This comes after a High Court ruling on 8 November found those affected had lost out on support.
Following the ruling, the Home Office immediately reinstated a top up payment to this group and has put in place a process for contacting all affected individuals who are entitled to a back-payment.
From today, anyone who was in receipt of support through the National Referral Mechanism and Asylum Support Regulations who received less than £65 a week between 1 March and 8 November 2018 can claim a back payment.
People who are currently receiving support will receive a letter from the Home Office setting out how much they are entitled to and when they will be paid. Those who are no longer receiving support can apply for a back payment using an application form.
Published 17 January 2019
Press release: New specialists appointed to Homes England Framework
The members have been appointed to the housing agency’s new Multidisciplinary Framework to provide technical advice, services and design input to help Homes England prepare brownfield and surplus public sector land for residential development. Their expertise will help increase the pace, scale and quality of development and accelerate delivery of new homes in areas of greatest demand.
The Framework, due to be launched on 2 February, 2019, will enable procurement of £100m worth of services. It will also be available to other public sector bodies and will form part of the suite of Homes England Frameworks.
Stephen Kinsella, Executive Director for Land, at Homes England, said: “We want to work with ambitious partners who can help us accelerate housing development, deliver value for money, use their skills, knowledge and capacity to significantly increase housing delivery across the country.
“Members appointed to the new Framework bring with them a wealth of knowledge and housing expertise that will enhance the work of Homes England. This will help us meet our ambition to accelerate housebuilding and deliver the 300,000 homes needed each year by the mid-2020s.”
Homes England is supporting the private sector where development remains hindered by complex delivery and economic constraints. As part of this, Homes England aims to purchase land, remediate contaminated brownfield sites, as well as fund and deliver primary infrastructure.
The successful members of the new Multidisciplinary Framework are:
The Framework is due to be launched on 2 February, 2019. Further information can be found here.
News story: Home Office hosts Midlands serious violence event
The serious violence engagement events, led by Home Office ministers, bring together local partners to take action in communities. They raise awareness of the government’s Serious Violence Strategy, which places local action at its core. The events also highlight the national and regional support available, discuss local action already underway and spot new opportunities to work together to tackle the issue.
Over 100 partners from police, health, education, social services, youth offending services, housing, local authorities and the voluntary sector in the West Midlands, Warwickshire, Staffordshire and West Mercia attended today’s event at The Studio in Birmingham.
Speaking at the event, Policing Minister Nick Hurd said:
We are determined to support these communities. That means support for tough law enforcement, with more resources and powers for the police.
Just as important is our £17 million support for local preventative work that guides young people away from crime and bad decisions that have devastating consequences.
The West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner, David Jamieson, said:
The minister’s visit to the West Midlands is very welcome.
I’m pleased Mr Hurd wants to see the problems we face in the region up close and today provided him with an opportunity to talk to victims and policing professionals alike.
It’s no secret that there is a serious problem with violent crime across many parts of the country and the minister has taken a keen interest in the innovative projects underway in the West Midlands.
As part of his visit to the West Midlands, Nick Hurd visited community police in Handsworth and went on walk around with local officers. If the local Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) chooses to increase the council tax precept, funding for West Midlands police will increase by £34.2 million in the coming financial year. The region also received £1.8 million from the government’s £17 million Early Intervention Youth Fund to support community groups and charities guide vulnerable young people away from violent crime.
Other speakers at the event included PCCs for the West Midlands, David Jamieson, and for Warwickshire, Philip Seccombe, as well as the West Midlands Chief Constable David Thompson, the Deputy Director of Public Health England West Midlands Dr Lola Abdulu, and Darren Laville from local charity The Epiphany People.
These events form part of the delivery of the 61 commitments in the Serious Violence Strategy and the government’s commitment to working with communities to strengthen their response to the issue and ensure everything is being done to protect young people from harm.
News story: Ideas Mean Business: young innovators enjoy success 6 months on
Some of the UK’s brightest young innovators are realising their potential following participation in Innovate UK’s Ideas Mean Business competition.
The competition provided 24 18-30 year-old entrepreneurs with financial support and expert advice to help get their innovative businesses off the ground. The campaign was part of a drive to encourage more young people to engage in innovation, no matter what their background.
Since receiving the funding and support, the young entrepreneurs have enjoyed a successful 6 months.
Adam Root represents the UK at G7 summit
Essex-based Adam Root, founder of Inheriting Earth, is developing a filter to prevent microplastics entering the water system through washing machines.
In June 2018, Adam was invited to represent the UK on a specialist youth council at the 44th G7 summit in Canada. Adam spoke about the issue of ghost fishing gear, which is fishing equipment that has been lost or abandoned in the ocean. A report by World Animal Protection estimated that each year, 640,000 tonnes of ghost gear enters the world’s oceans.
Adam said:
We are striving to solve a global problem. We need to focus on technology and research to apply smart, considered solutions to ocean plastic and marine debris.
The youth round table allowed a network to be created across countries and divides for one clear goal – a cleaner ocean for everyone.
Adam represented the UK on a youth round table at the G7 summit in Canada.
Successful launch for Halalivery
Rawan Abu-Ishira and team are developing Halalivery, a food delivery app exclusively for Halal cuisine. With the programme’s support, the team, which is based at The University of Nottingham’s Ingenuity Lab, successfully launched a beta version of their app in September 2018, with 30 vendors already on board.
Rawan said:
There’s a pretty high level of interest from people in the concept and we’ve been able to acquire loyal customers who are consistently coming back for the quality of service provided.
We have been witnessing rapid growth in the orders placed and app installs not just in Nottingham, which indicates that we could take Halalivery to the next level in the near future.
The programme has supported us in many ways… Considering that we are a self-funded business at the moment, the cash prize has definitely benefited us in accelerating the process of launching into the market and reaching more customers.
The mentorship provided by our innovation champion Sarah Smith has opened up a number of doors either by management advice or through enhancing our social capital.
Tawfiq Abu-Khajil, Rawan Abu Ishira, Amur Anzorov, co-founders of Halalivery.
A new market for Angela’s cushions
Belfast-based Angela McCauley originally hoped to sell handmade cushions created from recycled fabric but found the market too crowded. With the help of her innovation champion, Angela has discovered a new, innovative use for her cushions: helping patients with dementia recall memories.
Over the last 6 months, Angela has worked with individuals suffering from dementia and cognitive decline, using meaningful pieces of fabric to create tactile pieces that prompt patients to remember family and life events. One cushion Angela created for Joan (pictured below) was designed to prompt memories of Joan’s home and interests.
Angela said:
Joan’s next of kin had put a lot of thought into the materials for her MemoryKeeper and enclosed a letter telling me about her.
The floral piece belonged to her and matched the dining room of her family home. Her friend informed me she had an eye for detail and colour. I saw this in action when she helped me pick up just the right shade of green and red to bring out the colours of the main piece.
We picked the joyful picture of Joan on a scooter to show off her fun side. The purple fabric and matching button were from her sewing box and represented her love for sewing and craft. The lace was crocheted by her mother and is a beautiful finishing touch.
Angela’s MemoryKeepers help people like Joan to remember family and life events.
Ideal First Car’s George Howell celebrates success
At just 18 years old, Exeter-based George Howell was the youngest winner of a young innovators’ award. George is the founder of Ideal First Car, a service helping younger drivers access better quality cars and cheaper insurance.
Since winning, George has developed a fully-functioning beta of an app featuring listings from over 1000 dealers, which he hopes will be ready to launch in early 2019.
George also participated in a competition hosted by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders. The Future Mobility Challenge looked for cutting-edge automotive innovations, with partners including Jaguar Land Rover, BMW and Toyota. George made the final, which saw him pitching his idea to Toyota.
George said:
The last 6 months have been a rollercoaster to say the least. However, it has assisted me in getting set up for the next 6 months; and the years to follow.
George hopes his app will be ready to launch this year.
News story: Derailment at Doncaster
The derailed locomotive
At around 17:17 hrs on 21 December 2018, the third locomotive in a train of four light locomotives derailed at approximately 13 mph (21 km/h). The locomotive had just left Roberts Road depot and was traversing a tight left-hand bend towards Doncaster station. There were no injuries, although some infrastructure was damaged and train services were heavily disrupted.
We have undertaken a preliminary examination into the circumstances surrounding this accident. Having assessed the evidence which has been gathered to date, we have decided to publish a safety digest.
The safety digest will be made available on our website in the next few weeks.
