International Development Secretary Penny Mordaunt will today highlight the important role that science, innovation and the City of London can play in helping developing countries build resilience against and recover after natural disasters.

At an event at Lloyd’s of London Ms Mordaunt will join Dame Inga Beale, CEO of Lloyd’s of London, to showcase how science and technology are powering the design of innovative financial products which are helping developing countries recover more quickly after extreme climates and disasters.

At the event – held on the first day of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meetings this week – Ms Mordaunt will announce:

• A package of support to the Caribbean to help prepare for future disasters and explore how innovative finance products can provide much-needed pay-outs quickly, to help speed up the recovery of businesses and critical services, like hospitals, power and schools.
• An increase in continued support to the Pacific disaster risk insurance pool (PCRAFI) following the disaster wreaked by Hurricane Gita in Tonga last year, to strengthen its proven ability to pay out following future disasters.

Ms Mordaunt will also reflect on the progress of Global Parametrics, a UK aid-backed social enterprise that is using cutting-edge climatic, seismic and financial risk modelling to build products that make a real difference when natural disasters hit. This includes a recently launched facility with its first client, VisionFund, which will help 4 million people access crucial finance to rebuild their lives and businesses in the wake of natural disasters.

Speaking ahead of the event International Development Secretary Penny Mordaunt said:

Last year Hurricanes Irma and Maria showed once again the destruction extreme weather events can cause – and the devastating effect this can have on the lives of families and communities.

When disaster does strike, it is crucial that finance is easily and quickly available to help people rebuild their homes and livelihoods. The use of science, real-time data and innovative finance can be game-changing – helping to cut response times and get countries back on their feet faster.

Dame Inga Beale, CEO of Lloyd’s of London said:

Insurance exists to provide critical support in times of disaster, enabling quick recovery and economic protection. Sadly, many of the world’s most vulnerable countries also have the biggest protection gap, meaning that recovery is slow and costs so high that rebuilding takes significantly longer.

Lloyd’s has worked in partnership with the Department for International Development to co-sponsor the Global Centre for Disaster Protection’s first Innovation Lab focussed on developing new financial instruments that combine incentives for resilience with risk transfer. This initiative is part of a collaborative effort to help mitigate the devastating and long-term economic and social impacts of disasters most keenly felt by developing nations around the world and across the Commonwealth.

The International Development Secretary will also announce a partnership with the Met Office and the World Bank to strengthen weather forecasting systems and deliver new technologies and innovative approaches to help vulnerable communities use climate warnings and forecasts to better prepare for shocks across Asia.

International Development Secretary, Penny Mordaunt said:

Changing global climates will impact all our lives, but can have deadly consequences for the world’s poorest people. By improving the use of forecasting information such as early-warning systems, and sharing the Met Office’s world-leading expertise, we can help governments and communities prepare for these shocks, so fewer lives are lost each year to extreme weather.

Professor Stephen Belcher, the Met Office Chief Scientist, said:

The Commonwealth brings together a rich heritage and shared cultural values. But these aren’t the only common bonds linking member states. Each is also inextricably connected by the shared impacts of weather and climate. Improving resilience and forecasting will provide a lifeline for vulnerable communities helping them to cope with weather and climate shocks through measures which improve food security and provide protection from extremes of weather.

There can surely be no better aspiration than sharing cutting edge climate science to improve the fortunes and prospects of people in their day-to-day lives.

The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meetings take place this week in London, bringing together representatives from business, civil society and government from across the Commonwealth.

Notes to editors

Caribbean – Package to strengthen resilience

• Following the devastating impact of last year’s hurricane season, DFID is announcing up to £19m of additional support for Caribbean countries to strengthen capability for early recovery at a regional and national level, and to work with countries to develop options to strengthen disaster preparedness and financial resilience.
• This will be the highest priority of our new Centre for Global Disaster Protection in 2018. The Centre for Global Disaster Protection brings developing countries together with partners including the UK Government, the World Bank, civil society and the private sector with the shared goal of enhancing resilience to climate and disasters. The Centre works with governments to strengthen disaster preparedness, embed early action and enhance their financial resilience, including through the use financial tools like insurance.
• In January, the Centre ran its first Innovation Lab in partnership with Lloyd’s of London to explore how innovations in finance could help countries to build back smarter after disasters. The event brought together more than 50 people from across the finance, humanitarian, engineering and development sectors. A first report by Risk Management Solutions, Vivid Economics and re:focus partners on the outcomes of the Lab will be available from today (16 April 2018).

Asia – Regional Resilience to a Changing Climate programme

The UK will provide up to £23.5 million through the Met Office (£12 million), World Bank (£10 million), and activities directly executed by DFID (£1.5 million) over four years. The programme will deliver:

• At least ten pilots of new technologies and innovations to deliver climate information and advice to vulnerable groups of people;
• One regional and four sub-regional forecasting and early-warning systems, to provide targeted information on the impacts of weather events such as floods and storms;
• Improved access for 30 million people to climate information, services and early warning systems;
• Three regional bodies established to deliver seasonal and long-term climate projections and analysis;
• And will mobilise additional resources for building climate and environmental resilience from national, international and private sector sources.

Uplift to Pacific disaster risk insurance pool (PCRAFI)

• The UK is providing a further £1.3 million to the PCRAFI, in the wake of major devastation to Tonga following hurricane Gita on top of £6.2 million of capital already provided.
• At the Commonwealth Summit in 2015 the Prime Minister announced £15 million to help extend an international disaster risk insurance fund to the Pacific Islands.
• In February this year, Tonga, Samoa and Fji were hit by Cyclone Gita. Gita was particularly severe when it hit Tonga and there was widespread damage. The nation’s parliament building was amongst the buildings destroyed.
• Tonga is one of 5 Pacific nations that has disaster risk insurance in place with PCRAFI, thanks to UK support. The Government of Tonga received £2.8 million ($3.5 million) within 10 days of being hit, which helped speed recovery.

Global Parametrics

• Global Parametrics is a UK social enterprise – started with funding from DFID and KFW – with a focus on using cutting-edge climatic and seismic risk modelling to offer financial products that improve recovery and resilience in the event of natural and climatic disasters
• DFID has invested £1.5m into Global Parametrics. In addition, DFID has also provided a loan of £6.4m.
• Global Parametrics products are backed by the Natural Disaster Fund. Like an insurer, the Natural Disaster Fund collects premiums and makes pay-outs when natural disasters occur.
• DFID has invested £25 million in the Natural Disaster Fund over 20 years, in order to support pioneering new products from Global Parametrics.
• Global Parametrics has partnered with microfinance institution VisionFund to launch the world’s largest non-government climate insurance scheme.
• The scheme will provide automatic disaster-linked pay-outs to microfinance institutions in Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Zambia, Cambodia and Myanmar, allowing them to provide new loans to allow families and small businesses to get back on their feet after a disaster.
• DFID made £2m available to finance disaster recovery loans by VisionFund during last year’s El Nino. Following loan repayments, DFID was able to reinvest all of that that money in other development projects

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The Official Receiver provides an update on employment within the Carillion group in liquidation.

A spokesperson for the Official Receiver said:

A further 835 jobs have been saved with employees transferring to new suppliers who have picked up contracts that Carillion had been delivering. Close to 11,000 employees have now been found secure ongoing employment.

Regretably 337 employees whose positions are no longer required as Carillion’s business transfers to new suppliers will leave the business later this week. Jobcentre Plus’ Rapid Response Service will provide them with every support to find new work.

I continue to talk with potential purchasers for Carillion’s remaining contracts and will keep staff, elected employee representatives and unions to keep them informed as these arrangements are confirmed.

Further information

• In total, to date 10,960 jobs have been saved and 2,162 jobs have been made redundant through the liquidation
• This information does not include jobs attached to contracts where an intention to purchase has been entered into but has not yet formally occurred
• Just under 4,000 employees are currently retained to enable Carillion to deliver the remaining services it is providing for public and private sector customers until decisions are taken to transfer or cease these contracts
• Further information about rights in redundancy is available on gov.uk

Published 16 April 2018

Thank you for your feedback

Thank you Mr Chair,

I am grateful to the Director General for his update on the OPCW’s investigation into the horrific chemical weapons attack on 7 April in Douma, Syria. The Technical Secretariat has once again demonstrated the dedication and professionalism of its staff, willing to deploy promptly to Douma in dangerous circumstances . They have our full support and we look forward to their report. It is imperative that the Syrian Arab Republic and the Russian Federation offer the OPCW Fact Finding Mission team their full cooperation and assistance to carry out their difficult task.

This Council has had to come together, yet again, to discuss another shocking violation of the Chemical Weapons Convention in Syria.

Up to 75 people, including children, were killed in a despicable and barbaric attack in Douma on 7 April. The World Health Organisation has reported that 500 patients, seen by its partners in Syria, had symptoms consistent with chemical weapons exposure.

The world has seen the harrowing images of men, women and children lying dead with foam in their mouths. These were innocent families who, at the time the chemical weapon was unleashed, were seeking shelter underground in basements. First-hand accounts from NGOs and aid workers have detailed burns to the eyes, suffocation and skin discolouration, with a chlorine-like odour surrounding the victims.

As my Prime Minister said on 14 April, we are clear about who is responsible for the atrocity. A significant body of information, including intelligence, indicates the Syrian Regime is responsible for this latest attack. Open source accounts allege a barrel bomb was used to deliver the chemicals, and a regime helicopter was seen above Douma on the evening of 7 April. The Opposition does not operate helicopters or use barrel bombs. Reliable intelligence indicates that Syrian military officials coordinated what appears to be the use of chlorine in Douma on 7 April. No other group could have carried out this attack.

As this Executive Council knows well, the Syrian Regime has an abhorrent record of using chemical weapons against its own people. Chemical weapons use has become an all too regular weapon of war in the Syrian conflict. The evidence is well known to this Council:

• The OPCW has recorded more than 390 allegations of chemical weapons use in Syria since the Fact Finding Mission was established in 2014

• The OPCW-UN Joint Investigative Mechanism has found Syria responsible for using chemical weapons on four occasions between 2014-2017, including chlorine and sarin

• Syria has not provided the OPCW with a complete account of its chemical weapons programme. The Director General reported just last month that Syria had not provided credible evidence to account for 22 serious issues. This includes quantities of agent Syria possessed, the type of agent and the munitions used for delivery

Based on the persistent pattern of behaviour, and the cumulative analysis of specific incidents, we assess it as highly likely that the Syrian regime has continued to use chemical weapons since the attack on Khan Sheikhoun a year ago. If unchecked, all of the evidence suggests that it would continue to do so.

We and international partners have sought time and again to prevent the Assad regime from using chemical weapons against the Syrian people.Time and again when we have seen chemical weapons used in Syria, Russia has vetoed resolutions at the UN Security Council. Russia has vetoed six chemical weapons-related resolutions since the start of 2017, including a veto just last week of a draft resolution that would have established an independent investigation into the attack on Douma.

Russia has argued that the attack on Douma was somehow staged, or faked.They have even suggested that the UK was behind the attack.That is ludicrous. The attack on Douma was not reported by just a sole source in opposition to the Regime. There are multiple eye witness accounts, substantial video footage, accounts from first responders and medical evidence.

This Council heard similar false claims from Russia and from Syria last year.They questioned the credibility of the evidence of a chemical weapons attack in Khan Sheikhoun. Then they had to change their story once Syria itself had passed samples to the OPCW which Syria had already tested, and which proved that sarin had been used. Since 2016, Russia has sought to undermine every OPCW investigation into allegations of Regime chemical weapons use. Yet again, Russia is spreading conspiracy theories and misinformation designed to undermine the integrity of the OPCW’s fact finding mission.Russia closed down the OPCW-UN Joint Investigative Mechanism when it found that Syria was responsible for chemical weapons attacks. Russia has sought to block all action in this Council and at the Security Council to hold the Syrian Regime accountable for its actions. Russia’s activity have made further UN sponsored action untenable.

The UK, along with the US and France, were clear that that chemical weapons use could not continue to go unchallenged.Syria’s use of chemical weapons, which has exacerbated the human suffering in Syria, is a serious crime of international concern. It is a breach of the customary international law prohibition on the use of chemical weapons and amounts to a war crime and a crime against humanity. The military strikes we carried out on Friday night were specifically designed to degrade the Syrian Regime’s chemical weapons capability and deter their use.

The legal basis of humanitarian intervention was clear. This requires three conditions to be met:

First, that there is convincing evidence of extreme humanitarian distress on a large scale requiring immediate and urgent relief.

Second, it must be objectively clear that there is no practicable alternative to the use of force if lives are to be saved.

And third, the proposed use of force must be necessary and proportionate to the aim of relief of humanitarian suffering. It must be strictly limited in time and scope to this aim.

The objective of our military action was specifically the prevention of further use of chemical weapons in order to alleviate humanitarian suffering.

It was not about interfering in a civil war. And it was not about regime change.

Allies identified a specific and limited set of targets. They were:

• a chemical weapons storage and production facility
• a key chemical weapons research centre and
• a military bunker involved in chemical weapons attacks

Hitting these targets will significantly degrade the Syrian Regime’s ability to research, develop and deploy chemical weapons.

We have sought to use diplomatic channels over the past five years to stop chemical weapons use in Syria but our efforts have been repeatedly thwarted.

The lack of accountability for the Khan Sheikhoun sarin attack can only have reassured the Syrian Regime that the international community was not serious in its stated commitment to uphold the norm against chemical weapons use, and to hold perpetrators to account. This is shameful.

The choice for members of this Executive Council, and for all States Parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention, is clear. Will we act to defend the Chemical Weapons Convention when its norms are so flagrantly violated by a Syrian Government using chemical weapons against its own people, over and over again?  Syria and its handful of allies continue to obfuscate, filibuster, and lie. The time has come for all members of this Executive Council to take a stand. Too many duck the responsibility that comes with being a member of this Council. Failure to act to hold perpetrators to account will only risk further barbaric use of chemical weapons, in Syria and beyond.

Thank you Mr Chair.

Updated guidance is now available on the civil means testing page. This includes:

• Keycard 54 April 2018

• Guide to determining financial eligibility for controlled work and family mediation

• Guide to determining financial eligibility for certificated work

There is a small change in the dependant allowances to reflect a 365-day calendar year.

Further information

Civil legal aid: means testing

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) has today (16 April 2018) announced new appointments to the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Acas) council.

Susan Jordan, Jayne Haines and Anne Davies have been appointed as new non-executive board members for a 3 year term from 16 April 2018.

Anne Davies joins the council as an independent member and Susan Jordan and Jayne Haines as employer representatives.

Sally Hunt has also been reappointed for an additional 3 years.

Sir Brendan Barber, Acas Chair, said:

I’m delighted that Anne, Susan and Jayne are joining the Acas council alongside Sally who has been reappointed for another three years. Their wealth of experience in employment relations will be invaluable in our role as independent, impartial and trusted workplace experts.

I look forward to working with them to maintain our reputation as Britain’s leading advisory service on workplace relations.

Acas is an independent body that provides impartial advice on workplace relations to employers and employees. Its services help to contribute to BEIS’ vision of delivering a competitive, efficient and effective labour market as part of the government’s Industrial Strategy.

During 2016 to 2017, Acas helped to settle 9 out of 10 collective disputes, answered 887,000 calls and dealt with 1.4 million questions from 500,000 users with Acas’ automated online helpline advice service.

Council member biographies

Anne Davies

Professor Davies is currently Dean of the Oxford Law Faculty, and has been Professor of Law and Public Policy since 2015. She studied at Oxford, completing her BA and D.Phil. degrees. She was a Prize Fellow at All Souls College from 1995 to 2001, and the Garrick Fellow and Tutor in Law at Brasenose College from 2001 to 2015, and remains a professorial fellow of Brasenose College. Professor Davies is the author of five books and numerous articles in the fields of public law and labour law. She joins Acas as an independent member.

Susan Jordan

Susan is currently Vice president HR – Retail UK and Ireland. Prior to this she was HR Director Employee Relations and Employee Engagement Europe from 2012 to 2014. Susan joins Acas as an employer representative.

Jayne Haines

Jayne is currently Senior Vice President Talent Leadership, Learning and Organisation Development at GlaxoSmithKline. Prior to this she was Chief Learning Officer at the same company from 2014 to 2016. Jayne joins Acas as an employer representative.

Sally Hunt

Sally Hunt is the general secretary of the University and College Union. She has two decades’ experience as a senior trade union official has been general secretary of the University and College Union (UCU), since 2007. Since 2015 she has been serving on the Acas as an employee representative and has agreed to stay in post for another 3 years until February 2021.