HM Government

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These NHS performance statistics are a damning indictment of Theresa May’s neglect of our NHS – Jonathan Ashworth

Responding to the latest NHS monthly performance statistics, Jonathan Ashworth MP, Labour’s Shadow Health Secretary, said:

“These NHS performance statistics are a damning indictment of Theresa May’s neglect of our NHS. She’s overseen an unprecedented winter crisis, in which almost a thousand people waited over twelve hours on trolleys, compared to just 17 in January 2011. The Government once again missed its four hour A&E target and seems content with a 504 per cent increase in the number of patients waiting over four hours for admission since January 2011.

“Speaking to the Reform think tank earlier, Jeremy Hunt joked at his dislike of targets. This is no laughing matter: patients in this country have faced the worst winter crisis in the history of our NHS and it is shocking that Jeremy Hunt has indicated he doesn’t expect to hit the A&E target until 2018. The Health Secretary has been in position for four and a half years and this simple isn’t good enough.

“Yesterday’s Budget announcement should have been an opportunity to genuinely place the NHS on a sustainable footing. And yet the Chancellor’s mere offer of £100 million for capital funding simply isn’t enough, meaning the NHS will continue facing its biggest financial squeeze in history and head-for-head investment will fall again next year.

“The Tories are overseeing a startling collapse in standards and Theresa May is still in complete denial as to the sheer scale of the crisis. Jeremy Hunt must be clearer about what action he’s going to take to make sure patients and their families never have to go through a winter like this again.”

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HM Government

News story: Fisherman and owner fined £38,201 for fisheries offences

Klaas Kramer and Island Fishing Company Limited (master and owner of the vessel Eben Haezer GY57) pleaded guilty to breaching fisheries regulations at North Tyneside Magistrates Court.

The court heard how between November 2015 and January 2016 the vessel repeatedly fished in the North Sea ‘Cod Recovery Zone’ despite having exceeded the maximum number of days at sea which the vessel was allowed to spend in that area with regulated fishing gear under the regulations. Investigations by the MMO found that the vessel exceeded the 200 day limit by over 37 days over eight separate fishing trips, contrary to section 4(9) of the Sea Fish (Conservation) Act 1967. The MMO had sent the vessel owners a letter reminding them that they were within 1 day of the limit in November 2015, but the vessel continued to fish, which resulted in the prosecution.

Mr Kramer was fined £3,200 with a victim surcharge of £120 for his role as master of the vessel on seven of the trips.

Island Fishing Company (of which Mr Kramer is a Director and shareholder) was fined an initial £9,200, with an additional fine of £24,000 which the magistrates indicated represented the net profit of the illegal fishing, costs of £1,561 and a victim surcharge of £120.

A spokesman for the MMO said:

“The fines issued by the magistrates in this case send a clear message to the small minority of fishermen who seek to put profit first by failing to comply with the regulations. By issuing an additional fine of £24,000, which the bench indicated that they felt represented the profit from the illegal fishing in this case, the court has made it clear that sentences for unlawful behaviour should deprive offenders of the economic benefit of offending.

The MMO is clear that the vast majority of fishermen operate lawfully and in compliance with regulations which exist to protect fisheries from overfishing and are in place to ensure healthy, sustainable fisheries for this and future generations of fishermen. In the rare instances that non-compliance is detected, MMO uses a risk-based enforcement strategy and operates a graduated and proportionate system of sanctions, with prosecution reserved for the most serious offences.”

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HM Government • • •

News story: Crime news: 2017 contract upload

2017 crime contracts have been uploaded into Contracted Work and Administration (CWA).

We have begun to upload crime contracts for acceptance into CWA for all organisations that have now completed verification.

If this applies to your organisation then you will receive an email notification through the Bravo messageboard when your contract is ready for you to accept.

Other organisations will see their contracts uploaded once they have completed verification. Advice on this is available on the 2017 crime tender page – see link below.

A copy of the 2017 standard crime contract is available on gov.uk – see link below.

April rotas

The latest duty solicitor rotas covering the period from 1 April to 30 June 2017 will be published shortly.

Revised members’ lists on which the rotas are based will also be published shortly.

Further information

Standard Crime Contract 2017 – final version of 2017 standard crime contract

Legal aid crime tender 2017 – process for accepting contract offers

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HM Government • • •

News story: Prime Minister reappoints Hannah Rothschild to the Board of the National Gallery

Hannah Rothschild has been reappointed by the Prime Minister as a Trustee of the National Gallery, for 4 years until 9 March 2021. Hannah Rothschild is also the Chairman of the Gallery’s Board of Trustees.

Hannah Rothschild is a writer, filmmaker, and a company director. A former employee of the BBC specialising in documentary feature films, she has also written screenplays for Ridley Scott and Working Title. She is a freelance journalist and author of the biography ‘The Baroness’ and a novel, ‘The Improbability of Love’, the founder of the Artist on Film Trust, and a trustee of Waddesdon Manor and several charitable foundations. She is a non-executive board member of RIT Capital Partners and Windmill Hill Asset Management.

The role is not remunerated and this appointment is made in accordance with the Cabinet Office’s Governance Code on Public Appointments. The appointments process is regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments. Under the Code, any significant political activity undertaken by an appointee in the last five years must be declared. This is defined as including holding office, public speaking, making a recordable donation, or candidature for election. Hannah Rothschild has declared no personal political activity.

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HM Government • • •