The successful bidder will work with High Speed Two (HS2) Ltd to develop around 60 state of the art trains to transport passengers across the country on the new high speed rail network and onto the existing railway.

Hundreds of jobs will be created by the contract. HS2 Ltd will work with companies and suppliers to create opportunities for small and medium sized enterprises, boost skills and encourage a wide range of people to join the workforce.

Transport Secretary Chris Grayling said:

Britain’s new railway will carry over 300,000 people a day, improve connections between our great cities, free up space on our existing rail lines, generate jobs and help us build an economy that works for all. But what will make HS2’s reputation from day one will be its trains.

It is a given that we want the trains to be comfortable, reliable and a pleasure to use, meeting the highest standards internationally for passenger experience, noise reduction, and environmental sustainability. But companies interested in bidding for the train contract need to push the boundaries. We want to see innovation, creativity and ambition.

The construction of these trains will also leave a legacy for this country, boosting skills, generating employment and strengthening the manufacturing supply chain.

HS2 Ltd Managing Director of Rail Operations Chris Rayner said:

HS2 represents a once in a lifetime chance to rebalance the national economy. It will transform travel in this country, connecting eight of the 10 largest cities in the UK when completed, as well as improving capacity for customers and productivity for the economy.

The priorities and needs of our future passengers are at the centre of our thinking. Quite simply we want every aspect of travelling by HS2 to exceed expectations – from the passenger experience in selecting their journey and getting information, to travelling through our stations, to the train ride itself. We challenge bidders to achieve this ambition.

In total 25,000 jobs and 2,000 apprenticeships will be created during HS2 construction and HS2 Ltd has held discussions with UK-based suppliers to make sure they are in the best possible position to win contracts.

Starting from 2026, the trains will bring the benefits of high speed rail not only to the core network between London and the West Midlands, but also onward to places like Manchester, Glasgow, Liverpool, Preston and Wigan.

The successful bidder will maintain the fleet from the dedicated rolling stock depot planned for Washwood Heath in Birmingham. The site will also be home to the HS2 Network Control Centre which will together create hundreds of skilled jobs.

The contract to provide the initial fleet of trains will be awarded as a single package. Invitations to tender are expected to be issued to shortlisted bidders in spring 2018 with contract award following in late 2019. Future contracts will add to this fleet to provide trains for the second phase of the project in 2033.

Sir Michael witnessed the launch of the UK-led Enhanced Forward Presence deployment in Estonia, where an 800-strong British-led battle group will work with Estonian, French and Danish partners.

Working under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Mark Wilson, the UK troops from 5 Rifles battle group, based in Bulford, Wiltshire, and The Queen’s Royal Hussars, based in Paderborn, Germany, will work with our Eastern European allies and ensure that we stand with them shoulder to shoulder in the face of any potential aggression.

The UK has committed more than 300 vehicles to support Estonia during this deployment, including Warrior infantry fighting vehicles, Challenger 2 tanks, AS90 self-propelled artillery guns and Terrier, Titan and Trojan armoured battlefield engineer vehicles.

Attending the flag-raising ceremony at an Estonian military base in Tapa, the Defence Secretary was joined by his allied colleagues, marking the contributions from France and Denmark to the UK battlegroup.

Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon said:

The troops I have met today are part of one of the UK’s largest ever deployments to Eastern Europe. This marks our commitment to European security and standing with our allies in the face of an increasingly assertive Russia.

Earlier on Thursday Sir Michael met with the Estonian President Kersti Kaljulaid, where they welcomed the launch of the EFP deployment. The Defence Secretary emphasised the continued UK commitment to Euro-Atlantic defence and security.

This deployment to Estonia takes the total British deployment in Eastern Europe to nearly 1,000, with 150 UK personnel based in Poland as part of the UK’s support of the US-led EFP battalion there. NATO is also establishing battlegroups in Latvia and Lithuania.

UK commitments in the region will be boosted further by the deployment of RAF Typhoon aircraft to Romania, set to arrive over the next few weeks, to carry out a NATO Air Policing mission in the Black Sea.

Remember to upload all of the documentary evidence requested by the Client and Cost management System (CCMS) when you make your claim.

The requirements for this documentation are uniform across both CCMS and the old paper-based claiming system.

Common issues – documents

1.Court orders needing to be uploaded: 20% of all secondary requests are because the LAA requires a court order to confirm the claim.

Where advocacy is claimed under the Family Advocacy Scheme (FAS), court orders for advocacy should be uploaded to CCMS for:

• contested interim hearing with a court bundle
• ‘Issues Resolution Hearing’ that concludes proceedings
• 3 or more advocates’ meetings

Court orders for disbursements should also be uploaded for any claim for drug testing or where there is an unusual division of a disbursement between the parties.

2.Incomplete or missing advocates’ attendance forms: the requirements for a completed FAS form for advocacy have not changed where there is a:

• ‘Hearing Unit 2’ or higher – i.e. the hearing time is greater than 61 minutes or is a final hearing.

• claim for any bolt-on or bundle

3.Incomplete or missing disbursement vouchers: any disbursement more than £20 (including VAT) still requires a completed and broken down disbursement voucher.

Where a voucher is not available, such as for court fees, a ledger is an acceptable alternative.

4.Incomplete or missing billing details: when claiming at hourly rates, any work entered as ‘other’ should be provided with an explanatory note uploaded to CCMS explaining the work.

5.Missing case narratives: all cases must still be accompanied with a case narrative. This can also be used to explain any unusual claim being made – such as travel under the ‘local travel’ rules.

Other common claim issues

1. Counsel costs under FAS: if counsel is claiming under the FAS make sure that the costs claimed by counsel match the allocated cost limit.
2. Counsel costs at hourly rates: if counsel is claiming by way of hourly rates, make sure their bill is submitted at the same time as yours.
3. Expert’s breakdown: make sure expert claims contain sufficient detail of the work carried out.
4. Incomplete financial issues: any statutory charge or ‘inter-party’ cost issues should be closed using the ‘case outcome’ task.

Further information

CCMS training Quick Guides – for guidance on submitting bills in CCMS

CIV Claim1 – documentary evidence checklists

CIV CLAIM1A – more useful documentary evidence checklists

Sara Weller is a Non-Executive Director at Lloyds Banking Group and United Utilities plc. She also chairs the Planning Inspectorate, an executive agency of the Department for Communities and Local Government, and is on the Governing Council at Cambridge University and the board of the Higher Education Funding Council for England.

Sara brings an extensive business background to the role. She was Managing Director of Argos from 2004 to 2011 and previously held senior executive roles at J Sainsbury plc, Abbey National and Mars. She holds a First class Masters in Chemistry from the University of Oxford.

Welcoming the appointment, Secretary of State of the Department for Work and Pensions, Damian Green said:

Sara Weller has an excellent track record in business and a wealth of top tier board experience which I have no doubt she will bring to the role.

I’d like to thank Dame Clara for her dedication and hard work over the past 6 years. Her work has helped to improve the department’s governance as it delivers an ambitious programme of work, welfare, and pensions reforms.

Sara Weller said:

The work that DWP does touches customers at almost every stage of life.

As the department moves from reform to a process of embedding change, I look forward to bringing my expertise in business and strategy to the country’s biggest public service department.

The role of the board is to advise the department on performance, including agreeing key performance indicators. It also oversees operational issues, such as the operational and delivery implications of policy proposals, and the effective management of the department.

It exercises its role through influence and advice, and both supports and challenges the executive.

Members also scrutinise the progress and implementation of the business plan, and are involved in recruiting, appraising and ensuring appropriate succession planning of senior executives.

The board meets regularly with other non-executives across government to ensure departments learn from the successes and failures of comparable organisations.

All board members, including the lead, are appointed for a 3-year period.

Mr Spencer gave an undertaking to the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, effective from 4 April 2017, preventing him from directly or indirectly becoming involved in the promotion, formation or management of a company for the duration of the term.

Claim & Gain, with Mr Spencer as director, misled the public in sales calls regarding claims services offered, fees charged, outsourcing to third parties and cancellations. Services paid for by customers were not provided and fees were deducted from customers without their authorisation.

Claim & Gain engaged in unfair trading practices contrary to Regulation 22 of the Compensation (Claims Management Services) Regulations 2006 as authorised and regulated by the Ministry of Justice. Following an investigation and subsequent warnings from the Ministry of Justice, Mr Spencer failed to rectify the breaches and continued to mislead customers by taking ‘upfront’ fees from a further 149 customers.

Commenting on the disqualification, Robert Clarke, Investigations Group Leader at the Insolvency Service said:

The compensation regulations provide protection to the general public from unfair sales techniques by agents for companies operating within the claims management sector.

When company directors do not comply with legislation that is designed to protect customers and avoidable losses result, The Insolvency Service will seek lengthy periods of disqualification. This should serve as a warning to other directors who may feel tempted to breach customer protection legislation. The Insolvency Service will rigorously pursue directors who deliberately mislead and breach the trust of customers.

The Insolvency Service is grateful for the assistance provided by the Ministry of Justice, Trading Standards and the Legal Ombudsman.

Notes to editors

Claim & Gain (CRN 07799165) was placed into Creditors’ Voluntary Liquidation (CVL) on 19 March 2015 with a deficiency of £650,876. The company, which was incorporated on 5 October 2011, traded in claims management: cold calling members of the public and offering claims management services including mis-sold payment protection insurance, mortgages and packaged bank accounts. Claim & Gain traded from 3rd Floor, Princess House, Princess Way, Swansea, SA1 3LW.

The Secretary of State accepted an undertaking from Mr Spencer that he would not act as director for a period of 10 years on 14 March 2017. The disqualification came into effect on 4 April 2017.

Mr Spencer’s date of birth is August 1988.

A disqualification order has the effect that without specific permission of a court, a person with a disqualification cannot:

• act as a director of a company
• take part, directly or indirectly, in the promotion, formation or management of a company or limited liability partnership
• be a receiver of a company’s property

Disqualification undertakings are the administrative equivalent of a disqualification order but do not involve court proceedings. Persons subject to a disqualification order are bound by a range of other restrictions.

The Insolvency Service, an executive agency sponsored by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), administers the insolvency regime, and aims to deliver and promote a range of investigation and enforcement activities both civil and criminal in nature, to support fair and open markets. We do this by effectively enforcing the statutory company and insolvency regimes, maintaining public confidence in those regimes and reducing the harm caused to victims of fraudulent activity and to the business community, including dealing with the disqualification of directors in corporate failures.

BEIS’ mission is to build a dynamic and competitive UK economy that works for all, in particular by creating the conditions for business success and promoting an open global economy. The Criminal Investigations and Prosecutions team contributes to this aim by taking action to deter fraud and to regulate the market. They investigate and prosecute a range of offences, primarily relating to personal or company insolvencies.

The agency also authorises and regulates the insolvency profession, assesses and pays statutory entitlement to redundancy payments when an employer cannot or will not pay employees, provides banking and investment services for bankruptcy and liquidation estate funds and advises ministers and other government departments on insolvency law and practice.

Further information about the work of the Insolvency Service, and how to complain about financial misconduct, is available.

Media enquiries for this press release – 020 7674 6910 or 020 7596 6187

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