Innovative solutions that could be used to predict future threats such as terrorist attacks, detect and counter fake news, or identify vulnerable people on social media will be showcased at an event hosted by the Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA).

Nearly 30 organisations who received a share of £2.4m in funding to develop ideas and technology that observe and understand human behaviour will exhibit their innovations at DASA’s Behavioural Analytics Phase 1 Showcase on Thursday 7 November 2019 at STEAM – Museum of the Great Western Railway in Swindon.

DASA is inviting representatives from industry and academia interested in bidding into Behavioural Analytics Phase 2 – to be launched later this year – to attend the event.

There will be the opportunity to speak to suppliers about the work conducted during Phase 1 of the competition and to see how their innovations are taking shape.

DASA delivery manager, Rachael Colling, said: “The Behavioural Analytics Phase 1 Showcase will be a great opportunity to learn about how suppliers developed their ideas and to explore how organisations can work together and bid for funding in the second phase of the competition. We are particularly interested in those who have complementary programmes of work attending this event.”

Behavioural Analytics Phase 1 launched in October 2018. The aim of the competition is to look for scientific and technological solutions that could provide context-specific insights into the ‘how’ and ‘why’ of individual, group and population behaviour, enabling predictions about how they are likely to act in the future. The scope of phase one was theoretical development, methodological advancement and proof of concept research.

Louisa Bryson, competition technical lead, said: “The increasingly complex operational environment and the changing character of conflict will require an enhanced understanding of human behaviour to deliver strategic and operational effects. Using the DASA contractual processes this competition enables UK defence and security to exploit the best ideas, products and services and fast-track them to operational use whilst simultaneously developing external capability in the industry and academic supply chain.”

The competition received a high level of interest from suppliers and a total of 29 projects were funded. A list of funded proposals can be seen here. The full competition document can be found here. The competition is one of several complementary research activities that support the development of a behavioural analytic capability fit for the future UK defence and security operating environment.

Phase 2 will be launched towards the end of the year and will look to draw on the progress made in developing a behavioural analytics capability and how we can move methodological advancements and proof of concept research to the next level.

To attend this event, please register on the Eventbrite Page. Please note that places for this event are limited.

Biography

Graeme first joined the MHRA in 2011 and has spent much of his time at the MHRA negotiating, and now implementing, a package of measures to strengthen the regulation of medical devices.

Graeme has been a civil servant for 15 years and spent his early career working on healthcare policy. He has previously held Deputy Director roles at the Department of Health and spent 18 months as Private Secretary to the Secretary of State for Health.

He has a Master’s degree in biochemistry from the University of Oxford.

Role

The Director of Devices leads the division in the Agency that is responsible for the operation of the regulatory framework that ensures the safety and performance of medical devices on the UK market. This includes:

• investigating reports of problems involving medical devices and taking action in response to these, such as advising healthcare professionals on the safe use of devices, working with manufacturers to improve device safety and, where needed, taking enforcement action
• reviewing proposals to undertake clinical investigations using medical devices on patients in the UK
• overseeing the UK notified bodies for medical devices, which are responsible for the pre-market assessment of higher-risk products
• ensuring the smooth operation of the regulatory framework, including the provision of regulatory advice

Published 21 October 2019

In September:

• HM Land Registry completed more than 1,709,120 applications to change or query the Land Register
• the South East topped the table of regional applications with 387,778

HM Land Registry completed 1,709,126 applications in September compared with 1,706,827 in August and 1,648,666 last September, of which:

• 331,200 were applications for register updates compared with 339,5839 in August
• 878,321 were applications for an official copy of a register compared with 885,154 in August
• 226,243 were search and hold queries (official searches) compared with 215,336 in August
• 19,042 were postal applications from non-account holders compared with 18,284 in August

Applications by region and country

Region/country	July applications	August applications	September applications
South East	437,867	395,716	387,778
Greater London	349,605	316,939	318,300
North West	220,424	196,381	194,171
South West	182,925	164,696	162,681
West Midlands	169,363	146,051	153,930
Yorkshire and the Humber	147,593	133,111	135,492
East Midlands	134,194	122,250	123,391
North	88,654	80,077	80,659
East Anglia	78,143	70,919	69,850
Isles of Scilly	62	47	39
Wales	89,375	80,560	82,754
England and Wales (not assigned)	78	80	81
Total	1,898,283	1,706,827	1,709,126

Top 5 local authority areas

Top 5 Local authority areas	July applications	Top 5 Local authority areas	August applications	Top 5 Local authority areas	September applications
Birmingham	28,964	Birmingham	25,837	Birmingham	26,240
City of Westminster	24,100	City of Westminster	23,128	City of	Westminster	21,591
Leeds	22,097	Leeds	20,480	Leeds	20,085
Manchester	19,642	Cornwall	17,431	Cornwall	17,127
Cornwall	19,010	Manchester	17,090	Manchester	16,350

Top 5 customers

Top 5 Customers	July applications	Top 5 customers	August applications	Top 5 customers	September applications
Infotrack Limited	59,675	Enact	50,273	Infotrack Limited	54,412
Enact	53,372	Infotrack Limited	48,655	Enact	51,421
O’Neill Patient	26,849	O’Neill Patient	26,159	TM Group (UK) Ltd (Search Choice)	28,869
Optima Legal Services	24,422	TM Group (UK) Ltd (Search Choice)	21,361	O’Neill Patient	27,339
TM Group (UK) Ltd (Search Choice)	21,309	Optima Legal Services	21,253	Optima Legal Services	21,524

Access the full dataset on data.gov.uk

Next publication

Transaction Data is published on the 15th working day of each month. The October data will be published at 11am on Thursday 21 November 2019.

Published 21 October 2019

Plans announced today (Monday 21 October) by Highways England will reduce congestion and accidents on the route – a key link between the East of England and London – by widening a 15-mile section of the road between Chelmsford and Marks Tey.

Today’s announcement confirms a preferred option for widening the A12 between junctions 19 and 23, and sets out four new options for improvements between junctions 23 and 25, which take into account plans for a new garden community at Marks Tey.

Stephen Elderkin, Highways England project lead for the A12, said:

The A12 is a key route connecting the East of England to London. With the high levels of congestion, it’s a route that Highways England and the Government are committed to improving. Our proposed improvements will increase safety and average speeds, so that someone travelling on the A12 daily can expect to save over an hour of travel time each week.

Roads Minister Baroness Vere said:

I want the A12 to be as safe as possible for the 90,000 people who use it each day. That is why we are committed to modernising this major road, supporting growth in the region and improving journeys for all

Currently rush hour congestion increases journey times by half, and the various local access points onto the road raise safety concerns, as collisions on this road are 20 per cent more likely to result in death or serious injury.

Although Highways England previously consulted on how best to upgrade this 15-mile stretch of Essex road into three lanes in 2017, plans were subsequently put forward for a proposed Colchester Braintree Borders Garden Community at Marks Tey which could impact on the suggested A12 route. Highways England believes it is important to ensure that the new road meets the future needs of the area, so it has since worked in partnership with the relevant local authorities to consider how the A12 could support the proposed housing growth.

Today Highways England is announcing its preferred route to upgrade the road between junctions 19 and 23 (which are to the west of where the new homes may be built), so that its work on the A12 can start while plans for the new development are under discussion. The preferred route would widen the existing A12 corridor between junctions 19 and 23 to three lanes in each direction at key places, and would see a new three-lane bypass in each direction at Rivenhall End.

Highways England remains committed to upgrading the whole stretch of the A12 between Chelmsford and Marks Tey. A further non-statutory consultation opens today to gather public feedback on four new routes running between junctions 23 and 25 that could be used if the proposed garden community does go ahead. These are four alternative routes for this consultation, with those consulted on in 2017 remaining viable options for the route should the new development not go ahead.

Once the new three-lane A12 route is built, the existing road will be retained and handed over to Essex County Council for use by local traffic.

The new public consultation on routes between junctions 23 and 25 is open for six weeks and includes ten events where people can find out more and put any queries to the A12 project team. The public can also give their views online at the consultation page, or by post.

The consultation closes at 11:59pm on Sunday 1 December.

Following this, Highway England expects to announce its preferred route between junctions 23 and 25 in summer 2020. A statutory public consultation to get feedback on its more detailed designs for the full stretch of road between junctions 19 and 25 will then be held, ahead of submitting an application for a Development Consent Order in 2021.

For more information on the scheme see our website.

General enquiries

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

Media enquiries

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

Frank Deal (41), formerly of Surrey, was the director of Foreign Exchange Limited, a company that facilitated currency trades for its clients.

Previously called Yenom Incorporated Limited, Foreign Exchange Limited was incorporated in September 2003 and based in Croydon.

14 years after incorporation, however, the foreign exchange company experienced trading difficulties and entered administration in November 2016 Limited before entering liquation in September 2017.

An Insolvency Practitioner was appointed to handle the company’s affairs before making the Insolvency Service aware of the conduct of the director, Frank Deal.

When investigators looked into the company’s dealings, they uncovered that, between October 2013 and October 2016, Frank Deal had caused the company to misappropriate client funds totalling almost £2.5 million.

In total, 31 customers have approached either the police, administrators and the Insolvency Service claiming funds they had transferred to Foreign Exchange Limited never reached the intended recipient accounts and were never returned.

Additionally, at least seven clients said that Frank Deal provided fraudulent bank transfer remittance receipts showing funds transfers that, in reality, never took place.

On 6 September 2019, the Secretary of State accepted a 12-year disqualification undertaking from Frank Deal. Effective from 27 September, he is not able, directly or indirectly, to be involved in the promotion, formation or management of a company.

David Brooks, Chief Investigator for the Insolvency Service, said:

Frank Deal’s clients expected a level of risk when making their investments but did not expect that risk to come from the company’s director. Many lost tens of thousands of pounds as a result of Frank Deal’s conduct.

This ban will prevent him from causing further financial harm for a significant period, and serves as a reminder to other directors that this conduct will not be tolerated.

Frank Deal is formerly of Surrey but currently of no fixed abode. His date of birth is May 1978.

Foreign Exchange Limited (Company number 04896909).

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: