Posts

Posted on

Press release: Holiday firm to pay £8,500 after being caught burning waste

A Lincolnshire holiday park company has been ordered to pay over £8,500 after illegally burning waste on one of their sites.

Seaside Leisure Parks Ltd, which operates five parks across the county, was convicted for burning a waste pile consisting of mattresses, sofas, and plastic chairs among other things on 4 July 2017. The Environment Agency (EA), which brought this case against Seaside Leisure, also found evidence of previous waste fires on site.
When EA staff attended the fire in July 2017, they observed acrid smoke from the fire blowing across the caravan site – with the nearest caravan being only 25 meters away.

The Fire and Rescue Service had to attend to put out the fire. Following this incident, the company did not take the appropriate action to remove the waste for another month, instead leaving the waste and fire residues on site.
By not paying for legal disposure of the waste, Seaside Leisure Parks Ltd avoided costs of approximately £2,000. The company had previously been warned for the same type of offending in two letters from the EA in 2010. At interview, the company admitted that the waste costs formed a considerable part of their running costs.

Seaside Leisure Parks Ltd was convicted at Lincoln magistrates’ Court, and ordered to pay a £5,000 fine as well as £3,496.50 in costs and a victim surcharge of £170.

Commenting, EA Enforcement team leader Mark Rumble said:

Businesses have a legal duty to dispose of their waste correctly. This duty is in place to protect communities and the environment from pollution.

By burning waste illegally on site, Seaside Leisure Parks Ltd put people and wildlife at risk in the interest of financial gain. We hope this verdict demonstrates to other businesses the importance of complying with environmental laws. We will take action against those who do not comply.

Link: Press release: Holiday firm to pay £8,500 after being caught burning waste
Source: Environment Agency

Posted on

Press release: Parole Board chair pushes for greater transparency for parole system

Professor Nick Hardwick, Chair of the Parole Board today called again for greater transparency of the parole system.

Speaking at the Faculty of Forensic Psychiatry Annual Conference in Nottingham, he said:

“In a democratic society, surely, for confidence in that exchange to hold, justice needs to be seen to be done. Equally, most democratic societies accept that there are justifiable and necessary limits to the principle of open justice.”

He continued:

“The scrutiny the Parole Board has been under provides an opportunity to make positive change in the parole system. We welcome that. Whatever the results of the judicial reviews I hope the Ministry of Justice review will lead to significant change. That should include harnessing modern technology and social media to provide a much more responsive service to victims and others. We want to and can provide an explanation of our decisions while balancing that with the privacy of victims, prisoners and others involved. We would welcome a simple system that allows our decisions to be reviewed.”

Find Nick Hardwick’s speech to Faculty of Forensic Psychiatry Annual Conference 2018 here:

Nick Hardwick’s speech to Faculty of Forensic Psychiatry Annual Conference 2018

MS Word Document, 28.4KB

This file may not be suitable for users of assistive technology.
Request an accessible format.

If you use assistive technology (such as a screen reader) and need a
version of this document in a more accessible format, please email info@paroleboard.gsi.gov.uk.
Please tell us what format you need. It will help us if you say what assistive technology you use.


Link: Press release: Parole Board chair pushes for greater transparency for parole system
Source: Gov Press Releases

Posted on

Press release: January 2018 Price Paid Data

This month’s Price Paid Data includes details of more than 116,700 sales of land and property in England and Wales that HM Land Registry received for registration in January 2018.

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 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017
Detached 25,932 17,395 24,767
Semi-detached 29,282 19,216 27,093
Terraced 30,741 19,809 27,890
Flat/maisonette 22,887 14,523 19,635
Other 7,953 5,384 7,027
Total 116,795 76,327 106,412

Of the 116,795 sales received for registration in January 2018:

  • 85,753 were freehold, a 23.5% increase on January 2017

  • 16,685 were newly built, a 15% increase on January 2017

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

Of the 116,795 sales received for registration, 25,527 took place in January 2018 of which:

  • 499 were of residential properties in England and Wales for £1 million and over

  • 307 were of residential properties in Greater London for £1 million and over

  • 3 were of residential properties in Birmingham for £1 million and over

  • 3 were of residential properties in Greater Manchester for £1 million and over

The most expensive residential sale taking place in January 2018 was a semi-detached property in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London for £37,720,000. The cheapest residential sale in January 2018 was a terraced property in Burnley, Lancashire for £15,000.

The most expensive commercial sale taking place in January 2018 was in Greater Manchester, for £103,033,044. The cheapest commercial sale in January 2018 was in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, for £100.

Access the full dataset

Notes to editors

  1. Price Paid Data is published at 11am on the 20th working day of each month. The next dataset will be published on Wednesday 28 March 2018.

  2. 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.

  3. 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 two weeks and two 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 two months. The small number of sales affected cannot be updated for publication until the sales are lodged for registration.

  4. 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.

  5. HM Land Registry has been collecting information on Category A sales from January 1995 and on Category B sales from October 2013.

  6. Price Paid Data can be downloaded in text, 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.

  7. 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.

  8. HM Land Registry’s mission is to guarantee and protect property rights in England and Wales.

  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 in excess of £4 trillion, including around £1 trillion of mortgages. The Land Register contains more than 25 million titles showing evidence of ownership for some 85% of the land mass of England and Wales.

  11. For further information about HM Land Registry visit www.gov.uk/land-registry.

  12. Follow us on: Twitter @HMLandRegistry, our blog, LinkedIn and Facebook.

Contact

Senior Press Officer

Marion Shelley
Head Office

Trafalgar House
1 Bedford Park
Croydon
CR0 2AQ

Press Officer

Paula Dorman
Head Office

Trafalgar House

1 Bedford Park
Croydon
CR0 2AQ

Press Office

Link: Press release: January 2018 Price Paid Data
Source: Gov Press Releases

Posted on

Press release: Boost for UK auto sector as Toyota confirms new Auris will be built in the UK

  • Business Secretary welcomes announcement during visit to Toyota’s Burnaston plant in Derbyshire. Derby will be the sole production site for this model in Europe, with engines primarily sourced from Toyota’s Deeside plant in north Wales
  • Decision secured in part thanks to government investment of more than £20 million last year to support the installation of a new production platform in Burnaston, worth over £240 million
  • Announcement confirms the success of the UK’s landmark Industrial Strategy Automotive Sector Deal to secure the future of car production in the UK

International confidence in the UK’s automotive sector was bolstered today (Wednesday 28 February) as Toyota announced it will build its new generation Auris model at its Burnaston factory in Derbyshire.

In a further vote of confidence for UK engineering expertise, the majority of engines for the new model will be sourced from the company’s Deeside factory in north Wales, helping secure 3,000 jobs across the 2 sites.

Business Secretary Greg Clark welcomed the decision during a visit to the Burnaston factory earlier today, where he met teams who will be working on the new model. The decision was helped in part by government investment of more than £20 million announced last year to support the upgrade of the facility and the installation of a new production platform to make the plant more competitive and enable it to build more advanced vehicles.

The investment follows the publication of last month’s landmark sector deal between government and the automotive sector, a vital moment in establishing the UK’s leadership in meeting the Future of Mobility and Clean Growth Grand Challenges.

Business Secretary Greg Clark said:

We have been clear in our commitment to ensuring the automotive sector continues to go from strength to strength which is why, through the Industrial Strategy, we established a landmark Automotive Sector Deal that will see us working with industry to put the UK at the forefront of new technologies and future investment decisions.

Toyota’s decision to build its new Auris model in Burnaston is testament to the highly-skilled and committed workforce that helps make the UK’s automotive sector one of the most productive in the world, and this government will continue work to create the best possible environment to maintain this fruitful relationship.

Secretary of State for Wales Alun Cairns said:

Toyota’s commitment to the UK is an enormous economic boost for Deeside and Wales as a whole. Toyota has played a crucial role in helping to demonstrate why Wales continues to be a prime location to invest and do business through its anchor status on Deeside.

I visited the company’s HQ in Toyota City in Japan last year where I was encouraged by the long term approach given to their investment decisions.

This major announcement is fantastic news and a massive vote of confidence for UK manufacturing and for Wales as a go-to inward investment destination.

Toyota has a long-established relationship with the UK, producing 4 million vehicles and 5 million engines over the last 25 years. Today’s announcement follows Toyota’s decision last year to invest over £240 million to upgrade Burnaston to improve the plant’s competitiveness by installing its latest production platform – the Toyota New Global Architecture – to ensure the plant produced the most advanced models for the European market. This will be the third generation Auris to be built at the Burnaston factory, underlining the skill and expertise of the plant’s world-class staff.

The UK’s automotive sector continues to thrive with the UK currently the third largest European car producer with the highest productivity among Europe’s automotive producing nations. The sector generates £14.6 billion, representing 8.2% of the UK’s total manufacturing gross value added.

Link: Press release: Boost for UK auto sector as Toyota confirms new Auris will be built in the UK
Source: Gov Press Releases

Posted on

Press release: Natural doesn’t mean safe – herbal medicines found to contain steroids

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency is warning people who may have purchased a “natural” Chinese herbal medicine, Yiganerjing Cream, as a treatment for skin conditions to stop using it immediately as it has been found to contain an undisclosed steroid and two antifungal ingredients.

MHRA officials have been acting to stop the sale of this cream and have had it withdrawn from many websites and on-line market places but people may have purchased it in the past and still be using it.

Yiganerjing Cream is not a licensed medicine and has been marketed in the UK as a “natural” Chinese herbal medicine for the treatment of a range of skin conditions, most commonly eczema, psoriasis and rosacea.

Our analysis found the presence of the steroid clobetasol propionate. This steroid is the active ingredient in Prescription-Only Medicines used for the treatment of a range skin conditions such as psoriasis and eczema. Creams containing steroids should be used sparingly and as directed by the prescriber. It is contraindicated in children under 1 year of age.

We are also aware of the use, via a herbal clinic, of a product called Penny Orange Cream which has also been found to contain clobetasol propionate. While this product is no longer available, and we are not aware of its widespread use, it did contain an undisclosed steroid and should not be used.

If you are unsure about the safety of a medicine claiming to be “natural” or “herbal” you should check for a Marketing Authorisation (MA) or Product Licence (PL) number or Traditional Herbal Registration (THR) number / the THR logo. This means the product has been assessed by MHRA for safety and has been manufactured correctly. For more information, visit NHS Choices.

Dr Chris Jones, Manager of the Medicines Borderline Section at MHRA said:

The sale of potent steroid creams directly to the public is illegal for good reason. If used without medical supervision these medicines can be dangerous.

Steroids must be prescribed by healthcare professionals who follow strict criteria when prescribing them and monitoring patients using them. They can suppress the skin’s response to infection, can cause long-term thinning of the skin, and if applied long term over a wide area, particularly in babies and children, can cause other medical problems.

Our advice to anyone who is using Yiganerjing Cream, particularly on young children and babies, is to discontinue use immediately. If you have any questions, please contact your healthcare professional.

If you are aware of Yiganerjing cream being sold, please report it to MHRA at Borderline_medicine@mhra.gov.uk.

Media enquiries

News centre
MHRA

151 Buckingham Palace Road

Victoria
London
SW1W 9SZ

Office hours are Monday to Friday, 8:30am to 5pm. For real-time updates including the latest press releases and news statements, see our Twitter channel at https://www.twitter.com/mhrapress

Link: Press release: Natural doesn’t mean safe – herbal medicines found to contain steroids
Source: Gov Press Releases

Posted on

Press release: Report 04/2018: Freight train derailment at Lewisham

180228_R042018_Lewisham

PDF, 12.3MB, 65 pages

This file may not be suitable for users of assistive technology.
Request an accessible format.

If you use assistive technology (such as a screen reader) and need a
version of this document in a more accessible format, please email enquiries@raib.gov.uk.
Please tell us what format you need. It will help us if you say what assistive technology you use.

Summary

At about 05:30 hrs on 24 January 2017 two wagons within an aggregate train derailed on newly-laid track at Courthill Loop South Junction in Lewisham, south-east London. The first of the wagons ran derailed, damaging the track, then overturned spilling its payload of sand. There was major disruption to rail services while the wagons were recovered and the infrastructure reinstated. No-one was injured.

The new track had been installed during renewal w
ork on the weekend of 14 and 15 January 2017. It was made up of separate panels of switch and crossing track, comprising the rails, point and crossing components and the supporting concrete bearers. Most of these track panels had been brought to site pre-assembled. A mechanical connector, known as a ‘bearer tie’, was used to join the concrete bearers that were designed to support rails on more than one panel. Network Rail originally developed the concept for this type of track in the mid-2000s; it is referred to as ‘modular S&C’.

Planned follow-up engineering work was undertaken on the subsequent weekend. The derailment happened on the day after hand-back checks on completion of this work had confirmed that the track geometry was suitable for the passage of trains. It occurred because the first of the two derailed wagons, which was probably carrying an uneven payload, encountered a significant track twist, resulting in there being insufficient wheel load at the leading left-hand wheel to prevent its flange climbing over the rail head.

The track twist had developed rapidly following the hand-back because:

  • the support offered by the track bed to the concrete bearers was poor
  • the inherent flexibility of the bearer ties located between the two running rails made one side of the track more susceptible to the poor track bed support than the other

Network Rail’s engineering processes for specifying and developing modular S&C layouts were an underlying factor, in that they were inadequate for controlling the risks associated with flange climb derailment.

Recommendations

The RAIB has made five recommendations:

  • Four are directed to Network Rail, concerned with:

    • the processes it uses to identify and manage risks associated with vertical track geometry features following track renewal and heavy maintenance

    • the design and validation of its modular S&C layouts

  • One is directed to RSSB concerned with understanding and managing the derailment risks associated with uneven loading of bulk hopper wagons

The RAIB has additionally identified learning points concerning the management and planning of track installation work, and procedures for the routine maintenance of railway vehicles.

Simon French, Chief Inspector of Rail Accidents said:

Derailments of freight trains on the main line are not very common, but when they occur they have the potential to cause very serious consequences, as well as huge disruption to other services. The accident at Lewisham in January 2017 resulted in days of cancellations and delayed trains on some of the busiest commuter routes in the country. If there had been another train nearby when the accident happened, the subsequent collision could have been disastrous.

This accident was particularly disappointing because it happened immediately after the renewal of the track at a complex junction, which had been done with the latest design of modular, pre-assembled switches and crossings. The designers of the new layout had not fully understood how this type of assembly could behave if the track bearers were not fully supported by the ballast. The track was poorly supported when it was handed back for traffic on the day before the derailment, because there had not been time for the machines to finish tamping the ballast, and manual consolidation work was ineffective. The effect of all these deficiencies was to create a situation in which, when it was handed over for traffic the track had, or very rapidly developed, geometry faults. These created the conditions for the wheels of a freight train with a slightly offset payload to climb over the head of the rail.

RAIB has investigated this interaction between poor track geometry and unevenly loaded trains several times before. In reports on investigations published in 2009 and 2014 we have recommended action to deal with the problem. It is of concern to me that, although the railway industry has established a working group to examine these issues, it remains unclear how its findings will be translated into actions to mitigate the risk of freight train derailment.


Link: Press release: Report 04/2018: Freight train derailment at Lewisham
Source: Gov Press Releases

Posted on

The Value Added Tax (Amendment) Regulations 2018

These Regulations, which come into force on 1st April 2019, amend Part 5 (accounting, payment and records) of the Value Added Tax Regulations 1995 (S.I. 1995/2518: “the Principal Regulations”). They have effect from 1st April 2019 for those taxpayers who have a prescribed accounting period beginning on that date and otherwise from the first day of a taxpayer’s first prescribed accounting period beginning after that date.

Link: The Value Added Tax (Amendment) Regulations 2018
Source: Legislation .gov.uk