News story: Crime news: simplifying CRM14 eForms and CRM4 grant letters

Crime news: simplifying CRM14 eForms and CRM4 grant letters – GOV.UK

Improvements to application and billing processes are set to be made on 20 March 2018.

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Changes are being made to make it easier to apply and bill for criminal legal aid work to reduce the number of rejected applications.

The improvements will be made on 20 March 2018 and affect:

  • CRM14 eForm applications
  • CRM4 grant letters

CRM14 eForm changes

  1. Help buttons and guidance notes added to help providers see the information required before financial assessments can be carried out.

  2. New fields to allow providers to explain client’s circumstances in more detail, e.g. when the client’s outgoings exceed their income.

  3. Additional tick boxes added to help explain why a client may not be declaring any income e.g. “living with parents”, “living on the streets” and “supported by friends”

CRM4 grant letter changes

  1. Updated letter will show both the amounts applied for and the amounts granted. This will give the provider a full breakdown of the granted preparation and travel costs.
  2. Decisions will be fully explained and if a reduced sum is being paid then reasons will be provided.

Why are you doing this?

We hope these changes will make it easier for providers to see the information we need to process your applications quickly and easily.

This should reduce the number of rejected applications and save time and money for both providers and the Legal Aid Agency.

Please refer to the guidance document for more information.

Further information

Legal aid crime eForm guidance – to view supporting guidance

Published 15 March 2018



News story: Natural England Board members appointed

Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Michael Gove, has appointed Catherine Dugmore as Chair of the Audit, Risk, Assurance Committee and Lord Blencathra, Professor Sue Hartley, Henry Robinson and Marian Spain to the Board of Natural England.

The appointments will take effect from 12 March 2018 for three years.

Board members provide non-executive leadership challenge and support to the executive through regular Board meetings, committees and groups. They also undertake individual lead roles on relevant issues and with local operational teams.

All appointments to the Natural England Board are made on merit and political activity plays no part in the selection process. The appointments comply with the Ministerial Governance Code on Public Appointments.

Natural England is a non-departmental public body, set up under the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006. Its remit is to ensure the natural environment is conserved, enhanced and managed for the benefit of present and future generations.

There is a requirement for appointees’ political activity (if significant) to be declared during the past five years. The Rt. Hon. the Lord Blencathra has declared that he speaks publically, generally in support of Conservative policies, in the House of Lords and that he usually votes with the Government. The other four Board members have not declared any significant political activity during the past five years.

Natural England Board Members receive £11,808 per annum based on a time commitment of 36 days. As Chair of the Audit, Risk, Assurance Committee Catherine Dugmore will receive £14,760 per annum based on a time commitment of 45 days.

Biographical details

Catherine Dugmore

Catherine is a qualified Chartered Accountant, from 1988 to 2002 Catherine worked at PricewaterhouseCoopers latterly as an audit partner based in Johannesburg. Catherine is currently a Trustee of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and WWF-UK. She has worked in the NHS since 2012 and currently holds a non-executive role at Hertfordshire Partnership Foundation Trust. She was formerly Vice Chair and Trustee of Action for Children and Chair of Victim Support.

The Rt Hon the Lord Blencathra

Lord Blencathra is a Member of the House of Lords where he chairs a Select Committee and has been appointed to the Council of Europe. He was formerly Minister of State at the Home Office and a Minister at the Department of the Environment in the 1990s. At the Earth Summit in Rio in 1992 he led for the UK and launched the Darwin Initiative. He formerly represented England’s largest rural constituency as the Member of Parliament for Penrith and The Border. Lord Blencathra has multiple sclerosis and uses a wheelchair.

Professor Sue Hartley

Sue is Professor of ecology at the University of York and Director of the York Environmental Sustainability Institute, a pioneering interdisciplinary research partnership generating solutions to global environmental challenges. She served as President of the British Ecological Society (2016-2017) and she is a Trustee of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. In 2009 she delivered the Royal Institution Christmas Lectures, becoming only the fourth woman to do since they began in 1825.

Henry Robinson

Henry has farmed in the Cotswolds since 1978. He has had various roles at the Country Land & Business Association (CLA), from joining the CLA Council representing Gloucestershire in 1999, to stepping down as President in 2015. He is also currently a trustee of two large estates, Chairman of The Deer Initiative, a Trustee of the Hawk and Owl Trust and Chairman of Trustees at Rendcomb College.

Marian Spain

Marian is Chief Executive of Plantlife International, the UK’s leading wildplant conservation charity, a role she took up in 2014. She is also a Secretary of State appointed Member of the New Forest National Park Authority. She was formerly Ofwat’s Senior Director of Policy and Communications (2010-13) and Director of Strategy at the Energy Saving Trust (2007-10). Prior to that she worked for the Environment Agency and also held a number of roles at the Countryside Agency.



National Statistics: Historical statistics notices on the number of cattle, sheep and pigs slaughtered in the UK, 2018

Updated: Added historical statistical notice for August 2018.

This publication gives previously published copies of the National Statistics publications on the number of cattle, sheep and pigs slaughtered in 2018 in the UK for human consumption, the average dressed carcase weights and the quantity of meat produced in the UK.

Each publication gives the figures available at that time.The figures are subject to revision each month as new information becomes available.

The latest publication and accompanying data sets can be found here

For further information please contact:
julie.rumsey@defra.gsi.gov.uk
Twitter: @DefraStats



Press release: 7 years of conflict in Syria: Statement by International Development Secretary and Foreign Secretary

The International Development Secretary, Penny Mordaunt, and Foreign Secretary, Boris Johnson, have issued a statement to mark seven years of the Syria conflict.

Today the Syria crisis enters its eighth year. It has become one of the longest and bloodiest wars in recent history. The impact on Syrians, above all civilians, has been devastating with an estimated 400,000 dead and 13 million in need of humanitarian assistance.

The Asad regime and those who back it bear overwhelming responsibility for the destruction of the country, its infrastructure and the lives of its people.

Despite promises of de-escalation, the violence continues and the civilian death toll continues to rise. Last month the UK supported UN Security Council Resolution 2401 calling for a ceasefire. Yet in Eastern Ghouta – which Russia itself declared to be a de-escalation area – the regime, with Russian support, has continued to bombard and besiege the population, turning it into a hell on earth. Over 1,100 people are estimated to have been killed there since 18 February alone.

We find it utterly abhorrent that the regime is using food and medical supplies as a weapon of war. Civilians continue to be deliberately and indiscriminately targeted by military strikes, and despite promises made by Russia to ensure Syria would abandon all of its chemical weapons in 2013, international investigators have confirmed that the regime has since used chemical weapons in four separate attacks – which Russia has gone to great lengths to conceal. The UK is committed to ensuring that all those responsible for chemical weapons use and other violations of international law in this conflict are held to account.

The UK has always been at the forefront of the response to the crisis. More than 13 million people in Syria and in neighbouring countries are still in need of assistance. We will continue to help innocent people survive the toughest situations imaginable and, ultimately, help them to rebuild their lives.

The suffering will only end when there is a political solution to the conflict. We will continue to use our position on the UN Security Council to pursue this, as well as to unlock humanitarian access and protect civilians. The UN is ready to mediate a settlement. The opposition have declared their readiness for negotiations without preconditions. But the regime continues to obstruct progress. The international community must commit to a ceasefire and a political process that ends this conflict for good.



Press release: New video showcases design for major M25 junction upgrade

The animations show the design of the junction as well widening of the A3 at the Painshill junction, as well as the new access road for RHS Gardens Wisley. The preferred route was announced last year and a consultation on the final design was launched last month and runs until 26 March.

Highways England senior project manager Brian Gash said:

We hope that this fly-through video helps to give people a good overview of how each element of the upgrade will look when complete. It’s a hugely busy junction with one of the road networks highest collision rates and this upgrade will not only help to alleviate the congestion but improve safety as well.

We are nearing the end of the consultation period but there is still plenty of time to get involved. We welcome all views and ideas and encourage those with an interest in the scheme to come and see the project team at an event.

Under the plans, the interchange between the M25 and the A3 will be redesigned to create four dedicated link roads for all drivers making left turns at the junction while drivers turning right will use a new enlarged junction roundabout.

The A3 will also be widened from three lanes to four between Ockham and Painshill in both directions with two lanes remaining over the M25. A new access road providing better, safer access to several local roads and RHS Garden Wisley will be created. The A245 will also be widened near the Painshill junction to accommodate three lanes of traffic leaving and joining the A3.

Screen grab of the new Highways England visualisation of the M25 junction 10 scheme

A public consultation on the proposals runs until 26 March. Highways England is holding information exhibitions at venues across the area so that people can examine the proposals and put any questions directly to project team.

Public information events dates and locations still to go:

  • Friday 16 March 8am to 8pm, Cobham Services, M25
  • Friday 23 March 8am to 8pm, Cobham Services, M25

The new visualisation, details on the design and feedback forms are available on the scheme website until 11:45pm on 26 March 2018.

General enquiries

Members of the public should contact the Highways England customer contact centre on 0300 123 5000.

Media enquiries

Journalists should contact the Highways England press office on 0844 693 1448 and use the menu to speak to the most appropriate press officer.