Home Secretary call with her Australian counterpart

News story

Priti Patel discusses countering state threats and migration challenges with the Australian Minister for Home Affairs.

Home Secretary Priti Patel yesterday evening spoke again to Karen Andrews, Australia’s Minister for Home Affairs.

Their discussion focused principally on countering state threats and exploring avenues through which the United Kingdom and Australia, as like-minded partners, could work together in responding to prevent malign hostile activity by foreign states, be that through cyber, illicit finance, academic or other forms of interference.

The Home Secretary and Minister Andrews agreed that it was vital to work collaboratively and collectively with close international partners to tackle insidious challenges to our shared interests, reaffirming their determination to use all levers available to counter hostile activity directed at our respective countries by foreign states.

As allies committed to security, freedom, sovereignty and prosperity, the United Kingdom and Australia will continue to cooperate closely with each other to spot and disrupt state backed activity seeking to do us harm.

The Home Secretary and Minister Andrews also had time to consider the challenge of illegal migration, with the Home Secretary taking the opportunity to update Minister Andrews on the government’s delivery of its New Plan for Immigration.

She also expressed her gratitude for the advice and expertise that has been offered by Australia in this sphere and the ministers agreed to maintain a productive dialogue on border security and tackling organised immigration crime.

Published 8 February 2022




Environment Agency raises its ‘plastic pollution’ game for the Winter Olympics

A ‘scarves and ski-lifts’ version for schools and families has been created to celebrate the ‘Bound for Beijing’ challenge – Team GB and ParalympicGB’s new educational programme, supported by Sport England and The National Lottery.

The fun game features preventing plastic pollution messages delivered through a variety of physical activities, and can be downloaded from the ‘Bound to Beijing’ pages of the ‘Get Set’ website.

When players land on one of 49 squares they can move up or down scarves and ski-lifts while finding out about positive and negative behaviours that impact on the planet – like using sustainable soap bars or reusable bottles instead of single-use plastic products. Players can also do a physical challenge, like 10 star jumps.

Environment Agency project lead Kelly Haynes said:

We are thrilled to be part of this exciting engagement programme for young people, which inspires through the power of sport at home and abroad.

This fun game teaches young people about the waste hierarchy and the small steps they can take each day to change behaviours, influence others, and help nip plastic pollution in the bud.

A spokesperson for Rosetta Primary School in London, said:

The Preventing Plastic Pollution game, offered as part of the Bound for Beijing Challenge, is a quick and easy physical activity to get your class moving while highlighting the importance of waste. The pupils loved the reboot of snakes and ladders in the new active board game.

The game has been created by the Environment Agency’s plastics and sustainability team on behalf of the Interreg-funded Preventing Plastic Pollution project.

It builds on new national sustainability guidance for the sports sector, which also encourages readers to sign up to the Big Plastic Pledge – a global campaign founded by Olympic gold medallist Hannah Mills that calls on sport representatives to ramp up efforts to tackle plastic waste.

The initiative also supports the Environment Agency’s ambition to promote better environmental practices that result in a reduction of plastic waste, helping to achieve the goals and commitments outlined in its EA2025 5-year plan to create better place for people, wildlife and the environment, and the government’s 25 Year Environment Plan.

Interreg Preventing Plastic Pollution (PPP): PPP seeks to understand and reduce the impacts of plastic pollution in the river and marine environments. By looking at the catchment from source to sea, the project identifies and targets hotspots for plastic, embeds behaviour change in local communities and businesses, and implements effective solutions and alternatives.

PPP is a €14 million funded EU INTERREG VA France (Channel) England Programme project co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund which works mainly across Brest Harbour, Bay of Douarnenez, Bay of Veys, Poole Harbour, Medway, Test and Itchen, East Hampshire, Tamar, and Great Ouse catchments.

Partners are the Environment Agency, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Queen Mary University of London, LABOCEA Conseil, Expertise et Analyses, Syndicat mixte établissement public de gestion et d’aménagement de la baie de Douarnenez, Office Français De La Biodiversité, Parc naturel marin d’Iroise, Brest Métropole, Centre national de la recherche scientifique, Counseil départemental de la Manche, Institut français de recherche pour l’exploitation de la mer, The Rivers Trust, Syndicat de bassin de l’Elorn, ACTIMAR, Brest’aim, Westcountry Rivers Trust, South East Rivers Trust, and Plymouth City Council.

Environment Agency: As a regulator, the Environment Agency prevents waste plastic entering the environment by cracking down on waste crime and poor waste management. As an influencer, its ambition is to promote better environmental practices that result in a reduction of plastic waste, helping to achieve the goals and commitments outlined in its 5 year plan to create better places for people, wildlife and the environment, and the government’s 25 year environment plan.

Get Set: Get Set – The official Olympic and Paralympic youth engagement programme for schools across the UK is delivered by the British Olympic Foundation and the British Paralympic Association. Get Set is a legacy of London 2012 and is the longest running Olympic and Paralympic Games youth engagement programme.  Further information is available at www.getset.co.uk.

British Olympic Association: The British Olympic Association (BOA) is the National Olympic Committee for Great Britain and Northern Ireland.  Its mission is to develop, promote and protect the Olympic Movement in our territory in accordance with the Olympic Charter.  The BOA achieves this through:

  • working in partnership with our members and key stakeholders to deliver world-leading services and support to enable British athletes to reach their full potential at the Olympic Games, Olympic Winter Games and other IOC-sanctioned events

  • working in partnership with our members and key stakeholders to provide athletes with relevant support on the journey to, during and following their Olympic careers

  • engaging people throughout the United Kingdom to pursue their very own goals and dreams through the Olympic Values and the example of Team GB Olympians

  • being the independent voice of Olympic Sport and collaborating with our members and other sport stakeholders, both domestically and internationally, to support the continued growth and overall health of the Olympic Movement in the UK.

For further information, go to: www.teamgb.com.

British Paralympic Association and ParalympicsGB: The British Paralympic Association is the National Paralympic Committee for the UK, responsible for the promotion of the Paralympic movement in Great Britain and selecting, entering and funding the Great Britain and Northern Ireland Paralympic team.

ParalympicsGB is the Great Britain and Northern Ireland Paralympic Team competing at the summer and winter Paralympic Games. We know that the outstanding performances of our athletes have a powerful impact on the British public and can shift perceptions of disability in society, helping to inspire a better world for disabled people.

The BPA would like to thank the National Lottery, UK Sport and our Gold Partners adidas, Allianz, bp, British Airways, CMR Surgical, Dreams, Hogan Lovells, Mondelēz International, Nestlé Cereals UK, Sainsbury’s, Toyota, Virgin Media, and our Partners asos, Citi, Papa John’s, Sir Robert McAlpine, Randox Health and Camelot for their support. Further details are available at https://paralympics.org.uk/.

Follow us on: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

Sport England: Sport England is a public body and invests up to £300 million National Lottery and government money each year in projects and programmes that help people get active and play sport.

It wants everyone in England, regardless of age, background, or level of ability, to feel able to engage in sport and physical activity. That’s why a lot of its work is specifically focused on helping people who do no, or very little, physical activity and groups who are typically less active – including women, disabled people and people on lower incomes.

For further information about Sport England, go to: www.sportengland.org.

About Spirit of 2012: Spirit of 2012 is the London 2012 legacy fund. Spirit awards grants for inclusive arts, sports and volunteering activities in communities that bring people together to improve their wellbeing.

The National Lottery Community Fund founded Spirit in 2013 with a £47 million endowment to continue and recreate the spirit of pride, positivity and community that inspired people across the UK during the London 2012 Games.

Our new strategy, Happier People Happier Places, looks at building sustainable social legacies, and creating lasting changes to how people feel about themselves and their communities.

For more information visit www.spiritof2012trust.org.uk.




Environment Agency welcomes new solar farm at former landfill site

  • Environment Agency continues regulation of former landfill site
  • The Environment Agency is working with site owner, City of Wolverhampton Council

The Environment Agency is continuing to carry out its regulation of a historic, non-hazardous landfill site in Wednesfield, where construction of a new solar farm is currently underway.

City of Wolverhampton Council, the current operator of the closed Bowmans Harbour landfill, is enabling The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust to develop the site to generate significant levels of renewable energy to power the nearby New Cross Hospital, in a step towards its goal of becoming net carbon zero by 2040.

As part of the planning process, City of Wolverhampton Council is required to manage the landfill in its closed state by retaining the existing landfill monitoring infrastructure and continuing to provide access for the Environment Agency to carry out its regulation of the site.

The Environment Agency has also highlighted to the council of the need to avoid damage to the cap of the landfill to prevent any issues going forward.

The site, which was formerly mined for coal, was operated as a landfill until it was closed and capped in 1996-1997. Since then, the Environment Agency has continued to regulate the site, ensuring monitoring and maintenance of the site is managed in accordance with the site’s environmental permit.

The solar farm, which at 11 hectares, is the size of around 22 football pitches and is due to be operational by summer this year, even though the site will not be fully complete by this time. It is estimated that the solar energy will power the hospital for three quarters of the year – around 288 days of self-generated renewable energy.

Joe Craddock, Environment Officer at the Environment Agency said:

It’s fantastic to see a former landfill being used in this way to provide a renewable energy source for the hospital.

We have taken the opportunity of working with the council to not only maintain but also improve the infrastructure of the closed landfill. We have required City of Wolverhampton Council to review and improve the leachate and gas wells on the site and make updates to the gas flare.*

We will continue to monitor and manage the site as it changes its use into a new source of renewable energy.

The improvements to the landfill infrastructure are important as they reduce the amount of greenhouse gasses being emitted from the site.

The solar farm is located approximately 1 mile to the north-east of Wolverhampton city centre and approximately 0.5 mile south of Wednesfield village centre.

The solar farm is planned to produce 6.9 megawatts-peak per annum which will be fed direct to New Cross Hospital. New Cross Hospital will be the first hospital in England to fully utilise and operate its own facility providing renewable energy.

The repository at Bowmans Harbour is the subject of an existing environmental permit issued to City of Wolverhampton Council by the Environment Agency in respect of environmental monitoring.

The Environment Agency regulates the environmental permits held by a landfill operator, including a closed landfill.  Within the environmental permits there are conditions controlling the operations that the site can carry out, which cover emission limits and the location and frequency of environmental monitoring.

The conditions of the environmental permit are designed to prevent pollution and minimise impacts to the environment and human health.  Appropriate measures are required to be taken by the holder of the environmental permit through the application of best practice.

There is a long-term monitoring contract in place with City of Wolverhampton Council to meet the conditions of the environmental permit.

Less potent greenhouse gasses are emitted if the landfill gas is burnt as opposed to being vented* so reducing the volume of gas being vented on the site will have a positive effect on the environment in terms of the greenhouse gases being emitted by the site.

  • When the gas is vented, a higher percentage of methane is released to the atmosphere which has a greater greenhouse effect. Burning the landfill gas reduces the volume of more potent greenhouse gases being released.



From today Jobseekers have four weeks to find work before they must widen their search

Press release

From today (Tuesday 8 February), those who are capable of work will be expected to search more widely for suitable available jobs from the fourth week of their Universal Credit claim, rather than up to three months as was previously the case.

The changes in the regulations aim to support people into work faster as we recover from the pandemic.

This clearer focus will ensure that, if people are not able to find work in their previous occupation or sector, they are expected to look for work in another suitable sector and this will be part of their requirements for receiving their benefit payment.

For jobseekers who do not engage with their Jobcentre Plus fully to find work, the sanctions regime will operate as usual.

Targeted predominantly at those in the intensive work search group on Universal Credit, the government’s new Way to Work campaign will support people back into work faster than ever before and filling vacancies more quickly.

Further information

Under previous rules, claimants had 3 months to find a job in their preferred sector. New rules that come into effect today mean that if, after 4 weeks, claimants who refuse to widen their job search, attend interviews or take up paid work in roles outside of their preferred sector, then they may be referred for a sanction.

Media enquiries for this press release – 0115 965 8781

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Published 8 February 2022




NVIDIA abandons takeover of Arm during CMA investigation

Press release

NVIDIA has abandoned its proposed deal with Arm during the CMA’s in-depth investigation, following its initial finding that the merger could lead to a substantial lessening of competition.

photograph showing a computer chip on a blue board.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has therefore today confirmed it intends to cancel its investigation into the merger.

The abandonment comes ahead of the planned main party hearings in February, where the CMA inquiry group was set to scrutinise information relating to the deal as part of a formal process.

The CMA provided a report to the Secretary of State (SoS) for the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport in July 2021 – in line with its legal duty – after the SoS issued a public interest intervention notice in relation to the merger, on the ground of national security.

In the report, the CMA found that an in-depth investigation into the deal was warranted on competition grounds due to concerns that, should the deal go ahead, the merged business would have the ability and incentive to harm the competitiveness of NVIDIA’s rivals by restricting access to Arm’s intellectual property (IP). This technology is used by companies that produce semiconductor chips and related products, in competition with NVIDIA. A summary of that report is available online.

The SoS then decided to progress the merger to an in-depth Phase 2 investigation in November 2021, based on national security and competition concerns.

In conducting its investigation, the CMA has worked closely with other competition authorities around the world to carefully consider the impact of the deal.

More information is available on the NVIDIA/Arm case page.

For media enquiries, contact the CMA press office on 020 3738 6460 or press@cma.gov.uk.

Published 8 February 2022