The Environment Agency has unveiled three paintings by top wildlife artist David Miller to promote angling. The images front the 2017/18 fishing licences which go on sale today (1 March). The three fishing licence designs depict salmon (Salmo salar), mirror carp (Cyprinus carpio) and brown trout (Salmo trutta) in their natural habitats.

You can see the images, and download posters here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/rod-fishing-licence-campaign

The Environment Agency has also launched “Get a Fishing Licence” on GOV.UK to simplify the process of buying a fishing licence: www.gov.uk/get-a-fishing-licence. This is part of a series of improvements to the service, which include:

• Free licences for junior anglers, up to the age of 17, announced in November 2016
• The fishing licence now lasts for 12 months from the day it is bought, rather than expiring at the end of March each year
• The use of three rods now needs just one licence, rather than two.

People are required to buy a fishing licence in order to fish legally in England, Wales and along the Border Esk in Scotland. Sales of licences for the 2015/16 season raised £21 million. The money was used to restock rivers with 452,220 coarse fish, encourage over 35,000 people to try angling for the first time and bring 2,043 successful prosecutions against crimes like poaching.

Artist David Miller said:

I’m delighted to have provided the images for the fishing licences again this year, not only because it gave me the opportunity to paint three species for the first time but also because all the money raised goes back into supporting fisheries. Of the three I was particularly pleased with the brown trout, my favourite UK game fish, and one I love to fish for on small rivers and streams.

Judy Proctor, Head of Fisheries at the Environment Agency, said:

We hope David’s stunning images encourage people to give fishing a go. Angling creates over 37,000 full time jobs and generates over £1 billion for the UK economy, but at its heart it’s a much loved outdoor sport connecting people with nature. We’ve listened to anglers’ concerns and improved the fishing licence to make the process of getting out and fishing legally simpler.

People who don’t buy a fishing licence are not only cheating other anglers and the future of the sport but running the risk of criminal conviction and a fine. The Environment Agency urges anyone to report fisheries crime as quickly as possible by calling our incident hotline on 0800 80 70 60.

For those who can’t access the internet, fishing licences can still be bought by phoning 0344 800 5386 or over the counter in the Post Office.

ENDS

Notes:

The Environment Agency publishes a detailed breakdown of how fishing licence money is spent in the annual fisheries report on GOV.UK. Read it here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/environment-agency-report-shows-how-21-million-of-rod-licence-money-helps-angling

More on the changes to licences here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/free-fishing-for-children

Joanne Segars OBE has been appointed to the board of the Environment Agency by Environment Secretary, Andrea Leadsom.

The appointment will take effect from 1 March 2017 for three years.

Joanne is the Chief Executive of the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association, having originally joined the organisation as Director of Policy. She is a board member of the Pensions Infrastructure Platform and Pensions Europe, with experience spent as Chair of both.
Joanne is also on the board of Pension Quality Mark Ltd. Joanne is a founding governor of the Pensions Policy Institute and sits on its council. She is also a Director of TUC Stakeholder Trustees Ltd.

Formally, Joanne was Chair of the Scheme Advisory Board for the Local Government Pension Scheme; a member of the Secretary of State’s Advisory Group on Stakeholder Pensions; and a board member of the Occupational Pensions Regulatory Authority.

Board members provide non-executive leadership challenge and support to the Environment Agency’s executive through regular board meetings, committees and groups. They also undertake individual lead roles on relevant issues and with local operational teams.

All appointments to the Environment Agency board are made on merit and political activity plays no part in the selection process. The appointment complies with the Code of Practice of the Commissioner for Public Appointments (which was superseded by the Ministerial Governance Code on Public Appointments in January 2017).

The Environment Agency is a Non-Departmental Public Body, set up under the Environment Act 1995 to take an integrated approach to environmental protection and enhancement in England. The Environment Agency has major responsibilities in flood management, water resources and quality, climate change, land quality, chemicals, pollution prevention and control, waste, conservation and biodiversity, fisheries conservation, air quality and navigation.

This report provides data on existing and potential woodfuel use in Scotland and covers the year 2015. It also assesses the possible additional use of woodfuel in the next few years.

David will be responsible for leading the NDA in the decommissioning and clean-up of 17 legacy nuclear sites across the UK, including Sellafield. He will assume the role from today, 1 March 2017, when the outgoing CEO, John Clarke, will step down after five years in the role.

The appointment was made by the non-executive members of the NDA Board, with the approval of the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Secretary of State Greg Clark.

In addition, as announced on 22 December 2016, Stephen Henwood stepped down yesterday (28 February 2017) on completion of his third term of office as NDA Chairman. He is being replaced by Tom Smith who was previously a Non-Executive Director of the NDA.

NDA Chairman Tom Smith said:

David brings with him significant global experience of leadership in the energy, oil and gas industries, and a strong track record in tackling complex commercial and engineering challenges in the UK and internationally.

I am delighted the NDA has secured a new CEO of such calibre and experience and I am looking forward to working with him in driving forward delivery of the vital mission to clear up the UK’s nuclear legacy.

I would like to offer warm thanks to retiring Chief Executive John Clarke and would also like to thank Stephen for his excellent stewardship of the NDA over the last 9 years, and wish him well for the future. It has been a pleasure to serve on the board under him.

Energy Minister, Jesse Norman, said:

The NDA carries out essential work decommissioning and cleaning up the UK’s nuclear legacy, keeping our citizens safe and secure and protecting the environment. David’s considerable experience in roles across the energy sector makes him well-placed to lead the organisation and take this vital work forward.

I would also like to thank Stephen Henwood and John Clarke for their years of service and wish John well in retirement.

David Peattie said:

It is a privilege to have been asked to take on this important role, which is central to delivering the important mission of decommissioning the UK’s nuclear legacy.

The NDA, its subsidiaries and Site Licence Companies, have a highly-skilled and focused workforce, and I look forward to working with them to drive forward progress on clearing our sites for future generations.

Prior to taking up his role at the NDA David Peattie was Chief Executive Officer at Fairfield Energy, where he led the successful turnaround of performance of North Sea assets and oversaw the start of the decommissioning project for the Dunlin Alpha Platform.

David began his career at British Petroleum in 1979 as a petroleum engineer and during his 33 years at the company held a number of technical, commercial and senior management positions. His roles at BP included Head of BP Group Investor Relations, Commercial Director of BP Chemicals, Deputy Head of global Exploration & Production, Head of BP Group Planning, and finally as Head of BP Russia where he was responsible for BP’s interests in the TNK-BP joint venture as well as its businesses in the Russian Arctic and Sakhalin. In addition, he was BP’s lead Director on the board of TNK-BP and Chairman of its Health, Safety and Environment Committee.

David is a Chartered Engineer and Member of Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (Petroleum Engineering).

The £100 million Silo Emptying Plant will scoop radioactive waste out of the Magnox Swarf Storage Silo.

The 1960s storage facility has been described as one of the most hazardous buildings in western Europe and contains 10,000 cubic metres of intermediate level waste from the earliest days of the UK’s civil nuclear industry.

John Clarke, outgoing NDA Chief Executive, unveiled the machine – the first of three being assembled in the building – at a ceremony yesterday.

He said:

This is an enormous step forward for the Sellafield decommissioning programme.

It is the culmination of 20 years of work to get to the position where we’ve got the first machine in place that will retrieve waste from these silos.

The machines will sit on rails on top of the silo’s 22 vertical waste compartments. Each compartment is big enough to accommodate six double decker buses stacked three high.

Once operational, the emptying machines will be manoeuvred into place over the top of each compartment to scoop out their contents.

The material will then be packed into nuclear skips and sent to modern waste stores at Sellafield, pending final disposal in the UK’s Geological Disposal Facility.

The machines will be ready to start retrieving waste in 2018, taking an estimated 20-25 years to complete the task.

Chris Halliwell, head of the Magnox Swarf Storage Silo, said:

This is probably the most complicated and advanced machine ever built at Sellafield.

It has about 13,500 different working parts and its design and concept was first drawn up more than 20 years ago.

Turning that vision into the machine we have today has been a major challenge for the UK’s advanced manufacturing and nuclear supply chain.

The process has been hugely challenging because no plans were drawn up for how waste would be taken out of the building when it was built in the 1960s.

The emptying machines were built by engineering firm NES Ansaldo at its Wolverhampton factory, before being dismantled and sent to Sellafield in 23 separate modules.

These modules were lifted one by one into the silo building and then re-assembled in situ.

Chris Halliwell added:

There is no job at Sellafield more important than the one being done by this machine. Emptying the waste from this legacy silo is our number one priority.

It has to be reliable because once it starts taking waste out, the contamination inside it would make it very difficult to maintain or repair.

The silo took waste from nuclear power stations all over the UK until its closure in June 2000.

Its contents are chiefly made up of magnesium cladding which was stripped from nuclear fuel rods before they were sent for reprocessing.