Gordon West, of Benfleet, Essex, was caught fishing without a licence on 23 November 2021 at Martham Pits, Norfolk. John Ellingham, of Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, was caught fishing during the close season on 1 May 2022 on the River Bure near Wroxham, Norfolk. Sam Reynolds, of Bacton, Norfolk, was caught fishing without a licence and having left 2 rods unattended on 5 April 2022 at Coston Carp Lakes, Coston, Norfolk.

All 3 cases were heard at Hastings Magistrates Court. The court fined West £220 and Reynolds £197 and ordered them both to pay a £34 victim surcharge and £135 in costs. Ellingham was fined £138 and ordered to pay a £34 victim surcharge and £65 costs. All 3 fines total £992 – this is 22 times more than the current price of a £45 fishing licence.*

Enforcement Team Leader, Lesley Robertson, said:

These cases show we pursue offenders through the courts and won’t hesitate to take enforcement action where anglers break rules. Anyone found fishing illegally may face prosecution and a fine of up to £2,500.

The close season is in place to allow an uninterrupted spawning period and helps to protect vulnerable species. It also provides an opportunity for the Environment Agency and partners to carry out projects up and down the country to further enhance habitats vital for improving fish spawning.

All anglers need a valid Environment Agency fishing licence. The money raised through the sales of fishing licences is re-invested and enables us to improve all fisheries, including rivers, for anglers.

Our fisheries enforcement officers routinely undertake licence checks, and we urge anyone with information about illegal fishing to contact us on 0800 807060.

Licences now run 365 days from the day of purchase offering 12 full months of fishing.

Any angler aged 13 or over, fishing on a river, canal or still water needs a licence. A 1-day licence costs from just £6, and an annual licence costs from just £30. Concessions are available. Junior licences are free for 13 to 16 year-olds.

For more information or to buy a fishing licence visit the GOV.UK website or call the Environment Agency on 0344 800 5386. Alternatively, you can purchase a licence from your local Post Office branch.

The Environment Agency carries out enforcement work all year round and is supported by police forces and the Angling Trust. Fisheries enforcement work is intelligence-led, targeting known hot-spots and where illegal fishing is reported.

Anyone with information about illegal fishing activities should report it to our incident hotline number 0800 807060. You can also report it to Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

*£45 is the cost of a 12-month trout and coarse 3-rod fishing licence.

Charges:

Gordon West and Sam Reynolds pleaded guilty to breaching Section 27(1)(a) of the Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries Act 1975.

Sam Reynolds pleaded guilty to breaching Byelaw 10 of the Environment Agency National Byelaws which came into force on 27 May 2001 made pursuant to Section 210 and Schedule 25 of the Water Resources Act 1991 and contrary to Section 211 of the said Act.

John Ellingham pleaded guilty to breaching National Byelaw 2 of the Environment Agency Byelaws made on the 12 July 2010 and contrary to National Byelaw 6 confirmed 23 March 2010 made pursuant to sections 210 and 211 schedule 25 of the Water Resource Act 1991.

They were sentenced at Hastings Magistrates’ Court on 29 July 2022.

England

In England the June data shows, on average, house prices have risen by 0.9% since May 2022. The annual price rise of 7.3% takes the average property value to £304,867.

The regional data for England indicates that:

• the East of England experienced the greatest increase in its average property value over the last 12 months with a movement of 9.7%

• the North East saw the lowest annual price growth with an increase of 3.6%

• Yorkshire and the Humber saw the most significant monthly price fall with a movement of -0.4% since May 2022

• the North West experienced the greatest monthly growth with an increase of 2.1% since May 2022

Price change by region for England

Repossession sales by volume for England

The lowest number of repossession sales in April 2022 was in the East of England region.

The highest number of repossession sales in April 2022 was in the North East.

Average price by property type for England

Funding and buyer status for England

Building status for England

London

London shows, on average, house prices have risen by 1.9% since May 2022. An annual price rise of 6.3% takes the average property value to £537,920.

Average price by property type for London

Funding and buyer status for London

Building status for London

Wales

Wales shows, on average, house prices have risen by 0.6% since May 2022. An annual price rise of 8.6% takes the average property value to £213,091.

There were 2 repossession sale for Wales in April 2022.

Average price by property type for Wales

Funding and buyer status for Wales

Building status for Wales

Access the full UK HPI

UK house prices

UK house prices increased by 7.8% in the year to June 2022, down from 12.8% in May 2022. On a non-seasonally adjusted basis, average house prices in the UK increased by 1.0% between May and June 2022, down from an increase of 5.7% during the same period a year earlier (May and June 2021).

The UK Property Transactions Statistics showed that in June 2022, on a seasonally adjusted basis, the estimated number of transactions of residential properties with a value of £40,000 or greater was 95,420. This is 54.3% lower than a year ago (June 2021). Between May and June 2022, UK transactions decreased by 7.9% on a seasonally adjusted basis.

House price growth was strongest in the East of England where prices increased by 9.7% in the year to June 2022. The lowest annual growth was in North East, where prices increased by 3.6% in the year to June 2022.

See the economic statement.

The data is accurate. However, this release may be subject to increased revisions as we add more data over the coming months.

Background

1. We publish the UK House Price Index (HPI) on the second or third Wednesday of each month with Northern Ireland figures updated quarterly. We will publish the July 2022 UK HPI at 9:30am on Wednesday 14 September 2022. See calendar of release dates.

2. We have made some changes to improve the accuracy of the UK HPI. We are not publishing average price and percentage change for new builds and existing resold property as done previously because there are not currently enough new build transactions to provide a reliable result. This means that in this month’s UK HPI reports, new builds and existing resold property are reported in line with the sales volumes currently available.

3. The UK HPI revision period has been extended to 13 months, following a review of the revision policy (see calculating the UK HPI section 4.4). This ensures the data used is more comprehensive.

4. Sales volume data is available by property status (new build and existing property) and funding status (cash and mortgage) in our downloadable data tables. Transactions that require us to create a new register, such as new builds, are more complex and require more time to process. Read revisions to the UK HPI data.

5. Revision tables are available for England and Wales within the downloadable data in CSV format. See about the UK HPI for more information.

6. HM Land Registry, Registers of Scotland, Land & Property Services/Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency and the Valuation Office Agency supply data for the UK HPI.

7. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) and Land & Property Services/Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency calculate the UK HPI. It applies a hedonic regression model that uses the various sources of data on property price, including HM Land Registry’s Price Paid Dataset, and attributes to produce estimates of the change in house prices each month. Find out more about the methodology used from the ONS and Northern Ireland Statistics & Research Agency.

8. We take the UK Property Transaction statistics from the HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) monthly estimates of the number of residential and non-residential property transactions in the UK and its constituent countries. The number of property transactions in the UK is highly seasonal, with more activity in the summer months and less in the winter. This regular annual pattern can sometimes mask the underlying movements and trends in the data series. HMRC presents the UK aggregate transaction figures on a seasonally adjusted basis. We make adjustments for both the time of year and the construction of the calendar, including corrections for the position of Easter and the number of trading days in aparticular month.

9. UK HPI seasonally adjusted series are calculated at regional and national levels only. See data tables.

10. The first estimate for new build average price (May 2016 report) was based on a small sample which can cause volatility. A three-month moving average has been applied to the latest estimate to remove some of this volatility.

11. The UK HPI reflects the final transaction price for sales of residential property. Using the geometric mean, it covers purchases at market value for owner-occupation and buy-to-let, excluding those purchases not at market value (such as re-mortgages), where the ‘price’ represents a valuation.

12. HM Land Registry provides information on residential property transactions for England and Wales, collected as part of the official registration process for properties that are sold for full market value.

13. The HM Land Registry dataset contains the sale price of the property, the date when the sale was completed, full address details, the type of property (detached, semi-detached, terraced or flat), if it is a newly built property or an established residential building and a variable to indicate if the property has been purchased as a financed transaction (using a mortgage) or as a non-financed transaction (cash purchase).

14. Repossession sales data is based on the number of transactions lodged with HM Land Registry by lenders exercising their power of sale.

15. For England, we show repossession sales volume recorded by government office region. For Wales, we provide repossession sales volume for the number of repossession sales.

16. Repossession sales data is available from May 2016 in CSV format. Find out more information about repossession sales.

17. We publish CSV files of the raw and cleansed aggregated data every month for England, Scotland and Wales. We publish Northern Ireland data on a quarterly basis. They are available for free use and re-use under the Open Government Licence.

18. HM Land Registry’s mission is to guarantee and protect property rights in England and Wales.

19. HM Land Registry is a government department created in 1862. Its ambition is to become the world’s leading land registry for speed, simplicity and an open approach to data.

20. HM Land Registry safeguards land and property ownership worth in excess of £8 trillion, including over £1 trillion of mortgages. The Land Register contains more than 26 million titles showing evidence of ownership for some 88% of the land mass of England and Wales.

21. For further information about HM Land Registry visit www.gov.uk/land-registry.

22. Follow us on Twitter, our blog, LinkedIn and Facebook.

Rebecca Simmons was a director of Tia-Bella Limited, trading from premises in Queen Street, Wolverhampton.

The company, a specialty balloon and gifts retailer, was incorporated in March 2019 but just over 2 years later in July 2021, Tia-Bella entered into creditors voluntary liquidation. Tia-Bella’s insolvency, however, triggered further enquiries from the Insolvency Service.

Investigators discovered that Rebecca Simmons had applied for a bounce back loan in May 2020, a loan from the government to support viable businesses during the pandemic, but received funds far greater than what Tia-Bella was entitled to.

Rebecca Simmons had exaggerated the company’s turnover claiming it to be £180,000 and received a £45,000 loan.

But investigators uncovered that based on available records, Tia-Bella’s annual turnover was a maximum of £1,300. This meant Tia-Bella was not entitled to even the minimum bounce back loan of £2,000.

Further enquiries uncovered that in the space of 2 months, Rebecca Simmons caused the company to make payments worth just over £31,000, including a £10,000 directors’ loans, £10,000 towards a company car, and £10,000 worth of repayments of deposits incurred before the pandemic.

Rebecca Simmons was unable to provide supporting documents, which left investigators unable to confirm whether the £45,000 bounce back loan benefited the business or not.

On 4 August 2022, the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy accepted a 9-year disqualification undertaking from Rebecca Simmons after she did not dispute that she caused Tia-Bella Limited to apply for a government-backed Bounce Back Loan the company was not entitled to.

Effective from 25 August, Rebecca Simmons is banned from directly, or indirectly, becoming involved in the promotion, formation or management of a company, without the permission of the court.

Tia-Bella’s Liquidator is considering the bounce back loan and recovery of funds.

Lawrence Zussman, Deputy Head of Insolvent Investigations, said:

Bounce back loans were issued by the government to help viable businesses during the pandemic. Not only did Rebecca Simmons grossly exaggerate the company’s turnover to secure a loan she shouldn’t have got a single penny of, Rebecca Simmons went onto use the funds on activities she couldn’t even justify as benefitting Tia-Bella.

Rebecca Simmons conduct fell extremely short of the standards required of a company director and has been removed from the corporate arena for a significant amount of time. Her 9-year ban should serve as a clear warning that if you abuse government support, we will use our full powers to bring you to account.

Rebecca Simmons is from Walsall and her date of birth is May 1990.

Tia-Bella Limited (Company Reg no. 11914869).

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

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

You can also follow the Insolvency Service on:

Thousands of victims of the infected blood scandal will each receive an interim compensation payment of £100,000, the Government has announced today (17 August).

The Government intends to make payments to those who have been infected and bereaved partners in England by the end of October. The same payments will be made in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The commitment to pay interim compensation meets, in full, the recommendations set out by inquiry chairman Sir Brian Langstaff in his interim report last month. That report built on the study by Sir Robert Francis QC in his detailed consideration of the issues.  Details were announced by Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Kit Malthouse today.

The intention is that payments will be tax-free and will not affect any financial benefits support an individual is receiving. Infected individuals and bereaved partners who are registered with any of the four UK infected blood support schemes will receive payment. Advice to those people on how exactly the interim payment will be made will be outlined to them shortly.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said:

While nothing can make up for the pain and suffering endured by those affected by this tragic injustice, we are taking action to do right by victims and those who have tragically lost their partners by making sure they receive these interim payments as quickly as possible.

We will continue to stand by all those impacted by this horrific tragedy, and I want to personally pay tribute to all those who have so determinedly fought for justice.

Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Kit Malthouse said:

Those affected by the infected blood scandal have suffered terribly over many years and that heart-breaking and unimaginable pain has been compounded by the financial uncertainty many have faced.

These interim payments will start the process of securing that certainty. My priority is to get the money to those people as quickly as possible.

I am grateful to Sir Brian Langstaff for the work he has done to date on the inquiry, and Sir Robert Francis, for his work on compensation. Of course, no amount of money will compensate for the turmoil victims and their loved ones have faced, but I hope these payments help to show that we are on their side and will do everything in our power to support them.

Health and Social Care Secretary, Steve Barclay, said:

The infected blood scandal should never have happened. In accepting Sir Brian Langstaff’s recommendations, today we are taking an important step in righting this historic wrong for the thousands of people infected and bereaved partners left behind.

Building on the ongoing support we are providing through the England Infected Blood Scheme, these new interim payments of £100,000 will ensure those impacted across the whole country by this injustice can access the compensation they need, right now.

I’m grateful to those who have campaigned extensively in support of these changes – we have listened and work is underway to ensure those impacted by this tragedy receive the support they rightly deserve.

In England, the intention is to make payments by the end of October.

The Government has updated Sir Brian Langstaff that his recommendations have been accepted.

ENDS

Notes to Editors:

The administration of the schemes in the Devolved Administrations is for the relevant devolved administration. These interim compensation payments for current beneficiaries are estimated to cost c.£400 million for the whole UK.