Ghanshyam Sarup Batra (58), of Harlow, Essex, was the appointed director of Dylan Lettings Worldwide Limited since its incorporation in May 2010.

The company acted as a management organisation for three apartment blocks that had previously been converted from hotels.

The freeholds of the buildings were owned by three separate companies, whilst Ghanshyam Batra was the registered leaseholder on all the apartments.

In April 2017, Ghanshyam Batra and the three companies were ordered by the court to pay a confidential settlement connected to £6.5 million of arrears owed to mortgage lenders.

When the settlement was not paid, a Receiver was appointed by the court over the properties and the leaseholds. Restrictions were then placed on Ghanshyam Batra limiting him from exercising his powers as a director of Dylan Lettings Worldwide or seek to act on its behalf without permission of the court or claimants.

In October 2017 the lettings company went into Creditors Voluntary Liquidation with liabilities of at least £571,000. The liquidation of Dylan Lettings Worldwide, however, triggered an investigation by the Insolvency Service, which found that Ghanshyam Batra breached the court order when he transferred almost £106,000 from the company’s bank account into his own.

The first transfer of £50,000 was made just 45 minutes after the Receiver was appointed. A further £49,000 was transferred the following morning, leaving the company unable to pay its debts to creditors.

On 4 March 2021 in the High Court of Justice, Deputy Insolvency and Companies Court Judge Schaffer made a disqualification order for 7 years against Ghanshyam Sarup Batra.

Ghanshyam Batra’s ban started 24 March and means that he is banned from directly or indirectly becoming involved, without the permission of the court, in the promotion, formation or management of a company. He was also ordered to pay costs of more than £11,500.

Lawrence Zussman, Deputy Head of Insolvent Investigations at the Insolvency Service, said:

Ghanshyam Batra transferred almost £106,000 from the company to his personal account, denying funds owed to creditors. The director stated the monies were owed to him for outstanding rent and other business-related expenditure, but no rental agreement was in place.

This significant ban should act as a warning to other directors who do not act in their company’s best interests that we will take action where it is appropriate to do so.

Ghanshyam Sarup Batra’s date of birth is July 1962.

Dylan Lettings Worldwide Limited (Company Reg no. 07250016).

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 other restrictions.

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

You can also follow the Insolvency Service on:

The Government has today (19 May) published a consultation on changes to the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) to support farmers through the agricultural transition period from now until 2027 which will deliver a better, fairer farming system in England.

The consultation will be open for 12 weeks and focuses on two key areas:

• Lump sum exit scheme – Building on evidence that some farmers would like to retire or leave the industry but have found it difficult to do so for financial reasons, the Government proposes to offer them a lump sum payment to help them do this in a planned and managed way. The consultation seeks views on who should be eligible for these lump sum payments and how the payments should be calculated.

• Delinked payments – Direct Payments currently made through the Basic Payments Scheme offer poor value for money and are based on how much land a farmer has, which inflates rent and can stand in the way of new entrants. The Government plans to phase Direct Payments out over a gradual seven year transition period, to move to a fairer system. The consultation includes plans to separate the payment from the amount of land farmed, from 2024. This will simplify the process for farmers, allow them to focus on running their business and encourage them to take up the government’s new environmental land management schemes, which will reward sustainable food production and environmental improvements. The consultation seeks views on how the ‘delinked’ payments will be calculated.

A vibrant farming industry also needs to attract new talent and create more opportunities for new entrants and farmers wishing to expand their businesses. The Government is working together with industry leaders, local councils, land owners and new entrants to co-design a scheme to create real opportunities for new farming businesses. The new scheme will be available to support new entrants from 2022. Recommendations for the design of the scheme will be shared later in the year.

Environment Secretary George Eustice said:

We need to address the twin challenges of helping new entrants fulfil their dream and gain access to land, while also helping an older generation retire with dignity.

Our exit scheme will offer farmers who want to exit the industry all of the area payments they would likely have received until the end of the transition period in a single lump sum. It gives them a real incentive to confront what can often be a difficult decision and will help them clear bills and settle debts.

By renting out their farm or surrendering their tenancy, those exiting the industry will create important opportunities for the next generation of farmers and later this year we will be saying more about our plans to work with County Farm estates and other land owners to ensure that we nurture the right conditions for new enterprises to flourish.

This follows last year’s announcement of the Agricultural Transition Plan – the Government’s landmark plans to reward farmers and land managers for sustainable farming practices, which will see the introduction of a new, fairer system, co-designed with industry, that is tailored in the interests of English farmers.

The proposals within the consultation seek to offer a fairer system for farmers, encouraging generational change by providing more flexibility for new entrants to start up their farm businesses and supporting those who are ready to leave the sector to do so on their own terms.

The Government is taking steps to develop and co-design each element of the future system in partnership with industry. The consultation launched today seeks feedback on the proposed design of the lump sum exit scheme. At the same time, work is underway to design the New Entrant Scheme and just last month, farmers looking to continue farming were encouraged to take their first step towards a greener future by expressing their interest in participating in the national pilot of the Sustainable Farming Incentive. The application window for this has closed , with successful applicants expected to be invited to make a formal application to begin agreements starting in October shortly.

The proposals set out today also build on previous steps that have been taken to simplify the Basic Payment Scheme, including simplifying penalties for small overclaims of land from the 2020 scheme year, the removal of EU greening requirements which required farmers to carry out specific practices to qualify for additional payments but historically delivered little for the environment, and improving the arrangements for farmers with land in more than one part of the UK, from the 2021 scheme year.

The consultation will close for responses on 11 August 2021. A full report on the responses to the consultation will be published later in the year.

In the past 12 months all those involved in the property market have been impacted by the effects of coronavirus (COVID-19); HM Land Registry is no different and as a result, this release of the UK House Price index isn’t as complete as it could be.

The data isn’t inaccurate; however this release may be subject to increased revisions as more data is added over the coming months. Reducing delays for further information.

England

In England the March data shows, on average, house prices have risen by 1.7% since February 2021. The annual price rise of 10.2% takes the average property value to £274,615.

The regional data for England indicates that:

• Yorkshire and the Humber experienced the greatest monthly price rise, up by 3.4%
• the South East saw the lowest monthly price growth, with a fall of 0.9%
• Yorkshire and the Humber experienced the greatest annual price rise, up by 14%
• London saw the lowest annual price growth, with a rise of 3.7%

Price change by region for England

Repossession sales by volume for England

The lowest number of repossession sales in January 2021 was in the East of England and the South West.

The highest number of repossession sales in January 2021 was in the North West.

Average price by property type for England

Funding and buyer status for England

Building status for England

*Figures for the 2 most recent months are not being published because there are not enough new build transactions to give a meaningful result.

London

London shows, on average, house prices have risen by 1% since February 2021. An annual price rise of 3.7% takes the average property value to £500,310.

Average price by property type for London

Funding and buyer status for London

Building status for London

*Figures for the 2 most recent months are not being published because there are not enough new build transactions to give a meaningful result.

Wales

Wales shows, on average, house prices have risen by 3.1% since February 2021. An annual price rise of 11% takes the average property value to £185,431.

There were 18 repossession sales for Wales in January 2021.

Average price by property type for Wales

Funding and buyer status for Wales

Building status for Wales

*Figures for the 2 most recent months are not being published because there are not enough new build transactions to give a meaningful result.

UK house prices

UK house prices increased by 10.2% in the year to March 2021, up from 9.2% in February 2021. On a non-seasonally adjusted basis, average house prices in the UK increased by 1.8% between February and March 2021, compared with an increase of 0.9% during the same period a year earlier (February and March 2020).

The UK Property Transactions Statistics showed that in March 2021, on a seasonally adjusted basis, the estimated number of transactions of residential properties with a value of £40,000 or greater was 190,980. This is 102.4% higher than a year ago. Between February and March 2021, UK transactions increased by 32.2% on a seasonally adjusted basis.

House price growth was strongest in Yorkshire and the Humber where prices increased by 14% in the year to March 2021. The lowest annual growth was in London, where prices increased by 3.7% in the year to March 2021.

See the economic statement.

The UK HPI is based on completed housing transactions. Typically, a house purchase can take 6 to 8 weeks to reach completion. The price data feeding into the March 2021 UK HPI will mainly reflect those agreements that occurred after the government measures to reduce the spread of coronavirus took hold.

Reducing delays

Our absolute top priority is to reduce any delays, both those caused by the pandemic and those existing beforehand. To deliver our services while promoting public health, we are:

• adjusting our resources where necessary
• introducing automation where practical
• recruiting and training more than 500 new staff

Background

1. The UK House Price Index (HPI) is published on the second or third Wednesday of each month with Northern Ireland figures updated quarterly. The April 2021 UK HPI will be published at 9.30am on Wednesday 16 June 2021. See calendar of release dates.

2. We have made some changes to improve the accuracy of the UK HPI. We are not publishing average price and percentage change for new builds and existing resold property as done previously because there are not currently enough new build transactions to provide a reliable result. This means that in this month’s UK HPI reports, new builds and existing resold property are reported in line with the sales volumes currently available.

3. The UK HPI revision period has been extended to 13 months, following a review of the revision policy (see calculating the UK HPI section 4.4). This ensures the data used is more comprehensive.

4. Sales volume data is also available by property status (new build and existing property) and funding status (cash and mortgage) in our downloadable data tables. Transactions involving the creation of a new register, such as new builds, are more complex and require more time to process. Read revisions to the UK HPI data.

5. Revision tables have been introduced for England and Wales within the downloadable data. Tables will be available in csv format. See about the UK HPI for more information.

6. Data for the UK HPI is provided by HM Land Registry, Registers of Scotland, Land & Property Services/Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency and the Valuation Office Agency.

7. The UK HPI is calculated by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and Land & Property Services/Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency. It applies a hedonic regression model that uses the various sources of data on property price, in particular HM Land Registry’s Price Paid Dataset, and attributes to produce estimates of the change in house prices each month. Find out more about the methodology used from the ONS and Northern Ireland Statistics & Research Agency.

8. The UK Property Transaction statisticsare taken from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) monthly estimates of the number of residential and non-residential property transactions in the UK and its constituent countries. The number of property transactions in the UK is highly seasonal, with more activity in the summer months and less in the winter. This regular annual pattern can sometimes mask the underlying movements and trends in the data series so HMRC also presents the UK aggregate transaction figures on a seasonally adjusted basis. Adjustments are made for both the time of year and the construction of the calendar, including corrections for the position of Easter and the number of trading days in a particular month.

9. UK HPI seasonally adjusted series are calculated at regional and national levels only. See data tables.

10. The first estimate for new build average price (July 2016 report) was based on a small sample which can cause volatility. A three-month moving average has been applied to the latest estimate to remove some of this volatility.

11. The UK HPI reflects the final transaction price for sales of residential property. Using the geometric mean, it covers purchases at market value for owner-occupation and buy-to-let, excluding those purchases not at market value (such as re-mortgages), where the ‘price’ represents a valuation.

12. Information on residential property transactions for England and Wales, collected as part of the official registration process, is provided by HM Land Registry for properties that are sold for full market value.

13. The HM Land Registry dataset contains the sale price of the property, the date when the sale was completed, full address details, the type of property (detached, semi-detached, terraced or flat), if it is a newly built property or an established residential building and a variable to indicate if the property has been purchased as a financed transaction (using a mortgage) or as a non-financed transaction (cash purchase).

14. Repossession sales data is based on the number of transactions lodged with HM Land Registry by lenders exercising their power of sale.

15. For England, this is shown as volumes of repossession sales recorded by Government Office Region. For Wales, there is a headline figure for the number of repossession sales recorded in Wales.

16. The data can be downloaded as a .csv file. Repossession sales data prior to July 2016 is not available. Find out more information about repossession sales.

17. Background tables of the raw and cleansed aggregated data, in Excel and CSV formats, are also published monthly although Northern Ireland is on a quarterly basis. They are available for free use and re-use under the Open Government Licence.

18. HM Land Registry’s mission is to guarantee and protect property rights in England and Wales.

19. HM Land Registry is a government department created in 1862. Its ambition is to become the world’s leading land registry for speed, simplicity and an open approach to data.

20. HM Land Registry safeguards land and property ownership worth in excess of £7 trillion, including over £1 trillion of mortgages. The Land Register contains more than 26 million titles showing evidence of ownership for some 87% of the land mass of England and Wales.

21. For further information about HM Land Registry visit www.gov.uk/land-registry.

22. Follow us on Twitter, our blog, LinkedIn and Facebook.

Highways England and emergency services across the West Midlands have signed up to a new agreement which will see incidents on roads dealt with more swiftly.

The agreement cements the collaboration between the services and sets out clear roles to enable more efficiency at the scene as well as managing the road network, meaning less disruption for drivers.

The memorandum of understanding has been signed by police, fire and rescue and ambulance services across the region as well as Highways England and its maintenance contractor Kier.

The 52-page agreement will:

• improve the management of traffic
• encourage a greater degree of operational cooperation
• enable more information sharing between the organisations
• provide enhanced support for dealing with incidents

Highways England Service Delivery Manager David Yates said:

Any incidents on the network can cause widespread disruption and we all want to manage the situation as efficiently as possible and get traffic moving again.

With so many organisations often on scene, good collaboration and communication is essential. These agreed protocols ensure our roles are set out beforehand and better enable us to deal with incidents smoothly, swiftly and effectively.

All of the partner organisations have been working together for some time on this agreement and we are delighted that it has now been agreed and signed by all concerned.

It is essential when dealing with incidents that arrangements for coordinating the individual organisations are established in the early stages.

The agreement covers the roles and responsibilities of each service, consistency of approach, information sharing, and incorporates the procedures in the National Operating Agreement for smart motorways.

The Memorandum of Understanding 2021, which will be reviewed annually, has been signed by:

• Highways England
• Warwickshire Police
• West Mercia Police
• Central Motorway Police Group
• Kier
• West Midlands Ambulance Service
• Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service
• Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service
• Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service
• West Midlands Fire Service
• Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue Service.

A West Midlands Ambulance Service spokesman said:

By the nature of our job, the quicker we can get to patients in distress and begin treating them, particularly when seriously injured, the better.

Therefore, we very much welcome this new agreement and will be working with Highways England colleagues and other emergency services to help provide the very best level of care possible whenever a road traffic collision takes place.

Area Commander Steve Vincent, of West Midlands Fire Service, said

Our aim is to get to all serious incidents within five minutes, by signing this agreement we can work even more closely with Highways England and our emergency service partners to continue to provide a first-class service.

It will also enable our crews to work more safely, assertively and effectively at incidents to help save lives.

Inspector Sion Hathaway, of the Central Motorway Police Group, said:

We’re really happy that this agreement is now in place as it will allow us, and our partner organisations, to carry on keeping the region’s roads safe.

This agreement gives us better chance at responding swiftly and safely to road related incidents, thus ensuring we are in the best position to save lives and causing minimum disruption in the process.

General enquiries

Members of the public should contact the Highways England customer contact centre on 0300 123 5000.

Media enquiries

Journalists should contact the Highways England press office on 0844 693 1448 and use the menu to speak to the most appropriate press officer.

The UK’s space sector has seen growth in jobs and income while investing more in research and development, leaving it well-placed to grow strongly as we recover from the Covid-19 pandemic, Science Minister Amanda Solloway announced today.

Findings from the latest ‘Size and Health of the UK Space Industry’ report, commissioned by the UK Space Agency, show the sector supports a highly skilled and productive workforce that’s growing across the country.

The statistics show that in 2018/19, compared to the previous survey from 2016/17:

• Income has risen from £15.6 billion to £16.4 billion, representing growth of 5.7% (or 2.8% per annum) in real terms
• Employment is up by 3,200 from 41,900 to 45,100
• R&D investment now sits at £702m, up 18% and 5 times the national average intensity
• Scotland’s thriving sector sees 31% increase in space companies, up from 132 to 173
• Gross Value Added is up from £6 billion to £6.6 billion, representing growth of 10.1% (or 5.0% per annum)
• Over £360 billion worth of wider UK economic activity is now supported by satellites, up from £300 billion

The number of organisations engaged in space-related activity in the UK has increased from 948 to 1,218, which includes 95 new space-related companies established in the UK during the two year period.

Scotland has increased its number of space companies from 132 employing 7,555 to 173 employing 7,703. Other parts of the UK to see a growth in the number of companies and jobs in the space sector are the South East, South West, East of England, East Midlands, West Midlands, North West, North East and Yorkshire and the Humber.

Science Minister Amanda Solloway said:

The UK space industry is booming and this strong growth is a key part of our plans to level up and build back better from the pandemic, creating thousands of high value space jobs in regions right across the UK.

As we look to fulfil our bold ambitions for space, including the first satellite launches from UK soil next year, I look forward to seeing the sector growing further with more young people pursuing exciting careers in space, all while helping to cement the UK’s status as a global space superpower.

In a boost to the government’s target of investing 2.4% of GDP in research and development by 2027, the survey shows the UK space sector investing increasing sums in new ideas and technologies. R&D spending is up 18% in real terms from £595 million in 2016/17 to £702 million in 2018/19. As a proportion of Gross Value Added (GVA), this is 5 times the national average.

Dr Graham Turnock, Chief Executive of the UK Space Agency, said:

The UK is already a world leader in small satellite technology and applications, telecommunications, robotics and Earth observation, while British universities are some of the best in the world for space science.

It is fantastic to see our innovative space sector investing in the future through increased commitment to research and development – and to see more and more jobs being created in this exciting industry.

The UK Space Agency’s Spaceflight Programme aims to establish commercial vertical and horizontal small satellite launch from UK spaceports from 2022, providing a further boost for the sector. Growing the UK’s launch capability will also help bring new jobs and economic benefits to communities and organisations right across the UK, as well as inspiring the next generation of space scientists and engineers.

Transport Minister Rachel Maclean said:

Today’s findings highlight the exciting growth we’re seeing in the UK space sector, with significant investment and research helping to create thousands of new jobs.

The UK is leading the way in this field with more companies carrying out space-related activity than ever before. We’ll continue to do everything we can to support this exciting area, as the Government expands its ambitions for spaceflight.

The space sector also has an exceptionally skilled workforce, with 3 in 4 (77%) employees holding at least a primary degree, while employee productivity remains 2.6 times that of the national average.

For the first time the ‘Size and Health of the UK Space Industry’ looked at the diversity of the industry. More than one in three employees are female.

As the government continues work to level up the UK economy the figures also show the growth of the sector outside of London, with 27% of space jobs now employed in the capital, down from 29% at the previous survey.

The UK Space Agency is working to embed space as a fundamental part of the UK economy and society, unlocking new markets and technologies for the benefit of everyone in the UK.

The Size and Health of the UK Space Industry is the UK’s definitive source of information on the UK space sector, based on a survey of UK organisations who supply or use space or satellite services. All 2016/17 values have been adjusted to bring them in line with 2018/19 prices.