Promoting British exports and protecting industries from unfair global trading practices are high on the government’s agenda as we leave the European Union.

Trade Policy Minister, George Hollingbery, hosted a roundtable discussion for ceramics firms in Stoke-on-Trent this week (Monday 7 January), alongside local MP, Jack Brereton.

The roundtable discussed the industry’s trade priorities, including those measures the government is taking to ensure British ceramics are protected from dumping, which involves overseas firms selling their goods at below cost price to undermine the British market. Dumping is against World Trade Organization (WTO) rules and measures to combat it are currently being taken by the EU. After leaving the EU, the UK will have its own powers to address these practices.

The government is committed to ensuring that UK industry can continue to compete on a level playing field when we leave the EU, as well as helping them to realise opportunities to trade freely with new markets around the world.

Minister Hollingbery also visited Heraldic Pottery for a tour of their production facility and discussed their priorities to continue their exporting successes as the UK leaves the EU.

For example, a future free trade agreement with the USA could potentially remove significant tariffs on British ceramic catering ware, making them more competitive and helping to boost exports.

The government is also setting up the UK Trade Remedies Authority (TRA), which will investigate unfair trading practices and unforeseen surges in imports. The TRA will be up and running before exit day to ensure that vital British industries are protected by the global trade rules.

Trade Policy Minister, George Hollingbery said:

It was a pleasure to meet ceramics businesses in Stoke today, who are already having great success in exporting to markets around the world.

It is one of my top priorities to ensure that fantastic businesses like Heraldic Pottery are able to continue expanding into new and established markets. They should rest assured that, as we take control of our independent trade policy, we will act in the interest of vital British industries to ensure that British jobs are not undermined by unfair trading practices.

DVLA staff in Swansea are gearing up for a jam-packed year of fundraising for Tŷ Olwen after choosing them as their Charity of Choice for 2019.

This comes fresh off the back of the news that DVLA staff have raised a staggering £250,000 for five charities over the past five years as part of their Charity of Choice initiative which launched in 2014.

Activities for Tŷ Olwen have already kicked off. A new staff rambling group will take on a challenging hike each month to raise money for the charity, which provides palliative care services for people in Swansea, Neath and Port Talbot. Other plans include a summer football tournament and climbing Ben Nevis, as well as cake sales, raffles and many other activities through the course of the year.

Last month DVLA handed over a cheque to Maggie’s Swansea after raising £58,803 through staff’s fundraising efforts. This amount will pay for the charity’s Swansea centre to be open for five weeks of the year, benefitting around 2,500 visitors. It will help fund services such as benefits advice, clinical psychologist sessions and bereavement support for those who use the centre.

On hearing the news, Helen Murray MBE, Tŷ Olwen Trust Chairman, said:

The whole team at Tŷ Olwen are thrilled that we have been chosen to be DVLA’s charity of choice this year.

Whilst Tŷ Olwen cannot offer a cure, we can offer a good quality of life for patients, along with compassionate end of life care when the time comes.

Our patients are cared for either in Tŷ Olwen itself, in their own homes or on the wards of local hospitals. This partnership will help to ensure that this vital care can continue and we look forward to working with the DVLA in the year to come.

Julie Lennard, DVLA Chief Executive, said:

Raising £250,000 is an incredible milestone to have reached. I’m extremely proud of our staff who continually rise to the challenge and give so much of their own time to raise money for our nominated charities.

I have no doubt that together with Tŷ Olwen we can make a big difference and I’m delighted that we’ll be supporting this fantastic charity in 2019.

Notes to editors:

1. Last year saw DVLA raise £58,803 for Maggie’s Swansea, DVLA’s Charity of Choice for 2018.

2. DVLA previously raised £21,389 for Wales Air Ambulance in 2014, £43,578 for LATCH in 2015, £70,906 for Alzheimer’s Society in 2016 and £56,159 for Mind in 2017.

3. Tŷ Olwen offer quality of life for patients, along with appropriate and compassionate end of life care when the time comes. Patients are cared for either in Tŷ Olwen itself, in their own homes or on the wards of local hospitals. The care is extended to family and friends, and the support is given for as long as it’s needed.

Prime Minister Theresa May, Security Minister Ben Wallace and senior figures from UK government, law enforcement and the emergency services met with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to share expertise and experience of hosting major events.

Mr Wallace chaired a UK-Japan roundtable discussion today (10 January) with Prime Minister Theresa May and Prime Minister Abe to highlight how we mitigate our most serious security threats and to share our experiences of successfully hosting the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games and other major events.

The roundtable formed part of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s visit to London to meet Prime Minister May and came as Japan prepares to host the Rugby World Cup this year, followed by the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2020.

UK experts from across government and the emergency services, including Chief Executive of the National Cyber Security Centre Ciaran Martin and Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick, attended the meeting at Twickenham and highlighted their views on overseeing safety and security at major events, as well as keeping the country safe.

Security Minister Ben Wallace said:

The UK and Japan collaborate regularly on a number of different areas and security is undoubtedly one of the most important.

Today’s roundtable discussion was another demonstration of the strong spirit of co-operation that exists between our 2 countries.

I hope that by sharing our experiences of hosting the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, we have in some way aided Prime Minister Abe and his team as they put the finishing touches on what I’m sure will be a series of outstanding sporting events.

The UK will continue to collaborate with Japan as they finalise preparations for this year’s Rugby World Cup and next year’s Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The roundtable included:

• UK Prime Minister, Theresa May
• Japanese Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe
• Security Minister, Ben Wallace
• National Cyber Security Centre Chief Executive, Ciaran Martin
• Metropolitan Police Service Commissioner, Cressida Dick
• London Fire Brigade Assistant Commissioner, Graham Ellis
• London Ambulance Service Head of Resilience and Special Operations, Tracy Porter
• Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Director for the Commonwealth Games, Paul Oldfield

During December, there were four new detentions of foreign flagged vessels in a UK port.

1. In response to one of the recommendations of Lord Donaldson’s inquiry into the prevention of pollution from merchant shipping, and in compliance with the EU Directive on Port State Control (2009/16/EC as amended), the Maritime and Coastguard agency (MCA) publishes details of the foreign flagged vessels detained in UK ports each month.

2. The UK is part of a regional agreement on port state control known as the Paris Memorandum of Understanding on Port State Control (Paris MOU) and information on all ships that are inspected is held centrally in an electronic database known as THETIS. This allows the ships with a high risk rating and poor detention records to be targeted for future inspection.

3. Inspections of foreign flagged ships in UK ports are undertaken by surveyors from the Maritime and Coastguard Agency. When a ship is found to be not in compliance with applicable convention requirements, a deficiency may be raised. If any of their deficiencies are so serious they have to be rectified before departure, then the ship will be detained.

4. All deficiencies should be rectified before departure.

5. When applicable, the list includes those passenger craft prevented from operating under the provisions of the EU Directive on Mandatory Surveys for the safe operation of regular Ro-Ro ferry and high speed passenger craft services (1999/35/EU).

Notes on the list of detentions

• Full details of the ship. The accompanying detention list shows ship’s International Maritime Organization (IMO) number which is unchanging throughout the ship’s life and uniquely identifies it. It also shows the ship’s name and flag state at the time of its inspection.
• Company. The company shown in the vessel’s Safety Management Certificate (SMC) or if there is no SMC, then the party otherwise believed to be responsible for the safety of the ship at the time of inspection.
• Classification Society. The list shows the Classification Society responsible for classing the ship only.
• Recognised Organisation. Responsible for conducting the statutory surveys: and issuing statutory certificates on behalf of the Flag State
• White (WL), Grey (GL) and Black lists (BL) are issued by the Paris MoU on 01 July each year and shows the performance of flag State.

SHIPS DETAINED IN DECEMBER 2018

Vessel Name: KUZMA MININ

GT: 16257

IMO: 7721263

Flag: Russian Federation (Grey list)

Company: Murmansk Shipping Co

Classification Society: RMRS

Recognised Organisation: RMRS

Recognised Organisation for ISM Doc: RMRS

Recognised Organisation for ISM SMC: RMRS

Date and Place of Detention: 18th December 2018 in Falmouth

Summary: Thirteen deficiencies with six grounds for detention

Defective item	Nature of defect	Ground for Detention
18401 – Medical equipment, medical chest, medical guide	Expired	No
11108 – Inflatable liferafts	Expired	No
01220 – Seafarers’ employment agreement (SEA)	Expired	Yes
18314 – Provisions quantity	Insufficient	Yes
11128 – Line – throwing appliance	Expired	No
11101 – Lifeboats	Damaged	No
01139 – Maritime Labour Certificate	Expired	Yes
02202 – Cargo ship safety equipment (Including exemption)	Survey put of window	Yes
10104 – Gyro compass	Inoperative	Yes
07115 – Fire – Dampers	Not as required	No
11117 – Lifebuoys incl. provisions and disposition	Not as required	No
01104 – Cargo ship safety radio 9 (including exemption)	Survey out of window	Yes
04103 – Emergency, lighting, batteries and switches	Not properly maintained	No

This vessel was still detained on 31st December 2018

Vessel Name: DARINA

GT: 3170

IMO: 9194062

Flag: Russian Federation (Grey list)

Company: Transflot Ltd

Classification Society: BV

Recognised Organisation: BV

Recognised Organisation for ISM Doc: RMRS

Recognised Organisation for ISM SMC: RMRS

Date and Place of Detention: 14th December 2018 at Newport

Summary: Six deficiencies with Six grounds for detention

Defective item	Nature of defect	Ground for Detention
07111 – Personal equipment for fire safety	Not properly maintained	Yes
15150 – ISM	Not as required	Yes
11131 – Onboard training and instructions	Lack of training	Yes
05116 – Operations/maintenance	Not as required	Yes
10114 – Voyage data recorder (VDR) / Simplified voyage data recorder (5-VDR)	Not as required	Yes
05115 – Radio log (diary)	Not as required	Yes

This vessel was released on 20th December 2018

Vessel Name: TRACER

GT: 6714

IMO: 9204702

Flag: Netherlands (White list)

Company: Spliethoff’s Bevrachtings BV

Classification Society: BV

Recognised Organisation: BV

Recognised Organisation for ISM Doc: LR

Recognised Organisation for ISM SMC: LR

Date and Place of Detention: 12th December 2018 at Tyne

Summary: Twelve deficiencies with threee grounds for detention

Defective item	Nature of defect	Ground for Detention
10101 – Pilot ladders and hoist/pilot transfer arrangements	Unsafe	No
07105 – Fire doors/openings in fire-resisting divisions	Not as required	Yes
07105 – Fire doors/openings in fire-resisting divisions	Not as required	Yes
11117 – Lifebuoys incl. provisions and disposition	Not as required	No
02106 – Hull damage impairing seaworthiness	Holed	No
15150 – ISM	Not as required	Yes
03104 – Cargo & other hatchways	Damaged	No
09233 – Guards – fencing around dangerous machinery parts	Not as required	No
07120 – Means of escape	Blocked	No
10109 – Lights, shapes, sound – signals	Missing	No
99101 – Other safety in general	Other	No
03108 – Ventilators, air pipes, casings	Corroded	No

This vessel was released on 20th December 2018

Vessel Name: VIKINGFJORD

GT: 6714

IMO: 7382627

Flag: Norway (White list)

Company: Myklebusthaug Management AS

Classification Society: N/A

Recognised Organisation: BV

Recognised Organisation for ISM Doc: Flag

Recognised Organisation for ISM SMC: Flag

Date and Place of Detention: 12th December 2018 at Grimsby

Summary: Eight deficiencies with three grounds for detention

Defective item	Nature of defect	Ground for Detention
01220 – Seafarers’ employment agreement (SEA)	Not as required	No
10109 – Lights, shapes, sound – signals	Missing	No
05105 – MF/HF Radio installation	Inoperative	Yes
15150 – ISM	Not as required	Yes
03102 – Freeboard marks	Not as required	No
01201 – Certificate for master and officers	Expired	Yes
09232 – Cleanliness of engine room	Insufficient	No
01209 – Manning specified by the minimum safe manning doc	Not as required	No

This vessel was released on 15th December 2018

DETENTIONS CARRIED OVER FROM PREVIOUS MONTHS

Vessel Name: FREZYA S

GT: 11743

IMO: 9353022

Flag: Panama (White list)

Company: Oras Denizcilik ve Ticaret Ltd

Classification Society: BV

Recognised Organisation: BV

Recognised Organisation for ISM Doc: N/A

Recognised Organisation for ISM SMC: N/A

Date and Place of Detention: 19th November 2018 at Southampton

Summary: Seventeen deficiencies with six grounds for detention

Defective item	Nature of defect	Ground for Detention
18313 – Cleanliness	Dirty	Yes
07116 – Ventilation	Not as required	No
18314 – Provisions quantity	Insufficient	Yes
07199 – Other (fire safety)	Other	No
02105 – Steering gear	Inoperative	No
13103 – Gauges, thermometers, etc	Not as required	No
15150 – ISM	Not as required	No
10111 – Charts	Missing	No
01324 – Material Safety Data sheets (MSDS)	Missing	No
18318 – Food temperature	Not as required	Yes
18424 – Steam pipes, pressure pipes, wires (insulation)	Not as required	Yes
08199 – Other (alarms)	Other	No
18408 – Electrical	Unsafe	Yes
18499 – Other (Health protection, medical care)	Other	No
10116 – Nautical publications	Missing	No
03106 – Windows, sidescuttles and deadlights	Not as required	No
01140 – Declaration of Maritime Labour Compliance (Part I and II)	Missing	Yes

This vessel was still detained on 31st December 2018

Vessel Name: POSEIDON

GT: 1412

IMO: 7363217

Flag: Iceland (White list)

Company: Neptune EHF

Classification Society: NA

Recognised Organisation: NA

Recognised Organisation for ISM Doc: DNV-GL

Recognised Organisation for ISM SMC: DNV-GL

Date and Place of Detention: 19th July 2018 at Hull

Summary: Ten deficiencies with two grounds for detention

Defective item	Nature of defect	Ground for Detention
01199 – Other certificates	Other	No
01218 – Medical	Incorrect language	No
02106 – Hull damage impairing seaworthiness	Holed	Yes
07113 – Fire Pumps	Insufficient Pressure	Yes
07103 – Divisions – Decks, bulkheads and penetrations	Not as required	No
12107 – Ballast, fuel and other tanks	Not as required	No
07105 – Fire doors/openings in fire resisting divisions	Not as required	No
01101 – Cargo Ship Safety Equipment (including exemption)	Missing	No
01102 – Cargo Ship Safety Construction (including exemption)	Missing	No
01104 – Cargo Ship Safety Radio (including exemption)	Missing	No

This vessel was still detained on 31st December 2018

Vessel Name: TECOIL POLARIS

GT: 1814

IMO No: 8883290

Flag: Russian Federation (Grey list)

Company: Tecoil Shipping Ltd

Classification Society: RMRS

Recognised Organisation: RMRS

Recognised Organisation for ISM DOC: RMRS

Recognised Organisation for ISM SMC: RMRS

Date and Place of Detention: 6th June 2018 at Immingham

Summary: Twenty-Seven deficiencies with eight grounds for detentions

Defective item	Nature of defect	Ground for Detention
01123 – Continuous synopsis record	Entries missing	No
01218 – Medical certificate	Missing	No
01320 – Garbage record book	Incorrect	No
01308 – Record of seafarers’ daily hours of work or rest	False	No
04110 – Abandon ship drill	Insufficient frequency	No
10105 – Magnetic compass	Inoperative	Yes
10128 – Navigation bridge visibility	Not as required	No
10104 – Gyro compass	Inoperative	Yes
11122 – Radio life-saving appliances	Inoperative	No
11129 – Operational readiness of lifesaving appliances	Not as required	Yes
04109 – Fire drills	Lack of communication	No
10127 – Voyage or passage plan	Not as required	Yes
10123 – International code of signals – SOLAS	Missing	No
15150 – ISM	Not as required	Yes
05110 – Facilities for reception of marine safety inform.	Not as required	No
05199 – Other (radiocommunication)	Other	No
11104 – Rescue boats	Not properly maintained	Yes
11101 – Lifeboats	Not ready for use	Yes
10101 – Pilot ladder and hoist/pilot transfer arrangements	Unsafe	No
06105 – Atmosphere testing instrument	Not properly maintained	No
07105 – Fire doors/openings in fire resisting divisions	Not as required	No
01117 – International Oil Pollution Prevention (IOPP)	Invalid	Yes
14604 – Bunker delivery note	Not as required	No
01315 – Oil record book	Not properly filled	No
02105 – Steering gear	Not properly maintained	No
02108 – Electrical installations in general	Not properly maintained	No
11134 – Operations of life saving appliances	Lack of familiarity	No

This vessel was still detained on 31st December 2018

Vessel Name: CIEN PORCIENTO (General Cargo)

GT: 106.

IMO No: 8944446.

Flag: Unregistered.

Company: Open Window Inc.

Classification Society: Unclassed.

Recognised Organisation: Not applicable.

Recognised Organisation for ISM DOC: Not applicable.

Recognised Organisation for ISM SMC: Not applicable

Date and Place of detention: 4 March 2010, Lowestoft

Summary: Thirty deficiencies including seven grounds for detention

This vessel was still detained on 31st December 2018 Notes to Editors • The MCA is a partner in the Sea Vision UK campaign to raise awareness and understanding of the sea and maritime activities. Sea Vision promotes the importance and economic value of the sector and works to highlight the exciting range of activities and career opportunities available to young people within the UK growing maritime sector at www.seavision.org.uk

• Follow us on Twitter: @MCA_media

For further information please contact Maritime and Coastguard Agency Press Office, on: +44 (0) 2380 329 401 Press releases and further information about the agency is available here.

Minister for School Standards Nick Gibb hosted the first International Textbook Summit in London on Thursday 14 June, bringing together curriculum experts and teachers to discuss how to use textbooks to improve education for every child and help tackle teacher workload.

The Minister welcomed government representatives and international experts from 15 nations including Finland, Singapore and Germany to the Royal Society in London to share the latest international evidence on textbooks and explore ways of emulating the success of textbook based teaching programmes, such as Teaching for Mastery.

Evidence suggests textbooks save teachers around 18 minutes a day and high performing countries, including those in the Far East, have a strong focus on textbooks to help raise education standards.

The international symposium builds on the recent launch of a £7.7 million curriculum fund to support the development of high quality resources. These resources will also help teachers deliver the government’s new curriculum while freeing them up to focus on what really matters in the classroom.

School Standards Minister Nick Gibb said:

Textbooks support teachers to translate the vision of a curriculum into carefully sequenced and well-resourced lessons, reducing teacher workload and increasing the quality of classroom teaching. That’s why we are encouraging the creation of these resources through our £7.7 million curriculum fund.

It was an honour to host world-leading experts for this first ever summit and to discuss how we can use these resources to improve education for every child, building on the 1.9 million more children now in good or outstanding schools than in 2010 thanks to the hard work of teachers and our reforms.

Tim Oates CBE from Cambridge Assessment said:

The Summit developed an extraordinary consensus about the value and function of textbooks; the discussion of what ‘quality’ means will help with both new generations of textbooks and allied digital resources.

The evidence of best practice and the discussions at the summit will help to shape the development of resources as part of the curriculum fund. It will also inform the development of the department’s teacher recruitment and retention strategy which is due to be published later this year.

The Education Secretary has been clear that there are no great schools without great teachers and his top priority is to make sure teaching remains an attractive and fulfilling profession – removing unnecessary workload is at the heart of this commitment.

Also speaking at the event were: Tim Oates CBE, Cambridge Assessment; Professor Bill Schmidt, Michigan State University; Professor Dr Eckhardt Fuchs, Georg Eckert Institute for International Textbook Research; Lee Fei Chen, Times Publishing Limited; Rickard Vinde, Swedish Association of Educational Publishers; Dr Nuno Crato, University of Lisbon; Debbie Morgan, National Centre for the Excellence in Teaching Mathematics; and Professor Xingfeng Huang, Shanghai Normal University.

International Textbook Summit – 14 June 2018: summary document (PDF, 4.76MB, 11 pages)

Read Nick Gibb’s full speech here.