2023]

    PRESS RELEASE : Economic Secretary re-establishes the Asset Management Taskforce [April 2023]

    The press release issued by HM Treasury on 25 April 2023.

    City minister re-establishes influential forum convening senior leadership from industry and the FCA to identify and harness the potential of innovative new technologies for the UK asset management industry.

    The Economic Secretary’s Asset Management Taskforce has been joined by five new senior executives from the UK’s world-class investment industry, it was announced today (25 April 2023).

    Hans Georgeson (CEO, Royal London Asset Management), Mark Murray (Senior Partner, Artemis), Joseph Pinto (CEO, M&G Asset Management), Nick Ring (CEO EMEA, Columbia Threadneedle) and Andrew Telfer (CEO, Baillie Gifford) have joined the Taskforce in the wake of the Chancellor’s Edinburgh Reforms, which aim to drive growth and competitiveness in the financial services sector.

    The Economic Secretary has also launched a new Technology Working Group, which will run in parallel to the Taskforce to examine the impact of new technology on the asset management sector. The group – chaired by Michelle Scrimgeour (CEO, Legal and General Investment Management) – will work to articulate the benefits of technology for investors and industry, and will identify the main opportunities presented by technologies including tokenisation, artificial intelligence and distributed ledger technology.

    The group’s membership will be drawn from Taskforce members, government and regulators, and wider non-asset management stakeholders. It will hold a series of meetings over the next year and subsequently produce a final report to the Taskforce.

    The report will explain the group’s findings and contain guidance and recommendations for government, regulators and industry. Previous reports produced by the Taskforce – on the UK funds regime and on stewardship – have been very successful in progressing their respective agendas.

    Andrew Griffith, Economic Secretary to the Treasury said:

    “Investment management is of central importance to the UK economy and I am determined to help it continue to flourish.

    “The UK is well-placed to take advantage of the opportunities presented by new technology in financial services, and I look forward to the Technology Working Group’s findings with great interest.”

    Asset Management Taskforce members

    Stephen Cohen, Head of EMEA, BlackRock

    Chris Cummings, CEO, Investment Association

    Helen Dean, CEO, NEST

    Hans Georgeson, CEO, Royal London Asset Management

    Sean Hagerty, Managing Director of Europe, Vanguard

    Peter Harrison, CEO, Schroders

    Catherine Howarth, CEO, ShareAction

    Mark Murray, Senior Partner, Artemis

    Joseph Pinto, CEO, M&G Asset Management

    Anne Richards, CEO, Fidelity International

    Nick Ring, CEO EMEA, Columbia Threadneedle

    Michelle Scrimgeour, CEO, Legal & General Investment Management

    Andrew Telfer, CEO, Baillie Gifford

    Patrick Thomson, CEO EMEA, JP Morgan Asset Management

    Sarah Pritchard, Executive Director – Markets, Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)

  • PRESS RELEASE : UK’s tech sector promoted to American entrepreneurs and investors [April 2023]

    PRESS RELEASE : UK’s tech sector promoted to American entrepreneurs and investors [April 2023]

    The press release issued by the Cabinet Office on 25 April 2023.

    A campaign designed to promote the UK’s thriving tech sector to American entrepreneurs and investors has been launched in Silicon Valley.

    • New campaign launched in US – with billboards across Silicon Valley – to encourage tech experts to invest in the UK and help deliver on priority to grow the economy
    • Campaign promotes that UK is now the third country in the world to have a trillion dollar tech sector
    • Short film narrated by Stephen Fry highlights the UK’s tech success

    In 2022, the UK became only the third country in the world to have its tech sector valued at one trillion dollars, making it a tech superpower alongside the US and China.

    To date, 162 ‘tech Unicorns’ – private start-ups which are valued at more than $1bn – have been started in the UK, more than the total number in Germany, France and Sweden combined.

    Yet government research suggests that many of Silicon Valley’s top tech entrepreneurs and investors are still not aware of the UK’s world-leading strengths in areas such as artificial intelligence (AI), fintech and medical technology.

    GREAT, the government flagship marketing programme, has taken steps to address this by launching its ‘Unicorn Kingdom’ campaign, which promotes the UK as a place with all the right ingredients to breed new tech unicorns and aims to drive international investment, grow the economy and create jobs across the UK.

    The campaign launched with billboards in San Francisco promoting the UK sector’s scale ($1trillion), agile regulation and world-class talent. The campaign also includes targeted LinkedIn and digital display ads and a content partnership with TechCrunch, with promotional videos narrated by Stephen Fry.

    The campaign is being supported by multiple UK tech unicorns including Darktrace, Deepmind, Revolut, and Matillion – and is the latest in a number of recent actions from the government which demonstrates its strong support for UK tech.

    This includes the establishment of the new Department of Science, Technology and Innovation, the launch of  the International Tech Strategy, the upcoming AI Whitepaper and the Government’s commitment to provide £20 billion of funding to research and development by 2024-25 – the highest ever level of public support for UK researchers and innovators.

    The next stage of the campaign will see leaders from the US tech sector invited to the UK for London Tech week, to see the benefits of working in the UK first-hand.

    Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, said:

    The UK has all the right ingredients for tech companies to thrive. But we’ll keep working hard to foster the right conditions for the tech sector, so that it can continue to deliver on my priority to grow the economy and create jobs right across the UK.

    Deputy Prime Minister, Oliver Dowden, said:

    The UK tech sector is a wonderful success story. Only three countries in the world are in the trillion-dollar tech club – and we’re one of them. We’re home to some of the brightest minds and best universities, and our doors are open to any tech entrepreneur who wants to start the next Deepmind or Deliveroo.

    Technology Secretary Michelle Donelan said:

    The UK has one of the top tech sectors in the world with a valuation of more than a trillion dollars. It’s diverse, resilient, and continues to grow at a rapid pace with the most venture capital investment in Europe. The goal of this campaign is to attract as much collaboration and investment as we can from Silicon Valley.

    The formation of the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, shows Investors and entrepreneurs that the UK is more dedicated than ever to forming a tech sector that is pro-innovation, pro-talent and pro-growth. Our commitment for R&D spending to be £20 billion a year by 2024 drives forward the government’s ambitions for the UK to be a science and tech superpower.

    As well as the promotional campaign, business leaders from across Silicon Valley were invited to a special reception to promote the UK tech sector in San Francisco.

    At the event, they met the leaders of tech companies from across the UK as well as senior government officials, who explained to them the UK’s place at the centre of the tech world and the benefits of investing in the country.

    Matthew Scullion, CEO and founder of Manchester-based tech company, Matillion, said:

    In the UK, we really have all the ingredients required for building consequential companies. We have brilliant grassroots engineering skills from our very strong university ecosystem. We have skills, we have capital, and we have a great environment for starting and building businesses.

    Further activities will also be carried out in the UK during London Tech Week in June, when leaders from the tech sector in America will be invited to the country to see the benefits of working in the UK.

  • PRESS RELEASE : Storm overflow target to be enshrined in law [April 2023]

    PRESS RELEASE : Storm overflow target to be enshrined in law [April 2023]

    The press release issued by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on 25 April 2023.

    The government’s target to reduce storm overflows will be enshrined in law.

    The government has announced today (Tuesday 25 April) that its target to reduce storm overflows will be enshrined in law.

    The Storm Overflows Discharge Reduction Plan, published in August 2022, set out stringent targets to protect people and the environment, backed up by up to £56 billion capital investment – the largest infrastructure programme in water company history.

    Today, the government is announcing that it will enshrine the Plan further in law through the Environment Act 2021. It will make its costed and credible target to reduce storm overflows legally binding, in line with the Plan.

    This will be backed by existing separate interim milestones for bathing waters and high priority nature sites.

    The targets in the Plan provide an achievable, realistic route to tackling sewage and delivering the improvements customers expect without disproportionately impacting consumer bills. Alongside the plan, the government published a detailed economic assessment.

    Today’s announcement builds on:

    Environment Secretary Thérèse Coffey said:

    I have been unequivocal on this issue. Water companies need to clean up their act – and they need to cover the costs.

    But the hard truth is that however much we all want to see this fixed immediately, the scale and complexity means there is no way that we can stop pollution overnight. To suggest otherwise is dishonest.

    I am using the full force of my powers to make sure that we stop the damage caused by storm overflows as quickly as possible. That includes our plans today to put our costed and credible target on a new legal footing.

    The Plan for Water – published on 4 April – set out further detail on how the government is tackling every source of pollution – not just storm overflows, but also agriculture, plastics, road run-off and chemicals.

  • PRESS RELEASE : Milestone reached in UK-Albania agreement on illegal migration [April 2023]

    PRESS RELEASE : Milestone reached in UK-Albania agreement on illegal migration [April 2023]

    The press release issued by the Home Office on 25 April 2023.

    Over 1,000 Albanian nationals have been returned since the UK-Albania joint communiqué was signed on 13 December.

    Following the landmark joint communiqué between the Prime Ministers of Albania and the UK on tackling illegal migration, operational teams in the UK and Albania have intensified operational work to address illegal migration, particularly the small boat crossings in the English Channel.

    The UK and Albanian authorities have been working together to make it more difficult for illegal migrants to arrive and stay in the UK. Since the communiqué was agreed, new figures show that over 1,000 Albanian nationals have been returned to Albania. This figure is a combination of failed asylum seekers, foreign national offenders and voluntary returns and covers the period from agreement of the joint communiqué on 13 December up to the first week in April.

    UK and Albanian operational teams have set up a joint migration task force, which serves as the main gateway to coordinate specialised operational measures and actions to manage illegal migration of Albanian citizens to the UK.

    These include reinforced checks on free movement criteria at all border crossing points across the country, increased verifications on Albanian citizens who are found to be illegally in the territory of the UK, and exchange of senior-level police officers in both countries.

    Head of the Albanian Border and Migration Police, Saimir Boshnjaku, said:

    We are working hand in hand with our British colleagues under the joint migration task force to prevent irregular migration to the UK and related crimes.

    The Border and Migration Police urges all citizens to follow the legal way of migration and assures that all persons breaking the law will face the consequences.

    UK Director General of Immigration Enforcement, Tony Eastaugh, said:

    These numbers are evidence that our partnership with the government of Albania to speed up the removal of those with no legal right to be in the UK is working.

    As we intensify this activity further, Albanian nationals who enter the UK illegally and have no right to be here should be under no illusion that we will remove them as quickly as possible.

    In 2022, there were 1,888 returns of Albanian nationals, of which 954 (51%) were enforced returns and 934 (49%) were voluntary returns. The number of voluntary returns is 90% higher than in 2021 (492). This is a new and encouraging trend, which we have seen continue into 2023. Already in 2023, from January to March, 795 Albanian nationals have been returned. Of these, 389 (49%) were enforced returns and 406 (51%) were voluntary returns. These operations are expected to intensify further in the upcoming months.

    The Border and Migration Police of Albania and the UK Home Office are determined to put a stop to illegal migration which seriously impedes the prosperity and safety of citizens and enables criminality, exploitation and other forms of illegality.

    The UK’s latest illegal migration statistics, published this morning (Monday 24 April) and covering a range of nationalities, also show that:

    • enforcement visits conducted between January and March 2023 have increased since the same period last year (a 53% rise, from 2,111 to 3,228)
    • as at 31 March 2023, the number of legacy cases in the asylum initial decision backlog was 11% lower than as at 31 December 2022
    • the number of asylum decision-makers has increased since July last year. As at 1 March 2023, there were 1,281 asylum decision makers, 48% higher than on 1 July 2022 (when there were 865)
  • PRESS RELEASE : More rigorous checks for fire and rescue employees [April 2023]

    PRESS RELEASE : More rigorous checks for fire and rescue employees [April 2023]

    The press release issued by the Home Office on 25 April 2023.

    Fire and rescue authorities will be able to carry out stringent new record checks, helping fire and rescue services protect the public and their staff.

    Fire and rescue authorities will be able to carry out a new level of criminal record checks for all employees, helping drive up standards and protect the public and fellow staff, under new plans announced by the government.

    Currently staff are only automatically eligible for basic Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks, however, legislation introduced yesterday (24 April 2023) will, when passed, mean all staff will be eligible for more rigorous standard DBS checks. Basic DBS checks only provide information on unspent cautions and unspent convictions, whereas standard DBS checks also provide information on spent convictions, cautions, reprimands and final warnings, subject to filtering rules.

    These checks will allow fire and rescue services to understand and mitigate risk, to protect their colleagues and the public, and support high standards of integrity. How and where these are used are at the discretion of each individual fire and rescue authority.

    The changes follow recent findings in His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) report, commissioned by the Crime, Policing and Fire Minister, as well as the London Fire Brigade’s independent review into its own culture, which found evidence of bullying, harassment and discrimination across the services.

    Fire minister Chris Philp said:

    Fire reform is urgently needed, and this is a step in the right direction to help raise overall standards and ensure the integrity of fire and rescue services.

    We want to see a service where everyone is welcome and treated with respect.

    Stringent criminal record checks will help ensure staff and the public are better protected and is an important part of the change that now needs to happen.

    The government will support this work with the creation of new guidance by the National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC), in partnership with the DBS, to help ensure appropriate checks are undertaken. This guidance will be consulted on by the NFCC shortly.

    This change forms just one part of work ongoing to secure consistently high standards of integrity across fire and rescue services. Steps taken to date include commissioning the inspectorate report referenced above, funding the first ever fire culture conference through the NFCC, supporting the creation of a code of ethics, and funding Fire Standards on matters such as ethics and safeguarding.

  • PRESS RELEASE : New study launched to assess levels of antimicrobial resistance in healthy people [April 2023]

    PRESS RELEASE : New study launched to assess levels of antimicrobial resistance in healthy people [April 2023]

    The press release issued by the UK Health Security Agency on 25 April 2023.

    The study aims to learn about antimicrobial resistance in healthy people to inform better ways of tackling antimicrobial resistant infections in different populations.

    The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has launched surveillance to assess the extent of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in healthy people across the country.

    Up to 2,000 people will be invited to submit stool samples and nose and throat swabs for the study, which will help scientists understand more about the factors influencing bacteria in our body. By understanding more about the drivers of AMR in the community, we will better be able to design ways to reduce antimicrobial resistant infections.

    A large part of AMR understanding is based on bloodstream infections in hospitalised patients – infections at the most severe end of the spectrum. However, everyone has bacteria in their bodies and some of these bacteria may be antibiotic resistant. Often these bacteria won’t cause any harm, unless they get into a part of the body they shouldn’t be – like the urinary tract or lungs, or if they spread to other people.

    Through the surveillance study, UKHSA scientists seek to understand more about the levels of antibiotic resistant bacteria found in the general population, including carbapenem-producing Enterobacteriaceae (CPE), extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBLs), and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) amongst others, in humans across England.

    The study will also explore the prevalence of the fungus Candida auris in the community. The surveillance will also enable UKHSA to compare the change in prevalence of AMR in the population compared to a previous study in 2014 focused on ESBLs.

    The work builds on UKHSA’s extensive AMR surveillance programme and aims to further the understanding of how AMR impacts different segments of society, to enable the design of better ways to tackle AMR, tailored to different populations if needed.

    The study will look at age, sex, ethnicity, and geographical location to understand if there are any key differences between different demographics. It will also consider different risk factors for AMR, including:

    • travel
    • diet
    • healthcare contact
    • household transmission

    Dr Russell Hope, Deputy Director, AMR Division at UKHSA, said:

    Antibiotic resistant bacteria can cause very severe and difficult to treat infections – killing thousands of people every year in this country and globally, as well as having a huge economic impact. However, very little is known about how commonly antibiotic resistant bacteria are found in the general ‘healthy’ population – mixed in with the ‘good’ and ‘bad’ bacteria that live in our guts.

    By understanding more about the burden of AMR in healthy people in the general population and the factors that mean someone is more likely to be carrying a resistant organism, we will be able to design better ways to tackle AMR in different populations.

    We can all take action to reduce antibiotic resistance. Please trust your healthcare professional and take antibiotics only as prescribed, never share with others and don’t save for later. Taking antibiotics when you don’t need them puts you and your loved ones at risk of having an untreatable infection in future.

    Antibiotic resistance occurs naturally, but inappropriate usage and overuse of antibiotics can accelerate this process. Antibiotic resistant bacteria are less likely to respond to treatment, causing serious complications, including bloodstream infections, sepsis and hospitalisation, so it is important to take antibiotics only when they are prescribed and necessary for the condition.

    Health Minister Maria Caulfield said:

    AMR is a silent killer that costs over a million lives across the world per year.

    The UK is a global leader in tackling this threat and we launched a vital Call for Evidence last year to help us shape our next 5-year National Action Plan on AMR.

    This new study will build the evidence base so we can better understand what causes AMR to help us ramp up our efforts to tackle this deadly issue.

  • PRESS RELEASE : Have your say on proposed change to permit conditions at Hinkley Point C [April 2023]

    PRESS RELEASE : Have your say on proposed change to permit conditions at Hinkley Point C [April 2023]

    The press release issued by the Environment Agency on 25 April 2023.

    The Environment Agency is launching today a second 4-week consultation on a proposed change to discharge water at Hinkley Point C nuclear power station near Bridgwater.

    Our proposed decision is that we should grant the permit variation for the water discharge activity. The limits and conditions attached to the permit will make sure that people and the environment are protected from water discharge under normal operation.

    To reach our proposed decision, we considered relevant legislation, policy and guidance alongside responses to our initial consultation on the application.

    Assessments were also carried out on habitats, sites of special scientific interest and the Water Framework Directive (WFD).

    The existing permit regulates the operational water discharge activities from Hinkley Point C. These are discharges of non-radioactive liquid effluents and include:

    • returned cooling water from the turbine condensers
    • trade process effluents from the various plant systems (including those that maintain water purity and chemistry to keep the best operating conditions and maximise efficiency)
    • treated sewage effluent (from staff welfare facilities)

    The draft varied permit will also now regulate returned seawater through a fish recovery and return system.

    As a result of our assessment on the impact of the fish recovery and return system discharge, we propose including limits on volume, rate and the total biomass discharged from the fish recovery and return system outlet.

    We propose removing all conditions (or parts of conditions) relating to the acoustic fish deterrent (AFD).

    We have concluded that there would be no adverse effect on the integrity of the relevant European sites (in relation to pollution from regulated discharges to waters) if there is no AFD in place. This includes those sites functionally linked to the Severn Estuary.

    We have also concluded that the proposed permit variation will not cause the current status of the  water bodies to deteriorate, nor prevent them from achieving their objectives.

    The draft varied permit includes the requirement to use an additional operating technique and an improvement condition. It also includes two pre-operational conditions which need Environment Agency approval before the proposed power station can be commissioned or begin to operate.

    This is to make sure that NNB Generation Company (Hinkley Point C) Limited builds and operates the proposed power station according to the commitments made in its permit application.

    We intend to publish our final decision in summer 2023.

  • PRESS RELEASE : Appointment of 2 members to the Prison Service Pay Review Body [April 2023]

    PRESS RELEASE : Appointment of 2 members to the Prison Service Pay Review Body [April 2023]

    The press release issued by the Ministry of Justice on 25 April 2023.

    The Secretary of State for Justice has announced the appointments of Roy Grant and Nigel Cotgrove as members to the Prison Service Pay Review Body (PSPRB). Both appointments will be for a tenure of five years and will commence on 1 August 2023 until 31 July 2028.

    The PSPRB provides the government with independent advice on the remuneration of operational prison staff in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, as set out in The Prison Service (Pay Review Body) Regulations 2001 (SI 2001 No. 1161).

    Appointments and re-appointments to the PSPRB are regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments. These appointments have been made in line with the Commissioner’s Code of Practice for Ministerial Appointments to Public Bodies.

    Public appointments to the PSPRB are made by the Prime Minister.

    Roy Grant biography

    Roy Grant was recently a Non-Executive Director for RCNi for 9 years until 2022 and a Member of the Royal College of Nursing Remuneration Committee. He has worked on industrial relations programmes, strategy development, financial stability, governance and audit and risk. From 2015 to 2021 he was chair of the remuneration committee for Your Housing Group, a social housing organisation across the Midlands and North West. Prior to 2013 he had a long career as an HR director across multiple sectors.

    Nigel Cotgrove biography

    Nigel Cotgrove is currently a Trustee Director of the BT Pension Scheme, where he has been in post since 2020. He has also been part of the Members’ Panel at the National Employment Savings Trust (NEST) since 2016. Nigel worked for the Communication Workers’ Union (CWU) for 31 years until 2020. He served as a National Officer for over 20 years representing workers in the telecoms, IT and financial services sectors. Prior to that, he worked as a CWU Research Officer.

  • PRESS RELEASE : Prepayment meter customers urged to claim £160 million in energy bill support [April 2023]

    PRESS RELEASE : Prepayment meter customers urged to claim £160 million in energy bill support [April 2023]

    The press release issued by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero on 25 April 2023.

    Government calls on prepayment meter users to claim bills support by redeeming their Energy Bills Support Scheme vouchers.

    • £780 million in energy bill support delivered to customers on traditional prepayment meters, with £160 million still to be claimed.
    • customers can still claim savings of up to £400 off their energy bills under the scheme
    • just over a month for off-gas-grid households to apply for energy discounts, in final push for support

    Households on traditional prepayment meters are being urged by the government to redeem their energy bill support vouchers, with £160 million remaining to be claimed.

    Prepayment meter customers have so far claimed £620 million under the government’s Energy Bills Support Scheme (EBSS).

    New figures published today show that more than £780 million in EBSS vouchers have been sent to households, with nearly 80% redeemed by customers.

    These vouchers allow eligible customers, often in low-income homes, to access vital discounts of up to £400 on their energy costs, which direct debit customers will have automatically received this winter.

    Consumer Energy Minister Amanda Solloway has urged anyone who has not yet redeemed their prepayment meter vouchers to do so now, with the scheme remaining open until 30 June. Customers can redeem the 2.4 million outstanding vouchers at their local Post Office or PayPoint.

    The EBSS, together with the cap on energy prices, saw the government cover half of a typical household energy bill over the winter – driving forward the government’s priority to halve inflation. Last month the government also announced an extension to the Energy Price Guarantee, meaning by the end of June a typical household will have saved £1,500 on their energy bill – while wholesale prices continue to fall.

    Minister for Energy Consumers and Affordability Amanda Solloway said:

    Putin’s illegal war on Ukraine had a massive impact on global energy prices and with it, people’s bills.

    The government stepped in to provide vital support to households across the country, with £780 million in support delivered to prepayment meter customers. But there’s still £160 million of that yet to claim which will make a huge difference.

    Even as the warmer weather sets in I urge anyone on a traditional prepayment meter to act now if they haven’t redeemed their voucher.

    Nick Read, Chief Executive of the Post Office said:

    We’re urging people not to miss out on this vital support from the government before the Energy Bills Support Scheme closes at the end of June. Claiming your voucher at the Post Office is really simple, just bring your voucher, your energy pre-payment key or card and the ID specified in your voucher letter and we will redeem the voucher for you at the counter. It’s important to check any post you have at home to ensure you haven’t missed any vouchers. They are valid for 3 months but if you have expired vouchers you should contact your electricity supplier and ask for a new one to be sent out.

    Under the Energy Bills Support Scheme more than £11.4 billion went to 28 million households across the UK to keep costs down over the winter – the equivalent of £500,000 a day.

    Households who do not have a direct relationship with an energy supplier or use alternative fuels – such as heating oil, LPG and biomass – to heat their homes are also being urged to take full advantage of government support, as a number of schemes close on 31 May, meaning from Monday they’ll have just a month to claim.

    Customers in these households can apply for:

    • the Energy Bills Support Scheme Alternative Funding which provides equivalent £400 payments to households who do not have a domestic electricity supply and were not eligible to receive the Energy Bills Support Scheme automatically. Eligible applicants include partially or wholly self-funded care homes residents and residents of park homes. These households must apply either via GOV.UK or the contact centre helpline by 31 May 2023
    • the Alternative Fuel Payment Alternative Funding scheme which supports households that use fuels such as heating oil, LPG and biomass as their main heating source but did not automatically receive £200 of support from an electricity supplier. Eligible applicants must apply via GOV.UK or the contact centre helpline by 31 May 2023

    Today’s figures on EBSS vouchers show that for the fifth month in a row London had the lowest redemption rate, with a third of vouchers still unused at the end of February. Around 26% of vouchers in both Scotland and the South East of England are also yet to be used.

    The government has urged suppliers and consumer groups to continue to make the most of this data and pinpoint help to where it is most needed, with some going door-to-door to get information out to these households.

    Londoners also benefitted from government pop-up events to help explain how they can access the support, held in partnership with Citizens Advice and the Post Office. This came as part of a targeted government information campaign, which saw adverts run on community radio, social media, national magazine titles, as well as roaming billboard vans that have been popping up in towns and cities across the country.

  • PRESS RELEASE : UK Government launches evacuation flights for British nationals from Sudan [April 2023]

    PRESS RELEASE : UK Government launches evacuation flights for British nationals from Sudan [April 2023]

    The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 25 April 2023.

    The UK Government is commencing an evacuation effort to help British nationals leave Sudan from today

    UK military flights are due to depart from an airfield outside Khartoum, supported by senior diplomats from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.

    Flights will be open to those with British passports and priority will be given to family groups with children and/or the elderly or individuals with medical conditions.

    At this stage we will contact those who are eligible for evacuation directly and British nationals should not make their way to the airfield unless they are called.

    The safety of all British nationals in Sudan continues to be our utmost priority and we urge everyone to continue to follow our travel advice. The situation remains volatile and our ability to conduct evacuations could change at short notice.

    We are working with international partners to arrange this departure and thank them for their co-operation. We are also working on other potential options for helping British nationals leave Sudan, including from other points of exit.

    The UK government has updated its travel advice to reflect the provision of these flights. The situation in Sudan continues to be volatile.

    .