Fast Pensions Ltd and five other related companies were wound up in the public interest at the High Court on 30 May 2018.

On 5 July Dalriada Trustees Limited (Dalriada) was formally appointed by the Pensions Regulator (TPR) to act as an Independent Trustee to the 15 schemes linked to Fast Pensions Limited.

As Trustee to the schemes, Dalriada is undertaking a detailed analysis of Fast Pensions and will liaise with the Insolvency Service to determine who the members are, as well as understand more about the schemes, how they were operated, how the transferred funds were invested and what the likelihood is of any material recovery of those funds.

It is estimated that around 520 people were encouraged to transfer their pension savings from existing providers into one of 15 schemes and a total of at least £21 million was transferred to the schemes.

Dalriada will issue a communication to members as soon as it is in a positon to do so and will keep members informed thereafter as to developments.

All pension enquiries by people who were members of schemes connected to Fast Pensions should now be directed to Dalriada via FastPensionsAdmin@dalriadatrustees.co.uk.

Members of the pension schemes who require advice should consider contacting a solicitor, a regulated financial advisor or the Pensions Advisory Service (TPAS) on: 0800 011 3797; email: virtual.appointments@pensionsadvisoryservice.org.uk.

The Official Receiver remains liquidator of the six pensions and finance companies and all enquiries concerning the affairs of the companies should be made to: The Official Receiver, Public Interest Unit (North), PO Box 16663, Birmingham, B2 2JP; email: piu.north@insolvency.gsi.gov.uk.

Sam Gyimah, Minister of State for Universities, Science, Research and Innovation, today (Thursday 19 July) announced the appointment of Professor David Gann CBE as new Chair of the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA). David will take up his post on 1 August 2018, taking over from Professor Roger Cashmore, who will complete his term as Chair at the end of July 2018.

UKAEA is responsible for leading the commercial development of fusion power and related technology. Nuclear fusion can play a big part in our carbon-free energy future. UKAEA manages the UK fusion programme at the Culham Centre for Fusion Energy (CCFE), which is a global hub for scientific talent. In recent years UKAEA’s research has created emerging spin-out industries in areas such as robotics, material sciences and reactor design, reinforcing the UK’s position as a world-leader in fusion research and development.

The Chair of UKAEA is responsible for leading the Board’s strategy and ensuring that its objectives are achieved.

Minister for Research and Development Sam Gyimah said:

The UK is a world-leader in nuclear technology and innovation and I am delighted that Professor David Gann will be the new Chair of the UKAEA Board.

His extensive experience in growing businesses and academic institutions will be crucial to the continued success of our nuclear industry. I want to thank Professor Roger Cashmore for his outstanding service to UKAEA. His commitment and dedication to the mission since 2010 has been invaluable in our cutting-edge work towards commercial success in nuclear fusion.

Professor David Gann CBE said:

I look forward to working with the extraordinarily talented team at UKAEA, and with the wider science and technology community, with the UK positioned as a global leader in fusion technology, providing a future source of sustainable energy.

Coming from a highly collaborative academic institution, I am excited by the prospect of UKAEA enhancing its global ties with industry and academia. These are exciting times, with the UK’s expertise in atomic energy leading to innovation in a range of technologies in robotics and new materials, which also have a wider set of industrial uses.

Publication of UKAEA’s Annual Report

On Thursday 19 July UKAEA laid its 2017/2018 Annual Report before Parliament. This sets out UKAEA’s progress against its objectives.

UKAEA Annual Report and Accounts 2017/2018

More about Professor David Gann

David is Imperial College’s Vice President, leading on innovation, and is a member of Imperial’s President’s Board.

He has played a central role in substantial growth at Imperial College, notably in the new White City campus and new ventures such as ThinkSpace.

David is a chartered civil engineer with a PhD in industrial economics and was Deputy Principal at the Imperial College Business School. He retains roles as Professor of Innovation and Technology Management at Imperial College’s Business School. He is the author of 8 books on innovation, entrepreneurship and technology management, which have been published in 7 languages.

In 2017 HMCTS commenced a procurement exercise to re-tender the Approved Enforcement Agencies contracts. Approved Enforcement Agencies act on behalf of HMCTS to enforce Criminal Court orders. They have a range of legal powers, including where directed by the courts, the execution of Warrants of Arrest. These powers are well established and have been in use for some time in our existing contracts.

HMCTS can today confirm that the successful companies are:

• Capita Business Services Ltd
• Excel Civil Enforcement Ltd
• Jacobs Enforcement
• Outsourcing UK Ltd

During the procurement exercise each potential provider was tested rigorously against a strict set of criteria. Importantly they were required to clearly evidence that they could meet our criteria surrounding the protection of vulnerable people.

From this exercise HMCTS was able to identify a number of providers who met these high-quality standards whilst also delivering value for money. All companies will be subject to strict oversight by HMCTS and the contracts will contain a code of conduct. HMCTS has the option to apply penalties for failures in performance or behaviour.

These new contracts will be signed shortly and should take effect from 1 February 2019. They are designed to improve on the existing contracts, providing HMCTS with increased contractual oversight on what is a vital service. We anticipate these new contracts will deliver significant savings to the taxpayer of more than £45 million over the next five years.

Working in partnership with business and civil society, the government is introducing the first ever Green GB Week – an annual week designed to highlight the opportunities clean growth offers the UK and raise understanding of how business and the public can contribute to tackling climate change.

The UK has led the world to date in cutting emissions while creating wealth. Between 1990 and 2016, the UK reduced its emissions by over 40% while growing the economy by more than 2 thirds – the best performance in the G7 on a per person basis.

The global move to cleaner economic growth – through low carbon technologies and the more efficient use of resource – is one of the greatest industrial opportunities of our time.

This is why we put clean growth at the heart of both our Clean Growth Strategy, and the Industrial Strategy through our new Clean Growth Grand Challenge. We want to maximise the economic and industrial advantages of both the global and our domestic shift to clean growth across the whole of the UK.

Launching on 15 October 2018, Green GB Week will showcase the benefits clean growth will bring to all parts of society – from new jobs to cleaner air. We want local communities to embrace this challenge and grow momentum from the ground up.

A diverse range of businesses, civil society groups and government will join forces to tell the story of clean growth and how acting to tackle climate change is a shared endeavour, delivering a week of activity that involves all parts of the country. The week will highlight both the urgent need to tackle climate change and our rapid progress towards building a cleaner economy.

This year the week will focus on celebrating UK leadership on climate change, marking the 10-year anniversary of the Climate Change Act, while highlighting the business opportunity from clean growth and providing a platform for the latest research on the impacts of climate change.

There will be events to showcase the leading role of the UK’s academic community and businesses in new low carbon technologies, innovative financial products and business models that will help us tackle climate change while generating economic growth. It will also provide a focal point to promote British clean businesses to international investors.

A detailed programme for the week is under development, and will include a focus on:

• UK leadership on climate change
• the latest climate science
• the clean technologies of future
• financing the low carbon economy
• clean growth as a business opportunity
• climate action in communities

A consultation on proposed planning reforms for exploratory shale gas development in England has been launched by the government today (19 July 2018).

Seeking views on early proposals looking at the principle of whether to designate exploratory drilling for shale gas resources as a new form of permitted development, it would mean that planning consent would not be required.

With the government committed to ensuring that strong safeguards are in place, any new permitted development right would have to abide by both environmental and site protection laws and would not apply to exploratory drilling in sensitive areas (such as Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty).

Exploratory drilling for shale deposits are treated separately to full hydraulic shale gas extraction, both will remain subject to strict planning and environmental controls.

The 14-week consultation, open until 25 October 2018, will make sure that those with an interest in shale development can have their say and input their views.

The government will then analyse the comments and issue its response later in 2018.

A further consultation on any specific legislative reforms will follow the government’s response if these are required.

Government will also consult on whether developers should be required to undertake pre-application community engagement prior to submitting a planning application for shale gas development. This consultation will be launched in autumn 2018.

View the consultation document on Gov.uk

The consultation follows the publication of a written ministerial statement on the 17 May 2018, in which the government announced a range of measures to facilitate timely decision making on shale exploration planning applications.