News story: CNC secure prestigious Counter Terror Policing Award at national event

The Civil Nuclear Constabulary (CNC) were the proud winners of the Counter Terror Policing Award at the annual Security and Counter Terror Exhibition at Olympia on Tuesday (6/3).

The annual exhibition incorporates the Counter Terror Awards, where public and private sector organisations from across the UK and internationally are recognised in 10 categories for their contributions to reducing the threat from global terrorism.

The CNC were nominated in the Counter Terror Policing Award, which recognises the efforts of the police sector in combatting domestic terrorism through prevention strategies and operational excellence. The nominees in the category were:

  • The CNC, for the planning, exercising and testing that led to two very successful live deployments under Operation Temperer in 2017
  • National CT Policing, for the ‘Action Counters Terrorism’ campaign designed to encourage the public to play a part in helping tackle the terrorist threat
  • City of London Police, as the first force to launch Project Servator
  • Bedfordshire Police, for their introduction of an app entitled ‘Cross the Line’ which is designed to deter young people from committing hate crime

In the face of strong competition from the other nominees, the Civil Nuclear Constabulary were announced the winner by the guest of honour, Sir Michael Fallon, who recognised in his speech the ongoing threat from terrorism in the UK and the challenges that have been faced in responding to and defeating planned attacks.

Supt Graham Bell, Head of Operational Support and Development, and Eugene Johnson, the Resilience and Business Continuity Manager, accepted the award on the behalf of the CNC.

Chief Constable Mike Griffiths said: “It was an honour for the CNC to receive this national award and is recognition of the hard work, dedication and commitment of all our officers and staff. They went above and beyond to deploy over 800 officers across two deployments to 23 different Home Office force areas in a matter of hours. At the same time, military personnel were received onto the civil nuclear sites we police to support remaining officers in maintaining the safety and security of the sites.

“Our Authorised Firearms Officers provided armed support to these forces and reassurance to the public after the tragic Manchester Arena attack in May and the Parsons Green incident in September.

“This huge deployment of our officers wouldn’t have been possible without the hard work and planning which went into the Operation Temperer plan and the close working relationship we have with our stakeholders and I am very proud that the work of my officers and staff has been recognised with this national award.”

Supt Bell said: “It was a privilege for Eugene and I to collect the award, which reflects the enormous amount of hard work that went on in the planning stages, and the commitment of everybody who was involved – either through deploying to forces or working with the military when they came to our sites.

“This national recognition, against strong competition, came as a very welcome surprise and is a huge recognition of the CNC. We have now set the bar very high, which is why we keep our plans under constant review, as we never know when we may have to instigate them again but I have every confidence that if called to again we will deliver.”




News story: UK steps up cyber defence

Minister for the Armed Forces Mark Lancaster at the opening of a new Defence Cyber School at the Defence Academy, Shrivenham. Crown copyright.

Part of a joint investment by the MOD and the National Cyber Security Programme, the School will address specialist skills and wider education in line with National Cyber Security Strategy objectives.

Armed Forces’ Minister Mark Lancaster, who opened the school, said:

Cyber threats to the UK are constantly evolving and we take them very seriously. That’s why the Defence Cyber School is so important. It’s a state-of-the-art centre of excellence that will train more personnel across Defence and wider government in dealing with emerging threats.

With threats from hostile states changing at pace, the UK faces a deliberate attempt to destabilise secured peace and prosperity.

The 2016 National Cyber Security Strategy provided £1.9 billion of transformative investment in cyber, which is being used alongside more conventional land, maritime and air capabilities, to meet these threats head-on.

Now, building on current capabilities; which include the Global Operations and Security Control Centre at MOD Corsham; and the MOD Computer Emergency Response Team (MOD-CERT); Rapid Response Teams will be established from April.

Teams of specialist Incident Responders will be available to deploy to locations around the UK and overseas, to tackle malicious cyber activity.

Commander Joint Forces Command, General Sir Chris Deverell, said:

Defence has a number of very highly-trained military personnel on hand to deal with emerging and complex cyber threats. We are reinforcing these capabilities with the creation of Rapid Response Teams. Our threat-hunters give us the ability to identify, isolate and respond to these threats, whenever and wherever they might arise.

The UK has advanced counter-cyber capabilities which can protect national interests from harm caused by adversaries. Furthermore, offensive cyber can be used to deal with serious threats to the UK.




Press release: Highways England announces executive appointment

David, who joins the company on Tuesday 13 March, brings a wealth of experience.

David has led safety and supply chain development at Carillion as well as sustainability strategies over the past 6 years. He was previously a Director at Sky and at Motorola and also served 20 years in senior strategic and operational leadership roles as a wing commander in the RAF.

He takes over from David Poole who is leaving Highways England on 16 March.

General enquiries

Members of the public should contact the Highways England customer contact centre on 0300 123 5000.

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Journalists should contact the Highways England press office on 0844 693 1448 and use the menu to speak to the most appropriate press officer.




Transparency data: BIS: workforce management information, June 2016

Reports on departmental staff numbers and costs.




Transparency data: BIS: workforce management information, April 2016

Reports on departmental staff numbers and costs.