New UKSV Helpdesk service: Contact details and launch dates

News story

The current Enquiry Centre service for all vetting queries will be replaced by a new UKSV Helpdesk service by the end of 2022.

UKSV Helpdesk coming soon - cartoon graphic of someone answering a call

UKSV left MOD to become part of Cabinet Office in April 2020 and this move to our own in-house enquiries and complaints service is a key element in completing our transition away from legacy MOD services.

We can now share more information about the timeline for the changeover as well as the contact details for the new UKSV Helpdesk service. The new email contact details should be used from Monday December 12 2022 and not before. The current Enquiry Centre details on the gov.uk Contact Us page remain valid until that date and will be updated once the changeover has taken place.

Please note that there will be an email-only service for an interim period between the closure of the current Enquiry Centre phone lines and the launch of the full UKSV Helpdesk telephone service in early 2023.

UKSV Helpdesk contact details: email service from December 12

The contact address for the new UKSV Helpdesk is uksv-helpdesk@cabinetoffice.gov.uk and you should start to use this address for all email enquiries from Monday December 12. This includes those enquiries which are currently sent to the UKSV-TechSupport-Grp@mod.gov.uk mailbox.

Key dates to be aware of:

Friday, December 8, 16:00: The Enquiry Centre phone service closes.

The lines will be deactivated following close of business at 4pm on December 8.
The current email enquiry service will continue to operate from the MOD mailbox UKSV-ContactUs@mod.gov.uk and UKSV-TechSupport-Grp@mod.gov.uk until December 12, when this service will also close.
Any enquiries which are received into the MOD mailboxes by December 12 will be actioned before the mailboxes finally close on December 29.

Monday, December 12: The new UKSV Helpdesk email service will launch.

From this date onwards, all new enquiries and any replies to ongoing enquiries should be sent to the new Helpdesk mailbox uksv-helpdesk@cabinetoffice.gov.uk

Thursday, December 29: The UKSV-ContactUs@mod.gov.uk and UKSV-TechSupport-Grp@mod.gov.uk MOD mailboxes will be deactivated.

There will be an automatic response giving advance notice of the mailbox closure, and anyone emailing these addresses from 12 December will be prompted to forward their enquiry to the new Helpdesk mailbox.

The email-only service is an interim measure during the period of transition and the new Helpdesk phone service will launch during the first quarter of 2023. The new UKSV Helpdesk will offer a modern, multi-channel digital service for customers, sponsors and applicants to communicate and engage with UKSV, making use of new systems and technology to create a positive customer experience.

Published 14 November 2022

UK and international partners announce further sanctions against Iranian officials

The UK and international partners have announced coordinated sanctions on Iranian officials who are leading the violent repression of protests in Iran.

Protests continue across Iran following the tragic death of 22 year old Mahsa Amini, in the custody of Iran’s so-called Morality Police, who were sanctioned by the UK on 10 October. The Iranian authorities have responded to the protests with violence, reportedly killing hundreds and injuring thousands of others.

The Foreign Secretary has announced the UK will designate Communications Minister Issa Zarepour and a range of local law enforcement and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) officials who have been involved in and ordered the crackdown on protests.

Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said:

These sanctions target officials within the Iranian regime who are responsible for heinous human rights violations.

Together with our partners, we have sent a clear message to the Iranian regime – the violent crackdown on protests must stop and freedom of expression must be respected.

The Iranian people could not be clearer. It’s time for the regime to stop blaming external actors and start listening to the voices of their people.

Zarepour and Vahid Mohammad Naser Majid (chief of Iran’s Cyber Police) have been designated for shutting down the internet in Iran, including disabling Whatsapp and Instagram, and banning the use of the Google Play app and virtual private networks (VPNs).

Their actions are part of a wider clampdown on freedom of expression in Iran which has included the arrest and detention of more than 40 journalists and Iranian girls being sent to ‘psychological centres’ for protesting for their right to choose what to wear, according to regime officials.

Twenty two other Iranian political and security officials are designated today in response to the continued brutal violence aimed at protestors, in provinces including:

Sistan and Baluchestan: on 30 September, over 80 people were reportedly killed in the city of Zahedan. Today the UK has sanctioned:
- Ahmad Taheri (former chief of the Law Enforcement Force in Sistan and Baluchestan)
- Mahmoud Saadati (former chief of the Law Enforcement Force in Zahedan)
- Hossein Maroufi (deputy co-ordinator of mobilization of the IRGC in Sistan and Baluchestan)
- Ahmad Shafahi (commander of the IRGC Salman Corps in Sistan and Baluchestan)
- Hossein Modarres Khiabani (governor of Sistan and Baluchestan)
Kurdistan: protests have been brutally cracked down across the province, including in the cities of Sanandaj and Mahsa Amini’s hometown of Saqqez. Today the UK has sanctioned:
- Ali Azadi (chief of the Law Enforcement Force in Kurdistan)
- Ali Reza Moradi (chief of the Law Enforcement Force in Sanandaj)
- Ali Sayd Safari (chief of the Law Enforcement Force in Saqqez)
- Abbas Abdi (chief of the Law Enforcement Force in Divandarreh)
- Sereng Hossein Rajabpour (Basij commander in Bijar)
- Morteza Mir Aghaei (Basij commander in Sanandaj)
- Esmaeil Zarei Kousha (governor of Kurdistan)
- Sardar Seyed Sadegh Hosseini (senior commander of the IRGC in Kurdistan)
Tehran: at Sharif University in Tehran, Iranian security services used live rounds and tear gas against students, barricading them inside the university building. Today the UK has sanctioned:
- Hossein Rahimi (chief of the Law Enforcement Force in Tehran)
- Hasan Hassanzadeh (senior commander of the IRGC in Tehran)

These sanctions will ensure that the individuals on the list cannot travel to the UK and any of their assets held in the UK will be frozen.

The UK has already designated a number of high-ranking security and political figures, as well as the Morality Police, for their roles in protests in Iran.

The Foreign Secretary also summoned the Iranian Chargé d’Affaires last week to make clear that the UK does not tolerate threats from foreign nations against individuals here.

COP26 President Alok Sharma’s Speech at the High-Level Ministerial round table on pre-2030 ambition

Thank you, Minister Jorgenson.

Can I just remind all of us friends, that at COP26 we did resolve collectively to peruse efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5 degrees.

I have always said what we agreed in Glasgow and Paris has to be the baseline of our ambition.

We’ve got to stick to that commitment. We cannot allow any backsliding.

But we are already at 1.1 degrees global warming and I know I don’t have to remind all of you the impact of that around the world.

Even at 1.5 degrees we are still going to have devastating outcomes for many millions. As our friend from Bangladesh reminded us 1.5 needs to be a red line.

And this cannot be the COP where we lose 1.5 degrees.

So, we’ve got to fight for this and every fraction of a degree absolutely makes a difference.

And it’s the difference, for very many, including each of your countries, between a tolerable existence and an impossible future.

Let me remind you a year ago what Mia Mottley said – in Glasgow she said 2 degrees “would be a death sentence” for very many nations around the world.

I believe we can keep 1.5 alive, we’ve got the business community on our side.

We all would have seen on Saturday, 200 international businesses signing up to an open letter in defence of 1.5.

We are seeing impressive sectoral impacts; renewables, zero emission vehicles.

We’ve heard about that this morning.

Yes, there is serious work going on with our finances. We need to be in a place where we can see more in terms of MDB reform, we need to do more on JETP. Yes, we need to include more on finance.

But on 1.5 we need to make sure that we reaffirm our commitments to that.

We’ve got a G20 leaders meeting going on right now.

They’ve showed leadership last year. They need to show that again.

They need to, coming out of that G20, reaffirm their commitment to Paris and to Glasgow.

In terms of mitigations outcomes here, really quickly there are four things we need to have.

One is for those countries that have not set out their revised NDC to do so aligning with 1.5. We’ve got 33 countries that have already done so, including the UK.

Secondly let’s make clear our commitments to the science, no rowing back on the science, we heard from the science this morning.

Thirdly, further steps to phasing out coal, phasing out fossil fuel subsidies.

And fourthly we need to agree the legalities on the Mitigation Work Programme to shift the dial on implementation and ambition.

The reality is without progress on mitigation we are going to beyond our ability to adapt. And of course I want to see progress made on loss and damage here, but unless we stick to the mitigation piece all of that is going to be a lot more difficult.

So friends, in conclusion, we’ll either leave Egypt having kept 1.5 alive or this will be the COP where we lose 1.5.

You need to work out how you want future generations to look upon this COP and each of us individually as countries.

It’s really up to us to decide. I hope we will decide to keep 1.5 alive.

Thank you.

Airline merger could see passengers pay more to fly from London to South Korea

Press release

The buyout of Asiana Airlines by Korean Air could lead to higher prices for passengers flying between London and Seoul, as well as impacting air cargo services.

A traveller with bags watches a plane take off — Image credit: CMA

Korean Air and Asiana Airlines are the only carriers operating direct passenger flights between London and Seoul and currently compete closely for customers. The only competition that the merged businesses would face on this route would come from providers of indirect flights, which the CMA’s investigation found are a much weaker option for customers.

On this basis, the CMA found that the merger would risk higher prices and a reduced quality of service for passengers flying between London and Seoul. While customer demand has recently been lower on this route as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, around 150,000 passengers travelled from London to Seoul in 2019 – and this level of demand is expected to return in the next few years.

The CMA also found that the merger raises competition concerns in the supply of air cargo services. The CMA found that Korean Air and Asiana Airlines are the two main suppliers of direct cargo services between the UK and South Korea and, even when taking into account the more significant competition that providers of indirect flights provide for cargo customers, would not face sufficient competition after the merger. The deal could therefore result in higher costs for UK businesses transporting products to or from South Korea.

The merger remains subject to merger control clearance in the US, China, Japan and the EU.

Colin Raftery, Senior Mergers Director at the CMA, said:

Korean Air and Asiana Airlines are the two main players on the London to Seoul route and the deal risks UK customers and businesses paying over the odds or receiving a lower quality of service.

Should Korea Air and Asiana Airlines fail to address our concerns, this deal will progress to a more in-depth investigation.

According to Oxford Economics there were 143,676 UK arrivals into South Korea in 2019. This fell post-pandemic to 44,021 arrivals in 2022, although numbers are returning to pre-pandemic levels.
The CMA is considering the impact of the deal for UK customers – assessing whether other competitors are available to provide alternative passenger or cargo services if Korea Airlines and Asiana Airlines come under common ownership.
The CMA’s competition concerns relate to:
- air passenger services on the London-Seoul route.
- air cargo services on the Europe to South Korea route for customers transporting cargo from the UK to South Korea.
- air cargo services on the South Korea to Europe route for customers transporting cargo from South Korea to the UK.
The parties have until 21 November to submit proposals to address the CMA’s competition concerns. The CMA would then have until 28 November to consider whether to accept these in principle or refer the deal for an in-depth phase 2 investigation.
All enquiries from journalists should be directed to the CMA press office by email on press@cma.gov.uk or by phone on 020 3738 6460.
All enquiries from the general public should be directed to the CMA’s General Enquiries team on general.enquiries@cma.gov.uk or 020 3738 6000.

Published 14 November 2022

Animal medicine seizure notice: Parcels shipped from China to a premises in County Antrim

News story

Details of seizure notice served following a parcel addressed to premises in County Antrim was stopped at Belfast Depot.

Magnifying glass showing the words "law Enforcement"

The following veterinary medicines were identified by a courier company based at a Belfast depot. The products were then detained and subsequently seized by the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA).

The parcels were addressed to a residential premises in County Antrim and were shipped from China. The parcels contained

4 boxes oxfendazole tablets for dogs & cats
3 boxes albendazole tablets for animals
2 boxes 20ml florfenicol and metronidazole ear drops for animals
1 box 100ml advanced care ear cleaner for animals

These products are intended for use in animals and are not authorised veterinary medicines in GB or NI.

The medicine was seized under Regulation 25 (Importation of unauthorised veterinary medicinal products) of the Veterinary Medicines Regulations 2013.

Published 14 November 2022