As social media continues to evolve into one of the most important ways to communicate online, we are developing a strong presence across a range of channels, making us more accessible, more open and more transparent in the way we communicate.

You can follow us on:

Facebook

Uk in Spain – follow our events, news and activities from the FCO and our partners (in Spanish and in English).

Brits in Spain – up to date advice and information from British Embassy in Madrid which is important for British residents living some or all the year in Spain.

Brits visiting Spain – planning a visit to Spain? We share with you information to help you have a great holiday without any of the hassle.

Our Ambassador´s Twitter account @HughElliottUK

Our DHM´s Twitter account @TimHemmingsFCO

Flickr

www.flickr.com/photos/ukinspain – our events, our Ambassador’s visits in pictures, Ministerial visits.

Youtube

www.youtube.com/user/ukinspain – watch our videos with UK Ministers, policy experts, case studies, and much more.

LinkedIn

DIT Spain group – this DIT LinkedIn group brings together trade and investment experts and businesses. It offers knowledge, insight and support, facilitating connections to help businesses achieve international success.

British Scientist in Spain: network to promote communication within the community of British scientists working in Spain and foster scientific collaboration between the UK and Spain, triggering partnerships between this community and public/private institutions linked to research.

Instagram

HughElliottUK – our Instagram account offers photos and short videos of Ambassador´s diplomatic activity.

UK in Spain – our official Instagram account following the activities of the British Embassy.

Earlier this year, the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) ran a successful European Social Fund procurement, where 47 providers secured a total of £309 million to deliver high quality education and training across 34 Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP).

These contracts started on 01 April 2019 and will run until 31 July 2021. However, there were a small number of areas where none of the providers that bid for funding met the required criteria.

The ESFA is now running an additional targeted procurement worth £4.2 million, so that people living in these areas have the opportunity to benefit from the ESF by learning the skills they need to get on the path to a great career.

The LEP areas are:

Skills Support for the Unemployed

• York North Yorkshire & East Riding LEP

• Greater Lincolnshire LEP (Transition Area)
• North East LEP (More Developed Area)
• The Marches LEP (More Developed Area)
• The Marches LEP (Transition Developed Area)

To access the invitations to tender, interested parties need to register and follow the on-screen instructions.

The deadline for bids is Wednesday 2 October 2019 at 17.00. Once the procurement has closed, the ESFA will send award notifications to successful providers. We will then enter a 10-day standstill period, in accordance with procurement practise.

Published 2 September 2019

The UK is working in partnership with Mozambique to boost jobs and opportunities for young people, Minister for Africa Andrew Stephenson said during his first visit to Mozambique.

Almost half the population of Mozambique is under the age of 16 and the UK is helping shape the future of the country through providing quality education to give children the skills they need to find work.

Mr Stephenson saw first-hand how UK aid is meeting the rising aspirations of Africa’s next generation at the Beluluane Industrial Park in Maputo, the capital of Mozambique.

In partnership with the Government of Mozambique, UK aid is providing skills training for 375 young Mozambicans until 2020. This also helps meet the needs of companies and boost economic growth.

Minister for Africa Andrew Stephenson said:

I am delighted to visit Mozambique at this important time. This is one of my first official visits to Africa since I was appointed Minister for Africa in July 2019.

The UK is committed to working with Mozambique, a member of our Commonwealth family, to promote mutual prosperity, create jobs and ensure that Mozambique’s young people have the skills they need to benefit from future opportunities.

During his three-day visit, the Minister met with the Foreign Secretary José Pacheco where they discussed how UK investment is helping to boost growth and create jobs. He also discussed how the UK is home to some of the best universities in the world, and this year we have doubled the number of scholarships available to Mozambicans to study in the UK.

Minister Stephenson also travelled to Beira, a city devastated by Cyclone Idai which made landfall earlier this year. The UK was one of the first donors to respond to the cyclone and provided thousands of shelter kits to Mozambique for those that were forced to flee their homes.

During his visit, Minister Stephenson saw how UK aid has supported water and sanitation efforts in resettlement areas which is helping to tackle cholera and malaria.

David Cowan (53), of Glasgow, was the sole director of Avenbrae Limited, the company behind Cyan Restaurant. The bar and bistro began trading on Stewart Street, Milngavie, outside Glasgow, in August 2014.

However, David Cowan did not register the company for VAT until a year later, in August 2015.

He then failed to ensure the company filed quarterly VAT returns, which he was duty-bound to do as the company director. This caused HMRC to raise assessments on the company’s behalf, which were only partially paid.

In June 2017, an HMRC investigation uncovered that the company had been concealing VAT since August 2014. In September 2017, they requested immediate payment of the outstanding amount.

At the same time, several new restaurants and a hotel in the area negatively impacted footfall to Cyan and, by January 2018, David Cowan had placed Avenbrae Limited into Creditors Voluntary Liquidation.

At the point of liquidation, the company owed HMRC £195,000 in VAT, which included fines for unpaid tax and VAT due for the final quarter of trading. In addition, the company owed other creditors almost £23,000.

In August 2019, the Secretary of State accepted a disqualification undertaking from David Cowan for nine years. Effective from 28 August 2019, he is banned from directly or indirectly becoming involved, without the permission of the court, in the promotion, formation or management of a company.

Robert Clarke, Chief Investigator for the Insolvency Service, said:

David Cowan failed to observe his statutory duties as a company director to comply with VAT obligations, and his business gained a competitive advantage as a result, which is unacceptable behaviour.

Any other directors who behave in this way should expect an Insolvency Service investigation and a lengthy ban.

Avenbrae Limited (Company number SC471392).

David Cowan is of Glasgow and his date of birth is February 1966.

Cyan Restaurant was formerly of 14–16 Stewart Street, Milngavie, Glasgow G62 6BW.

Avenbrae Limited appears on HMRC’s list of deliberate tax defaulters.

A disqualification order has the effect that without specific permission of a court, a person with a disqualification cannot:

• act as a director of a company
• take part, directly or indirectly, in the promotion, formation or management of a company or limited liability partnership
• be a receiver of a company’s property

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:

The new framework

The main change is that we have a new framework, which inspectors will be using in their work of inspecting early years settings, schools, FE and skills providers and independent schools. This will start at the beginning of September 2019. The education inspection framework will replace the common inspection framework – so please update any bookmarks or links you may be using.

There are also new guides for providers and school leaders on what to expect from an inspection, and how best to prepare.

If you would like to know more, please look at our YouTube playlist on the education inspection framework, or this blog from Sean Harford, our National Director, Education.

Ofsted Parent View

From September 2019, we are updating what we ask in the Ofsted Parent View survey so that it links more closely to our new education inspection framework.

The survey continues to ask parents how strongly they agree or disagree with statements about their child’s school, though the focus of what we ask parents has changed.

We have removed and adapted some of the statements. We have also added new questions including a question for parents of children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). This reflects the new framework and responds to requests from parents for a question in this area.

Learner View and Employer View

Currently, both Learner View and Employer View are open all year round. From 2 September 2019, these surveys will be held on a new platform.

Currently, colleges and further education and apprenticeship training providers send a link to learners, employers, parents/carers of learners and provider staff during an Ofsted inspection so they can give their views on these surveys. This will not change. However, these surveys will now all only be open during an inspection.

We have reviewed and adapted the questions asked to make them more useful for learners and employers and better suited to the new inspection framework.

Finding our information

We will be keeping the content on GOV.UK about the previous framework and inspections until October 2019. After that, they will be available on the National Archive.

We will also be adding links on all relevant pages to the new guidance and handbooks. After October, we will redirect links and bookmarks to the new information.

We are also making sure that all our content has improved accessibility and simplified navigation to make it easier to find what you need.

Over the weekend of 1 and 2 September, some services such as Ofsted Parent View may be affected. We apologise for any problems this may cause.