The remit for the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) requires an exchange of open letters between the Governor of the Bank of England and the Chancellor of the Exchequer if inflation moves away from the target by more than 1 percentage point in either direction.
As set out in the remit, the open letters are published alongside the first routine publication after the meeting of the MPC that follows the release of the CPI data.
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The latest application round of the Farming Recovery Fund is now open to eligible farmers to apply for grants to help them recover from February floods.
A £6 million fund to support farmers seriously affected by February’s floods has opened for applications today (Thursday 18 June).
Eligible farmers and land owners in parts of Herefordshire, Shropshire, Worcestershire, Gloucestershire, Staffordshire, Nottinghamshire and North and East Yorkshire can apply for between £500 and £25,000 under the Farming Recovery Fund to support their recovery efforts.
These grants follow earlier rounds of funding for those affected in the July 2019 and November 2019 floods, bringing the total pot of funding to £10 million.
The Rural Payments Agency has introduced a simplified online portal for the latest round of applications to make it easier for farmers to apply.
The government has also provided a derogation from the crop diversification requirement, which would have required farmers managing more than 10 ha of arable land to grow at least two different crops, and those with more than 30 hectares to grow at least three, in order to receive the BPS greening payment for 2020. This relaxation was made to help ensure those farmers who were not able to plant spring crops would not be unfairly penalised.
Chief Executive of the RPA Paul Caldwell said:
We know the flooding in February had a devastating impact on farming communities across the North and Midlands.
The RPA has been working hard to ensure farmers feel supported during this time and from today eligible farmers will be able to access the £6 million fund to help them get back on their feet.
Our new online portal will make it easier for farmers and landowners to submit an application and we’ve also given farmers an extra month this year to apply for their BPS payment.
Farmers in affected areas who suffered from flooding in February are being encouraged to check GOV.UK and read the handbook to see if they are eligible to apply for a grant to pay for uninsurable damage caused by the flooding. This could include removing debris or re-cultivation of grassland or arable land.
Further guidance on how to submit applications can be found here.
Published 18 June 2020
News story
SLC Deputy CEO, David Wallace urges returning students to apply quickly. Join our Facebook Live session on 22 June at 1pm if you have any questions.
With most of SLC working from home, we are finding different ways to track and understand our customers’ sentiment and the things they are worried about.
Our social media channels have increased in popularity and are proving an effective way of doing this and that’s why we recently announced the extension of the application deadline for full-time, returning students in England and Wales until 30th June.
We process many hundreds of thousands of funding applications each summer and this year, as always, our priority is to ensure that students have their funding in place for the start of term. However, we recognise that this is not a “normal” year for anyone and that it was important to extend the deadline as far as we reasonably could.
I must stress however that it remains the case that all students should get their funding applications in as early as they can, as it’s the only way to be sure of having a full allocation of funding in place for the start of term. We do everything we can to process late applications but, when we need to, gathering evidence can be complex and takes time.
Deadlines are in place for good reason and meeting them is the best possible way to ensure peace of mind, as well as of securing full funding for the new term.
None of us underestimates how challenging this year has been and I’d like to publicly thank everyone for their continuing hard work, to enable us to deliver our service to customers.
We hope the extended deadline is helpful.
We recognise that new and returning students will have questions about their student finance applications and to help them we will be hosting a Facebook Live session on Student Finance England’s Facebook page on Monday 22nd June at 1pm.
Published 18 June 2020
We, the Ambassadors from the Diplomatic Missions of Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom, the United States, joined by the European Commission Representation in Ireland and European Parliament Liaison Office in Ireland, express our continued support for the Dublin Pride festival. We are pleased to take part as a joint contingent of ‘Diplomats for Equality’ in the Virtual Dublin Pride Parade on 28 June 2020.
Seventy countries still criminalise same-sex conduct between consenting adults. There continues to be unacceptable instances of discrimination and/or persecution of LGBT+ persons across the world. This includes hate-motivated violence, arbitrary arrest and the application of the death penalty. We reaffirm our opposition to all forms of violence and discrimination, including on grounds of sexual orientation, gender identity and sex characteristics.
Citizens of all societies, including Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and related persons (LGBT+), should be able to live freely without fear of violence or discrimination, and play an active part in society. Education, raising awareness and dialogue are key tools to achieve this, and Pride organisations across the world, including Dublin Pride, play an important role in this work.
COVID-19 has enacted a heavy toll on our communities. We express support to all those affected, and to the key workers who are helping to keep us safe here in Ireland and across the world. This includes members of the LGBT+ community, many of whom already face discrimination, violence, persecution and isolation. Tackling COVID-19 is a significant challenge and it has caused great pain. But we have also seen acts of great kindness, of communities coming together to support each other and the vulnerable, and new and innovative ways of connecting with each other.
We are therefore pleased that Dublin Pride 2020 will take place virtually, allowing us to continue to support and celebrate the LGBT+ community and the work of Dublin Pride. As the theme of this year’s festival says we are “In this Together”. Together with the United Nations and other international organisations, we break the silence on violence and discrimination. We commit to continuing our work to promote respect and non-discrimination against LGBT+ persons.
We would like to thank the organisers of Dublin Pride 2020.