Press release: £22 million for projects to support domestic abuse survivors

  • Housing Minister confirms 63 projects across England to share £22 million to help domestic abuse survivors
  • Funding will provide tailored support to more than 25,000 survivors and their families – including over 2,200 additional beds in refuges and other safe accommodation
  • This builds on government action seeking to put an end to domestic abuse for good and help survivors in turning their lives around

More than 25,000 domestic abuse survivors will be supported to rebuild their lives thanks to a £22 million allocation for projects across the country, Housing Minister Heather Wheeler MP has announced today (10 November 2018).

Over 60 projects in England will be supported by the funding over the next 2 years – ensuring thousands of survivors have access to the help they need, when they need it.

The money will provide over 2,200 new beds in refuges and other safe accommodation, access to education, and tailored employment and life skills guidance as survivors move towards building a safe and healthy future for themselves and their children – free from domestic abuse.

Projects will be delivered by councils working alongside local organisations to help ensure that no survivor of domestic abuse is turned away from the support they need to start their new life.

Housing Minister Heather Wheeler MP said:

Domestic abuse is a devastating crime, which shatters the lives of survivors and their families. It is our duty to ensure survivors can seek help by providing the support they need to restart their lives.

Through providing specialist accommodation and access to employment, this fund will make sure local authorities and charities can provide a strong safety net for anyone facing the threat of abuse in their own home.

Innovative local projects that will receive a share of funding include:

Portsmouth & Hampshire New Approaches

This project will cover 5 local authority areas providing targeted support designed to meet the needs of those who have experienced domestic violence and abuse. It will provide help to women, children and young people living in refuge accommodation across the region in addition to making it easier for those from BAME and LGBT backgrounds to access support services

Norfolk county council – Norfolk Partnership

Norfolk’s ANCHOR initiative will ensure that any survivor of domestic abuse in Norfolk has access to tailored support for their individual needs to assist them on the path to recovery. It will involve strong partnership working between local organisations to ensure services are effectively joined up. This will build support for those with additional needs, such as mental health and substance misuse and help will also be tailored to those from BAME backgrounds.

Sandra Horley CBE, Chief Executive of Refuge said:

That Refuge services will be supported by this fund is hugely welcome news both for us and particularly for the thousands of women and children we support on a daily basis.

Critically, this funding ensures that many of our refuges will remain open and continue to provide life-saving specialist support to those experiencing domestic abuse. A small number would have been forced to close had we not received these crucial funds.

We are equally delighted to be in a position to now expand one of our services in London, which provides essential support for survivors with additional needs.

In the summer, government announced almost £19 million of funding to expand support for survivors of domestic abuse services across England. This fund has now been extended to £22 million.

This follows previous government funding totalling £20 million during 2016 to 2018, which helped create more than 2,000 bed spaces and gave support to over 19,000 survivors and their families.

Further to this, the government has also published new guidance for councils to prioritise domestic abuse survivors in refuges when allocating social housing and encourages councils to use existing powers to support survivors to remain safely in their own homes if they choose to do so.

The government will shortly be introducing a new landmark Domestic Abuse Bill to further protect and support survivors, recognise the life-long impact domestic abuse has on children and make sure agencies are responding effectively to domestic abuse.

We are also committed to reviewing how domestic abuse services are commissioned and funded across England and will set out next steps shortly.

See the
full list of allocations
(PDF, 125KB, 6 pages)

for the £22 million fund.

Further information

The Domestic Abuse Fund was launched on 2 July 2018. It was originally launched as an £18.8 million fund.

The funding builds on other actions being taken by the government to end domestic abuse, support survivors and ensure offenders are prosecuted. Such as:

  • allocation of a £20 million fund for local authorities working in partnership with services providers to boost services between 2016 and 2018
  • a new domestic abuse offence to capture coercive and controlling behaviour, the criminalisation of forced marriage and the introduction of new stalking laws
  • a national roll-out of domestic violence protection orders and the domestic violence disclosure scheme
  • the £15 million 3-year Violence Against Women and Girls Service Transformation Fund
  • the government previously held a consultation titled Improving access to social housing for victims of domestic abuse from October 30, 2017 to January 5, 2018. This consultation outlined proposals for new statutory guidance to councils to assist survivors of domestic abuse in refuges to access social housing.

Office address and general enquiries

2 Marsham Street

London

SW1P 4DF

Media enquiries




Press release: Landing site selected for UK Mars rover

Dr Graham Turnock, Chief Executive, UK Space Agency said:

After the Earth, Mars is the most habitable planet in the Solar System, so it’s a perfect destination to explore the possibility of life on other planets, as well as the history of our own.

""

Both of the potential landing sites – Oxia Planum and Mawrth Vallis – preserve a rich record of geological history from the planet’s wetter past, approximately four billion years ago, however the potential for science return had to be balanced with the prospect of landing safely.

Professor John Bridges, from the Space Research Centre, University of Leicester, a member of the Landing Site Selection Working Group, explains why Oxia Planum has been recommended:

After over 4 years of careful study of HiRISE and more recently CaSSIS images Oxia Planum was chosen because scientists were convinced that its fine grained sediments, deposited during the ancient Noachian epoch were ideally suited for the Exobiology rover.

With an enormous catchment area the sediments will have captured organics from a wide variety of environments over a long period of time, including areas where life may have existed. The fine sediments should also be ideal for the ExoMars drill – it aims to get to 2 metres depth.

Remote identification with the Mars Express and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Infrared spectrometers shows the presence of clays and other minerals giving clues to its aqueous history.

A large group of scientists have been working on proposing, characterising and down selecting the sites, all of which had fascinating aspects, but Oxia Planum is the clear winner on both science and engineering constraints.

""

The UK Space Agency is the second largest European contributor to the ExoMars mission, having invested €287 million in the mission and £14 million on the instruments. This, in addition to successful negotiations with ESA, secured key mission contracts for the UK space sector.

Sue Horne, Head of Space Exploration, UK Space Agency said:

I have been working on ExoMars for over ten years and am amazed at the ingenuity and dedication of UK engineers and scientists in building the rover and instruments that will work in the extreme environment of Mars.

Our end goal is in sight and it is getting very exciting.

The government’s modern Industrial Strategy is backing businesses to succeed by increasing investment in science, because countries that invest in ideas create more opportunities for business. The ambition is for the UK be the world’s most innovative economy – and the development of the ExoMars rover for the UK is a part of this ambition.

Airbus Defence and Space in Stevenage is leading the build of the rover while the UCL Mullard Space Science Laboratory is leading on a key instrument known as the PanCam, a high-resolution 3D camera which will be used to look at the terrain and rocks to try to detect signs of life.

The University of Leicester and Teledyne e2v are working on the Raman Spectrometer with STFC RAL Space providing some of the electronics, including the data processing board.

The recommendation was made today following a two-day meeting held at the National Space Centre in Leicester, UK, which saw experts from the Mars science community, industry, and ExoMars project present and discuss the scientific merits of the sites alongside the engineering and technical constraints.

The Leicester recommendation will be reviewed internally by ESA and Roscosmos with an official confirmation expected mid-2019.




Press release: DIT supports Plymouth firm producing 2.6 billion products a year

Renowned for their high quality medical technology, Becton Dickinson (BD) have operations in the likes of the US, Japan and the Middle East, employing 65,000 people across the world. In the UK and Ireland, they have eight sites which employ 2,800 associates in a variety of research, manufacturing and retail roles.

DIT have helped BD, whose Plymouth operation is predominantly manufacturing based, with export and investment advice and support from our network of International Trade Advisors, who are based across the UK.

With 2.6 billion products being produced at the south-west facility every year, the company specialise in the production of blood collection tubes which sell to hospitals and medical facilities in all corners of the globe.

Speaking on the visit, Baroness Fairhead said:

Becton Dickinson are a great example of a global business whose export and manufacturing operation is helping to drive growth in their local community through initiatives such as their apprenticeship scheme.

The Department for International Trade stands ready to support any business in south west England, and across the country, who has the ambition to export. This support includes our network of Trade Advisors who are on hand to offer guidance, our award-winning export credit agency, UK Export Finance, and a variety of export opportunities through GREAT.gov.uk.

The visit comes after BD announced a further investment of more than £170m last year, which will see additional manufacturing lines added to their Plymouth site.

Mike Fairbourn, VP Country General Manager UK & Ireland, said:

With over 3000 associates working in clinical research, manufacturing and commercial roles, BD UK and Ireland is proud to be helping support the safer, more efficient delivery of healthcare. Our mission is to advance the world of health, and we continue to invest in helping UK and Irish healthcare providers to improve patient outcomes that ultimately give people the best lives possible.

With a need to recruit more engineers in the South West of England, BD are running an apprenticeship scheme which has 40 apprentices working at the site at any one time, including 12 who specifically look at engineering and spend four years working at the site. This is all part of a strategy which the company has set out, with government support, to engage with young people in the Plymouth area.

The South West saw a solid increase of 7% in its goods exports last year with £21 billion of products being sold in markets such as the US, Germany and the UAE. This is partly due to a dedicated team of more than 20 trade advisors in the region. These advisors work with the government’s network of HM Trade Commissioners, the UK’s overseas partners and private companies to locate export and investment opportunities to match the strong ambitions of regional businesses.

DIT’s recently launched Export Strategy sets out how the government will support businesses of all sizes to make the most of the opportunities presented by markets around the world.

A government-led collaboration with business, developed after extensive engagement with a range of UK firms – the Export Strategy sets a new ambition from government to increase exports as a proportion of UK GDP to 35%.




Press release: GOV.UK Notify wins Civil Service Operational Excellence Award

The Dame Lesley Strathie Operational Excellence Award recognises excellence in the delivery of public services. This includes putting user needs at the heart of a project and significantly improving the quality, value for money or productivity of services to the public.

GOV.UK Notify is delivered by a multidisciplinary team of 12 people, including designers, user researchers and developers. They work closely with service teams across the country to constantly iterate and improve it.

The judges said:

GOV.UK Notify is a great example of a small, diverse set of civil servants challenging established ways of doing things, to rapidly deliver a product benefitting millions of people, whilst saving taxpayers millions.

GOV.UK Notify Product Manager Pete Herlihy said:

It’s ace. Obviously we’re incredibly proud of Notify and the impact it’s having right across the public sector, but this recognition for how our little team goes about delivering it really means so much to us.

About GOV.UK Notify

GOV.UK Notify sent its first messages in May 2016. It lets service teams across the public sector send emails, text messages and letters to their users.

It can be used by:

  • caseworkers to send one-off messages to people after a call or a visit
  • back-office staff to send bulk messages by uploading files
  • systems automatically sending messages to people after specified events

GOV.UK Notify is easy to use and easy for teams to integrate with their existing systems. It can be used without any procurement and emails can be sent through GOV.UK Notify at no cost.

So far more than 200 million messages have been sent using GOV.UK Notify, including more than 170 million emails.

It is being used by 438 service teams across 132 organisations – including 64 local government organisations, 58 central government organisations and 10 from the NHS. And this number is growing every day.

Among those teams are the DVSA’s MOT reminder service team, who also won a Civil Service Award – the Digital Award.

Find out more about GOV.UK Notify.




Press release: Foreign flagged ships detained in the UK during October 2018

During September, there were two new detentions of foreign flagged vessels in a UK port, three vessels remained under detention from previous months. A total of three vessels remain under detention at the end of October.

  1. In response to one of the recommendations of Lord Donaldson’s inquiry into the prevention of pollution from merchant shipping, and in compliance with the EU Directive on Port State Control (2009/16/EC as amended), the Maritime and Coastguard agency (MCA) publishes details of the foreign flagged vessels detained in UK ports each month.

  2. The UK is part of a regional agreement on port state control known as the Paris Memorandum of Understanding on Port State Control (Paris MOU) and information on all ships that are inspected is held centrally in an electronic database known as THETIS. This allows the ships with a high risk rating and poor detention records to be targeted for future inspection.

  3. Inspections of foreign flagged ships in UK ports are undertaken by surveyors from the Maritime and Coastguard Agency. When a ship is found to be not in compliance with applicable convention requirements, a deficiency may be raised. If any of their deficiencies are so serious they have to be rectified before departure, then the ship will be detained.

  4. All deficiencies should be rectified before departure if at all possible.

  5. When applicable, the list includes those passenger craft prevented from operating under the provisions of the EU Directive on Mandatory Surveys for the safe operation of regular Ro-Ro ferry and high speed passenger craft services (1999/35/EU).

Notes on the list of detentions

  • Full details of the ship.
    The accompanying detention list shows ship’s International Maritime Organization (IMO) number which is unchanging throughout the ship’s life and uniquely identifies it. It also shows the ship’s name and flag state at the time of its inspection.
  • Company.
    The company shown in the vessel’s Safety Management Certificate (SMC) or if there is no SMC, then the party otherwise believed to be responsible for the safety of the ship at the time of inspection.
  • Classification Society.
    The list shows the Classification Society responsible for classing the ship only.
  • Recognised Organisation.
    Responsible for conducting the statutory surveys: and issuing statutory certificates on behalf of the Flag State
  • White (WL), Grey (GL) and Black lists (BL) are issued by the Paris MoU on 01 July each year and shows the performance of flag State.

SHIPS DETAINED IN OCTOBER 2018

Vessel Name: SOUTHWESTER

GT: 4150

IMO: 9126728

Flag: Cook Islands (Black list)

Company: Northwester Shipping Corp

Classification Society: RINA

Recognised Organisation: N/A

Recognised Organisation for ISM Doc: N/A

Recognised Organisation for ISM SMC: N/A

Date and Place of Detention: 1st October 2018 in Runcorn

Summary: Eighteen deficiencies with one ground for detention

Defective item Nature of defect Ground for Detention
18408 – Electrical Not as required No
15150 – ISM Not as required Yes
11105 – Rescue boat inventory Not as required No
07116 – Ventilation Not as required No
01201 – Certificates of master and officers Missing No
07113 – Fire pumps and its pipes Not as required No
07105 – Firedoors/opening in fire-resisting divisions Inoperative No
14615 – Fuel change-over procedure Missing No
18312 – Galley, handling room (maintenance) Not Hygienic No
99101 – Other safety in general Other No
01328 – Ship energy efficiency management plan Missing No
07105 – Firedoors/opening in fire-resisting divisions Inoperative No
10103 – Radar Inoperative No
05105 – MF/HF Radio installation Inoperative No
10111 – Charts Missing No
07113 – Fire pumps and its pipes Not as required No
14402 – Sewage treatment plan Not as required No
10106 – Compass correction log Not as required No
10119 – Rudder angle indicator Inoperative No

This vessel was released on 8th October 2018

Vessel Name: DUYGU

GT: 4388

IMO: 9199787

Flag: Cook Islands (Black list)

Company: Pruvmarine Limited

Classification Society: NKK

Recognised Organisation: NA

Recognised Organisation for ISM Doc: NA

Recognised Organisation for ISM SMC: NA

Date and Place of Detention: 1st October in Birkenhead

Summary: Twenty-one deficiencies with five grounds for detention

Defective item Nature of defect Ground for Detention  
10104 – Gyro compass Inoperative No  
08107 – Machinery control alarms Inoperative Yes  
07116 – Ventilation Inoperative No  
10116 – Nautical publications Missing No  
18324 – Cold room, cold room cleanliness, cold room temperature Not as required No  
09232 – Cleanliness of engine room Insufficient No  
04108 – Muster list Incomplete No  
03108 – Ventilators, air pipes, casings Not properly maintained No  
13199 – Other (machinery) Other No  
01101 – Cargo safety equipment (including exemptions) Incomplete No  
10118 – Speed and distance indicator Inoperative No  
18308 – Furnishings Damaged No  
15150 – ISM Not as required Not as required Yes
09232 – Cleanliness of engine room Insufficient Yes  
07105 – Firedoors/openings in fire-resisting divisions Malfunctioning No  
07125 – Evaluation of crew performance (fire drills) Lack of training No  
03112 – Scuppers, inlets and discharges Not as required Yes  
02108 – Electrical installations in general Not as required Yes  
10129 – Navigation records Not as required No  
18312 – Galley, handling room (maintenance) Not hygienic No  
03106 – Windows, sidecuttles and deadlights Not as required No  

This vessel was released on 3rd October 2018

DETENTIONS CARRIED OVER FROM PREVIOUS MONTHS

Vessel Name: POSEIDON

GT: 1412

IMO: 7363217

Flag: Iceland (White list)

Company: Neptune EHF

Classification Society: NA

Recognised Organisation: NA

Recognised Organisation for ISM Doc: DNV-GL

Recognised Organisation for ISM SMC: DNV-GL

Date and Place of Detention: 19th July 2018 at Hull

Summary: Ten deficiencies with two grounds for detention

Defective item Nature of defect Ground for Detention
01199 – Other certificates Other No
01218 – Medical Incorrect language No
02106 – Hull damage impairing seaworthiness Holed Yes
07113 – Fire Pumps Insufficient Pressure Yes
07103 – Divisions – Decks, bulkheads and penetrations Not as required No
12107 – Ballast, fuel and other tanks Not as required No
07105 – Fire doors/openings in fire resisting divisions Not as required No
01101 – Cargo Ship Safety Equipment (including exemption) Missing No
01102 – Cargo Ship Safety Construction (including exemption) Missing No
01104 – Cargo Ship Safety Radio (including exemption) Missing No

This vessel was still detained on 31st October 2018

Vessel Name: TECOIL POLARIS

GT: 1814

IMO No: 8883290

Flag: Russian Federation (Grey list)

Company: Tecoil Shipping Ltd

Classification Society: RMRS

Recognised Organisation: RMRS

Recognised Organisation for ISM DOC: RMRS

Recognised Organisation for ISM SMC: RMRS

Date and Place of Detention: 6th June 2018 at Immingham

Summary: Twenty-Seven deficiencies with eight grounds for detentions

Defective item Nature of defect Ground for Detention
01123 – Continuous synopsis record Entries missing No
01218 – Medical certificate Missing No
01320 – Garbage record book Incorrect No
01308 – Record of seafarers’ daily hours of work or rest False No
04110 – Abandon ship drill Insufficient frequency No
10105 – Magnetic compass Inoperative Yes
10128 – Navigation bridge visibility Not as required No
10104 – Gyro compass Inoperative Yes
11122 – Radio life-saving appliances Inoperative No
11129 – Operational readiness of lifesaving appliances Not as required Yes
04109 – Fire drills Lack of communication No
10127 – Voyage or passage plan Not as required Yes
10123 – International code of signals – SOLAS Missing No
15150 – ISM Not as required Yes
05110 – Facilities for reception of marine safety inform. Not as required No
05199 – Other (radiocommunication) Other No
11104 – Rescue boats Not properly maintained Yes
11101 – Lifeboats Not ready for use Yes
10101 – Pilot ladder and hoist/pilot transfer arrangements Unsafe No
06105 – Atmosphere testing instrument Not properly maintained No
07105 – Fire doors/openings in fire resisting divisions Not as required No
01117 – International Oil Pollution Prevention (IOPP) Invalid Yes
14604 – Bunker delivery note Not as required No
01315 – Oil record book Not properly filled No
02105 – Steering gear Not properly maintained No
02108 – Electrical installations in general Not properly maintained No
11134 – Operations of life saving appliances Lack of familiarity No

This vessel was still detained on 31st October 2018

Vessel Name: CIEN PORCIENTO (General Cargo)

GT: 106.

IMO No: 8944446.

Flag: Unregistered.

Company: Open Window Inc.

Classification Society: Unclassed.

Recognised Organisation: Not applicable.

Recognised Organisation for ISM DOC: Not applicable.

Recognised Organisation for ISM SMC: Not applicable

Date and Place of detention: 4 March 2010, Lowestoft

Summary: Thirty deficiencies including seven grounds for detention

This vessel was still detained on 31st October 2018
Notes to Editors
• The MCA is a partner in the Sea Vision UK campaign to raise awareness and understanding of the sea and maritime activities. Sea Vision promotes the importance and economic value of the sector and works to highlight the exciting range of activities and career opportunities available to young people within the UK growing maritime sector at www.seavision.org.uk

• Follow us on Twitter: @MCA_media

For further information please contact
Maritime and Coastguard Agency Press Office, on:
+44 (0) 2380 329 401
Press releases and further information about the agency is available here.