On 14-16 October UK’s Special Envoy for post-Holocaust issues the Rt Hon Lord Pickles paid a visit to Lithuania, to learn more about historical memory of the Holocaust as well as endeavors to preserve Jewish heritage before 2020, the year of Vilna Gaon, Lithuanian Jews and Sugihara.

During the three day trip, accompanied by the British Ambassador to Lithuania Brian Olley, Lord Pickles visited the memorials of Holocaust victims in Paneriai and Kaunas, laid flowers at the memorial stone for Righteous Among Nations, met different state officials and visited a number of Jewish-related cultural and historical places. During his visit Lord Pickles not only emphasised the importance of speaking the truth, but also focused on the importance of preserving historical memory, citing London’s new world-class Holocaust Learning Centre’s as an example of advancing Holocaust education around the world.

The visit also provided an opportunity to commemorate the legacy of former British diplomat Sir Thomas Hildebrand Preston, British Consul and later Charge d’Affairs in Kaunas, who in 1940 provided illegal Palestine certificates for Jews, to enable them to escape from Lithuania through Istanbul to Palestine. He also provided 800 Jews with legal travel certificates, a few hundred of which were able to cross the Baltic Sea to neutral Sweden.

His efforts were recognised in 2017 with a British Heroes of the Holocaust medal and in 2018 in the British Embassy Vilnius exhibition “Building Bridges”. In order to continue preserving the memory of Sir Thomas Preston in Lithuania, Lord Pickles presented a replica of Sir Thomas Preston’s British Heroes of the Holocaust Medal to The Sugihara Foundation in Kaunas, becoming one of a small number of artefacts, included in their public exhibition.

The UK’s Special Envoy for post-Holocaust issues later described his three day engagement as:

an interesting visit to Lithuania on Holocaust Issue. Moving and poignant, forming links that we will build on.

A new £1 million wave of UK government advertising to encourage EU citizens to apply to the EU Settlement Scheme has launched today (18 October 2019). It builds on the £3.75 million campaign which supported the full Scheme launch in March 2019.

Outdoor advertising in around 2,400 places across the UK will be followed by eye-catching adverts on catch-up TV, radio and social media over the coming weeks.

Adverts will also appear in foreign language newspapers and radio stations right across the UK.

Minister of State for Security and Deputy for EU Exit and No Deal Preparation Brandon Lewis said:

I’m thrilled we’ve had more than two million applications to the EU Settlement Scheme already but there’s always more to do to raise awareness.

That’s why I’ve launched this nationwide campaign which will reach people up and down the country through billboards, radio and social media so that EU citizens know how to apply and can get the status they need.

To help raise awareness of the EU Settlement Scheme at a local level, the Home Office is also holding a series of innovative pop-up events across the UK where staff will answer questions and help people to apply in person.

Home Office Minister Brandon Lewis attended the launch in Great Yarmouth on Friday 6 September 2019 and other events this month will be taking place in Aberdeen, Glasgow, Tower Hamlets, Nottingham, Leeds and Birmingham.

The Home Office has also released a beta version of the EU Exit ID Document Check App for iPhone devices. The App is being tested on the Apple App Store for iPhone 8 and above, and will be available on iPhone 7 and 7 Plus following an upcoming iOS software update.

Individuals can apply to the EU Settlement Scheme using any laptop or mobile device. The App is entirely optional and is just one of several ways people can verify their identity, including by post or at one of the more than 80 locations across the UK where applicants can have their passport scanned and verified.

There is a wide range of support available for EU citizens and their families to help them apply. For example, the government has awarded up to £9 million to 57 voluntary and community sector organisations across the UK who are helping vulnerable people such as the homeless, disabled and elderly.

Additional support is also available to those EU citizens in the UK who do not have the appropriate access, skills or confidence to apply online. This includes more than 300 assisted digital locations across the UK where people can be supported through their application.

EU citizens have until at least December 2020 to apply.

Dr Owen Bowden-Jones, chair of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) writes to the Home Secretary in response to a July 2017 commissioning letter which asked the ACMD to consider the future use and purpose of Temporary Class Drug Orders (TCDOs).

The ACMD’s response concludes that TCDOs remain a highly useful tool that can enable immediate action on substances of severe harm, and that the mechanism should remain unchanged at the present time.

Context and description of required services

The UK government (HMG) and the Government of Montenegro (GoM) have a shared interest in promoting stability and prosperity in Montenegro and the wider Western Balkans.

HMG is offering support to GoM to implement two campaigns in Montenegro. One concerns supporting the growth of start-ups and small businesses (SMEs). The other looks to support regional development by promoting opportunities to citizens in the north of the country. HMG support will be delivered through the Government Communications Service International (GCSI), a unit dedicated to providing strategic communications support to partner governments.

Objectives

The objective of the start-up/SME campaign is to increase the number of potential entrepreneurs and small businesses accessing government provided grants and loans across Montenegro.The objective of the regional development campaign is to increase citizen engagement with emerging opportunities, for instance new job opportunities, in the north of the country.

What we require

This is a complicated and wide-ranging project, with some overlap. Therefore, HMG and GoM require the services of a single experienced creative agency to help bring both campaigns to life through first class creative collateral, if possible. The Embassy withholds the right to partially award contracts for specific segments of this tender, if seen fit.

Though the two campaigns are separate with separate objectives and target audiences, there is a clear overlap. Therefore, it may be appropriate to host them both on a single website or unify them under a single concept and brand.

Audience insight is already under way and this will help inform our strategy for both campaigns. It will be a job of the contracted creative partner to help us deliver on these strategies effectively with our target audiences. Greater detail will be provided in a creative brief at a later stage, but this will require an agency skilled in the production of both offline and online content.

The implementing organisation for this campaign is GCSI on behalf of the British Embassy Podgorica, which forms a part of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO).

Who we require

We require an agency that has experience producing the following, in a campaigning context:

• over-arching creative concepts
• branding and visual identity
• online platforms, such as websites or dedicated micro-sites and landing pages. This will be essential
• digital assets such as compelling social media videos and imagery
• offline assets such as billboards
• television and radio advertising
• brochures and other branded merchandise

Evidence of such experience is crucial in determining who is a successful bidder. Those who have conducted such work targeted at younger audiences will be at an advantage.

What we expect from the successful service provider

Expectations from the successful service provider are as follows:

• a unified creative concept and branding which can benefit both campaigns (e.g. logo, slogans)
• design of interactive and/or high quality online platforms, such as websites or dedicated micro-sites and landing pages. This will be essential
• design of digital assets such as compelling videos and social media imagery for both campaigns
• design of offline assets such as billboards for both campaigns
• design of television and radio advertising for both campaigns
• design of brochures and other branded merchandise

Please note that media-buying (placement of these designs) is not a part of this tender.

Other technical details

Target start and completion date

15 November 2019 – 31 January 2020.

Request for proposal (format)

Please submit an application outlining your credentials and showcasing some of your previous work. This should be done in a non-changeable format, such as PDF. Your proposal must be expressed in English, and valid for a minimum period of 90 days.

Single email should not exceed 5MB (five megabytes) in size and should not contain cloud-based computer file transfer service links.

Other details

Up to 3 suppliers will be invited to an informal pitch meeting with the supervisor and the reviewer where they will be asked to deliver a presentation and answer questions related to delivery.

Award

Service provider will b e considered as successful, if receives the Highest Combined Score (HCS). HCS is based on the 70% technical offer and 30% price weight distribution, where 70% is the minimum passing score for the Technical Proposal.

Contract

Any contract or purchase order that will be issued as a result of this call shall be subject to the FCO’s Contract and General Terms and Conditions (CaGTC), provided by the British Embassy Podgorica.

Criteria for Contract

Full acceptance of the FCO’s Contract General Terms and Conditions. This is a mandatory criteria. Non-acceptance of the CaGTC may be grounds for the rejection of the proposal. This should be specified in your proposal.

Standard Terms and Conditions for Service Providers (ODT, 146KB)

For any questions in regard to this invitation, please contact us by email.

Dr Owen Bowden-Jones, chair of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) and Professor Roger Knaggs, the Chair of the ACMD’s Technical Committee, write to ministers to provide the ACMD’s advice on the prescribing and administration of a limited number of controlled drugs (CDs) by paramedics.

The government’s response to this letter is now available.