6 March 2017

Leader of the Wales Green Party Alice Hooker-Stroud today announced that she will be stepping down at the end of March. Grenville Ham, current deputy leader and expert in renewable energy, will take over.

Grenville Ham, said:

“I want to thank Alice for all her contributions to the Wales Green Party, and to build on this movement which genuinely represents the best interests of Welsh people, rather than one that panders to big business. I look forward to continuing the Wales Green Party’s work of creating a society where people are more important than profit”.

Talking about next steps for the Wales Green Party, Ham added: “It will be an immense privilege to lead the party into the Council elections in May. My priority will be to support all of the hardworking Wales Green Party candidates who offer their communities the chance to vote for fresh ideas and a positive future. I will be standing myself in Brecon, and I’m already seeing local people recognise that in order to get a meaningful change they can’t keep voting for the same old parties”.

Hooker-Stroud, who has led the Wales Green Party since the beginning of 2016, said in a statement today that the lack of funding for smaller parties in the UK has contributed to her position being untenable.

Hooker-Stroud said:

“I love Wales and I feel honoured to have represented the Wales Green Party’s vision on behalf of our members. Though the decision to step down was not easy, it was made easier by the fact I knew I would be handing over to Grenville, a committed, skilled, and experienced member of the Wales Green Party who will take us forward with confidence to the elections in May.

Speaking of her reasons for stepping down, Hooker-Stroud said:

“As a party that cares about who lines our pockets, we don’t take funds from big business donors like other parties do. That means our members have the biggest say – not corporate lobbyists, but it has contributed to my role being effectively a voluntary one, which for me has sadly become untenable. I am proud that every person in our party has an equal say, and proud that when I speak on behalf of the party, that I know I speak on behalf of our members. However, the financing of political parties in general needs urgent reform so that politicians aren’t just the mouthpieces for big business, and so that alternative voices are heard.”

Hooker-Stroud added: “Parties that have a lot of money can do a lot, and those who have a smaller amount can do less. That is how contemporary politics works. We need to level the playing field financially for political parties in Wales, and in the UK. It would be a much fairer country all round for everyone.”

Notes

[1] The Wales Green Party campaigns to make politics fairer, which includes fairer finances for political parties. The party call for a cap on large donations that mean wealthy individuals and organisations have a huge influence on politics, and for state funding to be available to parties who achieve more than 3% of a proportional national vote. Other countries, such as Sweden already give state funding to political parties to level the financial playing field.

[2] Ham was elected as a deputy leader in December in 2016. He gained over 50% of the Wales Green Party membership vote against two other candidates. He ran as a candidate on the regional list for Mid and West Wales in the Welsh Assembly elections last year and is currently standing in this May’s council elections in his own ward, St Mary’s in Brecon. He runs a not-for-profit engineering company in Powys and has been awarded the British Empire Medal for ‘Services to the Renewable Energy in Wales’.

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Mr Ireland has given an undertaking to the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy that he won’t act as a director of a company for a period of 7 years from 21 March 2017.

Scotboys Group Plc was a company set up for wired telecommunication and travel agency activities.

On 22 September 2015, Scotboys Group Plc, with liabilities of £52,106 was placed into compulsory liquidation following a winding up petition lodged by Direct Response Limited. Mr Ireland was the sole director of Scotboys Group Plc at that time.

Following the Liquidator’s appointment, the investigation found as a consequence of Mr Ireland’s failure to co-operate and deliver up the company’s accounting records it was not possible to verify:

• why Scotboys Group Plc failed to meet the legal requirements of a Plc
• the true nature of the company’s trading business and history
• the financial position of the company, at any given time, between incorporation on 07 August 2013 and 22 September 2015 when the company was placed into liquidation
• what became of unpaid goods supplied by creditors totalling £24,958

Robert Clarke, Head of Company Investigation at the Insolvency Service said:

Keeping proper records is a pivotal duty for directors and there is no place in the business environment for those who neglect their responsibilities in this area and thereby cover up the activities of the companies they manage. The lack of records in this case made it impossible to determine whether there was other, more serious, misconduct at Scotboys Group Plc and that is reflected in the lengthy period of disqualification.

This ban should serve as a reminder to any directors tempted to do the same: the Insolvency Service will vigorously investigate you and seek to remove you from the marketplace.

Notes to editors

Scotboys Group Plc (CRO No. SC456211) went into compulsory liquidation on 22 September 2015 with a deficiency to creditors of £52,106. The company was incorporated to provide wired telecommunications and travel agency activities.

Christopher John Ireland is of Dundee and his date of birth is 7 December 1982.

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.

Market investigations are powerful tools that can bring in major changes to make markets work better for consumers and businesses.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) committed, in its Annual Plan, to review the way it conducts them. It took account of experience since they were introduced in the Enterprise Act 2002, and in particular of the CMA’s major investigations into energy and banking, as well as legislative changes that came into force in 2014, reducing their time limit from 2 years to 18 months.

The CMA is proposing the following changes to streamline its existing processes and ensure it meets the shorter statutory timescale:

• Increasing interaction with stakeholders at an early stage in the investigation, including holding formal hearings sooner in the process.
• Assessing potential remedies to improve the market at an earlier stage in the investigation.
• Reducing the number of formal publication and consultation stages – removing the Updated Issues Statement, and combining provisional findings and provisional remedies into a single Provisional Decision Report.
• Allowing market studies (a shorter look at the market which can precede market investigations) to carry out preparatory work when they are likely to lead to a full investigation.
• Introducing the option for the CMA board to give an advisory steer on the scope of the market investigation, which is run by an independent group of CMA panel members.

The CMA considers that these proposed changes will enable it to carry out its market investigations more quickly, without reducing their effectiveness. It also believes they will preserve a fair and robust process and independence of decision-making throughout, which is central to the regime. And it thinks that earlier discussion of possible remedies to any competition problems uncovered should ensure a fuller discussion with all parties involved, ensuring the most effective remedies possible.

The document outlining the proposed changes and the resulting changes in the CMA’s published guidance, is available on the consultation page.

Interested parties are encouraged to respond to the consultation, which will run until 2 May 2017. Responses should be submitted by email to marketinvestigations-review@cma.gsi.gov.uk or by post to:

Today [March 6] we are going to be having a discussion about the continued role of the EU in defence and security and clearly this is something that the UK supports. We are always going to be part of Europe’s wider security architecture provided, of course, that it does not undermine NATO. NATO is the cornerstone of our Atlantic alliance and of our defence.

We’ll be having discussions about Ukraine and what we can collectively do to shore up Ukraine in view of the various threats that it faces. I’ll be briefing the Council along with my Polish colleague – Witold Waszczykowski – about our recent trip to Kiev and what we were able to discuss with President Poroshenko and Foreign Minister Klimkin about the struggles that they face, and the threats that they face, particularly in Eastern Ukraine.

We’ll also have a discussion with Sameh Shoukry – the Egyptian Foreign Minister – and we’ll be talking again about what we in Europe can do to shore up Egypt as it makes its important progress towards democracy and greater reform.

The following summary of planned new and ongoing road improvements over the coming week is correct as of 06 March but could be subject to change due to weather conditions or unforeseen circumstances. All our improvement work is carried out with the aim of causing as little disruption as possible.

M1 junction 28 to 35a, Nottinghamshire/Derbyshire/Yorkshire: smart motorway

Until winter 2017, there will be various restrictions in place on the M1 between junctions 28 and 35a to allow for the construction of the smart motorway. These include lane closures, speed restrictions, hard shoulder running and overnight slip road or carriageway closures.

On Monday 6 March, the exit slip road at junction 28 will be closed overnight from 8pm to 6am, the southbound entry and exit slip road at Tibshelf services, the northbound exit slip road at junction 29a, the southbound entry slip road at junction 33 and the southbound exit slip road at junction 32 will all be closed overnight.

On Tuesday 7 March, the southbound entry and exit slip road at Tibshelf services, the southbound entry slip road at junction 28, the entry slip road at junction 29a, the M1 southbound entry slip road at junction 33 and the southbound exit slip road at junction 32 will all be closed overnight.

On Wednesday 8 March, the northbound entry and exit slip road at Tibshelf services, the southbound exit slip road at junction 29, the southbound entry slip road at junction 33 and the southbound exit slip road at junction 32 will all be closed overnight.

On Thursday 9 March, the southbound exit and entry slip road at junction 29, the southbound entry slip road at junction 33 and the southbound exit slip road at junction 32 will all be closed overnight.

On Friday 10 March, the northbound exit slip road will be closed at junction 29, the southbound entry slip road at junction 33 and the exit slip road at junction 32 will all be closed overnight.

On Saturday 11 March, the southbound entry slip road will be closed at junction 33 and the southbound exit slip road will be closed at junction 32 overnight.

On Sunday 12 March, the southbound entry slip road at junction 33 will be closed and the southbound exit slip road will be closed at junction 32 overnight.

M1 junction 19 to 16, Northamptonshire: smart motorway

On Monday 6 March, the southbound carriageway will have two lanes closed between junction 18 and 16. The northbound carriageway will also have two lanes closed between junction 18 and 16 from 9pm to 6am.

On Tuesday 7 March, there will be a full northbound carriageway closure between junction 16 and 18, the northbound entry slip road at junction 16, the northbound entry and exit slip road at Watford Gap Services and the northbound exit slip road at junction 18 will all be closed overnight.

On Wednesday 8 March, the northbound carriageway will be closed between junction 16 and junction 18, the northbound entry slip road at junction 16, entry and exit slip road at Watford Gap Services and the northbound exit slip road will all be closed overnight. There will also be two lanes closed on the southbound carriageway overnight.

On Thursday 9 March, northbound carriageway will be closed between junction 16 and 18, the entry slip road at junction 16, the northbound entry and exit slip road at Watford Gap services and the northbound exit slip road at junction 18 overnight.

On Friday 10 March, there will be two lanes closed between junction 18 to junction 16 on both the northbound and southbound carriageway overnight.

On Saturday 11 March, the northbound carriageway will be closed between junction 18 and junction 19 and the entry slip road at junction 18 overnight.

On Sunday 12 March, there will be a full carriageway closure between junction 18 to 19 and the northbound entry slip road at junction 18 will all be closed overnight.

General enquiries

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

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