We are consulting through our 4 national and local waterway user advisory committees.

The advisory committees are:

• National Navigation Users Forum (NNUF)
• Thames Navigation Users Forum (TNUF)
• Anglian Waterways Group (AWG)
• Medway River Users Association (MRUA)

We would like to know if, your organisation, as well as the members you represent:

• support the Environment Agency’s need to increase boat registration charges
• support the level of increase proposed
• do not support the level of increase proposed, what level you would support
• we do not increase the charges, what part of the service you would be prepared to see reduce
  or stop

Small or medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) working on late-stage infrastructure systems projects can apply for a share of £10 million in a pilot loans competition – the first opportunity to access Innovate UK’s new alternative financial support scheme.

This loans competition aims to help businesses overcome barriers to scaling up innovation in infrastructure systems. It will do this by enabling them to demonstrate their ideas work as expected in real-world applications with users, and take their solutions to market.

It was announced today at Innovate 2017.

Smarter, better infrastructure

The growing, ageing population, increased urbanisation and urgent need to reduce carbon emissions calls for new and novel infrastructure solutions. But developing, testing and commercialising new ideas in this sector can be risky.

You could get an innovation loan of up to £1 million for a first of a kind deployment of infrastructure technologies.

Demonstrator projects must be in one of Innovate UK’s priority areas. These are:

• smart infrastructure, adding intelligence to improve physical infrastructure or the design process
• urban living, addressing the challenges people face in urban areas in order to improve user experience and lower costs. This could be:
  • ‘hard’ systems, such as energy, transport, waste, water and communication
  • ‘soft’ systems, such as security, law and justice (for example, public order and safety), health, wellbeing, social care and education
  • ‘environmental’ systems such as green spaces and waterways
• energy supply and systems, specifically improving the value proposition, affordability, emissions and security of energy
• connected transport, looking at solutions that move people and goods more efficiently and sustainably, and make transport more secure, user-centric and accessible

Introducing innovation loans

This is the first time Innovate UK has run a loans competition.

Innovations need different types of funding support depending on how close they are to market. Getting the right funding at the right time can scale up businesses’ productivity and growth.

We believe that a patient, flexible loan scheme will be useful for innovations that are near to market, where there is less risk involved.

A pilot loan scheme worth up to £50 million will be offered over the next 2 years. Loans will be made through Innovate UK Loans Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Innovate UK.

About the infrastructure systems loan competition

• the loans competition is open, and the deadline for registration is 10 January 2018
• you could get between £100,000 to £1 million to cover up to 100% of eligible project costs
• this opportunity is for UK-based SMEs
• applications can only be made by single SMEs
• loans are for late-stage experimental development only
• they are available for up to 10 years
• there is a briefing event for applicants on 16 November 2017

This project has produced guidelines for screening the risks to soils from chemicals released through the landspreading of waste-derived materials.

The project reviewed the available evidence on the direct terrestrial ecotoxicity and potential for secondary poisoning of 38 chemical substances and mixtures, including 23 trace elements and 15 persistent organic pollutants. Although there were insufficient data to derive an assessment criterion in all cases, soil screening values are recommended in the report for 9 trace elements and 8 organic pollutants. A spreadsheet tool allows the screening values to be adjusted for site-specific soil properties.

The soil screening values developed through this project will help the Environment Agency to better review the technical suitability of landspreading proposals submitted by an operator for a wider range of chemicals.

Supporting documents for UK Offshore Energy Strategic Environmental Assessment 3

New changes to strengthen the role of the Forestry Commission and protect England’s forests for future generations have been announced today by Environment Minister Thérèse Coffey.

From April 2019 Scottish Ministers will take on full responsibility for their national forests – meaning the Forestry Commission will remain in England, continuing to protect, improve and expand some of the country’s best-known landscapes, from the Forest of Dean to Northumberland’s Kielder Forest.

The Commission will continue to manage more than 250,000 hectares of England’s Public Forest Estate, with a new board of Commissioners established to oversee this.

The world-renowned Forest Research will remain as an agency of the Forestry Commission, working closely with partners across the UK.

Environment Minister Thérèse Coffey said:

Our forests and woodlands are vital for providing timber, protecting wildlife, and helping us improve our environment for the next generation.

Public forests in particular are one of our greatest national assets, and the Forestry Commission’s work to enhance woodlands across England remains at the heart of our environmental ambitions.

These arrangements provide certainty for the Commission and its staff, helping some of our most precious landscapes thrive into the future.

The Forestry Commission will maintain its specialist forestry expertise, continuing to offer support, advice and guidance to land owners and managers responsible for England’s woodlands.

The new Board of Commissioners will bring strong experience in commercial, community and environmental backgrounds that will complement the work of the new organisation.

The changes will coincide with the Forestry Commission’s Centenary year in 2019.

Sir Harry Studholme, Chair of the Forestry Commission, said:

This is an exciting moment for the Forestry Commission. After nearly a century of creating and managing Britain’s forests, the transfer of formal responsibility for Scotland’s forests to the Scottish Government will allow the Forestry Commission in England to increase its focus on the needs of English users.

This will strengthen the Commission in its role of safeguarding and protecting the Public Forest Estate now and for the next 100 years.

The English, Scottish and Welsh Governments will continue to work together to commission forest research, sustain high standards for forestry in the UK, and protect trees against pests and diseases.

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