SpaceCareers.uk launched in 2015 and has since helped thousands of young people find their dream job in space.

Robert Garner, Mission Analyst at the UK Space Agency said,

I’m honoured to have been awarded with a Sir Arthur Clarke for my work with UKSEDS and SpaceCareers.uk.

I could not have done it without the team of student volunteers who give up their spare time to highlight the importance of the space sector, and provide opportunities for young people to launch their careers.

Robert served on the UK’s national student space society (UKSEDS) Executive Committee and Board of trustees, where he helped run the organisation and developed opportunities for fellow students by building partnerships with major space companies and supporting the organisation of the National Student Space Conference.

Robert studied Physics (with Space Science and Technology) at the University of Leicester and completed his Aerospace Engineering PhD at the University of Strathclyde. He now works in the UK Space Agency’s Chief Engineer’s office as a Mission Analyst.

The UK Space Agency recently (5 October 2018) unveiled a list of space sector work placements available to recent graduates or postgraduate students. The full list of placements can be found on SpaceCareers.uk.

Earlier this year, the Agency announced an allocation of up to £4 million to find solutions to major challenges facing the NHS in its 70th anniversary with NHS England.

The Agency’s Emily Gravestock, Head of Applications, was finalist for the Individual Industry/Project award for this collaborative work with the NHS.

The Sir Arthur Clarke Awards were presented yesterday (1 November 2018) at the British Interplanetary Society’s Reinventing Space Conference.

Other winners include:

• Industry/ Project Team – Oxford Space Systems
• Industry/ Project Individual – Magali Vaissiere
• Academic Study/ Research – The UK Cassini-Huygens Team
• Team Education & Outreach – ESSERO-UK Space Ambassadors
• Individual Education and Outreach – Vix Southgate
• Media, broadcast and written – BBC2 ‘Astronauts: Do you have what it takes?’
• Lifetime Achievement – Richard Peckham
• International Space Achievement – SpaceX Falcon Team

October has been another busy month and one that has asked questions about how we can shape the future of the Parole Board.

Justice Select Committee, 10 October

I appeared at the Justice Select Committee on 10 October to speak about the work of the Parole Board and how the prison population can be safely reduced, as part of the “Prison Population 2022: planning for the future inquiry.”

The evidence I gave showed the work being done by the Parole Board and its justice partners to reduce delays caused by unnecessary deferrals and adjournments — important work which I spoke about in my last blog. I also spoke about the fact that the backlog of outstanding parole cases that had occurred after the 2013 Osborn Booth & Reilly Supreme Court Judgment has been cleared. This backlog had a peak of over 3000 prisoners in 2015 and it was a huge success to eliminate it. To do this we had to completely change how we worked and now hold more oral hearings than we have ever held before (and 5 times the amount held in 2005/6!).

Despite the success of getting rid of the backlog, the number of parole eligible prisoners remains at a high level and we cannot stop working and innovating to ensure that they are provided with fair and timely hearings.

The IPP sentence

Prisoners sentenced under the Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) are a contributing factor to the high prison population. My evidence to the Justice Select Committee explained that there are many reasons why the IPP population isn’t going down as quickly as we would like.

The IPP sentence was abolished in 2012, but not retrospectively, and many prisoners remain in custody years after their original tariff has expired. Since the abolition of the sentence, the headline IPP prison population has now fallen by 57% — from a peak of 6,080 in 2012 down to 2,598 by 30 September 2018. These cases are some of the most complex that come before the Board and so, despite increased progression rates in recent years, there is further work to be done across the system.

Whilst this progress is encouraging, the number of IPP prisoners recalled to custody continues to rise. Without further legislative change the legacy of IPP prisoners will remain for many years to come, not least because and it can be expected that the rate of progression will slow down as the number of IPP prisoners in the system falls.

IPP Families Event in Parliament

On 17 October I spoke at a policy launch event on ‘The Secondary Pains for Family Members of Indeterminate Imprisonment’. The research by Drs Harry Annison and Rachel Condry (from the Universities of Southampton and Oxford respectively) examines the challenges faced by family members of prisoners sentenced to the indeterminate Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) sentence.

What is clear is that the Parole Board can play its part to help family members of IPP prisoners. For example, the work we are carrying out to reduce the number of deferrals — we know the impact such delays have on prisoners and their families.

Another way we can help is by doing our main role well — ensuring that we continue to deliver timely hearings in a safe manner. To do that we need a steady stream of members joining the Parole Board.

New Members Joining on 1 November

On 1 November we welcome 25 new members to the Parole Board (13 judicial members and 12 psychiatrist members). This comes at an important time — a lot of our members came to the end of the tenure in September 2018 and we need these new members to fill the gaps that our very experienced former colleagues have left. We held a great New Members Training event in Derbyshire last week and I am sure that our new 2018 cohort will be a credit to the Board.

Welcome Caroline

And last — but by no means least — Caroline Corby starts her tenure as permanent Chair of the Parole Board on 1 November. She has been our Interim Chair since the Spring and I have every confidence that she is the right person to guide us through the reforms that are happening, and help make the Board more effective than ever before.

The company has won 2 awards at the annual Institute of Chemical Engineers (IChemE) event, which celebrates the achievements of chemical engineers around the world.

The ‘Young Industrialist Award’ went to Sellafield Ltd employee, Rojiar Ferschy, a process design engineer helping to solve the site’s decommissioning challenges.

Rojiar was recognized for her outstanding professional and personal achievements, having moved to the UK from Iran in 2006 before learning to speak English at the age of 17.

She has since excelled in her training and career at Sellafield as a passionate advocate of chemical engineering.

Judges were particularly impressed by Rojiar’s personal dedication to voluntary work, using her free time to mentor aspiring engineers, help on water and sanitation projects abroad and teach English within refugee camps in Iran and Turkey.

The ‘Team Award’ went to Sellafield Ltd, Progressive Alliance and AXIOM for their work to build a new facility to enable long-term storage of nuclear material at the Sellafield site.

They were praised for their collaborative approach to the design and construction of the Sellafield Product and Residues Store retreatment plant.

Teams from Jacobs, Atkins and Sellafield Ltd were also highly commended for their work in the First Generation Magnox Storage Pond and Evaporator D projects.

Paul Haworth, chief process engineer for Sellafield Ltd said:

Congratulations to all finalists and our winners. It is fantastic that our teams and supply chain colleagues have been recognised on this global scale, for their contribution to the site’s clean-up mission.

Ken Rivers, IChemE President said:

The IChemE Global Awards are a clear demonstration of the contribution chemical engineers are making worldwide for the benefit of society. Every finalist is living proof that chemical engineering matters.

As President of the Institution, I’m so proud to have seen first-hand the fantastic work that our professional chemical engineering community are doing. Congratulations to all our deserving winners.

From today (Friday 2 November), people applying for work or study visas, settlement or citizenship from within the UK will be able to make appointments to use new, modernised and efficient service centres.

The first centre will open in Manchester on Friday 9 November 2018 and will be followed by new centres in Birmingham, Glasgow, Cardiff, Belfast and Croydon. In addition, there will be 50 enhanced service centres nationally, which will be available to customers for a charge, and a premium lounge located in London.

The modernised service will mean that most people applying in the UK will be able to submit their biometric information including photos, fingerprints, and signatures as well as their supporting evidence at a single appointment.

The current system requires an individual to make an application, send their documents to UKVI, who retain them until the application is completed, and enrol their biometrics separately.

To help improve peace of mind for customers using the centres, it will now be possible, in the majority of cases, to take digital copies of evidence meaning that people won’t have to hand over important documents, such as passports, while their applications are processed.

The Immigration Minister Caroline Nokes said:

We are committed to delivering a modern, convenient and easy to use service for UKVI customers.

These new service centres located across the country are a key part of our vision for a system that supports its customers and provides peace of mind whilst they are making an application.

The majority of people will now complete their applications online via an intuitive and easy to use system before attending one of the UK Visa and Citizenship Application Services centres (UKVCAS), which will be delivered by commercial partner Sopra Steria.

Customers will be led through an online application process making it clear what they need to do, what supporting evidence they will need and where they need to go to complete their application.

Free appointments will be available for everyone, however, customers will also have the option to purchase added value services such as same day appointments and On Demand services.

In addition, there will also be 7 dedicated Service and Support Centres (SSC), which will transform the experience for people who need more support with their applications.

Experienced frontline Home Office staff will help those who need extra support to better understand their circumstances and if necessary, take the appropriate safeguarding action.

These SSCs will be in Belfast, Cardiff, Croydon, Glasgow, Liverpool, Sheffield and Solihull, and will open in January 2019.

Further information on these services.