The UK has been producing world-class steel since the 19th Century – it is a key part of our national heritage. From Scunthorpe to Sheffield, steel remains vital to our country’s manufacturing reputation.

That is why the decision by the Official Receiver to progress an offer on the sale of British Steel is a positive step towards a secure future for the company.

In my first week as Business Secretary, I visited the vast and impressive steelworks at Scunthorpe, seeing the dedication of British Steel’s workforce first-hand. It has clearly been a worrying and difficult time, and I was struck by the unwavering commitment to securing a future for the company. Their tenacity, hard work and dedication has helped ensure operations continue, orders are met, and production not only maintained but increased since the company entered insolvency. Reaching this milestone is due in no small part to the sheer commitment of British Steel’s employees to the company they feel so passionately about.

British Steel plays a central role in the lives of communities across Scunthorpe, Skinningrove and on Teesside. I know and have heard first-hand what a devastating blow it would be if steelmaking were to end there. That is why our dedicated Support Group includes local MPs, local leaders and unions, as well as the company itself and its suppliers. Working constructively together has been a key factor in helping secure bids – and I also want to pay tribute to my predecessor Greg Clark, a driving force in this process.

The government and everyone involved have left no stone unturned in their efforts to support a sale for the whole company, and as many will know, the preferred buyer of British Steel was confirmed last week by the Official Receiver as Ataer Holding.

Ataer are not new to steel: they are the largest shareholder in Erdermir, Turkey’s largest flat steel producer – whom in the first 3 months of this year alone produced 2.4 million tonnes of steel and a profit of $186 million. When it comes to British Steel, Ataer have publicly stated that if this process is successful, their priority will be to increase production capacity and invest in clean steel production.

The Official Receiver will now be focusing on finalising the sale. This process should be completed over the coming weeks and though there is much more work still to do, there is now cause for optimism.

We will continue to work with all parties to ensure we do everything possible to secure a future for this business. Our aim is simple: to give British Steel every opportunity to realise its full potential.

Terry Soloman Dugbo, a 48 year old man from Leeds, is currently serving a record 7 years and 6 months custodial sentence after defrauding the electrical waste recycling industry of £2.2 million in 2016 following an Environment Agency investigation. 

The result follows a Proceeds of Crime hearing at Leeds Crown Court last week.

In February 2019, Dugbo was ordered to pay back more than £1.3 million of the £2.2 million he acquired through illegal activity, on top of over £79,000 from a previous Environment Agency prosecution  for exporting hazardous waste to Nigeria in 2011 and over £17,000 from a VAT fraud in 2015.

Despite numerous court orders Dugbo failed to make any payments towards the £1.3 million order and insufficient payments towards the other two. So far, a total of approximately £46,000 has been made towards an earlier order. Dugbo insists that he has no money to pay and has unsuccessfully attempted to have the orders reduced.

Last week (22 August), HHJ Jameson QC ruled that there was no realistic prospect of Dugbo paying the outstanding amount, and sent him to prison for a further 8 years for failing to pay the £1.3 million order, 14 months for the older Environment Agency order (reduced from 21 months for the money already paid) and 2 months for the order relating to the other fraud.

Each sentence will be served consecutively to each other. Dugbo will now have to serve the extra time after finishing his current sentence unless he pays the money owed.

Dr Paul Salter, Environment Agency waste crime officer, said: “Dugbo’s defiance has led to an extended jail sentence which he will be forced to serve until all the money is paid. This a clear signal that waste crime does not pay.

“We take a hard line against anyone that intentionally sets out to profit from defrauding recycling systems. In recent times, we have increased resources in our waste enforcement team and are working with partners to establish a Joint Waste Crime Unit to forge stronger links between government, police forces and local councils to tackle waste crime.”

Dugbo was originally found guilty in 2016 after Environment Agency officers discovered falsified paperwork was used to illegitimately claim that his Leeds-based firm, TLC Recycling LTD, had collected and recycled over 19,500 tonnes of household electrical waste during 2011. In reality, Dugbo’s company had never handled the amount of waste described and was not entitled to receive money through the government backed, Producer Compliance Scheme.

Documents seized as part of the investigation showed that Dugbo’s company claimed money for waste collections from streets and properties that did not exist. Vehicles used to transfer waste were recorded as being in Northern Ireland, England, and Scotland on the same day. Some vehicles did not exist at all, and some documents showed vast weights of waste being collected by vehicles that could not carry such loads: for example, a moped was said to have carried waste 42 times, and on one trip it was said to have carried 991 TVs and 413 fridges between Dugbo’s businesses. Weights of individual items said to have been collected were also exaggerated: fax machines were logged as weighing 47kg, and drills 80kg.

Dugbo has previous convictions for fraud and illegally exporting banned hazardous waste to Nigeria. He had denied the charges in this latest case – conspiracy to defraud, acting as a company director while disqualified, and breaching an environmental permitting condition – but he was found guilty on all counts.

To report waste crime contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.

See, Check and Notify (SCaN) aims to help businesses and organisations maximise safety and security using their existing resources.

Your people are your biggest advantage in preventing and tackling a range of threats, including terrorism, criminal activity and protest.

SCaN helps ensure that individuals or groups seeking to cause your organisation harm are unable to get the information they need to plan their actions.

It also empowers your staff to know what suspicious activity to look for and what to do when they encounter it.

As an added bonus, the skills they learn will help them to provide an enhanced customer experience.

SCaN modules

SCaN is free. Six modules are delivered by qualified trainers:

• SCaN for all staff: A 30-minute briefing for all of your staff. It covers vigilance, suspicious activity and reporting.
• SCaN for customer-facing: A three-hour course for staff who have direct contact with your customers and site users. It covers suspicious activity, vigilance, the power of hello and reporting.
• SCaN for CCTV operators: A three-hour course for CCTV operators. It covers identifying suspicious activity, awareness of observational and judgemental errors and working with police.
• SCaN for communications professionals: A three-hour workshop for staff who work across communications disciplines, including internal communications, marketing, media liaison and digital communications.
• SCaN for security managers: A mentoring programme for security managers. It empowers them to create a difficult environment for individuals or groups seeking to cause harm to your organisation.
• SCaN for decision-makers: A 30-minute briefing for senior executives.

Sign up for SCaN

SCaN is not about spending more money on security measures or employing more security staff. It’s about making simple changes and using the resources you already have more effectively.

This could be the difference between your organisation being a target or not.

To sign up, contact your local Counter Terrorism Security Advisor (CTSA).

Thank you, Mr President. Let me reiterate others’ welcomes to this Council today. And thank you also, of course, to Nikolai for his briefing and through him to his team for all they’re doing.

I want to start by stating clearly that the brutal murder of an Israeli soldier on 8 August and the IED terror attack which killed a 17 year old Israeli on 23 August are both an outrage. This perpetual cycle of violence does not serve anyone’s interests and must end.

The United Kingdom is also concerned by the increase in tension in Gaza, including the four attempts this month by Gazan militants to infiltrate Israel, which contribute to an environment of terror. We utterly condemn the abhorrent rocket attacks by militants in Gaza. Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and all militant groups must cease all actions which are violent or provocative or which put civilian lives at risk.

We encourage the Palestinian Authority, Israel, regional and international actors to put forward sustainable, long-term proposals for resolving the threat posed to Israel’s security by Hamas and for returning the Palestinian Authority to government functions in Gaza.

It is also important that we continue to address the underlying causes of the economic and humanitarian situation in Gaza, in particular by improving movement and access for people and goods.

And let me say on the point about the humanitarian situation in Gaza, the UK is, of course, firmly committed to supporting UNRWA and Palestinian refugees across the Middle East. UNRWA is a vital humanitarian and stabilising force in the region. The UK has increased its funding to £65.5 million this year to match our support from 2018. But we do, of course, remain concerned about the funding crisis.

Now, Mr President, turning to settlements, the United Kingdom is seriously concerned about the plans announced earlier this month by Israel to advance over 2,300 housing units in Israeli settlements in the West Bank. We urge Israel to halt its settlement expansion, which is contrary to international law and which promotes the effective annexation of the West Bank. As we have put on record before in this Council, the United Kingdom would be strongly opposed to any move to annex all or part of the West Bank. Such a move would be deeply damaging to prospects for a lasting peace between Israel and the Palestinians and could not pass unchallenged.

Mr President, during last month’s open debate, many member states expressed alarm regarding the demolition of Palestinian properties in Wadi al Hummus, in Sur Bahir. And I reiterate that the United Kingdom remains seriously concerned by the continued demolition of Palestinian property and evictions of Palestinians by Israeli authorities. This practice causes unnecessary suffering to ordinary Palestinians and it is harmful to the peace process.

I also wanted to touch on the clashes that took place on the Temple Mount/Haram al Sharif on 11 August during the religious holidays of Eid al-Adha and Tisha B’Av. The United Kingdom urges all parties to maintain calm, avoid provocation and uphold the status quo to ensure the safety and security of the Haram al Sharif/Temple Mount and all who worship there, particularly during religious observances.

I would note that Nikolai Mladenov had to say about the recent escalation between Israel and Hezbollah. That causes the United Kingdom concern. We, of course, support Israel’s right to security, but we also condemn violations of Lebanon’s sovereignty. And we urge both sides to show restraint and to de-escalate. A conflict would be in no one’s interests.

Mr President, turning to the more positive developments, the United Kingdom welcomes the agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Authority to transfer outstanding fuel tax but we remain worried about the impact of Israel’s wider decision to withhold tax revenues from the Palestinian Authority. We encourage the Israeli government to reverse its decision, which undermines the Oslo Accords, and we encourage the Palestinian Authority to accept the remainder of the revenues on a provisional basis, as refusing all revenues only harms Palestinians.

Mr President, every Israeli and Palestinian has the right to live in peace and security. The ongoing violence underlines that a just and lasting resolution which ends the occupation and delivers peace of both Israelis and Palestinians is long overdue.

So the United Kingdom continues to encourage the United States administration to bring forward detailed proposals for a viable Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement, which addresses the legitimate concerns of both parties. And as we have said before, the best way to achieve this is through substantive peace talks between the parties, leading to a two state solution based on 1967 lines with Jerusalem as a shared capital and a just fair, agreed, and realistic settlement for refugees.

Thank you, Mr President.

We want to make it easier to do business with us. In our customer charter we made the commitment to work with our customers to improve our services.

In spring 2020, we will launch a new intuitive and accessible portal interface that will help users manage their portal applications and correspondence in one central place. 

To learn about the planned features, we would like to invite you to join our live webinar on Wednesday 11 Sep 2019 at 10:30am.

New features include:

• a planned consolidated view of multiple screens with one easy to use interface to manage portal applications
• all correspondence relating to these applications (notices, requisitions and letters sent to the user directly) will be viewable from this central interface
• an ‘estimated completion date’ based on our average completion times

Your feedback in this webinar will help shape future developments.

We’re continuing to develop our services to make it easier and more intuitive to self-serve and increase speed of service for our customers.