Innovate UK will invest in projects that stimulate innovation in infrastructure systems that provide critical services for the economy, environment and society, and create growth for UK businesses.

There is up to £5 million for projects that last between 3 and 12 months. Up to £10 million is available for projects that last up to 3 years, with costs between £100,000 and £5 million inclusive.

You can also apply into a Knowledge Transfer Partnership in infrastructure systems if you’d like to work with a recent graduate.

The opportunity

Infrastructure systems are the backbone of:

• economic stability
• growth
• competitiveness
• productivity

They are vital for social wellbeing and environmental sustainability; especially so when you consider the growing number of people, particularly in urban areas, who rely on these systems.

There is £425 billion of planned public and private infrastructure investment in the UK to meet the challenges and make the most of our world-leading capabilities in this area.

This includes infrastructure solutions in:

• planning
• engineering
• architecture
• energy
• the intelligent mobility of people and freight
• communications

We also have a strong base of creative start-ups in the digital economy and excellent academic research to support this aim.

Our priority areas

We’re particularly interested in projects in our priority areas for infrastructure systems. These are:

• smart infrastructure that improves whole-life performance and/or cost and resilience
• energy, including:
  • energy systems that flexibly match changing energy supply and demand profiles at local, regional or national scale
  • nuclear fission innovations that lead to major cost reductions, improved asset integrity and develop the supply chain
  • offshore wind innovations that result in significant reductions in the cost of energy
• connected transport that encourages more efficient transportation of goods and people across more than one mode
• urban living, addressing the challenges people face in urban areas

Competition information

• the competition opens on 10 July 2017, and the deadline for applications is 13 September 2017
• projects must be led by a UK business or research and technology organisation
• you may work alone if you are an SME and your project is under one year with costs of less than £100,000. Otherwise, you must work with partners, including at least one SME
• total project costs can range between £25,000 and £5 million, and last up to 3 years
• businesses can attract up to 70% of their eligible costs, depending on their size and the project type

The Charity Commission has appointed an Interim Manager to Wimbledon and Putney Commons Conservators (registered charity number 303167). The appointment comes as part of the regulator’s inquiry into the charity, which began in August 2016.

The inquiry is examining a range of concerns, including the trustees’ failure to comply with a previous action plan set by the Commission. A statement about the investigation is available on GOV.UK.

The Commission has now appointed Gordon Reid of Barlow Robbins Solicitors as Interim Manager of the charity. He has been appointed to fulfil specific functions, including to consider the trustees’ decision not to take action to recover a loss suffered by the charity when it granted an easement for access rights over charity lands at a significant undervalue. The Interim Manager will assess whether the trustees’ decision was taken properly and was in the best interests of the charity. The charity’s trustees remain responsible for the day-to-day management of the charity.

The Interim Manager was appointed on 31 May 2017.

The Commission’s investigation continues. It is the Commission’s policy, after it has concluded an inquiry, to publish a report detailing what issues the inquiry looked at, what actions were undertaken as part of the inquiry and what the outcomes were. Reports of previous inquiries are available on GOV.UK.

The charity’s registered number is 303167.

The charity has also published its own announcement regarding the appointment.

This release contains provisional statistics on UK woodland area, certified woodland area, and areas of new planting and restocking. These statistics are used to inform government policy and resource allocation, to provide context to UK forestry and land management issues and are reported to international organisations. Figures for certified woodland areas are often used as an indicator of sustainable forest management. However, it should be noted that woodland that is not certified may also be managed in a sustainable way.

Annual report of the key performance indicators for Forestry Commission England showing progress towards our key aims of helping enable the protection, improvement and expansion of the woodland resource in England. The publication includes both FCE’s six Headline Performance Indicators (also separately reported at quarterly intervals) and our annually reported indicators. This publication is also known as the Forestry Commission England Indicators Report 2017.

The Environment Agency publish permits that they issue under the Industrial Emissions Directive (IED).

This decision includes the permit and decision document for:

• Operator name: Land Recovery Limited
• Installation name: Land Recovery Limited Hazardous Waste Facility
• Permit number: EPR/PP3839YT/A001