Category: Gov Press Releases

Work to safely dispose of chemicals at Sellafield continued this weekend and will continue tomorrow.

Any disposals will take place during daylight hours, may be audible off-site and will be in line with best practice and chemical disposal regulations.

We have provided updates directly to staff and stakeholders in the immediate vicinity of the site.

With the exception of the laboratory where the chemicals are being retrieved from, the site will continue to operate as normal.

Key facts

• The chemicals are in sealed glass bottles of good condition.
• The chemicals are being disposed of appropriately.
• The materials involved are solvents which are widely used in industry.
• The Explosive Ordnance Disposal team deal with hundreds of these issues every year, recovering chemicals from science laboratories in places like schools, universities and hospitals.
• Because this is happening on the Sellafield site we exercise extreme caution and leave nothing to chance.

If a parent owes child maintenance, deductions to recover that debt can currently only be made from a bank or building society account held solely by them. So a small minority of parents are cheating their way out of supporting their children by putting their money into a joint account with a partner.

New laws will be brought in to allow deductions to be made from joint accounts in order to recover child maintenance arrears.

It is believed closing this loophole could stop a number of parents getting away with not paying their child maintenance each year – leading to more than £390,000 additional child maintenance being collected.

Minister for Family Support, Housing and Child Maintenance Caroline Dinenage said:

Our priority is for children to get the support they need. Only a small minority of parents try to cheat their way out of paying towards their children and this new power will be another tool to tackle those who do.

The government’s response to a public consultation on joint account deductions has been published today. This sets out how deduction orders against joint accounts will work and the safeguards that will be in place to protect the other holder of the joint account.

These include:

• a deduction order only being imposed on a joint account when the paying parent does not have their own account, or there is not enough money in their own account
• only funds belonging to the paying parent being targeted, as before a deduction order is made on a joint account, data on that bank account will be collected and bank statements examined to establish which money in the account belongs to the paying parent
• existing safeguards already in place for deduction orders for child maintenance will apply to this new power, including the maximum deduction rate on regular orders being set at 40% of the paying parent’s weekly income
• both account holders will be given the right to make their case before a deduction order is made

The new power will come into effect early next year.

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A Downing Street spokesperson said:

The UK does not and will not recognise the Unilateral Declaration of Independence made by the Catalan regional parliament. It is based on a vote that was declared illegal by the Spanish courts. We continue to want to see the rule of law upheld, the Spanish Constitution respected, and Spanish unity preserved.

Residents and businesses in Southampton are being encouraged to ensure their voice is heard as a public consultation on improvements to the eastern approach to the city enters its final few days.

The six week public consultation, which began on 19 September 2017 runs until 31 October, is seeking views on plans for a major upgrade to junction 8 of the M27 and the A3024 to Southampton city centre.

The plans will increase capacity at junction 8 of the M27 and Windhover roundabout, as well as upgrade 25 junctions along the A3024. Improved safety, upgrades to two railway bridges and better facilities for pedestrians and cyclists are also part of the proposals.

Highways England Project Manager Adriana Chirovici said:

I would like to thank everyone who has been to see the team at an exhibition or have submitted their feedback through the website. These are ambitious plans and there is still time for people who haven’t yet had their say on the proposals to do so before the consultation ends on Tuesday 31 October.

The plans include:

• M27 junction 8 and Windhover roundabout: All approaches to the junctions will be widened, with improved facilities for pedestrians and cyclists
• A3024 corridor: Improvements at all 25 junctions along this four and a half mile stretch, including to the cycling and walking facilities along the corridor and for crossings and junction widening at key junctions. This will also help buses run more reliably
• Northam Road rail bridge: Replacement of this single carriageway bridge that crosses the main South Western railway lines near to St Marys Stadium. The new bridge will include two lanes in each direction with improvements to pedestrian and cycle facilities
• Bitterne rail bridge: This bridge, a wide single carriageway bridge on the A3024 Bitterne Road West at Bitterne train station will be upgraded to include new separated adjacent pedestrian and cycle facilities with wider footpaths

Highways England held eight information exhibitions at venues across Southampton so that people could see the proposals and put any questions directly to the project team. While the events have now finished, there is still time for people to collect consultation material at various locations in and around Southampton, and also have their say via the website.

Details on the proposals and feedback forms will be available online until 11:45pm on 31 October 2017. For more information, go to the scheme website.

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.

Work to safely dispose of chemicals at Sellafield has continued this week and will continue over the weekend.

The disposals will take place during daylight hours and may be audible off-site. We have provided updates directly to staff and stakeholders in the immediate vicinity of the site.

The process that experts from the Army’s Explosive Ordnance Disposal team is using to safely dispose of the chemicals is in line with best practice and chemical disposal regulations.

With the exception of the laboratory where the chemicals are being retrieved from, the site will continue to operate as normal over the weekend.

Key facts

• The chemicals are in sealed glass bottles of good condition.
• The chemicals are being disposed of appropriately.
• The materials involved are solvents which are widely used in industry.
• The Explosive Ordnance Disposal team deal with hundreds of these issues every year, recovering chemicals from science laboratories in places like schools, universities and hospitals.
• Because this is happening on the Sellafield site we exercise extreme caution and leave nothing to chance.

Highways England is marking the end of Tyre Safety Month by revealing a series of initiatives it is developing or already delivering to help drive down the number of people killed and injured on the country’s motorways and major A roads.

The government company is working to slash road casualties by 40 percent by 2020 and believes focusing on tyre safety will have an important contribution over the next few years.

In 2016, tyre-related incidents along Britain’s roads led to 8 fatalities and 120 serious injuries. Working with partners as diverse as the NHS and tyre manufacturers, Highways England is exploring and experimenting with a series of innovative projects to help family drivers, commuters and commercial drivers alike keep tyres in tip-top condition and reduce the number of breakdowns and blow-outs on the road network.

Stuart Lovatt, Highways England’s Road Safety Lead, said:

Tyre failure is often due to incorrect inflation or worn treads. This can lead to everything from frustrating congestion caused by breakdowns to catastrophic collisions and tragic loss of life.

We are committed to dramatically reducing the number of people killed and seriously injured on our motorways and major A roads. A focus on tyre safety will be a key activity for us over the next few years with an emphasis on reaching out to particularly vulnerable road users.

Only this week, a video – showing how to make simple 1 minute vehicle fitness checks before taking to the roads– was launched as part of Highways England’s partnership with Baby Box University which provides physical as well as online resources for expectant and new mums and dads.

As part of the launch event in Rotherham, Highways England also provided simple tyre tread checkers in baby boxes delivered to young parents..

Other initiatives being refined or developed include:

• 2 pilot schemes in Lancashire and Yorkshire equipping fire fighters with mobile 3D scanners to give drivers accurate tread depth readings and safety advice at safety events
• equipping Highways England’s own Traffic Officer Service with hundreds of manual tread gauges so they can help drivers make judgements about tyre health at public events
• investigating ways of quickly scanning vehicles, especially lorries, for other issues such as tyre tread depth, overheating brakes or axles which can cause lorries to break down suddenly, leading to congestion
• working with tyre firm Bridgestone to analyse the causes of tyre-related incidents and tyre damage – including promoting better tyre ‘husbandry’ among drivers and commercial fleet operators, with a focus on everything from regular tyre checks to debris-free depot maintenance
• developing a ground-breaking pilot initiative launched 2 years ago with tyre management technology company WheelRight Ltd, where drivers stopping at Keele Motorway Service Area were able to use a drive-through sensor station with an instant print-out facility to check the health of their tyres before heading back onto the motorway

John Walford, Highways England’s Commercial Vehicle Incident Prevention Manager, said:

The primary cause of commercial vehicle tyre failure is under inflation. Tyre-related problems are a major factor behind routine breakdowns and other, more serious incidents on our motorways and major A roads, leading to congestion, injuries and in some cases fatalities.

The associated costs, particularly in terms of congestion, are a brake on economic performance and the project at Keele MSA tackled the issue head on by alerting drivers to issues and allowing them to sort those out before leaving the services and resuming motorway journeys.

Highways England deals with more than 3,500 wheel or tyre-related incidents every month. Government figures suggest 1 in 12 HGV tyres is dangerously underinflated with the figure 1 in 8 for cars.

Many car drivers and commercial van and lorry drivers do not know the correct PSI for their vehicles while commercial drivers often leave tyre maintenance to their depots and do not check pressures themselves – with hard to reach tyres, such on the inside of axles – an issue.

Tyre-related incidents can be caused by under-inflation or over-inflation, bulges, blisters and cracks and other signs of weathering – often seen on towed vehicles which are often only used seasonally.

Highways England is a key supporter of the charity TyreSafe which works with a variety of partners such as police forces and manufacturers to reduce tyre-related incidents.
More information on the work of TyreSafe is available on their website.

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 Secretary Boris Johnson today (Friday 27) embarks on a two day visit to Portugal and France.

The Foreign Secretary is this morning in Lisbon, for his first official visit to Portugal. Boris Johnson will meet his opposite number Foreign Minister Santos Silva to discuss negotiations on the UK exit from the EU, and how to intensify the world’s oldest bilateral alliance.

Later today, the Foreign Secretary will travel to Paris where he will hold talks with French Foreign Minister Jean Yves Le Drian. The ministers will discuss major global security challenges such as Iran and DPRK.

Ahead of his visit, Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said:

Portugal and the UK have the oldest bilateral Alliance in the world: the Treaty of Windsor, signed on 9 May 1386.

In Lisbon I will discuss how to strengthen our friendship and ensure that after the UK leaves the EU we continue to have a strong, special and modern alliance.

On his visit to Paris, he said:

In Paris, I will discuss with our French partners how we respond together to some of the toughest global security issues we face – Syria, Iran, Ukraine, DPRK.

The UK and France are not only allies, we are the closest of neighbours and friends. Hundreds of thousands of our citizens live in each other’s countries; millions of us cross the Channel every year on visits; and our languages are the most commonly taught in each others’ schools. So as the UK leaves the European Union we are not only preserving a crucial alliance, but writing a new chapter in that story.

Further information

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