Tag Archives: GB

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Press release: Final phase of £192 million A556 dual carriageway work unveiled

Drivers will shortly be able to use the new £192 million A556 Knutsford to Bowdon dual carriageway in Cheshire, with the final phase of work starting next month.

Highways England, which is building the new link road between junction 19 of the M6 at Knutsford and junction 7 of the M56 at Bowdon, today detailed the final phase of road works for the project – paving the way for the new road to open in March , providing a faster and more reliable link between the 2 motorways.

View looking north from new A50 bridge – with finishing landscaping and carriageway works underway

Full weekend closures – of the existing A556, junction 19 of the M6 and junctions 7 and 8 of the M56 – are needed and are scheduled to start in mid-February. The closures will allow the old road to be sealed off from through traffic and the motorway junctions to be tied into the new dual carriageway.

Highways England project manager Paul Hampson said:

We are on course to open the new dual carriageway by the end of March, if not sooner. As well as starting work next month to connect the new dual carriageway to the M6 and M56 link roads, we’ll be using the weekend closures to do some preparation along the existing A556 which will become a B road with much-improved facilities for pedestrians and cyclists.

We’re working hard with partners and stakeholders like the emergency services and Manchester Airport to plan for these weekend closures and to make sure they’ll be well-publicised once the full details are confirmed.

View from new A50 bridge looking south

Drivers are being advised the schedule for the final phase of work is dependent on the weather. The schedule currently involves:

  • a full weekend closure of the existing A556 and associated M6 and M56 junctions between 9pm on Friday 17 February and 5am on Monday 20 February
  • a full weekend closure of the existing A556 and associated M6 and M56 junctions from 9pm on Friday 3 March to 5am on Monday 6 March – with the new road opening to drivers that morning for the first time
  • a final full weekend closure of the old A556 and new A556 between 9pm on Friday 10 March and 5am on Monday 13 March to finalise work to seal off the old road

Highways England is working with partners and stakeholders such as Manchester Airport, major football clubs and the police to plan for and publicise the road works so drivers can plan journeys affected by the weekend closures. More information and advice will be released nearer the time of the closures.

Alternative view looking north up the new A556

Construction of the new A556 link road, between the M56 and the M6, started in November 2014 and is part of a £15 billion government investment in motorways and major A roads by 2021 which is being delivered by Highways England as part of the Northern Powerhouse initiative.

General enquiries

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

Media enquiries

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

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HM Government • • •

Green Party urges Theresa May: put climate change on the agenda with Trump

25 January 2017

*Caroline Lucas: Trump is signalling his intent to put rocket boosters behind the fossil fuel industry

Theresa May is being urged to raise the issue of climate change with President Donald Trump when she meets with him later this week. In a letter [1] sent to the Prime Ministers, politicians from the Green Party urged the Prime Minister to ‘seek firm assurances that he [Trump] will not withdraw from the Paris Agreement, and that he will remain committed to domestic climate legislation, such as the Clean Power Plan’.

The call to Theresa May comes after President Trump signed two executive orders yesterday aiming to push ahead with major pipeline projects in the US [2]. Both the Dakota and Keystone pipelines are regarded as extremely damaging by environmentalists and climate-scientists [3]. 

The United States is responsible for 15% of global carbon emissions – and their actions are crucial in shaping international climate policy. Donald Trump has previously cast doubt on climate science [4]– and has consistently called for policies designed to fast-track the burning of fossil fuels.

Caroline Lucas, the co-leader of the Green Party, said:

“Donald Trump’s first few days as President have revealed his contempt for environmental protection. By pushing ahead with the Dakota and Keystone pipelines he is signalling his intent to put rocket boosters behind the fossil fuel industry. Theresa May has a duty to make a stand – and to demand assurances from President Trump that he will not abandon the Paris climate change agreement. Failing to bring up climate change with President Trump would be a dereliction of duty from Theresa May, and we urge her to put this global challenge at the top of her agenda for their meeting.”

[1] Full letter to Theresa May:

Dear Theresa,

We are writing concerning your visit to the United States tomorrow to visit President Trump.

As you will know, President Trump and senior members of his new team have systematically cast doubt on climate science, whilst supporting polluting energy sources and downplaying the need for the transition to a low-carbon economy. As a clear statement of his intentions, at the moment of his inauguration, all mentions of climate change were removed from the Whitehouse website – instead, there appeared a raft of policies designed to fast-track the burning of fossil fuels.

With 2016 now confirmed as the hottest year on record, and the world heading for 4 degrees warming by the end of the century, there has never been a more dangerous time for the scaling back of climate action anywhere in the world. The United States is responsible for 15% of global emissions and its leadership is vital in setting the path to a zero-carbon future.

Given the urgency of the climate crisis, and the importance of the United States in global efforts to tackle it, we are writing to ask you to raise climate change with President Trump when you see him on Friday. More specifically, we are asking to you seek firm assurances that he will not withdraw from the Paris Agreement, and that he will remain committed to domestic climate legislation, such as the Clean Power Plan, that form an important part of US international commitments.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely,
Jonathan Bartley, co-leader

Caroline Lucas MP, co-leader

Amelia Womack, deputy leader

Keith Taylor MEP, South-East

Molly Scott Cato MEP, South-West

Jean Lambert MEP, London

Sian Berry, London Assembly Member

Caroline Russell, London Assembly Member

Andrew Cooper, Energy spokesperson

[2] http://edition.cnn.com/2017/01/24/politics/trump-keystone-xl-dakota-access-pipelines-executive-actions/ 

[3] https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jan/24/keystone-dakota-access-pipeline-executive-order 

[4] http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2016/jun/03/hillary-clinton/yes-donald-trump-did-call-climate-change-chinese-h/

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Green Party • • •

News story: Civil news: use online resources and save time on helpline calls

Remember to use our quick guides and training resources when working in the Client and Cost Management System (CCMS).

Our CCMS ‘quick guides’ and training modules are essential resources to help you work efficiently and avoid time-consuming calls to our customer service lines.

This is the first in a series of articles to help signpost you to the guidance and resources you need to work as efficiently as possible in CCMS.

Below are examples of ‘quick guides’ available to look at which deal with areas we regularly receive calls about:

Quick guides

  • responding to a show cause – what to do if your certificate has a show cause
  • provider transfer – responsibilities when a case transfers from one firm to another
  • submitting electronic evidence – how to upload documents in CCMS
  • single stage and dual stage emergency delegated applications – how to create emergency applications and the processes for converting them into substantive ones at a later date

CCMS training website

Provider quick guides:

Managing live cases – see ‘Responding to a show cause’ and ‘Provider transfer’

Navigation in CCMS – see ‘Submitting electronic evidence’

Making an initial application – range of modules on ‘emergency’ applications

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HM Government • • •

Speech: Baroness Anelay speech at Holocaust Memorial Day event

Baroness Anelay, Minister for Human Rights, said

Good morning and welcome to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. I would like to thank those of you who have helped to organise this event today, in particular Ambassador Mark Regev and his team at the Embassy of Israel.

Importance of Holocaust Memorial Day

The Holocaust was one of the darkest periods in our history. Sometimes we would prefer to forget, because what happened is too painful to remember. But it is only by remembering that we can learn from the past and ensure that history does not repeat itself.

Continuing to raise awareness in this way is essential because intolerance and hate still afflict our societies today. Antisemitism in particular is still an issue. That is why the UK has led the international community in adopting the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of Antisemitism. We will use it to guide our work and to make clear that antisemitism has no place in our society.

How Can Life Go On?

The theme of this year’s Memorial Day is “how can life go on?” It explores the immense obstacles that must be overcome when rebuilding communities torn apart by hate. It focuses on the world’s Jewish communities after the Second World War, but it is a theme that remains highly relevant today.

Today’s event will focus in particular on antisemitism. I believe that the value of remembering the Holocaust comes when we think about the conditions that allowed such horrors to prevail. When we recall it was the existence of widespread antisemitism across Europe, that meant the Nazis’ desire to purge society of anyone who did not fit their ideal found fertile ground. When we reflect on what we might possibly have done in the same circumstances. And when we examine our own prejudices and seek to combat them, and to prompt others to do likewise.

This year’s theme reminds us that, even as the world’s Jewish communities began to rebuild their shattered lives, they continued to suffer antisemitic attacks. Shockingly, there were a number of pogroms immediately after the Holocaust, for example one in Poland where 42 Jews were murdered. Sadly, even today we cannot declare that antisemitism has been defeated. We all of us need to be vigilant in standing up against it.

That is why I am delighted that we are joined today by inspirational individuals who have dedicated their lives to raising awareness about the causes and consequences of the Holocaust.

Professor Yehuda Bauer is the author of the Stockholm Declaration and has worked tirelessly to ensure that the world remembers the Holocaust and learns lessons from it.

Dorit Oliver-Woolf survived the Holocaust and went on to enjoy a successful musical career. She has dedicated her life to educating others about the Holocaust.

We will also hear from Dr Dave Rich of the Community Security Trust, and from our Young Ambassadors from the Holocaust Educational Trust, Iqra Arshad and Toni-Ann Cover.

Conclusion

I would now like to invite Ambassador Regev to the podium, to introduce Professor Bauer. While he makes his way up, I will conclude using the words of the Stockholm Declaration:

Our commitment must be to remember the victims who perished, respect the survivors who are still with us, and reaffirm humanity’s common aspiration for mutual understanding and justice.

Thank you.

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HM Government • • •