Day: May 10, 2018

The project involves concrete repairs and waterproofing along a two-mile section of the ageing viaduct in the West Midlands.

Work on the southbound carriageway, between junctions 1 and 2, is approaching completion and in the coming weeks the entire operation, involving more than 500 workers, transfers to the northbound carriageway.

Already more than 5,000 separate repairs have been carried out on the southbound carriageway, 3,500 more than anticipated.

The majority of work is scheduled to continue until autumn 2018, with other work continuing into spring 2019.

Highways England senior project manager, Zbigniew Twarowski, said:

The scale of this project is vast and has involved a large number of repairs.

On top of that we’ve had one of the harshest winters in years, which has added to the challenges.

We will not know the full extent of the repairs needed on the northbound carriageway until work there is under way.

We appreciate the level of disruption this project involves and I’d like to thank motorists, businesses and residents for their patience. Meanwhile, our teams are working as hard as they can to get the job done.

At more than £100 million, M5 Oldbury is believed to be the largest concrete repair project, by value, ever carried out in Britain.

Much of the work takes place underneath the viaduct and so workers cannot always be seen on the surface itself.

To keep the motorway open, a contraflow system is in place with traffic currently using the northbound carriageway with two lanes operating in each direction, along with a 30mph speed limit. Traffic is anticipated to move to the southbound carriageway in June.

Slip roads at junctions 1 and 2 are being kept open to ease effects on the local network.

However, as part of the work, a number of closures of the southbound off-slip at junction 2 are planned, for more information check the Highways England Roadworks Finder.

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.

Local Government Secretary, the Rt Hon James Brokenshire MP, has today (10 May 2018) announced he is sending commissioners into Northamptonshire County Council to ensure residents receive the high quality services they need and deserve.

Mr Brokenshire confirmed 2 commissioners would meet senior officials and councillors before beginning their work to help rebuild the authority.

The action follows the publication of an independent report which highlighted serious failings within the council.

In a written ministerial statement to Parliament, the Secretary of State said the commissioners would be led by Tony McArdle, former Chief Executive of Lincolnshire County Council. He will be supported by Brian Roberts, former Deputy Chief Executive of Leicestershire County Council, and an expert in financial management.

Local Government Secretary, the Rt Hon James Brokenshire MP, said:

Action of this kind is rare and is not taken lightly, but I simply cannot ignore the scale of the problems facing Northamptonshire.

It is essential residents are able to have faith in their council, particularly in the responsible use of taxpayers’ money.

That’s why I’m taking swift action by appointing commissioners who carry with them a wealth of experience. I am confident they will dedicate themselves to the task at hand.

Northamptonshire County Council, the district and borough councils and voluntary organisations have all supported the appointment of commissioners.

Directions given to the commissioners will see them take over the council’s functions associated with governance and scrutiny, appointment of statutory officers and strategic financial management.

The commissioners are due to be in place until 31 March 2021 and will update the Secretary of State every 3 months on progress.

Further information

Lead commissioner – Tony McArdle

Tony McArdle was Chief Executive of Lincolnshire County Council between 2005 and 2018. He took up post at a time when the council was suffering from significant corporate governance and service failures and was under the immediate threat of government intervention. He left Lincolnshire with the authority enjoying a reputation as progressive and innovative with a strong profile in a range of areas of work and an established record of high-quality service delivery.

Prior to moving to Lincolnshire, for 7 years Tony was Chief Executive of the Borough Council of Wellingborough in Northamptonshire. He has held interim appointments in other councils and has also been involved in delivering elements of the Council of Europe’s programme to improve local government practice in Croatia, Bulgaria and Russia.

Tony chaired the Association of County Chief Executives from 2015 to 2017. He is a Director of the National Centre for Rural Health and Care and a member of the Courts of both the University of Lincoln and Bishop Grosseteste University.

Tony also served as an infantry officer in the Territorial Army for 22 years.

Finance commissioner – Brian Roberts

Brian is the former Director of Corporate Resources and Deputy Chief Executive at Leicestershire County Council.

Previously he worked at Staffordshire County Council, Hampshire County Council, the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, Hart District Council and Merseyside County Council.

Brian qualified as an accountant in 1980. He is immediate past president of the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA). He was a member and past president of the Society of County Treasurers and he has also been a Local Government Association core finance adviser and past president of the Association of Local Government Treasurers. Brian is currently a national council member of CIPFA and a trustee of the Centre for Public Scrutiny.

The Foreign Secretary said:

The United Kingdom condemns in the strongest terms the Iranian rocket attacks against Israeli forces. We strongly support Israel’s right to defend itself.

We urge Iran to refrain from further actions which will only lead to increased instability in the region. It is crucial to avoid any further escalations, which would be in no one’s interest. We also continue to call on Russia to use its influence to press those in Syria to cease their destabilising activity and work towards a broader political settlement.

Further information

• Follow the Foreign Secretary on Twitter @BorisJohnson and Facebook
• Follow the Foreign Office on Twitter @foreignoffice and Facebook
• Follow the Foreign Office on Instagram, YouTube and LinkedIn

The latest in a line of reports by the Committee on Standards in Public Life says there has been little real progress on measures to reinforce ethical standards in outsourced public services and calls for a consultation on whether the Freedom of Information Act should apply to private sector providers where information relates to the performance of a public service contract.

Publishing its 2018 progress report today, Lord Bew, Chair of the Committee on Standards in Public Life, said:

From waste disposal to health care and probation services, all kinds of public services are routinely supplied to many of us by private or voluntary sector organisations, paid for with public funds – accounting for almost one third of government spending in 2017.

The public is clear that they expect common ethical standards – whoever is delivering the service – and that when things go wrong there is transparency and accountability about what has happened.

Our report in 2014 looked at departmental commissioning activity and the ethical standards of service providers and made a number of important and straightforward recommendations to enhance the government’s capability to commission services from providers who focus on high ethical standards in service delivery.

Today’s report shows that, disappointingly, very little progress has been made on implementing these recommendations and evidence shows that most service providers need to do more to demonstrate best practice in ethical standards.

In particular, we remain concerned over the lack of internal governance and leadership on ethical standards in those departments with significant public service contracts. Departmental and management boards spend little, if any, time considering ethical considerations and tend to delegate such issues ‘down the line’. Those involved in commissioning and auditing contracts remain too focused on the quantitative rather than the qualitative aspects of their role. And departments lack clear lines of accountability when contracts fail.

While many service providers have developed a greater awareness of their ethical obligations in recent years, partly due to the high-profile failure of some organisations to adhere to these standards, some remain dismissive of the Nolan Principles or adopt a ‘pick and mix’ approach, which is not in the public interest. And many service providers continue to expect that setting and enforcing ethical standards remain a matter for government alone.

The Committee remains of the view that more must be done to encourage strong and robust cultures of ethical behaviour in those delivering public services. To that end, the Committee reaffirms the recommendations made in its 2014 report and has made a further set of more detailed, follow-up recommendations to address particular issues of concern.

In particular, the Committee calls for service providers to recognise that the Nolan Principles apply to them, for greater moral courage among key financial and other professionals in securing and maintaining high ethical standards, and for consultation on the extension of the application of the Freedom of Information Act to private sector providers where information relates to the performance of a contract with government for the delivery of public services.

Following the corporate failures of a number of the biggest providers of services to government since 2013,
including the devastating collapse of Carillion early in 2018, it is now essential that the government confirm their expectations of ethical standards among those who deliver services with public money.”

The report can be downloaded online.

Notes to Editors: Interview requests and media enquiries should go to Maggie O’Boyle on 07880 740627. You can follow the Committee on twitter @PublicStandards.

1. The independent Committee on Standards in Public Life advises the Prime Minister on ethical standards across the whole of public life in the UK. It monitors and reports on issues relating to the standards of conduct of all public office holders.
2. To find out more about the Committee’s work go to the Committee on Standards in Public Life’s website
3. The Committee on Standards in Public Life was established in October 1994 with the following terms of reference: “To examine current concerns about standards of conduct of all holders of public office, including arrangements relating to financial and commercial activities, and make recommendations as to any changes in present arrangements which might be required to ensure the highest standards of propriety in public life.” Additional terms of reference were announced on 12 November 1997: “To review issues in relation to the funding of political parties, and to make recommendations as to any changes in present arrangements.” On 5 February 2013 the terms of reference were clarified by the Government in two respects: ‘…in future the Committee should not inquire into matters relating to the devolved legislatures and governments except with the agreement of those bodies’ and ‘…the Committee’s remit to examine “standards of conduct of all holders of public office” [encompasses For] all those involved in the delivery of public services, not solely those appointed or elected to public office.’ Hansard (HC), 5 February 2013, Col 7WS .The Committee’s terms of reference were further clarified in a House of Lords written Parliamentary Question on 28th February 2013 to explain that the Committee’s remit means it “can examine issues relating to the ethical standards of the delivery of public services by private and voluntary sector organisations, paid for by public funds, even where those delivering the services have not been appointed or elected to public office.” Hansard (HL) Column WA347.
4. The members of the Committee for this report are: Lord (Paul) Bew, Chairman, Rt Hon Dame Margaret Beckett DBE MP (Labour), Sheila Drew Smith OBE, Simon Hart MP (Conservative), Dr Jane Martin CBE, Dame Shirley Pearce OBE, Jane Ramsey, Monisha Shah, Rt Hon Lord (Andrew) Stunell OBE (Liberal Democrat) and Richard Thomas CBE. Richard Thomas CBE finished his 5-year term in office in May 2017. Sheila Drew Smith OBE, who led on this series of reports, finished her 5-year term of office in February 2018.