Strengthening family ties can play a crucial role in helping offenders to turn their lives around beyond the prison gates, Welsh Secretary Alun Cairns said today following a visit to HM Prison and YOI Parc in Bridgend.

The visit to HMP Parc – which is the only privately-run prison in Wales – comes in the year following the publication of a UK Government-commissioned report, which identified family relationships as the “golden thread” running through the reforms across the prison estate.

Mr Cairns met with Parc prison director, Janet Wallsgrove and prison staff to see first-hand how incorporating family members into the prison’s innovative rehabilitation schemes is having a significant impact on preventing prisoners from reoffending after release.

In September 2016, Lord Michael Farmer, in partnership with the membership charity Clinks, was commissioned by the UK Government to investigate how connecting prisoners with their families can improve offender wellbeing, assist in keeping the public safe and reduce reoffending.

During the visit to HMP Parc, the Secretary of State met Corin Morgan-Armstrong, head of family interventions for G4S Central Government Services in the UK, who highlighted how the success of the prison’s ‘Invisible Walls Wales’ project has helped to inform the Farmer Review, and outlined the tangible results the scheme is having on the rehabilitation of offenders.

Secretary of State for Wales, Alun Cairns said:

Safe and secure prison environments are just the foundation for successful rehabilitation. But as Lord Farmer’s review outlined last year, building and nurturing family relationships is also fundamentally important if people are to change.

It has been inspiring to meet the passionate staff at HMP Parc and to experience how they are pursuing trailblazing initiatives like ‘Invisible Walls Wales’. It’s also been an experience to listen to prisoners who have taken up the opportunities available, using their own drive and determination to change as they look towards life beyond the prison gates.

Backed by Big Lottery Fund investment and working in partnership with Barnardo’s Cymru, the Invisible Walls Wales scheme helps prisoners to strengthen family ties and maintain healthy family relationships as well as providing them with advice on issues such as debt, housing, training and moving towards employment.

Janet Wallsgrove, Director of HMP & YOI Parc said:

Initiatives such as Invisible Walls Wales, and the wide range of educational and training programmes which are offered at HMP Parc, all play a key part in supporting prisoner rehabilitation. Our aim is to reduce reoffending after release by providing prisoners with the right skills and support during their sentence, and by strengthening their ties with the community.

Today’s visit was a great success, and we’d like to thank the Secretary of State for taking the time to meet our staff, and allowing them to demonstrate how outstanding results can be achieved through innovation, service excellence and teamwork.

Notes to editors

• For further information about HMP Parc contact the G4S media team on 020 7963 3333.

• For information on the prison estate and reforms, contact the Ministry of Justice newsdesk on 020 3334 3536.

• HMP Parc is a category B men’s prison and young offenders institution near Bridgend, and is the only privately-run prison in Wales. It is managed by G4S and is one of the largest prisons in the UK, with over 1,700 prisoners and 800 members of staff.

• To read Lord Farmer’s review on the ‘Importance of strengthening prisoners’ family ties to prevent reoffending and reduce intergenerational crime’ click here

The government has extended the appointment of Dame Deirdre Hutton as Chair to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to serve for an additional 12 months from August 2019 when her current appointment expires.

During her time as CAA Chair, Dame Deirdre has overseen a huge amount of organisational change within the CAA. Over the next year she will continue to steer the CAA’s modernisation and change programmes.

Dame Deirdre became Chair of the CAA in August 2009 and previously served as Chair of the Food Standards Agency, Chair of the National Consumer Council and as a member of the Board of HM Treasury.

She has served on a number of other public bodies, including the Better Regulation Taskforce, and has extensive experience of corporate governance, risk-based regulation and consumer policy.

She is honorary Vice-President of the Trading Standards Institute and sits as a Non-Executive on the board of Thames Water Utilities Ltd and Castle Trust and is also Pro-Chancellor of Cranfield University.

The process of identifying the next Chair of the CAA is expected to commence in the autumn of 2019.

Published 25 October 2018

The UK Space Agency’s Space for Smarter Government Programme (SSGP) will provide access to archives of images and radar data for research and development projects.

This will stimulate further growth in the UK’s world-leading space industry, which already employs around 40,000 people, while benefitting the public sector in areas such as planning and development.

The images will provide an unprecedented level of detail of major British cities, transport networks, national parks and energy infrastructure.

This type of satellite data is already being used in a number of pilot projects. It has been combined with machine learning techniques to help Bournemouth Borough Council identify the best locations for electric vehicle charge points across the city. While the Environment Agency has trialled satellite images as a tool to monitor plastic pollution off Britain’s shoreline to support clean-up operations and protect wildlife.

With a vast amount of new images now available for free, there is significant potential for further innovations.

Science Minister Sam Gyimah said:

From monitoring plastic pollution to supporting the next generation of electric vehicles, satellite imaging is transforming our society from the skies.

This is a great example of how our modern Industrial Strategy’s support for our thriving space sector is spurring innovation, driving growth and further strengthening public services.

There is expected to be high demand for the images which offer sub 5m resolution with less than 15% cloud cover, for public sector research and development.

Sara Huntingdon, the UK Space Agency’s SSGP Manager, said:

Until now there has been a perceived financial barrier to the public sector, academics and start-ups accessing high resolution data from satellites, so this is great news for the UK space sector.

We hope it will break down barriers, enable rapid prototyping and stimulate the next wave of satellite enabled application development. We are trying something that has not been done before across the whole UK Government, and I am really excited to see the results.

The images have been procured from Airbus Defence and Space and Telespazio-Vega UK Ltd. Airbus are providing high resolution optical imagery, effectively a colour camera in space, from its Spot and Pleiades satellites.

Phil Brownnett of Airbus, Intelligence (UK) said:

Airbus is delighted to be working with the Space Agency to provide access to our accurate, up to date satellite imagery of the UK. We fully believe that this initiative will stimulate growth in space services and applications across government.

Telespazio VEGA UK are providing high resolution Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data collected by the four-satellite COSMO-SkyMed constellation. Imaging radars on board the satellites transmit and then receive radar signals that are able to penetrate cloud cover and provide images of the Earth’s surface day and night.

Michael Lawrence, Head of Marketing and Sales at Telespazio VEGA UK, said:

Analysis of the additional information provided by high resolution SAR data will allow the measurement of ground displacements and identify the precise location of changes to both the urban and natural environment.

The data will be available for up to three years to explore what role high resolution satellite data could have in public sector delivery. The project will also feed in to the recently established Geospatial Commission, set up by the government to maximise the value of all UK government data linked to location, and to create jobs and growth.

Simon Agass, from the Satellite Applications Catapult, which is working with the UK Space Agency to deliver this project, said:

This could be transformational for government services in the UK and ultimately provide a platform for the export of satellite derived services for governments across the globe

Providing the public sector with this satellite data is an example of the government fully exploiting the power of technology and data to deliver world-class services. The #SmarterGov campaign has been launched to drive innovation, savings and public service improvement across the public sector.

Advocate General for Northern Ireland, Geoffrey Cox QC MP, will be called to the Bar of Northern Ireland on Friday 26 October.

The call ceremony will be presided over by the Lord Chief Justice. The Advocate General will host a reception at the Royal Courts of Justice after the ceremony for key figures from the legal world.

While in Northern Ireland the Advocate General will hold separate meetings with key legal figures including Attorney General for Northern Ireland, John Larkin QC, Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland, Sir Charles Declan Morgan QC PC, Chair of the Bar Council in Northern Ireland, Sarah Ramsey, Director of Public Prosecutions, Stephen Herron and his deputy Michael Agnew. These will be closed meetings to discuss legal issues in Northern Ireland.

Advocate General for Northern Ireland, Geoffrey Cox QC MP said:

It is a privilege to be called to the Bar of Northern Ireland. I am looking forward to the ceremony and to meeting members of judiciary and the legal professions.

The Call ceremony will take place on Friday 26 October at the Royal Courts of Justice.

The position of Advocate General for Northern Ireland is held by the Attorney General for England and Wales by virtue of that office.