Author Archives: HM Government

This afternoon the Prime Minister spoke to Sultan Qaboos bin Said al Said of Oman. The Prime Minister took the opportunity to wish Sultan Qaboos Eid Mubarak and the leaders discussed the importance of the UK and Oman’s friendship and co-operation, particularly on defence issues.

They agreed to work together to deepen bilateral ties including through the UK’s commitment to Oman’s long-term economic stability, taking forward work on economic reforms following the Minister for the Middle East and Africa’s recent visit to Muscat.

The Prime Minister and Sultan Qaboos spoke about the ongoing issues between Qatar and other Gulf states, agreeing on the importance of all sides de-escalating the tension through dialogue and engaging with Kuwaiti-led mediation efforts to restore GCC unity. They both stated that a resolution of the dispute was vital not just for Gulf security but also the stability of the wider region.

The Croston Flood Risk Management Scheme, developed by the Environment Agency in partnership with Chorley Council, Lancashire County Council and United Utilities, and in collaboration with the Lower Yarrow Flood Action Group, will benefit residents who flooded on Boxing Day 2015, when 344 properties were affected. In 2012, 30 properties in Croston village flooded.

The scheme, which includes an upstream flood storage area on the River Yarrow and 600m earth embankment is capable of retaining up to 1.3 million m3 of water – equivalent to 520 Olympic size swimming pools.

Chair of the Environment Agency, Emma Howard Boyd cut the ribbon on the gate leading to the new embankment and was shown around the new scheme by Cumbria and Lancashire Area Director of the Environment Agency, Keith Ashcroft.

The opening also included a presentation by Dave Massam from the Lower Yarrow Flood Action Group and Neil Forsythe from the Environment Agency.

The scheme received £5.4 million of Government Grant in Aid funding, including £2.1 million from the Government’s Project of Acceleration and Growth (PAG) programme launched after the summer floods in 2012. Chorley Council contributed £1 million, Lancashire County Council £181.000 and £667,000 was received from local levy to finance the scheme.

While the risk is reduced, people living in this and other flood risk area should sign up for flood warnings and be prepared for flooding.

Emma Howard Boyd, Chair of the Environment Agency, said:

In February 2016 I saw the devastating impact of the flooding in Croston and I am so impressed by the village’s recovery.

I want to celebrate the partnership between the community, the Environment Agency, the councils and United Utilities, who created the Croston Flood Risk Management Scheme together. Everyone has a part to play in protecting themselves from the risk of flooding, but it is by listening to each other and working in partnership that we get the best results.

Cumbria and Lancashire Area Director of the Environment Agency, Keith Ashcroft, said:

The village of Croston has a history of flooding, with 344 properties affected in the Boxing Day 2015 flood, 20 in 2012 and 205 in 1987 from the River Yarrow. This scheme allows us to control the flow of the River Yarrow and store water reducing flows downstream.

We have kept the community updated throughout the construction of the scheme, and the Lower Yarrow Flood Action Group was heavily involved throughout the project, including helping us to work with the whole community, who were able to walk along the embankment as part of the opening event.

The aim of the event was to explore how acids and corrosive substances are being used in criminal activity and to find ways to reduce it. The different agencies shared information over the nature of attacks and what action is being taken.

Addressing the summit, Sarah Newton, Minister for Crime, Safeguarding and Vulnerability, said:

The government is very concerned about the use of acid and other corrosives in violent attacks. They often leave victims with terrible life changing injuries and trauma.

There is no place in society for these sickening attacks and we want to work with all agencies to tackle these and prevent further victims. However, where they do occur we must ensure that victims are provided with all the necessary support they require, in terms of ongoing medical and mental health support and support through the Criminal Justice System.

The meeting heard there was no one driver for acid attacks as cases covered a wide range of motivations for the attacks including gang involvement, domestic abuse or honour-based violence and serious organised crime – in addition to random attacks – and that the joint approach must reflect this.

Sarah Newton stressed the importance of the government and other agencies working together to prevent the horrendous attacks from happening.

The Minister added:

The government’s approach to tackling the use of acid and other corrosive substances in violent attacks is centred on four key strands. Firstly, working closely with the police to ensure that the policing response is effective. Secondly, we must ensure that the current legislation is used effectively and that sentencing guidelines reflect the severity of these offences. Thirdly, we are working with retailers to see how they can restrict access to the most harmful products and understand the current requirements under the Poisons Act 1972. Finally, it is important that victims of these attacks are at the heart of our response.

We must ensure that there is appropriate support available to victims, from the initial medical response to giving evidence in court and beyond. We must ensure victims feel confident in coming forward to report these crimes and give evidence and that perpetrators of these horrific crimes are brought to justice.

National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) lead for Corrosive Attacks, Assistant Chief Constable Rachel Kearton, who also spoke at the meeting, said:

The use of corrosive substances to commit acts of violence is an extreme violent crime that aims to cause lasting physical and emotional damage to victims. Police forces are dealing with a number of high profile cases in recent months and we are continuing to collect data from police forces across England and Wales to understand the scale and extent of these attacks and develop our ability to support and safeguard victims.

While it is virtually impossible to ban the sale of all corrosive substances as many are household products available over the counter at supermarkets and DIY stores, including for example bleach and drain cleaner, we are working closely with the Home Office and retailers themselves to determine how we can enhance our intelligence picture to keep these products from people who intend to cause harm.

I am sure that some offences of this type are not reported as a crime to the police. Crimes such as this should not go unreported and I would urge anyone who is a victim of this type of attack to report it so that we can deal with the matter positively and sensitively.

Good afternoon everybody and thank you very much for coming along this afternoon.

Prime Minister Groysman and I have just been at the London Ukraine Reform Conference and I think it would be fair to say it was the most fascinating and moving event in the sense that we heard from 30 countries, all the major global financial institutions, the European financial institutions, all supporting Ukraine in the process of reform in Ukraine.

Clearly there was a certain amount of anxiety about keeping that process of reform on track, there was defiance in the face of Russian aggression and everybody was very committed the support and defence of Ukraine. There was an insistence on sticking up for the rule of law, the rules based system in which we believe, and countries saying what they were doing to help Ukraine in all sorts of ways, from supplying medical equipment to helping with the banking system to providing holidays for kids from the Donbass region who have been affected by the conflict.

But there was also a wide measure of agreement about the vital importance of Ukraine to us all and about the importance of the success of Ukraine and I have to say there was also a great deal of admiration for Ukraine’s leadership, for Ukrainian politicians for what they are trying to do in spite of all the difficulties and all the challenges that Ukraine faces. And certainly from the international financial institutions a great deal of optimism about what has been accomplished over the last 3 years in spite of the challenges that Ukraine has faced and optimism about the future.

So thank you very much all of you for coming and I think it would be right to say Prime Minister that you have from the London Ukraine Reform Conference a very, very wide measure of support from the international community for your reform programme and you can certainly count on the United Kingdom to be with you shoulder to shoulder for the long term. Thank you very much.