HM Government

image_pdfimage_print

Press release: Misconduct after failure to comply with Commission

Regulator publishes report of its inquiry into Urban Relief.

The Charity Commission has today concluded its inquiry into Urban Relief (former registered charity number 1114537). The Commission opened an inquiry on 3 February 2015 after a trustee of the charity had been convicted of a number of offences, including managing a brothel, concealing criminal property and using the charity’s bank account to launder funds from the proceeds of crime.

The Commission undertook scrutiny of the charity’s bank accounts and conducted further enquiries, including attempting to meet all the trustees. Although the inquiry’s analysis of the bank account records indicates that the charity did receive and spend funds, the inquiry saw no evidence that those funds were obtained or applied in furtherance of its objects.

Both the convicted trustee and his wife (also a trustee) failed to cooperate with the inquiry despite being ordered to do so by the Commission. The Commission found that 2 of the 4 charity trustees were unaware that their names had been declared to the Commission (see endnote 1).

The inquiry concluded that the trustees were responsible for mismanagement and misconduct in the administration of the charity due to a persistent failure to comply with the Commission’s orders and directions. The Commission removed the charity from the register on 21 November 2016 (see endnote 2).

Carl Mehta, Head of Investigations, Enforcement at the Charity Commission, said:

The trustees in this case failed to abide by even the basic duties of trustees and failed to cooperate with our investigation. This charity has now been removed from the register of charities and the trustee involved was held to account by the criminal justice system.

The full report is available on GOV.UK.

Ends

PR 07/17

Notes to editors

  1. The Charity Commission is the independent regulator of charities in England and Wales. To find out more about our work, see our annual report.
  2. Search for charities on our online register.
  3. Details of how the Commission reports on its regulatory work can be found on GOV.UK.

Endnotes

  1. The Commission established in the inquiry that out of the 4 trustees 2 had never consented to be trustees, or acted in that capacity.
  2. The charity ceased to operate as of August 2014, the last discernable date that any funds were transacted through the charity’s bank account.
read more

HM Government • • •

Press release: Bishop of Sheffield: Philip North

The Queen has approved the nomination of the Right Reverend Philip John North for election as Bishop of Sheffield.

The Queen has approved the nomination of the Right Reverend Philip John North, MA, Suffragan Bishop of Burnley, in the diocese of Blackburn, for election as Bishop of Sheffield in succession to the Right Reverend Steven John Lindsey Croft, MA, PhD, on his translation to the See of Oxford on 6th July 2016.

The Right Reverend Philip North (aged 50), was educated at the University of York and trained for the ministry at Saint Stephen’s House, Oxford. He served his curacy at Sunderland Saint Mary and Saint Peter, in the Diocese of Durham from 1992 to 1996. Since 1997 he has been a member of the Company of Mission Priests.

From 1996 to 2002 he was Vicar of Hartlepool Holy Trinity in Durham Diocese and also served as Area Dean of Hartlepool from 2000 until 2002. From 2002 to 2008 he was Priest Administrator at the Shrine of Our Lady at Walsingham and from 2004 to 2007 he was also Priest-in-Charge of Hempton in the diocese of Norwich. From 2008 to 2015 he was Team Rector of the Parish of Old Saint Pancras in the Diocese of London. Since 2015 he has been Suffragan Bishop of Burnley.

His interests include current affairs, cycling and walking.

read more

HM Government • • •

News story: British Embassy Kabul Programme Fund 2017-18

British Embassy Kabul Programme Fund bidding round now open.

The British Embassy Kabul have a dedicated fund for supporting projects which further our priorities in Afghanistan. The fund will support projects implemented between 1 April 2017 and 31 March 2018.

How to apply to the 2017-18 bidding round:

We are looking for a range of relatively large-scale bids (£100k – £600k), which can achieve an impact in one year. We may also consider larger or smaller-scale bids in some areas, if they can still demonstrate that they can achieve an impact.

Currently we are inviting bids in the area(s) of:

Social Cohesion and Countering Extremism [closing date: 12th February 2017]

Bidders should submit bids that focus on:

  • Strengthening Afghan Civil Society organisations who focus on Countering Extremism to develop their capacity to research, design and implement local programmes to counter violent extremism.
  • Research activities to support the ongoing Peace and Reconciliation process.
  • Programmes designed to improve social cohesion, encourage plurality of voices and build resilience in communities.

Project bids for further priority themes will be invited throughout February 2017. Please check this site for details and closing dates.

In all thematic areas, successful bidders will be expected to demonstrate:

  • That the project proposal provides good value for money;
  • That the project proposal has a clear, achievable impact, and responds to a local demand or need;
  • That their organisation has the capacity to deliver the project to a high standard;
  • How the project helps build Afghan capacity (International NGOs/companies should aim to partner with a local Afghan counterpart where feasible);
  • That the impact of the project will be sustainable beyond the end of the funding period (i.e. 31 March 2018);
  • That they have carefully considered all risks and have proposed suitable mitigation methods.

N.B. Bids for projects in Afghanistan’s provinces will be given a higher priority.

To apply, you should:

  • Read all the documents and requirements
  • Complete the project concept note form and submit your proposal to BEKProgrammeFund@hotmail.com by the date given above in the theme header. Please ensure the theme area of the bid is included in the subject line.

Implementers who have been successful at the initial concept note stage will be contacted by the British Embassy and invited to submit a full proposal by late March 2017.

Implementers whose proposals are awarded funding will be notified by April 2017, with an expectation that activity could begin shortly afterwards, and end by 31 March 2018.

Before bidding please familiarise yourself with the following key documents:

PDF, 326KB, 11 pages

This file may not be suitable for users of assistive technology. Request an accessible format.

If you use assistive technology (such as a screen reader) and need a version of this document in a more accessible format, please email webmaster@digital.fco.gov.uk. Please tell us what format you need. It will help us if you say what assistive technology you use.

PDF, 151KB, 2 pages

This file may not be suitable for users of assistive technology. Request an accessible format.

If you use assistive technology (such as a screen reader) and need a version of this document in a more accessible format, please email webmaster@digital.fco.gov.uk. Please tell us what format you need. It will help us if you say what assistive technology you use.

PDF, 257KB, 18 pages

This file may not be suitable for users of assistive technology. Request an accessible format.

If you use assistive technology (such as a screen reader) and need a version of this document in a more accessible format, please email webmaster@digital.fco.gov.uk. Please tell us what format you need. It will help us if you say what assistive technology you use.

read more

HM Government • • •

Press release: Late payment reporting guidance launched for large businesses

  • guidance published ahead of measures coming into force in April 2017 to boost transparency of payment practices to help small and medium sized businesses (SMEs)
  • regulations laid in parliament today will make large businesses publish details on the time taken to pay their suppliers to shine a light on bad practice
  • latest figures show SMEs are owed £26.3 billion in overdue payments

Guidance to help large businesses report on how quickly they pay their suppliers will be published today (31 January 2017), as regulations are laid in parliament by Small Business Minister Margot James.

The regulations confirm that from April 2017, large companies and limited liability partnerships (LLPs) will have to publically report twice a year on their payment practices and performance, including the average time taken to pay supplier invoices.

Failure to report will be a criminal offence and the guidance published today will help large businesses and limited liability partnerships prepare for these measures coming into force.

Small Business Minister Margot James said:

The UK is home to a record 5.5 million small businesses and the industrial strategy will help address many of the challenges they face getting finance and scaling up. It’s completely unacceptable that small and medium-sized businesses are owed £26.3 billion in late payments, which hampers their ability to grow and has no place in an economy that works for all.

Large businesses have an important role to play and the guidance published today will help them fulfil their responsibilities and improve payment practices across the board.

The changes are part of a package to shine a spotlight on bad payment practice and lead to improved standards. This includes the appointment of the Small Business Commissioner to support small businesses in resolving payment disputes, with the Commissioner’s office expected to be up and running later in the year.

Recent findings from the payment processor Bacs report that nearly half of the UK’s small-to-medium sized businesses experience late payment, with £26.3 billion owed to them in total. The regulations laid in Parliament today aim to tackle this by increasing transparency and helping small businesses make informed decisions about who they do business with.

The modern industrial strategy green paper sets out a plan to improve living standards and economic growth by increasing productivity and driving growth across the whole country. We encourage businesses of all sizes and anyone with an interest to respond.

Mike Cherry, National Chairman at the Federation of Small Businesses, said:

The new duty to report is the centrepiece of the government’s transparency agenda to combat poor payment practice. We welcome this as an important tool to change a UK business culture where it is deemed acceptable to pay small firms late. We estimate that if payments were made promptly, 50,000 business deaths could be avoided every year, adding £2.5 billion to the UK economy. It’s now crucial that these regulations are introduced and robustly enforced with proper sanctions put in place for any large business that tries to hide its payment practices.

There is now a clear will to tackle poor payments. Together with the new Small Business Commissioner and the developing corporate governance agenda to improve supply chain respect at board level, we must see a reduction in the £26 billion owed in late payments.

Jacqueline de Rojas, Managing Director of UK, Ireland and Northern Europe at Sage, said:

Our small business customers across the country tell us that late payment is still one of their biggest barriers to competing with larger suppliers. We know it impacts their ability to invest and innovate. And when you consider that people building these businesses create two-thirds of all new jobs, it’s easy to see what a detrimental effect this could have on the financial health of the nation.

Through partnerships, advice and digital tools, we work hard to help small businesses manage cash flow challenges, and this new light-touch regulation is good news for them. This is a welcome move in the right direction to creating a stronger, fairer economy and making the UK the best place to start and run a business.

read more

HM Government • • •

Press release: UK to boost jobs and trade for world’s poorest countries

The UK will sharpen its focus on economic development in the world’s poorest countries to help create economic growth that will sustain rapidly growing populations, provide a long term solution to poverty and deal with the root causes of problems that affect Britain, International Development Secretary Priti Patel announced today.

Over the next decade a billion more young people will enter the job market, mainly in Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. Africa’s population is set to double by 2050. This demographic challenge will add to the pressure of protracted crises and mass migration.

DFID’s first Economic Development Strategy sets out how investment in economic development will help developing nations speed up their rate of economic growth, trade more and industrialise faster, and ultimately lift themselves out of poverty.

By helping the world’s poorest countries grow their economies, this investment will help create the UK’s trading partners of the future, boost global prosperity and address some of the root causes of global issues such as mass migration and instability that affect the UK.

International Development Secretary Priti Patel said:

There is no task more urgent than defeating poverty. The UK has a proud record of supporting people in desperate humanitarian crises, but emergency help alone won’t tackle the global changes we face.

With dramatic increases in population across Africa and Asia, developing nations must act fast to create jobs and investment, which is why Global Britain is leading a more open, more modern approach to development through our economic development to help the world’s poorest countries stand on their own two feet.

Over the next decade a billion more young people will enter the job market. Africa’s population is set to double by 2050 and as many as 18 million extra jobs will be needed. Failure will consign a generation to a future where jobs and opportunity are out of reach, potentially fuelling instability and mass migration with direct consequences for Britain.

Developing countries want to harness trade, growth and investment opportunities, and Britain will lead the way to lift huge numbers out of grinding poverty to prosperity.

The department will work across government to increase the number and quality of jobs in poor countries, enable businesses to grow and prosper, and also support better infrastructure, technology and a skilled and healthy workforce.

Today’s announcement builds on the UK’s existing work to drive economic development, which has helped almost 70 million people access financial services, over 6 million people improve their land and property rights, and improved access to clean energy for over 6 million people.

Through the new Economic Development Strategy DFID will:

  • build the potential for developing countries to trade more with the UK and the world
  • create economic opportunities in fragile and conflict states where jobs and livelihoods are desperately needed
  • build partnerships with business – including small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) – to make it easier for companies, including those in the UK, to invest in markets of the future
  • work closely with the City of London so it becomes the leading financial centre for the developing world
  • focus investment in job-creating sectors such as manufacturing, infrastructure and commercial agriculture to provide strong foundations for sustainable growth
  • use the UK’s voice in the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to argue for better and fairer trading rules
  • strengthen institutions, tackle corruption and help countries mobilise their own domestic resources to support their development
  • continue to champion innovative private finance investment to stimulate growth. CDC will be at the heart of this.
read more

HM Government • • •