Tag Archives: HM Government

The Business Secretary and the lead representative of the UK’s three steel unions today (20 September) welcomed an ‘important step’ for the country’s steel industry after Tata Steel Limited and ThyssenKrupp signed a formal agreement that could secure the future of Port Talbot.

Greg Clark and Roy Rickhuss, the chair of the National Trade Union Steel Co-ordinating Committee, said the deal between Tata and ThyssenKrupp had the potential to protect the long-term future of steelmaking at Tata’s site in South Wales, its 4,000 jobs and the wider supply chain. The site is home to the Indian conglomerate’s strip steel business.

The government and unions said they welcomed the move as long as commitments to safeguard jobs and extend blast furnace operations over the long-term at Port Talbot were maintained. This includes the relining of the site’s second blast furnace.

The memorandum of understanding signed between Tata and ThyssenKrupp, the German engineering group, marks the latest stage in the development of a joint venture between the companies to build a pan-European steel enterprise. The company will become TK-Tata Steel.

Business Secretary Greg Clark said:

The Government has been working hard with the unions to secure a sustainable future for Tata Steel in the UK, its 4,000 employees at the Port Talbot site and its supply chain.

Today’s agreement between Tata Steel and ThyssenKrupp is an important next step in establishing their shared ambition for Port Talbot as a world-class steel manufacturer, with a focus on quality, technology and innovation.

Roy Rickhuss, General Secretary of Community and chair of the coordinating committee representing the Unite, GMB and Community unions, said:   > The steel trade unions cautiously welcome this news and recognise the industrial logic of such a partnership. This would create the second biggest steel business in Europe which could deliver significant benefits for the UK.



As always, the devil will be in the detail and we are seeking further assurances on jobs, investment and future production across the UK operations. As a priority, we will be pressing Tata to demonstrate their long term commitment to steelmaking in the UK by confirming they will invest in the reline of Port Talbot’s Blast Furnace No.5.

The agreement follows close working between unions, Tata and the Government to ensure sustainable steelmaking maintains a central role in a strong and successful UK economy. It is hoped that the joint venture would also enable TK-Tata, working with UK vehicle manufacturers and their supply chains, to contribute to the focus on innovation in the government’s Industrial Strategy.

The joint venture comes after the recent conclusion of Tata’s discussions with the British Steel Pension Fund, the Pensions Regulator and the Pensions Protection Fund about a plan to manage its pension liabilities. This enabled a Regulatory Apportionment Arrangement to be reached, giving pension scheme members the opportunity to transfer to a new scheme.

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Today (20 September) it was announced that BBC Children in Need will be partnering with The Royal Mint and HM Treasury on their £1 coin campaign, joining forces for Pudsey’s Round Pound Countdown.

Kicking off a nationwide campaign, BBC Children in Need, The Royal Mint and HM Treasury will challenge the country to join Pudsey to hunt down the millions of remaining round £1 coins, and put them to good use by donating to BBC Children in Need.

With less than four weeks to go before the round £1 stops being accepted in shops and restaurants, BBC Children in Need is encouraging everyone to check their piggy banks, empty coat pockets and dive down the back of sofas to dig out any lurking round pound coins.

A new poll* suggests that six in ten of us would like to donate our remaining round pounds to charities, like BBC Children in Need. With one in three people still having these coins stashed away in savings jars and piggy banks, the message is clear – dig them out, head over to your local drop-off point and donate them to BBC Children in Need’s 2017 Appeal!

Commercial Director of BBC Children in Need, Jonathan Rigby, said:

We are really excited to work with The Royal Mint and HM Treasury for Pudsey’s Round Pound Countdown and hope that as many people as possible will get involved in this nationwide treasure hunt and put their old round pounds to good use. Every round pound donated will go on to make a real difference to the lives of disadvantaged children and young people across the UK.

CEO and Deputy Master of The Royal Mint, Adam Lawrence, said:

Any round £1 coins donated to BBC Children in Need through Pudsey’s Round Pound Countdown will not only go to a fantastic cause but they will make their way back to The Royal Mint where some will be melted to make new £1 coins.

Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, Andrew Jones MP, said:

Over the last few months, we have urged the public to spend, bank or donate their round pounds ahead of the October 15 deadline. We are delighted to partner with BBC Children in Need, and are encouraging everyone who can, to promise their round pounds to Pudsey.

BBC Children in Need’s vision is that every child in the UK has a childhood that is safe, happy and allows them the chance to reach their potential. The charity is currently supporting over 2,400 projects in communities across the UK that are helping children and young people facing a range of disadvantages such as living in poverty, being disabled or ill, or experiencing distress, neglect or trauma.

Notes to editors

There are thousands of BBC Children in Need drop-off points across the country where you can handover your donations. For more information on where to find them, visit www.bbc.co.uk/Pudsey.

*Figures are from YouGov Plc. Total sample size was 2,004 adults. Fieldwork was undertaken across September 2017. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of UK adults (aged 18+).

BBC Children in Need

BBC Children in Need’s vision is that every child in the UK has a safe, happy and secure childhood and the chance to reach their potential. The charity will realise this vision by supporting, promoting and publicising work that addresses the challenges that children and young people face and work that builds their skills and resilience.

BBC Children in Need is currently supporting over 2,400 projects in communities across the UK that are helping children and young people facing a range of disadvantages such as living in poverty, being disabled or ill, or experiencing distress, neglect or trauma.

Further information on BBC Children in Need can be found at www.bbc.co.uk/Pudsey.

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There are around 170,000 mid-sized businesses registered in the UK. Businesses with either a turnover of more than £10 million or more than 20 employees, and undergoing significant growth, can now seek expert help from HMRC growth support specialists.

Known as the Growth Support Service, HMRC tax experts will offer dedicated support, tailored to the customer’s needs. It has been created to help growing, mid-sized businesses access the information and services they need.

This could include:

• helping with tax queries about their growing business
• supplying accurate information and co-ordinating technical expertise from across HMRC
• supporting them to get their tax right first time and access relevant incentives or reliefs

The Financial Secretary to the Treasury Mel Stride said:

Mid-sized businesses make vital contribution to the UK economy and I want to see them grow, succeed and prosper.

The Growth Support Service will help these expanding businesses access tailored tax assistance so that tax administration doesn’t stand in the way of their growth and ensures businesses can focus on finding new opportunities.

Businesses who meet the eligibility requirements can apply online; they will then be contacted by their dedicated growth support specialist at HMRC, to discuss their requirements. The bespoke service will generally last between three to six months.

The top five industries and sectors that could benefit from the Growth Support Service are:

1. Manufacturing (for example building, printing or maintenance firms)
2. Information and communication (for example IT or software companies, film makers or publishers)
3. Administrative and support services (for example vehicle hire companies, recruitment agencies or call centres)
4. Professional, scientific and technical services (for example law and accountancy firms or quantity surveyors)
5. Wholesale and retail (for example high street shops, food and drink outlets or car showrooms)

The introduction of the service demonstrates HMRC’s continued commitment to support UK businesses get their tax right. In addition to the existing customer relations service for large businesses; last month, the department launched the Small Business Online Forum for small businesses and the self-employed.

1. Follow HMRC’s Press Office on Twitter
2. HMRC’s Flickr channel can be found here.
3. Further guidance on the Growth Support Service eligibility criteria and online application.
4. The Growth Support Service is free to eligible mid-sized businesses.

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The Foreign Secretary urges China to keep up pressure on North Korea during a meeting with the Chinese Foreign Minister in New York.

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Theresa May will today urge internet firms to go ‘further and faster’ to stop the spread of terrorist material – including the development of new technology to stop it from ever appearing on the web in the first place.

The Prime Minister will co-host a meeting on preventing terrorist use of the internet today (Wed 19 September) at the UN General Assembly in New York, with French President Emmanuel Macron and Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni.

She will welcome the progress made by the biggest internet companies towards stopping the spread of terrorist content.

But the Prime Minister will say that the internet firms can still do more to stop the spread of evil material by groups such as Daesh which promotes terrorism or provides information on how to make bombs or attack pedestrians with vehicles.

In particular, she wants them to ‘develop new technological solutions to prevent such content being uploaded in the first place.’

Britain, France and Italy will also say that, where terrorist content does appear, they want a target of one to two hours for taking it down. This is the period during which most of the material is disseminated.

The PM-hosted event will be attended by a string of the world’s biggest tech companies.

They include Facebook, Microsoft and Twitter, who in June agreed to the establishment of a new Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism. Google will also play a key role.

The Prime Minister will tell the event that Daesh material is still available on the internet for ‘too long’ after being posted.

She will also warn firms that, as they remove content more quickly, terrorist groups will adapt – and the tech firms must do the same.

She will say:

Terrorist groups are aware that links to their propaganda are being removed more quickly, and are placing a greater emphasis on disseminating content at speed in order to stay ahead.

Industry needs to go further and faster in automating the detection and removal of terrorist content online, and developing technological solutions which prevent it being uploaded in the first place.

Internet companies are already making progress towards the automatic identification of terrorist content.

Google and YouTube have announced they are increasing their use of technology to help automatically identify videos.

Twitter suspended 299,649 accounts between Jan 1 and June 30 this year. Some 75 per cent of accounts were suspended before their first Tweet.

Facebook have also stated publicly that they are looking at developing artificial intelligence to automate the identification of terrorist material.

The Prime Minister will also urge other world leaders to join the battle against online extremism.

Speaking ahead of the event, she said:

We need a fundamental shift in the scale and nature of our response – both from industry and governments – if we are to match the evolving nature of terrorists’ use of the internet.

I call on others to join the UK, France, and Italy in pledging their support for this approach.

This is a global problem that transcends national interests. Governments must work with and support the efforts of industry and civil society if we are to achieve real and continuing progress and prevent the spread of extremism and terrorist use of cyberspace.

In order to succeed, we must be united in our determination to fight terrorist exploitation of the internet.’

Today’s meeting follows pressure from the Prime Minister for action at the G7 summit in Italy earlier this year.

In the wake of the cowardly attacks on London, Manchester and other global cities, the internet firms agreed to the establishment of the Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism in June.

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