It is only natural for new drivers to be nervous, but confidence comes with real road experience – that’s the message from the Road Whisperer in a new campaign by THINK!.

The Jeff Bridges-style character, with a distinctive southern American drawl, will feature in a series of films and GIFs throughout March to give new drivers tips that will help them deal with the challenges of driving solo.

Road Safety Minister Jesse Norman said:

Everyone feels some nerves when they’re on the road for the first time, but it takes a good driver to admit it.

Confidence comes with time and practice, so it’s important to keep learning and build up experience to become a better driver.

And that commitment to keep learning is what this THINK! campaign, with its tips and guidance, aims to create.

The films will focus on a series of tips relating to situations where new drivers feel vulnerable or have the highest road casualties, including driving at night, and on country roads and motorways.

Advice will also cover tyre safety and looking out for vulnerable road users, and all tips will be delivered in the Road Whisperer’s signature style.

The Road Whisperer said:

We were all fresh to the roads once. When I started out, I was as nervous as they come!

Young folks need to know it’s a long road of learning after you pass your test, so go steady. I didn’t learn how to play the guitar like Keith Richards overnight.

Recent research commissioned by THINK! found that 17-30 year-old male drivers often feel vulnerable on the road, believing that while you only really start to learn how to drive after passing your test, you still need to appear confident in front of other people.

The films, created in partnership with marketing agency VMLY&R, will be broadcast online and on social media during March, while the Night Driving film will also be shown in cinemas.

The New Driver campaign builds on THINK’s award-winning ‘Mates Matter’ campaign – which saw the biggest shift in more than a decade in young men’s attitudes towards drink driving. It encourages young men to set new ‘man’ standards by accepting their inexperience and not giving in to the perceived pressure to perform.

These hard-hitting THINK! campaigns represent just one of the measures the Department for Transport is taking to improve road safety, particularly for younger drivers. Our upcoming road safety action plan will include further details.

USP Vice Chancellor Professor Pal Ahluwalia, distinguished guests, One Ocean Hub teams from the UK, South Africa, West Indies and the Solomon Islands, members of the media, ladies and gentlemen,

To survive and prosper, we need healthy oceans.

In the words of Dame Meg Taylor, Secretary General of the Pacific Ocean is at the heart of our cultures and we depend on it for food, income, employment, transport and economic development.

I am delighted to be here today to announce an award to the University of the South Pacific of a £1.6 million research grant through the UK’s Research and Innovation’s Global Challenges Fund. This will enable researchers from USP to partner with its One Ocean Hub teams as they work at addressing the urgent challenges of oceans law, science and governance.

Led by researchers from the University of Strathclyde in the UK, one aspect of the research is to support decision making based on evidence of risks and opportunities among competing ocean uses.

This research will greatly assist in coral reef management and monitoring invasive marine species management, conservation of threatened and migratory marine species such as sea turtles and whales, waste management and pollution control.

Last year the United Kingdom was honoured to host the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting. The need for greater Commonwealth cooperation on both climate and oceans were at the heart of that meeting, including agreement to create a new Commonwealth Blue Charter.

So Commonwealth countries coming together to agree new standards on the ocean protection can create real change for the entire planet.

For the British government, oceans is the new frontier in our partnership with the Pacific region.

Today’s announcement is part of a wider package of cooperation on oceans:

• In 2016, the British government launched in the Pacific the Commonwealth Marine Economies which enables Pacific SIDS to utilise world-leading expertise in marine science from the United Kingdom. Delighted that some of the scientists are with us today.
• Vanuatu and the UK are co-chairing the Commonwealth Clean Oceans Alliance action group on marine plastics. United Kingdom has announced a further £10m of funding to support members to tackle the scourge of marine plastics. UK Parliamentary Under – Secretary was in Vanuatu last week for a regional meeting with Pacific counterparts to pledge UK’s willingness to work with the Pacific.

Last year, of course, we celebrated USP’s 50th anniversary. I was delighted to accompany TRH Duke and Duchess of Sussex to USP where they announced 4 new climate scholarships.

And I am delighted to be back at USP again today to announce this new package of UK assistance. I congratulate you for winning this prestigious grant and hope that this will mark a new high point in Commonwealth partnership on oceans management.

Thank you and vinaka vakalevu.

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At the High Court in Manchester on 26 February 2019, OBD Ltd was wound-up in the public interest before District Judge Khan. The Official Receiver has been appointed liquidator of the companies.

OBD Ltd was the limited company which traded as www.theobd.co.uk, an online directory for small businesses that signposted their client’s website. The company targeted small businesses with their own website and used keywords to further boost their clients’ internet rankings.

Having commenced trading in 2012, OBD Ltd built-up around 3,500 customers by cold calling small businesses before charging them between £50 and £250 per year for a listing. Contracts were either for one or two years and would auto-renew if the customer did not cancel themselves.

However, the Insolvency Service carried out confidential investigations after customers had complained they were being pursued for liabilities they did not believe they owed.

Investigators discovered that the company used deceptive methods to persuade customers to sign up for its services, including stating or implying that OBD Ltd represented or was connected with an international web browser.

OBD Ltd failed to provide contract documents to clients, in some cases used ambiguous contract terminology and made it difficult for customers to get out of rolling contracts, while also using coercive and intimidating debt collection methods.

In addition to these grounds on which the Secretary of State sought to wind-up the company, investigators demonstrated that OBD Ltd failed to provide services customers paid for in a timely manner and in some cases not at all, was remiss in issuing renewal invoices, issued incorrect invoices and took payment without authorisation.

Investigators did establish that turnover from February 2012 to April 2018 was £713,000 but enquiries were further hampered because OBD Ltd failed to maintain adequate accounting records or file statutory documents.

Scott Crighton, Chief Investigator for the Insolvency Service, said:

Small businesses use online directories in the genuine hope that they will secure more work. However, OBD Ltd took advantage of their customers and often used bully-boy tactics to elicit money for inadequate services.

We welcome the courts decision to shut down OBD Ltd, preventing anyone else coming to harm, and I would urge any business that is called out of the blue to sign-up for a similar service to do their homework before entering into any agreement.

All public enquiries concerning the affairs of the company should be made to: The Official Receiver, Public Interest Unit, 2 Floor, 3 Piccadilly Place, London Road, Manchester, M1 3BN. Email: piu.north@insolvency.gsi.gov.uk.

OBD Ltd (CRO07936953)– incorporated 06/02/2012

The petition was presented under s124A of the Insolvency Act 1986 on 15 October 2018.

Company Investigations, part of the Insolvency Service, uses powers under the Companies Act 1985 to conduct confidential fact-finding investigations into the activities of live limited companies in the UK on behalf of the Secretary of State for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS). Further information about live company investigations is available here.

Further information about the work of the Insolvency Service, and how to complain about financial misconduct, is available here.

You can also follow the Insolvency Service on:

The pilot programme, run by the College of Policing and funded by the Government Equalities Office (GEO), will start advertising full time investigative roles across nine force areas from April.

Minister for Women and Equalities Penny Mordaunt said:

“Our police officers keep this country safe and ensure justice is done. It is vital that they, and every woman and man in the UK, have as much freedom, choice and support as they need to return to work when they are ready.

“We are investing in this pilot to ensure they have the freedom and support to balance work and caring responsibilities effectively – so they can return to work when they are ready.

“In the UK, nine out of 10 potential returners to work are women. By taking action we are supporting our police service while also achieving true gender equality in our workplaces.”

Stuart Durrant, former police officer and Return to Investigative Practice project manager for College of Policing, said:

“The Return to Investigative Practice project is focused on getting experienced people that have left the policing for care-giving reasons, back into the service.

“It is providing us with an excellent opportunity to create an evidence base of what works in attracting and retaining people so their policing skills aren’t lost permanently.

“With regulation changes making returning to policing easier, the project will also enable us to understand what support and development these investigators need coming back into forces.”

Chief Constable Matt Jukes, national policing lead for investigator resilience, said:

“The complex nature of investigations and our work to protect vulnerable people has made the roles of detectives and investigators more challenging than ever.

“Despite the progress forces are making, there remains a shortfall in detectives and the need for their skills around complex areas of crime is growing. We rely on our investigators to deliver high quality investigations and justice for victims at a time of changing demand. That is why policing has been developing a number of ways to increase our investigative resilience nationally and locally.

“There are former detectives outside the Police who we hope could be part of this. Returner projects like this are important to help bolster and support the outstanding work already being done by existing detectives and investigators up and down the country.”

The forces participating in the project are:

• Hampshire
• Surrey
• Sussex
• Kent
• Essex
• Thames Valley
• City of London
• Greater Manchester
• South Wales

Last year, police forces across England reported that they had 17% fewer investigators than they needed. But since 2014/15 only 188 full-time earners have rejoined the police in England and Wales after taking time off to act as a caregiver or to start a family. The aim will be to bring back police officers into investigative roles that suit them and enable forces to utilise their wide range of skills and experience.

The returners will be equipped with all the necessary skills, training and confidence to return to work in policing. Funded by £110,000 from the GEO, the project will explore the best ways to support returners to the police and will aim to establish an evidence base for police forces across the country to build on in the future.

The government has committed £5 million to help people with caring responsibilities back into work. With this funding, GEO have launched programmes in the public sector for social workers, allied health professionals, teachers and prospective civil servants. GEO have also launched a grant fund to set up returners projects in the private sector, with a further £500,000 of funding announced to support marginalised and vulnerable people to return to work.

Those who want to take part can register their interest on the College of Policing’s website from today.