Tag: communications

Sections of the A23 at Hooley will have an extra lane added, upgraded traffic signals will be installed and new pedestrian and cycling facilities will be introduced.

Hooley junction is where the M23 motorway terminates, and is a major route from the M25 to Croydon and south London. The 35,000 drivers who use it every day are often held up as motorway traffic merges onto the A23, and queuing traffic frequently blocks access to residential roads.

The improvements seek to address both of these issues, and plans are going on show this weekend (Friday 27 and Saturday 28 July).

Highways England project sponsor Tommy Whittingham said:

These improvements will deliver improvements for drivers and local people alike. The A23 through Hooley is badly in need of improvements. Residents along this stretch often have access to their driveways blocked by queuing traffic, and drivers using the A23 at Hooley have long suffered with congestion with traffic backing up along the carriageway and onto the local roads.

This scheme will add an extra lane to relieve bottlenecks in each direction, while upgraded traffic lights will help to optimise traffic flow. And a new shared pedestrian and cycle path will give a safe, convenient alternative to the main road.

We are holding two public information events at Hooley Village Hall in Hooley on Friday and Saturday this week so people can come and speak to the project team and find out more about our plans.

The A23 is a major route for drivers travelling to and from south London using the M23 and M25, and the junctions between the A23, Star Lane and Netherne Drive in Hooley are often congested. Queuing traffic often blocks access to residential properties driveways, backing up the main carriageway.

The scheme includes:

• widening the northbound A23 from Dean Lane Junction to Netherne Drive to two lanes
• widening the southbound A23 from Netherne Drive to the Esso petrol station to two lanes
• upgrading traffic signals to improve traffic flow at the A23 junctions with Netherne Drive, Star Lane and Church Street
• enhanced pedestrian and cycling facilities with a new shared footway and cycleway. This will give cyclists an alternative to the main carriageway.

The improvements will increase capacity and help smooth traffic flow on the A23 between Dean Lane to Netherne Drive, and provide journey time savings of around two and a half minutes per vehicle. The upgrade will also help to reduce congestion during the peak hours and improve traffic flow for vehicles entering and exiting the A23. The scheme will also reduce the likelihood of traffic backing up on to junctions further along the A23. The scheme design and traffic modelling indicates that it will not move the problem further along the A23.

Drivers, local residents and business owners are invited to find out more about the plans, which will be on show at three public exhibitions at Hooley Village Hall this Friday and Saturday. To find out more about the events, please visit the project web page.

Work is scheduled to start next summer, with the upgraded junction fully open to traffic in Spring 2020.

Anyone interested in the scheme can visit the project page on the Highways England website, where they can also sign up for 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.

Former football agent Jerome Anderson has lost his £1.2 million tax battle with HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC).

The case, heard at the Upper Tribunal, shows that Anderson and 8 others failed in their attempt to avoid large amounts of tax.

The scheme involved investments in the recruitment and training of young footballers at the Bafana Soccer Academy in South Africa.

Anderson attempted to use this investment to claim a £3 million artificial trading loss to reduce his tax bill by huge amounts of money.

Thet tribunal found that Anderson’s activities were more like those of an investor, and this didn’t show that he was trading.

This decision means he could not claim a trading loss and tax was due.

Penny Ciniewicz, HMRC’s Director General for Customer Compliance, said:

The court has made it clear that these schemes don’t work.

Our public services rely on everyone paying their taxes and it’s unfair for people not to pay their share.

Anyone who’s caught up in tax avoidance and wants to put it behind them should come forward now and settle what they owe.

This latest victory continues HMRC’s excellent record of winning 9 out of 10 tax avoidance cases taken to court, with many more settling what they owe before reaching that stage.

Further information

You can read the Upper Tribunal decision.

This was the first case to consider section 74B of the Income Tax Act 2007, an anti-avoidance provision that denies an individual any sideways loss relief claimed where that individual carries on a trade in a ‘non-active’ capacity and where that loss arises in connection with tax avoidance arrangements.

An image of Penny Ciniewicz, Director General of HMRC’s Customer Compliance Group, is available on Flickr.

The Queen has been pleased to appoint Mr Edward William Gillespie OBE DL as Her Majesty’s Lord-Lieutenant of the County of Gloucestershire to succeed Dame Janet Trotter DBE CVO when she retires on 29 October 2018.