• Cabinet Office Minister Nigel Adams promoted the Cultural Development Fund and explored his family links to pottery in Stoke-on-Trent

• Gladstone Pottery Museum is set in a coal-fired pottery which was originally founded in 1787

• Minister explored family roots to the area, pottery and shown historic artefacts

In the same week the government announced the second phase of the Museum Estate and Development Fund, Cabinet Office Minister Nigel Adams paid a visit to Stoke-on-Trent’s Gladstone Pottery Museum on Thursday 12 May, to promote the fund and explore his family links to Pottery and Stoke-on-Trent.

The site, which dates back to the 18th century, was of particular interest to the Minister, as it allowed him to explore his links to the pottery industry and hear how the museum is recovering after the pandemic.

The visit was also an opportunity for the Cabinet Office Minister to speak to the leaders of Gladstone Pottery Museum about the financial support that is available from round two of the government’s Cultural Investment Fund (CIF).

Within the fund is the £63.3 million Museum Estate and Development Fund (MEND), which will be divided over the next three years. MEND helps fund urgent museum maintenance and infrastructure works beyond their day-to-day budgets.

Following a meeting with employees, Minister Adams was given a tour of the museum and talked with curator Ben Miller about his family links to the Adams and Co. pottery company – which was created by William Adams in Stoke, Staffordshire in 1769. He was also shown the famous teapot that was used to serve tea to ‘Bonnie Prince Charlie’.

It is reported that William Adams, born in 1746, was one of the earlier potters to create from Stoke-on-Trent, the home of The Potteries, and came from a long lineage of potters, spanning many generations. Adams founded the Greengates Pottery in 1779 and stamped all pottery with the name ‘Adams & Co.’

Minister Nigel Adams said:

Stoke-on-Trent is synonymous with the pottery industry, not just in the UK but globally.

It’s been fantastic to come to Gladstone today and learn more about my family’s links to the pottery industry and local area.

It was good to speak to the staff about how this government is significantly investing in the tourism and leisure industry to ensure that attractions like this remain open to the public for decades to come.”

Located in a coal-fired pottery, originally founded in 1787, the museum opened in 1974, and won VisitEngland’s ‘Small Visitor Attraction of the Year’ award in 2020.

It has recently been used as the filming site for Sky’s ‘The Colour Room’ – based on the life of Stoke-on-Trent ceramic artist Clarice Cliff and how she went from working in the Potteries in the 1920s to becoming one of the greatest ceramic designers.

The holdings of the Museum Service across its sites, including the Gladstone Pottery Museum, are considered a designated collection of outstanding importance, demonstrating immense richness and variety.

Recognising the tourism, leisure, and hospitality sector had been severely impacted by the pandemic, Minister Adams also wanted to hear how the museum was recovering from the pandemic and lockdowns, whilst highlighting that the government has provided the arts and culture sectors around £2bn.

This week is Learning at Work Week (16 to 22 May). This Learning at Work Week, the Government Campus hosts a series of live events for civil servants to learn more about the training available from the people involved in designing and developing it. Find out more and book on them here.

The theme this year is ‘Learning Uncovered’. It encourages you wherever you work and whatever your level to uncover your talents. This is what will enable us to build A Modern Civil Service that is more skilled.

Here are 3 reasons to invest in your learning:

Good induction is more than a few introductory chats. New starters – at all levels – sometimes struggle to know, and gain, the universal skills and knowledge necessary for working effectively in government. If we are serious about giving everyone an equal chance to succeed, then we have to give them equal opportunities to do so.

What can you do?

2.You need new skills for the challenges of modern government

Along with universal knowledge and skills, we need to equip ourselves for the digital age. The basics of Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) are essential to every role. Big data analysis and interpretation, digital capabilities, and scientific methods, are core to approaching most public policy challenges. We need to know enough about them to know when and how to seek specialist support.

At the same time, excellence in public administration will always be in demand. That means perfecting and practising skills – subjective judgement, managing people, complex trade-offs – that robots are unlikely to learn. The fact is, these things are essential for running and transforming complex systems.

As we progress through our careers, we need to acquire practical skills to achieve tangible results: managing projects, managing performance, managing people. The Government Campus is bringing clarity and accessibility to the practical knowledge and skills leaders and managers need, as they build experience through their careers through the Leadership College for Government.

What can you do?

You can develop your technical skills and support your career progression

On joining the Civil Service and throughout your career, you can join a profession and cross-government function, and move between them. You’ll have a defined ‘domain’ of skills and knowledge, and a community of practice, providing both formal and informal expertise, accreditation and ‘licence to practice’.

You’ll be supported in a clear career pathway, which will be relevant beyond government and the public sector: finance, law, economics, commercial, debt management, communications.

What can you do?

For these reasons and more, now is the time to access training for you.

This Learning at Work Week, please take the opportunity to explore the strands and join us at one of our live events. Chat with your line manager about where you think you might need or want to enhance existing skills or learn something new.

To get regular updates on the news and developments across the Government Campus, sign up to Campus News. You can also follow Government Campus on Twitter and LinkedIn.

• today sanctions hit Putin’s financial network, including ex-wife and cousins – tightening the vice on the President and his inner circle
• Putin’s official assets are modest, with his lifestyle funded by a cabal of family, friends and elites
• the UK has now sanctioned more than 1,000 individuals and 100 entities, including oligarchs worth £117 billion

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss is today (Friday 13 May) announcing fresh sanctions on Putin’s ‘wallet’ of family and friends– those whom he rewards with state positions and wealth in return for their undying loyalty.

Official records list modest assets for President Putin including: a small flat in St Petersburg, 2 Soviet-era cars from the 1950s, a trailer, and a small garage.

In reality, Putin relies on his network of family, childhood friends, and selected elite who have benefited from his rule and in turn support his lifestyle. Their reward is influence over the affairs of the Russian state that goes far beyond their formal positions.

Today’s sanctions will hit this cabal who owe Putin their wealth and power, and in turn support Putin and his war machine.

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said:

We are exposing and targeting the shady network propping up Putin’s luxury lifestyle and tightening the vice on his inner circle. We will keep going with sanctions on all those aiding and abetting Putin’s aggression until Ukraine prevails.

Putin’s lavish lifestyle has regularly been on display, with reports exposing links to a £566 million yacht and the $1 billion ‘Putin’s Palace’ – officially owned by close associate, Arkady Rotenberg, who was sanctioned in December 2020.

His family members form a core contingent of his inner circle – receiving positions of power due to their affiliation to the regime. The individuals sanctioned today include:

• Alina Kabaeva, a retired Olympic gymnast. Kabaeva has risen to become Chair of the Board of the National Media Group, reportedly the largest private Russian media company. She is alleged to have a close personal relationship with Putin, and previously sat as a Deputy in the Duma for Putin’s United Russia

• Anna Zatseplina, grandmother of Alina Kabaeva and associate of Gennady Timchenko – a longstanding Putin associate, sanctioned by the UK on 22 February 2022, from whom she has reportedly received a luxury flat in Moscow

• Lyudmila Ocheretnaya, former First Lady of the Russian Federation and ex-wife of Putin. Since her divorce from Putin in 2014, Ocheretnaya has benefited from preferential business relationships with state-owned entities

• Igor Putin, first cousin of President Vladimir Putin, and a Russian businessman. Igor Putin is Director of Pechenga International Sea Port

• Mikhail Putin, a Russian businessman and relative of President Vladimir Putin. Mikhail Putin is Deputy Chairman of the Management Board of SOGAZ Insurance and Deputy Chairman of the Management Board of Gazprom

• Roman Putin, first cousin once removed of President Vladimir Putin. Roman Putin is publicly open about his relation to Putin and emphasises how this family connection enabled his company, Putin Consulting, to help foreign investors in Russia

• Mikhail Shelomov, a Russian business owner and Putin’s first cousin, once removed. Shelomov’s company Akcept LLC has allegedly shared employees with Binom JSC, the firm registered as owning ‘Putin’s Palace’. Shelomov, through his firm Akcept LLC, is also a shareholder in Bank Rossiya, a bank with close Kremlin links, and run by key Putin lieutenants, sanctioned by the UK on 22 February 2022

Putin has also routinely placed his confidants and loyal supporters into strategic positions within the State, expanding his personal reach into all corners of the Russian economy. Those sanctioned today are:

• Alexander Plekhov, a close friend of Putin. He has benefited from his relationship with Putin and his company Vital Development Corporation has benefited from significant state patronage

• Mikhail Klishin, an Executive in Bank Rossiya, and a member of the Board of Directors at SOGAZ

• Vladimir Kolbin, the son of Putin’s childhood friend and alleged business associate, Peter Kolbin. Vladimir has benefited from and supported the Government of Russia acting as General Director of Gelendzhik Seaport LLC

• Yuri Shamalov, son of Nikolai Shamalov (sanctioned by the UK in 2014), and brother of Putin’s former son-in-law, Kirill (sanctioned by the UK on 24 February 2022). Yuri is a member of the new elite of children of Putin’s closest associates, and has risen rapidly to become President of Gazfond, and Member of the Board of Directors of Gazprombank

• Viktor Khmarin is a Russian lawyer and businessman, who is a friend and relative-by-marriage of Putin. Khmarin has owned a number of businesses including LLC NefteProduktServis, which operated in the Russian energy sector

Today’s sanctions isolate the family members and financiers deep within Putin’s inner circle, compounding the pressure on Putin as he continues his senseless invasion into Ukraine.

Since the invasion, the UK has sanctioned over 1,000 individuals and 100 entities, including hitting oligarchs with a net global worth of over £117 billion.

Asset freeze

An asset freeze prevents any UK citizen, or any business in the UK, from dealing with any funds or economic resources which are owned, held or controlled by the designated person. UK financial sanctions apply to all persons within the territory and territorial sea of the UK and to all UK persons, wherever they are in the world. It also prevents funds or economic resources being provided to or for the benefit of the designated person.

Travel ban

A travel ban means that the designated person must be refused leave to enter or to remain in the United Kingdom, providing the individual is an excluded person under section 8B of the Immigration Act 1971.

Transport sanctions

Recently introduced powers make it a criminal offence for any Russian aircraft to fly or land in the UK, and give the government powers to remove aircraft belonging to designated Russian individuals and entities from the UK aircraft register, even if the sanctioned individual is not on board. Russian ships are also banned from UK ports.