Development plans which could see more than 10,000 new homes built across England and 14,000 new jobs created by 2024/25 are to be brought forward through a £15million government project.

The One Public Estate programme was launched in 2013 to make better use of public-sector sites, free up space for new homes and create jobs.

It encourages the emergency services, local councils and government departments to work more closely together by sharing sites and creating public-sector ‘hubs’ – where services are delivered in one place. So far, the programme has saved taxpayers £24million in running costs, created 5,745 new jobs and released land for the development of 3,336 new homes.

The latest round of the programme will see money and support given to more than 100 local public-sector partnerships across England, to bring forward proposals for a range of new projects on public-sector sites.

These include:

• £680,000 for projects in Waltham Forest, including proposals to bring forward the redevelopment of the 100-year-old Whipps Cross Hospital and sites in public and private ownership for housing development in the Forest Road Corridor
• £505,000 for projects in Devon and Torbay, including the regeneration of land around St David’s station in Exeter
• £405,000 for projects in Northamptonshire, including plans to release land around Kettering railway station for the development of new houses and station improvements
• £410,000 for projects in Worcestershire, including delivering new housing and regeneration around Redditch station, as part of the Rail Quarter development

The Minister for Implementation, Oliver Dowden, said:

Getting the best use out of publicly-owned land can help to regenerate our towns and cities and give people improved access to the services they need.

This programme shows that when government works smarter, with public authorities coming together, taxpayers get better value for money, new jobs are created and space is freed-up for vitally needed new homes.

The One Public Estate programme is a joint initiative between the Cabinet Office, the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government and the Local Government Association. It now covers 95% of all local authority areas in England.

Funding for the latest round of the programme will help with the creation of feasibility studies and masterplans for the potential development sites.

It is hoped the work will bring forward savings of £37million in public-sector running costs and allow the redevelopment of a large number of brownfield sites.

The Minister of State for Housing, Kit Malthouse, said:

This government is committed to helping more people get on the housing ladder and restoring the dream of home ownership for a new generation. The One Public Estates programme will not only help more people find a home of their own, but also help create jobs and save taxpayers’ money.

The latest projects to share £15million of funding will make a real difference to local communities and provide better services to residents.

Lord Porter, Chairman of the Local Government Association, said:

I’m pleased to see One Public Estate continue to grow from strength to strength. This latest round will see the programme now deliver more than 650 projects in total, all of which support councils to work with the wider public sector to deliver the best public services and place for their local communities.

The delivery of new homes remains a national priority and with 95% of councils now part of the programme. It’s clear to see that local government remains committed to building the right homes for the places they serve.

This notice was issued to Pilgrims Veterinary Practice.

The following contravened the Veterinary Medicines Regulation (VMR) 2013:

• Administration of a veterinary medicinal product not in accordance with its marketing authorisation. Evidence showed the broach date had been exceeded. This is in breach of Regulation 8 (Administration of the product) of the VMR.

The improvement required is:

• Practice must provide the procedures they will follow to ensure that broach limits are adhered to in the future.

Published 14 February 2019

The youngsters, aged 12-15, enjoyed talks from experts in Earth Observation, including the Environment Agency, the European Space Agency and the Satellite Applications Catapult, as well as the UK Space Agency.

The event, at the STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in Harwell, also included a “Careers Carousel”, which gave the children a chance to speak to a dozen organisations about the potential jobs on offer.

Space is one of the UK’s fastest growing sectors in the UK and it is estimated an additional 30,000 new staff will be required by 2030. The latest figures from the ‘UK space industry: size and health report’ show that Earth Observation services, such as data for climate change and agriculture, is a significant growth area, supporting £92 billion of GDP and growing at a rate of 25% per year.

Beth Greenaway, Head of Earth Observation at the UK Space Agency, said:

Earth Observation is a rapidly growing area of the space sector so it was fantastic to have the opportunity to tell so many young people about the huge variety of exciting careers available to them.

Our aim is that over the next decade innovative new technologies developed by the UK Earth Observation space sector will make substantial contributions to economic growth, new jobs and societal benefit. It’s vital that we have enthusiastic young people coming through to help continue to realise the potential of Earth Observation.

The Government’s modern industrial strategy is supporting the space sector, including through a £50 million programme to enable the launch of small satellites, which could be used in the future for Earth Observation missions. Last week, Orbex unveiled its ‘Prime’ rocket that could be used to launch such satellites from a proposed spaceport in Sutherland, Scotland.

The students attending the careers event were from Didcot Girls’ School, King Alfred’s Academy in Wantage, John Mason School in Abingdon and Space Studio, in London.

Companies taking part included Geocento Ltd, Deimos Space and Telespazio VEGA UK, which has just secured new contracts worth €12 million over the next three years. These new contracts are from the European Space Agency and the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts – both international partnership bodies we will remain members of. The contracts cover climate services and quality assurance of Earth Observation data, from some of the most cutting edge new commercial satellite mission.

Graham Turnock, CEO of the UK Space Agency, said:

These new contract wins are an excellent example of where the UK is taking leadership on the global stage, including through our membership of the European Space Agency, and Copernicus in the exploitation and use of high quality Earth Observation and Climate services.

This should enable significant impact and growth in the form of applications and space enabled services to the wider user community, and we congratulate Telespazio VEGA UK on these important success stories.

By 2040 it is expected that satellite Earth Observations will provide the data to underpin mass market and business applications, global cutting-edge science, and also policy and operational decision making.

A fairer and more flexible deal for football fans who are affected when matches are rapidly rescheduled is “within reach”, Rail Minister Andrew Jones announced today (14 February 2019).

The Department for Transport has reached an agreement with football authorities, British Transport Police (BTP) and the Rail Delivery Group (RDG), representing train companies and Network Rail, that will see the Premier League working with the industry to create a package of measures aimed at improving the railways for all users on match days.

It will focus on encouraging more people to travel by train to football games, and will also ensure that passengers should not have to pay more for their train tickets in the event a match is rescheduled for TV.

The Premier League is currently drawing up an agreement to underpin this commitment. When confirmed by train operators and football clubs, trials will be launched to understand how future schemes can deliver more flexibility over train tickets for fans, improve stewarding on trains and lead to closer interaction between clubs and the BTP, ensuring better support and security on matchdays.

Rail Minister Andrew Jones said:

Football is all about passionate fans, and the last thing loyal supporters deserve is to pay more when matches are rescheduled at the last minute.

That’s why I’m delighted that the government has helped secure a vital agreement that will bring together clubs, operators and British Transport Police. Significant changes are now within reach, which can ensure even more people use our railways to get to games and improve the experience for all passengers on match days.

To drive this forward, I will be meeting with the Premier League and rail industry shortly to ensure our focus is on delivering a safe, secure and fair railway that works for fans, passengers, the clubs and the operators.

William Bush, Premier League Executive Director, said:

We are working closely with the government on an extensive range of schemes, and we are confident there are some truly transformational projects that we can take forward.

Both the Premier League and government are committed to working hard for a fairer, affordable, safer deal for football fans. We continue to work with rail industry leaders on proposals and look forward to setting out a joint way forward which will improve the travelling experience for fans on matchdays.

BTP Assistant Chief Constable Robin Smith said:

We fully endorse these discussions and are delighted to work alongside the government and the Premier League with a view to improving the travelling experience for all passengers particularly on match days.

Quite rightly the railway is a popular method of transport for fans and that’s why we are determined to work together to ensure journeys are a positive experience that don’t require police intervention. We’re really looking forward to and are excited by the next steps in this process.

Paul Plummer, RDG Chief Executive, said:

It’s not fair that last minute changes to the match day schedule can increase costs for travelling fans which is why train companies are working together to see how we can increase flexibility and give people more certainty about their ticket.

This has to be alongside the ongoing, cross-industry work to tackle anti-social behaviour from an extreme minority of people on match days so that we can ensure everyone travelling can have a comfortable journey.

The government is focused on delivering successful trials as quickly as possible. If successful, these could then be rolled out more widely to cover fans across the country.

Up to 670 new homes are to be built on three sites in Welwyn Garden City and Hatfield, South Hertfordshire, supported by £10.6 million funding from Homes England.

The funding has been awarded to Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council and is the first to be agreed through the Government’s £450 million Accelerated Construction Programme.

The programme was launched to accelerate the delivery of local authority housing schemes and encourages the use of innovative construction methods and a wider range of builders, in particular small and medium sized companies.

The three sites to benefit from the funding include two Town Centre sites in Hatfield and one in Welwyn Garden City. Each will incorporate the use modern construction methods, to minimise onsite disruption in the town centre areas and speed up the delivery of the new homes.

Work is due to start on the first site at Hatfield Town Centre in June 2019, with each development including a target of 30 percent affordable housing.

Stephen Kinsella, Executive Director for Land at Homes England, said: “I’m delighted to see this first accelerated construction grant agreement being signed. The funding will enable Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council to develop their ambitious proposals for these three sites and will help to deliver much needed new homes for local people.

“The plans will prioritise the use of modern methods of construction including panellised and hybrid construction which will reduce time on site and minimise the impact on the local community, whilst delivering precision engineered high quality homes.”

Cllr Duncan Bell, the Council’s Executive Member for Resources, said: “Creating vibrant, bustling town centres that are fit for the future is at the heart of our vision for each of these sites. The funding from Homes England means that we can now undertake the work necessary to get these sites ready for us to build new homes and we are looking forward to developing detailed designs and plans to share with the community.”

Cllr Tony Kingsbury, Leader of the Council, said: “We are really proud to be the first local authority to secure funding from this programme. The schemes will not only deliver much needed new homes for the area, but will also bring increased footfall to our town centres and support the local economy to thrive.”

ENDS

For more information contact Kate Hall, Communications Officer at Homes England 0115 852 6900 or 07967 782252 kate.hall@homesengland.gov.uk

Notes to Editors

• The £450 million Accelerated Construction Programme includes the Greater London Authority areas.

Homes England is the new housing delivery organisation that has been created to adopt a more commercial approach to respond to the long term housing challenges facing this country. The new, expanded agency will play a far bigger role in investing in supply and intervening in the market to help deliver 300,000 homes a year by the middle of the next decade.

For more information visit our home page or follow us on Twitter @HomesEngland

Welwyn Garden City

In Welwyn Garden City, the 14 acre town centre north site between John Lewis and the bus station will receive around £6.1m. The funding will enable the development and expansion of existing high-level plans outlined in an agreed Supplementary Planning Document. More ambitious proposals for this area have the potential to deliver up to 410 homes, retail space and better infrastructure in the heart of the garden city.

Hatfield

In Hatfield two pivotal sites in the heart of the town centre will receive nearly £4.5m.

This will help bring forward plans for 1 and 3-9 Town Centre, earmarked for new homes, shops and restaurants, with the remainder being used to develop plans for new homes on Link Drive. Both sites are areas of opportunity identified in the Hatfield 2030+ Renewal Framework, and their development is a crucial step in the ongoing regeneration plans to make the town centre a more attractive, vibrant place which has already seen £15m invested by the council.