Press release: Work starts on Northumberland flood defence

Work will start on Monday (11 June) on a £65,000 flood embankment which will protect homes in Hexham from flooding.

Storm Desmond saw flooding to 15 properties at Tyne Green, Hexham, on 5 December 2015.

Properties flooded as a result of water from the River Tyne flowing through an underpass beneath the Newcastle-Carlisle railway line near to Tyne Green Golf Course.

The Environment Agency prioritises delivery of new and improved flood defences using government funding over a rolling six year programme, to schemes which provide the greatest benefits to protect properties from flooding.

Due to the small number of properties that would benefit, against the cost of delivering a flood scheme at Tyne Green, the Environment Agency had been unable to deliver new flood defences in the area.

Funded by residents

The work is being uniquely funded by residents who have pooled individual grants made available to them following flooding over the winter period of 2015/16.

The Environment Agency and Northumberland County Council worked closely with Tyne Green residents, Northumbrian Water and Network Rail to provide a creative solution.

The work will take around three weeks to complete and will be marked by a celebration event with the local community later in the summer.

The flood embankment, to be built by Breheny Civil Engineering, has been designed to protect against a flood event similar to that experienced by Tyne Green residents during Storm Desmond.

Chris Hood, Project Manager for the Environment Agency, said:

The start of this work marks the final step in what has been a long and difficult journey for local residents. I would like to thank them for their support and continued patience while we have worked together with Network Rail and others to find the best and most cost-effective solution at Tyne Green.

They have used their initiative and all worked together to pool their grants which has allowed us to be able to build this flood bank. We hope this protection afforded by the new defence will now provide local residents with peace of mind when bad weather threatens in the future.

Innovative solution

Northumberland County Councillor Glen Sanderson, Cabinet member for Environment and Local Services, said:

It shows what a big impact Storm Desmond had on our county when improvement schemes are still ongoing more than two years after the event.

This is another fine example of agencies working with local communities to find innovative solutions to improve their areas and prevent flooding events damaging their homes in the future.

County Councillor for Hexham Central with Acomb Trevor Cessford added:

This is great news for local residents and should hopefully provide peace of mind and security for the future. I would also like to say a huge thanks to all the residents for their patience and understanding in this drawn out matter and for the selfless financial contributions they themselves have made towards the project.

The Environment Agency is urging people to ‘Prepare, Act, Survive’ by visiting the Floods Destroy website and do three things to prepare for flooding.

  • check your postcode and find out if you are at risk of flooding
  • sign-up for free flood warnings if you are at risk
  • view and save the 3-point flood plan so you know how to ‘Prepare, Act, Survive’ in a flood


Notice: HU12 0HL, K Fresh Ltd: environmental permit issued

The Environment Agency publish permits that they issue under the Industrial Emissions Directive (IED).

This decision includes the permit and decision document for:

  • Operator name: K Fresh Ltd
  • Installation name: Greenacre Farm
  • Permit number: EPR/CP3837YV/A001


Notice: SN4 8DW, Crapper & Sons Landfill Limited: environmental permit issued

The Environment Agency publish permits that they issue under the Industrial Emissions Directive (IED).

This decision includes the permit and decision document for:

  • Operator name: Crapper & Sons Landfill Limited
  • Installation name: Park Grounds Farm
  • Permit number: EPR/DP3797SE/V006


Notice: Yorkshire Water Services Limited (NPS/WR/027826): application made to impound water

The Environment Agency consults the public on certain applications for the abstraction and impoundment of water.

These notices explain:

  • what the application is about
  • which Environment Agency offices you can visit to see the application documents on the public register
  • when you need to comment by


News story: Charity annual return 2018

Last year we consulted with the charity sector about the annual return for 2018. Based on the outcome of this consultation we are introducing a tailored annual return later this summer. It will include some new questions that charities can start preparing for now.

We recognise that for some charities the new questions will create additional work. Certain questions will be optional this year to give you time to put in place the systems to collect the information more easily, requiring less effort in the future.

We will let you know when the new annual return system is available to use. You can sign up for GOV.UK email alerts to keep up-to-date with the latest information we publish on our website.

Overseas expenditure

We will build on the current annual return questions about charitable expenditure overseas, to establish how charities transfer and monitor funds sent overseas.

We are doing this because all money transfer processes bear risks, and it’s important that charities take appropriate steps to manage these.

We recognise that some charities will need to make changes to their record keeping to answer parts of this question.

For this reason the questions about methods of transferring money outside the regulated banking system, and about monitoring controls and risk management, will be optional to answer for the 2018 annual return.

These questions will be mandatory for the annual return 2019 onwards.

When spending money outside England and Wales, did your charity transfer money outside of the regulated banking system?

What methods to transfer money did the charity use and what was the value?

  • cash courier
  • other charities or non-governmental organisations and non-profit organisations (NGOs/NPOs)
  • money service business (MSB)
  • informal money transfer systems
  • online payment methods (for example PayPal)
  • other

Does the charity have monitoring controls in place to monitor overseas expenditure?

Are the trustees satisfied that the charity’s risk management policy and procedures adequately address the risks to the charity arising from its activities and/or where it operates?

Income from outside the UK

To get a better understanding of the income sources from outside of the UK, we are introducing questions about the breakdown of sources of income from each country a charity receives funds from.

The options we’ve provided for you to choose from are:

  • overseas governments or quasi government bodies
  • overseas charities, non-governmental organisations or non-profit organisations (NGOs/NPOs)
  • other overseas institutions (for example private company donations)
  • individual donors resident overseas
  • unknown

Some charities will need to make changes to their financial systems to collect and sort the information more easily.

For this reason, we have made those parts of the question set relating to other private institutions outside the UK (other than charities, Non-Governmental Organisations and Non-Profit Organisations) and individual donors outside the UK optional to answer for the 2018 annual return.

These questions will be mandatory from 2019 onwards.

Salary and benefits in charities

Our research into public trust and confidence in charities shows that the public is concerned about high levels of pay in charities.

Because of this we will be asking charities to provide more information about salaries to increase accountability.

In the annual return for 2018 we will ask for a breakdown of salaries across income bands, and the amount of total employee benefits for the highest paid member of staff.

But, in response to concerns raised during the consultation, we will not publish details of benefits given to the paid member of staff on the public register.