Sixteen faith-based groups working with the most vulnerable people in local communities will receive a boost to support their work through the government’s £1.3 million Faith New Deal pilot scheme.

The groups, which include Christian, Jewish and interfaith organisations, will work in partnership with councils, schools, police, health providers and voluntary groups to develop innovative interventions to tackle social issues affecting those in most need of support.

Projects will include providing debt and employability advice, tackling food poverty, providing support for mental health issues and combatting loneliness and isolation.

The fund will also help faith groups to build on the collaboration with national and local government that happened during the pandemic.

Examples of this include supporting government’s effort to reach communities and administer the COVID-19 vaccine:

• A Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise partner, Strengthening Faith Institutions, helped to transform the Greengate Mosque in Oldham into a temporary vaccination centre, where over 2,000 people from local communities received life-saving vaccines.
• Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara in Wolverhampton worked hand in hand with public health services to help the government better understand coronavirus detection by running testing pilots in partnership with faith groups across the city.

The Faith New Deal Fund will also inform the development of a Faith Compact that will set out key principles to aid engagement between faith groups and government.

Faith Minister Paul Scully said:

We saw the instrumental role that faith organisations played in supporting vulnerable people during the pandemic. Working closely with local partners, councils and government, they supported communities where they need it most.

This pilot scheme will build on that vital work, so that faith organisations and their partners can continue to support communities as they recover.

Minister Scully recently visited the Church Revitalisation Trust based in West London, one of the faith groups awarded funding. Through their nationwide Love Your Neighbour project, they work in partnership with volunteers and public services to provide debt advice, employment training and other community care.

Revd Tom Jackson MBE, Chief Executive, Love Your Neighbour said:

Love Your Neighbour is delighted to be a partner in the very significant and timely launch of the Faith New Deal.

We look forward to working with churches and local partners including statutory authorities across the United Kingdom to increase the impact of the crisis food support, debt advice, employment training and other wrap-around care this ground-breaking initiative will enable”.

Other projects the Faith New Deal fund will support include:

• Jewish Action for Mental Health (JAMH) based in Manchester will expand their work with other faith groups, councils and health services to deliver food to those in need and work in partnership with public services to tailor mental health provision and provide support to those in need.
• All Souls Serve the City, based in London, have partnered with local churches, Westminster Council, charities and the police force to improve mental wellbeing and combat loneliness for vulnerable women.

List of successful applicants receiving Faith New Deal Pilot Fund awards.

The Sellafield Product and Residue Store Retreatment Plant being delivered by the Programme and Project Partners is reaping the benefits of 4D Building Information Modelling (BIM) technology, with the introduction of a second twin ‘BIM cave’ in the project team’s Warrington office.

This follows the introduction of the project’s first BIM cave earlier this year on the Sellafield site.

BIM is a process for creating and managing a digital representation of the physical elements of the project and the information associated with those objects.

The 2 BIM caves and 4D modelling capability bring important benefits to one of Sellafield’s largest ever construction projects, the benefits include greater collaboration to improve project scheduling, planning, communication and enhanced project visualisation.

Steve Harnwell, Sellafield Product and Residue Store Retreatment Plant, delivery director, said:

Increasing our BIM capability enhances the project’s daily ‘line of sight’ planning by improving the connection between our team members in Cumbria and Warrington to visualise the project plan and build sequencing.

We can be looking well ahead of where we are with construction today, reducing risks, the potential for costly delays and we’re already safely accelerating construction in some areas.

There are also significant safety benefits, we now have a live camera feed from the site which means our team members and stakeholders can see what’s going on from the safety of the office, allowing us to avoid the physical risks associated with being on a construction site.

We’re continuing to upskill members of the team on the technology which will benefit every phase of the project lifecycle, even long after the build is complete and operational.

The primary use of the BIM cave on the project to date has been its use with the 4D model which combines the 3D models created throughout the preliminary and detailed design phases of the project, with schedule information.

The model, which is now live linked between the project’s Sellafield site and Warrington offices, and the 4D planning team, is providing real-time updates on construction progress.

Having two BIM caves improves collaboration across the project team, allowing the team to share the project model on and off the Sellafield site, coordinate planning and build sequencing and ensuring all stakeholders have an immersive insight into the project at any time.

The four directors were disqualified after they all secured bounce back loans before dissolving their companies to avoid paying their liabilities back.

In the most recent case, Sirfraz Ahmad, from Leeds, was disqualified for 10 years after he exaggerated his turnover to secure a higher value bounce back loan he wasn’t entitled to.

Instead of using the government-backed loan to support the business, Food Box Leeds Limited, Sirfraz Ahmad squandered £25,000 to repay family members.

Sirfraz Ahmad joins Max Hadley, Lewis Wright and Jake Joynt, on the disqualification register after the Insolvency Service used new powers to tackle unscrupulous directors who dissolve companies to avoid paying their liabilities.

The Insolvency Service has powers to investigate directors of companies that enter a form of insolvency, including administration and liquidation. The Insolvency Service may also be instructed to investigate live companies where there is evidence of wrongdoing.

The Rating (Coronavirus) and Directors Disqualification (Dissolved Companies) Act, which became law in December 2021, extends the Insolvency Service’s investigatory powers, on behalf of the Business Secretary, to directors of dissolved companies.

If misconduct is found, directors can face sanctions including being disqualified as a company director for up to 15 years or, in the most serious of cases, prosecution.

Business Minister Lord Callanan said:

The government provided unprecedented support to businesses to help them through the pandemic, but unfortunately a minority of people abused this support for personal gain.

We have been clear that we will not tolerate those who seek to defraud the taxpayer, which is why we introduced tough new powers which have allowed the Insolvency Service to disqualify directors for dissolving their companies, to avoid repaying their bounce back loans.

Consultant Lewis Wright received a £50,000 loan in June 2020 despite his company having stopped trading the previous year. Lewis Wright received the maximum loan amount after he inflated turnover before paying himself just over £47,000. He is disqualified for 12 years.

Max Hadley, director of Prestige Building Works and railway engineer, received a 10-year ban after he secured a £20,000 bounce back loan before spending £18,000 on payments not connected to the building firm.

And Jake Joynt received a 7-year disqualification after he received a £15,000 bounce back loan before spending £13,000 of it for personal use.

All four directors are banned from directly, or indirectly, becoming involved in the promotion, formation or management of a company, without the permission of the court.

The Insolvency Service is considering recovery of the bounce back loan funds by using legal powers to seek Compensation Orders against the directors where appropriate.