Professor Laurence Williams FREng FIMechE FNucI stood down as Chair of the Committee on Radioactive Waste Management (CoRWM) in November 2017. He has held the post since November 2012.

Professor Williams has had a long and distinguished career in the field of nuclear regulation, fulfilling the role of the government’s Chief Inspector of Nuclear Installations from 1998 to 2005, and is currently Chair of the Defence and Nuclear Safety Committee. He is Professor of Nuclear Safety at the University of Central Lancashire, and a senior research fellow at Imperial College London.

Professor Williams said:

The effective management of the UK’s radioactive waste is essential not only to deal with past legacies but also for the successful exploitation of nuclear energy in the future. CoRWM has made, and will continue to make an important contribution to the management of radioactive waste.

The past 5 years have been both challenging and rewarding knowing that I have been able to contribute to this essential task. It has been both an honour and privilege to have chaired a committee of such distinguished and talented people.

I have every confidence that the current members of CoRWM will continue to provide invaluable advice to ensure that the new Geological Disposal Facility (GDF) siting process will be a success.

Energy Minister Richard Harrington said:

On behalf of BEIS and the devolved administrations, I would like to thank Professor Williams for his outstanding commitment, dedication and professionalism serving as Chair of the Committee on Radioactive Waste Management (CoRWM) for the last 5 years.

CoRWM performs a vital function in providing scrutiny and advice on government radioactive waste management programmes. This has included constructive feedback and challenge in various fora such as the Geological Disposal Programme Board, as well as an invaluable level of independent assurance.

You have made an enormous contribution to the committee over the years and we particularly wish to thank you for your commitment to the timely and effective delivery of successive work programmes and CoRWM annual reports; your contribution to the implementation strategy for Scotland’s policy on higher activity radioactive waste; and your assistance in the development of the Welsh government’s radioactive waste policy.

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has launched a recruitment campaign to find a new Chair for CoRWM, expected to complete by April 2018. Further details can be found on the public appointments website.

CoRWM’s Deputy Chair Professor Campbell Gemmell is standing in as interim Chair of the Committee until a new Chair is appointed.

1. The Committee on Radioactive Waste Management provides independent scrutiny and advice to UK government and devolved administration ministers on long-term management of radioactive waste, including storage and disposal. The Committee’s primary task is to provide independent scrutiny of the UK government’s and Nuclear Decommissioning Authority’s proposals, plans and programmes to deliver geological disposal, together with robust interim storage, as the long-term management option for higher activity waste. For more information see the CoRWM website.

2. The role of CoRWM Chair is remunerated at a rate of £450 per day; it is expected that the Chair will spend about 1.5 days per week on CoRWM business.

3. The appointment is made by the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Minister for Energy and Industry, on behalf of the Devolved Administrations as joint sponsors of CoRWM.

4. Appointments to CoRWM are made in accordance with the Code of Practice of the Commissioner for Public Appointments. All appointments are made on merit and political activity plays no part in the selection process. However, in accordance with the Nolan recommendations, appointees’ political activity (if any declared) must be made public.

Approximately 50 products were seized as they were intended for supply and administration to animals by a person not authorised to do so. These products included authorised Prescription Only Medicines (POM-V and POM-VPS) as well as human products and unauthorised veterinary medicinal products.

The supply and administration of these products is an offence under Regulation 8 (Administration of the product), Regulation 26 (Possession of an unauthorised veterinary medicinal product) and Schedule 3, paragraph 3 (Retail supply of veterinary medicinal products) of the Veterinary Medicines Regulations 2013.

This seizure is linked to the improvement notice issued at the same time.

This notice was issued to the Cambridge Cavy Trust, for prescribing and supplying POM-V, POM-VPS, NFA-VPS and human medicines to animals by a person not authorised to do so, and possession of unauthorised medicinal products.

The improvements required are to:

• cease supply of any POM-V, POM-VPS, NFA-VPS and human medicines, unless they have been previously prescribed and supplied by a person authorised to do so in accordance with Schedule 3 of the Veterinary Medicines Regulations (VMR)
• provide written confirmation of actions to be taken to ensure that the requirements of the VMR will be complied with

This improvement is linked to the seizure notice issued at the same time.

This follows the announcement in October 2017 that all customer telephone lines would be free to call by the end of the year.

Work and Pensions Secretary of State David Gauke said:

People can access support online and our Jobcentre Plus work coaches can also provide help accessing our benefits and services. But we also understand that at times people may need to speak to someone on the telephone.

We want this process to be as accessible as possible and that’s why we have made all DWP customer telephone lines Freephone numbers.

The introduction of Freephone numbers started with Universal Credit helplines on 29 November 2017 and was completed when the final set of numbers were introduced on 21 December 2017.

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Sellafield Ltd’s pledge for Christmas 2017 was to support a range charities throughout Cumbria and Warrington.

With the support of supply chain companies, a total of £75,000 was raised for the below causes;

• Shoebox appeal for the elderly – 120 shoe boxes full of gifts were delivered to elderly care home residents at Castle Mount, Bethany House, Bethshan, Dentholme and Wyndam House.

• North Lakes Foodbank – 800kg worth of tinned food will make up around 150 food packs for families in need.

• Cash4Kids ‘Mission Christmas’ – £6,365 cash donations and 52,217 worth of gifts will help 700 children in Cumbria. Courage the Cat’s visit to site brought in an extra £2,300.

• Home Start, Warrington – Over 400 bedtime gifts contributed to 61 bedtime hampers for children with an additional cash donation of £323.44.

• Room at the Inn, Warrington – Hundreds of tins and toiletries donated to Room at the Inn. An additional £323.44 cash was raised at Daresbury and an extra £335 came from Christmas Jumper day.

• Families and Wellbeing toy appeal – Hundreds of gifts and pyjamas were donated for families supported by Warrington Borough Council’s Neighbourhood team.

Throughout December, employees and supply chain colleagues have been directed to local shops to purchase gifts, toys and food, and asked to take an extra Christmas gift to work – meaning Cumbrian and Warrington businesses have also benefited from the appeal.

The CFM radio charity mascot, Courage the Cat, made his way around the nuclear site to carry out a mass collection of gifts for disabled and disadvantaged children throughout Cumbria.

Hundreds of toys were also donated in the Warrington area by employees.

Barbara Parratt, from the Families and Wellbeing Toy Appeal said:

For us, it’s not just a gift to help make a Christmas for the families we support, it’s part of us helping and working with a family to ensure they get the support in terms of debt and deprivation.

Jamie Reed, Sellafield Ltd’s head of community and development, explained:

We are intrinsically linked to our communities. There is no ‘us’ and ‘them’. When you donate toys for local children there is a good chance that they will end up in houses on your street. When you donate to a food bank it is likely that you have helped a friend of a friend to feed their families.

We have the power to make a real difference to the lives of people in your community, during what can be a very stressful time of the year.

It was great to watch the gifts come pouring in and the cash buckets filling up, which is a reflection of how compassionate and generous our workers and supply chain are.

The campaign was managed by Sellafield Ltd and supported by supply chain companies like ARCO and Mitie, who also helped to transport and store the gifts.

Other companies who supported the campaign include Carillon, Kaefer, Doosan, Jacobs, ATOS, Morgan Sindall, Wood, PacTec, TSP Engineering, Civil Nuclear Constabulary, Canon, Balfour Beatty, Franks Portlock, M+W Group, Hertel, National Nuclear Laboratory and Areva.