The company’s ‘It’s okay to talk about mental health’ campaign has been named Best Internal Communications Campaign by the Chartered Institute of Public Relations, at their North West Pride Awards in Manchester.

The campaign is part of a wider approach to promote equality, diversity and inclusion in the workplace, using the mantra ‘Respected. Included. Performing at our best’.

It featured a range of videos and events in which employees shared their own stories about mental health issues, and supported the national conversation around ‘Mental Health Awareness Week ‘in May 2018.

Alan Rankin from Sellafield Ltd, said:

This award is recognition of all the hard work people across the organisation have put in to ensuring mental health is taken seriously.

As we know, 1 in 4 people will experience mental health problems in their lifetime, so our campaign is very much focused on ensuring we have a supportive working environment for people who have or might suffer such problems.

This is just the start of our journey, but we are extremely proud of the way our employees are continuing to develop a culture that promotes understanding, respect and support for all our colleagues.

I’d like to thank everyone who is helping us to remove the stigma associated with mental health issues.

The Chartered Institute of Public Relations Pride Awards are selected by a team of leading industry experts.

James Cross is to step down as Natural England’s Chief Executive today after four years.

Marian Spain, a current Board member of Natural England and the Chief Executive of Plantlife International, will take over as interim Chief Executive shortly. This appointment will provide leadership and continuity while the recruitment of a permanent successor is carried out.

James Cross said:

We are now entering a new phase for Natural England, as we look forward to a new Chair joining in January and begin preparations for the 2019 Spending Review. This follows a significant period of change, with the Countryside Stewardship/Environmental Stewardship transfer to the Rural Payments Agency on 1 October and the movement of a number of people through secondment and assignment processes.

I feel it is the right time to allow fresh leadership of the organisation to tackle these challenges and opportunities. We have achieved a lot together since I joined back in 2014. I’m particularly proud of the network of marine conservation zones, the England Coast Path and pioneering new ways to connect people with nature through care farms and nature-friendly schools.

I’m immensely proud of everyone I’ve worked alongside within Natural England. My personal highlights have been the many, many amazing site visits I’ve been lucky enough to experience, seeing first hand our brilliant people doing what they do best.

Andrew Sells, Chairman of Natural England who is due to retire in the New Year, said:

I would like to offer my heartfelt thanks to James for the leadership, drive and sheer hard work he has given to Natural England over the last four years.

He has been a key architect of important reforms to our organisation, enabling it to secure significant gains for the natural environment through efficiency, innovation and collaboration in a difficult financial climate.

James can take great pride in all he has achieved while Chief Executive and I wish him well in the future.

Marian Spain was appointed interim Chief Executive by the Natural England Board. She has held a number of senior roles with organisations in the environment sector, including the Environment Agency and Countryside Agency – a predecessor body of Natural England.

Marian joined the Natural England Board in March this year but will relinquish this position while interim Chief Executive. She said:

I am delighted to be appointed to such an important role at a crucial time for Natural England and the environment as a whole. Natural England has a wealth of talented people passionate about making a difference for the natural world and I look forward to working with them.

Alan Law, Chief Officer for Strategy and Reform, has been appointed Deputy Chief Executive to support Marian.

Andrew Sells, Chairman of Natural England added:

I am delighted that Marian has agreed to become Natural England’s interim Chief Executive, to provide leadership and continuity during an important time for the natural environment. Alan Law has demonstrated his conservation and leadership abilities during many years with Natural England and this new role will make even greater use of those talents.

As we leave the European Union, Natural England has a vital role to play in helping the government to find new ways of working with people to deliver the 25 Year Environment Plan and leave the natural world in a better state.

I am also very pleased to have persuaded Julie Lunt to stay on as Chief Officer for Legal and Governance until further notice. She had been due to leave at the end of the year. Her leadership and expertise will be invaluable to Natural England over the coming months.

Today, the Home Office has announced that Campsfield House immigration removal centre will close by May 2019, when the current management contract with Mitie Care and Custody ends.

The closure of the 282 bed centre is part of Home Secretary Sajid Javid’s commitment to cut the number of people detained at any given time and improve the welfare of detainees. These reforms were announced in response to Stephen Shaw’s review into welfare of vulnerable people in detention.

By next summer, the Home Office will aim to reduce the immigration detention estate by almost 40% since 2015.

Immigration Minister, Caroline Nokes said:

I am grateful to all the staff who’ve worked at Campsfield over the years for their commitment and professionalism.

Now is the right time to modernise and rationalise the detention estate. We are committed to ensuring we have a fair and humane immigration system that provides control, and detention must only be used when we are confident no other approaches will work.

In response to Stephen Shaw’s second review of the government’s approach to vulnerable people in immigration detention, the Home Office committed to working with charities, faith groups, communities and other stakeholders to develop alternatives to detention, strengthening support for vulnerable detainees and increasing transparency.

In addition, reforms have already led to a reduction in the number of occupants per room, and will improve facilities in immigration removal centres, including piloting the use of Skype and reviewing the training and support for staff in immigration removal centres.

In 2015, Centres in Dover and Haslar closed and the Verne Immigration Removal Centre in Dorset closed in January 2018. There are no current plans for further immigration removal centre closures. However, as the Home Office progresses with reforms outlined in the response to Stephen Shaw’s second review, the use of immigration detention and the implications for the detention estate as a whole, will be kept under review.

The United Kingdom and the United States held the fifth meeting of the UK-US Trade and Investment Working Group (November 2-7), and the third meeting of the UK-US Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SME) Dialogue on November 1st.

The Working Group was established in July 2017 by UK Secretary of State for International Trade, Dr Liam Fox MP and United States Trade Representative (USTR) Robert Lighthizer. It has been focusing on providing commercial continuity for UK and US businesses, workers, and consumers as the UK leaves the EU. It also explores ways to strengthen trade and investment ties both now and in the future, including through a free trade agreement.

Since its inception, the Working Group has been laying the groundwork for a potential future free trade agreement once the UK has left the EU. In the fifth Working Group, representatives of the United Kingdom and the United States continued to exchange information on trade policy-related issues. They aimed to build on the strength of our existing trade and investment relationship and ensure that both sides are well prepared to open trade negotiations after the UK leaves the EU in 2019.

The Working Group delegations were led by officials from the UK Department for International Trade (DIT) and USTR. It also included representatives from a wide range of UK and US Government departments and agencies.

The Working Group covered topics including:

• industrial and agricultural goods
• services and investment, including financial services
• digital trade; intellectual property rights (IPR)
• regulatory issues related to trade
• Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs)

Officials also worked together to ensure continuity in the UK-US trading and economic relationship underpinned by international agreements as the UK leaves the EU.

UK – US SME Dialogue

The third dialogue focused on the topic of digital trade. It highlighted the benefits for SMEs and the e-commerce tools to promote SME exports.

Over 100 UK and US SME stakeholders met with government officials from:

• USTR
• US Department of Commerce
• US Small Business Administration
• US Patent and Trademark Office
• National Institute of Standards and Technology
• regional economic development offices for the United States

The SMEs also meet with officials from the United Kingdom:

• the Department for International Trade
• the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS)
• the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS)
• the UK Information Commissioner’s Office

The UK will host the fourth SME Dialogue in the summer of 2019, focused on the UK-US trade and commercial relationship post-Brexit. In addition, the UK and United States agreed to hold a sectoral-focused SME ‘best practice’ exchange on marine technology on April 9, 2019 at the Oceans Business conference in Southampton, UK. The United States also extended an invitation to the UK to join the eleventh Americas Competitiveness Exchange in Puerto Rico in May 2019.

This year’s Civil Service Awards were held on Thursday 8 November. These awards recognise and celebrate inspirational individuals and teams across government.

The wellbeing of our colleagues has always been a priority.

We were concerned to see employee absence rates increase in November 2017. The main cause of absence was mental health issues, such as stress and anxiety. This accounted for 155 lost days each month.

Our health and wellbeing team developed an action plan to address the issue. The main priorities were to:

• raise awareness about mental health issues
• make sure there was plenty of support available for employees
• provide training for managers

The team worked hard to put this action plan into practice. We gained external accreditation for our commitment and had positive feedback from our colleagues. Employee absence rates have reduced since the implementation of this action plan.

We’re so proud to have been shortlisted for this award. We’ll continue to work hard to provide the best possible working environment for our colleagues.

Published 9 November 2018