The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has given its approval for development of four laning
Jul62017
Jul62017
Press release: Expert panel recommends further tests on cladding and insulation
The independent expert panel on safety has advised further testing as the next step to be conducted in helping landlords to ensure the safety of their buildings.
These large scale tests will help establish how different types of Aluminium Composite Material (ACM) panels in combination with different types of insulation behave in a fire.
The results of these tests will help landlords make decisions on any further measures that may need to be put in place to make their buildings safe following the Grenfell Tower fire. These tests will be undertaken by the BRE and will not require any new samples from buildings.
Earlier this week the panel brought together a group of technical experts from a wide range of professions and organisations. The group discussed the processes that had been followed to identify whether buildings had ACM panels and the advice provided to building owners on interim measures and agreed that these were the right first steps.
The further tests – which will look at 3 different types of ACM cladding combined with different types of insulation – will be in accordance with British Standard 8414 in line with the panel’s advice. This involves building a 9 metres tall demonstration wall with a complete cladding system – including panels and insulation – fixed to it, and then subjecting it to a fire that replicates a severe fire in a flat breaking out of a window and whether it then spread up the outside wall.
In addition, the Expert Advisory Panel recommended issuing further practical advice on immediate steps landlords can take to identify their wall materials including insulation, which will be published shortly.
The government has now commissioned the Building Research Establishment to undertake these tests as a matter of urgency. The results will be made publically available. Landlords will be expected to take their own professional advice on what is required for their buildings in the usual way.
The expert panel has concluded that 6 combinations of cladding systems should be subjected to the BS8414 test procedure. The detailed design of each of the 6, will be reviewed by the panel to ensure that it is representative of the systems that are in common use including the way it is fixed.
The 6 systems will incorporate each of the 3 common types of aluminium composite material panels, with core filler materials of unmodified polyethylene, fire retardant polyethylene, and non-combustible mineral. The 2 insulation materials used in the testing will be rigid polyisocyanurate foam or non-combustible mineral wool.
This is stock footage of large scale testing
Further practical advice on immediate steps landlords can take to identify their wall materials including insulation will be published on www.gov.uk/dclg.
The appointment of the Expert Panel was announced on 27 June 2017. The initial meeting of the Expert Advisory Panel took place on Friday 29 June. Following that meeting the Panel called together experts on Monday 3 July 2017.
Read the Explanatory note on safety checks and testing published on 30 June and the advice provided to building owners on interim measures published on 22 June.
Jul62017
Greece is the word for Circular Economy nations
The Circular Economy for Small and Medium sized Enterprises (CESME) is a European funded project that will enable SMEs to turn environmental challenges into opportunities. The circular economy is a key concept of the Green Economy, where high-quality materials derived from waste products can be supplied back to Welsh manufacturers and productively used again and again.
In a world where resource prices are rising fast, the circular economy model has the potential to provide significant cost benefits for Welsh businesses. Studies have found the adoption of a Circular Economy could save the Welsh economy up to £2bn and has the potential to create up to 30,000 jobs.
The meeting in Thessaloniki included workshops and study visits to three SMEs in the Region of Central Macedonia in Greece, all of which implement good practices promoting circular economy. The Thessaloniki meeting follows previous CESME get-togethers here in Wales last May, Aalborg, Denmark and Bologna, Italy.
Earlier this year the Cabinet Secretary for Environment and Rural Affairs announced a £6.5m fund to help Wales move towards a circular economy. Lesley Griffiths said:
“Wales is fully signed up to the benefits of the circular economy. Sharing valuable expertise with our European partners helps us break down barriers for SMEs and will bring our vision of a leaner, greener Wales into reality.”
“The £6.5m fund I announced earlier this year will help businesses save money by becoming more resource efficient and resilient, an approach that will deliver numerous environmental benefits including less waste and reduced CO2 emissions”.
The Circular Economy for Small and Medium sized Enterprises (CESME) project is supported by €1.73million of Interreg Europe funding and its foreseen duration is four years. Wales is one of 10 partners from six European countries.
The latest CESME event took place in Thessaloniki, Greece on 10 and 11 May 2017. Further information on CESME can be found on the
Interreg Europe website (external link)
Jul62017
Press release: Brokenshire provides further details of political donations policy to MPs
The Secretary of State has written to MPs to provide further details regarding the move to full transparency of donations and loans to NI political parties.
The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Rt Hon James Brokenshire MP, has written to MPs to provide further details regarding the move to full transparency of donations and loans to Northern Ireland political parties. The letter, which was addressed to the shadow Secretary of State, Owen Smith MP, and placed in the libraries of both Houses, can be found here.
In January, the Secretary of State wrote to the Northern Ireland parties to propose moving to full transparency and to seek views on the date from which transparency should take effect. The Secretary of State’s letter and the responses of the parties, Electoral Commission and the Committee on Standards in Public Life can be found here.
The change, which will be made by secondary legislation, would apply to all donations and loans received on or after 1 July 2017 and enable publication of donor information from the autumn. The proposed legislation is currently the subject of statutory consultation with the Electoral Commission.
Jul62017
2% fall in real household disposable income is bad news for working families – Dowd
Peter
Dowd MP, Labour’s Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury, commenting on today’s figures
showing a 2 per cent fall in real household disposable income, said:
“Falling household incomes are just the latest example of the economic
failures of this government.
"The largest fall in household income per head in six years is deeply
concerning as it further suggests that wages are not keeping up with prices,
and the government have no answers to this serious problem.
"Along with stagnant GDP per person, it’s more bad news for working
families. And it further exposes the economic record of the Tories, who have
overseen falling living standards since coming to power in 2010.
"It’s clear we need investment to create the high skill, high wage economy
of the future. The Tories could start to help ease the burden on hard working
people by lifting their public sector pay cap, and end the cuts to in-work
benefits.”
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