Britain’s enduring security partnership with its key international allies is vital in the fight against the threats of terrorism, child sexual abuse, serious and organised crime and hostile state activity, the Home Secretary said today.

Sajid Javid’s comments came at the end of the annual Five Country Ministerial (FCM) – a major meeting of the Five Eyes security partners.

The Home Secretary joined his counterparts from Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the USA to discuss how the countries can improve collaboration to meet shared national security challenges.

Speaking after the FCM, Mr Javid – who ensured the serious issue of child sexual exploitation and abuse was central to the group’s discussions – said:

The historic Five Eyes security partnership is absolutely vital in tackling the shared international threats we all face – and the UK will continue to play a leading role.

Our ongoing cooperation and the commitments made at the summit will ensure we have the strongest approach possible when it comes to combatting those who seek to undermine our national security.

Our united, unwavering response is crucial.

The Home Secretary and his Five Eye partners agreed a series of commitments during the 2-day summit on Australia’s Gold Coast.

They included:

• an agreement to expand the sharing of information about known or suspected terrorists
• a joint statement outlining the expectations of the digital industry in identifying, countering and removing illicit and illegal online content such as child sexual abuse and terrorism
• a commitment to work collectively to confront the threat posed by hostile state activity

In an official communique the countries also committed to strengthen collaboration around cyber security and border management.

Mr Javid led discussions on foreign interference following this year’s Salisbury incident as well as the UK’s response to modern slavery and human trafficking.

Britain will be hosting next year’s Five Country Ministerial event.

• a former director of an employment agency sentenced today in a Bristol court must pay compensation to 2 workers and fines totalling £5,154 after a government prosecution and has been banned from being a director for 5 years
• the former director of Cotterell and Gifford employment agency pleaded guilty to 4 charges including withholding wages and failing to give information to workers
• the prosecution comes after the Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate launched an investigation based on a worker complaint

A director has been ordered to pay wages and expenses totalling £5,145 at a hearing at Bristol Magistrates’ Court today (29 August 2018). The prosecution comes after an investigation by the Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate – a government body that enforces rights on behalf of agency workers.

National Recruitment Limited, trading as Cotterell and Gifford, withheld wages to 2 workers for work they did in December 2015 and February 2016. The director was also guilty of failing to provide the right information to his workers when they started their jobs. He has been disqualified from being a director for 5 years.

Kelly Tolhurst, Small Business Minister, said:

Workers deserve to be paid for the work they do. We take complaints from workers seriously and will take action against employers that wilfully ignores the law and exploits workers.

We’re going further to enhance and protect the rights of all workers. In our Good Work plan we have set out new plans to make agency workers more aware of their rights and give them the right to request a more predictable contract.

The government has recently consulted through the Good Work plan on how best to deliver on its commitment to:

• provide all 1.2 million agency workers with a clear breakdown of who pays them and any costs or charges deducted from their wages
• consider repealing laws allowing agencies to employ workers on cheaper rates
• enforce vulnerable workers’ holiday and sick pay for the first time
• give workers a list of day-one rights including holiday and sick pay entitlements
• introduce a new right for all workers to request a more stable contract to provide greater financial security for those on flexible contracts
• introduce a new naming scheme for employers who fail to pay employment tribunal awards to quadruple employment tribunal fines for employers showing malice, spite or gross oversight to £20,000 and considering increasing penalties for employers who have previously lost similar cases

Anyone with a complaint or query about an employment agency or about the law applying to agencies should contact the Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate by email at eas@beis.gov.uk, by the online form on GOV.UK – or contact the Acas helpline on 0300 123 1100.

1. The Insolvency Service brought charges against Nicholas Brown on behalf of the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy under regulation 12 and regulation 14 of the Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses Regulations 2003 (as amended) and Section 5(2) of the Employment Agencies Act 1973 (as amended).

2. It is a criminal offence for an employment business to withhold from a work-seeker any payment due to that work-seeker for work that they have carried out whilst supplied to a hirer by the employment business.

3. Information about the Employment Agencies Act 1973 and the regulations can be accessed through GOV.UK.

More children than ever before are now living with a working adult, new data from April to June shows, as the number of UK households without a regular income from work fell to 1.27 million – a record low.

As the UK employment rate rose to 75.6% in the 3 months to June, the number of households where no one earns a regular wage fell by 964,000 since 2010.

An all-time high of around 9 in 10 children now live in a home where at least one adult works, taking tens of thousands of children out of poverty as the number of children in workless households fell by 29,000 in the last year.

Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Esther McVey has said:

One of the best ways to tackle poverty and give children a better chance in life, is to have a working adult in the house. It gives them a role-model to learn from and brings financial security to the home.

Since 2010 1.45 million more children now live in a household where all the adults work. 75% of children from workless families moved out of poverty when their parents entered into full-time work. Since 2010, we’ve seen 300,000 fewer children living in absolute poverty.

Getting a job means more than just a wage, it’s a way out of poverty and welfare dependency.

The government is committed to building a stronger, fairer economy that works for everyone. Since 2010 an average of 1,000 people have gained work every day, supporting people from every part of the UK and every section of society to take control of their lives and build themselves a better future.

Today’s data follows new research this month from the Resolution Foundation which found that the majority of new jobs created since 2008/2009 were taken by the poorest third of UK households.

As more households now benefit from work, there are now one million fewer people living in absolute poverty compared with 2010, including 300,000 fewer children.

The government is committed to building a stronger, fairer economy and that is why we are improving the welfare system through Universal Credit, helping people stay in work longer through the Fuller Working Lives strategy and tackling inequalities in employment as highlighted by the Race Disparity Audit.

The number of children in households with all adults in work has increased by 177,000 in the last year.

Since 2010 there are 1.45 million more children living in a home with all adults in work.

637,000 fewer children are living in workless households since 2010.

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