Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Esther McVey today urges parents with children under 12 to ensure they receive the valuable National Insurance credits which may improve their State Pension income.

Some parents may inadvertently be missing out on retirement income to which they are entitled, the Secretary of State warned today. To ensure they receive National Insurance credits parents must submit a child benefit claim, even if they opt out of receiving any payments.

Credits can help to fill gaps in National Insurance records, and help people to qualify for some contributory benefits including State Pension.

The full new State Pension is £164.35 per week – or around £8,500 a year – however, the actual amount you get depends on an individual’s National Insurance record.

Esther McVey, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions said:

I urge everyone to check their eligibility and apply for any credits for which they qualify and are entitled to. Don’t miss out on potentially increased pay-outs from your future state pension.

The State Pension is a foundation for retirement. If you are caring for a child or a relative then you may be eligible for National Insurance credits which will strengthen this foundation.

National Insurance credits aim to ensure that someone’s State Pension is not affected if they are unable to work and pay National Insurance contributions.

People who are in receipt of Child Benefit (even if they don’t receive any payment), Carer’s Allowance, Universal Credit, Jobseeker’s Allowance or Employment and Support Allowance and some other income replacement benefits receive National Insurance credits automatically.

People in the following circumstances may be eligible to apply for NI credits:

• looking after a relative under age 12
• foster carers
• on maternity, paternity or adoption pay
• a partner of a person in the armed forces who is serving outside the UK
• caring for someone who is elderly, unwell or disabled for more than 20 hours a week
• looking for work and not claiming Jobseekers Allowance
• ill or disabled and not claiming Employment and Support Allowance – some people on Statutory Sick Pay are also eligible for credits
• on a training course
• on jury service

Some parents may not be aware that they need to make a child benefit claim to receive the credits and some may not claim because they feel they may be subject to the High Income Child Benefit Charge. However, parents can choose to receive no payments once they’ve applied and that charge won’t apply.

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• UK aid will help tackle the root causes of dangerous migration and modern slavery in Edo state, the epicentre of Nigeria’s human trafficking business.
• World-class British expertise will reduce vulnerabilities to trafficking through targeted public information campaigns and engagement with young people at schools and universities
• UK support to back use of former slavery victims as myth-busters, to help counter false promises that tempt people to place their lives in the hands of traffickers.

UK aid will protect thousands of vulnerable men, women and children in Nigeria from modern slavery and unsafe migration through innovative prevention work such as public information campaigns, awareness raising at schools and universities, and new research.

Nigeria’s Edo State is a focal point of the human trafficking business, and is also a key source location for trafficking into the UK.

This UK aid package will help stamp out the root causes of dangerous migration through enhanced prevention work.

British expertise will:

• help reduce vulnerabilities to trafficking and unsafe migration through targeted public information campaigns in Edo State. UK government communication specialists will design and lead this in partnership with the Nigerian anti-trafficking police.
• boost engagement with young people at schools and universities to change the aspirations of potential victims
• commission innovative research on what works to prevent dangerous migration attempts
• support NGOs who use former slavery victims to counter false myths that tempt people towards the traffickers.

International Development Secretary Penny Mordaunt said:

It is a necessity that we step up and stamp out modern slavery for good. I am appalled that this shameful stain on our global conscience still exists in the 21st century.

I am proud UK support is driving the charge in tackling the root causes of dangerous migration to prevent vulnerable men, women and children from becoming targeted by traffickers or attempting treacherous journeys again. The benefits of this will be far reaching- preventing regional instability and helping us tackle slavery here in the UK.

Working in partnership with Edo State, a critical trafficking hotspot, this UK aid will shape scalable, cost-effective interventions that tackle the key drivers of modern slavery and unsafe migration attempts. Changing the aspirations of potential victims and migrants in a targeted and tailored way will be essential to achieving this. This is why UK government communication specialists will design and lead a new public information campaign to do just that, in partnership with the Nigerian anti-trafficking police.

By making it worthwhile for people to stay in their home states and supporting NGOs who use former slavery victims to counter false myths that tempt people towards the traffickers, this work will help eradicate these crimes for good.

The UK is at the forefront of the global fight against modern slavery, leading the global Call to Action to end this crime at the UN General Assembly last year, which over 60 countries have now signed.

In 2016 there were over 40 million estimated slavery victims and the UK is committed to eradicating this global scourge, which adds significant costs to the UK economy. Behind these numbers are real people subjected to brutal exploitation every single day.

Notes to editors

• The UK is investing a further £6 million in the ‘Stamping Out Slavery’ in Nigeria (SOSIN) programme, taking its total value to £10 million.
• The programme will support NGOs and Nigerian government agencies to strengthen their slavery prevention work. Working in partnership with Edo State, UK aid will enhance slavery prevention schemes through targeted public information campaigns, education programmes and innovative research. This will shape scalable, cost-effective interventions by NGOs and the government to tackle the root cause of modern slavery.
• This announcement forms part of the doubling of UK development spending (Official Development Assistance) on anti-slavery activities to £150m, announced by the Prime Minister at the UN General Assembly last year.
• The UK is increasing total migration and modern slavery funding in Nigeria to £40.5 million. This prevention programme will complement other Home Office and Foreign Office programmes focused on law enforcement cooperation and tackling the serious organised crime behind people trafficking.
• Modern day slavery costs the UK £4.3billion a year, in terms of policing at home and abroad, and victim care and rehabilitation. Nigeria is estimated to have over 1.3 million slaves and in 2017 Nigerian nationals were the fifth largest group of victims referred to the UK’s national referral mechanism.

The SOSIN project will work by:

• supporting government prevention schemes such as targeted public information, social development and education programmes, and developing new research and data to inform better responses.
• looking at existing anti-slavery outreach in schools and universities and recommend changes in curriculum, messaging or approach, and fund pilots to test and find what works.
• a new public information campaign, designed and led by UK government communication specialists to test new approaches to changing the aspirations of potential victims and migrants, in partnership with the Nigerian anti-trafficking police.
• piloting new prevention interventions, such as using networks of returned victims to counteract false information from traffickers among vulnerable groups, through NGOs that are working in this area.
• doing high-quality research and evidence gathering to share lessons globally on what works.

Dennis Thompson has announced his intention to step down from the role of Managing Director of LLW Repository Ltd at the end of September to pursue new opportunities within his parent organisation AECOM.

Over the next few weeks, Paul Pointon will be appointed as Acting Managing Director, with Martin Walkingshaw taking on the role of Acting Deputy Managing Director.

Both of these appointments are for a period of not less than six months to ensure stability and continuity. Paul will retain oversight of the Repository Development Programme, at the same time fulfilling leadership and governance roles.

Martin will retain his current role as Head of Commercial and Strategic Development and support Paul in the execution of oversight and governance activities.

Both of these appointments have been agreed in principle by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA), Parent Body Organisation (PBO) and Site Licence Company (SLC) Boards and will be formally enacted on 28th September 2018, subject to completion of the Management of Change process.

Dennis will remain as Chairman of the SLC Board, to support the organisation as it goes through this transition.
We are sure that all at LLWR will support Paul and Martin in their new roles, and we wish Dennis every success in his future endeavours and a fond but short lived farewell as he takes up the mantle of Non Executive Chair of LLWR and pursues new opportunities.

The Charity Commission has today published the results of its latest monitoring reviews of charity trustees’ annual reports and accounts. The findings reveal a modest improvement in the quality of public reporting, but the regulator says that too many charities are still falling short in this area.

Public benefit reporting plays a key role in providing transparency so that the public can understand exactly what a charity does and how their donations are being used.

As part of its proactive monitoring work, the Commission scrutinised a random sample of 106 charity trustees’ annual reports and accounts filed with it to assess:

• how charities are meeting the public benefit reporting standards
• whether the accounts meet readers’ needs, including a separate sample of “small charities”

Telling your story well: Public benefit reporting by charities

Trustees have a legal responsibility to comply with the Commission’s guidance on public benefit reporting. All registered charities must publish a trustees’ annual report, setting out the charity’s activities for the public benefit.

The Commission’s review found that 51% of the charities reviewed demonstrated a clear understanding of the public benefit reporting requirement – a 5% improvement from last year’s result.

The majority of annual reports also included key aspects of public benefit reporting, with 71% explaining who benefitted from the charity’s activities, and 62% including a public benefit statement.

Some trustees had expanded their statement to explain why they believed their charity’s activities provided public benefit, whilst others discussed the difference that they had made, particularly to beneficiaries.

Do charity and small charity annual reports and accounts meet the reader’s needs?

The Commission examined whether the charities’ trustees’ annual reports and accounts as a whole met readers’ needs, based on a range of criteria.

For the sample of charities with incomes over £25,000, the Commission found that 74% of the trustees’ annual reports and accounts reviewed were of acceptable quality, meeting the basic benchmark set by the Commission.

The most common reason for inadequate reporting was that the trustees’ annual report did not explain the charitable activities the charity had carried out.

For the sample of small charities, the Commission found that 64% of the charities provided trustees’ annual reports and accounts of acceptable quality, meeting the regulator’s basic benchmark. The main reason for inadequate reporting was that the charity failed to provide one or both of the trustees’ annual report and the accounts.

The Commission has provided regulatory guidance to 89 charities included in the reviews in order to help the trustees improve the quality of future trustees’ annual reports and accounts.

Nigel Davies, Head of Accountancy Services at the Charity Commission for England and Wales said:

“Our research into trust and confidence in charities shows that the public no longer give charities the benefit of the doubt; they want evidence that charities make a difference when using their money. Public reporting is an opportunity for charities to tell their story and explain to the public what they do and how they use charitable funds.

“Producing a trustees’ annual report and accounts is not an administrative box-ticking exercise. It is a chance to show how your charity is making an impact and how you are delivering on your core purpose.

“Today’s results show that too many charities are still not meeting very basic standards when it comes to making key information available to the public. I am encouraged to see that an increasing number of trustees recognise the value of public benefit reporting, but there is clearly more work to be done across the sector.”

The full reports are available on GOV.UK.

Ends

Notes to editors

1. The Commission’s research into public trust and confidence in charities was published on 11 July 2018 and is available on GOV.UK.
2. The Charity Commission is the regulator of charities in England and Wales. To find out more about our work see the about us page on GOV.UK.
3. Search for charities on our check charity tool.
4. To assess whether small charities accounts met readers’ needs, the Commission included a separate sample of 110 small charities, those with incomes less than £25,000, who are not required to routinely file their trustees’ annual report and accounts with the regulator (except for Charitable Incorporated Organisations)
5. In addition to producing an annual report, all registered charities must prepare accounts and, where the charity’s income is over £25,000, arrange for them to be scrutinised through an audit or independent examination. They must also file their set of accounts with the regulator.

A UK Government spokesperson said:

The Government expresses serious concern at the tragic loss of life in Yemen over the last month. In the first two weeks of August alone, over 400 Yemenis lost their lives, including young children, and many more continue to face egregious violations of their basic human rights.

We are also deeply concerned by the tragic incidents of 2 August, 9 August, and 23 August in which so many Yemenis were killed. We offer our sincerest condolences to the families of the victims.

We welcome the speed of the investigation into the incident of 9 August, and the Coalition’s announcement of regret and action to address the recommendations of that investigation. We are reviewing the investigation’s conclusions.

We welcome the Coalition’s announcement of an investigation into the incident of 23 August and encourage the publication of the outcomes of this investigation as soon as possible. We also call for clarification of the circumstances around the incident of 2 August.

The Government condemns the attacks against Red Sea shipping, and regular missile attacks against Saudi Arabia which have been launched by the Houthis with Iranian support. These attacks have targeted residential areas and shown no regard for civilian life. Coalition countries have a legitimate right to defend their own territory.

The UK urges all parties to the conflict to do everything possible to protect innocent civilians and to demonstrate their commitment to International Humanitarian Law.

This conflict began following a seizure of power in some parts of Yemen by the Houthis, forcing out the legitimate government from these areas. The urgency now is for everyone to enable and support the UN-sponsored political process beginning with talks in Geneva on 6 September.

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