The trainer, based at Tidworth Garrison in Wiltshire, was first introduced in 2005 to train the commander, gunner and loader of an AS90 – a self-propelled 155mm Howitzer gun.

It is designed to allow gun crews to practice their routine firing drills, turret operating procedures and crew duties without the expense of live firing and offers the immersion and realism of firing, with a reduced safety risk and a highly reduced cost.

Based on a real AS90 turret, the trainer uses an electro-mechanical system to fully replicate a complete firing cycle. This includes the weight and size of the artillery rounds and the noise and turret movement on firing.

Since the trainer was introduced more than 8,500 soldiers have used the equipment. This experience enhances their safety for when they progress to live firing and allows them to focus on more advanced training scenarios.

Defence Minister Guto Bebb said:

This equipment provides high quality training for the British Army that’s also cost efficient. As live firing events are extremely expensive and can be logistically challenging, using the AS90 turret trainer is a great alternative. It also offers immersive training that prepares users for live firing both in practice and on the battlefield.

The 50,000th simulated round was fired by Lieutenant General Paul Jaques, Chief of Materiel (Land) at Defence Equipment & Support (DE&S), the MOD’s procurement agency based at MOD Abbey Wood in Bristol.

Lt Gen Paul Jaques said:

This firing marks another milestone demonstrating Defence’s innovative and cost-saving approach to deliver effective and worthwhile training for our personnel. I’m exceedingly proud of the team’s work and the benefits gained by the soldiers that get to use the training equipment.

The milestone, on February 14, represented savings of approximately £125 million over a 12-year period on the basis that live rounds cost £2,500 per use.

At the event in Bristol, a series of presentations provided details of the 2 challenges that make up the Defence and Security Accelerator competition Regenerative medicine at the front line.

Event slides

To set the scene, DASA Innovation Partner Jim Pennycook opened the event by giving an update on the Accelerator and an overview of research funding opportunities for innovative science and technology providers.

Challenge context and overview

Dr Abi Spear, Dstl’s Principal Scientist gave an overview of the competition and outlined its strategic importance. Lt Col Graham Lawton also briefed the audience on how front line services would use these emerging technologies and the difference it’s hoped it will make.

Technical overview

Dr Abi Spear then gave a technical overview and outlined the competition challenges. Information on the competition process was briefed by Emma Howe, Accelerator Competition Manager.

How to work with DASA

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

All queries will be answered by email. Send queries to our competition DSTLRegenDefenceAccelerator@dstl.gov.uk and DASA accelerator@dstl.gov.uk email inbox.

All employees of the group will be eligible to make a claim for redundancy, including those transferring to new suppliers.

We have established a specialist team spanning both the Redundancy Payments Service in the Insolvency Service and the company’s HR department to process these payments as quickly as possible. You should expect receive the information you need to submit your claim within seven days of being made redundant or transferring to a new employer.

As a result of the systems we have established to prioritise these payments we are aiming to pay your claim quicker than our agreed 14 day target.

• in total, to date 6,668 jobs have been saved and 989 jobs have been made redundant through the liquidation
• further information about rights in redundancy is available on gov.uk
• continued support by Carillion’s public and private sector customers is enabling as many employees as possible to be retained in the interim until all contracts have been worked through

The MMO granted a marine licence to Exmouth Marina in August 2017 for maintenance dredging of Exmouth Marina and disposal of materials at the Sprey Point disposal site. The dredging is due to take place in February 2018.

Information about the marine activities and licence documents are available online via the MMO’s public register (case reference MLA/2016/00372). The MMO is in the process of updating this with additional information requested by local residents.

Consultation on licence application

A public consultation on the application was held in November 2016. As part of this process views were also sought from the local planning and harbour authority which covers the marina, and the MMO’s primary advisors including Natural England, the Environment Agency, the Crown Estate and the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science. Trinity House were also consulted on navigational issues.

We resolved issues raised as part of the consultation process.

The public consultation process for marine licence applications is explained in further detail on the MMO’s blog.

Managing adverse impact on the marine area

The MMO is aware of the local concern about the potential impact on the marine environment after a pollution incident occurred following previous disposal activity in 2012, although there is no evidence which directly links the two events. Following full consideration of all information, including the responses from our primary and scientific advisors, we have applied additional licence conditions, in particular regarding tide working and seasonality to mitigate the risk of any material being washed ashore and impacting on bathing water quality.

Potential contamination arising as a result of the disposal activity was also addressed as part of the application process. The assessment, which was carried out in line with the OSPAR Guidelines, has shown that the material is suitable for disposal at sea.

The MMO’s coastal office will monitor and inspect the activity as appropriate to ensure that the licence conditions are adhered to and will work with other relevant agencies to look at any further concerns.

Disposal sites

It is up to applicants to nominate the disposal site as part of their marine licence application. The MMO then makes a decision based on the suitability of the material.

Where a marine licensable process involves any waste management activity then the provisions of the Waste Hierarchy of the Waste Framework Directive (WaFD) (Directive 2008/98/EC) directive have to be considered. Applicants are required to submit evidence that they have considered alternatives to disposal under all aspects of the Waster Hierarchy (Reduce, Re-use, Recycle, Recovery, and Disposal). However the MMO accepts that in some cases disposal at sea is appropriate.

The Prime Minister said:

My warm congratulations to President Ramaphosa on his election by Parliament today.

The United Kingdom greatly values its dynamic and forward-looking partnership with South Africa, underpinned by the strong people-to-people and business ties between our countries. I look forward to working closely with President Ramaphosa to help build a healthier, more secure and prosperous future for both our countries.

I very much hope to see the President at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in London in April.