Press release: Cambridgeshire man sentenced to 8 months for illegal waste sites

On Tuesday 09 October 2018 Michael Newsome was sentenced to a total of 8 months imprisonment (4 months consecutive for each offence) suspended for 24 months. Newsome was also ordered to carry out 240 hours of unpaid work for the benefit of the community, ordered to pay a total of £12,131.90 in compensation to the landowners where he abandoned tyres and a contribution of £1,000 costs after pleading guilty to breaking the law in Peterborough and Whittlesey.

Peterborough Magistrates heard that Newsome, aged 28, of Overwater Close, Stukeley Meadows, Huntingdon, traded as Cambridgeshire Rubber Recycling Ltd and even advertised on Facebook as being licensed.

First he set up in Peterborough having registered an exemption that allowed him a limited number of tyres on site to be stored under set conditions for safety.

Mr Gurjit Bdesha, prosecuting for the Environment Agency, told the court that Newsome leased the Dickens Street site from an 82-year-old man to shred tyres, which he failed to do. Instead, he took well in excess of the number of tyres allowed under the exemption and stored them in a way that had no fire breaks.

Mr Bdesha said:

This was especially important as the site is in the middle of a residential area with the nearest home being 13 metres away. Tyres can combust and fire can easily spread.

Despite being asked to move the tyres, Newsome made no effort to clear the site and the landlord ejected him. He later broke into a lockaway on site, damaging the door, to take back equipment belonging to him. He left behind 87 tonnes of tyres (9,050) costing the landlord £8,121.

After being evicted Newsome took on a site at Lazy Acre Farm, Whittlesey and carried on business, failing to even register an exemption.

The landlord became worried at the number of tyres on site with no equipment to process them and asked him to leave.

Mr Bdesha continued:

The landlord was so desperate for Newsome to leave the site and clear the tyres that he was prepared to waive rent arrears of £3,500 if he removed them. The tyres were left there.

At that site Newsome abandoned 117 tonnes of tyres (14,040).

Mr Bdesha told the court that the site was listed as a High Risk Fire site as the tyres were stored within 70 metres of the mainline railway from Birmingham to Stansted Airport. If there had been a fire due to arson or self-combustion then the impact could have resulted in the closure of the railway and caused significant disruption to the national railway transport network.

He said there had been 2 failed attempts to arrest Newsome, 2 failed attempts to get him to voluntarily attend interview with Environment Agency investigators and since then no communication from him.

After the hearing Enforcement Team Leader Phil Henderson said:

We require operators have an approved fire prevention plan in place before a permit is issued. The Environment Agency seeks to work with operators to ensure compliance with the relevant environmental regulations.

However, as in this case, where those operators fail to take this advice we are compelled to take action, particularly in cases where the storage of waste may risk local residents or our transport infrastructure.’

Newsome pleaded guilty to:

On or before 3 November 2015 on land known as 61 Dickens Street, Peterborough, PE1 5ER, you operated a regulated facility, namely a tyre treatment and disposal facility, without being authorised by an environmental permit granted under Regulation 12 of the Environmental Permitted (England and Wales) Regulations 2010.
Contrary to Regulation 12 and 38(1)(a) Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2010.

Between 1 December 2015 and 31 December 2016 on land known as Lazy Acre Farm, Whittlesey, Peterborough PE7 1GR, you operated a regulated facility, namely a tyre treatment and disposal facility, without being authorised by an environmental permit granted under Regulation 12 of the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2010. Contrary to Regulation 12 and 38(1)(a) Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2010.



News story: Increase to Immigration Health Surcharge gives NHS extra funding

The IHS allows anyone in the UK on a work, study or family visa for longer than 6 months to access NHS services in the same way as UK citizens.

The proposals would see the surcharge increase from £200 to £400 per year for non-EU nationals, with students and those on the Youth Mobility Scheme on the discounted rate of £300 per year.

Since the surcharge was introduced in 2015 it has raised over £600m which the Department of Health and Social Care and the health ministries in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have invested back into their health budgets.

Immigration Minister Caroline Nokes said:

Our NHS is always there when you need it, paid for by British taxpayers. We welcome long-term migrants using the NHS, but the NHS is a national, not international health service and we believe it is right that they make a fair contribution to its long-term sustainability.

I am pleased that we are a step closer to implementing the changes to the health surcharge, and the extra money raised will go directly towards sustaining and protecting our world-class healthcare system.

It is only fair that people who come to the UK make a contribution to the running of the NHS, and even with the increase we still continue to offer a good deal on healthcare for those seeking to live in the UK temporarily.

The changes better reflect the cost to the NHS of treating those who pay the surcharge, as the DHSC estimates that the NHS spends £470 on average per person per year on treating those required to pay the surcharge.

These changes do not affect permanent residents, who are not required to pay the surcharge. Certain vulnerable groups such as asylum seekers and modern slavery victims are also exempt.

Short-term migrants, including those on visitor visas, are generally charged for secondary care treatment by the NHS at the point of access.

The increase is set to come into effect in December 2018 subject to Parliamentary approval.



News story: Steve Rowan appointed EPO Vice-President for Patent Granting Process

The IPO welcomes the announcement that Steve Rowan, Director Registered Rights (IPO) has been appointed as Vice-President of the European Patent Office Directorate-General Patent Granting Process.

Tim Moss, IPO Chief Executive said:

Congratulations to Steve on his well deserved appointment. I’m very proud that the UK has been able to field such a strong candidate and the IPO wishes him all the best in his future role.

Steve joined the IPO in 1991 and has held a number of operational and tribunal roles within the IPO. As Director of Registered Rights he is responsible for the patent, trade mark and design application and examination processes and the management of those rights and the Office’s tribunal functions.

He has also worked on a wide range of IP policy issues as Deputy Director of the International and Copyright and IP Enforcement Directorates. He has extensive experience of EU and international negotiations and was Head of the UK Delegation to the Beijing and Marrakesh Diplomatic Conferences. He was seconded to the Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit (2004) and HM Treasury (2006), working on the Gowers Review of IP.

The Administrative Council of the EPO comprises delegations from the 38 member states and is responsible for supervising the activities of the European Patent Office, the Organisation’s executive branch. The Council also approves the Office’s budget, and appoints its senior managers, including the President and vice-presidents.

The EPO’s Directorate-General Patent Granting Process is responsible for the entire patent granting process from end to end. This includes search, examination, publication, opposition and all related formalities, and for delivering support for the patent granting process to internal and external users of EPO services.

Steve’s appointment will take effect on 1 January 2019 and is for five years. He will succeed Alberto Casado Cerviño of Spain, who will retire at the end of 2018.

The UK IPO has started the process of recruiting for Steve’s role and further details will follow soon.



News story: New competition: Behavioural Analytics

This Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA) competition is seeking proposals that can help UK Defence and Security to develop capability in ‘Behavioural Analytics’. We are looking for scientific and technological solutions that can provide context-specific insights into the ‘how’ and ‘why’ of individual, group and population behaviour, enabling predictions about how they are likely to act in the future.

At this stage of the competition we are limiting the scope to theoretical development, methodological advancement and proof of concept research. We want to fund research to get the foundations right. However, we also ask bidders to consider future exploitation.

The challenge is broad and diverse, and the solutions should be too. We are committed to funding a range of exciting and diverse proposals and therefore welcome applications from across the full range of research disciplines – from psychology and neuroscience to artificial intelligence and data science – as well as inter-disciplinary research collaborations and perspectives. We also welcome applications from people bringing novel perspectives from alternative disciplines such as the arts, humanities and social sciences.

The initial funding for all phases of this competition is up to £5 million but is expected to rise given increasing stakeholder interest in Behavioural Analytics. Phase 1 of this competition has £1.6 million available to fund multiple proposals.

Phase 1 of this competition closes at midday on Wednesday 5 December 2018.

Full details are available in the competition document.

If you have any queries on this competition, please do contact us at accelerator@dstl.gov.uk.



Press release: Cambridgeshire man sentenced to 8 months for illegal waste sites

Huntingdon man ran two illegal waste tyre sites in Cambridgeshire, both of which he abandoned.