This statement confirms in relation to the NHS in England that the contractual commitments being entered into to make payments to clinicians affected by annual allowance pension tax will be honoured when clinicians retire.

NHS England has set up special arrangements under which certain clinicians who provide services to the NHS and incur annual allowance tax charges as a result of their continued membership of any NHS pension scheme in 2019/20 (the Tax Charge):

• will be able to look to the NHS Pension Scheme to pay those tax charges under the Scheme Pays arrangements
• will receive additional payments in the future to compensate for any reduction in such payments as a result of the payment by NHS Pensions of the Tax Charge under the Scheme Pays rules

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is aware that outside the UK very low amounts of an impurity, N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA), have been found in some metformin diabetes medicines.

Patients in the UK are advised to continue taking their metformin medicines as usual. The risks from not having adequate diabetes treatment far outweigh any possible effects of the low levels of NDMA seen in metformin medicines outside the UK.

As these metformin medicines are also available in Europe and outside the EU, the MHRA is working closely with the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and other regulatory authorities to determine whether any further action is required and will continue to keep patients updated as more information becomes available.

The levels of NDMA seen in the affected non-UK metformin medicines are very low and appear to be within or even below the range that people would normally be exposed from other sources, including food and water. For more information, read the EMA’s update on detection of impurities in metformin diabetes medicines and the ongoing investigation by EU regulators here. If patients have any questions, they should speak to their healthcare professional.

Published 6 December 2019

The VMD has been made aware of an incident in Denmark involving an outbreak of Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome (PRRS).

This outbreak has been caused by an emergent recombinant strain of PRRS virus which is believed to have resulted from the recombination of vaccine strains from two live PRRS vaccines which had both been used on the farm.

Further investigation is ongoing. Whilst waiting for further information the European Medicines Agency (EMA) has produced some advice for all users of live PRRS vaccines. The advice is contained in the last item in the EMA’s press release.

The VMD would also like to remind all users to report any cases of adverse reactions or suspected lack of efficacy involving these vaccines to the relevant marketing authorisation holder or direct to the VMD via our online reporting form.

Published 6 December 2019

The UK government (HMG) and the Government of Montenegro (GoM) have a shared interest in promoting stability and prosperity in Montenegro and the wider Western Balkans.

To this end, HMG is offering support to GoM to implement two campaigns in Montenegro. One concerns supporting the growth of start-ups and small businesses (SMEs). The other looks to support regional development by promoting opportunities to citizens in the north of the country.

Objectives

The objective of the start-up/SME campaign is to increase the number of potential entrepreneurs and small businesses accessing government provided grants and loans across Montenegro.

The objective of the regional development campaign is to increase citizen engagement with emerging opportunities – for instance, new job opportunities – in the north of the country.

The start-up/small business campaign will focus on younger people (18-29) in particular, while the regional development campaign will need to reach those with less access to the internet.

What we require

Creative work has begun and we require services of a full-spectrum media ad-buying partner to help us ensure our messages are effectively promoted through the right channels. They will be expected to put together a media plan and execute it, based on a brief containing information about the objectives, target audience and channels.

The implementing organisation for this campaign is Government Communication Service International (GCSI) on behalf of the British Embassy in Podgorica, which forms part of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO).

Who we require

The successful bidder must demonstrate experience of ad-buying through the following channels in Montenegro, since they will be required to purchase media in line with it:

• Offline channels: billboards, television advertisements, radio advertisements, newspaper advertisements
• Online advertisements including on social media platforms.

Bidders with experience of reaching younger audiences will be at an advantage.

Other technical details

Request for proposal (format)

Please submit an application outlining your credentials and showcasing some of your previous work. This should be done in a non-changeable format, such as PDF.

Please also itemise how much a typical piece of communication costs, per item, per location or per airing time to purchase through each channel, e.g. billboard, TV advertisement, print advertisement.

Your proposal must be expressed in English, and valid for a minimum period of 90 days.

Single email must not exceed 5MB (five megabytes) in size and should not contain any cloud-based computer file transfer service links.

Budget and contract

The maximum budget for this activity is £40,000 (€47,000) but it will be to the advantage of any applicant who can provide the service for less than this amount.

Any Contract or Purchase Order that will be issued as a result of this call shall be subject to the FCO’s Contract and General Terms and Conditions (CaGTC), provided by the British Embassy Podgorica.

Award

Service provider will be considered as successful, if receives the Highest Combined Score (HCS). HCS is based on the 50% technical offer (availability of channels 20%, number of channels 20%, experience with placing communication materials 10%) and 50% price weight distribution, where 70% is the minimum passing score for the Technical Proposal.

Criteria for Contract

Full acceptance of the FCO’s Contract General Terms and Conditions. This is a mandatory criteria. Non-acceptance of the CaGTC may be grounds for the rejection of the proposal. Acceptance of these terms need to be specified in the proposal.

For any questions in regard to this invitation, please contact us by email.

We are inviting expressions of interest from 2018 Standard Civil Contract holders currently delivering housing and debt services.

This is for the delivery of the Willesden HPCDS in north west London until 30 September 2020.

This opportunity is open to all 2018 Standard Civil Contract holders currently delivering housing and debt services, and is not limited to current HPCDS providers.

How to apply

You can apply to deliver this service by downloading and completing the relevant expression of interest document from our ‘civil 2018 contracts tender’ page on GOV.UK – see below.

Organisations interested in delivering this service must complete and return the relevant expression of interest document by the deadline of 5pm on Thursday 19 December 2019.

Further information

civil.contracts@justice.gov.uk – to return the expression of interest document

Civil 2018 contracts tender – to find out more and download documents

Published 6 December 2019