Tag Archives: HM Government

Motorway services and large petrol retailers will be required to install chargepoints for electric cars, under plans announced in the House of Commons today (18 October 2017) by Transport Minister John Hayes.

The Automated and Electric Vehicles Bill will increase the access and availability of chargepoints for electric cars, while also giving the government powers to make it compulsory for chargepoints to be installed across the country and enabling drivers of automated cars to be insured on UK roads.

Automated vehicles have the potential to greatly reduce road traffic accidents – in 2016 85.9% of collisions causing injury involved human error, while official research estimates that the market will be worth £50 billion to the UK economy by 2035.

Transport Minister John Hayes said:

We want the UK to be the best place in the world to do business and a leading hub for modern transport technology, which is why we are introducing the Automated and Electric Vehicles Bill in Parliament and investing more than £1.2 billion in the industry.

This bill will aid the construction of greater infrastructure to support the growing demand for automated and electric vehicles as we embrace this technology and move into the future.

Drivers of electric vehicles will be able to easily locate and charge at any chargepoint, using information from sat navs or mobile apps, regardless of the vehicle make or model – making running an electric vehicle even easier. All chargepoints will have to be ‘smart’, meaning they can interact with the grid in order to manage demand for electricity across the country.

Roads Minister Jesse Norman said:

Automated and electric vehicles will help improve air quality, cut congestion, boost safety and create thousands of skilled jobs in the UK. We have already supported the purchase of 115,000 ultra-low emission cars and there are already more than 11,500 publicly available chargepoints, but the demand continues to grow as more people purchase electric vehicles to cut fuel costs and boost the environment.

Jesse Norman will also announce further funding for local authorities at the Smarter Travel Conference in Milton Keynes on Thursday (18 October 2017) to fund install chargepoints in residential areas where cars are parked on the street.

Steve Gooding, Director of the RAC Foundation said:

We are pleased to see the provisions of the Automated and Electric Vehicles Bill re-starting their passage through the Parliamentary process

It is clear that government needs to do more to accelerate the take-up of electric vehicles, tackling the issues that are currently persuading motorists to sick with conventional fuels, as well as paving the way for autonomy

The test, though, will be how effectively those powers are exercised

All drivers of automated vehicles will be required to be insured and victims of collisions involving an automated vehicle will have quick and easy access to compensation, in line with existing insurance practices.

James Dalton, ABI:

Insurers wholeheartedly support the development of automated vehicles, as they have the potential to significantly reduce the large number of road accidents caused by driver error. We support the approach the government has taken in the bill, as this will give the industry time to prepare for the commercial rollout of fully automated driving technology.

The bill will receive its first reading in the House of Commons today.

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I call on all parties to maintain calm and take steps to de-escalate tensions in Kirkuk, avoiding any provocative statements or actions. It is essential that efforts in Iraq are focused on the defeat of Daesh, stabilisation of liberated areas and on enabling those displaced to return to their homes.

The UK supports the development of sustainable governance arrangements for Kirkuk and all disputed areas which are representative of, and responsive to, all Iraq’s communities, in line with the Iraqi Constitution. We believe in a stable, democratic and unified Iraq, one that is able to provide the security, jobs and services that all Iraqis want and deserve. We stand ready to assist Iraq as it works to deliver this future for its people.

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People who live near the River Foss in York will now be able to benefit from an improved flood warning service from Wednesday, October 18.

After the Boxing Day 2015 floods, one of the recommendations of the York Flood Inquiry report was for the Environment Agency to conduct a review of the flood warnings on the River Ouse and Foss.

The Environment Agency commissioned consultants to review all flood warnings in the city.

Along the River Ouse catchment, the review found the existing service meets the needs of the community.

However, the River Foss flood warnings underwent a thorough review and changes have been made.

A new rain monitoring station is being installed upstream on the Foss in the village of Yearsley, 20 miles north of York, as well as a river level monitoring station near Strensall.

These two monitoring stations will automatically feed information into the Environment Agency’s systems and forecasts for the River Foss, supporting a better understanding of the amount of water flowing down the river towards York.

This will help the Environment Agency’s flood duty officers to issue flood warnings with more confidence and more accurate information included within the warning messages.

The River Foss catchment area within the City of York boundary previously had six flood warnings, covering the Foss, Tang Hall Beck and Osbaldwick Beck.

As part of the improvements this will increase to ten and include warnings for South Beck and Westfield Beck.

Zoë Pattinson, Environment Agency flood risk officer, said:

Along the River Foss corridor, there is one long warning that is for the properties most at risk from river flooding, and a wider warning that covers the properties at lower risk of flooding.

The Environment Agency also worked with members the River Foss Society in redesigning the flood warning boundaries and trigger levels.

The Foss Society and local residents have provided valuable input into the review of the flood warning service for the River Foss community.

She continued:

Local community input is important because it gives us an insight from those who have seen how the river and catchment behaves in heavy rainfall. It also helps raise awareness of our flood warning service.

John Millett, chairman of the River Foss Society, said:

The River Foss Society supports and fully endorses the work the Environment Agency is doing to improve the flood warnings that are being introduced to protect the City of York and neighbouring areas and their residents and businesses along both the River Ouse and the River Foss corridors.

People who are already signed up the flood warning service will automatically be transferred to the new relevant flood warning area that covers their property. If you want to register to receive free Environment Agency flood warnings then you can either at flood warnings or call on Floodline 0345 988 1188.

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The consultation will provide a way for traditional and non-traditional suppliers and users of advanced materials to feedback to the programme.

Established in April 2017, the MSA programme is one of the MOD’s Chief Scientific Advisor’s research programmes run by the Defence Science Technology Laborary. It aims to exploit global developments in materials science, across the academic and industrial sectors for UK Defence and Security to maintain strategic and operational technological advantage, and to save money for the lifecycle of the projects.

The first phase of this consultation will identify:

• the technical barriers linked with the development and insertion of advanced materials technologies on defence equipment;
• exploitation opportunities directly through industry into defence platforms
• innovative technologies or approaches that could be developed in the future S&T programme

The consultation is not a request for bids from the supplier base to direct fund mature technologies or products.

How will the information be used?

Information provided under this consultation will be used to shape future research activity which will be openly competed in accordance with competition rules. This could include, for example, through the identification of technical barriers that are common across the supply base where interventions may have maximum impact, or opportunities for collaboration.

The identification of exploitation and future technology insertion opportunities will ensure research requirements are incorporated into future competitions to maximise the chance of exploitation via industry into military equipment.

How will the information generated be protected?

All data will be protected in accordance with the civil service code.

Who is this consultation aimed at?

This consultation is open to all sectors and supplier types but engagement with equipment manufacturers in particular is sought. For example:

• defence primes
• wider industry
• SMEs
• research and development centres of excellence
• research technology organisations
• academia

What are the timescales for the consultation?

Submission of expression of Interest to participate in consultation no later than 31 October 2017; requests to participate after this date will not be accepted. However, additional phases may take place in 2018 when new participants would be permitted; these will be advertised.

• active consultation will take place during November – January 2018
• outputs will be consolidated in February 2018

How can I take part?

Parties wishing to participate in this consultation are requested to email MSAProgramme@dstl.gov.uk , using the subject line ‘MSA Consultation opt in’ and including the following information in the message body:

• organisation name (mandatory)
• point of contact name, email, phone number and address (mandatory)
• organisation type (e.g. prime, SME, other industry, academia, other – please describe) (mandatory)
• organisation information (optional e.g. area of interest etc.)
• for data protection reasons, the email must state that you wish to opt in to the MSA Industrial Consultation – Phase 1
• please also state if you wish to opt in to the MSA mailing list to receive updates on the wider programme (future events etc.)

After the 31 October, the consultation will be run using electronic methods of communication. This may include a webinar and questionnaire; further details will be provided after the 31 October once the number of participants is established.

How can I find out more about the MSA programme?

The MSA programme aims to be a hub for defence materials research. Even if you do no not wish to participate in the consultation, but would like to opt in to the MSA mailing list to receive information on future events and opportunities please email MSAProgramme@dstl.gov.uk, using the subject line ‘MSA Mailing list only’ stating clearly that you wish to opt in to the MSA mailing list.

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Following on from the EMA notification stating that the Eudravigilance Veterinary Production system will be unavailable from 8 November to 21 November 2017; VMD would like to remind you of what has been agreed with the EMA. EVWeb Users During the down… read more