A Lost Time Incident (LTI) is when someone has to take time off work as a result of a workplace incident or accident and is a standard measure across construction to monitor safety performance.

Around 100 people are working on the £78 million transformation of the Walsall junction which will replace the 50-year-old bridges currently in place across the M6 and double the number of lanes around the junction from two to four.

Giant beams spanning the motorway were put in place for the two new bridges in the summer.

Since work began, the improvements scheme has also:

• poured over 3,050 cubic metres of concrete
• installed 117 pre-cast concrete panels
• fitted 1,682 tons of reinforced and structural steel
• laid 10,000 tons of road surfacing

Contractor John Sisk & Son is carrying out the work for National Highways and Walsall Council who, supported by the Black Country Local Enterprise Partnership, have joined forces to fund the congestion-busting junction upgrade.

National Highways Project Manager, Annie Hyett, said:

Safety is always the number one priority for National Highways, we think nobody should be harmed while travelling or working on our roads and do all we can to try to make that happen.

For our contractors, Sisk, to record over half a million working hours without injury is a fantastic achievement. We are pleased that the stringent safety measures put in place on site are paying dividends and I’m confident that it will continue to do so.

James Keogh, Senior Project Manager at John Sisk & Son said:

The health and safety of our people and supply chain is our number one priority, so to see this reflected in this project by achieving no Lost Time Incidents is something I am extremely proud of.

Everyone deserves to go to work knowing they will return home safe, and this has been achievable in a true team environment with the whole project working together to achieve a brilliant culture. I am confident we can continue making progress safely on this project that will be highly beneficial to end users.

Among measures taken by contractor Sisk to ensure safety include a robust Occupational Health and Safety Management system with the procedures strictly enforced on site. Allowing everyone on the project to have a voice meant issues and concerns could be dealt with quickly, and lessons learned for improvement.

Members of the public should contact the National Highways customer contact centre on 0300 123 5000.

Journalists should contact the National Highways press office on 0844 693 1448 and use the menu to speak to the most appropriate press officer.

Chief Executive, David Peattie, announced that the NDA’s partnership with the Nuclear Institute’s (NI) Young Generation Network (YGN) would continue for another two years following a hugely successful first year of collaboration and support.

The NDA group of companies became the YGN’s first-ever Industrial Partner back in September 2020, and has supported a series of successful events over the past year, aimed at exhibiting industry leadership for young people achieving personal and professional development within the nuclear industry.

The partnership aims to support the development of early-career professionals in the industry, both within the NDA group and in the wider nuclear industry, and aligns behind the YGN’s mission ‘to encourage, develop and inspire young nuclear professionals and ensure that their voice is heard in shaping the future of the nuclear sector’.

The partnership also fosters opportunities for senior leaders within the NDA group to offer support to young professionals, to underpin the NDA’s mission to ‘be a great place to work’ – and in forging NDA group collaboration.

David Peattie, NDA Chief Executive, has kept personally involved in the partnership, and has encouraged other senior leaders to support.

This partnership is unique and means the NDA group’s aims of promoting and supporting young professionals to make a successful career in nuclear are perfectly aligned with the YGN. Their professional approach to the partnership and their dynamism in creating interesting platforms in which to engage and inspire has been behind our decision to extend the partnership for another two years.

This is an extremely important partnership and will afford young people within the NDA group, and beyond the opportunity to engage with senior figures to create an environment of support, so that the young professionals of today can become the industry leaders of tomorrow.

A steering committee comprising young professionals from across the NDA group, including Sellafield Ltd, RWM Ltd, Low Level Waste Repository, Magnox Ltd, Nuclear Transport Solutions, Dounreay and Energus in West Cumbria has worked with NDA staff in organising a series of events which included the YGN Festival in 2020, seminars and interviews with senior nuclear leaders, and special one-off webinars.

The partnership will also continue to encourage educational attainment and professional qualification with the NI.

Hannah Paterson, this year’s YGN chair, and Strategy and Technical Manager at Sellafield Ltd said:

Extending the industrial partnership for another two years is great evidence of the value the NDA has seen the YGN provide and it’s a great example of the NDA’s leadership role in inspiring its young nuclear professionals and their development. We have been working with key senior leaders in the NDA to develop an ambitious set of goals to take the partnership to the next level and involve many more young people across the NDA subsidiaries in 2022 and beyond.

Some of the highlights from the first year of partnership included:

• Production of a video to launch the partnership and explain its mission

• Delivery of a four-part Decommissioning Spotlights webinar series which attracted more than 600 young nuclear professionals from across the industry

• Produced a series of communications through the NI and NDA encouraging young professionals to make the most of their YGN membership, and to attract new members

• Hosted a week-long YGN Festival in which David Peattie, Adrian Simper, Magnox’s Chief Executive Gwen Parry-Jones and the NDA’s Corhyn Parr all took part.

• Supported an Apprentice Fair in Westminster

• Leadership of the international nuclear industry’s presence at COP26

John McNamara, the NDA’s Head of Stakeholder Engagement, and the Partnership Patron said the link-up would continue to benefit the YGN and the NDA Group.

Already young professionals across our group of companies are getting to know each other and working to support each other on their professional journey. The NDA is showing leadership and will work with the YGN to continue to attract and retain young people and support their professional development.

The extended sponsorship means the YGN and NDA group will work together to launch a bespoke two-year project around creating interest for young people in the nuclear industry.

The YGN is part of the NI – the UK nuclear industry’s professional body and learned society. All young ( under 37 years of age) NI members automatically become members of the YGN when they join the Institute.

The NI runs a number of regional branches around the country, in Scotland, Cumbria, the North West, North East, Midlands, Central England, South West, London/SE and Wales. The YGN is a national branch with around 1500 young members.

More than 20,000 Self Assessment customers have used HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) online monthly payment plan service since April to spread the cost of their tax bill, totalling £46 million so far, it has been revealed.

Where customers are struggling to pay their bill in full, the self-serve Time to Pay service allows Self Assessment customers to manage how they pay their tax liabilities. Customers can use the online service for tax bills worth up to £30,000 without the need to talk to HMRC. The service will create a bespoke monthly payment plan for the customer based on how much tax is owed and the length of time needed to pay.

Last year, 123,000 customers used self-serve Time to Pay to spread the cost of their 2019 to 2020 tax bill, worth £460 million.

Customers have until 31 January 2022 to complete their tax return for the 2020 to 2021 financial year and pay their bill. If they can’t pay in full, customers can set up their own Time to Pay arrangement online if they:

• have filed their tax return for the 2020 to 2021 financial year
• owe less than £30,000
• are within 60 days of the payment deadline
• plan to pay their debt off within the next 12 months or less

If customers owe more than £30,000, or need longer to pay, they should call the Self Assessment Payment Helpline on 0300 200 3822.

Myrtle Lloyd, HMRC’s Director General for Customer Services, said:

We understand some customers might be worrying about paying their Self Assessment bill this year, and we want to support them. To see if you’re eligible to set up a payment plan, go to GOV.UK and search ‘pay my Self Assessment’.

Self-serve Time to Pay is just one way customers can pay their Self Assessment tax bill, a full list of alternative payment methods is available on GOV.UK.

HMRC urges everyone to be alert if they are contacted out of the blue by someone asking for money or personal information. Customers should always type in the full online address (www.gov.uk/hmrc) to get the correct link for filing their Self Assessment return online securely and free of charge. HMRC sees high numbers of fraudsters emailing, calling or texting people claiming to be from the department. If in doubt, HMRC advises not to reply directly to anything suspicious, but to contact them straight away and to search GOV.UK for ‘HMRC scams’.

Latest self-serve Time to Pay figures are for arrangements set up in the 2020 to 2021 financial year and are up to 28 November 2021.

Figures for the 2019 to 2020 financial year are from 1 October 2020 to 31 March 2021.

Find out more about how to declare taxable COVID-19 support in your tax return if you are self-employed, in a partnership or run a business.

If this is your first time completing an online tax return, you may be asked additional questions to prove your identity. To answer these questions, please have as many of the following to hand where relevant, when making your claim:

• your UK passport
• Northern Ireland (DVA – issued) driving licence
• information held on your credit file (such as loans, credit cards or mortgages)
• your Self Assessment tax return (within the last 3 years)
• your tax credit claim
• your P60
• one of your 3 most recent payslips