Andrew Tyrie, Chair of the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), wrote to the Rt Hon Gavin Williamson MP, Secretary of State for Education, on 4 September 2019, outlining concerns about the impact of school uniform policies on the cost of uniform.
This follows previous work by the CMA, including an open letter to schools and school uniform suppliers.
On Wednesday, 4 September 2019, the Competition and Markets Authority sent a letter from Lord Tyrie to the Department of Education (DfE) regarding the impact that single-supplier contracts can have on the cost of school uniform.
This is Education Secretary Gavin Williamson’s response to the letter.
The Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA) is seeking proposals for novel and innovative approaches to develop a Bioprocessing Prototype System across Ministry of Defence (MOD) sites to recycle military waste, oils, fuel and other liquid waste, into reusable products.
Waste is inevitable at sites supporting the daily operations of large military equipment and currently the waste is mainly disposed of by external waste management companies. The MOD aspires to install their own bioprocessors positioned across their sites (including overseas), to manage the waste generated internally. This could provide cost savings to the taxpayer, as well as producing reusable by-products to the benefit of the environment. The solutions could also have cost saving potential for other government departments and aid agencies.
DASA seeks proposals that can develop a bioprocessing system capable of breaking -down waste materials into reusable products, for example: water which can be reintroduced into the water course or reused on site, CO2 to be captured and reused in innovative ways and the residue organic matter which could be used as fertilizer.
Phase 1 of this competition has approximately £1million available to fund 3-5 proposals and is looking for innovations from across the supply base – from academics, small and medium-sized enterprises and larger companies. It is not necessary for you to have worked with the MOD before, we welcome new ideas. The focus is on funding proof-of-concept (prototype) solutions. Additional funding is anticipated to be available for future phases, to move towards permanent systems for the MOD.
To help understand the problem space and to facilitate opportunities for collaboration, an event will be held at RAF Brize Norton on 1 October 2019. To sign up to this event please register on the Bioprocessing industry day Eventbrite page.
One of our DASA Innovation partners, Dudley Hewlett, will also be attending the Contamination Expo on 11-12 September and available to answer any queries regarding this competition. Please let us know if you are planning to attend this event and we will put you in touch.
Additionally there will be the chance to talk to members of the competition team on 23 September 2019 for a group Q&A and 1-1 dial in sessions. You can register on the Q&A Dial in Eventbrite page and the 1-1 Eventbrite page.
The competition will close on 30 October 2019.
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