Jeremy Mayhew OBE appointed as Competition Service member

News story

Jeremy Mayhew has been appointed as a member of the Competition Service.

Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng has appointed Jeremy Mayhew as a member of the Competition Service.

The Competition Service is a non-departmental public body, sponsored by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. It was established by the Enterprise Act 2002 to fund and provide support services (including the provision of staff, accommodation and equipment) to the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT).

Jeremy Mayhew’s career has mainly been in the media and broadcasting industry and he is currently a member of the Regulatory Policy Committee and the British Transport Police Authority, as well as a Councilman on the City of London Corporation and a non-executive Board Member of the Legal Services Board.

Published 2 February 2022

E3 statement on North Korea: 2 February 2022

Press release

Joint statement by the governments of the UK, France and Germany on North Korean missile tests.

Germany, the United Kingdom and France express their deep concern over the continued testing of ballistic missiles by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), including the recent intermediate-range ballistic missile launch of 29 January.

Since the beginning of 2022, the DPRK has conducted a series of six ballistic missile tests. We note with deep concern the DPRK’s stated willingness to continue, and potentially escalate, testing including the resumption of “actions which had been temporarily suspended”. Such activity is a matter of grave concern and will receive a united response.

The multiple ballistic missiles tests by the DPRK over the last twelve months, which have included new so-called hypersonic missiles and a submarine-launched ballistic missile, illustrate its continued efforts to expand and improve its ballistic missile capabilities. We strongly condemn these provocative actions, which undermine regional as well as international peace and security and are in clear violation of multiple unanimously adopted UN Security Council resolutions.

We call on the DPRK to implement the decisions of the Security Council in full, to accept the repeated offers of dialogue put forward by the United States and to take concrete actions towards the complete, verifiable and irreversible dismantlement of its weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missiles programmes.

We call on all States to fully and effectively implement all relevant UN Security Council resolutions, which are crucial to bring the DPRK back to the negotiating table. In the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, we commend the work of the 1718 Committee, which has swiftly approved all sanctions exemption requests for humanitarian assistance for the DPRK.

Germany, the United Kingdom and France are committed to working with all relevant partners towards the goal of peace on the Korean Peninsula and to upholding the rules-based international order.

Published 2 February 2022

2 boat owners pay for failing to register their vessels

Philip Sunman, 60, who resides on his boat near Little Paxon, Cambridgeshire, was found guilty in his absence. Sunman’s vessel was discovered unregistered on the River Great Ouse, in June 2021. He was fined £250, with costs of £250, compensation of £1,091 and a victim surcharge of £34.

Suzana Sutton, of Kings Cliffe, Peterborough, was also found guilty in her absence. Sutton’s boat was found unregistered in Oundle Marina, on the River Nene, in July 2021. As a result, Sutton was fined £250 and ordered to pay costs of £250, compensation of £427 and a victim surcharge of £34.

The income from vessel registration directly contributes to the services, facilities and structures the Environment Agency provides to make boating possible on its waterways. This includes maintenance of locks, moorings, slipways and many other navigational structures.

Nathan Arnold, Environment Agency Waterways Team Leader, said:

We hope these penalties will serve as a reminder to all boaters that they must ensure that their vessels are properly registered at all times.

The funds generated by boat registration are vital to ensure the Environment Agency is able to protect our Waterways and all that use them.

People should remember to register any vessel that is kept on an Environment Agency waterway, or they will face enforcement action.

More information about boating and waterways, including registering vessels, is available from the Environment Agency.

Anyone who comes across a vessel on Environment Agency waterways that they suspect is unregistered, is encouraged to report it anonymously by calling 03708 506 506 or emailing waterways.enforcementanglian@environment-agency.gov.uk.

Funding support for new residential-led development

As the government’s housing delivery agency, we help to build the homes needed across England and encourage innovation, both in the kind of homes that are built and the way they are delivered.

We do this in two ways:

by providing development finance to small and medium house builders
by providing infrastructure funding to support developers, master developers and landowners

Development finance – loans

Through the Levelling Up Home Building Fund, we will continue to provide investment directly to developers, in the form of loans, and to specialist lenders. 

Loans can start from £250,000, with house builders typically borrowing between £2 million and £5 million. Development finance is designed to support small and medium homebuilders that are struggling to access development finance from the private market and to help new entrants into the housing sector, to bolster house building and diversify the market.  

If you’re a small or medium sized house builder and are interested in applying for a development loan, you will need to have majority control of the site you plan to build on and be planning to build five or more homes. Read our guidance to find out more about whether a development loan through the Levelling Up Home Building Fund could support you, and how to apply. 

Development finance – equity and joint ventures

In addition to providing development loans, Homes England is keen to explore how funding from the Levelling Up Home Building Fund can be used to develop more sophisticated financial arrangements, such as lending alliances with the private sector, increasing the amount of funding we are able to provide to the housebuilding sector.

The fund also has the capacity to form joint ventures, which can support projects to regenerate town centres and revive public places, working with local councils, housing developers and others.

Infrastructure finance 

Through the Home Building Fund we will continue to provide infrastructure loans to help unlock and accelerate land for housing development. 

Many viable strategic housing sites carry substantial barriers to building homes, despite the clear need for them. These challenges can include substantial up-front infrastructure costs and s106 obligations that need to be spread over multiple phases before the project reaches a positive cashflow position.

Through the Home Building Fund, infrastructure loans will be available to help mitigate these barriers, by providing loans, up to £250 million, to prepare sites for building and fund the implementation of necessary infrastructure.

If you’re working on a housing development and require loan funding for site preparation and the infrastructure needed to enable housing to progress and prepare land for development, the Home Building Fund could help you. To find out more about the eligibility criteria, and how to apply, read our Home Building Fund guidance.  

Defence Secretary meets NATO Allies to reaffirm UK commitment to European security

News story

Ben Wallace met with defence counterparts in Hungary, Croatia and Slovenia to strengthen the Allied response to tensions on Ukraine’s border with Russia

Ben Wallace and Mario Banžića sign an agreement between the UK and Croatia

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace has met with NATO Allies and defence counterparts in Hungary, Croatia and Slovenia to strengthen the Allied response to the unfolding crisis on Ukraine’s border with Russia and the wider implications for European security.

His meetings follow on from a series of diplomatic talks last week in The Hague, Brussels and Germany where concerns over the territorial sovereignty of Ukraine were raised.

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said:

In Hungary, Croatia and Slovenia this week I have met with my defence counterparts and NATO Allies to discuss ways to strengthen European security and reaffirm our resolve to support the sovereignty of Ukraine.

We now need to see continued dialogue and de-escalation and an end to the build-up of Russian forces on the border of Ukraine. An invasion will be met with severe consequences.

In Budapest on Monday, the Defence Secretary laid a wreath at the Memorial Stone of Heroes in Heroes Square before his meeting with Hungarian Defence Minister Dr Tibor Benkő.

The Defence Secretary held meetings with his counterpart Defence Minister Mario Banožić in Zagreb, Croatia, on Tuesday where he signed a new Strategic Partnership Commitment (SPC).

The SPC builds on the Memorandum of Understanding agreed five years ago, and comes as the UK and Croatia celebrate 39 years of diplomatic relations. The Defence Secretary also met Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković in Zagreb for talks about our nations’ shared approach as NATO Allies to stand up for the sovereignty of Ukraine.

In Slovenia, the Defence Secretary met with Defence Minister Matej Tonin. Like Croatia, the UK and Slovenia are marking 30 years of diplomatic relations.

The Prime Minster yesterday (Tuesday) travelled to Ukraine for talks with President Zelenskyy as the UK announced £88 million of new funding to help Ukraine clamp down on corruption and reduce the nation’s reliance on Russian energy supplies.

Britain is considering reinforcing NATO’s defences through new and bolstered deployments which underpin the UK’s support to European allies.

Published 2 February 2022