A company has been fined £20,000 after polluting a stream during land spreading at a North East farm.

Whites Recycling Ltd – based at Mill Lane in South Witham, Lincolnshire – appeared at Newton Aycliffe Magistrates’ Court on Thursday 19 December where it pleaded guilty to breaching its environmental permit and polluting a tributary of the River Tees.

It was fined £20,000, and ordered to pay costs and a victim surcharge amounting to £4,430.

Prosecuting on behalf of the Environment Agency, Sally Dennison told the court that the company has an environmental permit for mobile plant land spreading at Greystones Farm near Eppleby, west of Darlington.

Conditions of the land spreading deployment states the operation should comply with the ‘Code for Good Agricultural Practice’ which requires that weather conditions are assessed prior to spreading taking place, and also states ‘the activity will be carried out without harm to the environment’.

Stream ‘running black’

On 22 March 2017 a pollution incident was reported by a member of the public advising that a stream close to Greystones Farm was running black.

The following morning environment officers from the Environment Agency attended the farm and met with the farm manager. He confirmed that eight loads of digestate had been spread on the field the previous day. The field appeared to be waterlogged.

The officers investigated an unnamed tributary of the River Tees and saw that drainage outfalls from the field were discharging a black coloured liquid into the watercourse.

Whites Recycling arranged for a tanker to attend and remove the pools of digestate and rainwater that had accumulated on the field.

Rainfall data gathered by the Environment Agency showed around half of the average monthly rainfall for the area fell on 22 March 2017 and 23 March 2017 and the Met Office had also issued a severe weather warning for snow on the 22 March 2017 for the area.

Checks on the company’s Environment Management System showed there was no condition to check the weather forecast prior to spreading taking place, and the field record sheet had been incorrectly filled out. It stated the nearest watercourse was 150m away when the stream is only separated from the field by a main road.

The company said the incident had resulted from a systems failure and was not committed deliberately of recklessly, and that immediate action was taken to prevent further harm by removing further liquid from the field. The company’s Environment Management System has been reviewed and updated and it had also conducted training for all of its staff in the new procedures. The company apologised to the Environment Agency and the court for the breach and the resulting pollution.

Vital that companies abide by permit conditions

Environment Officers Louise Poole, from the Environment Agency’s Land and Water Team in the North East, led the investigation. She said:

Permits are in place to protect the environment and our communities while also supporting businesses in their activities.

Permits have strict conditions for a reason and it is vital companies abide by those conditions. In this case, land spreading during adverse weather led to a waterlogged field and a black discharge into a nearby river, impacting on the environment. The company has since updated its procedures and improved staff training.

Run off from land into our waters has a significant negative effect on the environment. The Environment Agency works hard to protect our environment and I hope this sends out a message to others that we take incidents such as this seriously and will take the necessary action against those flouting the conditions of their permit.

Four of the directors are based in Malaysia, including Kien Cheong Yew who has been disqualified for 12 years, while the remaining two live in The Wirral and Kilburn, North-West London, respectively.

The investigation conducted by the Insolvency Service centred on property development company Absolute Living Developments Limited.

The company sold apartments in England off-plan to investors who were largely based in Asia. It is estimated that Absolute Living Developments secured at least £12 million from people to invest in residential property schemes that were in various states of development.

Daniel Mark Harrison (38), from Kilburn North-West London, was the last of the directors to be disqualified and he was banned for 6 years through a court order on 28 November 2018.

During Daniel Harrison’s hearings, the court heard that Absolute Living Developments Limited was incorporated in November 2013, with registered offices in Liverpool. The company sought out investments to convert commercial buildings into residential properties.

The developments were located in in the North of England, predominately Bradford and Greater Manchester. However, people complained that having invested through Absolute Living Developments, the developments had not been fully completed and the apartments were unliveable.

Absolute Living Developments was wound-up by order of the courts in April 2016 following the presentation of a petition by Bradford Council due to unpaid rates and investigations that followed principally focused on 4 developments, 3 in Bradford and 1 in Manchester.

Investigators discovered various examples of misconduct by Absolute Living Developments facilitated by the directors.

The company provided misleading and incomplete information about the developments to investors, meaning people couldn’t carry out due diligence.

Absolute Living Developments had no ability to ensure the terms of contracts with investors could be met and failed to provide adequate safeguards for money obtained from investors.

For one of the developments, Absolute Living Developments requested completion payments from investors despite the development not being completed.

And the company signed charges over Absolute Living Developments’ assets, which meant that a third party owns them and there are no remaining assets in the liquidation to pay creditors.

An independent insolvency practitioner has been appointed in this case to investigate recovery of assets for the benefit of creditors. The liquidator’s actions are ongoing and to date they have received claims from creditors in excess of £68 million.

Ken Beasley, Official Receiver for the Insolvency Service said:

This was a complex investigation, considering the amount of money that was invested, not all of the directors were based in the UK and we worked with several other authorities.

We want to draw attention to these rogue directors so we can alert people about the risks involved when investing, while also warning that we will investigate and tackle those that set out to deliberately rip people off by misrepresenting the investment opportunity on offer.

Company details

Absolute Living Developments Limited (Company number: 08766275) was incorporated on 07 November 2013.

The former registered office was located at Horton House, 6th Floor Exchange Flags, Liverpool L2 3PF

Total liabilities are estimated to amount to £68,842,400

Disqualified directors

Kien Cheong Yew (40) from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Disqualified from 29 January 2018 to 28 January 2030 (12 years) as a result of an undertaking.

Ameerali Bin Abas (39) from Selangor, Malaysia. Disqualified from 27 June 2018 to 26 June 2027 (9 years) as a result of an undertaking.

Andrea Nicole Pacquiao Pieter (30) from Selangor, Malaysia. Disqualified from 20 March 2018 to 19 March 2027 (9 years) as a result of an undertaking.

Adrianne Mei Kwan Nyau (40) from The Wirral. Disqualified from 14 December 2017 to 13 December 2026 (9 years) as a result of an undertaking.

Chi Yeun Leong (68) from Bangsar, Malaysia. Disqualified from 21 December 2017 to 20 December 2026 (9 years) as a result of an undertaking.

Daniel Mark Harrison (38) from Kilburn North-West London. Disqualified from 28 November 2018 to 27 November 2024 (6 years) as a result of a court order.

About disqualifications

A disqualification order has the effect that without specific permission of a court, a person with a disqualification cannot:

• act as a director of a company
• take part, directly or indirectly, in the promotion, formation or management of a company or limited liability partnership
• be a receiver of a company’s property

Disqualification undertakings are the administrative equivalent of a disqualification order but do not involve court proceedings.

Persons subject to a disqualification order are bound by a range of other restrictions.

The Insolvency Service administers the insolvency regime, investigating all compulsory liquidations and individual insolvencies (bankruptcies) through the Official Receiver to establish why they became insolvent. It may also use powers under the Companies Act 1985 to conduct confidential fact-finding investigations into the activities of live limited companies in the UK. In addition, the agency authorises and regulates the insolvency profession, deals with disqualification of directors in corporate failures, assesses and pays statutory entitlement to redundancy payments when an employer cannot or will not pay employees, provides banking and investment services for bankruptcy and liquidation estate funds and advises ministers and other government departments on insolvency law and practice.

Further information about the work of the Insolvency Service, and how to complain about financial misconduct, is available.

Media enquiries for this press release – 020 7637 6498

You can also follow the Insolvency Service on:

The Insolvency Enquiry Line and Redundancy Payments Helpline will be offering a reduced service from 24 to 31 December inclusive. During this period our opening times will be 9am to – 2.30pm.

Our Redundancy Payments Helpline operates from Edinburgh and will be closed on 2 January 2019, as this is a Scottish Bank Holiday.

Published 24 December 2018

New shopping centres, stadiums and theme parks are among buildings that could be required to provide Changing Places toilets for severely disabled people, under proposals to be put forward by the government.

Ministers will launch a consultation next year on proposals that the essential facilities are included in all new large publicly-accessible buildings and significant redevelopments. Currently, building regulations guidance only recommends Changing Places toilets are provided.

Alongside this, the Department of Health and Social Care has announced £2 million to install over 100 Changing Places toilets in NHS hospitals throughout England. There are currently only around 30 to 40 Changing Places on the NHS England estate, and this investment will enable Trusts to increase accessibility.

People with disabilities and their carers say Changing Places in public can be life changing and allow them to go out in the public without fear or stress. Changing Places toilets are larger than standard disabled toilets and have extra equipment like adult-sized changing benches and hoists.

Local Government Minister Rishi Sunak MP said:

Changing Places toilets make a huge difference to the lives of severely disabled people. I want to see these facilities included as standard in new large buildings like shopping centres and cinemas, so more disabled people can be assured peace of mind and dignity when they are away from home.

The government will consult in the New Year on how best to do this, including changing building regulations if required, if it means more disabled people can get access the essential services they deserve.

Minister for Care Caroline Dinenage, added:

It is utterly shocking how few Changing Places toilets there are currently in NHS hospitals and other public spaces. People with disabilities and their carers rightly expect to find suitable facilities in a hospital of all places.

A quarter of a million disabled people need Changing Places and this investment will mean many more of them can access a toilet safely and comfortably. Whilst this is something most of us take for granted, access to spaces like these make a big difference to the lives of disabled people and their carers.

In the absence of Changing Places facilities, disabled people and/or carers face:

• limiting what they drink to avoid needing the toilet when they are out – risking dehydration and urinary tract infections;
• sitting in soiled clothing or dirty nappies until a suitable toilet is found or they return home;
• having to change a loved one on a dirty toilet floor;
• manually lifting someone out of their wheelchair – risking safety
• reducing their time out of the house – restricting their social lives

While the number of the facilities has increased from 140 in 2007 to more than 1,200 today, the government is determined to go even further to improve disabled people’s quality of life.

Today’s announcements follow a recent £2 million investment by the Department for Transport to increase Changing Places facilities in motorway service stations.

The government, with contributions from the devolved administrations, has also provided £70,000 for an online map of the UK that helps carers and disabled people find Changing Places toilets.

Catherine Woodhead, Chief Executive of Muscular Dystrophy UK, which co-chairs the Changing Places Consortium, said:

We are delighted that the Department of Health and Social Care and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government are committed to making Changing Places toilets more widely available.

Having access to Changing Places toilets increases independence and improves quality of life, and by investing in facilities we can tackle the exclusion many disabled people face on a daily basis.

We, along with our wonderful campaigners, have long pushed for changes to legislation to make Changing Places toilets mandatory in new large public buildings and it’s fantastic that we are now one step closer to that reality.

We are also greatly encouraged by the investment being made in hospitals and motorway services. It is essential that fully accessible toilets are available here; without them, disabled people may struggle to attend important appointments or visit family and friends.

We look forward to working with the government and our campaigners to ensure that Changing Places toilets are available to everyone who needs them.

The government intends to consult during 2019.

Case studies

Lorna Fillingham, Scunthorpe

8 years ago I gave birth to a beautiful little girl, Emily-May. She changed our world forever. We attended baby groups, and it was at these that I first began to notice that she wasn’t meeting her milestones. She wasn’t able to sit (she finally achieved this milestone at the age of 3). She also didn’t babble or explore her environment as the other children did. We were finally told by a paediatrician that Emily-May had developmental delays and that it was likely she might have physical and learning disabilities. What we weren’t told was that my daughters world might start to physically shrink, not because of her physical disabilities but because of the lack of toilet facilities that are available for disabled people like my daughter.

Emily-May is unable to tell me when she needs to use the loo, her learning disabilities mean that she may never become toilet trained, and she is physically unable to transfer herself safely out of a wheelchair. I still, when out and about, have to physically lift her out of her wheelchair and change her on a baby change facility, I am only able to do this because she is small for her age, it feels like we are playing Russian Roulette every time we do this. This will not be an option forever as she grows.

3 years ago, I began campaigning for Changing Places toilets to be made compulsory in larger public buildings, as part of building and planning regulations. Changing Places toilet facilities have an adult changing bench and hoist as well as a toilet, they have enough space for 2 carers, and for bigger wheelchairs.

A lack of Changing Places toilet facilities in the community limits disabled people’s lives. It limits their social, cultural, health and educational options, for who would choose to go to places where the correct toilet facilities are not provided.

As part of my campaign I started to contact hospital trusts, pointing out that the lack of Changing Places toilets was having a detrimental effect on disabled people attending outpatients appointments and visiting family and friends. My former career as a nurse, meant that I knew the techniques that I was using to lift Emily-May put us both at the risk of harm, but also that leaving her sat in one place for a prolonged period of time in a wet or soiled nappy would put her at the risk of pressure sores.

While a handful of Trusts agreed to provide Changing Places toilet facilities, the cost of providing these was cited as an issue from many respondents.

I am therefore very pleased by the governments announcement today that investment will be made on providing Changing Places toilet facilities in hospitals. It means that more disabled people will be able to be toileted in a safe, dignified, timely and humane manner whilst attending outpatients appointments or whilst visiting the wards. I also welcome the Governments consultation into Changing Places provision, and I live in the hope that my daughter’s world will expand again as the toilet facilities she needs will one day be provided in more of the places we go.

Anne Wafula Strike, Harlow

Anne Wafula Strike MBE is a Harlow-based British Paralympic wheelchair racer and campaigner for accessible travel for people with disabilities. Born in Mihuu, Kenya, she contracted polio at the age of two, resulting in lower body paralysis. Arriving in the UK in April 2000, she was introduced to wheelchair racing in 2002 and in 2004 became the first Kenyan wheelchair racer to represent her country, competing in the T53 400m finals at the Paralympics in Athens. Following a successful application for British citizenship in 2006, she became a member of Team GB and now competes as a British athlete.

She was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2014 Birthday Honours for services to disability sport and charity. In January 2017, while on a CrossCountry train, she was forced to wet herself on a rail journey because the accessible toilet was not working. In the aftermath, she criticised CrossCountry for failing to provide a working disabled accessible toilet on the train.

As a campaigner for disability access and inclusion, I have to come to know that disability is not the problem. When accessibility fails then that’s the problem. I welcome this news as it’s a demonstration of the Government providing reasonable adjustments in health facilities. This will surely empower the severely disabled people, their families and their carers to change and be changed in a safe environment and with dignity. I support all Changing Places campaigners who endure humiliation of changing their loved ones on dirty floors and putting them at risk by lifting them on and off the floor. The Governments’ idea of a consultation on provision of changing places in public buildings is a big step in the right direction to ensuring access and inclusion of disabled people is on the agenda of building planning.

Further information

The cost to install a changing places facility in a hospital is usually between £27,000 and £35,000.

Trusts will be invited to bid for the funding, with bidding opening in 2019. The £2 million funding will be allocated on the principles of matched funding, with Trusts contributing to the cost.

The government has announced its intention to launch a consultation on increasing Changing Places toilets provision, which will seek views on the types and threshold of buildings covered (such as cinemas, shopping centres, sports and music venues and transport hubs). This includes the specifications and cost of the toilets to be installed.

The proposal to change building regulations would apply to England only.

Changing Places are specifically designed to accommodate adults whose needs are not met by standard accessible toilets. These facilities are large accessible spaces with adult-length padded and height adjustable changing tables, hoists, peninsular WCs (further removed from the wall and with space at the sides) and showers.

The government will be engaging with the sector during the consultation. It is a statutory requirement to consult on changes to building regulations.

To all our servicemen and women around the world, I want to wish you and your families the very best this Christmas.

Many of you will spend this season miles apart from your loved ones, and as you forgo the comforts of home, it is particularly important that we remember your commitment, and say thank you.

And this year, as we looked back to the sacrifices made by generations in the past, you continued to demonstrate why you are the finest in the world.

From playing a vital role in cleaning up after a sickening nerve agent attack on the streets of Salisbury, protecting our waters and our skies from Russian intrusion and strengthening our allies in Eastern Europe, striking at terrorism as part of the Global Coalition against Daesh, and along with our US and French allies – sending a message to the Assad regime that we will not stand by while chemical weapons are used, as they were in April on families, including young children.

Time and again, you have stood up to aggression and those who flout the rules based international order. You should be incredibly proud of all that you do – just as the whole country is proud of you.

This year we also marked significant milestones. At memorial sites in the UK and around Europe, we honoured our fallen and paid tribute to their memory as we commemorated a centenary since the end of the First World War.

We celebrated 100 years of the RAF – including a magnificent flypast over Buckingham Palace. And looking to the future, our F-35 Lightning stealth fighter jets landed on the aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth for the first time.

Now as we approach the New Year, there will be new challenges ahead. But I know you will continue to meet them in the same way that you have always done.

With courage, determination, resilience, ingenuity.

Qualities that are as vital now as they have ever been.

So on behalf of the whole country – let me say thank you to you, and to your families whose love and support is so important.

And let me wish all of you a peaceful Christmas and a very Happy New Year.