Over the Christmas period in 2016, Network Rail carried out extensive resignalling and track remodelling work in and around Cardiff Central station. This was the final stage of the Cardiff area signalling replacement scheme, a project which has been in progress for several years. This stage involved the closure of the power signal box at Cardiff, with control of the area moving to the South Wales Control Centre (SWCC), and changes to the track layout and signalling on the east side of Cardiff Central station.

Some of the new track layout was brought into use on 29 December. At 08:46 hrs on that morning the driver of train 2T08 from Cardiff Central to Treherbert, which had just left platform 7, noticed that a set of points in the route his train was about to take were not set in the correct position. Train 2T08 was the first up train on the Up Llandaff line after the start of service over the new layout.

The points at which the train stopped were redundant in the new layout and should have been secured in the normal position in readiness for their complete removal at a later date. The project works required eight point ends in two separate locations to be locked and secured in this way. In the event only six of the eight point ends were locked and secured, and the line was re-opened to traffic without the omission having been identified by the project team through the normal checking processes which should take place as part of this type of works. These two point ends were left in a condition in which they were unsecured and not detected by the signalling system, and the points at which train 2T08 stopped, points 817A, were left lying reverse. If the driver had not noticed the position of these points and stopped, the train would have been diverted towards line E (the former down relief line) on which trains can run in either direction. The new signalling system uses axle counters for train detection, and in this situation the system would not have identified that the train was in the wrong place.

A few minutes earlier, at 08:24 hrs, another train, down train 1V02, had travelled over the other points which had been left unsecured at the other end of the same crossover (817B). These points had been left in the normal position, which was correct for trains travelling over them in the down direction.

No-one was injured and no damage was caused by either event, and Network Rail acted quickly to secure both sets of points.

Our investigation will examine:

• the events leading up to the commissioning of the new track layout in the area of 817 points
• the methods that Network Rail’s Cardiff area signalling replacement project used for project management and assurance processes
• the on-site team briefing and works management process.

It will also examine any relevant management issues and consider previous relevant recommendations made by the RAIB.

Our investigation is independent of any investigation by the railway industry or by the industry’s regulator, the Office of Rail and Road.

We will publish our findings, including any recommendations to improve safety, at the conclusion of our investigation. This report will be available on our website.

You can subscribe to automated emails notifying you when we publish our reports.

The Environment Agency has accepted an Enforcement Undertaking which will see Northumbrian Water pay £375,000 to charities in the North East after it breached environmental permitting regulations.

The offer also includes actions for Northumbrian Water to improve its operations and infrastructure.

It follows a sewage pollution incident involving West Wylam pumping station, investigated by the Environment Agency on 18 February 2015.

A blockage upstream of the pumping station resulted in raw sewage overflowing into Park Burn, a tributary of the River Tyne, breaching its permit.

Investigations showed significant water quality impact at Park Burn, with sewage odour and litter visible, and ammonia and suspended solid levels above accepted levels. Surveys indicated there had been no significant impact on the invertebrate population in the burn, and there was no impact on the Tyne, due to the river size and flow of the river.

Northumbrian Water carried out an immediate clean-up of the polluted area after it was reported to them.

Wide range of measures

The Environment Agency is making better use of the wide range of measures that are available to bring sites back into compliance as quickly as possible. Along with prosecutions, it uses enforcement notices, stop notices and civil sanctions to either improve performance or stop sites from operating.

The Environment Agency’s use of civil sanctions is in line with recent legislation extending their availability for more offences.

Civil sanctions such as these can be a proportionate and cost-effective way for businesses to make amends for less serious environmental offences. The company must offer to restore or remediate the harm caused by the incident, and demonstrate they will change their behaviour and ensure future compliance with legislation.

Proportionate response

Fiona Morris, Environment Manager with the Environment Agency in the North East, said:

We will always take forward prosecutions in the most serious cases and while we did initially consider prosecution, the company submitted an EU which we subsequently accepted.

We felt it to be a more proportionate response that would benefit the environment – achieving more than if the company had been convicted and fined.

We work hard to protect people and the environment, and a clear regulatory framework with agreed standards and targets has helped to drive major environmental improvements over the last few decades.

We’re continuing to improve our approach to ensure that we remain a fair and proportionate regulator.

The actions offered in the accepted EU, require Northumbrian Water to:

• Make donations to Tyne Rivers Trust (£134,500), Northumberland Rivers Trust (£59,500), Wear Rivers Trust (£48,500), Tees Rivers Trust (£58,500).
• Make a donation of £74,000 to Groundwork towards the Land of Oak and Iron Project.
• Make improvements to site operations and infrastructure, including updated sewerage records, an updated process for asset planning and management and refurbishment of West Wylam pumping station, as well as an accelerated programme of planned upgrades to sewer infrastructure in the area.
• Further inspections and surveys of the impacted area.
• Pay Environment Agency costs.

Failure to comply with an EU may result in the offender being prosecuted for the original offence.

See the full list of the most recent enforcement undertakings

The hedgerows and boundaries grant, individually worth up to £5,000, is designed to help farmers and other land managers improve important farmland boundaries.

The application window for the £5 million scheme closes on 28 April. Farmers can apply for a one-off grant towards the restoration of a range of traditional boundaries including hedgerows, dry stone walls, stone-faced banks and earth banks. Nearly 800 applicants were successful last year.

Guy Thompson, Chief Operating Officer of Natural England, said:

Hedgerows, dry stone walls and earth banks are a quintessential part of the English countryside. Not only do they perform a vital agricultural role in protecting crops and livestock from the elements, they help support a variety of wildlife. Increasingly farmland boundaries also play a major role in preventing soil loss as well as reducing pollution and flooding. I’m pleased that this grant will help to support these traditional boundaries and the wider benefits that they bring.

Payment rates are fixed for each item. These include hedge-laying or coppicing, hedgerow restoration through gapping-up, stone-faced bank repair and stone wall restoration, which can include a top wiring supplement.

Like the rest of the Countryside Stewardship scheme, the application process is competitive. Applications score more highly if the business has been in a previous Environmental Stewardship agreement or England Woodland Grant Scheme. Priority is given to smaller holdings and restoring hedges or walls is preferred to stone-faced or earth banks. More points are awarded if the application is for more than £1,000, and if the holding is part of a group receiving Facilitation Fund payments.

Grants are not available on land parcels already within Mid or Higher Tier Countryside Stewardship, a live 2016 Hedgerow and Boundary Grant, Higher Level Stewardship or Uplands Entry Level Stewardship on 31 July 2017. Land parcels in Entry Level Stewardship can be included in applications, as long as other eligibility criteria are met.

Grant offers will be made to successful applicants from July 2017. The deadline for submitting claims to Natural England is 31 December 2018.

Customers can apply by downloading an application form or by using the new online application process which is expected to be available on the Rural Payments service from early March 2017.

For enquiries (media only) contact: Mary Tomlinson, Senior Press Officer, Natural England. Email: mary.tomlinson@naturalengland.org.uk Telephone: 07771 834 975.

The Charity Commission (‘the Commission’) investigated Al-Hassan Education Centre (1078159), a mosque and education centre based in Leeds after it repeatedly failed to file its accounts – see endnote 1. The Commission concluded that the trustees mismanaged the charity.

The Commission uncovered inadequate financial governance at the charity and that the trustees were not able to fully account for the charity’s funds in relation to cash collections and charitable expenditure. The charity also failed to submit accounting information for the financial years ending 31 March 2012 and 31 March 2013.

The inquiry also found that there were wider governance failures within the charity whereby the trustees were not adhering to some of the provisions within their governing document including: failure to hold Annual General Meetings since July 2013 or the required 2 trustee meetings a year and that they had no policies for loans and money laundering. The regulator also concluded there had been mismanagement by the trustees due to a lack of financial controls in relation to cash collected and spent following Friday prayers, and a lack of up to date policies and procedures.

The inquiry considered that the trustees had not acted in the best interests of the charity, put the charity’s funds at risk and concluded there was mismanagement and misconduct by the trustees.

On 16 November 2016 the Commission issued an order under the Charities Act to direct the trustees to take certain actions to regularise the charity’s governance, submit its outstanding accounting information and review its policies. The trustees have already taken steps to complete the actions, and the Commission will continue to monitor the charity to ensure that its order is complied with.

Carl Mehta, Head of Investigations, Enforcement at the Charity Commission, said:

The trustees in this case failed to take basic steps to ensure that the charity’s funds were able to be accounted for. This is simply not acceptable and I expect the trustees to take measures to speedily correct this.

For many faith groups, collecting funds in cash is likely to be a regular occurrence as part of worship or devotion. Charities must ensure that they have in place effective and proper financial controls to ensure those funds are safeguarded.

Trustees can use the Commission’s guidance to implement robust internal financial controls that are appropriate to their charity. Internal financial controls for charities (CC8) is available on GOV.UK. There is also a self-check-list for trustees available.

The full report is available on GOV.UK.

Ends

PR08/17

1. The Charity Commission is the independent regulator of charities in England and Wales. To find out more about our work, see our annual report.

2. Search for charities on our online register

3. Details of how the Commission reports on its regulatory work can be found on GOV.UK.

Endnotes

1. The inquiry was opened on the 25 February 2015. The charity was previously part of the class inquiry in April 2014 for failing to submitting accounting information for the financial years ending 31 March 2012 and 31 March 2013.