Tag Archives: HM Government

On 29 September 2017 at North Staffordshire Justice Centre, George Holland of Coppice Gardens, Stone, was ordered to pay fines and costs totalling £1,855.81 after a successful prosecution by the Environment Agency. Mr Holland was fined £660 for threatening behaviour, ordered to pay costs of £1,129.81 and a victim surcharge of £66.

Mr Holland was originally called to court on 24 April 2017 and was proved guilty in absence for 4 offences. However, the case was reopened under a statutory declaration application from the defendant where he proceeded to enter a not guilty plea.

Mr Holland faced charges of wilfully obstructing a constable in the execution of his duty, fishing without a rod licence, failing to state his name when addressed by an Environment Agency enforcement officer and using threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour causing that person to believe that imminent violence will be used against him.

Magistrates heard the case and again found Mr Holland guilty of all charges and issued a fine of £660 for threatening behaviour. While found guilty, he did not receive a further penalty for the additional charges. Mr Holland did not attend court on 29 September, so was again proved guilty in absence.

The offences took place on 23 August 2016 at Isaak Walton Fishery, Chebsey.

Andrew Eardley of the Environment Agency said:

It’s good to see the courts taking instances of threatening behaviour against enforcement officers seriously and offenders being prosecuted. Thankfully cases where an angler is threatening are very rare; most anglers found without a licence, while not happy, admit they have been caught out.

The majority of anglers fish legally and purchase a rod licence. With an annual licence costing £30 it seems ridiculous that anglers risk a significant fine, and the very small minority feel it acceptable to threaten an enforcement officer.

Money from rod licence sales is invested in England’s fisheries and is used to fund a wide range of projects to improve facilities for anglers including protecting stocks from illegal fishing, pollution and disease; restoring fish stocks through re-stocking; eradicating invasive species; and fish habitat improvements. Rod licence money is also used to fund the Angling Trust to provide information about fishing and to encourage participation in the sport.

You need a valid Environment Agency rod licence to fish for salmon, trout, freshwater fish, smelt or eel in England. Buying a rod licence is easy.

Anyone witnessing illegal fishing incidents in progress can report it directly to the Environment Agency hotline on 0800 80 70 60. Information on illegal fishing and environmental crime can also be reported anonymously to Crime stoppers on 0800 555 111 or online.

The government today invited views on how reward and return schemes for drinks containers could work in England by issuing a call for evidence.

More than eight million tonnes of plastic are discarded into the world’s oceans each year, putting marine wildlife under serious threat.

Up to 80% of this is estimated to have been originally lost or discarded on land before washing out to sea, and plastic bottles are a particular concern – with figures showing just 57% of those sold in the UK in 2016 collected for recycling.

This compares to a record 90% of deposit-marked cans and bottles that were returned to dedicated recycling facilities in Denmark, and a return rate of almost 80% of beverage containers in South Australia, both of which have a form of deposit return scheme.

To improve these numbers and increase recycling, Environment Secretary Michael Gove has asked organisations and individuals to share their views with the government on the advantages and disadvantages of different types of reward and return schemes for plastic, metal and glass drinks containers that could help reduce the number of bottles entering our waterways.

The call for evidence opens today for four weeks and ministers have asked the Voluntary and Economic Incentives Working Group, set up as part of the Litter Strategy, to accelerate its work and report back early in the New Year.

Environment Secretary Michael Gove said:

We must protect our oceans and marine life from plastic waste if we are to be the first generation to leave our environment in a better state than we found it.

That means tackling the rise in plastic bottles entering our waters by making it simpler and easier to recycle and dispose of them appropriately.

Today we are launching a call for evidence to help us understand how reward and return schemes for plastic bottles and other drinks containers could work in England.

This approach has already seen great success in other countries such as Denmark in curbing plastic pollution and we want to hear people’s ideas on how we could make it work in England.

This adds to the progress we have already made in cleaning up our oceans by significantly reducing plastic bag use and drawing up one of the world’s toughest bans on plastic microbeads.

The evidence submitted will be examined by the government’s working group which includes brand and retail giants such as Coca Cola and Tesco.

This builds on successful waste initiatives already launched by the government, including the 5p plastic bag charge which has seen enormous success in changing consumer behaviour by reducing use by 83 per cent.

Some nine billion fewer carrier bags have been distributed since the charge was introduced, with more than £95million raised donated to environmental, educational and other good causes.

In addition, legislation for the government’s ban on microbeads – welcomed by campaigners as one of the toughest in the world – will be introduced later this year and we are now assessing how best to tackle other sources of microplastics from polluting the seas.

The next stage of the rollout of Universal Credit to all claimants starts on Wednesday 4 October 2017.

Minister Field expressed the UK’s continued support for the Afghan government, highlighting the excellent progress made on reforming the security sector, addressing anti-corruption and making progress on elections. The Minister stressed the need to focus on political solutions as the key to bringing a more peaceful and stable Afghanistan.

He also met with Attorney General Farid Hamidi to discuss the progress made by the Anti-Corruption Justice Centre (ACJC). The ACJC was set up in 2016 with UK funding and technical support, and since its formation, has successfully prosecuted a number of senior Afghan officials, highlighting the move towards ending impunity for corruption in Afghanistan.

The Minister also met with Deputy Foreign Minister Hekmat Karzai to discuss regional affairs and prospects for peace.

Minister for Asia and the Pacific Mark Field said:

The UK is committed to continuing its support for Afghanistan, and we continue to work closely with the Afghan Government as it seeks to overcome the legacy of over 40 years of conflict.

We work in close partnership with the government, and will continue to provide military, political and developmental assistance as this amazing country moves ever closer to becoming a more prosperous and stable state that provides real opportunities for the Afghan people.

The UK’s combat mission to Afghanistan ended in 2014 but we continue to work closely with NATO on Afghanistan in a number of areas. As the framework nation for the Afghan National Army Officer Academy (ANAOA), the UK has helped to train over 2,500 cadets, intended to be the next generation of military leaders.

By working closely together on corruption, a policy priority shared by both the UK and Afghanistan, our technical assistance is helping to increase accountability and support the Anti-Corruption Justice Centre (ACJC). The first trial took place at the ACJC in November.

All the latest news is available on the Foreign Office page of the gov.uk website at: www.gov.uk/fco

Follow Minister Mark Field on Twitter @MarkFieldUK

Today we have updated the electronic Document Registration Service (e-DRS) which business customers use to send and receive applications to update the register via the portal, our online channel for transactions.

The update to the service will help to speed up the process for removing default Form A restrictions which protect multiple owners’ interests in a property. Find full details of what these restrictions are, what they do, and the circumstances under which we enter them in section 2 of Practice guide 24: private trusts of land.

When customers lodge documents via the portal, they need to tell us the type of registration they are performing, such as registering a new lease or submitting a document to support an application. Customers will now see a new option ‘Removal of default Form A restriction (JP1)’ in the ‘types of registration’ list. When customers use this option to remove a default Form A restriction we can remove the restriction much quicker. This is one of the ways customers can help us improve our overall speed of service.

Form A restrictions are entered in the register when a customer lodges an application where more than one person or company, or a person and a company, is being registered as the owner of a registered estate; and the customer has not given us evidence to support how the joint owners will hold the land or property.

When the Form A restriction is entered in the register, we send the customer an automated stock letter to inform them we have done this. If the customer returns this stock letter to us we can remove the restriction immediately if they send it within 30 days and we have not received an intervening application for the same title.

To return our stock letter via the portal and remove the restriction quicker, customers can simply ‘check’ the new radio button in e-DRS, enter the ‘LR reference’ we provide in our stock letter and upload the document.

In May 2017, we added ‘JP Cancellation of Default Form A restriction’ to the drop-down ‘document type’ list within e-DRS. We have now removed this option from the list and changed it to a radio button because customers told us they often overlooked the option on the drop-down list.