Tag Archives: HM Government

Renowned experts at the company responsible for the country’s motorways and major A roads are updating the “Design Manual for Roads and Bridges” (DMRB) to make it easier for designers to understand and use.

The DMRB is a cornerstone of the delivery and management of motorway and all-purpose trunk roads across the UK and is a respected document used across the globe.

The modified standards are being published in phases, with the first set being released in 2018 and the full update complete by the end of March 2020.

The re-drafting will be completed using a revolutionary online authoring tool, signalling an important move to digital technology and therefore give the potential for future updates to be more straightforward.

Highways England Chief Highway Engineer, Mike Wilson said:

Highways England is the recognised authority for road design, building and maintenance, and our standards are used across the globe.

This is an exciting time for the highways sector and as we deliver both the government’s £15 billion road investment programme and look ahead to 2020 and beyond, we are delighted to be able to start releasing the first updates to this crucially important document.

We are grateful to our partners in the industry who have supported this significant review which will ensure our roads are designed, built and maintained to the very highest, safest standards.

In April 2015 Highways England began working on a project to review and update the complete suite of over 350 documents and associated Interim Advice Notes (IANs) that make up the manual. This is a specific requirement of the Protocol attached to the Highways England Licence as part of the Government’s Road Investment Strategy.

These changes include making it easier to produce and maintain the manual. Requirements and advice will be easier to distinguish, which will result in fewer departures from the standards required for new schemes and the time/cost associated with these.

Over the years, the existing manual has become difficult to use due to the many revisions and variations in language and style. Following a consultation with key stakeholders and users of the manual, a number of changes have been implemented including a new set of drafting rules that follow best practice from national and international standardisation organisations.

The governance processes are also being updated to streamline the development process of the standards and make it more efficient.

To support this extremely ambitious and demanding programme, Highways England is supported by several leading UK consultants, providing world class expertise, to ensure that the manual is fit for the future. Collaboration among suppliers and leaner ways of working are key to successfully delivering the updates.

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.

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Details of the completion of the two challenges that make up the Defence and Security Accelerator competition can be found at Future Aviation Security Solutions (FASS): finding explosives hidden in electrical items.

Event summary

Accelerator Innovation Partner Jim Pennycook opened the innovation network event by welcoming the delegates and gave an overview of the day which signposted the research funding opportunities for innovative science and technology providers in this themed competition.

FASS programme overview and keynote address

Tim Cook, Programme Manager for the Department of Transport briefed the audience on the Department of Transport (DoT) FASS programme – the background, current projects currently being funded and future plans to address the barriers to innovation in aviation security.

Parliamentary under Secretary for the Department of Transport Baroness Sugg CBE gave the keynote presentation.

Competition briefing

After coffee break, Tim Cook then gave the audience an overview of this competition and highlighted key points. James MacDonald gave a science and technology perspective and Andy Price provided an airport perspective which brought the challenges to life.

Competition process and overview

Information on the competition’s scope, process and key milestones was briefed by Emma Howe, Accelerator Competition Manager.

How to work with DASA

Mike Madden, Open Call for Innovation Lead then gave an overview and update on DASA and then outlined how organisations can work with the Accelerator and gave advice on how to submit good proposals for funding.

All queries will be answered by email. Send queries to our competition FASS@dft.gsi.gov.uk and DASA accelerator@dstl.gov.uk email inboxes.

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Firth Rixson Metals Limited has been ordered to pay a fine of £80,000 after pleading guilty to polluting a watercourse in Glossop.

The Environment Agency prosecuted the company after over 600 litres of a solution of hydrochloric acid, caustic soda and water polluted nearby Shelf Brook.

This had a significant impact to the brook, resulting in 199 dead brown trout within a 500 metre stretch, with invertebrates also affected over two kilometres. The fins and eyes of the fish were noted to have a burnt appearance.

Member of the public reported incident

A member of the public initially reported the pollution in Shelf Brook to our Incident Hotline in April 2015.

Officers attended the area and found dead fish. Samples taken from the brook and a drain leading from the Firth Rixson Metals site into the brook were found to contain a highly alkaline liquid, made up of various metals, at elevated levels.

As part of Firth Rixson Metal’s manufacturing process, an acid scrubber was used. Hydrochloric acid emissions were neutralised with caustic soda. Below the scrubber was a waste tank in a plastic containment bund.

Environment Agency launched investigation

The Environment Agency investigation identified a valve had been left open. This allowed water into the scrubber unit and the automatic dosing equipment had continued to add caustic soda. Staff failed to respond properly to alarms and a pump, which should have returned the solution, failed to activate.

This resulted in a highly alkaline solution overflowing from the containment bund, which entered the nearby drain to the brook. The company had failed to cap the drain, despite recent advice from local authority inspectors.

Pollution had significant impact

In sentencing, District Judge Davison said Firth Rixson Metals Ltd had allowed a state of affairs to exist which led to the incident.

Mark Easedale, Environment Manager for Greater Manchester, said:

This pollution incident had a significant impact on Shelf Brook, killing brown trout, which are a key indicator species of good water quality. The sentencing sends out a very clear message to anyone whose recklessness and negligence causes serious pollution to the environment. We will not hesitate to take action against polluters.

Our staff work 24/7 to protect people and wildlife from pollution incidents and we encourage people to report such incidents to the Environment Agency’s Incident Hotline on 0800 80 70 60.

Firth Rixson Metals Ltd pleaded guilty to causing a water discharge activity not under and to the extent authorised by an Environmental Permit contrary to the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2010.

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We are responsible for the administration of criminal, civil and family courts in England and Wales and tribunals in England, Wales and Scotland. Our National Business Centres provide administrative and customer service support taking on key administr… read more

The new members are:

• Mrs Jane Burgess
• Mr Michael Cutting
• Mr Paul Dollman
• Mr Tim Frazer
• Professor Robin Mason
• Mr Derek Ridyard
• Mr Timothy Sawyer CBE

Notes to editors

1. Ordinary members are selected for their expertise in law, business, accountancy, economics and other related fields. Prior to the making of these appointments, the Tribunal’s panel of ordinary members consisted of 26 members (11 of whose terms of appointment will end on 3 January 2019).

2. The new members are appointed for 8 years and paid according to the amount of time that they spend working for the Tribunal, based on a daily rate of £400. The appointments carry no right of pension, gratuity or allowance on their termination.

3. All appointments are made on merit and political activity plays no part in the selection process. However, in accordance with the original Nolan recommendations, there is a requirement for appointees’ political activity to be made public. None of the new members are politically active.

4. Although these appointments do not come within the remit of the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments (OCPA), they have been made following OCPA best practice.

5. The Tribunal is a specialist judicial body with cross-disciplinary expertise in law, economics, business and accountancy. It consists of the President, Chairmen, who are appointed by the Lord Chancellor, and the panel of ordinary members. Cases are heard before a Tribunal consisting of 3 members: either the President or a member of the panel of Chairmen and two ordinary members.

About the new members

Jane Burgess

Jane Burgess has been with the John Lewis Partnership since 1993 first starting as staff and training manager and her last position was as Partners’ Counsellor on the board which she relinquished in October 2017. Her current appointments are as a Lay Member on the House of Commons Committee on Standards, a Commissioner for the Civil Service Commission and a member of the Business Advisory Board at Surrey Business School. Her appointment as an ordinary member will commence in February 2018.

Michael Cutting

Michael Cutting has been a partner of Linklaters LLP since 1995. He has specialised in UK and EU competition law and the law relating to the economic regulation of utilities since qualifying as a solicitor in 1988. His appointment as an ordinary member will commence in October 2018.

Paul Dollman

Paul Dollman is now retired and is currently Audit Committee chairman for Wilmington PLC, Verastar and Arqiva. He is also a non-executive director of Scottish Amicable, a member of the Audit Committee of the National Library of Scotland, honorary teaching fellow at the University of St Andrews Business School and Governor of the Edinburgh Academy of St Leonards School. His most recent role before he retired was group finance director at John Menzies PLC between 2002 and 2013. His appointment as an ordinary member will commence in February 2018.

Tim Frazer

Tim Frazer was a partner at Arnold & Porter LLP (now Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP) from 1999, during which time he advised on both conduct and merger cases in the EU and UK, and on compliance and audit processes in various jurisdictions worldwide that have adopted the EU approach to competition law. He was previously at Newcastle University, between 1980 and 1997, as Lecturer in Law, Dean of Law and Professor of Law. He is the author of a number of textbooks on competition law. His appointment as an ordinary member will commence in February 2018.

Robin Mason

Professor Robin Mason is Pro-Vice-Chancellor (International) at the University of Birmingham. He was previously Pro-Vice-Chancellor and Executive Dean (Business School) of the University of Exeter, as well as Professor of Economics. His area of expertise is industrial organisation in general, and in particular the economics of regulation and competition. He has provided expert advice for a number of regulators, in the UK and internationally, on competition matters and spectrum auctions and has advised the Prime Minister of Mauritius on competition legislation. His appointment as an ordinary member will commence in February 2018.

Derek Ridyard

Derek Ridyard is one of the founders of RBB Economics LLP. His active involvement at RBB will cease when his appointment as an ordinary member commences in February 2018. He has 30 years’ experience working in private practice specialising as an expert on the economics of competition, trade, regulation and intellectual property. He holds a BSc in Economics from Southampton University and an MSc in Economics from the London School of Economics. Prior to co-funding RBB Economics, he worked for 15 years in the competition practice at economic consultants NERA, and for five years in the UK Government Economic Service, including spells working as an economist at the Office of Fair Trading and the Department of Trade and Industry.

Timothy Sawyer

Timothy Sawyer is an executive with expertise in turnaround, start-up and growth opportunities having both a UK and international perspective. He is currently Chief Investment Officer at Innovate UK and was formerly Chief Executive Officer of Start-Up Loans and Chairman of Folk2Folk. He was awarded a CBE for services to Government and small business in the Queen’s Birthday Honours 2016. He has been Executive Director of Cahoot and Ivobank and Non-Executive Director of Banque Dubois, China PNR, Visa UK, Link, Eftpos UK, Card Payment Group. His appointment as an ordinary member will commence in February 2018.

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