Able Cadet Adam Hughes of Tenby Sea Cadet Corps; Able Cadet Maisie Millichip of Fishguard Sea Cadet Corps; Cadet Flight Sergeant Bethany Valentine of No. 3 Welsh Wing RAF Air Cadets and Cadet Corporal Martha Ashcroft of No. 3 Welsh Wing RAF Air Cadets were appointed by Her Majesty’s Lord Lieutenant of Dyfed, Miss Sara Edwards at an awards ceremony on Thursday, March 10.

The four were selected for the prestigious Lord-Lieutenant’s cadet role, which will last for one year, after being put forward for nomination by cadet group leaders and the Reserve Forces’ and Cadets’ Association for Wales.

The role includes attendance with Miss Edwards, who acts as the Queen’s representative, at a number of official engagements, including Remembrance events, Royal visits and parades.

Miss Edwards said,

The Cadet Forces are wonderful organisations, in which the mixture of military training, youth and community work as well as civilian qualifications all help to prepare our young people to become responsible adult members of society and to give them confidence and a can do spirit.

The four cadets for 2022 will follow in the footsteps of Petty Officer Cadet Chris Harries of Fishguard Sea Cadet Corps; Petty Officer Cadet Alfie Anderson of Milford Haven Sea Cadet Corps; Leading Cadet Matthew Coburn of Tenby Sea Cadets; Cadet Warrant Officer Sarah Greenshields of No. 3 Welsh Wing RAF Air Cadets and Cadet Warrant Officer Josh Richards also of No 3 Welsh Wing RAF Air Cadets.

Miss Edwards also praised the work of the Cadet Force Adult Volunteers – six of whom received special recognition for their outstanding service and devotion to duty and were awarded the Lord-Lieutenant’s Certificate of Merit during the ceremony.

The six adults were Colour Sergeant Nigel Phillips of Wales University Officers’ Training Corps; Sergeant Major Instructor Thomas Thomas of Dyfed and Glamorgan Army Cadet Force; Flight Lieutenant Kristian Butler of No. 3 Welsh Wing RAF Air Cadets; Sergeant Owen Phillips of No. 3 Welsh Wing RAF Air Cadets; Mrs Rosemary Fitzgerald of Swansea Sea Cadet Corps and Mrs Tina Bushell-Friel of No. 3 Welsh Wing RAF Air Cadets.

There are nearly 5,000 Cadets in Wales who gain skills and qualifications through working with local communities, charities and taking part in a variety of practical activities. The cadet syllabus is delivered by 1,500 volunteering adult Instructors and civilian assistants, who give up their spare time on weeknights and weekends.

The virtual awards event was organised and broadcast by the Reserve Forces’ and Cadets’ Association (RFCA) for Wales – an organisation that has supported the Armed Forces for over 100 years.

• The Prime Minister and the Chancellor order new crackdown on cross-Whitehall waste to drive efficiency, effectiveness, and economy across government

• The drive will be spearheaded by a new Chancellor-chaired “Efficiency and Value for Money Committee” that will cut £5.5 billion worth of waste – with savings used to fund vital public services

• As part of the crackdown, the annual NHS efficiency target will be doubled to 2.2% and “quangos” will be expected to find at least £800m which will be pumped back into public services

At the request of the Prime Minister, the Chancellor, Rishi Sunak will spearhead a new drive on efficiency, effectiveness and economy in government spending to ensure departments are delivering the highest quality services at the best value.

The crackdown will be driven by a new Chancellor-chaired Efficiency and Value for Money Committee that will ensure the 5% efficiency target set at the 2021 Spending Review is met across Whitehall and scrutinise strategies to prevent fraud and error. The move will save a total of £5.5 billion with the money being pumped directly back into vital public services.

As part of the renewed drive, the Chancellor said the NHS efficiency commitment will double to 2.2% a year – freeing up £4.75 billion to fund NHS priority areas over the next three years.

These savings will be made through a range of programmes including the digitisation of diagnostic and front-line services, which has been shown to reduce cost per admission by up to 13%, improving the efficiency of surgical hubs and developing digital tools to cut time spend by NHS staff on admin tasks.

Surgical hubs improve efficiency by separating emergency and elective care, so more patients can be seen in a given amount of time, improving value for money without impacting patient safety.

This increased efficiency target will ensure that the record funding settlement of £188.9 billion a year by 2024-25 for the Department for Health and Social Care is delivering the best possible value for money for the taxpayer, the money saved will be used to fund front line NHS priorities.

Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak said:

During these challenging times it’s vital that every single penny of taxpayers hard-earned cash is being spent well.

The current level of waste across government is simply not acceptable – which is why we’re doubling down on wasteful spending and launching an efficiency drive to make £5.5 billion worth of savings.

That money will then be pumped directly into the world class public services that the British people deserve The crackdown will also see a review of Government Arm’s Length Bodies or “Quangos” who will be expected to save at least £800m from their budgets.

The Arm’s Length Body Review will see savings come from better use of property, reduced reliance on consultants, increased digitisation and greater use of shared services, as well as the use of benchmarking to drive efficiencies.

The Treasury will also launch a new Innovation Challenge to crowdsource ideas from civil servants on how government can reduce waste and improve public services, with winners selected this Summer and best ideas becoming Government policy

This new Committee comes ahead of the Chancellor’s Spring Statement on Wednesday 23rd March where the Chancellor will update Parliament on his plan for the economy in response to the OBR’s latest economic forecasts.

Further information

• The £4.75 billion worth of savings agreed with the Department of Health and Social Care will come into effect financial year 2022/23. The Arm’s Length Bodies Review will be launched in April 2022, with a target to identify at least £800 million worth of savings

• At October’s Budget and Spending Review, the Chancellor set out a plan to invest in stronger public services, with total departmental spending growing by £150 billion a year in cash terms by 2024-25

• The Efficiency and Value for Money Committee will be announced to Cabinet on Monday 21st March and deputy co-chaired by the Chief Secretary to the Treasury and the Minister for Brexit Opportunities and Government efficiency

• The first meeting will take place the week commencing 28th

• A 2015 Innovation Challenge received 22,000 responses with 16 measures implemented.

Recognising the short timeframe and to accommodate projects in different stages of development, projects should not be scheduled to start before 1 July 2022.

Scope and purpose

The Qatar Gulf Strategy Fund Programme supports implementation of FCDO priorities for Qatar identified in the Middle East and North Africa Directorate (MENAD) strategy. It supports Qatar’s ambitious ‘National Vision 2030’ agenda for modernisation, economic diversification and climate action, while enhancing mutual prosperity by promoting inward investment and creating opportunities for UK companies, especially in the education, climate, culture, tourism, sport and finance sectors.

This call for proposals runs in parallel with the Qatar Country Business Plan development process, and projects will be expected to align with strategic direction.

GSF funding is not intended to support isolated activities, such as a single visit or trade mission. Projects must makes a clear contribution to strategic objectives and have a clear outcome, such as unlocking wider progress and moving the UK-Qatar partnership forward in a substantive way. All projects must demonstrate value for money. FCDO defines ‘value-for-money’ as, ‘making the best possible use of our all resources to maximise our impact’. In programme work, maximising impact includes having a robust, evidence-based theory of change demonstrating the causal pathway between the intervention and outcomes that support FCDO strategic priorities.

Proposals may build on the work of current GSF projects in the sectors of climate and biodiversity, education, health, culture, sport, tourism, finance, justice and security, but we also invite concepts in other thematic areas.

We also draw your attention to the MENAD Gender Charter pledge released in September 2021, which calls on Posts to carry out specific and targeted work on gender equality and inclusion, and to ensure gender equality and inclusion is mainstreamed in any programme design and delivery.

BED recognises the challenges of working in a rapidly changing environment, reliant on the schedules and priorities of external actors. This particularly impacts the scheduling of activities and becomes difficult when planning a multi-year programme. We therefore embrace flexible and adaptive approaches as a key component of project effectiveness and value for money.

Funding level and multi-year funding

FCDO is yet to confirm allocations of GSF funding for individual countries over this period, but we are working to an indicative budget of £1 million per year for three years. To improve efficiency our preference is for larger projects in the range of £20,000 – £250,000 per year. Smaller projects can be considered, but we recommend consolidating them with other work in a similar thematic area.

FCDO has made a commitment to GSF for the three-year period 2022-2025, in line with the FCDO funding settlement. This allows us to think strategically and plan multi-year projects that can have a much greater impact. We therefore encourage concepts that demonstrate a long-term, strategic vision and envisage phased implementation and measurable impact.

However, we anticipate that there will be no facility to carry funds forward from one financial year to the next. While we will commit to multi-year projects, funding commitments will be made on a year-by-year basis, with budget for subsequent years considered indicative. Funding commitment for subsequent years will be made on submission of a fresh ABB for each subsequent year of implementation. This process provides an opportunity for Partners to review and adjust their projects and the timing of activities and response to changing circumstances.

Parameters

In awarding and overseeing programme funds BED is obliged to comply with all Cabinet Office and FCDO rules and guidance, including but not limited to those set out in the FCDO Programme Operating Framework (PrOF). Partners should especially take note of the following requirements:

• all project proposals must have a single lead implementer, which holds full accountability for the full project budget. A lead Implementer may in some cases sub-contract project activity to a third party
• FCDO can only pay for costs that are incurred after signature and between the start and end date stated in a funding arrangement or contract. Project start-dates must post-date signature on the relevant MoU, Grant Agreement (GA) or Contract, and no costs may be incurred by projects prior to signing by both parties
• no payment can be made in advance of need. BED will not consider any request from an implementing partner for advance payments
• all new programmes and the projects must align with the Paris Agreement and assess climate and environmental impact and risks, taking steps to ensure that no environmental harm is done
• all programmes must consider and demonstrate how their interventions will impact gender equality, disability inclusion and those with protected characteristics
• all projects involving paid-for communications activity must receive clearance from the Professional Communications Assurance (PCA) team prior to signing a GA / MoU / Contract
• all approved projects will be expected to comply with FCDO mandated reporting requirements using templates provided, including: (i) Monthly ABB forecasts; (ii) Quarterly Monitoring Reports and (iii) Project closure report
• all projects activities must be completed within the financial year for which the funding is approved. Projects should plan to complete activities by February or very-early March to allow for financial processing to be concluded before the end of each financial year

Process

Proposals will be appraised according to the appraisal criteria below, and submitted to the Qatar Country Programme Board for consideration. BED will expedite the approval process to the extent possible, but cannot approve projects until formal funding allocation is confirmed by FCDO.

Approved projects will then begin the mobilisation process before beginning implementation, including:

• securing any required approvals (e.g. PCA)
• due diligence assessments if required
• preparation and signing of GA / MoU
• competitive bid process (if required) to select commercial providers

Appraisal criteria

How to submit proposals

The Project Proposal form template is identical to last year’s GSF template except the budget and output / activities sections have been adapted for multi-year projects.

The Activity Based Budget template has been adapted to accommodate projects for up to three years duration. For the first year, partners need to calculate budget on a monthly basis. Subsequent years are budgeted on a quarterly basis initially, and will be refined and re-approved in advance of each financial year.

Submit the relevant FCDO contract, Grant Agreement (GA) or Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) template for your organisation’s internal review processes (request the appropriate template from the Embassy if you don’t have a copy). British Embassy Doha will not enter into negotiation on these beyond the limited areas that we are authorised to approve at Post. If you do not have a copy of these templates, please get in touch as above to request one.

Contact

For any queries or clarification, contact:

The Department for Work and Pensions is laying emergency regulations today (Monday 21 March 2022) so those arriving in the UK from Ukraine as a result of the Russian invasion can access Universal Credit and jobs support immediately.

Ukrainians will also be eligible for Housing Benefit, Pension Credit, Personal Independence Payment, Child Disability Living Allowance and Carers Allowance, and Attendance Allowance. Contributions-based Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), and Jobseekers Allowance (JSA) are also available for those Ukrainians who meet the criteria.

Translation services are available to help new arrivals with phone applications, with Work Coaches in DWP Jobcentres on hand to support people making claims online.

DWP staff are also delivering additional face-to-face assistance to those who need it – including tailored support to find work and advice on benefit eligibility – and will continue to do so.

Without the emergency legislation people arriving from Ukraine would be subject to the Habitual Residence Test, meaning they would have to wait up to three months before being able to receive income-related benefits, including Universal Credit.

Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Thérèse Coffey said:

My priority is that people fleeing the unimaginable horrors in Ukraine to seek safety here get the support and help they need from day one to move forward in their lives immediately.

Financial Secretary to the Treasury Lucy Frazer said:

It is vital that families coming from Ukraine can support their children from the moment they arrive, and by adjusting child benefit rules and ramping up our support, the tax system is pivoting to ensure this happens.

Salvation Army Refugee Response co-ordinator Major Nick Coke said:

We welcome the news that Ukrainians coming to the UK will be able to access benefits immediately and for those who are able, help to find suitable work.

With offices on the ground in Ukraine and the border countries providing emergency food and shelter, The Salvation Army sees first-hand the trauma those displaced by war have experienced. It is fitting that they receive targeted help when seeking refuge in the UK.

The regulations exempt those arriving from Ukraine, from the Habitual Residence Test and the Past Presence Test, meaning, if eligible, they can access Universal Credit, Housing Benefit, State Pension Credit and disability and carer benefits from day one.

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