On Thursday 9 June, the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) launched its new ‘Making Recruitment Safer’ campaign which aims to promote the range of support we can offer to employers.

The campaign highlights the free advice and training that DBS can offer to organisations and groups of all sizes, at both a national and regional level.

Training and support covers DBS checks, and the legal duty or power to make a barring referral. If appropriate, it can also include the opportunity to access tailored, DBS training workshops and resources.

To help promote the campaign, DBS is working with key high-profile partners in the charity, faith, and education sectors, including the NSPCC, Strengthening Faith Institutions, the National Youth Agency, and the Professional Association for Childcare and Early Years. These partners will promote the support and training available from DBS to organisations and groups in their networks who employ staff and volunteers.

Eric Robinson, CEO of DBS, said:

DBS performs a vital role in helping to protect children, young people, and vulnerable adults by supporting employers to make safer recruitment decisions. We are pleased to launch our new campaign to highlight the free training and advice we can provide to organisations through our Regional Outreach service.

This service provides organisations with a single point of contact for all DBS-related queries and questions, as well as the opportunity to access tailored, DBS training for their staff and volunteers. The team also collates feedback to ensure future improvements can be made to DBS services and processes.

The first stage of the campaign focuses on charitable organisations and groups who work with children, and is being endorsed and promoted by the NSPCC and the National Youth Agency.

Xyna Prasad, from the National Youth Agency (NYA), said:

The NYA considers DBS to be our first point of contact for advice and support on how we can make fully-informed recruitment decisions and continue to protect children and young people within the sector. DBS is a trusted organisation which supports the sector to make safer recruitment decisions and ensure that we have access to the right and relevant information on DBS checks.

Helen Westerman, Service Head of Local Campaigns at the NSPCC, said:

The NSPCC has been working closely with the Disclosure and Barring Service, to ensure that ourselves and our members have access to relevant and accurate information on the different levels of DBS checks that are available when recruiting new staff into our organisations.

DBS have provided a number of free workshops and resources to ourselves and our members, to advise on how we can all make our recruitment processes safer. We consider DBS an essential partner in helping us all to make fully-informed recruitment decisions and to continue to protect and safeguard children and young people.

More information about the free support and advice available to organisations from DBS, can be found in our Regional Outreach service guidance, where a list of Regional Outreach Officers can also be found.

“National Crime Agency (NCA) Legal plays an essential part in achieving Agency objectives, including detecting, tackling and disrupting serious and organised crime. As a trainee lawyer you will see all sides of typical government legal work as well as fascinating projects unique to the Agency.

My first seat was in the Civil Litigation Team, which defends the NCA against civil claims and judicial reviews and represents the Agency at public inquiries. In this role, I got to know officers from across the Agency, learning about the context to the legal issues they were experiencing. I attended court hearings in the Royal Courts of Justice and worked directly with senior barristers to shape the NCA’s defence. Early on, I was given my own caseload supervised by a lawyer and I managed pre-action correspondence with a view of finding a solution before the matter escalated if possible. Despite being given responsibility from this early stage, the supportive environment encouraged me to rise to the challenge.

My second seat was in the Financial Disruptions Litigation team, bringing claims in high-profile asset recovery cases: this was a fast-paced, proactive team working on complex and often novel issues of law such as tracing cryptocurrency and seeking to disrupt sophisticated perpetrators operating across multiple jurisdictions at the high end of high harm. Most significantly, I supported on two high value civil recovery cases targeting what has become known as the “Azerbaijan laundromat” in national and international headlines and assisted with expert reports ahead of trial.

NCA trainees typically spend their third seat on secondment to the Home Office to gain policy development experience. Here, I joined an advisory team working on immigration policy and the introduction of the Nationality and Borders Bill. I attended debates in the Houses of Parliament, during which I sat in the “box” with legal colleagues to give on-the-spot advice to Ministers and Lords.

I recently returned to the NCA for my final seat in the Data and Operational Advisory team. We carry an eclectic caseload, advising on ongoing operations, new investigative techniques, and international issues. Many lawyers in the team have areas of specialism but as a trainee I am able to experience the full breadth of the team’s responsibilities, including cybercrime, biometrics, data protection, extradition and police powers. Given the urgency and variety of our work, there is no “typical” week: instead we must respond to anything and everything that comes up. It is a brilliant way to absorb knowledge and identify areas of interest – although the real difficulty is narrowing my interests down!

The sheer volume of work and breadth of expertise in NCA Legal, as well as the complex and unusual legal issues at play, makes the NCA a brilliant environment to develop as a trainee.”

• Nurses, occupational therapists, pharmacists, and physiotherapists to certify and issue fit notes – reducing pressure on doctors, particularly GPs
• Update will enable patients to see the most relevant healthcare professional and have better conversations about work and health
• Changes follow the introduction of digital certifying of fit notes in April, simplifying the process of issuing and receiving fit notes

From 1 July 2022 nurses, occupational therapists, pharmacists, and physiotherapists will all be able to legally certify fit notes – something that at present only doctors can do. If you’ve been off work with illness for more than seven days, a fit note provides evidence to your employer about your absence and any relevant advice on how to support you to remain in or return to work.

The change, the most significant since the fit note’s inception in 2010, will support and empower better conversations about work and health between employers and staff by making it easier to get this advice certified by the most relevant healthcare professional. This change will be delivered in general practice and hospital settings.

It will also help reduce pressure on doctors, particularly GPs, while simplifying the process of issuing and receiving a fit note – cutting bureaucracy for employers and the National Health Service.

Minister for Disabled People, Health and Work Chloe Smith MP said:

The extension of fit note certification is fantastic news for patients, making it easier for them to get the support and advice they need from the right place, ensuring where possible that they are able to remain in work.

These latest fit note changes recognise the valuable role other professions play in helping manage people’s health, and I hope this will also help reduce unnecessary bureaucracy for doctors and general practice more widely.

Minister for Patient Safety and Primary Care Maria Caulfield MP said:

Improving access to GP services and reducing unnecessary bureaucracy is vitally important as we tackle the Covid backlog. Extending powers to provide fit notes to other healthcare professions will relieve further pressures on GPs, and is another step towards helping to deliver an extra 50 million appointments in general practice a year by 2024.

This is just another way in which we’re supporting GPs in primary care, and we remain on track to deliver 26,000 more primary care staff by 2024 to help improve patient access to appointments.

BMA England GP committee deputy chair, Dr Kieran Sharrock said:

This announcement is a positive step and we hope that it will go some way to both improving the process for people who need confirmation that they are too unwell to work, and free-up GPs time to care for patients who need their expertise.

The BMA has been clear for many years that it may not always be necessary or appropriate for a GP to issue a fit note, especially when a patient has seen a different member of the practice team for their condition, such as a nurse or physiotherapist.

At a time when the entire NHS is under pressure, reducing unnecessary administration and bureaucracy, while taking a more flexible and pragmatic approach to patient services is absolutely vital.

Chief Executive of The Chartered Society of Physiotherapy, Karen Middleton said:

We welcome this change in legislation as physiotherapists are ideally placed to have conversations about health and work with patients.

The longer someone is off work the less likely they are to return, so physiotherapy expertise at the start of an absence can be crucial for ensuring their rehabilitation is effective and they can get back in a timely manner.

So this announcement is good news for patients, with the added benefit being that they don’t need to make a separate appointment to get signed off by a GP.

Director of Practice and Innovation, at The Royal College of Occupational Therapists, Karin Orman, said:

By joining forces with DWP and being bold and progressive, we are happy to have helped opened this new opportunity for Occupational Therapists.

Workers and employers are crying out for more help to support people with health problems to stay in work where they are able to do so. These new changes mean Occupational Therapists are directly able to provide that advice.

The extension of fit note certification follows changes made in April 2022 that allow for fit notes to be certified and issued digitally making the process more efficient for employees, their employers and GPs.

They also deliver on commitments to reduce ill health related jobs loss made in the government’s Health is Everyone’s Business consultation response.

Additional information

• Regulations were laid on 10 June 2022 to allow more healthcare professionals to certify fit notes. These professions are nurses, occupational therapists, pharmacists, and physiotherapists. The changes will come into effect on 1 July 2022.
• Fit notes can only be issued following an assessment of a person’s fitness for work, so cannot be issued on request or via over-the-counter services.
• This change follows legislation changes in April 2022, which removed the need for fit notes to be signed in ink. This change makes it possible for eligible healthcare professionals to certify fit notes digitally, and also for patients to receive their fit note via digital channels (where GP IT systems support this).

Media enquiries for this press release – 0115 965 8781

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Our Guest of Honour, Cabinet Secretary for Health, Hon Mutahi Kagwe, Excellencies, distinguished guests, ladies, and gentlemen, All Protocols Observed.

Hamjambo

I am delighted to welcome you all to this celebration of The Queen’s Birthday. This year, it is a double celebration, as we are not only marking Her Majesty’s 96th birthday, but also celebrating her Platinum Jubilee, marking a phenomenal 70 years on the throne.

The Queen has been on the throne for longer than any other monarch in British history, becoming a much loved and respected figure across the globe. She has been on the throne longer than 90% those of you here tonight have been born.

Her extraordinary reign has seen her travel more widely than any other monarch, undertaking over 260 official visits overseas, including nearly 100 state visits. She has been the UK’s foremost diplomat, affirming old relationships and building new connections.

Her Majesty’s connection to Kenya has always been a very special one.

You all know the story of how a young Elizabeth, in 1952, went up a tree as a Princess and descended as the Queen. She went on to visit this country in 1972, 1983, and 1991 – demonstrating the continued importance of the Commonwealth, and the special relationship our two countries share.

She has been part of that rich history which binds the UK and Kenya. As I said to His Excellency, President Kenyatta, when I presented my credentials nearly three years ago, that it is a relationship which includes moments of great joy and great pain. It is through this history that our peoples, our businesses and our Governments have forged close and enduring bonds.

Amid the crises in the world, we have continued to work together to deliver global solutions in critical areas such as education, health, climate, trade and investment.

Kenya remains of absolutely vital importance to the UK, with President Kenyatta making three visits to the UK in the last two years, where he and Prime Minister Johnson have shared the global stage on development, education and climate issues (AIS, GES, COP26).

In January 2020, His Excellency and PM Boris Johnson agreed a Strategic Partnership with five pillars: mutual prosperity; security and stability; sustainable development; climate change; and people to people. To illustrate this, I would like to take a moment to highlight a few examples in celebrating our partnership.

But don’t worry, I’ve picked out just a few highlights and anecdotes. You would still be here at midnight if I listed all the areas of co-operation.

• Trade between the two countries is worth around KES 165 billion a year, and the UK is Kenya’s 5th largest trading partner (i.e. importer of Kenyan goods). Our relationship is balanced: the UK imports as much from Kenya as it exports.

• Over forty percent of UK tea imports come from Kenya. My Prime Minister is fond of saying that every other cup of tea we drink in the UK is from Kenya;

• The UK imports about 30,000 tonnes of vegetables and 19% of flowers from Kenya annually. On vegetables alone, that’s the equivalent to nearly 2,400 big red London buses.

• 150 British enterprises are currently in Kenya, benefitting over 250,000 Kenyans directly employed by British organisations.

• We have a strong network of over 1,755 alumni of UK scholarships and fellowships in academia, defence and security in Kenya. More than 500 of these are Chevening Scholars and – quick advert – applications will open shortly for the next round of Chevening Scholarships. Watch my Twitter feed.

• In 2021, despite COVID-19 restrictions, around 50,000 UK residents visited Kenya, making the UK the fourth biggest source market for visitors. I hope we can hit the 200,000 mark by 2023.

• I will let our wonderful guest speaker, Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for Health, speak about our amazing health partnership, so I don’t duplicate what he will say.

We will continue to work with Kenya to help facilitate private sector investment into Kenyan infrastructure. We will continue to increase UK investment in value-add activities here and supporting the ‘Made in Kenya’ brand. We will increase the volume of trade through the UK-Kenya Trade Deal. We will provide UK funding for Kenya’s trade infrastructure to allow exports to happen cheaper and more efficiently.

We will continue to support array of policy reforms and regulations including championing the importance of the rule of law, fostering transparency, protecting human rights and tackling corruption.

Before I come on to the final thanks, I wanted to share a memory of mine from meeting Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth. It was 2014, I was the UK Ambassador to Yemen, and four of us Ambassadors had an exclusive audience with Her Majesty.

We drove into Buckingham Palace and were escorted up the stairs of a grand hall to the more private chambers. A protocol officer taught us the correct way to enter the room – three steps in, then a bow or courtesy.

As we were escorted to see Her Majesty, I could see some of her corgi dogs happily playing on the plush red carpets in the hallway.

I entered the room, immediately forgot how to count to three, bowed and took my allotted place. I was fortunate enough to have 15 minutes one-to-one with Her Majesty.

I explained that I was her Ambassador to Yemen and that we were planning how to celebrate 60 years since her visit to Aden. “Yemen.” Said Her Majesty, thoughtfully. She then started speaking about her 1954 visit as if it had happened the day before – the ancient volcanic crater in Aden and the welcome and hospitality shown by the Sheikhs. I was awed and honoured to hear such memories directly from my Head of State.

That is enough reminiscing from me. Before I close, please allow me to thank our sponsors for their contribution to this event and to name check them:

Our wonderful Gold contributors are:

I would also like to thank everyone who has been involved in organising and supporting this evening. Big shouts outs please for:

Those providing the music here tonight:

• Kenya Defence Military Band
• BM Entertainment
• British High Commission Community Choir

The AAR Ambulance and all the security teams for keeping us safe

And Nairobi Photo Booth for helping create some great memories.

Finally, and most importantly, thank you to each one of you here tonight for making the special connections in weaving the rich fabric that binds our two countries together.

Asante sana.

Thousands of new homes and jobs will be created through the regeneration of Bristol Temple Quarter, thanks to £95 million in government funding, Levelling Up Minister Neil O’Brien MP announced today (10 June 2022).

Bristol’s biggest ever regeneration project will deliver up to 10,000 homes and 22,000 jobs in a series of new sustainable and inclusive communities at the heart of one of the UK’s most productive and fast-growing city regions. The funding will unlock the first phase of this scheme, with future plans to develop 57 hectares of land across St Philip’s Marsh in phase two.

The scheme will help to address regional inequalities by focusing on a highly deprived area of Bristol, delivering new affordable homes, generating skills, training, and employment opportunities while improving transport, boosting regional productivity and economic growth.

The partnership between the West of England Combined Authority, Bristol City Council, Network Rail and Homes England will bring forward the regeneration of approximately 130 hectares – equivalent to about 182 football pitches – of brownfield land.

Today’s government funding brings the total local growth investment in the West of England to £320 million, in addition to £30 million per year received through the West of England devolution deal.

The funding will also support the creation of three new or significantly improved station entrances planned to the north, south and east of Temple Meads. The new entrances will mean that the station no longer severs the connections between neighbouring areas but connects them instead. The new eastern entrance to Bristol Temple Meads will make it much easier to reach the station from surrounding neighbourhoods and creates a link to the new University of Bristol Temple Quarter Enterprise campus.

Transport connections will be further enhanced by the government’s recent award of £540 million through the City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement and a £132 million rail investment with West of England Combined Authority’s in MetroWest to improve connectivity between Bristol and its West of England neighbours.

Today’s announcement follows plans in the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill to enhance powers for local authorities to assemble sites for regeneration and make better use of brownfield land, breathing new life into the places they love and boost local pride. 

This is backed by a £1.8 billion investment in brownfield and infrastructure projects, unlocking the homes and infrastructure that serve sustainable communities, the vast majority of which will be outside of London and the south east. The UK government has invested £10 billion in housing supply since the start of the Parliament.

The £95 million funding will be focused on areas immediately around Bristol Temple Meads station, unlocking approximately 2,500 new homes by 2032 and supporting around 2,200 jobs.

Picture credit: BristolIcarus, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.