The Environment Agency publish permits that they issue under the Industrial Emissions Directive (IED).
This decision includes the permit and decision document for:
The UK Government has confirmed today it is developing options for a British Global Navigation Satellite System.
Led by the UK Space Agency, a taskforce of Government specialists and industry will work quickly to develop options that will provide both civilian and encrypted signals and be compatible with the GPS system.
The UK is already a world-leader in developing satellite technology, building 40 per cent of the world’s small satellites and one in four commercial telecommunications satellites.
UK companies have made a critical contribution to the EU Galileo programme, building the payloads for the satellites and developing security systems. The taskforce will draw on this experience and expertise as it develops plans for an innovative system that could deliver on the UK’s security needs and provide commercial services.
Business Secretary Greg Clark said:
This taskforce will develop options for an independent satellite navigation system using the world-beating expertise of Britain’s thriving space sector. We have made our position clear to the European Commission and highlighted the importance of the UK to the Galileo programme.
It is now right that we explore alternative options to ensure our security needs are met as we continue to take full advantage of the opportunities that exist in the global space sector, through our modern Industrial Strategy.
Dr Graham Turnock, CEO of UK Space Agency said:
As the Government has made clear, we should begin work now on options for a national alternative to Galileo to guarantee our satellite positioning, navigation and timing needs are met in the future. The UK Space Agency is well placed to lead this work and will use a wide-range of expertise from across the space, engineering and security sectors.
The UK will be able to use Galileo’s open signal in the future, and British Armed Forces and emergency services were due to have access to the encrypted system when it is fully operational.
The Government has been clear there is a mutual benefit to the UK remaining involved in Galileo and is working hard to deliver this. Without the assurance that UK industry can collaborate on an equal basis and without continued access to the necessary security-related information, the UK could be obliged to end its participation in the project.
The Business Secretary Greg Clark wrote to the Commission last month expressing concern about its intention to exclude the UK from the secure elements of Galileo. The UK Space Agency has been engaging regularly with the UK companies involved and will now lead the work to develop potential alternative options.
The recent Blackett review estimated that a failure of navigation satellite service could cost the UK economy £1 billion a day. Resilient and secure position, navigation and timing information is increasingly essential for defence, critical national infrastructure and emergency response.
The UK Space Agency is driving the growth of the space sector as part of the Government’s Industrial Strategy with major initiatives including the National Space Test Facility at Harwell, and the UK continues to be a leading member of the European Space Agency, which is independent of the EU.
New figures released today by the ADS Group trade body show that in 2017 the UK space industry was worth around £15 billion a year in turnover, with exports of £5.4 billion and 71 percent growth since 2012.
An opportunity has opened to tender for specialist legal advice in the discrimination category.
This is to deliver work via the Civil Legal Advice (CLA) telephone helpline.
It follows the LAA’s announcement on 5 February that it had cancelled the procurement process for new CLA discrimination services following receipt of insufficient compliant tenders.
The tender process is open to both existing contract holders and new entrants. It is a single-stage process that will assess:
The LAA has extended the current CLA discrimination contract held by one current provider. That current provider is excluded from taking part in the tender process.
The LAA’s intention is to award up to a further 4 CLA contracts in the discrimination category as a result of the tender process.
Tenders must be submitted using the LAA’s e-Tendering system – see below. A link is also available on the tender pages of the LAA website.
If you wish to tender then you must submit a response to the discrimination invitation to tender (ITT).
You may also need to submit a response to the selection questionnaire that forms part of your tender response.
This will be required if your organisation:
did not submit a tender for a face to face contract, Housing Possession Court Duty Scheme contract or a CLA specialist advice contract as part of last year’s main civil 2018 contracts tender process
submitted a tender but was excluded at the selection questionnaire stage
submitted a tender but has a selection questionnaire response which is no longer valid
Organisations which tendered successfully as part of the main civil 2018 contracts tender process and whose circumstances have not changed will need to confirm this in their tender response.
All bids must be made through LAA’s e-Tendering system by 5pm on 1 June 2018.
Civil 2018 contracts tender – to find out more and download the IFA document
e-Tendering system – to submit your tender
Unexpected letting fees and high deposits can cause a significant affordability problem for tenants and are often not clearly explained – leaving many residents unaware of the true costs of renting a property.
Introduced into Parliament today (2 May 2018), the Tenant Fees Bill will bring an end to costly letting fees and save tenants around £240 million a year, according to government figures.
The Bill will also give tenants greater assurances that the deposit they pay at the start of the tenancy cannot exceed 6 weeks’ rent.
Housing Secretary Rt Hon James Brokenshire MP said:
This government is determined to build a housing market fit for the future. Tenants across the country should not be stung by unexpected costs.
That’s why we’re delivering our promise to ban letting fees, alongside other measures to make renting fairer and more transparent.
The Tenant Fees Bill will stop letting agents from exploiting their position as intermediaries between landlords and tenants, and prevent unfair practices such as double charging for the same services.
It will also help to increase competition between agents and landlords, which could help drive lower costs overall and a higher quality of service for tenants.
Other key measures in the Bill, which reflects feedback from a recent public consultation and pre-legislative scrutiny from the Housing, Communities and Local Government Select Committee, include:
capping holding deposits at no more than one week’s rent. The Bill also sets out the proposed requirements on landlords and agents to return a holding deposit to a tenant
capping the amount that can be charged for a change to tenancy at £50 unless the landlord demonstrates that greater costs were incurred
creating a financial penalty with a fine of £5,000 for an initial breach of the ban with a criminal offence where a person has been fined or convicted of the same offence within the last 5 years. Financial penalties of up to £30,000 can be issued as an alternative to prosecution
requiring Trading Standards to enforce the ban and to make provision for tenants to be able to recover unlawfully charged fees via the First-tier Tribunal
prevents landlords from recovering possession of their property via the section 21 Housing Act 1988 procedure until they have repaid any unlawfully charged fees
enabling the appointment of a lead enforcement authority in the lettings sector
amending the Consumer Rights Act 2015 to specify that the letting agent transparency requirements should apply to property portals such as Rightmove and Zoopla
local authorities will be able to retain the money raised through financial penalties with this money reserved for future local housing enforcement
Alongside rent and deposits, agents and landlords will only be permitted to charge tenants fees associated with:
The new measures are subject to Parliamentary timetables and will be introduced in law next year.
The Tenant Fees Bill builds on government’s work this year to protect tenants and landlords through the introduction of new rogue landlord database, banning orders for rogue landlords and property agents as well as a new code of practice to regulate the letting and managing agents sector.
All proposals relate to England only. The ban on letting fees will apply to assured shorthold tenancies and licences to occupy in the private rented sector.
A ban on letting fees was announced at Autumn Statement 2016, it was also a commitment in the 2017 Conservative Manifesto.
The Tenant Fees Bill reflects feedback from the recent public consultation, which ran from April to June 2017 and received over 4,700 responses. 58% of respondents (93% of tenants) agreed with government’s proposed approach to ban letting fees to tenants with the exception of a holding deposit, refundable tenancy deposit and tenant default fees.
A draft Tenant Fees Bill was published by government on 1 November 2017 and underwent pre-legislative scrutiny by the Housing, Communities and Local Government Select Committee who published their report on 29 March 2018.
The Committee agreed that the Bill has the potential to save tenants in the private rented sector hundreds of pounds as well as making the market more transparent. Government has carefully considered the Select Committee’s report and accepted the majority of their recommendations. Read the government response to the Select Committee report.
Updated: New brochure added to story and photograph updated
The safe reduction of hazards at Dounreay during the last year is the subject of the first in a series of new films, featuring members of the team involved in Scotland’s largest decommissioning project.
Successes including the demolition of a reactor support complex and the start of fuel removal from Dounreay Fast Reactor are included, along with the company’s focus on safety, security and environmental compliance and equality, diversity and inclusion.
Overall highlights from 2017/18
Decommissioning and hazard reduction
Safety, security and environment
