Tag: Press Release

The press release issued by HM Treasury on 24 June 2003.

The government has today launched a nationwide campaign setting out how the public can help to tackle money laundering and the financing of terrorism.

The campaign sees the launch of information leaflets informing customers of the reasons why they need to prove their identity to financial services companies. Effective identification of customers using bank accounts and other financial services makes it harder for terrorists and other criminals to hide and move ‘dirty cash’.

This is an industry-wide initiative, supported and backed by HM Treasury, National Criminal Intelligence Service, Financial Services Authority and the financial services industry.

Announcing the campaign Paul Boateng, Chief Secretary to the Treasury, said:

“Customers should be in no doubt that when they are asked by financial companies to provide personal details it is done to make it as hard as possible for criminals and terrorists to abuse the system. ‘Dirty cash’ comes from crimes like theft, burglary and drug dealing and is used by terrorists to fund their atrocities. It is in the interests of every law abiding person to stop this ‘dirty cash’ being laundered ‘clean’.

“The Government is fully behind this campaign to widen awareness of why it’s so vital for people to provide personal details. These leaflets will help financial services customers understand the key role they can play in cracking down on this abuse and making Britain a safer place.”

Carol Sergeant, Managing Director of the Financial Services Authority, said:

“These leaflets are designed to explain to customers why they are asked to prove their identity by their financial services provider when buying a product or opening a new account. It is an important part of the government’s overall strategy to reduce crime.”

Peter Hampson, Director General of the National Criminal Intelligence Service, said:

“Top level criminals and terrorists are known to abuse the financial system for their own illegal ends. Asking customers to provide personal details is a vital element in the law enforcement clampdown against such persons.”

Ian Mullen, Chief Executive of the British Bankers’ Association and Chairman of the Joint Money Laundering Steering Group, said:

“We welcome this initiative to explain to the public why banks and other financial services providers need to ask their customers to prove their identity in order to help fight crime and terrorism.”

The press release issued by HM Treasury on 14 January 2003.

A massive transfer of resources – up to £2 billion – will go from men to women through the new Tax Credits from April this year, said Chancellor Gordon Brown today, as a new poll shows that two-thirds of people believe that all support for children should be paid to the mother, and only one per cent think it should be paid to the father.

Even the vast majority of men believe all support for children should be paid to the mother: 64 per cent believed that it should be paid to the mother and only 1 per cent that it should go to the father.

70 per cent of all those polled said that the mother is most likely to ensure that the money goes to the needs of the children. While 28 per cent said it made no difference which parent received the money, only two per cent said fathers would be most likely to ensure that the money goes to the needs of the children.

Mr Brown and Trade and Industry Secretary Patricia Hewitt also published wide ranging proposals to help parents balance work and family life.

Chancellor Gordon Brown said:

“April’s new Tax Credits are the biggest financial boost for mothers since the introduction of Child Benefit, and evidence shows that money paid direct to mothers is more likely to be spent on the child, than if it goes to fathers. Up to £2 billion will be transferred from dads, to mums – for their children.

“We want to put families first by helping parents as they do the most important and difficult job of all – getting their children off to a good start in life.”

Trade and Industry Secretary Patricia Hewitt said:

“The new package of rights we are bringing in next April will give parents more choice and support than ever before to balance work and family life in ways which will be good for everyone – employers, employees and their children. The ‘right to request’ will help deliver modern, flexible, productive workplaces for all, with balanced benefits for both employers and employees.”

Mr Brown and Patricia Hewitt launched Balancing Work and Family Life: enhancing choice and support for parents which looks to enable parents to make choices and balance work and family life and asks for views on possible next steps including:

• following consultation on the home childcarers scheme, how to widen entry into the scheme to include people who are not already childminders;
• improving the tax and NICs exemptions on employer-supported childcare, including how they could offer a better incentive to employers to support childcare provision;
• whether to allow fathers time off to attend ante-natal care and the case for extending paid paternity leave in cases of multiple births and disabled children; and
• the case for allowing a mother on paid maternity leave to claim support with the childcare costs for her new child in order to settle her child into childcare prior to returning to work.

The press release issued by HM Treasury on 21 January 2003.

West Midlands business will be on the agenda, when Economic Secretary John Healey visits Birmingham Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday 21 January.  The Minister will be listening to the views of business leaders from across the region on local enterprise.

The Economic Secretary’s visit to the West Midlands is part of a national pre-budget consultation by HM Treasury, with Ministers visiting different regions to hold discussions on key budget topics.

The West Midlands has benefited from a range of enterprise and productivity initiatives by the Government:

• Employment has risen by more than 73,000 and unemployment has fallen by 18,000 in the region since 1997;
• Over 93,000 young people in the region have gained new skills and experience through the New Deal, over 30,000 of whom have already moved into jobs;
• Making work pay for all, with the Working and Child Tax Credits, from 2003, will help over half a million families in the West Midlands;
• Creating almost 120 Enterprise Areas in the region, giving more people the chance to start and develop new business;
• Providing extra support to tackle barriers to business growth including the extension of the VAT flat rate scheme – the West Midlands has almost 58,000 businesses eligible to use the scheme;
• Tackling pensioner poverty and rewarding savings, with an estimated 350,000 pensioner households benefiting in the region.
• 61,500 children typically born in the region each year will benefit from further development of the new Child Trust Fund, ensuring that young people start their adult lives with a pot of savings.

John Healey commented: “The West Midlands has a strong tradition of industry and enterprise. We acknowledge the pressures that businesses are facing, and now I want to hear first-hand from local businesses how we can better support Britain’s entrepreneurs. This is a valuable discussion as we put in place preparations for the Budget.

“The Government wants to build a stronger, more enterprising economy and a fairer society. The West Midlands can make a huge contribution to that.”

The Minister then visits a social enterprise in central Birmingham, which works with people suffering from addictions – helping them to overcome their problems and giving them the opportunity to learn about and actually run a business.

The press release issued by HM Treasury on 21 January 2003.

Representatives from a variety of Leicestershire companies and other organisations met the Economic Secretary to the Treasury, John Healey, on Tuesday 21 January 2003 as part of a series of pre-Budget consultation visits throughout the country.

The East Midlands has benefited from a range of enterprise and productivity initiatives by the Government:

• Employment has risen by more than 98,000 and unemployment has fallen by 27,000 in the region since 1997;
• Over 54,000 young people in the region have gained new skills and experience through the New Deal, over 20,000 of whom have already moved into jobs;
• Making work pay for all, with the Working and Child Tax Credits, from 2003, will help 400,000 families in the East Midlands;
• Creating over 130 Enterprise Areas in the region, giving more people the chance to start and develop new business;
• Providing extra support to tackle barriers to business growth including the extension of the VAT flat rate scheme – the East Midlands has almost 38,000 businesses eligible to use the scheme;
• Tackling pensioner poverty and rewarding savings, with an estimated 300,000 pensioner households benefiting in the region.
• 45,800 children typically born in the region each year will benefit from further development of the new Child Trust Fund, ensuring that young people start their adult lives with a pot of savings.

John Healey commented: “The East Midlands has a strong tradition of industry and enterprise. We acknowledge the pressures that businesses are facing, and now I want to hear first-hand from local businesses how we can better support Britain’s entrepreneurs. This is a valuable discussion as we put in place preparations for the Budget.

“The Government wants to build a stronger, more enterprising economy and a fairer society. The East Midlands can make a huge contribution to that.”

The Government continues to support Regional Development Agencies as a strategic driver of economic development, regeneration and competitiveness in the regions. Through the Spending Review 2002, RDAs were granted a 4.5% real increase in resources between 2002-03 and 2005-06, taking the total single pot to £2bn by 2005-06.

Achievements of the East Midlands Development Agency include:

• The regeneration of a disused stretch of waterfront, to bring new prosperity and a better quality of life to the south east area of Nottingham City Centre;
• Championing the value of social enterprises as powerful tools against exclusion by investing £255,000 in a new multi-partner initiative to promote growth in the sector.

Local organisations involved in the visit include Wilson Bowden plc, Advanced Tapes, de Montfort University Business School, Hallam Construction, Northcliffe Publishing plc and the Leicestershire Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

The Minister also travelled to Lutterworth to see the work of learndirect at Focus Four which provides “any time, any place, any pace” learning for individual adults and businesses through three training centres in south Leicestershire.   Since becoming a learndirect centre in August 2001 and a learndirect Premier Business Centre in November 2002, more than 2,000 learners have enrolled for courses.