2015 – present Home Office, Director Counter Extremism 2014 – 2015 Home Office, Director, Strategy and Private Office 2012 – 2014 Home Office, Deputy Director, National Security, Office for Security and Counter Terrorism 2010 – 2012 Cabinet Office, Deputy Director, National Security Secretariat 2009 – 2010 Deputy Head of the Department for International Development (DFID) Afghanistan 2008 – 2009 Deputy Head, Provincial Helmand Reconstruction Team, Afghanistan 2006 – 2008 Deputy Head of Stabilisation Unit 2005 – 2006 Head of DFID, Iraq 2003 – 2005 DFID, Head, Agricultural Policy Department 2001 – 2003 DFID, Deputy Head, Environment Policy Department 1996 – 2001 DFID South Africa, Natural Resources Adviser 1995 – 1996 DFID Lesotho, Natural Resources Adviser 1989 – 1993 Vanuatu Ministry of Agriculture, Principal Economist 1987 – 1989 DFID, Economist 1985 – 1987 Save the Children Fund Sudan, Programme Officer 1984 – 1985 Ministry of Finance and Planning Uganda, Economist

Measures currently in place to reduce the risk of Avian Influenza in England will be lifted from 15 May 2017 following the latest risk assessment from Defra, the UK Chief Veterinary Officer has announced.

The Avian Influenza Prevention Zone (AIPZ) currently in place will be lifted in England on 15 May 2017. From this date, keepers will no longer be required by law to follow specific disease prevention measures to reduce the risk of infection from wild birds. They should continue to follow industry standard best practice on biosecurity, including minimising movement in and out of bird enclosures, cleaning footwear, keeping areas where birds live clean and tidy and feeding birds indoors.

A ban on poultry gatherings has been in place since 20 December to reduce the risk of infected poultry passing the virus to other birds. This ban will be lifted in England on 15 May 2017, meaning bird gatherings can then resume, subject to some additional identity and health checks and biosecurity measures.

The Government continually reviews disease control measures in light of new scientific evidence and veterinary advice. The latest assessment from Defra is that the overall risk in England has fallen from ‘medium’ to ‘low’, comparable with risk levels in November 2016, and should continue to fall in warmer, drier spring weather conditions.

Based on this assessment, the decision has been taken to lift measures on 15 May, provided there are no further cases in poultry or findings of H5N8 in wild birds.

The most recent case of H5N8 in poultry in England was confirmed on 24 February 2017 and the last finding in wild birds was on 10 March 2017.

Further information

• Confidence that the risk has fallen sufficiently to lift the remaining statutory disease control measures will have increased further by 15 May if there are no more cases in domestic poultry, including those now returned to free range and thus at highest risk, or findings in wild birds. In parallel the risk from residual infection in the environment will continue to reduce as higher temperatures and light levels and drier conditions accelerate the inactivation of the virus. Read the latest risk assessment.

• Members of the public should report dead wild birds – such as swans, geese, ducks, gulls or birds of prey – to the Defra helpline on 03459 33 55 77. Defra will then collect some of these birds and test them to help us understand how the disease is distributed geographically and in different types of bird.

• Public Health England advises the risk to public health is very low and the Food Standards Agency has said there is no food safety risk for UK consumers.

• Find out more about avian flu.

The Act sets a Regional Rate for Northern Ireland in 2017-18 and allows an Executive to be formed before the 29 June deadline.

The Criminal Finances Act 2017 will give law enforcement agencies and partners, further capabilities and powers to recover the proceeds of crime, tackle money laundering, tax evasion and corruption, and combat the financing of terrorism.

The act:

• creates unexplained wealth orders which can require those suspected of serious crime or corruption to explain the sources of their wealth
• creates new criminal offences for corporations who fail to prevent their staff from facilitating tax evasion
• enables the seizure and forfeiture of proceeds of crime and terrorist money stored in bank accounts and certain personal or moveable items
• provides legal protections for the sharing of information between regulated companies and extends the time period granted to law enforcement agencies to investigate suspicious transactions
• extends disclosure orders to cover money laundering and terrorist finance investigations
• extends the existing civil recovery regime in the Proceeds of Crime Act to allow for the recovery of the proceeds of gross human rights abuses or violations overseas