Shane Boutwell of Rivendell Vale, South Woodham Ferrers, who had entered guilty pleas earlier in the year, was sentenced at Chelmsford Crown Court on 2 August 2022.

The sentencing came after he persistently imported and burnt waste on a large scale at 2 sites in Essex.

In June 2020, officers visited land at Bradwell Wick Leisure Plots, Maldon Road, Bradwell-on-Sea after firefighters raised concerns following several fires at the site.

Officers found large quantities of waste on the site, including waste electricals, household waste, and demolition waste. They also discovered piles of burned waste. They made several further visits and attempted to work with Boutwell, offering him opportunities to stop his activities and clear the site.

Boutwell failed to clear the site and gave officers several different, conflicting accounts.

In September 2020, officers attended another site, owned by Boutwell at Lower Barn Farm, Lower Burnham Road, Latchingdon. They found piles of burning waste with flames up to 2 metres high. Essex Fire and Rescue attended and discovered a gas cylinder amongst the embers before immediately requesting fire engines to attend.

Environment Agency officers identified large piles of soils heavily contaminated with bricks, concrete, paving slabs, and plastics. They were told by a fire officer that the site was a “cause for concern”.

As at Bradwell Wick, Boutwell was given chances to stop depositing, spreading and burning waste at the site. He was advised that all waste on site must be removed by a licensed waste carrier. Boutwell failed to engage.

Prosecuting for the Environment Agency, barrister Barnaby Hone told the court that Boutwell had operated “2 professional, illegal, waste disposal sites.”

Mr Hone explained that Boutwell’s activities had allowed him to avoid the fees and taxes associated with lawful disposal, undermining lawful competitors, and persisting with his offending in the face of intervention by the Environment Agency.

Sentencing Boutwell to 14 months’ imprisonment, Judge Loram QC told him that the 2 sites were, “professional operations for your own gain. The impact of your behaviour on others was profound. You affected legitimate businesses and encouraged others to sink to the bottom like you.”

Judge Loram QC made an order requiring Boutwell to clean up both sites upon his release from prison. She ordered him to return to court in September 2023 for consideration of claims for prosecution costs and the confiscation of the proceeds of his crimes.

Environment Agency Enforcement Team Leader, Lesley Robertson, said:

We take illegal waste activity very seriously and will not hesitate to disrupt criminal activity and prosecute those responsible.

In this case, Boutwell was repeatedly instructed to remove waste from both sites and failed to do so.

He operated at a commercial advantage, importing and burning waste on a significant scale, undermining legitimate business with little or no regard for the environment or residents.

His sentence shows just how serious Her Honour Judge Loram QC considered this to be.

Boutwell previously pleaded guilty to operating 2 waste management facilities, 1 at Bradwell Wick, the other at Lower Burnham Road, without a permit.

He also pleaded guilty to disposing of controlled waste in a manner likely to cause pollution or harm to human health at both sites. He further pleaded guilty to failing to remove the waste from Bradwell Wick.

Following a review of the latest evidence, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has today published a statement advising a move from 2 doses to 1 for the routine adolescent HPV vaccination programme.

The JCVI regularly reviews all vaccination programmes and considers new evidence as it emerges. The Committee has been considering the potential decision for several years and now considers that there is strong evidence in favour of moving to 1 dose. This view aligns with recent advice from the World Health Organization’s SAGE committee.

The JCVI consulted on the proposed changes earlier this year to ensure no evidence was missed and stakeholders’ views were taken into consideration. The Secretary of State for Health will consider the advice and ultimately decide whether to make any changes to the vaccination programme in due course.

The HPV programme in the UK targets girls and boys aged 12 to 13 and is currently given as a 2-dose course. Under the new advice, all young people will be eligible for 1 dose as part of the routine adolescent programme.

The aim of the programme is to offer protection against cancers caused by HPV, including cervical cancer, cancers of the head and neck and cancers of the anus and genital areas. In England, recently published evidence has shown that the HPV vaccine programme has reduced the incidence of cervical cancer in young women offered the vaccine at age 12 to 13 years by 87% – and will eventually go on to save thousands of lives.

Dr Vanessa Saliba, Consultant Epidemiologist at UKHSA said:

We know that the HPV vaccine offers excellent protection against cervical cancer and should also prevent a range of other cancers in women and men. The advice from the JCVI is based on compelling evidence that shows 1 dose of the HPV vaccine is just as effective as 2 doses and this aligns with recent advice from the World Health Organization.

The advice has now been published and we will make sure that we work with the NHS and health partners to support the roll out of any changes to the programme.

We urge everyone who is eligible to take up this potentially life-saving vaccine when it is offered. Those who have missed out can catch up until their 25th birthday.

In addition to the routine adolescent programme, there is also a separate HPV vaccination programme for gay and bisexual men and other men who have sex with men (GBMSM) aged up to 45 years, which is delivered through sexual health clinics. The advice from JCVI on the move to 1 dose applies to everyone aged under 25, including GBMSM. Any GBMSM aged 25 or over will continue to be offered 2 doses. Individuals living with HIV will be offered 3 doses, irrespective of their age.

A patent that protects technology which is essential to implementing a standard is known as a standard essential patent (SEP).

Standards and patents can span across multiple disciplines and sectors. They are particularly important in technologies which allow us to communicate, to receive and store ever larger quantities of data, and efficiently access or stream content online. Products from different manufacturers need to be able to seamlessly ‘talk to’ each other, to provide functionality for the consumer.

Without using the methods or devices protected by SEPs, it is impossible for a manufacturer (or implementer of the standard) to create standard compliant products, such as smartphones or tablets.

The rise in the use of wireless technologies such as 3G, 4G and 5G, particularly in telecommunications, the automotive industries, and the ‘Internet of Things’ (IoT) sector, has seen greater interest in the licensing of patents and use of standards.

The call for views undertaken by the Intellectual Property Office, sought a wide range of views and evidence around the challenges faced by industry.

Responses to the call for views covered six themes:

• the relationship between SEPs, innovation, and competition, and what actions or interventions would make the greatest improvements for consumers in the UK
• competition and market functioning
• transparency in the system
• patent infringement and remedies
• licensing of SEPs
• SEP litigation

The evidence and views received will help inform the government’s decision on what actions it takes next, including whether any government intervention is required.

The government will continue to engage with businesses and others to ensure it has understood their concerns and will seek further evidence where needed.

Findings will be reported to UK ministers in 2023, and any significant policy interventions will be subject to public consultation.

The IPO’s Chief Executive Tim Moss said:

The responses we received to our call for views gave us a vast amount of information to analyse on these incredibly important issues. This forms an excellent foundation for our work as we take this to the next stage.

We recognise there are many different interests to consider, which is why we began by asking broad questions to establish what the issues are. We can now narrow these down as we move forward, and ensure the IP framework is striking the right balance for the maximum benefit to UK innovation.

We look forward to further engagement with industry in the coming months, and will report our findings to Ministers next year.

Notes to editors:

• the call for views ran for 12 weeks between December 2021 and March 2022 and received 56 written responses

• this publication summarises the responses to each question thematically. All views reported are those of respondents and should not be taken as the views of the IPO

• the IPO also held a number of round-table events with various stakeholder groups including SEP holders, implementers, legal & academic organisations, and sector & innovation networks

• the number of declared SEPs doubled on average every five years between the early 1990s to 2014. As of 2020, around 95,000 patents had been declared essential for the 5G standard

• the Internet of Things (IoT) sector is of growing importance, with 7.6 billion active IoT devices at the end of 2019. This figure is predicted to grow substantially over the next 10 years

Elections are a celebration of freedom and choice. During the past months, Kenya has demonstrated strong will and commitment to have free, fair and credible elections and a peaceful transition of power.

Ambassadors and High Commissioners welcome political parties signing Mkenya Daima’s Leadership and Peace Pledge, and the National Cohesion and Integration Commission’s Political Decency and Peace Charter. We encourage all candidates to adhere to the peace pledge and charter.

Kenya has made huge democratic progress since the re-introduction of multi-party elections. We commend the efforts made by all who have worked tirelessly to realise the elections, provide security and promote civic education, including religious leaders, civil society, media, and the private sector. We trust that all their efforts will bear fruit as the campaign period draws to a close. We continue to encourage the inclusion of women and the youth, and politically marginalised groups, including persons with disabilities. We fully support work to build a more inclusive and equitable political system, and will continue to do so after this election has concluded.

This election is of huge significance. It marks the first full transition in the presidency and many governorships since the introduction of the 2010 Constitution. We call on all leaders – both in and out of elected offices – to work together after August 9 to ensure the democratic progress of the last decade is preserved. All actors play an important role in ensuring devotion to the principles of democracy, freedom and the rule of law.

Kenya is an anchor for stability, security, and democracy – not just in the region, or on this continent, but across the globe. It is in this spirit of partnership that we, like others across the world, look forward to a free, fair, and peaceful election on August 9.

This statement has been issued from the following embassies and high commissions; Australia, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States.