Ministers at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs have reappointed Tony Delahunty and Terence Jagger for second terms to the Board of the Marine Management Organisation. Their terms will run from 1 February 2020 until 31 January 2023.

The Marine Management Organisation (MMO) is an Executive Non-Departmental Public Body (NDPB) established in April 2010 and given powers under the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009. The MMO has a wide range of responsibilities, which include implementing plan-led marine management, licensing marine works and managing UK fishing fleet capacity and UK fisheries quotas.

All appointments to the Marine Management Organisation are made on merit and political activity plays no part in the selection process. The reappointments comply with the Ministerial Governance Code on Public Appointments. There is a requirement for appointees’ political activity (if significant) to be declared. Both Tony and Terence have confirmed that they have not undertaken any significant political activity during the past five years.

Marine Management Organisation Board Members receive remuneration of £11,804 per annum, based on a time commitment of three days per month.

Biographical details:

Tony Delahunty is a retired fisherman and businessman with over 40 years’ experience of working in the inshore fishing industry. He has represented and championed fisheries management issues locally, nationally and internationally throughout his career driven by a lifelong commitment to the sustainable management of our seas. He has experience in Board and Chair roles, in both the public and private sectors, including his appointment as National Chair of the National Federation of Fisherman; Chair of the Sussex Inshore Fisheries Conservation Authority and Vice Chair of Sussex Sea Fisheries Committee.

Tony has been a member of Selsey Lifeboat since 1978 serving as a crew member, senior helmsman and deputy coxswain and currently serves as Lifeboats Operations Manager.

Terence Jagger’s early career was with a number of major international companies, including Shell, Burmah Oil and Unigate. After a Masters degree in Finance, he joined the Ministry of Defence as a civil servant; his roles included managing a PFI programme, leading the QinetiQ privatisation, Director Financial Management, Command Secretary to the RAF, and political advisor to the NATO commander in Afghanistan.

From 2011-2015, Terence was Chief Executive of Crown Agents, the international development company working in Africa and Asia, where he also was deputy Chairman of Crown Agents Bank and Crown Agents Investment Management.

Today’s annual export statistics from the Scottish Government show that more than 60 per cent of all Scottish exports go to England, Wales and Northern Ireland, more than the rest of the world combined, the figures reveal.

In comparison, Scotland’s exports to the EU are worth £16.1 billion, which is less than one third of value of our sales to the rest of the UK.

Total Scottish exports are estimated at £85 billion – a rise of almost three per cent, boosted by a strong performance in the food and drink sector, with whisky bringing in £4.7 billion in international exports alone.

Total international exports are valued at £33.8 billion.

Commenting on the figures, Scottish Secretary Alister Jack said:

The Scottish Government’s own figures show that Scotland’s most important trading partner is the rest of UK – worth more than three times that of trade with all 27 EU countries combined. This demonstrates, once again, that our Union is absolutely crucial to supporting jobs, businesses and prosperity across Scotland.

That is why we are against the First Minister’s demands for another independence referendum, which would put a hard border between Scotland and the rest of the UK. We will instead make 2020 a year of opportunity and growth for all parts of our country.

ENDS

Notes to editors:

1. For further information contact the press office of the Office of the Secretary of State for Scotland on 0131 244 9028.

2. The Scottish Government annual trade figures can be found here.

Legislation delivering on the Government’s promise to realise the benefits of Brexit for the Scottish fishing industry is being introduced into Parliament today (29th January 2020).

As well as powers for the UK to set quotas, fishing opportunities and days at sea, the flagship Fisheries Bill includes new powers for the Scottish Government to ensure that fish stocks, and the marine environment, can be better protected.

With 52% of fish landed in the UK, landed in the Scottish ports of Peterhead, Lerwick and Fraserburgh, the Scottish fishing industry is central to UK government plans to ensure fishing opportunities are harnessed sustainably for the benefit of the UK fishing industry and our marine life.

The introduction of the Fisheries Bill delivers a legal guarantee the whole of the UK will leave the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) at the end of the Transition Period, in December 2020 – allowing the UK to control who may fish in our waters, and on what terms, for the first time since 1973.

The Scottish Government will be given powers to protect off-shore marine habitats from the impacts of fishing, as well as amend regulations on aquatic animal disease in the same way that the UK Government will be able to do. This will enable Scotland to protect the vitally important and valuable Scottish fish farming industry.

The Bill provides powers enabling the Scottish Ministers to amend technical fisheries regulations, equivalent to those provided to the UK Government. This is a critical power which will allow the Scottish Government to move away from the CFP after the implementation period in a measured and controlled way that works for their industry, allowing the benefits of Brexit to be realised.

The Scottish Government, along with the UK Government and other fisheries administrations, will set out in a joint statement how they will work together to achieve the Bill’s sustainability objectives.

New funding powers enabling the Scottish Government to provide financial support for the breadth of what is currently funded by the EU’s European Maritime and Fisheries Fund, such as training and port improvements, are also included in the legislation.

Environment Secretary Theresa Villiers said:

Scotland’s fishing industry will benefit from this new Fisheries Bill which takes back control of our waters, enabling the UK to create a sustainable, profitable fishing industry for our coastal communities.

Leaving the EU’s failed Common Fisheries Policy is one of the most important benefits of Brexit. It means we can create a fairer system for all of the UK, with new powers for the Scottish Government to ensure fish stocks and the marine environment, can be better protected.

UK Government Minister for Scotland Douglas Ross said:

The Fisheries Bill is great news for our fishing industry and coastal communities, providing fantastic new opportunities for this hugely important sector to Scotland. We are getting Brexit done and becoming an independent coastal state, no longer shackled by the hated Common Fisheries Policy, but empowered to control who fishes in our waters.

The Bill gives the Scottish Government more powers at their request and I hope they will put party politics aside so that the Scottish Parliament can unite to grant legislative consent and deliver a sea of opportunity for our fishermen.

Fisheries Minister George Eustice said:

The Fisheries Bill gives us the powers to implement our own independent fisheries policy, take back control of British waters, improve our marine habitats and make decisions based on the health of our fish stocks not vested interests.

For many people in coastal communities, leaving the Common Fisheries Policy is at the heart of getting Brexit done, and this Bill delivers for the environment, fishermen and the Union.

Elspeth MacDonald, chief executive of the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation, said:

The Fisheries Bill is the key piece of legislation needed to help deliver the benefits that the sea of opportunity presents. SFF looks forward to working with both the UK and Scottish Administrations to secure the right legislative framework to allow this to happen.

New provisions in the Bill mean the UK will take into account climate change impacts on its fisheries, with a new objective to move us towards ‘climate-smart fishing’ in UK waters. Last year we became the first major economy in the world to pass laws to end our contribution to global warming by 2050 and the Fisheries Bill will complement this.

A new legal requirement for all fish stocks to be fished at sustainable levels is also at the heart of the Bill – delivering on the Government’s manifesto commitment to ensure there will be sustainability plans for each fish stock.

The Bill includes powers to ensure fisheries management decisions are taken strategically, for the benefit of the whole marine environment. Fisheries management plans will be will be tailored to the UK’s ‘mixed fisheries’, which have lots of fish stocks swimming together and where certain fishing practices can have a significant impact on the marine environment.

The plans will also recognise that many of our fish stocks are ‘shared stocks’ as they will swim in both the UK’s and other coastal states’ waters. For these stocks, negotiation with other coastal states is crucial as sustainable catches cannot be achieved through UK action alone.

Further information

1. The Bill’s provisions on sustainable fishing will be underpinned by the requirement for the UK Government and the Devolved Administrations, including the Scottish Government, to publish a Joint Fisheries Statement to coordinate fisheries management where appropriate, and Fisheries Management plans to achieve sustainable stocks.

2. The Bill will also ensure:

• EU vessels’ automatic access right to fish in Scottish waters is removed
• Foreign boats will be required to be licensed to fish in Scottish waters and will have to follow rules negotiated as part of the UK’s fisheries negotiations
• Fisheries are managed in a sustainable way – balancing social, economic, and employment benefits while preventing the over exploitation of fish stocks
• The UK fisheries administrations will seek to ensure increased benefits from fish caught by UK boats
• The UK fisheries administrations will seek to ensure that Sensitive marine species, such as dolphins, are protected and the bycatch of unwanted fish reduced
• The UK fisheries administrations will continue to collect robust scientific data on fish stocks and shares it to manage shared stocks sustainably
• UK boats can continue to access any part of UK waters, as they do now regardless of whether they are registered in England, Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland

A Highways England spokesperson said:

Any death on our roads is one too many, and our deepest sympathies remain with the family and friends of those who lost their lives.

The Transport Secretary has asked the Department for Transport to carry out, at pace, an evidence stocktake to gather the facts about smart motorway safety. We are committed to safety and are supporting the Department in its work on this.

Recovery operators

• Vehicle recovery operators are never expected to work in a live lane, and their safety – and the safety of all road users – is our top priority.
• Measures should be in place to ensure this is the case (e.g. emergency traffic management, reduced speed limits and Traffic Officer support) before recovery operators attend a broken-down motorist. Vehicle recovery operators can also get to broken down motorists in emergency areas on smart motorways which are safer than worker on a hard shoulder as they are set back from the live carriageway.
• Smart motorways have safety mitigations that are not present on other types of high-speed road, for example variable speed limits and Red X, and we have also worked closely with the recovery industry to develop guidance on safe recovery. This involved carrying out a successful joint exercise to test different recovery scenarios.

Stopped vehicle detection

• Incident detection is already in place on all smart motorways.
• Stopped vehicle detection, operational on the M25 and in construction on the M3, uses scanning radar to identify stopped vehicles, set signs and alert our control rooms. It is effective in all weathers and at all levels of traffic.
• However, this is just one of the systems in place on smart motorways, including CCTV, incident detection, SVD and emergency areas – to keep drivers safe. The stopped vehicle detection system employed to date uses radar technology (radio waves) to detect stationary vehicles on motorways.

Red X signals

• It has always been an offence to ignore a red X.
• Police are now able to use cameras as part of the enforcement of red X.

Get further information about smart motorways

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.

Published 29 January 2020

This month’s Price Paid Data includes details of more than 83,500 sales of land and property in England and Wales that HM Land Registry received for registration in December 2019.

In December 2019:

• the most expensive residential property sold was in City of Westminster for £39,500,000
• the cheapest residential property sold was in Seaham, County Durham, for £20,000
• the most expensive commercial sale was in City of Westminster for £125,735,586
• the cheapest commercial sale was in Lytham St Annes, Lancashire, for £350
• there was a 9.1% fall in newbuilds compared with December 2018

Of the 83,715 sales received for registration 20,296 took place in December 2019 of which:

• 453 were of residential properties in England and Wales for £1 million and over
• 275 were of residential properties in Greater London for £1 million and over
• 2 were of residential properties in West Midlands for more than £1 million
• 2 were of residential properties in Greater Manchester for more than £1 million
• 1 was of a residential property in Wales for more than £1 million

The number of sales received for registration by property type and month

Of the 83,715 sales received for registration in December 2019:

• 64,012 were freehold, a 5.5% decrease on December 2018
• 9,699 were newly built, a 9.1% decrease on December 2018

Property type	December 2019	November 2019	October 2019
Detached	19,393	21,646	22,363
Semi-detached	22,114	24,520	25,443
Terraced	22,444	24,308	25,286
Flat/maisonette	14,774	16,365	16,651
Other	4,990	5,313	5,564
Total	83,715	92,152	95,307

There is a time difference between the sale of a property and its registration at HM Land Registry.

Access the full dataset

In the dataset you can find the date of sale for each property, its full address and sale price, its category (residential or commercial) and type (detached, semi-detached, terraced, flat or maisonette and other), whether or not it is new build and whether it is freehold or leasehold.

Background

1. Price Paid Data is published at 11am on the 20th working day of each month. The next dataset will be published on 28 February 2020.
2. Price Paid Data is property price data for all residential and commercial property sales in England and Wales that are lodged with HM Land Registry for registration in that month, subject to exclusions.
3. The amount of time between the sale of a property and the registration of this information with HM Land Registry varies. It typically ranges between 2 weeks and 2 months. Data for the 2 most recent months is therefore incomplete and does not give an indication of final monthly volumes. Occasionally the interval between sale and registration is longer than 2 months. The small number of sales affected cannot be updated for publication until the sales are lodged for registration.
4. Price Paid Data categories are either Category A (Standard entries), which includes single residential properties sold for full market value, or Category B (Additional entries), such as sales to a company, buy-to-lets where they can be identified by a mortgage and repossessions.
5. HM Land Registry has been collecting information on Category A sales from January 1995 and on Category B sales from October 2013.
6. Price Paid Data can be downloaded in text, CSV format and in a machine readable format as linked data and is released under Open Government Licence (OGL). Under the OGL, HM Land Registry permits the use of Price Paid Data for commercial or non-commercial purposes. However, the OGL does not cover the use of third party rights, which HM Land Registry is not authorised to license.
7. The Price Paid Data report builder allows users to build bespoke reports using the data. Reports can be based on location, estate type, price paid or property type over a defined period of time.
8. HM Land Registry’s mission is to guarantee and protect property rights in England and Wales.
9. HM Land Registry is a government department created in 1862. It operates as an executive agency and a trading fund and its running costs are covered by the fees paid by the users of its services. Its ambition is to become the world’s leading land registry for speed, simplicity and an open approach to data.
10. HM Land Registry safeguards land and property ownership valued at £7 trillion, enabling more than £1 trillion worth of personal and commercial lending to be secured against property across England and Wales.
11. For further information about HM Land Registry visit www.gov.uk/land-registry.
12. Follow us on Twitter, our blog, LinkedIn and Facebook.

Published 29 January 2020