Business Secretary Greg Clark has appointed Andy Haldane to be Chair of the Industrial Strategy Council, an independent body set up to assess the government’s progress on the commitments made in its modern Industrial Strategy.

Mr Haldane is the Chief Economist of the Bank of England where he is responsible for research and statistics as well as being a member of the Monetary Policy Committee.

The Council will meet for the first time at the beginning of November. Mr Haldane will be joined by senior individuals from business, academia and civil society from all corners of the UK.

Business Secretary Greg Clark said:

We are getting on with delivering the modern Industrial Strategy with record levels of investment in R&D, the fastest growth in infrastructure spending in the G7, the biggest shakeup to technical education in a generation and Sector Deals to put the UK at the forefront of the industries of the future.

The Industrial Strategy Council has an important role to play holding the government to account by monitoring its success delivering the Industrial Strategy and its impact on the economy.

I am delighted that Andy Haldane has taken on this important role which will give the Council authority and independence, as well as the benefit of his thought leadership in this area.

Chief Economist of the Bank of England Andy Haldane said:

The Industrial Strategy is one of the most critical strands of work taking place across government and has the potential to raise living standards across the whole of the UK, boost people’s earning powers and put the UK at the forefront of future industries internationally.

I am delighted and honoured to take the role of Chair of the Industrial Strategy Council and look forward to working with leading business men and women, investors, economists, and academics to provide impartial and independent evaluations of the government’s progress in delivering on the Industrial Strategy.

Governor of the Bank of England Mark Carney said:

Productivity is an important determinant of the Monetary Policy Committee’s forecasts for economic growth and inflation. Understanding the impact of the government’s policies on the outlook for productivity is therefore of great importance to the Bank’s work. Andy’s new role will help both to deepen that understanding and, consistent with our remit, to support the government’s objectives for growth and employment.

The work programme of the Council will be developed by the Chair and its members and its remit will include reviewing the impact of the Industrial Strategy to date and its contribution to UK economic growth, as well as recommending a series of success measures for the implementation of the Industrial Strategy White Paper.

It will also provide advice on delivery against these measures and their contribution to UK economic growth and ways to improve the measurement of success, particularly in terms of productivity and the better use of data across government.

The Council will publish a regular public report assessing progress on implementation of the Industrial Strategy against success measures and on ways to improve measurement and evaluation.

It will meet 3 to 4 times a year and it will agree its annual work programme and priorities with BEIS and HMT. The Chair will meet annually with the Business Secretary and the Chancellor to discuss its work programme and progress.

Plans to convene an Industrial Strategy Council were announced in the Industrial Strategy White Paper and is a result of the Green Paper consultation, in which many businesses, universities and other stakeholders proposed that the Industrial Strategy needs to have clear measures of success, and an ongoing mechanism to evaluate progress.

• Andy Haldane is chairing the Industrial Strategy Council in a personal capacity during his term of office. It is not an institutional responsibility of the Bank of England.
• Andy Haldane will not be receiving a salary for this role.

The eight Type 26 warships will start being delivered to the Royal Navy from the mid-2020s, heralding yet another new era in the role of a base which has played a central role in the defence of the UK for hundreds of years – from the Napoleonic wars to the Falklands Conflict.

The 6,900-tonne frigates will be world-class anti-submarine warships and will provide cutting-edge protection for the likes of the UK’s nuclear deterrent and the Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carriers, with the ability to conduct a whole range of other operations anywhere in the world.

Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson said:

The largest Naval Base in western Europe, Devonport is the lifeblood of Plymouth and is as synonymous with this city as it is with our famous Royal Navy.

Ships have set sail from Devonport’s dock to defend our great nation for hundreds of years, and I can reveal that the truly world-class Type 26 frigates will follow in their wake.

We are living in increasingly dangerous times, with threats intensifying both on and beneath the water. Plymouth should be in no doubt that it will be right at the heart of Britain’s fight for a safer world by homing these formidable warships.

Devonport has been supporting the Royal Navy since 1691, with the vast site covering more than 650 acres with four miles of waterfront. Alongside frigates, it is home to Britain’s survey vessels and amphibious ships. Recently the Defence Secretary put to bed any speculation about the future of amphibious assault ships HMS Bulwark and HMS Albion by announcing he is protecting them.

The Base employs 2,500 people, supporting around 400 local firms and generating around 10% of Plymouth’s income. It is a key part of defence’s huge footprint in the South West, where the MOD spends £5.1bn with industry – more than in any other part of the country.

The eight Type 26s will replace the current anti-submarine warfare Type 23 frigates. They will make up the next-generation of the Navy’s fleet, along with a first batch of five Type 31e frigates. The decision on where the Type 31e frigates will be based is still to be made.

The first Type 26 ships have already been ordered for £3.7 billion from BAE Systems’ yards on the Clyde. The first four have already been named as HMS Glasgow, HMS Cardiff, HMS Belfast and HMS Birmingham. The flexible design of the frigates will also enable these capabilities to be adapted to counter future threats, and the ships will benefit from the latest advances in digital technology.

The formidable anti-submarine warship will include an embarked helicopter, powerful sonar detection systems, ship and helicopter-launched torpedoes and a design which makes the Type 26 extremely difficult for enemy submarines to detect.

The move follows the announcement last year that the eight Type 23 ships fitted with a towed array sonar tail would all be based in Devonport, making the site a centre of excellence in anti-submarine warfare. The five general purpose Type 23 frigates are now based in Portsmouth, which is also the home of the UK’s Type 45 Destroyers and new aircraft carriers.

Australia recently decided to build nine of the British-designed Type 26 warships, confirming the world-leading capability they will offer. The deal, which could be worth up to £20 billion, has been hailed as the biggest Naval ship deal for a decade.

A man from Middlesex has been prosecuted after being caught on film dumping waste on private land in Romford.

Brian Christopher Stokes, of Lyncroft Avenue, Pinner, was charged with dumping waste without an environmental permit, contrary to section 33 (1) (a) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990.

At Barkingside magistrates’ court on Friday 5 October, district judge Gary Lucie sentenced Stokes to 100 hours’ unpaid work, ordering him to pay costs of £1,500, and an £85 victim surcharge.

The court heard Stokes was captured on CCTV controlled by Havering Borough Council, arriving on private land at the old Decathlon site in Angel Way, Romford, Essex, on 14 July 2016. Stokes was filmed driving a white dumper truck to the rear of the site, emptying the contents, described as “building materials in heavy duty bags,” from the truck to the land. He’d previously removed the vehicle’s number plates.

Enforcement officers from Havering Council passed the CCTV footage to the Environment Agency and Metropolitan Police. On 21 July 2016, police officers attended a different location in Romford. The same vehicle used by Stokes a week earlier was seen being driven onto this site. Officers identified Stokes as the driver.

District judge Lucie heard the Angel Way site, went from “being completely clear to being full to the brim of waste,” although Stokes was only responsible for some of the waste dumped there.

Simon Graham-Harrison, who brought the case against Stokes for the Environment Agency, said:

Stokes’s actions showed a blatant disregard for the environment. In cases like this, where the actions of individuals threaten to undermine legitimate waste businesses, we have no hesitation in prosecuting those involved.

To ensure that the right waste gets to the right place, we encourage the public and businesses to check that their waste carrier is registered on www.gov.uk, and to ask to see a copy of the waste transfer note for the waste. If possible, take a photo of the note on your phone.

Stokes pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing.

A list of registered waste-carriers can be checked online here.