Press release: Countryside Stewardship Woodland Creation Grant opens for applications

From today (Tuesday 2 January 2018), applicants can apply for the Countryside Stewardship Woodland Creation Grant – a scheme to help landowners reap the environmental and financial benefits of woodland creation.

The grant is open to all qualifying land managers. Successful applicants will receive a two-year capital grant of up to £6,800 per hectare, as well as an opportunity to apply for annual maintenance payments for ten years.

Environment Minister Thérèse Coffey said:

Planting trees is one of the best ways we can invest in our environment for future generations. They provide a haven for wildlife, reduce flood risk and improve water quality – making them some of our most cherished assets.

I have seen first-hand how planting trees can really make a difference at places such as the Lowther Estate in Cumbria, so I would urge landowners to apply to this scheme.

Richard Greenhous, Forest Services Director for the Forestry Commission, said:

Aside from the environmental benefits, planting trees on your land can offer an alternative source of income.

Your local Woodland Officer can provide advice and support throughout the application process.

Guidance and application forms for the scheme were made available in September to give potential applicants more time to develop their plans. The process has now been streamlined to make it easier to apply.

Alongside the Woodland Creation Grant, landowners can also apply for the Woodland Creation Planning Grant to help with planning and proposals. This grant has already supported two large-scale planting schemes in England this autumn: Doddington North Moor in Northumberland and the Lowther Estate in Cumbria.

The Forestry Commission has appointed a new team of specialised woodland creation officers to assist landowners through the application process for large scale projects.

More information on the funding options available is available here and applicants can contact the Forestry Commission for further advice and assistance.

Case study

Mr Hugh Davis, the owner of Treworder Barton Farm in Cornwall, has received funding from the Countryside Stewardship Woodland Creation Grant to plant a new productive woodland that enables him to quickly produce a crop of timber for wood markets. The grant has covered 80 per cent of the planting costs with an ongoing payment of £200 per hectare for the next 10 years.

Speaking about his application, Mr Davis said:

Planting is relatively straight forward. For the first two years, you need to keep weeds under control and protect young trees from other threats, for example pests, frost or drought. Once they are established, looking after the trees is relatively low maintenance.

The thing with forestry is that you can’t play catch up. You need to plan ahead and invest sooner rather than later. I’m very pleased I’ve done it.

Link: Press release: Countryside Stewardship Woodland Creation Grant opens for applications
Source: Gov Press Releases

Press release: November 2017 Price Paid Data

This month’s Price Paid Data includes details of more than 106,000 sales of land and property in England and Wales that HM Land Registry received for registration in November 2017.

In the dataset, you can find the date of sale for each property, its full address and sale price, its category (residential or commercial) and type (detached, semi-detached, terraced, flat or maisonette and other), whether it is new build or not and whether it is freehold or leasehold.

The number of sales received for registration by property type and month

Property type November 2017 October 2017 September 2017
Detached 24,767 22,849 22,377
Semi-detached 27,093 25,558 24,911
Terraced 27,890 26,394 25,829
Flat/maisonette 19,635 19,048 17,958
Other 7,027 7,159 6,027
Total 106,412 101,008 97,102

Of the 106,412 sales received for registration in November 2017:

  • 79,133 were freehold, a 10.3% increase on November 2016
  • 13,095 were newly built, a 5.2% increase on November 2016

There is a time difference between the sale of a property and its registration at HM Land Registry.

Of the 106,142 sales received for registration, 30,458 took place in November 2017 of which:

  • 489 were of residential properties in England and Wales for £1 million and over
  • 293 were of residential properties in Greater London for £1 million and over
  • four were of residential properties in Greater Manchester for £1 million and over
  • one was of a residential property in Cardiff for £1 million

The most expensive residential sale in November 2017 was a semi-detached property in the London Borough of Kensington and Chelsea for £13m. The cheapest residential sale in November 2017 was of a terraced property in Burnley, Lancashire for £15,000.

The most expensive commercial sale in November 2017 was in Solihull, West Midlands for £73,900,000. The cheapest commercial sales in November 2017 were in Islington, Cambridge, Fenland, Redbridge and Southend on Sea, each for £100.

Access the full dataset.

Notes to editors

  1. Price Paid Data is published at 11 am on the 20th working day of each month. The December dataset will be published on 29 January 2018.
  2. A total of 65,000 duplicate cancelled sales transactions (less than 0.003% of the total) have been removed from the October 2003 – February 2005 data. We are committed to the accuracy of our data and will continue to respond to customer feedback.
  3. Price Paid Data is property price data for all residential and commercial property sales in England and Wales that are lodged with HM Land Registry for registration in that month, subject to exclusions.
  4. The amount of time between the sale of a property and the registration of this information with HM Land Registry varies. It typically ranges between 2 weeks and 2 months. Data for the two most recent months is therefore incomplete and does not give an indication of final monthly volumes. Occasionally the interval between sale and registration is longer than 2 months. The small number of sales affected cannot be updated for publication until the sales are lodged for registration.
  5. Price Paid Data categories are either Category A (Standard entries) which includes single residential properties sold for full market value or Category B (Additional entries) for example sales to a company, buy-to-lets where they can be identified by a mortgage and repossessions.
  6. HM Land Registry has been collecting information on Category A sales from January 1995 and on Category B sales from October 2013.
  7. Price Paid Data can be downloaded in txt, csv format and in a machine-readable format as linked data and is released under Open Government Licence (OGL). Under the OGL, HM Land Registry permits the use of Price Paid Data for commercial or non-commercial purposes. However, the OGL does not cover the use of third party rights, which HM Land Registry is not authorised to license.
  8. The Price Paid Data report builder allows users to build bespoke reports using the data. Reports can be based on location, estate type, price paid or property type over a defined period of time.
  9. HM Land Registry is a government department created in 1862. It operates as an executive agency and a trading fund and its running costs are covered by the fees paid by the users of its services. Its ambition is to become the world’s leading land registry for speed, simplicity and an open approach to data.
  10. HM Land Registry safeguards land and property ownership worth more than £4 trillion, including more than £1 trillion of mortgages. The Land Register contains more than 25 million titles, which show evidence of ownership, covering more than 85% of the land mass.
  11. For further information about HM Land Registry visit www.gov.uk/land-registry.
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Press Officer

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Link: Press release: November 2017 Price Paid Data
Source: Gov Press Releases

The A494 Trunk Road (Tŷ Nant, near Cefnddwysarn, Gwynedd) (Temporary Traffic Prohibitions & Restrictions) Order 2017 / Gorchymyn Cefnffordd yr A494 (Tŷ Nant, ger Cefnddwysarn, Gwynedd) (Gwaharddiadau a Chyfyngiadau Traffig Dros Dro) 2017

Link:

The A494 Trunk Road (Tŷ Nant, near Cefnddwysarn, Gwynedd) (Temporary Traffic Prohibitions & Restrictions) Order 2017 / Gorchymyn Cefnffordd yr A494 (Tŷ Nant, ger Cefnddwysarn, Gwynedd) (Gwaharddiadau a Chyfyngiadau Traffig Dros Dro) 2017

Source: Legislation .gov.uk

The A483 Trunk Road (Rhosmaen Street, Llandeilo, Carmarthenshire) (Temporary Prohibition of Vehicles) Order 2017 / Gorchymyn Cefnffordd yr A483 (Stryd Rhosmaen, Llandeilo, Sir Gaerfyrddin) (Gwahardd Cerbydau Dros Dro) 2017

Link:

The A483 Trunk Road (Rhosmaen Street, Llandeilo, Carmarthenshire) (Temporary Prohibition of Vehicles) Order 2017 / Gorchymyn Cefnffordd yr A483 (Stryd Rhosmaen, Llandeilo, Sir Gaerfyrddin) (Gwahardd Cerbydau Dros Dro) 2017

Source: Legislation .gov.uk

Press release: Nationwide search begins for young space entrepreneurs

The SatelLife Challenge, now in its second year, is looking for innovative proposals from those aged 11 to 22 which have the potential to use data collected from space to benefit our economy, health or the environment.
Ideas from last year’s competition ranged from solutions to help increase the survival rate of heart attack victims by using GPS trackers in fitness devices, to an app that warns people about impending natural disasters, guides them safely away and alerts emergency services.

Satellites support the economy and everyday life, and this competition gives young people the chance to test their ideas with industry experts and perhaps one day become part of the fastest growing sector of the UK economy.
The UK space industry builds 40% of the world’s small satellites and 25% of the world’s telecommunications satellites. It supports 40,000 jobs and generates £14 billion in revenue across the country.

Science minister Jo Johnson said:

“Satellites are shaping our society and increasingly important for our economy. Every second they send information around the world, keep shipping lanes and flightpaths clear and help us get to where we want to be.

“Young people today will be an integral part of our mission to grow the UK’s share of the global space market to 10% by 2030, as set out in our industrial strategy. We need to ensure the potential benefits of space are felt across the whole economy and encourage young British entrepreneurs to develop ideas that rival the best in the world.”

The overall winner in 2017 was James Pearson from Lincolnshire, who came up with an app to provide information on coastal flood risks, went on to meet British ESA astronaut Tim Peake and is using his prize money to develop his idea.

James Pearson, 14, said:

“The competition was absolutely amazing for me. It has opened my eyes to the opportunities that are around us. I have really had to push myself to learn new things. The highlights included meeting Tim Peake but also the industry experts. So far I have continued to get my website operational, I’ve been scanning the satellites for more images and I’ve increased my computing power. I will continue to work hard until the website is complete. I have really enjoyed this competition as it has developed my confidence, I was thrilled to win and just to learn about the space industry and technology.”

The competition, which aims to support the development of science, data handling and technological skills, is split into three age groups, with overall prizes of £7,500 for the best individual and best team. A further seven entries from across the age categories will win £5,000, making a total prize fund of £50,000. The judging panel will be made up of experts including representatives from the UK Space Agency, the European Space Agency, the Satellite Applications Catapult in Harwell and industry.

Adina Gillespie, Head of Applications for Earth Observation and Science, at Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL), one of the expert judges, said:

“The SatelLife competition is a great initiative to encourage young people to think about satellite applications and consider future careers in the space industry – and we have a lot of fun along the way.”

Entries can be as teams or individuals and all prize winners will be able to pitch their idea to a panel of ‘dragons’ from the space sector who will offer prizes. In 2017 the competition winners were offered a mix of support including an offer to build a prototype, thousands of pounds worth of space on Amazon Cloud Services, access to data, business development advice and a visit to a satellite factory.

The competition closes on 25th February. Visit the SatelLife Challenge entry page for more information.

Link: Press release: Nationwide search begins for young space entrepreneurs
Source: Gov Press Releases

Correction Slip 1

These Regulations will bring into force on 14th July 2017 those sections of the Childcare Payments Act 2014 (c. 28) (“the Act”) that are set out in regulation 2. This regulation commences specified sections of the Act in relation to a relevant child and any sibling (as defined in regulation 2(3)) on 14th July 2017.

Link: Correction Slip 1
Source: Legislation .gov.uk

Press release: Foreign Secretary statement on Iran

The Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said:

The UK is watching events in Iran closely. We believe that there should be meaningful debate about the legitimate and important issues the protesters are raising and we look to the Iranian authorities to permit this.

We also believe that, particularly as we enter the 70th anniversary year of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, people should be able to have freedom of expression and to demonstrate peacefully within the law.

We regret the loss of life that has occurred in the protests in Iran, and call on all concerned to refrain from violence and for international obligations on human rights to be observed.

Link: Press release: Foreign Secretary statement on Iran
Source: Gov Press Releases

Press release: 30,000 respond to ivory consultation ban during Christmas week

There has been a massive public response to the Government’s proposed ban on ivory sales – with over 60,000 responses to the public consultation, making it one of Defra’s most popular ever. Of the responses analysed so far the overwhelming majority support a ban.

In the past week more than 30,000 responses were submitted before the consultation closed.

Plans announced by Environment Secretary Michael Gove to impose a ban on ivory sales will protect elephants and help combat poaching by removing opportunities for criminals to trade illegally-poached ivory.

Unlike previous proposals, these plans cover items of all ages, not only those created after a certain date.

Environment Secretary Michael Gove said:

It is imperative we halt the decline in the elephant population to protect these wonderful animals for future generations. Ivory should never be seen as a commodity for financial gain or a status symbol and we are ready to take radical and robust action to protect one of the world’s most iconic and treasured species.

It’s incredibly heartening that so many people have contributed to our consultation. The response underlines that we are a nation which cares for wildlife. In 2018 the UK must be front and centre of global efforts to end this insidious trade.

Tanya Steele, WWF CEO said:

The scale of the public response – including over 60,000 who signed a WWF petition – shows just how strongly the British public feel about the need to end this mindless slaughter.

The UK Government must now act quickly. On average 55 elephants a day are killed. Every day we wait is a day too long.

The number of elephants has declined by almost a third in the last decade and around 20,000 a year are still being slaughtered due to the global demand for ivory.

The decline of elephants would also deprive some of the poorest countries in the world of their valuable natural capital, affecting economic growth and sustainable development.

As profits become ever greater, the illegal wildlife trade has become a transnational organised enterprise, estimated to be worth between £7 and £17 billion a year.

The ban would reaffirm the UK’s global leadership on this critical issue, demonstrating the UK’s belief that the ivory trade should become a thing of the past.

It comes as the largest market for ivory, China, has introduced a ban on all trading and processing activities which came in to force at the end of 2017.

This new ban builds on Government work both at home and overseas to tackle poaching and the illegal ivory trade. The UK military trains an elite force of anti-poachers in African countries, and Border Force officers share their expertise in identifying smuggled ivory with counterparts worldwide to stop wildlife trafficking.

In October 2018, the UK will host a fourth international conference on the illegal wildlife, bringing global leaders to London to tackle the strategic challenges of the trade. This follows the ground breaking London 2014 conference on the illegal wildlife trade, and subsequent conferences in Botswana and Vietnam.

The Government will publish a response to the consultation shortly.

Link: Press release: 30,000 respond to ivory consultation ban during Christmas week
Source: Gov Press Releases

Press release: David Mundell New Year Message

Speaking just ahead of the turn of the year, Secretary of State for Scotland David Mundell said:

“We have experienced huge changes in Scotland this year.

“I know for many people 2017 will have sometimes felt like a challenging year.

“But as we look forward to the Bells, I’d like to reflect on the progress we have made – and address some of the tasks facing us in 2018.

“The General Election in June, the arrival of important new tax powers at Holyrood earlier this month, and our on-going preparations to leave the EU have all had an immense impact.

“I was honoured to be reappointed Secretary of State for Scotland after the election and I’m determined to ensure the UK Government continues to deliver for Scotland.

“At the beginning of the year, Scotland faced demands from the Scottish Government for a second independence referendum.

“But Scots used the General Election to reject their proposal and I hope the Scottish Government continues to heed the people’s verdict.

“It has allowed Scotland’s two governments to work much more collaboratively as we put in place the necessary arrangements for Brexit – and it is essential we continue to do that throughout 2018.

“We must build on the constructive relationships we have forged if we are to return powers from Brussels in a way that strengthens devolution and protects our vitally important UK single market.

“This year we reached agreement with the EU on a number of key areas, including our commitment to protect the rights of EU citizens after Brexit.

“I’m delighted that will reassure 200,000 friends, neighbours and colleagues who have made their homes in Scotland and whose contribution we value so much.

“Next year, we will begin negotiations on our future relationship with the EU and, working with the Scottish Government, we will put in place necessary arrangements for fishing, farming, trade and immigration.

“There is a lot of work to do. I’m in no doubt we’ll need to work together.

“Since 2016 the UK Government and Scottish Government have been working together to transfer wide ranging new powers to Holyrood, which were agreed following the independence referendum.

“That work will continue next year as more welfare powers are devolved but already the changes are being felt.

“Earlier this month, the Scottish Government unveiled a budget which was based, for the first time, on its own income tax proposals.

“I disagree strongly with their decision to make Scotland the most highly taxed part of the UK. That cannot be the right choice for families or our economy.

“But I’m confident, 20 years after we voted for a Scottish Parliament, that it has made Holyrood far more accountable. The on-going tax debate is proof of that.

“In 2018 we must focus on the economy and I urge the Scottish Government to use their powers effectively and to work with the UK Government.

“We need to pull together as we roll out the UK’s ambitious Industrial Strategy.

“We’ll need to collaborate, too, on the Borderland’s Growth Deal and UK City Deals in Stirling and Tayside, and on supporting Scotland’s key industries, including whisky, life sciences and energy.

“The UK Government has been doing its part – for example our £1 billion backing of UK City Deals and important measures such as freezing spirits duty to allow Scottish distillers to invest and to encourage new firms.

“So here’s to 2018. There are many challenges ahead of us but I am confident it can be a great year for Scotland.

“As ever my door remains open to all those people and business who have a stake in Scotland’s success. Let’s work together as we look to the future.”

Link: Press release: David Mundell New Year Message
Source: Gov Press Releases