Steve Brine MP and nutrition experts give evidence on safe levels of consumption for children
Link: Government consultation on energy drinks examined by Science and Technology Committee
Source: Parliamentary News
Steve Brine MP and nutrition experts give evidence on safe levels of consumption for children
Link: Government consultation on energy drinks examined by Science and Technology Committee
Source: Parliamentary News
Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee examines effect of culture and sport on cities
Link: Committee heads to Sunderland for public evidence session
Source: Parliamentary News
This Order confirms (with modifications) a Scheme submitted by the Environment Agency making provision for the reconstitution of the Parrett Internal Drainage Board so that the number of elected members is reduced from 23 to 12.
Link: The Parrett Internal Drainage Board Order 2018
Source: Legislation .gov.uk
These Regulations set out some of the detail regarding the production of a spatial development strategy by a combined authority, under Part 8 of the Greater London Authority Act 1999 (c.29) (planning).
Link: The Combined Authorities (Spatial Development Strategy) Regulations 2018
Source: Legislation .gov.uk
A Downing Street spokesperson said:
The Prime Minister welcomed Chancellor Kurz of Austria for dinner at Downing Street this evening.
Their warm and constructive conversation touched on the Chancellor’s priorities for Austria’s presidency of the EU, Brexit negotiations, migration and the NATO summit.
The Prime Minister gave an update on the UK’s Brexit negotiating position and advised that the UK would be publishing a white paper on the UK’s future relationship with the EU on Thursday. She urged the EU to give this serious consideration.
Chancellor Kurz noted that a good UK-EU relationship was in the interests of both sides.
On wider issues, the leaders also agreed it was important to work together to tackle illegal migration to Europe. Chancellor Kurz advised that this would be a focus of the informal EU Council which he would host in Salzburg in September. The two leaders also touched on NATO ahead of the Summit in Brussels on Wednesday and on the importance of building ties between the UK and Austria in the digital field.
They closed the dinner by looking ahead to the Western Balkans Summit that the Prime Minister will host with EU and Western Balkan leaders tomorrow. They agreed that the stability and prosperity of the region was a shared priority for the UK and Austria.
Link: Press release: Prime Minister’s meeting with Chancellor Kurz of Austria: 9 July 2018
Source: Gov Press Releases
Prime Minister Theresa May today announces a package of measures to help the Western Balkans prosper by improving the collective security and economic stability of the region.
The Prime Minister will welcome the six Western Balkan leaders to London today, alongside other European figures such as German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, and the Polish Prime Minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, for the 5th annual Western Balkans Summit under the Berlin Process.
The Berlin Process, established in 2014, has already achieved a great deal in the region – advancing the economic integration, building energy and transport links, and forging connections between civil society and young people.
The package announced today will complement this progress, helping build a more peaceful, prosperous and democratic Western Balkans.
It will help the region to address complex security challenges, particularly around serious and organised crime and drug smuggling, which in turn will help prevent illicit activity on the streets in the UK.
Organised Crime Groups from the Western Balkans have a significant nationwide presence in the UK. UK cooperation with the region and European partners has previously delivered positive results, including bringing down a crime network which was estimated to have imported an average of more than 8,000kg of cocaine a year into the UK, with an estimated street value of £800m.
Encouraged by these results and recognising the importance of the Western Balkans, the Prime Minister wants to go further to strengthen the security and economic integrity of the region.
Prime Minister, Theresa May said:
I am proud to host this year’s Western Balkans Summit, bringing together leaders from across the region with European partners to look at how we can ensure the economic stability and collective security of the Western Balkans.
For history shows that a stable and secure Western Balkans region means a more stable and secure Europe. We are leaving the EU next March, but we remain fully committed to improving the prosperity and security of the Western Balkans, and Europe, both now and in the years to come.
The package that I have announced today will help the Western Balkans tackle threats to their progress, such as serious and organised crime, drug trafficking and terrorism, while also having a positive effect in the UK by cutting off criminal activity at the source and helping prevent crime from reaching British streets.
The new package, which demonstrates the government’s enduring commitment to the region, includes:
Link: Press release: PM reveals package of measures to promote a more peaceful, prosperous and democratic Western Balkans
Source: Gov Press Releases
A new £7 million fund to support trailblazing approaches to building more integrated communities in England was launched today (9 July 2018) by Secretary of State for Communities Rt Hon James Brokenshire MP.
The Integrated Communities Innovation Fund will help drive forward the proposals to tackle the key causes of poor integration set out in the government’s Integrated Communities Strategy green paper launched in March 2018.
The Secretary of State launched the fund while giving evidence to the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee at Parliament at a session outlining his priorities as the Secretary of State for Communities.
The new Innovation Fund aims to support similar trailblazing projects that will share their learning more widely, allowing other areas to develop proven approaches to tackling the key causes of poor integration.
We are inviting applications to support approaches which help build integrated communities. This includes projects that use sport and physical activity to encourage integration. The government will be working in partnership with Sport England, which is contributing to the new Integrated Communities Innovation Fund, to support projects of this type.
The consultation on the government’s Integrated Communities Strategy green paper closed on 5 June 2018. Over 3,500 responses were received from a wide variety of organisations and individuals clearly demonstrating the widespread commitment to building stronger communities across the country. The government will respond to the consultation later this year.
Speaking after the session, Secretary of State for Communities Rt Hon James Brokenshire MP said:
Britain is on the whole a well integrated society, but we have been clear that we need to tackle the persistent challenges of integration in some communities across the country.
The trailblazing projects supported by the fund announced today will drive forward our work to bring all levels of society together, from business leaders to grassroots charities, to tackle the key causes of poor integration.
Jennie Price, CEO of Sport England, said:
I’m very pleased that Sport England is working closely with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to achieve our shared objective of improving integration to strengthen communities.
We believe sport and physical activity is a powerful way of bringing together people from all backgrounds and strengthening the bonds between them.’
The green paper sets out that organisations that work closely with communities must be bold and innovative in order to tackle some of the most difficult integration challenges and that knowledge of what works should be shared.
To support this aim the government is today also announcing support for a new Cohesion and Integration Network. This will bring together organisations and individuals from across national and local government, business, and voluntary and community groups to share their ideas, knowledge and experience.
Professor Ted Cantle, a trustee of the new network, said:
The Cohesion and Integration Network announced today is a great opportunity to boost integration across the country, and ensure that proven ideas and projects can be easily shared replicated elsewhere and not re-invented or lost altogether.
We will be developing toolkits and guidance and making these resources accessible to everybody and as well as investing in skills and training to build the capacity of communities
The Integrated Communities Innovation Fund builds upon steps already taken to tackle the key causes of poor integration in collaboration with a wide range of partners.
It will complement the government’s ongoing work to develop ambitious local integration plans with 5 integration areas across England:
These 5 local authorities have already demonstrated a keen grasp of the challenges they face and shown a desire to try new things and learn from what works. This learning will be shared more widely as the programme develops.
2 Marsham Street
London
SW1P 4DF
Contact form
http://forms.communiti…
General enquiries: please use this number if you are a member of the public
030 3444 0000
Email
newsdesk@communities.gsi.gov.uk
Please use this number if you are a journalist wishing to speak to Press Office
0303 444 1209
Twitter – https://twitter.com/mhclg
Flickr – http://www.flickr.com/photos/mhclg
LinkedIn – http://www.linkedin.com/company/mhclg
Link: Press release: New funding for innovative projects to build stronger communities
Source: Gov Press Releases
New proposals on the detail of a new UK nuclear safeguards regime to replace the current regime provided by Euratom, have been set out in a consultation launched today (Monday 9 July 2018).
The consultation sets out nuclear safeguards regulations that would be made using the powers granted by the Nuclear Safeguards Act, which last month became one of the first pieces of EU Exit legislation to complete its passage through Parliament and receive Royal Assent.
Business and Industry Minister, Richard Harrington said:
The Nuclear Safeguards Act is one of the first pieces of legislation to go through Parliament in preparation for EU Exit and is yet another major milestone in our work to prepare the civil nuclear industry for Euratom exit, ensuring continuity from day 1.
We are setting out proposals for the detail of our own UK framework for safeguards, demonstrating our readiness for EU Exit.
The Nuclear Safeguards Act addresses the United Kingdom’s departure from the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom), an international organisation that governs the peaceful use of nuclear energy within the EU. The passing of the Act and today’s consultation on a new safeguards regime provide a clear signal to the public, industry and international partners that the UK is on track to meet its international commitments from day one of exit.
Nuclear safeguards are important processes through which the UK demonstrates to the international community that civil nuclear material is not diverted into military or weapons programmes.
Today’s announcement comes just weeks after the UK’s commitment to international safeguards and nuclear non-proliferation was reaffirmed in Vienna, with the signing of 2 new safeguards agreements with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
These key agreements with the IAEA – of which the UK is a founding member – are another major milestone in Euratom exit preparations and provide the basis for civil nuclear trading arrangements. This step will be welcomed by the industry in the UK and trading partners around the world.
Further progress towards Euratom Exit has been set out in a Quarterly update to Parliament published on 28 June, which outlines several key achievements, including the Office for Nuclear Regulation’s good progress on preparations for implementing the UK’s safeguards regime and the confirmation that all Euratom specific text in the Withdrawal Agreement has now been agreed.
The UK signed a new Nuclear Cooperation Agreement (NCA) with the United States of America in May, which will allow the UK and US to continue their mutually beneficial civil nuclear cooperation when the current Euratom arrangements cease to apply to the UK.
This US-UK NCA is expected to be the first in a series of new international agreements ensuring uninterrupted cooperation and trade following the UK’s exit from Euratom.
Details on how to respond to the consultation and to register interest for the workshops, can be found on the consultation web page.
The Nuclear Safeguards Act 2018 amends the Energy Act 2013 to:
The Act also creates a limited power for the Secretary of State to amend 3 existing pieces of legislation to update references to the new IAEA agreements.
The UK’s Voluntary Offer Agreement and Additional Protocol were signed in Vienna on 7 June.
The UK has been a member of the IAEA since its formation in 1957.
The signing of new bilateral agreements with the IAEA, a Voluntary Offer Agreement and Additional Protocol, will replace existing trilateral arrangements between the IAEA, Euratom and the UK.
The new agreements ensure that the IAEA retains its right to inspect all civil nuclear facilities, and continues to receive current safeguards reporting, thereby ensuring that international verification of our safeguards activity continues to be robust. Such agreements have been put in place on a voluntary basis by the 5 nuclear-weapon states parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.
The new safeguards regime to be established in the UK will be operated by the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR). The ONR already regulates nuclear safety and security in the UK and has been making preparation to replace Euratom as the regulator of safeguards.
Link: Press release: UK nuclear safeguards on track for EU exit
Source: Gov Press Releases
A security fencing manufacturing company has been fined after a worker sustained significant injuries on site.
Link: Worker injured after being struck by fencing panels
Source: Health and Safety
Simon Thomerson has been sentenced to 8 months in custody after pleading guilty to a health and safety breach that resulted in the death of two brothers.
Link: Director jailed after Hoddesdon explosion led to death of two brothers
Source: Health and Safety