Feb32017
HNC Horticulture Student Kevin Keith, from the Elmwood Campus of SRUC, has reached the Scottish Finals of the Charted Institute of Horticulture’s (CIH) Young Horticulturalist of the Year.
Feb32017
Land Registry is requesting supplier feedback on the draft of procurement documents about Digitisation and Transformation.
Digitisation and Transformation forms part of the wider Digitisation and Migration procurement to migrate paper, electronic and/or digital data from 326 LLC registers into the required spatial digital register at Land Registry.
We would like feedback from the supplier market on our draft Statement of Requirements and Digitisation Practice Guide.
These will form part of the upcoming Digitisation and Transformation procurement.
Potential suppliers interested in the Digitisation and Transformation procurement are invited to preview the documents and provide comments.
Feb32017
Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman, the Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Commerce and Industry, Government
Feb32017
The following summary of planned new and ongoing road improvements over the coming week is correct as of 03 February 2017 but could be subject to change due to weather conditions or unforeseen circumstances. All our improvement work is carried out with the aim of causing as little disruption as possible.
Work to reduce congestion and improve journey times continues this week with narrow lanes a 50mph speed limit in place on both carriageways between junctions 2 and 4a, with a free recovery service operating 24 hours a day. The northbound carriageway between junctions 3 and 2 will be closed overnight, between 8pm and 5.30am, from Monday 6 February for 5 nights. Work on Saturday morning will finish at 7am. A clearly signed diversion will be in place via the A322 and A30, M25 junction 13 and M25 junction 12.
The southbound carriageway between junctions 2 and 3 will be closed overnight, between 8pm and 5.30am, from Monday 6 February for 5 nights. Work on Saturday morning will finish at 7am. A clearly signed diversion will be in place via M25 junction 13, A30, A322 to M3 junction 3.
The carriageway in both directions between junctions 4 and 4a will be closed overnight, between 8pm and 5.30am, from Monday 6 February for 5 nights. Work on Saturday morning will finish at 7am. A clearly signed diversion will be in place via the A331, A30, and A327 to M3 junction 4a and vice versa.
Work to improve journeys by carrying out smart motorway improvement continues this week. The dedicated link road from the M3 southbound to the M25 clockwise will be closed overnight, between 8pm and 5.30am, from Tuesday 7 February for 4 nights. Work on Saturday morning will finish at 7am. A clearly signed diversion will be in place via the M25 anti-clockwise to junction 11 and return.
Work to maintain safety by carrying out vegetation maintenance will start this week. The clockwise exit and entry slip roads will be closed overnight, between 10pm and 5am, from Monday 6 February for 4 nights. A clearly signed diversion will be in place for the exit slip road via M25 junction 15, M4 eastbound to junction 4 and return. A clearly signed diversion will be in place for the entry slip road via junction 13 and return.
Work to maintain safety by carrying out vegetation maintenance will start this week. The dedicated link road from Heathrow Airport Terminal 5 to the M25 clockwise will be closed overnight, between 10pm and 5am, from Monday 6 February for 4 nights. A clearly signed diversion will be in place via M25 junction 13 and return.
Work to maintain safety by carrying out drainage surveys will start this week. The dedicated link road from the M25 clockwise to the M4 westbound will be closed overnight, between 10pm and 5am, from Tuesday 7 February for 4 nights. A clearly signed diversion will be in place via the M4 eastbound to junction 4 and return.
Work to maintain safety by carrying out drainage repairs continues this week. The clockwise exit slip road will be closed overnight, between 10pm and 5.30am, from Monday 6 February for 5 nights. Work on Friday will start at 11pm. A clearly signed diversion will be in place via junction 20 and the A41.
Work to maintain safety by carrying out electrical repairs continues this week. The clockwise exit slip road will be closed overnight, between 10pm and 5am, on Tuesday 7 February. A clearly signed diversion will be in place via junction 23 and return.
Work to maintain safety by carrying out electrical repairs will start this week. The clockwise entry slip road will be closed overnight, between 10pm and 5am, on Thursday 9 January. A clearly signed diversion will be in place via junction 24 and return.
Work to improve journeys by carrying out resurfacing continues this week. The clockwise exit slip road will be closed overnight, between 10pm and 5.30am, from Monday 6 February for 5 nights. Work on Friday will start at 11pm. A clearly signed diversion will be in place for the A13 eastbound via the newly constructed dedicated link road from the M25 clockwise to the A13 eastbound.
A clearly signed diversion will be in place for the A13 westbound via the newly constructed dedicated link road from the M25 clockwise to the A13 eastbound, to the A126 and return.
The anti-clockwise exit slip road will be closed overnight, between 10pm and 5.30am, from Monday 6 February for 5 nights. Work on Friday will start at 11pm. A clearly signed pre-diversion will be in place for the A13 via M25 junction 31 and the A1306 to the Wennington Interchange.
Work to improve journeys by carrying out resurfacing continues this week. The northbound link road between junctions 31 and will be closed overnight, between 10pm and 5.30am, from Monday 6 February for 5 nights. Work on Friday will start at 11pm. A clearly signed diversion will be in place for the M25 anti-clockwise will be in place via the junction 31 roundabout, A1306, A13 eastbound and the newly constructed dedicated link road from the A13 eastbound to the M25 anti-clockwise. A clearly signed diversion will be in place for the A13 via M25 junction 31, A1306 and the A13.
Work to improve journeys by carrying out smart motorway improvement continues this week. The dedicated link roads from the M25 clockwise to the M3 in both directions will be closed overnight, between 8pm and 5.30am, on Monday 6 February. A clearly signed diversion will be in place for the M3 southbound via junction 13, A30 and the A322 to M3 junction 3. A clearly signed diversion will be in place for the M3 northbound via M25 junction 13 and return.
The dedicated link road from the M25 in both directions to the M3 southbound will be closed overnight, between 8pm and 5.30am, from Monday 6 February for 5 nights. Work on Saturday morning will finish at 7am. A clearly signed diversion from the M25 clockwise will be in place via M25 junction 13, A30 and the A322 to M3 junction 3. A clearly signed pre-diversion from the M25 anti-clockwise will be in place via junction 13, A30 and the A322 to M3 junction 3.
Work to improve journeys by carrying out resurfacing will start this week. The dedicated link road from the M40 eastbound to the M25 in both directions will be closed overnight, between 10pm and 5am, on Tuesday 7 February. A clearly signed diversion will be in place via M40 junction 1 and return.
Work to maintain safety by carrying out maintenance in the Hatfield Tunnel will start this week. The A1(M) southbound between junctions 4 and 2 will be closed overnight, between 10pm and 5am, on Wednesday 8 February and on Friday 10 February. A clearly signed diversion will be in place via the A1001.
Work to maintain safety by carrying out maintenance in the Hatfield Tunnel will start this week. The A1(M) northbound between junctions 3 and 4 will be closed overnight, between 10pm and 5am, on Thursday 9 February and Saturday 11 February. A clearly signed diversion will be in place via the A1001.
Work to improve journeys by carrying out resurfacing will start this week. The northbound exit slip road will be closed overnight, between 11pm and 5am, on Friday 10 February. A clearly signed diversion will be in place via junction 7 and return.
Work to maintain safety by carrying out electrical repairs continues this week. The eastbound entry slip road will be closed overnight, between 10pm and 5am, on Monday 6 February. A clearly signed diversion will be in place via the Black Prince interchange and return.
Work to improve journeys by carrying out resurfacing will start this week. The A13 westbound exit slip road will be closed overnight, between 10pm and 5.30am, from Monday 6 February for 5 nights. Work on Friday will start at 11pm. A clearly signed diversion will be in place for the M25 clockwise via the A13 westbound, A1306 and M25 junction 31 roundabout. A clearly signed diversion will be in place for the M25 anticlockwise via the A13 westbound to the A1306 and return on the A13 eastbound and the newly constructed dedicated link road from the A13 eastbound to the M25 anti-clockwise.
The A13 eastbound exit slip will be closed overnight, between 10pm and 5.30am, from Monday 6 February for 5 nights. Work on Friday will start at 11pm. A clearly signed diversion will be in place for the M25 anti-clockwise via the newly constructed dedicated link road from the A13 eastbound to the M25 anti-clockwise. A clearly signed diversion for the M25 clockwise will be in place via the newly constructed dedicated link road from the A13 eastbound to the M25 anti-clockwise, M25 junction 29 and return.
Work to improve safety by carrying out electrical installation will start this week. The dedicated link road from the A21 northbound to the M25 clockwise at junction 5 will be closed overnight, between 10pm and 5.30am, from Wednesday 8 February for 5 consecutive nights. A clearly signed diversion will be in place via M25 junction 4 and return.
Work to improve journeys at the Dartford Crossing continues this week. The following closures will be in place with fully signed diversions in place during the northbound east tunnel closures for oversized vehicles:
Work to maintain safety by carrying out tunnel maintenance continues this week. The northbound entry slip road will be closed overnight, between 9pm and 5.30am from Monday 6 February for 7 consecutive nights. A clearly signed diversion will be in place via the A282 southbound to junction 1b and return.
Members of the public should contact the Highways England customer contact centre on 0300 123 5000.
Journalists should contact the Highways England press office on 0844 693 1448 and use the menu to speak to the most appropriate press officer.
Feb32017
3 Feb 2017
A prominent Holyrood Committee has today published a report highlighting the importance of Scotland’s domestic trade with the rest of the UK.
The Scottish Parliament’s Economy, Jobs and Fair Work Committee, which has cross party representation, has today issued its report entitled: ‘The Economic Impact of Leaving the European Union’.
The committee has taken evidence on many issues including possible impacts and opportunities for Scotland’s exporters arising from the UK’s vote to leave the European Union.
Expert evidence given to the Committee has stressed the importance of Scotland maintaining unfettered access to the rest of the UK market, and also more needs to be done to support and encourage Scottish businesses to export to the EU and beyond’.
This comes only a week after Scottish Government export statistics confirmed that trade with the rest of the UK is four times more important to Scotland than trade with the rest of the EU.
Scottish Conservative shadow secretary for the economy, Dean Lockhart said:
‘’This report is a welcome addition to the debate on the EU and Scotland’s trading relationships.
“The committee heard from several expert witnesses who stressed the importance of Scotland retaining a free trading relationship with the rest of the UK, as it is over four times more important than our trade with the rest of the EU.
‘’This report also highlights the need to better equip our companies to deal in foreign markets, especially with significant opportunities to expand our trade in China and India.
‘’As the report itself concludes: it is clear from evidence received that more needs to be done to support and encourage Scottish businesses to export to the EU and beyond.
‘’It is now up to this SNP Government to work together with the UK Government in the upcoming negotiations to make sure that we get the best possible deal for Scotland and the UK.”
The report can be accessed here:
http://www.parliament.scot/S5_EconomyJobsFairWork/Reports/EJFWS052017R02.pdf
Professor R. Bradley MacKay, Chair in Strategic Management, University of St Andrews Management School provided evidence that:
”For the foreseeable future, the UK will be Scotland’s most important trading relationship and trading partner. Anything that comes between that will have a challenging impact on the Scottish economy. If we combine that with potentially being out of the EU, too, it is not a scenario worth thinking about—to be frank with you.
“Scotland’s number 1 priority must always be to keep that trade relationship with the rest of the UK open and fluid”.
Neil Francis, International Operations Director, Scottish Development International commented:
”Why would we try to make it more difficult to trade with our largest trading partner or reduce the amount of trade that we do with the rest of the UK? Whatever circumstances play out, it will be paramount that we protect free trade or the open market with the rest of the UK.’’