Friend or Foe!

I have never photographed a little bug before.  I was about to remove the dead flower heads from the French lavender plants on my roof garden before moving the pots to their Winter quarters when I jumped back as there was a spider totally camouflaged on one.  I thought I would try a shot and came back with my camera to find there was a more colourful little insect worthy of a shot.  This is different - a black ladybug with red spots.  Had a look online to see if I could identify but it became more complicated as I am not sure if this a welcome visitor to our shores or an invasive species or just a common variant.  There are always some highly professional insect images posted here but I offer this as a first for me and leave it to an expert to name it.