Could you create a road surface that heals itself to make it more resilient for the future? Do you have an idea or product that will help prepare the highways infrastructure for the coming of connected and autonomous vehicles (CAV)?

If you or your company has a solution which could help transform England’s motorways and major A roads then Highways England wants to hear from you.

The company responsible for maintaining, operating and improving the strategic road network has today launched an ‘Innovation Portal’ to help identify things that could make roads safer for motorists and road workers, improve how information reaches those travelling around or help deliver an ambitious programme of road schemes.

The online platform shows just some of the research and development being funded by Highways England through a special fund it has ring-fenced for innovation. These include an intelligent and connected construction plant development to make excavation work safer and more productive, mobile safety equipment to protect our road workers and CAV test bed sites to prepare our network for future vehicles.

Launching the portal, Paul Doney, Innovation and Continuous Improvement Director, Highways England, said:

This is a really exciting time to work in infrastructure and in a world with technology at our fingertips the possibilities for the future are endless.

At Highways England we have an ambitious roads programme and we want to harness the good ideas out there to help us build our future network.

The new Innovation Portal gives a two-way platform to connect on. It shows everyone the areas that really matter to us and the challenges we expect to face: improving safety for road users and our work force, customer service and delivering our ambitious road programme.

If you think you can help us and want to be part of this come and speak with us at Highways England.

The company is keen to engage with the industry, small and medium-sized enterprises, research organisations and academic bodies.

Highways England also wants people to understand the ‘journey’ their idea or product will go on. Solutions to problems are fed by the discovery stage of research, which Highways England is keen to support. Beyond that it’s about developing new products and services and how innovation can be linked to what customers want; it also needs to deliver value for money. The big challenge is then to ‘land’ innovation and make it business as usual through standardisation.

A previous innovation which is now standard is the way Highways England models major improvement schemes. Historically a bespoke model would be built for each scheme, incurring significant cost and time.
The new models now provide the opportunity for the traffic model building process to “hit the ground running” with a much stronger information base helping Highways England to deliver projects in a shorter timescale and in turn providing the benefits sooner. Furthermore they have been used to provide information for models developed by a number of local authorities and Sub-Regional Transport Bodies, providing wider benefits to the country.

Another innovation in development is looking toward building a real-time simulation of our network using computer gaming technology to improve decision making when assessing the operational impact of incident management or changes to the road layout.

Highways England wants to use the new portal to reach outside of the company and show people what it will be like to work with them and maximise opportunities. This could be through funding or connecting idea owners up with others who may be able to work with them.

Currently Highways England is supporting over 95 projects across the country with investment from the £150 million special fund for innovation. The portal shows the process for applying, as well as live research and innovation competitions. Anyone who wants to engage with the company should get in touch via the Innovation Portal.

Interview opportunity:

Paul Doney, Highways England, is available for interview on Wednesday 27 June (afternoon only) or Thursday 28 June, where he is attending the Traffex Seeing Is Believing event. If you are interested in speaking to Paul, please call Kelly Barnes or Andy Broughton, Highways England Press Office on 0844 693 1448 (select Option 1).

Note: the “Fourth Industrial Revolution” (see title of news release) is referenced in an independent report “Made Smarter Review” published by Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy in October 2017.

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.

LLW Repository Ltd has signed a multi-million pound contract with Orano TN for the supply of packaging, professional services and equipment to facilitate the safe and cost effective transport of waste from UK nuclear sites to Sellafield for storage.

The scope of the contract includes the modernisation and maintenance of three TN Gemini packages, owned by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA), and the supply of logistical equipment recently approved by the French Nuclear Safety Authority.

David Rossiter, LLWR’s Head of Waste Management Services, who attended the contract launch event in Paris on behalf of the organisation, said:

Orano TN has deployed these market-leading containers in France for over two decades, and this contract marks a milestone in establishing a long term relationship with the UK.

It will facilitate the transport in TN Gemini packages of legacy waste stored on Magnox sites, and that is great news for the NDA estate.

The contract covers the requirements of multiple UK nuclear Site Licence Companies for up to six years.

LLWR Programme Manager Alan Jackson said:

LLWR’s engagement with Orano TN for these supply and professional services contracts embodies a key part of our mission.

Not only does it represent LLWR’s international outlook for the safest solutions to the UK’s waste transport programme, but it also shows our commitment to gaining the best value for money for the UK taxpayer.

David Ohayon, Senior Vice President Waste of Orano TN, the logistics subsidiary of the global nuclear fuel cycle company, Orano, said:

Our ability to offer innovative and competitive products and services has been formally recognised by our partners LLWR and Magnox.

Orano TN is proud to contribute to this vital programme for the sustainability of nuclear energy in the UK.

The following products, intended for the aquarium and pond fish market, were seized as they are unauthorised veterinary medicines.

• 9 x Pond professional range – Formalachite (3 x 500ml, 6 x 250ml)

• 9 x Pond Professional range – Malachite (3x 500ml, 6 x 250ml)

The sale and supply of these products is an offence under Regulation 4 (Placing a veterinary medicinal product on the market) and Regulation 26 (Possession of an unauthorised veterinary medicinal product) of the Veterinary Medicines Regulations.

In the first report of its kind, Public Health England (PHE) has revealed the impact of women’s reproductive health issues on the nation’s physical, mental and social wellbeing. The report combines women’s experiences, as reported in a new survey, with existing data to define reproductive health as a public health issue.

The report shows for the first time the extent of the impact these issues have on women’s ability to work and go about their daily lives and will form the basis of a cross-governmental 5-year action plan on reproductive health.

The survey of 7,367 women reveals that 31% had experienced severe reproductive health symptoms in the last 12 months, ranging from heavy menstrual bleeding to menopause, incontinence to infertility.

The hidden burden of reproductive health was particularly evident in the workplace. Focus groups undertaken as part of the study revealed that reproductive symptoms often affect women’s ability to carry out daily activities, but many conceal their symptoms from work colleagues.

Existing studies show that 12% of women have taken a day off work due to menopause symptoms and 59% have lied to their boss about the reasons for their absence. In addition, the PHE survey revealed that 35% of women have experienced heavy menstrual bleeding, which previous evidence shows is associated with higher unemployment and absence from work. Stigma surrounding reproductive health was a key concern for women taking part in the survey, with less than half of women seeking help for their symptoms, regardless of severity.

Overall, the report highlighted that women would like reproductive health issues to be normalised so that they can be discussed openly and self-managed where possible. It also underlines the need for more openness and support in the workplace around these issues.

Angela Kilcoyne, 44 and lives in Derbyshire, took part in a PHE focus group, said:

Since I was 13, I have felt embarrassed about having heavy menstrual bleeding – a health issue which has caused me debilitating pain and nausea.

I worked for years in banking, which was a very male dominated environment, and I never told my managers that I was off due to horrendous period pain. They would not have understood at all, so I would have to invent reasons month after month and soldier on. Or I would dose myself up and try and get through the day best I could, then collapse when I got home.

Reproductive health should be spoken about in the workplace in the same way as sickness or flu.

Dr Sue Mann, Public Health Consultant in Reproductive Health, from PHE said:

Women’s reproductive health concerns can fundamentally influence physical and mental well-being throughout their whole life course. Our research has highlighted that while individual reproductive health issues and concerns change throughout a woman’s life, the feelings of stigmatisation and embarrassment were almost universal.

The report reveals the need for an open and supportive approach in the workplace and in the health system. We encourage women to seek support from their workplace, and for workplace management to be aware of how reproductive health symptoms can affect women’s daily life.

A new consensus statement, which brings together 18 healthcare bodies, including Department of Health and Social Care, NHS England and the Royal College of GPs, has positioned reproductive health as a public health issue that needs to be addressed. Working with partners, PHE will create an integrated cross-governmental five-year action plan, informed by the best available data and women’s real life experiences of reproductive health symptoms.

Background

1. World Health Organisation defines good reproductive health as ‘A state of physical, mental, and social well-being in all matters relating to the reproductive system. It addresses the reproductive processes, functions and system at all stages of life and implies that people are able to have a satisfying and safe sex life and that they have the capability to reproduce and the freedom to decide if, when, and how often to do so.’
2. This report was launched after Dame Sally Davies, Chief Medical Officer, called on ‘increased awareness, dissemination of information and person-centred care’ around reproductive health in her 2014 annual report The Health of the 51%: Women.