Retired police officer’s misconduct sentence doubled following referral

News story

Alan Butler has had his sentence doubled by the Court of Appeal following a referral by the Solicitor General, Alex Chalk QC MP.

A Warwickshire Police worker has had his sentence doubled by the Court of Appeal following a referral by the Solicitor General, Alex Chalk QC MP.

Former police officer, Alan Butler, 65, was found guilty of two counts of misconduct in a public office. While working as a staff investigator, Butler used his position to engage in relationships with two women whose cases he was involved in investigating.

On 4 October 2021, Butler was sentenced to 18 months’ imprisonment, at Coventry Crown Court.

Following the sentence, the Solicitor General referred Butler’s sentence to the Court of Appeal under the Unduly Lenient Sentence (ULS) scheme.

On 30 November 2021 the Court of Appeal found his original sentence to be unduly lenient and doubled it to 3 years’ imprisonment.

Speaking after the hearing, the Solicitor General, Alex Chalk QC MP said:

As a public servant, it is right that Butler’s conduct should be held to a higher standard. In taking advantage of vulnerable women, Butler showed disregard for the trust imbued in his office. I am glad that the Court of Appeal agreed and saw fit to increase his sentence today.

Published 30 November 2021

ESFA publishes annual report and accounts for 2020-21

News story

ESFA, has published its annual report and accounts 2020-21, which highlights that it has delivered on its funding body role

ESFA, has published its Annual Report and Accounts 2020-21, which highlights that it has delivered on its funding body role, by issuing main allocations to education and skills providers for the academic year 2021/22 with 99% on-time and with 100% accuracy.

ESFA also approved 423,082 funding payments in 2020-21, with 100% paid accurately and on-time and, in response to COVID-19, delivered £842 million of additional funding across 15 funding streams which providers and employers have accessed 115,000 times.

John Edwards, ESFA’s interim Chief Executive said:

I would like to pay tribute to and thank everyone who has shown flexibility and resilience in supporting the skills and education sector during the challenges of the pandemic. Education and training providers, colleges, local authorities, schools, academies, early years settings and our people at ESFA have all worked at an incredible pace to keep on delivering. It has been a shared endeavour and we can feel a sense of pride and confidence in our efforts to continue to provide high quality education and skills training opportunities right across the country.

ESFA has successfully balanced the delivery of business priorities with the additional demands brought about by COVID-19. These include providing funding lifelines to support the sector; managing the Coronavirus Helpline which at its peak handled over 5,000 calls a day; providing careers advice to individuals impacted by the pandemic; communicating to the sector and public; ensuring that vocational and technical education awards were delivered with the minimum delays possible in summer 2020; using data science to model learner attendance; and playing a key role in supporting the wider re-opening of education settings.

We have strengthened our oversight of colleges and training providers, creating a proportionate and robust approach to assuring public spending and investment in skills, and an emphasis on prevention, rather than intervention. This includes the introduction of a new subcontracting standard that requires independent assurance that providers who subcontract have the correct controls in place.

Looking forward, in line with the Declaration on Government Reform, the Cabinet Office commissioned an independent review of the ESFA as an arm’s length body. The review is considering the ESFA’s operating model, governance, accountability model and impact. The review was launched in July 2021 and is on track to run until January 2022.

Published 30 November 2021

112th session of the International Organization for Migration Council: UK statement

Thank you for inviting me to speak today.

Our thoughts – and our deepest sympathies – are with those who lost their lives or their loved ones in last week’s tragic shipwreck in the Channel.

The IOM’s work for humane and orderly migration has no doubt saved a great many lives, but it is clear that – at 70 – your work is as critical today as ever.

The UK remains your partner and supporter.

We recognise that, as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to reshape our world, its impact on the most vulnerable migrants has been profound.

Migrants have, of course, been at the forefront of the fight against the virus, contributing their skills and knowledge.

Here in the UK, they have played an incredibly valuable role within our National Health Service, on the front line of the fight to save lives.

Yet many migrants, who too often end up on the margins of society, have been disproportionately affected.

Many have lost their jobs, while others have been stranded, often without income, and unable to return home due to lockdowns and border closures.

This has left women, girls and children at particular risk from trafficking and exploitation.

Meanwhile, challenges in accessing COVID treatments and vaccines have compounded these problems in many parts of the world.

In the UK, we worked hard to ensure that vaccinations are available to all members of our society, in all parts of the country, and we have learned lessons along the way.

We must bear these lessons in mind as we work to rebuild from COVID.

Most importantly, we must also factor them into planning for future pandemics.

The new agreement on pandemic preparedness and response, discussed today in the World Health Assembly’s special session, will play an important role here.

I welcome the IOM’s support for this.

Yet COVID is not the only migration-related challenge we face.

People continue to be displaced from their homes, due to conflict in countries like Afghanistan and Ethiopia.

Meanwhile, in Belarus, a callous regime is orchestrating irregular migration across its borders, putting lives at risk every day.

Next May, when we come together for the first International Migration Review Forum, we will discuss our shared challenges and the progress made.

Migrants move in the hope of a brighter future, and it is our collective responsibility to ensure their safety and dignity.

The UK is committed to an inclusive recovery from COVID. A recovery that is for everybody, including the most vulnerable.

So, as we look forward to the Forum, we must be frank about what we have learned and forthright in our action, for a freer, fairer and safer world for all migrants.

Foreign Secretary warns a Russian incursion into Ukraine would be strategic mistake

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss is attending her first meeting of the NATO Foreign Ministers in Latvia this week
the Foreign Secretary will use this opportunity to underline the importance of NATO, demonstrating the force of a ‘network of liberty’ against malign activity
the meeting follows a visit by the Foreign Secretary to see UK troops deployed as part of NATO’s collective defence in Estonia

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss will underline the UK’s ongoing commitment to the transatlantic Alliance as an essential defence, protecting democracy, security and prosperity, at her first meeting of the NATO Foreign Ministers today.

Top of the Foreign Secretary’s agenda is the need for Allies to come together to stand against continued destabilising actions by Russia and Belarus. This follows the build-up of Russian troops on the border of Ukraine and the cruel instrumentalisation of migration by Belarus. Russia has also tried to use economic coercion to undermine NATO Allies in recent years, for example through seeking to exploit energy dependency.

The Foreign Secretary will call for Allies to rally together, to stand up to any Russian aggression while maintaining open channels of communication to set out our intentions and values. She will underline NATO’s purpose as an organisation for collective defence and deterrence, calling out recent false claims by Russia that the Alliance seeks to provoke. Russia has previously used such claims that NATO aggression justified the illegal annexation of the Crimea and continues to take this position to try to create a false pretext. Indeed Russia has just this week alleged that NATO’s response to a build-up of Russian forces on the border of Ukraine is an act of hostility rather than deterrence. She will underline that an incursion into Ukraine would be a strategic mistake, and the UK will use all diplomatic and economic levers at our disposal to avoid that outcome.

The Foreign Secretary will outline the need for NATO Allies to increase their financial commitments to the Alliance in response to these and other hybrid threats, and encourage countries to support Ukraine’s defences. The UK is helping Ukraine strengthen its military capabilities and ability to work with other forces, including through Operation Orbital, under which the UK has trained over 21,000 members of the Ukrainian army. Ukraine and Georgia will both attend the meeting this week in Riga as key NATO partners.

Foreign Secretary, Liz Truss said:

We want a world where freedom and democracy don’t just survive, they thrive. To this end, we will stand with our fellow democracies against Russia’s malign activity.

We will support Ukraine and stability in the Western Balkans, to safeguard their security and build their economic resilience.

We have seen this playbook from the Kremlin before when Russia falsely claimed its illegal annexation of Crimea was a response to NATO aggression. NATO is an alliance forged on the principle of defence, not provocation. Any suggestion that NATO is provoking the Russians is clearly false.

Any action by Russia to undermine the freedom and democracy that our partners enjoy would be a strategic mistake.

Ahead of the meeting, the Foreign Secretary visited Estonia to show her support to UK troops protecting NATO territorial integrity on NATO’s Eastern flank. More than 800 British soldiers are currently stationed there as part of NATO’s enhanced Forward Presence, with collective forces across Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland.

Looking ahead to NATO’s new Strategic Concept, Foreign Ministers will discuss new and emerging forms of hybrid warfare, and the need to continue work to future-proof the Alliance against these threats. Allies will also discuss continued work to prevent Afghanistan becoming a safe haven for terror.

This follows the publication of the Integrated Review earlier this year, which brought together diplomacy, development and defence to strengthen the UK’s ability to build a global network of liberty and protect against malign actors. This was supported by the biggest investment in our defence for thirty years and a reinvigorated, expanded diplomatic network.

After Estonia and Latvia, the Foreign Secretary will be travelling to Stockholm for the Annual OSCE Ministerial Council. The meeting will bring together the OSCE’s 57 participating states, most represented by their Foreign Ministers, and will be a forum for further discussion of issues critical to the security of the region, including human rights violations in Belarus and the situation in Ukraine.

Photos are available on Flickr

Precautionary recall of specific batches of blood pressure drug irbesartan

Press release

As a precaution, companies are recalling some batches of irbesartan medicines due to presence of a chemical substance (AZBT) in an amount over the limit permitted for this product. Patients taking irbesartan medicines should continue to take their medication.

A total of 44 batches of irbesartan medicines are being recalled as a precaution from pharmacies and wholesalers due to presence of a chemical substance (AZBT) formed in the manufacturing process that is over the limit permitted for this product.

Irbesartan medicines treat high blood pressure to help prevent heart attacks and stroke. They are also used in patients with heart failure or those who had a recent heart attack.

Patients being prescribed these medicines should continue to take their medication since the risk from stopping is greater than the risk associated with short-term exposure to ABZT above its acceptable level from packs that they already have. Not treating a patient’s high blood pressure or heart problems may lead to harms, so patients should not stop their treatment unless clinically advised.

Laboratory testing has found that long-term exposure to this chemical substance (AZBT) above acceptable limits may potentially increase the risk of cancer, but there is no UK or international evidence that this substance has caused any harm to patients. The MHRA, in collaboration with regulatory counterparts around the world, has set internationally-recognised acceptable daily intake limits for AZBT. If medicines contain levels of AZBT above this limit, these need to be recalled by the manufacturer as a precaution.

The MHRA continues to work with its international counterparts to better understand the risk and with the Department of Health and Social Care to ensure that an adequate supply of these medicines remains available for patients.

Dr Alison Cave, MHRA Chief Safety Officer, said:

“Patient safety is at the heart of everything we do. This recall is a precautionary measure to prevent further exposure to AZBT above the acceptable safety limit. There is no evidence that this substance has caused any harm to patients. “It’s vitally important that you continue to take your medicine but do contact your doctor or pharmacist if you have any questions.

“It’s important that healthcare professionals check their stock to quarantine and return these batches to their supplier using their supplier’s approved process.

“The MHRA has asked companies to implement control measures to ensure that the levels of the substance are at or below the required level. We are also working with our international counterparts, given this is a global issue, to ensure the safety of patients.”

Notes to Editor

Published 30 November 2021