Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Brandon Lewis today (Friday 29 Oct) announced that the landmark Live at the Waterfront! concert will be televised on Sky Arts and Freeview on Monday 13 December. The major television deal means that everyone will have the chance to enjoy this unique celebration of Northern Ireland’s performing arts talent.

Live at the Waterfront!, funded by the Northern Ireland Office centenary programme budget, took place at Belfast’s Waterfront Hall on Friday 22 October, and brought together some of Northern Ireland’s finest singer-songwriters, musicians, actors and comedians. The fantastic night of entertainment, hosted by award-winning comedian Patrick Kielty and rising star TV journalist Holly Hamilton, celebrated Northern Ireland’s music and arts – past, present and future. Among those taking part was Snow Patrol front man Gary Lightbody, who delighted the audience with his surprise appearance and stunning rendition of well-known hits.

Over 70% of the concert tickets were given free to key workers in health and social care, food retail and NI charities, representing Northern Ireland’s enormous gratitude to those who have worked tirelessly throughout the pandemic. With the Sky Arts deal, everyone can now experience this remarkable night of entertainment.

The concert will be televised on Sky Arts on Monday 13 December. The deal with Sky will also see the concert made available to view on the platform’s on demand services, so people can enjoy the memorable night.

Live at the Waterfront! is produced for television by Green Inc Film and Television. The concert event was co-produced by Shine and Snow Water.

Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Brandon Lewis said:

“The Live at the Waterfront! Concert was a wonderful celebration of the artistic talent that exists in Northern Ireland, and I’m delighted that this fantastic night of music, performance and comedy will now be available to a wider audience.

“I am immensely proud that the Northern Ireland Office was able to fund this event,from our centenary programme budget, and use it to recognise our key workers for their dedication during the pandemic. I hope it will also provide a boost to the local arts sector as it recovers from the impact of coronavirus.

“I would like to thank Sky for helping us further highlight the huge potential and great talent that exists in Northern Ireland’s music and arts industry.”

Phil Edgar-Jones, Director, Sky Arts:

“Northern Ireland is such a special part of the world, you’ll rarely meet nicer, friendlier people wherever you go! It’s also a vibrant hub of creativity and we are pleased to be celebrating some of the brilliant artists who tell their tales through music and performance and spread positivity and inclusivity in the province.”

Live at the Waterfront! Executive Producer Stephen Stewart, of Green Inc, said:

“It makes me very proud that my Northern Ireland based company is able to televise this event, which proves what we have always known here locally – that this little country punches way above its weight for talent. And I don’t just mean the musicians, comedians and writers, who are obviously amongst the best in the world, but also the TV and theatrical backstage wizards who helped put this fantastic show together. I hope everyone is as impressed with it as I am.”

The concert was supported by the Arts Council NI and NI Screene. It will be televised by Sky Arts on Monday 13 December and available on Sky on demand services thereafter. Further details will be released by Sky Arts shortly.

Full line-up for Live at the Waterfront!:

• Abigail McGibbon, who most recently appeared in ‘Sadie’ (Lyric Theatre/ BBCNI) and the Lyric and Abbey Theatres’ Covid reactive pieces ‘Splendid Isolation’ & ‘Dear Ireland’.
• Platinum-selling Downpatrick rock band Ash, who have had over 18 songs in the top 40 of the UK Singles Chart.
• The Grammy-nominated Irish Folk band Beoga (“the most exciting traditional band to emerge from Ireland this century” – Wall St Journal) who co-wrote Galway Girl with Ed Sheeran.
• Meteor award-winning traditional Irish singer Cara Dillon.
• Dance group The Delinquents feat: Kid Noise from the Northern Ireland Office’s 21 Artists Mentoring Programme made their first public performance.
• The magnificent, multi-award winning Foy Vance, whose music featured on numerous TV shows and who has recently announced his biggest ever headline show at Belfast’s SSE Arena.
• Northern Irish singer, songwriter, guitarist and lead singer of Snowpatrol Gary Lightbody.
• Glenn Patterson, Northern Ireland’s foremost novelist. In addition to his ten novels and three non-fiction works, he has written plays for Radio 3 and Radio 4 and has also presented numerous television documentaries for the BBC as well as an arts review series for RTE. Glenn co-wrote BAFTA-nominated Good Vibrations, about the music scene in Belfast during the late 1970s, and subsequent play for the Lyric Theatre.
• Ian McElhinney, best known for his roles as General Dodonna in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Val-El in the * Superman prequel Krypton, and as Ser Barristan Selmy in the HBO series, Game of Thrones.
• JC Stewart, who has co-written with Lewis Capaldi, Niall Horan and was named MTV’s Artist of the Month for his latest EP.
• NI Music Prize winner Jordan Adetunji who is taking the UK Hip Hop scene by storm.
• May McFettridge, Northern Ireland’s very own queen of comedy, who has just completed her 30th year at the Grand Opera House.
• Micky Bartlett, A regular feature on BBCNI and the General Banter Podcast and fresh from his third consecutive tour of Australia, Micky has recently sold out several nights at Belfast’s iconic Ulster Hall.
• Composer and multi-instrumentalist Neil Martin, who has performed across the world from Mostar Bridge and the * Royal Albert Hall, as well as being played on the International Space Station, will perform on the Uilleann pipes.
• Northern Ireland Opera will feature NI Opera Stars and musicians.
• Multi Arena selling comedian Paddy Raff.
• Roe, who at just 21 has played Glastonbury, and has also supported Snow Patrol, Kodaline and Robbie Williams. Her latest single made Radio 1’s Track of the Week and enjoyed over one million streams.
• Ryan McMullan, whose song-writing talent has led to sold-out shows across the world.
• Mercury nominated singer-songwriter Soak who received the Irish Choice Music Prize Album of the Year.

Jay Robert Hannington, 33, and Ajay Surendranath Laxman, 53, both from London, have been disqualified for 11 and 6 years respectively.

Jay Hannington was previously disqualified in 2017 for 4 years because of misconduct while serving as a director of Capital Waste Services Limited. However, in April 2018, Jay Hannington was given permission by the court to become a director of Capital Metal Recycling Limited, subject to certain conditions. These included a specific undertaking from his co-director, Ajay Laxman, that he would keep Capital Metal Recycling’s tax affairs up to date.

But by June 2018 Capital Metal Recycling Limited had fallen behind with its tax obligations, breaching the conditions set by the court, so Jay Hannington was automatically disqualified again.

Despite being fully aware that he could now no longer serve as a director without again seeking the permission of the court, Jay Hannington continued acting as Capital Metal Recycling’s director until its liquidation on 12 August 2019.

In addition, Ajay Laxman, an accountant, knew that Jay Hannington had breached the court’s conditions, but he let him continue acting as director until March 2019.

Jay Robert Hannington admitted he was the director of a company whilst disqualified and signed a new disqualification undertaking on 8 October 2021. His new ban starts on 29 October 2021 and lasts for 11 years.

Ajay Surendranath Laxman admitted he allowed Jay Hannington to act as a director while still disqualified. His ban started on 21 September 2021 and lasts for 6 years.

The disqualifications prevent them from directly or indirectly becoming involved in the promotion, formation or management of a company without the permission of the court.

Dave Elliott, Chief Investigator of the Insolvency Service, said:

The court imposed conditions designed to protect the public, but Jay Hannington breached those conditions and then continued acting as director while disqualified.

The Insolvency Service takes these breaches of disqualification undertakings very seriously. This is reflected in the length of Jay Hannington’s new disqualification.

And Ajay Laxman’s disqualification should be a reminder to directors that allowing misconduct by a co-director is also serious misconduct.

Notes to editors

Jay Robert Hannington is from London and he was born in June 1988.

Ajay Surendranath Laxman is from London and he was born in August 1968.

Capital Metal Recycling Limited (Company Registered Number: 08309521).

Disqualification undertakings are the administrative equivalent of a disqualification order but do not involve court proceedings. Persons subject to a disqualification order are bound by a range of restrictions.

Further information about the work of the Insolvency Service, and how to complain about financial misconduct.

You can also follow the Insolvency Service on:

The UK will become the first G20 country to enshrine in law mandatory TCFD-aligned requirements for Britain’s largest companies and financial institutions to report on climate-related risks and opportunities.

From 6 April 2022, over 1,300 of the largest UK-registered companies and financial institutions will have to disclose climate-related financial information on a mandatory basis – in line with recommendations from the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures. This will include many of the UK’s largest traded companies, banks and insurers, as well as private companies with over 500 employees and £500 million in turnover.

The Taskforce on Climate- Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) is an industry-led group which helps investors understand their financial exposure to climate risk and works with companies to disclose this information in a clear and consistent way. It was launched at the Paris COP21 in 2015 by the Financial Stability Board (FSB) and Mark Carney, the UN Special Envoy on Climate Action and Finance and UK Finance Adviser for COP26, and has since published a clear and achievable set of recommendations on climate-related financial disclosures.

Our decision to require mandatory disclosures comes ahead of the G20 and COP26 summits, and it will increase the quantity and quality of climate-related reporting across the UK business community, including among some of the most economically and environmentally significant companies. This will ensure businesses consider the risks and opportunities they face as a result of climate change and encourage them to set out their emission reduction plans and sustainability credentials.

The new requirements will help investors and businesses to better understand the financial impacts of their exposure to climate change, and price climate-related risks more accurately, while supporting the greening of the UK economy. By applying a common set of requirements aligned with the TCFD recommendations, UK companies will be provided with a uniform way to assess how a changing climate may impact their business model and strategy, and ensure they are well placed to harness opportunities from the UK’s transition to net zero.

Energy and Climate Change Minister Greg Hands said:

If the UK is to meet our ambitious net-zero commitments by 2050, we need our thriving financial system, including our largest businesses and investors, to put climate change at the heart of their activities and decision making.

By mandating large businesses to disclose their climate risks and opportunities – the first G20 country to do so – we are showing global leadership by making our financial system the greenest in the world.

Economic Secretary to the Treasury John Glen said:

With COP26 in just a few days, I’m proud that we are taking steps to enshrine the UK’s transition to a greener financial system into law.

We are already world leaders in green finance, having recently launched the UK’s first Green Savings Bond and raised £16 billion for green projects through our Green Gilts.

These TCFD requirements will not only help tackle greenwashing but also enable investors and businesses to align their long-term strategies with the UK’s net zero commitments.

Companies already providing TCFD-aligned disclosures and experiencing the benefits include Tesco, Aviva, and Unilever.

Today’s legislation will become law in April 2022 subject to Parliamentary approval, puts the government on track to achieve its ambition of the UK becoming the first G20 country to mandate TCFD-aligned climate disclosures across the economy – as set out by the Chancellor of the Exchequer in November 2020.

The UK government has been delivering on our green finance ambitions through a package of recent measures, including the recent Sovereign Green Bond issuances, and a commitment to set out an indicative sectoral transition pathway to 2050 to align the financial system with the UK’s net zero commitment.

It follows last week’s publication of the Net Zero Strategy, which outlined a commitment to ensure the UK’s financial system is the greenest in the world, driving ambition on global green finance as the UK prepares to host the upcoming UN COP26 summit.

Chris Cummings, Chief Executive of the Investment Association, said:

These regulations are an important step to taking an economy wide approach to addressing climate change and reaching net zero carbon emissions. TCFD-aligned disclosures are a crucial part of managing the impact of climate change; supporting companies to focus on the effects of climate change on their business and communicating how these are being managed to their investors and other stakeholders.

IA members are major investors in UK listed and private companies, so enhancing climate-related disclosures will enable investment managers to provide the necessary support and challenge, through their stewardship role, to their investee companies, as they transition to more sustainable business models

Flora Hamilton, Director, Financial Services, Confederation of British Industry (CBI) said:

The government’s proposed framework for mandatory climate disclosures will help companies and investors better manage risks and opportunities resulting from climate change. With COP26 on the horizon, it is great to see that the government is working hard to make the UK the greenest financial centre in the world.

Increased transparency and more comparability on corporate sustainability performance will be key for directing more money to sustainable projects across the whole economy.

James Alexander, Chief Executive, UK Sustainable Investment and Finance Association (UKSIF), said:

We strongly welcome BEIS’s latest proposals to implement robust TCFD-aligned mandatory disclosures for publicly quoted and large private companies, which marks another important step in strengthening the UK’s leadership on climate disclosure ahead of COP26.

It is very positive to see a scenario analysis requirement now included in the final regulations for companies, which UKSIF and others have called for. This is necessary to ensure companies can provide to investors and savers a clearer and more meaningful picture of climate risks and the opportunities to support the transition in their annual report and accounts.

• These disclosure requirements have been based on the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) – a taskforce set up in 2015 by the Financial Stability Board (FSB) to improve and increase reporting of climate-related financial information. The disclosures brings together both the Chancellor’s November 2020 Roadmap towards mandatory climate related disclosures and the Roadmap on new Sustainability Disclosure Requirements, published just last month
• non-mandatory guidance to support in-scope companies in their disclosure will be issued before the end of the 2021, following parliamentary scrutiny of the regulations
• following widespread stakeholder support and feedback gathered as part of the UK government consultation on proposals to require mandatory TCFD-aligned climate-related financial disclosures, which ran from March until May 2021, 2 key changes have been made:
  • firstly, the UK government is introducing a requirement for qualitative scenario analysis – a powerful tool to support companies in their assessment of climate-related risks and opportunities
  • secondly, the requirements will be more closely aligned with the recommendations of the TCFD, to ensure coherence with associated requirements introduced by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Department for Work and Pensions
• in 2017, the Financial Stability Board’s Taskforce on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) set out a framework of 11 overarching recommendations for disclosure over 4 thematic areas – governance; strategy; risk management; and metrics and target – that could be used by economic actors to provide information on how they manage material risks and opportunities arising from climate change
• today’s announcement brings into force the government’s commitment, announced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer in November 2020, that the UK will become the first country in the world to make Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) aligned disclosures fully mandatory across the economy by 2025, going beyond the ‘comply or explain’ approach. The Chancellor set out a roadmap showing how the government would achieve this by 2025, with most of the measures in place by 2023
• the Companies (Strategic Report) (Climate-related Financial Disclosure) Regulations 2021 are due to be laid on 28 October 2021, with the regulations coming into force for accounting periods starting on or after 6 April 2022 subject to parliamentary scrutiny
• this approach is recognised in the green investment chapter of the government’s Net Zero Strategy published on 19 October

Rough sleepers will be helped into safe and warm accommodation and treatment services for drug and alcohol dependency this winter, supported by an extra £66 million the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities announced today (29 October 2021).

The support will help rough sleepers off the streets at a time of year when they face falling temperatures and give them an opportunity to turn their lives around by ending the cycle of addiction.

Building on the success of the Everyone In initiative, which supported 37,000 vulnerable people into longer term accommodation during the pandemic, this support will continue to help rough sleepers off the streets.

Today’s announcement will help to deliver the government’s commitment to end rough sleeping by 2024.

Rough sleeping has already reduced by over a third but the government will go even further with £640 million invested each year over the next 3 years to tackle the issue – a 85% increase in funding compared to 2019.

This builds on the £202 million for councils to continue to help people off the streets, funding 14,500 bed spaces for rough sleepers and 2,700 specialist support staff. This is on top of £112 million invested last year.

Those at risk of eviction are also being helped through the £310 million Homelessness Prevention Grant, with councils providing financial support or helping households find new homes. A £16 million pilot is also helping end the cycle of homelessness and hospital admissions by providing temporary accommodation, care and support for rough sleepers leaving hospital.

Minister for Rough Sleeping and Housing, Eddie Hughes MP said:

Rough sleepers are some of the most vulnerable people in our society and we must help them off the streets and end the plight of rough sleeping once and for all.

That means providing somewhere safe and warm for them to stay, and this funding will be a lifeline for thousands as the temperature drops this winter.

We are also helping those trapped in drug and alcohol addiction and giving them the stability they need to turn their lives around.

Minister for Care, Gillian Keegan, said:

It’s crucial we support people experiencing homelessness – particularly those wanting to break the cycle of addiction.

This additional funding will not only help those personally fighting drug and alcohol addiction, but it will also benefit their friends, families and the communities who are also impacted by the consequences of substance misuse.

More widely, we continue to support people without a home, including around access to vaccines throughout the pandemic, and recently announcing £16 million for pilot projects to support homeless people being discharged from hospital.

Kathy Mohan, CEO at Housing Justice:

We’re pleased that we have for the second year running, been able to provide substantial funding for faith and community groups to provide COVID secure emergency accommodation in their local area.

These smaller organisations are at the centre of many communities’ response to homelessness, often operating on tight budgets.

This funding provides an opportunity for extra beds, implementing new ideas and increasing the options available to people experiencing rough sleeping

Rick Henderson, CEO at Homeless Link:

As the winter months approach, it’s vital organisations have the capacity to provide single room accommodation to help reduce the number of people sleeping rough, while minimising the risk of spreading COVID-19.

Therefore, I am delighted to announce the list of grantees for this fund. I hope this winter provides a blueprint for future models of winter homelessness support, with single room accommodation becoming the norm.

Programmes and projects to benefit from the announcement include:

• Leeds: funding a street-based psychologist, who refers rough sleepers to mental health and substance misuse services and a drop-in clinic in the city centre which also provides specialist support.
• Westminster: funding the Westminster Rough Sleepers Drug and Alcohol Service, ensuring rough sleepers can access treatment programmes. Support is also provided for rough sleepers to access education, employment, or training once they have completed treatment.
• Southampton: more staff are supporting those with complex needs and substance misuse issues and a clinical psychologist is making sure that those with mental health issues get the support they need.
• Cambridge: funding a local charity working in partnership with the council to provide 20-bed self-contained rooms for a safe place this winter and route off the streets.
• London: funding the All People All Places project that will provide support for 50 people in the winter months.

The Drug and Alcohol Treatment Grant is entering its second year and is already supporting people sleeping rough in 43 councils to access structured drug and alcohol treatment including counselling, detox and rehab services.

Rough Sleeping Drug and Alcohol Treatment Grant and Homelessness Transformation Fund funding breakdowns

Rough Sleeping Drug & Alcohol Treatment Grant

Homelessness Transformation Fund