Month: July 2018

96% of people who responded to the non-statutory consultation backed the need for the improvements to this junction, which will be redesigned under the plans to create dedicated free flow lanes which will allow drivers travelling between the M3 and the A34 to avoid using the junction roundabout.

The roundabout itself will be rebuilt to allow for the additional lanes to run through it, increasing capacity and making it easier for traffic to interchange between the M3 and the A34. This will reduce queuing and make journey times more reliable.

Highways England Project Manager Simon Hewett said:

More than 110,000 vehicles use this busy junction each day to interchange with the A34 and routes into Winchester, often more than 6,000 each hour during peak times. Regular road users know that often becomes congested, with queues backing up onto the main carriageway.

The upgrade to M3 junction 9 will create new dedicated link roads to separate out local and long distance traffic. Through traffic will not have to stop at the roundabout, freeing it up for local traffic and commuters. We are improving access for pedestrians, cyclists and equestrians, with the upgrade including a new 4m side cycle path with a new footpath next to the cycleway to the River Itchen.

We are aware of people’s concerns about traffic merging between the A34 and A33; this was the most common point raised during the consultation period and we are reviewing a number of options to address this.

A public consultation on the upgrade was held from 9 January to 19 February. 854 responses were received during this consultation. Information events were held in the Winchester area for the public and stakeholders including local authorities, landowners and businesses, so people could look at the plans and speak to members of the project team.

96% of people who responded to the consultation questionnaire said they agree that improvements are needed at the junction. 98% of people were concerned about traffic congestion at the existing M3 junction 9, with 92% concerned both about road safety and reliability of journey time.

Today’s announcement paves the way for work on the upgrade to start in the 2021, subject to statutory processes. The upgraded junction is expected to be fully open to traffic in 2023.

A copy of the consultation report and announcement flyer can be found on the Highways England website where anyone interested in the scheme can also sign up to receive 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.

Foreign Office Minister for the Americas, Sir Alan Duncan said:

I am deeply concerned by the ongoing violence in Nicaragua, particularly the excessive use of force by the authorities and pro-government armed groups against the people of Nicaragua. Reports of human rights abuses, including the use of live ammunition, are alarming and should be thoroughly investigated. For stability to return to the country the Nicaraguan Government must take responsibility for ending the violence and provide safe conditions for peaceful dialogue to resume.

The UK supports the work by the Organisation of American States, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and the UN, and we urge the Nicaraguan authorities to allow them to carry out their work without any interference. We also welcome the Nicaraguan Episcopal Conference’s mediation role and encourage all parties to commit to a peaceful resolution of the crisis.

Further information

• Follow Foreign Office Minister Sir Alan Duncan on Twitter @AlanDuncanMP and Facebook
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The conference forms part of the CMA’s commitment to explore challenges for the vulnerable in the UK, particularly in response to the growth of digital markets.

Andrew Tyrie, Chair of the CMA, said:

Companies and traders across the UK need to know that if they’re ripping people off, and exploiting the vulnerable, the CMA may be round to see them.

It has already been accepted, in principle, that the CMA’s powers need to be bolstered, including giving us the power to fine firms if they break consumer protection law.

And if it turns out that we still don’t have all the powers we need, we will ask for them.

All options are on the table. That includes more vigorous enforcement, tough market wide intervention and legislative change. Staying where we are is not an option.

As part of a re-examination of the CMA’s legislative framework, I have asked for further work to be done on how the regime could be strengthened better to protect the vulnerable.

Helping vulnerable people is one of the CMA’s strategic priorities in its Annual Plan for 2018/19 and also a priority for the Government, as set out in its Modernising Consumers Markets Green Paper.

The CMA is undertaking a programme of work on supporting vulnerable people. It will publish a final report later this year, which will draw on findings from the conference, a series of roundtables and targeted research. This includes looking at the poverty premium – the extent to which those on low incomes may pay more for the same goods and services than those on higher incomes.

The work will help inform the CMA’s future case selection, its analysis of markets and the development of remedies to consumer problems.

Notes to editors

Media enquiries should be directed to press@cma.gov.uk or 020 3738 6460.

The Attorney General, Geoffrey Cox QC MP, has today (24 July) announced that Max Hill QC has been appointed as the next Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).

Leading barrister Max Hill will leave his posts as Head of Red Lion Chambers and Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation to lead the CPS. His tenure as DPP will begin on 1st November for a renewable term of 5 years.

Max Hill brings a unique combination of legal expertise and public service at the highest levels, demonstrated most recently through his role as Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation. He is also the former Leader of the South Eastern Circuit (2014-16) and Chairman of the Criminal Bar Association (2011-12). Whilst unable to advise or appear in terrorism related cases during his tenure as Independent Reviewer, Max maintains a heavyweight crime practice, defending and prosecuting in a number of complex cases of homicide, violent crime and high value fraud and corporate crime. He also has extensive advisory experience both nationally and internationally. Max has been instructed in many of the most significant and high-profile murder trials in recent years, including the second set of trials concerning the killing of Damilola Taylor and the London bombings of 2005.

Max Hill was appointed by the Attorney General after a rigorous and open competition, overseen by a Civil Service Commissioner.

Commenting on the appointment, the Attorney General said:

I am very pleased to announce that Max Hill will be the next Director of Public Prosecutions. Mr Hill is a distinguished and extremely experienced Queen’s Counsel who has demonstrated a profound commitment both to the criminal justice system and to public service. I am very grateful to him for taking on these onerous responsibilities.

I am confident that he will be a good and collaborative leader of the Crown Prosecution Service and a principled and strongly independent chief prosecutor. The public will rightly expect nothing less.

He will now build on the achievements of Alison Saunders to whom I am grateful for her 32 years of public service. The role of DPP is difficult and requires exceptional qualities of judgement and character. I am looking forward to working with the new Director.

Commenting on his appointment, Max Hill said:

I am honoured to be the next Director of Public Prosecutions. I am grateful to Alison Saunders for her service and look forward to building on her legacy. This is a challenging time for the CPS, with the rise in complex cases and negative publicity about its handling of disclosure in some cases. I have seen first-hand the sterling work of the CPS and I am determined to restore public trust in all of its work.

As set out in the Criminal Justice Act 1987, the Attorney General appoints the DPP.

The process to recruit the next DPP began under the previous Attorney General, Jeremy Wright QC MP. It was completed and approved by the new Attorney General after his appointment on 9 July.
The current DPP will serve her full five year term, which is due to end in October 2018.

Max Hill QC Biography:

Max Hill QC is Head of Red Lion Chambers and, since March 2017, the current Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation. He is also the former Leader of the South Eastern Circuit (2014-16) and Chairman of the Criminal Bar Association (2011-12). Whilst unable to advise or appear in terrorism related cases during his tenure as Independent Reviewer, Max maintains a heavyweight crime practice, defending and prosecuting in a number of complex cases of homicide, violent crime and high value fraud and corporate crime. He also has extensive advisory experience both nationally and internationally. Max has been instructed in many of the most significant and high-profile murder trials in recent years, including the second set of trials concerning the killing of Damilola Taylor, and the London bombings of 2005. Murder cases include R v Long (2015), R v Campbell and others (2014-5) and R v O’Driscoll (2014).

Max defends in substantial fraud cases, including tax fraud. In fraud, he was instructed for the defence in the SFO Forex (Foreign Exchange) investigation and the long-running SFO pharmaceutical cartel case. His terrorism cases include R v Bourgass and others (the ricin conspiracy), R v Ibrahim and others (the 21/7 bombers), R v Ali and others and R v Girma and others (the 21/7 follow-on trials). He appeared for the Government in the Binyam Mohamed case in the Administrative Court. He acted for the Metropolitan Police in the Inquests into the 7th July London bombings. Most recently he prosecuted a London taxi driver and bomb-maker for the killing of a US soldier in R v Sardar (2015). He also prosecuted two men who gave sums of money to the Paris and Brussels terror suspect Abrini, engaging in conduct in preparation for acts of terrorism. Max appeared as lead prosecution counsel, alongside Michelle Nelson, in Channel 4’s The Trial (2017) in which real juries, together with actual barristers and judges, tried a fictional Murder case in order to explore the workings of the jury system.