Home Secretary Priti Patel has appointed former Lord Advocate Dame Elish Angiolini to chair an inquiry following the shocking abduction, rape and murder of Sarah Everard by a serving Metropolitan Police officer.

The Angiolini Inquiry will be a two-part inquiry and will investigate the issues arising from this specific case, as well as wider issues affecting policing.

Dame Elish has been appointed following consultation with the family of Sarah Everard, who will also be kept updated throughout the work of the inquiry. She brings an extensive legal background and has chaired several inquiries into issues related to policing and the criminal justice system.

The Home Secretary will work with Dame Elish to finalise the terms of reference for the inquiry, which will be published in due course. The appointment and high level terms of reference were announced by the Home Secretary in Parliament today (Monday 22 November).

Home Secretary Priti Patel said:

Sarah Everard’s abduction, rape and murder was an unimaginable tragedy – we owe it to her and her loved ones to quickly understand what went wrong and prevent something like this ever happening again.

The Angiolini Inquiry will shine a light on the failings that allowed a serving police officer to abuse his power in such a horrific manner and make recommendations for change within policing.

Dame Elish will bring a wealth of legal and criminal justice expertise to this role and I am delighted she has agreed to chair the Inquiry.

Dame Elish Angiolini said:

I am deeply honoured to have been asked to chair this vital inquiry, which comes at a pivotal moment for policing.

The murder of Sarah Everard was profoundly shocking and I will ensure that the issues raised from this dreadful tragedy are fully investigated and the necessary lessons learned.

The Home Secretary announced last month that a non-statutory inquiry would be launched following the conviction of Wayne Couzens.

The inquiry will be non-statutory to allow for it to be established and operate as swiftly and flexibly as possible. However, the Home Secretary has been clear that should the chair require it, the option remains to convert it to a statutory inquiry.

It will be made up of two parts. The first will establish a comprehensive account of Couzens’ conduct throughout his career in policing, including looking for whether any red flags were missed and whether allegations made against him were properly handled.

It will draw on ongoing investigations by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) and Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS).

The second part of the inquiry will look at specific issues raised by part one, which will report to the Home Secretary as soon as possible. A more precise timetable will be set out once the Terms of Reference are published.

Dame Elish currently serves as Principal at St Hugh’s College, Oxford, and is a Pro-Vice-Chancellor at the University of Oxford. Previously, she was Solicitor General for Scotland from 2001 to 2006 and served as Lord Advocate of Scotland between 2006-2011.

She led a review commissioned by the then-Home Secretary Theresa May into deaths in police custody, which published a report in 2017. Dame Elish also recently led a review into police complaints handling, investigations and misconduct issues in Police Scotland, the final report of which was published in November 2020.

Set up by the Ministry of Justice, it includes a delegation of 28 industry leaders – ranging from the President of the Law Society and Chair of the Bar Council to specialists in LawTech. They will showcase the excellence of the UK’s legal sector and highlight the strength of English Law – seeking to seize opportunities to grow exports in countries such as the UAE, Qatar and Israel.

Additionally, a dedicated legal services day will take place at the UK Pavilion in Dubai EXPO on Wednesday 24 November. It will bring together 90 Middle Eastern legal experts with UK counterparts – for the first time at this scale – to help boost trade between the two regions.

The mission has been organised as part of the UK’s international brand marketing campaign, GREAT, to promote the best of the UK abroad. It is expected to generate over £750k in new business for UK law firms, chambers and LawTech companies.

Justice Minister, Lord Wolfson QC, said:

This trade mission will build on our efforts to forge international partnerships to increase trade for the legal service sector, while showcasing the exceptional legal talent we have to offer.

Legal services contribute a massive £22 billion to the UK economy and will be crucial to ensuring we build back better from the global pandemic.

Lord Wolfson will also meet senior justice counterparts on a visit to Israel and Qatar to discuss private international law and LawTech and reinforce the place of English law as the heart of international disputes.

It follows the launch of a 14-week consultation by the Department for International Trade to seek views on a wide-reaching trade deal between the UK and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) that will boost trade and strengthen the UK’s relationship with a strategically important region.

Last year, GCC – which comprises Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE – spent £233 million on UK legal services, making it one of the most lucrative areas for legal professionals to export their expertise.

This trade mission builds on wider efforts from the government to boost trade with the region, supporting the Global Britain agenda. It follows the ‘UK-GCC Joint Trade and Investment Review’ which confirmed that UK and GCC economies complement each other to a significant extent and there is great scope for collaboration and growth.

Notes to editors

Below is a list of delegates that will join the trade mission. They are all self-funding the trip:

• Malcolm Bishop QC, Barrister, 3 Hare Court
• Khadija Leuenberger, Barrister, 36 Stone
• Simon Astill, Barrister, 3PB
• Saima Hanif QC, Barrister, 3VB
• Sharif Shivji QC and Alexander Cook, Barrister, 4 Stone
• Alexander Cook, Sharif Shivji QC, Barrister
• Ben Rigby, Legal journalist, Abitra
• Andrew Johnson, Partner & Head of Region, Addleshaw Goddard
• Yacine Francis, Partner, Allen & Overy
• David Charlier, Partner & Head of Region, Ashurst
• David Barnes, Barrister, Atkins Chambers
• David Howorth, Director (lawtech), Avvoka
• Peter Smith, Senior Associate, Charles Russell Speechley
• Alastair Young, Managing Partner, Dentons
• Edward Braham, Partner, Freshfields
• Stuart Paterson Managing Partner, Herbert Smith Freehills
• Sam Karim QC, Barrister, Kings Chambers
• Robert Marcus, Lawtech, Legal Utopia
• David Russell QC, Barrister, Outer Temple
• Tina Blazquez-Lopez, Energy & Infrastructure Head, MENA, Simmons & Simmons
• Professor Mark Watson-Gandy, Barrister, Three Stone
• Sara Masters QC, Barrister, Twenty Essex
• Dr Hakeem Seriki, Solicitor, STEPTOE & JOHNSON UK LLP
• Naveen Agnihotri, Barrister, 4-5 Gray’s Inn Square
• I Stephanie Boyce, President, The Law Society of England and Wales
• Derek Sweeting QC, Chair, The Bar Council of England and Wales

The international community must step up to protect the rights and improve the lives of children born from sexual violence in conflict, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, the Prime Minister’s Special Representative on Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict and Minister of State will say today (Monday 22 November) at a special event at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.

There are no official statistics on the number of children born each year as a result of sexual violence in conflict, but we know it is a widespread issue in wars around the world. The UN estimates that more than 60,000 women were raped during the civil war in Sierra Leone, up to 60,000 in the conflict in the former Yugoslavia, and at least 200,000 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo since 1998. Children born of sexual violence in conflict miss out on education and health services because it is often not possible for them to be registered at birth. They and their mothers also face stigma and being ostracised from society.

Today Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, will speak at an event that will be attended by the UN, international partners, NGOs, academics and campaigners such as Lejla Damon, who was born of sexual violence during the Balkan conflict.

He will call on countries around the world to endorse a UK-led call to action and commit to working together to:

• Raise awareness about the challenges faced by children born of sexual violence
• Consider the needs of these children and their mothers and change laws, policies and practices that prevent them from realising their rights and living life to the fullest.

Over the next few months, the UK will be working with those who endorse the call to action, including countries with high incidences of sexual violence in conflict, to develop concrete commitments. The call to action has already been endorsed by the United States, Norway, South Sudan, Mexico and the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict.

Lord Ahmad said:

All children deserve the right to an education and quality health services, but all too often those born of sexual violence in conflict face rejection from their communities and struggle to obtain the identity documents needed to access services.

The UK is a world leader on championing the rights of survivors of sexual violence in conflict. I am pushing for global action so that the rights of these children are fully recognised and they are supported to have the dignified life they deserve as their country’s potential future teachers, doctors and entrepreneurs.

Following this call to action, the UK will publish a handbook providing expert advice to help affected countries ensure their laws, policies and practices meet the needs of children born of sexual violence in conflict and their mothers. This will set the gold standard of care and support and will assist countries to comply with their obligations under the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child. The call to action and handbook will provide the foundation blocks to help to change the way countries and communities support these children and the daily life of survivors.

The call to action follows the Foreign Secretary’s push to make sexual violence in conflict a red line for the international community. The UK will host a global summit to unite world around action to prevent sexual violence in conflict next year.

• The Foreign Secretary Liz Truss last week launched a major global campaign to stop sexual violence against women and girls in conflict around the world.
• The Foreign Secretary’s campaign will build on work started by her predecessor William Hague, who set up the Preventing Violence in Sexual Conflict Initiative with UN Special Envoy Angelina Jolie in 2012. Lord Ahmad, the Prime Minister’s Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, works directly with the Foreign Secretary on this initiative.
• The UK will host a global conference next year to unite the world in action to prevent sexual violence in conflict. The conference will bring together Foreign Ministers from all over the world in support of the campaign to end impunity for violence against women and girls.
• The UK is already supporting change at a community level through organisations like World Vision. The programme is working in the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan to end the stigma faced by survivors of sexual violence and children born as a result. Through the programme, faith leaders are helping to identify and address continued challenges to the acceptance, well-being and empowerment of survivors and children born of sexual violence. The principles of the UK-led Declaration of Humanity are the cornerstone of the project, with an emphasis on ensuring children’s and survivors’ voices are heard and listened to in the community.
• Later this year, the UN Secretary-General will be issuing a Special Report on the rights of and challenges facing children born of sexual violence and women who bore them. The Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General is leading on the collation of this report.

Margaret Beels OBE has today (22 November 2021) been appointed as Director of Labour Market Enforcement (DLME) to coordinate continued government efforts in stamping out exploitation in the workplace.

Taking up the role with immediate effect, Beels will oversee an annual assessment of the scale and nature of non-compliance in the labour market – from accidental breaches of the national minimum wage to more severe and deliberate crimes such as modern slavery.

Beels will also set the strategic direction for the 3 existing labour market enforcement bodies:

• the Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate
• the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority
• HMRC’s National Minimum Wage Team

Margaret Beels brings with her extensive industry experience, having been Chair of Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA) since 2011, where she led on work to tackle and prevent modern slavery and labour exploitation – and which she was honoured with an OBE for in 2020.

Minister for Labour Markets Paul Scully said:

Clamping down on unscrupulous employment practices and protecting workers is an absolute priority for this government.

As we continue to support workers and root out exploitation by rogue employers, Margaret’s experience will be invaluable, and I look forward to working with her in helping to build an economy that works for all.

Margaret Beels OBE, Director of Labour Market Enforcement said:

I am proud to take on the role of Director of Labour Market Enforcement. All workers are entitled to fair wages and proper working conditions. Sadly this is not always the case. I look forward to working with the 3 enforcement bodies within my jurisdiction to deliver better outcomes for workers who are being exploited.

Beels takes on the role from Matthew Taylor, who was the previous interim Director of Labour Market Enforcement from August 2019 to January 2021.

In June 2021, the government announced plans to create a single enforcement body, which will see the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority, the Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate and HMRC’s National Minimum Wage Enforcement combined. This ‘one-stop shop’ approach will help improve enforcement through better co-ordination and pooling intelligence.

The appointment comes as the government recently announced a significant rise in the National Living Wage from April 2022, to £9.50 an hour – the biggest increase since its introduction.

The 2022 increases to the National Living and Minimum Wage rates will give around 2.5 million of the UK’s lowest-paid workers a pay rise.

In addition, the government has more than doubled the budget for minimum wage enforcement and compliance, which is now over £27 million annually, up from £13.2 million in 2015 to 2016.

Margaret Beels Biography

Margaret Beels’ career began in the Department of Energy. From 1987 to 1990 she played a key role in delivering the privatisation of the electricity industry in England and Wales. Margaret spent 4 years running the electricity market before joining British Gas as Head of Compliance.

When British Gas demerged, Margaret joined Centrica and became Director of Scottish Gas.

Margaret became Chair of the Gangmasters Licensing Authority (GLA) in July 2011. GLA was formed in 2006 following the Morecambe Bay tragedy in which 23 Chinese cockle pickers were drowned. It was set up to run a statutory licensing scheme which upholds the rights of temporary workers in agriculture, horticulture food packing and shell fishing.

From 2014 to 2016 Margaret was much involved in GLA’s move from being sponsored by Defra to sponsorship by the Home Office and then, in the transformation of the GLA into the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA) with the expansion of its powers to include the investigation, across the whole labour market, into forced and compulsory labour as defined in the Modern Slavery Act 2015.

Margaret was awarded an OBE in the New Years’ Honours in 2020 for services to modern slavery and labour exploitation.

About The Office of the Director of Labour Market Enforcement (ODLME)

The Office of the Director of Labour Market Enforcement (ODLME) is sponsored by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and the Home Office.

The Director of Labour Market Enforcement was created by the Immigration Act 2016 as part of the government’s reforms to strengthen efforts to tackle non-compliance in the labour market.

The Director is required to present the annual strategy to the Home Secretary and the Business Secretary for their approval. In addition, the Director will prepare and present to Parliament an annual report on the extent to which enforcement activity undertaken during the year has had an effect on non-compliance.