The UK government is responding to the catastrophic damage that has been caused by Hurricane Irma to the Caribbean and in particular obviously to the overseas territories, Anguilla, and the British Virgin Islands. Our thoughts go out to the people who… read more
Government thanks both Liverpool and Birmingham for their hard work and will now consider if the preferred bid offers overall value for money for the taxpayer
Government will subsequently decide if a formal bid is to be submitted to the Commonwealth Games Federation
Birmingham has been selected as the preferred UK candidate city for a potential bid to host the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
A compelling business case must now be pulled together, showing clear value for taxpayers money to receive government funding towards an official bid.
The decision comes after an independent assessment panel and officials from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport made the recommendation for Birmingham to Ministers.
The government will now make a final decision, in consultation with Commonwealth Games England, if the UK will submit a formal bid to the Commonwealth Games Federation, with Birmingham as the proposed candidate city.
If Birmingham’s bid passes this final stage of assessment then a formal bid will be submitted to the Commonwealth Games Federation in the coming weeks.
Sports Minister Tracey Crouch said:
I am grateful to the bid teams from both Birmingham and Liverpool for their hard work in making the case for their respective cities as potential Commonwealth Games hosts.
Now, after a comprehensive assessment process, the government will look at the final bid proposal from Birmingham and decide if a formal bid will be submitted to the Commonwealth Games Federation. We need to be completely satisfied that the bid offers overall value for money from hosting the Games and that a strong economic and sporting legacy can be delivered from it.
The UK has fantastic expertise in hosting the biggest events in sport, as recently showcased at the London 2017 World Para Athletics and IAAF World Championships, and if we are to bid and are selected to host the Commonwealth Games in 2022 I have no doubt that Birmingham would host an excellent sporting spectacle.
While both bids were of high quality, Birmingham’s bid was considered particularly strong on its management of risk, its high quality existing venue infrastructure and its plans for a long term sporting legacy.
Both Birmingham and Liverpool were put through a rigorous two phase assessment process to test their hosting credentials that included two formal applications and two site visits to each city.
For further information please contact:
José Riera, Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport on 020 7211 6971
read moreThe Commission’s role is to investigate and review cases where it is alleged that a miscarriage of justice may have occurred in relation to conviction, sentence or both. The Commission was the first statutory body in the world created to investigate possible miscarriages of justice and, where appropriate, to refer cases back to the appeal courts.
Five new Commissioners have been appointed for a term of 5 years starting in September 2017.
Ms Ellis is currently an Ombudsman with the Financial Ombudsman Service working within the jurisdiction division of the Service. She has worked in a number of areas within the Service and has been involved in training adjudicators, external liaison and making policy decisions. Ms Ellis previously worked as a criminal barrister and was instructed to act on behalf of both the prosecution and defence in a comprehensive range of criminal proceedings. She represented a diverse range of clients including youths and clients with mental health problems and appeared in sensitive cases including sexual offences. During her time in Chambers, Ms Ellis also undertook a secondment with the Regulatory Team at the Nursing and Midwifery Council. This involved regularly appearing for the Council in complex and sensitive cases before the Conduct and Competence Committee and the Health Committee.
Mrs Gramann currently serves on the Sentencing Council of England and Wales as the lay judicial member. She has been a Justice of the Peace since 1990 and has held a number of posts within the magistracy including three years as a bench chairman. She was also a Non-Executive Director of Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust until July 2017 with specific portfolio responsibilities for adult mental health and patient and carer experience. Mrs Gramann has previously held posts as a Director and Trustee of disability charities BILD (British Institute of Learning Disability) and SCOPE. By profession, Mrs Gramann was a market research consultant with her own business for 30 years providing strategic guidance to both public and private sector organisations.
Ms Lee is a solicitor specialising in regulatory and disciplinary law at national law firm Radcliffes Le Brasseur. Ms Lee is a Past President of the Law Society of England and Wales (2010-11) and is a Law Society Council Member. She has held various key roles at the Law Society including Chair of the Representation and Legal Affairs and Policy Board and Regulatory Affairs Board and is currently the Chair of the Regulatory Process Committee. She is a member of the Audit Committee and the Access to Justice Committee. She is also Chair of the Solicitors Assistance Scheme which provides advice and assistance to solicitors facing disciplinary proceedings. Ms Lee is a legal chair for the Taxation Disciplinary Board, the Phone-paid Services Authority, the Family Health Services Appeals Unit of the NHS Litigation Authority and the General Medical Council. She is also an independent panel member for HS2. She lectures and writes on legal and regulatory issues and is a director of the Incorporated Council of Law Reporting.
Ms Portway is currently an Independent Member and Panel Chair on the Parole Board, a Specialist Member of the Criminal Injuries Compensation Appeal Tribunal, an Independent Member of the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (Fitness to Practise hearings) and a Volunteer Member on Police Misconduct Hearings. Ms Portway is a solicitor (currently non-practising) and has previously held posts with the Crown Prosecution Service including Senior Crown Prosecutor and Senior Policy Adviser (national lead for victims and witnesses).
Mr Ward is a barrister who has had an extensive career as a Government Lawyer. Most recently Mr Ward led the legal branch at the Ministry of Defence during a period of substantial change and expansion. His specialism is national security law and he has participated in its development on a national and international basis. Prior to entering government service, Mr Ward was in independent practice and taught Criminal, Constitutional and Public Law at the University of Cambridge. He is co-author of a leading text book on sexual offences law and practice.
These appointments are subject to security clearance.
read moreGovernment has increased the amount of fraud it has prevented and detected since 2014, a report published by the Cabinet Office says.
The Fraud Landscape Report, which examines how government is tackling fraud against the public sector, shows progress has been made since a number of initiatives were put in place in 2013 to identify fraud.
Government has detected fraud loss of £73.6 million, recovered £18.4 million and prevented fraud loss of £33 million.
Government is tackling fraud by:
Minister for the Constitution Chris Skidmore said:
The rise in the amount of fraud that has been detected and prevented has been due to the hard work of public sector workers, but there is always more we can do to tackle this scourge which takes money away from hard-working taxpayers.
Before 2010, government departments were reporting much lower levels of fraud and this is something we should be wary of. Fraud is a hidden crime and from 2010, with the government strengthening activity to look for, identify and report fraud we have seen more of it uncovered.
The government is coming together to increase its capability to detect and deal with fraud through ground-breaking initiatives such as the creation and adoption of standards and the launch of the government Counter Fraud Profession. These actions demonstrate our strong commitment to successfully tackling fraud.
The CMA is consulting on Origin’s proposal to maintain competition in fertiliser supply in Scotland, following its merger with Bunn.
Origin and Bunn are 2 of the 3 main suppliers of fertilisers in the central/eastern region of Scotland, supplying farmers and farmers’ merchants from their sites in Montrose.
In its initial investigation, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) found that bringing the 2 firms together could see prices rise or result in a reduction in the choice of fertiliser available to customers.
Following this decision, Origin has now offered to sell Bunn’s Montrose business to Glasson Grain Limited to prevent any negative impact on competition from the merger.
The CMA is opening a 15 day consultation on this proposal. The CMA will review responses to its consultation and will then determine whether to accept or reject Origin’s proposal. Should this proposal be rejected, the case would be referred for a further in-depth investigation.
All information relating to this investigation can be found on the case page.