New Civil Service Commissioners appointed

News story

Joanna Abeyie and Lea Paterson have been appointed as Commissioners as part of the Civil Service Commission.

Joanna Abeyie and Lea Paterson have been appointed as Commissioners as part of the Civil Service Commission. Together they bring valuable skills and experience from both public and private sector backgrounds.

The Civil Service Commission is an independent statutory body that oversees appointments to the Civil Service, ensuring that they are made on merit on the basis of fair and open competition. Commissioners also promote and hear appeals brought under the Civil Service Code.

The new Civil Service Commissioners have been appointed by Her Majesty on the recommendation of the Minister for the Civil Service after an open competition which took place in 2021.

The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, the Rt Hon. Steve Barclay said:

Joanna and Lea will bring with them decades of experience from across the public and private sectors and I am delighted to have them on board at a really important time for the development of the Commission and its work.

Baroness Gisela Stuart, the First Civil Service Commissioner, said:

Lea and Joanna bring a wealth of expertise from other sectors in recruiting talented people from a wide range of backgrounds to senior and specialist roles. Their knowledge and experience will be invaluable to our team of Commissioners and we look forward to them joining our board.

The new Commissioners announced today join the Commission from 13 June for a 5 year non-renewable term. Commissioners work part-time, typically between 4 and 8 days a month.

Read more information about the work of the Commission.
The Civil Service Commission was established as a statutory body in November 2010 under the provisions of the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010. The Commission is independent of Ministers and the Civil Service. It is responsible for upholding the requirement that recruitment to the Civil Service is on merit on the basis of fair and open competition.
Joanna Abeyie MBE is a social impact entrepreneur and champion of diversity, as well as an award-winning journalist and broadcaster. In 2018, she founded Blue Moon, an inclusive Executive Search Business and Diversity and Inclusion Consultancy Practice. Joanna has a strong track record of increasing the employment diversity through inclusive hiring practices and launched her first charity, Elevation Networks Charitable Trust, when she was 18. Following this, she started Social Enterprise Shine Media, placing over 3000 people from diverse backgrounds into work within the creative industries. She recently completed a 6-month role as interim Head of Creative Diversity at the BBC. Joanna is a Non-Executive Director for Investors in People, a Trustee for The Lord Mayor’s Appeal, and was the first black person to be made a Trustee and Director of The Media Society. She helped establish the Creative Diversity All-Party- Parliamentary Group with Baroness (Deborah) Bull and advises organisations and bodies including the UK Research and Innovation Arts and Humanities Council and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) Expert Advisory Panel. Joanna was awarded an MBE in the 2020 New Year’s Honours list for her services to diversity and inclusion in the creative and media industries. (Due to Joanna’s other ongoing roles, she will be recused from chairing all DCMS recruitment campaigns as a Commissioner.).
Lea Paterson – Lea’s career has spanned public policy, regulation, HR and financial journalism. She has held a number of senior roles at the Bank of England, including serving as the Bank’s Executive Director of People & Culture, and as the organisation’s first Director of Independent Evaluation. As a financial journalist, Lea worked at The Independent and at The Times, where she was Economics Editor. Lea is currently a Board Member at the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA), an independent member of Warwick University’s Remuneration Committee and holds a number of voluntary and community roles.
The Cabinet Office is also currently recruiting at least four new Commissioners to join the Board later this year. The deadline for applications is 19 June.

Published 14 June 2022

UN Human Rights Council 50: Joint Statement on Food Insecurity

World news story

The UK and Gambia co-led a Joint Statement On Food Security as a Result of Armed Conflict. The Gambia read out the statement at the UN Human Rights Council on behalf of 67 countries.

Madam High Commissioner

I am pleased to deliver this Joint Statement on behalf of 67 countries.

We encourage you to engage on the global food security crisis as an important part of your work for the coming year. The latest report from the UN Secretary General suggests that more than 1.7 billion people across over 100 countries are affected by this crisis, with over 43 million people at risk of famine.

We see the effects of this humanitarian and human rights crisis within countries affected by armed conflict. But we also see how armed conflict in one country can exacerbate food insecurity globally.

The war on Ukraine, a major producer of wheat, corn and cooking oil, has disrupted agricultural production, blocked ports and destroyed infrastructure. It has deepened disruptions, caused unprecedented risks for global supply chains and accelerated food insecurity, increasing the risk of hunger and famine with huge implications of worsening livelihoods around the world.

Madam High Commissioner,

Hunger constitutes an outrage and a violation of human dignity. It must never be used as a weapon of war. We must all work together to ensure that sufficient, safe, affordable and nutritious food is available and accessible to everyone, including the poorest and most vulnerable.

Thank you

Published 14 June 2022

CAT endorses CMA assessment that Meta’s purchase of Giphy harms competition

Press release

The CMA welcomes the CAT’s resounding endorsement of the CMA’s assessment of how the merger would harm competition.

The Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) has upheld the Competition and Markets Authority’s (CMA) decision on 5 of the 6 challenged grounds.

CMA Chief Executive Andrea Coscelli said:

We welcome this resounding endorsement by the Competition Appeal Tribunal of the CMA’s approach to reviewing mergers that may harm innovation. Innovation is a vital part of the competitive process, particularly in digital markets. We also welcome the Tribunal’s endorsement of the ‘care and careful consideration’ given to this issue by the independent Inquiry Group in this case.

This judgment helps reinforce our ability to protect competition and innovation in digital markets.

Last December, Meta launched an appeal against the CMA’s decision that Meta’s acquisition of Giphy would lead to a substantial lessening of competition. Following an in-depth investigation, the CMA had found that Meta’s purchase of Giphy would reduce competition between social media platforms and had already removed Giphy as a potential challenger in the display advertising market in the UK. The CMA’s decision required Meta to sell Giphy to a purchaser approved by the CMA.

The Tribunal handed down its judgment on Meta’s appeal today. The Tribunal upheld the CMA’s decision on 5 of the 6 challenged grounds. In particular, the CAT had “no hesitation” in concluding that the CMA’s finding that the merger between Meta and Giphy substantially reduced dynamic competition was lawful. Dynamic competition is what leads firms to innovate, through a process of creating new, better products for consumers over time. Giphy had created a new form of advertising using gifs in messaging, called paid alignment, which the Court agreed was driving dynamic competition that was lost when Meta bought Giphy.

The Tribunal only found in Meta’s favour in relation to the treatment of certain third-party confidential information. The Tribunal considered that the CMA’s approach to disclosure in this case overly favoured confidentiality concerns of third parties. The impact of this on the CMA’s decision will be determined in due course.

Published 14 June 2022

UK Tech Rocketship Awards shortlist announced at London Tech Week

At London Tech Week today [14 June] the Department for International Trade announced the semi-finalists of its tech scale-ups competition, the Tech Rocketship Awards.

The competition, promoted by the GREAT Global Trade campaign, is open to established fast-growing, high potential tech businesses and drew over 250 highly competitive entries all corners of Europe, Turkey and Israel. Entrants have today been whittled down to 16 semi-finalists, representing 12 different countries.

This year, for the first time in Tech Rocketship history, there will be a Diversity in Tech Award to celebrate and support founders from diverse backgrounds and connect them with the Venture Capital funding networks, incubators, customers and R&D support to help them succeed via the UK. Diversity is vital to the continuing strength of the UK tech sector and the UK is committed to attracting and supporting the best talent.

The overall winners in the AI, 5G, AgriTech, Digital Health, Cyber Security and Climate Tech categories will be announced at the Web Summit in Lisbon this November. They will receive fully-tailored support to aid their expansion in the UK, with market visits, access to tech clusters, venture capital, and the UK’s unique ecosystem of support for ambitious tech companies.

Minister for Investment Lord Grimstone said:

Innovative tech companies like these play a significant role in the UK thanks to their investment that creates jobs and boosts local economies.

With the UK being one of the easiest places to set-up, scale and grow a business, investors can access a market of over 60 million people, diverse suppliers and partners, together with a range of programmes to help businesses of all shapes and sizes grow.

Investors are looking at industries of the future that will support sustainable economic growth and recovery, whether that be technology, clean growth, life sciences or advanced manufacturing – and that’s where the UK excels. I look forward to welcoming many of these excellent companies to the UK.

From the previous awards in 2020-21, five companies (InoBat, CYE Security, Geckomatics, Coyosy, Shield Financial Compliance) have successfully opened offices in the UK, showcasing the continued attractiveness of the UK as an investment destination for European businesses.

German country winners in the Climate Tech category this year, Plan A has already announced an investment into the UK. The Berlin-based tech start-up is currently setting-up its second-largest office in London, with around 20 employees expected by the end of 2022 and 100 staff by 2025. Plan A provides a B2B software as a service (SaaS) solution for companies to track, reduce their environmental footprint, and create sustainability reports. Their UK presence will focus on sales and climate & data science, and include senior management staff.

Meanwhile, last year’s silver medallist InoBat has agreed a strategic cooperation with UK lithium processing company Green Lithium, planning the UK’s first lithium refinery in the North of England. Under the partnership, Green Lithium will supply InoBat with battery-grade lithium chemicals. Inobat, headquartered in Slovakia, has around 60 employees, 10 of which are based at its new office located at the University of Warwick Science Park’s Warwick Innovation Centre, launched in March this year.

Chris Barton, HM Trade Commissioner for Europe said:

There is no better place for ambitious tech companies to grow than the UK. This is the number one country in Europe for Unicorns, and UK tech VC investment is the third largest in the world. Our tech sector is the home of forward-thinking innovators, venture capital, R&D clusters and opportunities for growth across the whole of the UK. I look forward to welcoming all the winners to the UK.

Kenan Poleo, HM Trade Commissioner for EECAN Eastern Europe Central Asian Network said:

Turkish companies have responded brilliantly to the Tech Rocketship Awards, which will provide the lucky winners from the vibrant Turkish tech ecosystem with a rocket-powered, fully-tailored direct route to the financiers, incubators, tech-savvy customers, and infrastructure needed to help them make that next great leap from ambitious scale-up to unicorn.

Ian Bowen-Morris, Head of International Marketing at the Department for International Trade said:

As part of our trade and investment promotion, the GREAT Global Trade campaign is proud to support the Tech Rocketship Awards, highlighting the UK as the leading destination in which to expand and grow their innovative companies.

Partners in the awards are Goodwille, Tech Nation, techUK, EY, and Judges will include Jude Ower MBE, Priya Guha and Christian Kumar. The campaign has been supported throughout by the Department for International Trade’s Global Entrepreneur Programme and their network of Dealmakers.

5G Category

AD Knight, ISRAEL
Neutroon, SPAIN

AgriTech Category

Blue White Robotics, ISRAEL

Artificial Intelligence (AI) Category

Jungle AI B.V., NETHERLANDS
Spotlite, PORTUGAL
Born Digital, CZECH REPUBLIC

Climate Tech Category

BrighterBins/Smartends, BELGIUM
Monolithos Catalysts & Recycling, GREECE
PlanA.Earth GmbH, GERMANY
Kavaken, TURKEY

Cybersecurity Category

Facephi, SPAIN
Smart Global Governance, FRANCE
Authenteq Tarbena GmbH, GERMANY

Digital Health Category

Ledidi AS, NORWAY
Enbiosis, TURKEY
Probando GmbH, AUSTRIA

PM remarks for the the 40th anniversary of the liberation of the Falkland Islands

It is a great honour for me to join you today before this extraordinary gathering of so many brave, gallant individuals, so many veterans and their families, exactly 40 years after British soldiers entered Port Stanley and liberated the Falkland Islands.

If you look at the photographs of our troops raising the Union Flag over Government House, you’ll see young men who had just fought their way across a desolate and freezing landscape,

and they’re unkempt and unshaven, their camouflage is streaked with mud, and you sense that their stamina – even their legendary stamina, has been tested to the limit, but what strikes you most is how their eyes and their faces are filled with pride in what they have achieved.

I of course have to rely on photographs, yet many of you were actually there.

You were the spearhead of an immense national effort, whereby our country dispatched a Task Force 8,000 miles to the South Atlantic to liberate a British territory from occupation and, even more importantly, to vindicate the principle that the people of the Falkland Islands – like people everywhere – have a right to decide their own future and live peacefully in their own land.

You left behind 255 British service personnel who laid down their lives for that principle, along with three Falkland Islanders.

As we honour their memory, the greatest tribute we can pay them is that ever since the liberation the Falkland Islands have lived and thrived in peace and freedom.

Today, they are home to people of 60 nationalities, providing Britain’s gateway to the Antarctic, and vital opportunities for conservation and scientific research, based on a modern partnership founded on that principle of self-determination.

None of this would have happened without the tenacity, courage and fortitude of everyone who served in the Task Force and the thousands of civilians who made it possible.

Now, in honour of your achievements and sacrifice, I would like to ask the Hon Roger Spink and the Hon Leona Roberts of the Falkland Islands Government to present Tom Herring, the Chairman of the South Atlantic Medal Association, with a scroll giving all holders of the South Atlantic Medal the Freedom of the Falkland Islands.