Local artist Sajida Asif has been working with children from Tame Valley Academy as well as adult, youth and women’s groups in the community to produce the artwork which reflects the history of Bromford.

The mural will be used to decorate some of the new flood walls which are part of the Bromford flood risk management scheme. The scheme aims to reduce the risk of flooding from the River Tame to 1,589 residential properties and 42 non-residential properties in the area.

The scheme extends more than 4.5 kilometres from the River Rea, through Bromford and Castle Vale, and downstream to the M42 crossing at Water Orton.

Suzanne Ward, Environment Manager for the Environment Agency said:

We are close to completing the Bromford flood risk management scheme on the right bank of the river which will help to better protect homes and businesses from the devastation of flooding. We are delighted that this essential structure is being decorated with the colourful artwork of local children and community members.

Sajida Asid added:

It has been truly wonderful working with the Bromford community of all ages. They have given me such a warm welcome that I feel like I’ve known this community for a long time.

Through our friendly discussions they have shared many stories of Bromford and talked about the history of the area, each from a personal perspective. The collection of paintings will aim to welcome people to the community in the same way that I have been welcomed and be a walk through Bromford’s history to the present day.

The scheme will reduce the risk of river flooding to 1,589 residential properties with 893 homes protected on the right bank and 696 homes protected on the left bank in Bromford and Castle Vale. It will also reduce the risk of river flooding to 42 non-residential properties in Bromford and Castle Vale.

The works are predicted to help prevent £321 million of flood damages. It will also include environmental enhancements to the River Tame including extensive tree planting and wildflower meadows on the right bank.

Other benefits include unlocking housing regeneration potential by reduced flood risk and allowing over £40 million investment into new housing by Birmingham City Council in Bromford as well as improvements to the well-used Bromford Park, including a newly refurbished and improved playpark area delivered by Birmingham City Council with a £200,000 contribution from the Environment Agency.

Background

The Environment Agency is working in partnership with Birmingham City Council (BCC) and Birmingham Municipal Housing Trust (BMHT) to deliver the scheme.

The scheme comprises of 3 main sections:

• A series of flood walls on the left bank
• A separate series of flood walls on the left bank
• A series of 5 flood walls and more than 2 kilometres of earth works (clay and soil) on the right bank known as Bromford Drive or ‘the embankment’. A new cycle track is finished on top of the earth works and will provide a new cycle route through Bromford Drive.

Anthony James Killarney, 62, from Brentwood, has been given an 11-year ban for falsely claiming a £50,000 Bounce Back Loan for his property development firm.

Killarney was the sole director of K11 Developments Ltd, which was incorporated in August 2015 and traded as a property development company based in Essex until it went into liquidation in November 2021.

In May 2020, Killarney applied for a Bounce Back Loan for K11 Developments Ltd, stating the company’s 2019 turnover as £600,000. This led to the company receiving the maximum £50,000 loan.

Bounce Back Loans were a government scheme to help support businesses through the Covid-19 pandemic. Under the rules of the scheme, companies could apply for loans of between £2,000 and £50,000, up to a maximum of 25% of their turnover for 2019.

But K11 Developments Ltd went into liquidation in November 2021, owing around £388,800, which triggered an investigation by the Insolvency Service.

Investigators discovered that K11 Developments’ turnover for the years ending August 2017, 2018 and 2019 had been nil, and the company had not been entitled to the £50,000 Bounce Back Loan. The full amount of the loan was still owed when the company went into liquidation.

The Secretary of State accepted a disqualification undertaking from Anthony James Killarney after he did not dispute that he had caused K11 Developments Ltd to breach the condition of the government’s Bounce Back Loan scheme by overstating turnover in order to claim £50,000 to which the company was not entitled.

Killarney’s disqualification began on 2 November 2022 and lasts for 11 years. The ban prevents him from directly or indirectly becoming involved in the promotion, formation or management of a company, without the permission of the court.

The liquidator of K11 Developments Ltd is working to recover the full amount of the loan from the former director.

Martin Gitner, Deputy Head of Insolvent Investigations at the Insolvency Service, said:

Bounce back loans were put in place to provide vital support to help viable businesses through the pandemic, providing them with the financial support to protect jobs and return to prosperity.

The conduct of Anthony James Killarney fell extremely short of the standards required of company directors and his ban should serve as a stark warning to other directors who may have misused financial support during the pandemic that the Insolvency Service will act to bring your misconduct to account and remove you from the corporate arena.

Anthony James Killarney is of Brentwood and his date of birth is August 1960

Company K11 Development Ltd (Company Reg no. 09753926)

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 restrictions.

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

You can also follow the Insolvency Service on:

Thank you, Chair. On behalf of the United Kingdom, let me welcome the Co-Chairs of the Geneva International Discussions (GID) to the Permanent Council and thank you for your remarks.

Georgia has been under continuous hybrid attack from Russia since the 2008 war which saw 20% of Georgian territory effectively annexed. The UK remains deeply concerned over the continued illegal Russian presence in Georgia’s Abkhazia and South Ossetia regions and fully supports Georgia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders.

This year, the multitude of hybrid tactics against Georgia have included the August announcement of the so-called transfer of the Bichvinta estate in Abkhazia to the Federal Protective Service of the Russian Federation on a 49-year lease. This is yet another flagrant breach of Georgia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

The UK was deeply concerned by the illegal so-called Parliamentary election which took place on 12 March 2022 in Abkhazia, and the illegal so-called Presidential elections which took place on 10 April 2022 in South Ossetia. We welcome that the proposed illegal referendum in South Ossetia did not go ahead, and strongly indicate that it should not be rearranged in future.

We call on Russia to reverse its recognition of the so-called independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia and end all practices aimed at creeping annexation of these territories into the Russian Federation. We welcome initiatives by the government of Georgia to promote reconciliation among the populations separated by the Administrative Boundary Lines and urge Russia not to obstruct these valuable peace building and people to people contacts.

Co-chairs, the UK reiterates our unwavering support for your work. As the only international forum that brings together all sides from the conflict, the GID plays a vital role in trying to achieve a lasting resolution. We welcomed the 56th round of Discussions held on 5 October and your continued open channels of communication following the 10-month pause since the 55th round held in December 2021. We stress the importance of continued communication as you look towards the 57th round of talks. The UK continues to support UN Women to help facilitate the meaningful participation of grass-roots women peacebuilders in the formal dialogues, so we also urge further discussion in future rounds on the role of women in peacebuilding and security.

We remain grateful to the OSCE for its engagement in the GID and the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism meetings, as well as in the implementation of confidence-building measures. Although we welcome the functioning of the IPRM in Ergneti and the last meeting which took place in September, we highlight the need to restart regular meetings of the Gali IPRM. These meetings play an important role in preventing the escalation of the conflict and in helping to provide safety and security to people on the ground.

We call upon the Russian Federation to immediately fulfil its clear obligation under the 2008 ceasefire agreement to withdraw its forces to pre-conflict positions, as well as its commitments to allow unfettered access for the delivery of humanitarian assistance and the return of internally displaced persons to return to their homes in safety and dignity.

The burden lies with Russia to take these actions, respect the territorial integrity of Georgia as well as its neighbours including Ukraine, and rebuild the trust that underpins the OSCE and the GID.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr Chair. As we look ahead to the OSCE Ministerial Council in Lodz next week, Russia’s unprovoked and illegal invasion of Ukraine – supported by the Belarusian regime – will rightly be a central focus. The Russian Government’s repressive actions externally in Ukraine and internally within Russia have struck at the heart of the OSCE’s core principles; principles we have all committed to for our collective security, and for a more peaceful, just and stable future. Through its actions, the Kremlin has demonstrated that it prefers war over peace; death over life; chaos over stability; and isolation over cooperation.

Just yesterday, missile strikes on Ukraine plummeted Ukrainian cities into darkness and caused massive blackouts in Moldova. As other colleagues have mentioned, a new-born baby was killed in a missile strike on a maternity unit in the southern Zaporizhzhia region. This baby is but one life amongst thousands of lives lost, because of the decisions of one man, President Putin. At the UN Security Council Session last night, we reiterated the message – Russia’s systematic attacks on Ukrainian civilians and civilian infrastructure are unacceptable and must end.

And what has Russia achieved in return? The past nine months have been testament to the grave miscalculation Putin made when he chose to invade a sovereign neighbour. Not only has Russia achieved none of the strategic objectives of his invasion, Putin has underestimated the unwavering bravery and resilience of the Ukrainian people, and the resolve of the international community at every turn.

Nowhere is this clearer than in Kyiv, Kharkiv and Kherson. When Putin sent his forces into Ukraine, he thought Kyiv would fall in a matter of days. Whilst his military was being driven back by Ukrainian forces, he declared Kherson part of Russia ‘forever’. Ukraine has shattered Putin’s delusional belief that he could seize Ukrainian sovereign land, and be welcomed by those he sought to subjugate.

Mr Chair, President Putin would have the world believe Russia is liberating Ukraine. However, the real legacy of his illegal war – what his war of choice has actually achieved – will be nothing but death and destruction:

• So far there are more than 16,700 civilian casualties, including over 6,500 killed;
• 17.7 million in need of humanitarian assistance;
• over 7.8 million refugees;
• 6.5 million internally displaced people; and
• We have just heard from our Ukrainian colleague about the millions who have been left without electricity, water or heating as temperatures have begun to drop below zero.

The Kremlin can continue to try to distract and deny responsibility for the atrocities committed by its military forces, however no lie, no disinformation, no false truths can erase the memories of the countless Ukrainians subjected to atrocities and war crimes. Putin cannot defend robbing Ukraine’s 5.7 million school-age children of a safe and stable education.

And the repercussions of Russia’s war are not only being felt in Ukraine, but worldwide. Global food markets have been severely disrupted, hitting the poorest the hardest, accompanied by an eightfold increase in global energy prices caused by Russia turning off their gas taps. Almost every corner of the world has been impacted by Putin’s war in some way; the economic aftershocks will be felt for years to come.

Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine has unleashed a Pandora’s Box of suffering, pain, death and devastation on Ukraine and the wider world – but Russia can bring it to an end. Russia needs to cease hostilities, withdraw from within Ukraine’s internationally recognised borders, and adhere to its international obligations and commitments – without conditions.

Last week’s guilty verdict, convicting 3 individuals of murder in relation to the downing of MH14, was an important step in securing justice for the families of the victims.

Mr Chair, the UK is proud to have stood with Ukraine from the very beginning of this barbaric war. We will continue to do so. We are humbled by the strength and determination shown by Ukraine in defence of the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity. Next week, as we gather in Poland, we call on participating States to champion the OSCE commitments that underpin our collective security; to defend and uphold international law; and to hold those responsible for atrocities to account. We cannot and will not allow Russia’s behaviour to go unimpeded.