The Home Office has today (Friday 9th April) announced Professor Martin Levermore MBE DL as the new Independent Person to advise on the Windrush Compensation Scheme, following a competitive recruitment round.

Professor Levermore brings a wealth of professional and personal experience to the role and will provide crucial independent oversight and reassurance on the Windrush Compensation Scheme’s operation, policy and effectiveness.

The Windrush Compensation Scheme was launched in April 2019 to ensure that members of the Windrush generation are fairly compensated for the difficulties they faced in establishing their lawful status in the UK.

Having an independent adviser to the Windrush Compensation Scheme is one of a series of measures that the Government has taken to right the wrongs experienced by those from the Windrush Generation.

Reporting directly to the Home Secretary, Professor Levermore will also participate in a range of outreach and engagement sessions as part of the Home Office’s work with stakeholder and community groups. He will also make sure the Home Office proactively seeks out and encourages affected individuals to apply to the Compensation Scheme in order to maximise uptake and improve the experience for claimants based on community insights.

Professor Levermore is visiting Professor for Health, Education and Life Sciences at Birmingham City University and an Honorary Consultant for Health Innovations with the Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust. He has been published widely in several academic and medical journals; he holds a Senior Associateship with the Royal Society of Medicine.

He also has significant experience in working with and representing those from the Commonwealth and holds various positions including Chair of Trade and Business Group for Birmingham Commonwealth Association, Patron of the National Caribbean Monument Charity, Executive committee member of Greater Birmingham Commonwealth Chamber of Commerce, Chair of specific project task force of Jamaican Diaspora UK and committee member to the Association of Jamaican Nationals Birmingham.

Professor Levermore’s appointment comes as Martin Forde QC, who was appointed to give independent advice to the Compensation Scheme in May 2018, steps down from his role.

Please note that the information in this page has been issued by Defra, not the Government Chemist, and it is published to increase dissemination amongst Government Chemist stakeholders.

New Animal Health Regulation and composite rules apply from 21 April 2021

Defra has issued a reminder that new EU Animal Health Regulation (AHR) and composite rules will apply from 21 April 2021.

Five new Export Health Certificates (EHCs) and one private attestation can be used for exports of specific products of animal origin to the EU. This includes two new composite product EHCs and the private attestation document for products exempt from certification. The ECHs are on EHC online and the private attestation on form finder.

The remaining new EHCs for live animals, germinal products and products of animal origin will be phased in over the coming months.

If your composite product already requires an EHC, you will be able to carry on using the current EHC until August or choose to use the new documentation.

If your product does not currently require an EHC, you must follow the new rules from today (21 April).

For live animals, germinal products and other products of animal origin you will be able to continue using existing EHCs until August 2021.

Heat treatment

The European Commission has confirmed it is amending the AHR to allow businesses to use a private attestation to export shelf-stable composite products containing dairy (but no meat) that has not undergone UHT or sterilisation, so long as the dairy product originates and is processed in a third country listed for the export of dairy to the EU, such as GB. As the legislative amendments will not be in place by 21 April 2021 when the new Regulation applies the Commission has agreed an interim arrangement. There is further information in the guidance.

Further information

There is further information on AHR and the new composite rules in Defra’s guidance. The AHR will apply in Northern Ireland.

The composite product decision tree will help you decide if your product is a composite and what documentation you need to use.

Defra has also provide a link to the presentation from a webinar and the narrative, along with frequently asked questions and answers.

Working in partnership with the local authority, NHS Test and Trace is providing additional testing and genomic sequencing in a targeted area within the Alum Rock and Glebe Farm and Tile Cross wards in Birmingham, where a confirmed case of the variant first identified in South Africa has been found.

The confirmed case has self-isolated and their contacts have been identified. Initial investigations indicate that this case is not linked to a case previously identified in the Birmingham and Sandwell areas.

This targeted approach will contact certain households in the Alum Rock and Glebe Farm and Tile Cross areas of Birmingham. Everybody aged 16 years and over in this area who is contacted and invited to take part is strongly encouraged to take a COVID-19 PCR test, whether they are showing symptoms or not.

Enhanced contact tracing will be used for individuals testing positive with a variant of concern. This is where contact tracers look back over an extended period in order to determine the route of transmission.

By using PCR testing, positive results can be sent for genomic sequencing at specialist laboratories, helping us to identify variant of concern cases and their spread.

People with symptoms should book a free test online or by phone so they can get tested at a testing site or have a testing kit sent to them at home. Those without symptoms should visit the local authority website for more information.

People in this area should continue using twice-weekly rapid testing alongside the PCR test as part of surge testing.