The demolition covers a site larger than 110,000 square-metres and is being carried out by HS2 Ltd alongside their early works contractor, Birmingham-based LM JV.

Reducing landfill

The site at Washwood Heath was originally home to a depot that measured 782,622 cubic metres of buildings and structures, and these are now in the process of being demolished. This has yielded a total of 412,464 tonnes of demolition materials, the equivalent weight of 68 Birmingham BT Towers, and will be predominantly reused on site, significantly reducing the need for landfill and lorry movements.

Mike Lyons, Programme Director of Phase One in the Midlands, said:

As we prepare for the construction of HS2, there is a huge amount of work going on at sites in the Midlands, including land clearance, habitat creation, tree planting, demolitions, archaeology, road improvement works and utility diversions.

We currently have 62 live sites across the whole Phase One route, servicing over 250 work locations. Over 7,000 jobs are supported by HS2, and over 300 companies in the Midlands are already working on the project.

500 staff

HS2 trains will be maintained at Washwood Heath, and activities at the facility will include cleaning, servicing, and routine repairs of the new high-speed fleet. The depot will employ up to 500 staff working in shifts, either in jobs within the depot, maintenance and support workers, or train drivers who will start and finish their day there. It will be HS2’s only rolling stock maintenance depot for Phases One and 2a of the UK’s new high-speed rail network.

Formerly known as the Washwood Heath Railway Works, the site was last used by Alstom. It is the preferred location for HS2’s future depot because it is centrally located in relation to the completed HS2 network, which will extend to Leeds and Manchester.

Community-backed projects in 21 areas across England will each receive a share of £9.5 million to help families who are vulnerable to the devastating effects of knife crime and gang culture, Communities Secretary Rt Hon James Brokenshire MP confirmed today (22 February 2019).

The Supporting Families Against Youth Crime fund will enable keyworkers, community groups, teachers and other professionals working with children and young people at risk, to intervene early and help stop them from becoming drawn into gang crime, serious violence and the youth justice system.

A further £300,000 will also be available for local authorities across England to train frontline staff on how to tackle childhood trauma. This follows evidence that many who are vulnerable to serious violence and youth crime have experienced childhood trauma that has affected their mental health and confidence.

Knife crime continues to be a real concern for communities across the country and this government is determined to act and keep our streets safe. These latest preventative measures form part of the government’s ongoing Serious Violence Strategy.

Communities Secretary, Rt Hon James Brokenshire MP, said:

Carrying a knife should never be a rite of passage. For too long, it has been normalised behaviour for too many teenagers in our communities.

Every violent incident, every injury, every young life lost is a tragedy that has devastating consequences for all involved.

The early intervention strategies set out by the projects we are funding offer real alternatives to children and young people who may otherwise become involved in gang crime.

This new funding will help enable the voluntary and community sector to intervene earlier to help young people develop the personal resilience to withstand peer pressure and make their own positive life choices.

The areas and projects being funded have expressed both an existing need and or evidence of emerging needs and cover a range of positive interventions.

Some are heavily school focused, working with children before they make the important transition from primary to secondary school. Whilst others will work with smaller groups of young people already at high risk.

The funding will also back more in-depth work with parents, carers and professionals to help them fully understand the risk factors and the dangers of their children being exposed to gang culture.

It is intended that the learning derived from each of the projects will be shared nationally. Guidance will also be produced that can be used to demonstrate how this proven approach can reduce levels of need following intervention.

Tackling the impact of violent crime is an absolute priority for this government and we have taken urgent and unprecedented action.

Today’s announcement continues the work of the ambitious programme of work backed by £220 million of funding which puts greater focus on steering young people away from a life of crime.

This includes a £22 million Early Intervention Youth Fund which will be spent over 2 years and a £1.5 million Anti-Knife Crime Community Fund.

As part of these further measures to intervene early, this spring will also see the launch of the next phase of #knifefree. The campaign, aimed at young people, looks to inspire them to pursue positive alternatives.

The Supporting Families Against Youth Crime Fund (SFAYC) was launched on 20 October 2018.

See more information about the 21 areas set to receive funding: SFAYC successful areas (PDF, 110KB, 2 pages) .

The current Troubled Families Programme was rolled out in England in April 2015 and replaced the first programme which had been in place since 2012. The programme will continue support for disadvantaged families with complex problems and will work with up to 400,000 families by 2020.

The forthcoming introduction of this aircraft forms part of a £1.2 billion investment into fixed-wing aircraft training under the Military Flight Training System (MFTS), the evolving programme that is designed to train and prepare junior pilots for the frontline.

Defence Minister Stuart Andrew said:

It’s crucial that our fighter pilots of the future train on the very best equipment before reaching the front line to protect UK airspace at home and defend our interests abroad.

The introduction of the Texan T1 into one of NATO’s most advanced Fighter Pilot training programmes demonstrates the RAF’s commitment to investing in world-leading technology to maintain a military advantage over our adversaries.

The Texan T1 aircraft, due to replace the Tucano in the fast jet training programme, made history with its first flight at RAF Valley.

The T1 represents a technological step-change from its predecessor, with the ability to simulate missions in both 4th and 5th generation aircraft such as the F35 Lightning and Typhoon fast jets.

Wing Commander Chris Ball, Officer Commanding the Texan Integration Squadron at RAF Valley explains:

Under the Military Flying Training System, fighter pilots will train on world-leading aircraft. They start on the Prefect, move on to the Texan and finish on the Hawk T2, making the training process more efficient and far more representative of the aircraft types they will eventually fly. The Texan is the ideal lead-in trainer to the Hawk T2 advanced jet trainer that they will fly here at Valley.

The first pilot to fly the aircraft in the UK said:

It was a privilege to be the first RAF pilot to fly a Texan T1 from an RAF station today, and to have been part of the team that has brought this excellent training aircraft into service. The Texan is a great aircraft to fly, extremely capable and has the ability to better prepare students for the demands of modern fast jet flying than ever before. With the first flight now complete, the whole Texan team can begin looking forward to teaching students in the very near future.

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Published 22 February 2019