Highways England has rearranged two consultation events for the A303 Stonehenge scheme, which were hit by severe weather which swept across the South West at the start of the month.

A scheme to upgrade the A303 between Amesbury and Berwick Down includes plans for a 1.9-mile long tunnel past Stonehenge, a free-flowing dual carriageway and a much-needed bypass north of Winterbourne Stoke.

Consultation on the detailed plans launched on 8 February, but the two public information events, at Mere and Salisbury, were impacted by the snow in early March.

The Mere public information event was curtailed early on Thursday, 1 March, due to the weather conditions, and the Salisbury Guildhall event on Saturday, 3 March, was cancelled, also for safety reasons.

Highways England, in consultation with Wiltshire Council, has rescheduled the Mere event, at the Lecture Hall, Salisbury Street, for Friday, 13 April (11am-5pm), and the Salisbury event at The St Paul’s Church Centre, Fisherton Street (SP2 7QW) for Saturday, 14 April (11am-5pm).

As a result, the consultation period has now been extended until Monday, 23 April.

The scheduled public information event at Antrobus House, Amesbury will take place on Friday, 23 March (2pm-8pm), and all feedback received during the consultation period will be considered and help to inform further refinements to the scheme.

For those people unable to make the remaining public information events or for those wanting further information, visit the consultation website.

General enquiries

Members of the public should contact the Highways England customer contact centre on 0300 123 5000.

Media enquiries

Journalists should contact the Highways England press office on 0844 693 1448 and use the menu to speak to the most appropriate press officer.

Gender pay gap results published

In common with most organisations, this is the first time that our gender pay gap has been analysed, and this report is therefore our baseline for improvement.

Our first priority is to understand the reasons for our pay gap, at a detailed level. We therefore intend to further analyse our data. This analysis will then enable us to formulate a targeted action plan to close our gender pay gap.

The results for Sellafield Ltd are as follows:

• the mean gender pay gap: 14.3%
• the median gender pay gap: 11.7%
• the mean gender bonus gap: 14.6%
• the median gender bonus gap: 0%
• the proportions of men and women who received a bonus: 98.03% and 97.84% respectively

The proportions of men and women in each pay quartile:

• upper: 86% male, 14% female
• upper middle: 83% male, 17% female
• lower middle: 75% male, 25% female
• lower: 55% male, 45% female

At this stage, our analysis is that the pay gap is driven by the following factors:

• under-representation of females in more senior grades.
• the ongoing legacy of historic recruitment into STEM roles.
• low employee turnover and restricted recruitment, hence limited opportunities to provide promotion opportunities.
• lower female length of service and therefore less average experience, potentially influencing promotion outcomes.

PDF, 213KB, 6 pages

If you use assistive technology (such as a screen reader) and need a version of this document in a more accessible format, please email info@sellafieldsites.com. Please tell us what format you need. It will help us if you say what assistive technology you use.

The NDA has published a report which covers their entire estate.

Published 21 March 2018

The Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) has launched a public consultation on the eligibility of guarantees as unfunded credit protection.

The proposed changes seek to clarify what contracts are eligible to be treated as guarantees for credit risk mitigation under the Capital Requirements Regulation (CRR). Some of the suggestions proposals made in the consultation document could impact the capital treatment of UKEF guaranteed loans.

UKEF is in touch with the PRA and is working closely with them to answer their questions on export credit guarantees and the international obligations that influence the terms of our guarantee.

Find out more and download the consultation paper.

The consultation closes on Wednesday 16 May.

UKEF contact

Victoria D’Sylva, Policy Development Manager victoria.dsylva@ukexportfinance.gov.uk

Some people may say that Britain will struggle to trade with the rest of the world after we leave the European Union. Such a gloomy outlook fails to recognise the continued strength of the UK economy, with record inward investment, an 11% increase in exports and employment at a historic high.

In reality, the UK has cutting-edge capabilities. We lead the world in art and culture, food and drink, finance and education.

Last year we had 58,000 tech start-ups in the UK, a new tech business every hour. Digital technology has helped reduce many of the old barriers to trade and made the world more connected. You don’t have to leave Basingstoke to sell your digital app to someone in Beijing. UK businesses have a huge amount to gain from this trend.

The IMF predicts 90% of global growth will be generated beyond the borders of Europe in the coming years.

Much of this will come from Asian economies, where new markets are growing to match their new wealth. Trade between the UK and China is already at record levels, worth more than £59 billion, while UK exports to China increased by over 25% last year.

China’s middle class is expected to number 600 million by 2020 – greater than the current population of the EU. This offers big opportunities for UK businesses in a market that wants UK goods and services, and this government is putting the UK in a position to benefit.

This week I will take a delegation of nearly 300 UK businesses to the GREAT Festival of Innovation in Hong Kong, which has been organised by the Department for International Trade. Entrepreneurs and businesses of all sizes will come together to showcase the best of British creativity and innovation.

The festival will explore how the world will work, live, play and learn in the future, and it’s a golden opportunity for British companies to create new business relationships not only with Hong Kong, China and the wider Asian region, but across the world.

There are already brilliant partnerships between UK and Asian companies of every kind, from large corporates to new start-ups.

From cutting-edge UK robotics making construction safer in Hong Kong, to Chinese automotive technology cleaning the air we breathe in UK cities.

Today I’m launching 3 campaigns to showcase the best of British fashion, beauty, food and consumer goods on some of Asia’s top commerce platforms and mobile shopping apps.

More than 160 UK brands will benefit – from Waitrose and Neal’s Yard Remedies, to Boohoo, Cath Kidston, Victoria Beckham and Burberry. This type of e-commerce will be the new frontier of global trade. It favours smaller companies, and ensures more women can be involved in international trade.

That’s why, as the digital economy continues to develop, the UK will use our new independent trade policy to make sure global rules benefit British businesses.

We are an innovation nation ready for the hi-tech opportunities around the world that Brexit will open up. Demand for UK goods and services is growing, and the new relationships we forge at the GREAT festival will maintain this momentum, so we can deliver a brighter, more prosperous future for every part of the UK.

Britain is not struggling, it is blossoming.

Poštovani gospodine Sekuliću, gospodine Jovićeviću, dragi Emile, poštovani poslanici i poslanice,

Drago mi je da sam danas ovdje sa vama da obilježimo kraj faze projekta na kojem smo radili sa crnogorskom Skupštinom i Vestminsterskom Fondacijom.

As the representative body of Montenegrin citizens, and the seat of legislative power in the country, ensuring sound legislative scrutiny is central to Parliament’s role and essential in delivering accountability. Robust parliamentary oversight of the public finances not only facilitates good use of public funds but enhances the provision of public services and supports the alignment of policy with citizens’ needs.

Parliamentary Budget Offices, such as the one the UK has helped the Montenegrin Parliament to establish, are designed to enhance the financial and economic analytical expertise available within a parliament as well as providing independent costing of policies and legislation. They are supposed to be the objective and competent aide to the MPs in performing one of their most crucial roles — holding government accountable for the money it has spent.

Copyright: Parliament of Montenegro

I’m delighted that the British Government, working through the Westminster Foundation for Democracy, has supported the establishment of a Parliamentary Budget Office within the Parliament of Montenegro. The UK’s intention is that this facility will enhance the culture of effective financial oversight and scrutiny, thus assisting the country in the process of European integration.

We are grateful to the Parliament of Montenegro for their consistent support for this project, which was not an easy task, and involved a series of complicated institutional and procedural solutions.

The work of the Montenegrin Parliamentary Budget Office has been tested through the times of the post-election period in 2016, formation of the new Government, adoption of Montenegro’s first 4-year Fiscal Strategy and the government’s plan for fiscal consolidation.

Although few in numbers, the researchers have managed to both build up their capacities and answer the inquiries of MPs, as well as work proactively on the topics they considered neglected or important enough for the attention of MPs.

While the position of the UK remains that we call for all elected MPs to take up their seats in Parliament and in order to better serve those who voted for them, I am pleased that MPs of all parties have drawn on material produced by the Parliamentary Budget Office.

We are particularly glad that within this project, the MPs and parliamentary staff of the Montenegrin Parliament had the opportunity to witness the work done by the Scottish Parliament Information Centre and the functioning of its Financial Scrutiny Unit.

The UK looks forward to the Parliament of Montenegro continuing to develop the Parliamentary Budget Office. There is still work to do to make the Parliamentary Budget Office an integral part of the parliamentary structure, and I welcome the reassurance from the Parliamentary leadership that this will happen soon.

The UK hopes that the products produced by the Parliamentary Budget Office will be used not only by the MPs in the Committee for Economy, Finance and Budget, but by all the committees across the Parliament. Public money flows through all policies of the state, and its oversight is equally important in the welfare sector as well as healthcare or education.

Furthermore, we hope that the products of Parliamentary Budget Office will be read and used by a wider audience outside of the Parliament, as a credible and objective source of data for both the civil society organisations and media.

The UK stands ready to support the future work to strengthen the accountability of Montenegrin institutions, and to continue work which draws on the UK’s rich parliamentary experience.

Zahvaljujem se na vašem doprinosu i radujem nastavku razgovora na ovu temu.

Hvala.