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News story: Recrutiment drive – Attorney General’s London Panel of Civil Counsel

Applications will soon be open for counsel wishing to join the Attorney General’s London A and B Panels of the Civil Counsel.

This will be a fantastic opportunity for advocates with more than five years experience. Being a panel member gives advocates exposure to some of the most important and high profile cases of the day and the chance to represent the government in various courts including the Supreme Court.

Those interested are encouraged to attend an event on Monday 6 February at the Government Legal Department offices, which will give more information about the application process, and demystify the application process. You will have the chance to hear from the Vice Chairman of the Bar Council, and a current member of the A Panel among others.

Event details

Why apply to the panel counsel and how best to do it

Date: Monday 6 February 2017

Time: 5:30pm

Address: Government Legal Department, One Kemble Street, London, WC2B 4TS

For further information and to reserve a place, please contact Anna Rickard on 020 7210 1506 or email anna.rickard@governmentlegal.gov.uk by 5pm on Friday 3 February 2017.

Background

What is the Panel Counsel?

The Attorney General maintains 5 panels of junior Counsel to undertake civil and EU work for all government departments. He has 3 London Panels (A, B and C), a Regional Panel, and a Public International Law (PIL) Panel.

Who can apply?

This recruitment drive is only for Panel A and B.

Members of the A Panel deal with complex government cases. They will often appear against QC’s. Those previously appointed to the A Panel have generally had in excess of 10 years advocacy experience.

Members of the B panel deal with substantial cases but these are not as complex as those handled by the A panel. They will generally be instructed where knowledge and experience of a particular field is required. Those previously appointed to the B panel have generally had between 5 and 10 years advocacy experience.

What do potential candidates have to do?

Anyone considering making an application to join either the A or B Panel should register an expression of interest by emailing panelcounsel@governmentlegal.gov.uk
The competition opens on Tuesday 21 February 2017. On or after that date everyone who has registered an interest will be sent details of how to access the online application form.

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Hundreds of thousands of Scots now paying more tax

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2 Feb 2017

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Hundreds of thousands of Scots face paying more income tax after the SNP and the Greens conspired to vote through a high-tax budget.

Under the plans announced by the Scottish Government, 374,000 people will pay more than they would if they lived south of the border.

They include train drivers, nurse consultants and some teachers.

It is confirmation that finance secretary Derek Mackay’s budget will make Scotland the highest-taxed part of the UK.

The blow comes on top of additional rates being charged to businesses, another measure that will damage the economy and punish hardworkers.

Shadow finance secretary Murdo Fraser pointed out that the SNP used to believe low taxes would encourage growth and therefore provide more money for public services.

He added in today’s Holyrood stage one debate that the SNP had been persuaded of a left-wing agenda by the Greens, who will provide the support necessary to get the budget through.

Scottish Conservative shadow finance secretary Murdo Fraser said:

“Derek Mackay could drop his plans to make Scotland the highest-taxed part of the UK and work with us to deliver an ambitious budget focused on growing the economy.

“Instead, he’s turned hard left and embraced the anti-growth, anti-business agenda of the Greens.

“The SNP was well-warned by the business community as to the consequences of going further on tax than he originally intended. The Chambers of Commerce described it as ‘highly dangerous’.

“But the nationalists have shown contempt for the views of Scottish business, and have demonstrated they have zero interest in trying to help grow our under-performing economy.

“This is a weak, hesitant and dismal set of measures.

“The budget will see local services slashed while council taxes are being hiked, and cut funding to enterprise networks and reinforce reductions in college places when we should be doing the opposite.

“It sends out the message that the risk-taker, the wealth-creator, the entrepreneur, and the successful are not welcome here.

“Only the Scottish Conservatives champion the Scottish economy, are on the sides of businesses, taxpayers and hard-working families.”


In Scotland, there are 2,560,000 taxpayers in total, of which:

2,150,000 pay the basic rate (84.0 per cent);
356,000 pay the higher rate (13.9 per cent) and
18,000 pay the additional rate (0.7 per cent)
(HMRC, Table 2.2 Number of income taxpayers, by country, 18 May 2016, link).

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Speech: Greg Hands speech on smart cities

I would like to thank Mark [Prisk] for inviting me here today, and take this opportunity to recognise the important work of the APPG on smart cities.

You are a vital voice in a necessary debate, and I look forward to working with you and your members in my role as Minister of State at the Department for International Trade.

As recently as 20 years ago, the term smart cities would not have registered with most people – myself included!

It would have been incredulous to think of a city where every person could access real time information on where there was a free car parking space; a city where refuse collectors know exactly when your recycling bins are full; and where urban parks are designed to promote biodiversity, reduce CO2, and give you free wi-fi connection throughout.

But the pace of change has been astonishing.

This is all happening right now!

In London, Manchester, Milton Keynes, and other cities across the UK – services like these are becoming commonplace.

Though using data to understand and ultimately alleviate social problems is nothing new.

In the 19th Century, John Snow created the cholera maps, which located the source of London’s cholera epidemic in Soho.

At a similar time, Charles Booth’s surveys of working class life in London created the famous poverty maps which etched a street by street depiction of income levels across the capital.

We now live in a world where technology is ubiquitous and the ability to collect and access data is easier than ever before.

We also live in a world of finite resources, coupled with a population set to reach almost 10 billion by 2050, according to the UN.

This presents many challenges but also a golden opportunity to use technology to enhance economic development, sustainability and quality of life for people in urban environments from Manchester to Mumbai.

So, my commitment to you today is simple. The UK will seize this opportunity and this government will pull out all the stops to ensure British business leads the way in making the cities of the UK and the world smarter.

UK capability

There are 3 ways we will do this. First, we will continue building our domestic capability.

Innovate UK – the government’s innovation agency – has, over the last 5 years, invested nearly £100 million in projects to help our cities prepare for a sustainable future.

£32 million has been spent on the UK’s internet of things (IoT) programme, including Cityverve in Manchester – a smart city demonstrator that will help improve public services for local citizens, such as transport, energy, health and culture.

Bristol and Milton Keynes are internationally recognised as leaders in smart city technology. They are making use of sensors to monitor air pollution levels, energy usage, water consumption, and even living patterns at home to detect early signs of illness.

These examples are testament to the simple truth that open data requires open minds.

We must continue to see technology as a key that unlocks the potential of our cities – making them more responsive to their inhabitants.

Opportunities overseas

Whilst we build our domestic capability around smart cities, we must also be alive to the opportunity overseas, which brings me onto my second point.

Arup estimates that the global market for smart cities could be worth $400 billion per year by 2020.

The UK has internationally recognised strengths in integrating city-wide systems around transport, energy and security networks; as well as in data and spatial analytics.

Our excellent engineering and architectural firms have already used their urban planning and design expertise to create smart cities around the world.

And standards set by the British Standards Institute, on smart cities and the internet of things, are used the world over.

The possibilities are endless. These exportable capabilities can make the transport infrastructure of world cities more efficient, their healthcare providers more dedicated, and their emergency systems more responsive.

The Department for International Trade’s smart cities team will support UK companies in taking advantage of these overseas opportunities, as well as attracting inward investment for UK smart city projects.

The team and I will be in Barcelona for Mobile World Congress, where we will be showcasing British expertise in cloud technology, sensors and artificial intelligence all on the UK stand.

British firms are already thriving abroad.

Space Syntax, our sponsors this evening, are working with AECOM on designing the growth of Saudi Arabia’s port city, Jeddah; over 30 countries have implemented Essex-based Telensa’s smart street lighting technology; and Finnish telecoms giant Nokia is investing in the Bristol is Open smart city initiative, which is being led by the local council and the University of Bristol.

In November, I accompanied the Prime Minister on her visit to India, where she and Prime Minister Modi announced an Anglo-Indian Partnership on smart cities and urban development, which could unlock £2 billion worth of business.

Running parallel to the visit, my department led a trade mission of UK companies to the India Tech Summit, before taking them onto Pune and Kochi to see the smart city opportunities first hand.

India’s ambition to create 100 smart cities provides UK firms with a huge opportunity.

In cities across Asia and Africa, smart cities aren’t a ‘nice to have’, but a social necessity. With India’s urban population expected to reach 590 million by 2030, the problems of resource depletion and demographic change are both immediate and acute.

This government will ensure our smart city capability is evolving to meet the needs of urban populations the world over.

Ways of working

My final point on how the UK can continue to lead the world in smart city capability, involves a change in how government and industry work together.

If individual UK companies are already garnering success overseas, imagine what we can achieve with greater levels of co-operation.

I would like to see our urban planners working with our security, transport and e-health specialist companies, so we can present a single UK smart city offer to the world.

This requires a step up in the co-operation between government and industry. A step we should look to take.

For if we are to lead the world in smart cities, our approach too has to be smart.

Conclusion

Before I close, I want to reiterate that the UK can be recognised as the global hub of smart city technology.

We should be bold in our thinking and use our already enviable capability in this area to make the world’s cities more sustainable, responsive and smart.

Our aim should be to make people’s lives easier and more enjoyable.

Indeed, it was Shakespeare who said, ‘What is a city but the people?’

It is an exciting challenge. But one that the UK is more than ready to accept.

Thank you.

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