Yesterday Cabinet Office Minister Nigel Adams visited Greggs House in Newcastle to hear how the food-on-the-go retailer is investing in communities and is helping to get people back into work.

During the visit, Minister Adams heard from a number of employees at Greggs’ HQ about the Fresh Start programme which offers training and work experience to people who are transitioning into work, including care leavers, people who have been unemployed for a long time, or who are leaving the armed services or prison.

The Minister also took the opportunity to promote the government’s Places for Growth programme which will benefit Newcastle and the surrounding areas. The ten year programme will move 22,000 roles outside of London by 2030 to other regions in the UK by 2030.

The number of civil servants working at government locations in the north east increased between 2020 – 2021 by 5.7%. The programme has also committed to more than 350 roles being relocated to Tyneside by 2025.

As a prominent business employing more than 25,000 people and operating over 2,200 shops nationwide, Minister Adams heard from the senior leadership team, including Roisin Currie, CEO Designate and Emma Walton, the organisation’s People Director, about their ambitious plans to reach 3,000 shops and double Greggs’ sales in the next five years – which in turn will help to achieve the governments levelling up agenda by investing in communities and providing thousands of jobs in all regions of the UK.

In November, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) announced a new core hub office in Newcastle upon Tyne which will enhance and support the close working and co-location between existing Defra staff in Newcastle, and number of arms-length body colleagues.

The Departments for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), DEFRA, Work and Pensions (DWP), Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC), Ministry of Justice (MoJ) and HMRC have all made commitments to grow their workforce in Tyneside and the surrounding areas.

Minister Nigel Adams said:

Greggs is an iconic British company that has not forgotten its roots and continues to support and create jobs for local communities throughout the UK.

The government is committed to strong local growth through our Places for Growth strategy. There are more than 16,000 civil servants already in the Tyneside area from at least 15 government departments, and it’s vital that we continue to build a more diverse and inclusive civil service that reflects local communities across the UK.

Roisin Currie, CEO Designate said:

Whilst Greggs is a National business, the sheer ‘localness’ of our operations means we can have a hugely positive impact on the communities we serve both through offering employment opportunities including to those who need more support through our Fresh Start programme, but also through our longstanding partnership with The Greggs Foundation supporting initiatives such as the Breakfast Club programme.

Our people are what makes our business successful and we pride ourselves on offering them a great place to work. It was good to hear more about the Levelling Up agenda from the Minister, and we are supportive of any positive steps made to further drive equal opportunity for UK communities.

Notes to editors

• Government departments who have a presence in the Tyneside area include Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC), Department for Work and Pension (DWP), Cabinet Office, Home Office, Ministry of Justice (MoJ), DEFRA and the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA).

• The government announced this week that employers businesses hiring former members of the UK armed forces in their first year of civilian employment can save thousands of pounds through National Insurance relief.

• Civil Service Statistics as at 31 March 2021 are available here.

Following a trial at Southwark Crown Court, Boris Franz Becker was convicted of four counts against the Insolvency Act 1986. He will appear for sentencing on 29 April 2022

During proceedings, the court heard that Boris Becker was made bankrupt on 21 June 2017 in the High Court following a petition from Arbuthnot Latham & Co, a private bank.

Boris Becker was legally obliged to disclose all of his assets so that his trustee could distribute available funds to his creditors.

The former tennis player, however, failed to disclose, concealed and removed significant assets from the Official Receiver and his Trustee in Bankruptcy.

Assets concealed included €426,930.90, which was transferred to several third parties, a property in Leiman, Germany, and 75,000 shares in Breaking Data Corp.

Boris Becker’s failure to disclose all his assets led to his discharge from bankruptcy being suspended indefinitely. He is also subject to a 12-year Bankruptcy Restriction Undertaking, effective from 17 October 2019.

Chief Executive of the Insolvency Service, Dean Beale, said:

Today’s verdict confirms that Boris Becker failed to comply with his legal obligation to declare significant assets in his bankruptcy.

This conviction serves as a clear warning to those who think they can hide their assets and get away with it. You will be found out and prosecuted.

The prosecution was brought by the Insolvency Service on behalf of the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.

The charges Boris Becker was convicted on included:

• Removing property totalling close to €427,000 from his bankruptcy estate (count 4)
• Failed to disclose ownership of a property in Leiman in Germany (count 10)
• Concealed a loan of €825,000 from the Bank of Alpinum of Lichtenstein (count 13)
• Ownership of 75,000 shares in Breaking Data Corp (count 14)

Boris Becker remains bankrupt and his 12-year Bankruptcy Restrictions Undertaking remains the subject of public record on the Individual Insolvency Register.

Mark Ford, Finbarr O’Connell and Gilbert Lemon of Smith & Williamson LLP are joint trustees in bankruptcy of Boris Becker’s estate.

Bankruptcy restrictions are wide ranging, including informing a lender of your status if you want to borrow more than £500 and you cannot act as a director of a company without the court’s permission. Guidance on the main statutory consequences flowing from a bankruptcy restrictions order or undertaking.

Together with eight Typhoons stationed in Cyprus, this uplift will bring the total number of RAF fighter jets stationed in South-Eastern Europe to 14. The two additional jets are expected to remain in Romania until the end of July.

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace made the announcement on a visit to Mihail Kogalniceanu Airbase in Romania alongside Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Sir Mike Wigston, where they met Romanian officials and observed UK jets taking part in NATO’s Air Policing mission.

The announcement reaffirms the UK’s commitment to our bilateral defence relationship with Romania.

The Typhoon jets and Royal Air Force personnel have deployed to Romania to join the long-standing NATO Air Policing mission for the Black Sea region. Operation Biloxi is the British name for the NATO Air Policing mission.

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace MP said:

The UK and Romania are steadfast in the defence of our shared values and commitment to NATO’s collective security, in the air, at sea, and on land.

Together we are supporting Ukraine in its defence against Putin’s illegal invasion and I pay tribute to Romania’s generosity providing shelter for the tens of thousands of innocent civilians fleeing this horrific conflict.

Air policing is a purely defensive operation and a permanent NATO mission which began in 1961 during the Cold War. The mission ensures the security and integrity of all NATO Alliance members’ airspaces. Airspace is monitored by operations centres and, where it is assessed that an interception is required, NATO aircraft can be scrambled as part of a Quick Reaction Alert. The UK supports Romania by augmenting its own capabilities.

Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Sir Mike Wigston said:

Our air forces are at the vanguard of NATO’s collective security, united in our shared determination to protect our nations.

From the North of Norway to the Black Sea and Mediterranean, aircraft are airborne, alert and ready to defend against any threat to NATO territory or populations.

The Defence Secretary and Chief of the Air Staff were invited to the Op Biloxi Ceremony hosted by the Romanians at the airbase. The ceremony saw jets take part in a scramble exercise and flypast, showcasing NATO’s ability to rapidly respond to incursions to Allied airspace.

Ben Wallace and Sir Mike Wigston met with Romanian Defence Minister Vasile Dincu and Chief of the Defence Staff, General Daniel Petrescu. They discussed the defence relationship, regional security and the war in Ukraine, and further strengthening the UK-Romania bilateral relationship.

Joint press conference with Prime Minister Boris Johnson and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz

Good afternoon. It’s a pleasure to welcome you Olaf to Downing Street.

The friendship between our two countries has become even more vital since Putin launched his barbaric onslaught against Ukraine, bringing war to our continent.

I know that Britain and Germany share exactly the same sense of horror and revulsion at the brutality being unleashed, including the unconscionable bombing of refugees fleeing their homes this morning.

The attack at the train station in eastern Ukraine shows the depths to which Putin’s vaunted army has sunk – at least 39 people killed and dozens wounded on a train platform crowded with women and children.

Is it a war crime indiscriminately to attack civilians, and Russia’s crimes in Ukraine will not go unnoticed or unpunished.

Germany and the UK also share exactly the same conviction that Putin must fail in Ukraine.

Which is why we are working together in the G7 to toughen our sanctions, and target every pillar of the Russian economy, in order to cut off the funds from his war machine.

The UK and the EU have announced new sanctions this week, and just today we in the UK have imposed new asset freezes and travel bans.

We will also agree on the importance of weaning ourselves off dependence on Russian gas and oil, and ensuring that our energy security cannot be threatened by a rogue state.

This is not easy for any of us, and I applaud the seismic decisions taken by Olaf’s government to move Germany away from Russian hydrocarbons.

Today we have agreed to maximise the potential of the North Sea and collaborate on energy security and on renewables, where Germany and the UK lead the way in new technology.

We cannot transform our respective energy systems overnight, but we also know that Putin’s war will not end overnight.

That’s why Britain and Germany have joined dozens of allies to supply Ukraine with defensive weapons. Last week, the UK convened a donor conference which raised weapons and equipment for Ukraine worth over £1.5 billion – or 2.5 million items of military kit.

Today I can announce that the UK will send a further £100 million worth of high-grade military equipment to Ukraine’s armed forces, including more Starstreak anti-aircraft missiles, which fly at three times the speed of sound, another 800 anti-tank missiles, and precision munitions, capable of lingering in the sky until directed to their target.

We will also send more helmets, night vision and body armour, on top of the 200,000 pieces of non-lethal military equipment the UK has already dispatched.

But Olaf and I agree that our two countries and our allies must go further and provide more help to Ukraine. The Europe we knew just six weeks ago no longer exists: Putin’s invasion strikes at the very foundations of the security of our continent.

But his ambition to divide us has demonstrably failed; on the contrary, he has succeeded in uniting Europe and the whole trans-Atlantic alliance in support of Ukraine, and in strong solidarity with each other.

Putin has steeled our resolve, sharpened our focus, and he has forced Europe to begin to rearm to guarantee our shared security.

Britain and Germany will work together to ensure that our Armed Forces are fit for the future, including with our joint effort to manufacture state-of-the-art Boxer armoured vehicles.

We will hold a joint Cabinet meeting between our two Governments within the next year, our defence ministers will meet before the NATO summit in June, and I look forward to joining you Olaf at Schloss Elmau for the next G7 summit.

We face the new reality created by Putin’s invasion, I know that Britain and Germany will meet this challenge together, as passionate advocates of democracy and freedom, and both committed friends of Ukraine.

Thank you.

• Angler found guilty of breaching national fishing byelaws
• The night-time fishing trip cost him a penalty of £619

A Nottingham man’s fishing trip in the middle of the night on the River Trent in Colwick, Nottinghamshire in September 2021 has cost him £619 after he illegally removed fish from the river.

His case was brought to Nottingham Magistrates Court by the Environment Agency on Tuesday 5 April, where 37-year-old Piotr Czyzak, of Leonard Street, Nottingham, was found guilty to the offence of removing the fish.

He was fined £440 and ordered to pay £135 costs and a victim surcharge of £44.

The defendant was found by Environment Agency fisheries enforcement officers to be in possession of chub that he had removed from the river on 4 September.

Following the verdict, Lee Watts, Fisheries Enforcement Officer for the Environment Agency, said:

We found the defendant with the fish that had been removed from the River Trent while out on our night patrols, between 3am – 4am. On this occasion the defendant had a valid fishing licence, but it is also imperative for anglers to observe fishing byelaws.

The case shows how seriously the courts take these offences and we hope the penalty will act as a deterrent to any angler who is thinking of breaking fishing byelaws. Not complying with the byelaws can incur a fine of up to £50,000.

The Environment Agency carries out enforcement work all year round and is supported by partners including the police and the Angling Trust. Fisheries enforcement work is intelligence-led, targeting known hot-spots and where illegal fishing is reported.

Anyone with information about illegal fishing activities can contact the Environment Agency’s incident hotline 24/7 on 0800 80 70 60 or anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

On 4 September 2021 the defendant removed chub from the River Trent contrary to Byelaw 3(i) of the Environment Agency National Byelaws in accordance with section 210 and Schedule 25 of the Water Resources Act 1991 and contrary to Section 211 of the Act.

The national fishing byelaws protect and improve freshwater fish and their habitats. If you do not comply with them, you could face prosecution and be fined up to £50,000.

For more information visit: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/national-rod-fishing-byelaws-for-england-freshwater-fishing-with-a-rod-and-line