Greener, longer goods vehicles could become a permanent fixture on Britain’s roads as early as next year, the government has announced.

This comes as the Department for Transport today publishes its response to its consultation on the introduction of longer-semi trailers (LSTs), for which the majority of respondents were in favour of their use.

It follows a nine-year trial of the vehicles – which can be up to 15.65 metres in length – that found them to be safer, more economical and better for the environment.

It’s estimated LSTs could remove up to 1 in 8 freight journeys by carrying the same amount of cargo in fewer lorries. This would support the government’s Transport Decarbonisation Plan by reducing mileage, congestion and carbon emissions.

Following the successful trial and consultation, the Department for Transport will now consider the use of LSTs on Britain’s roads outside trial conditions, and the environment-boosting vehicles could be rolled out sometime in 2022.

The announcement about steps to reduce the impact of the haulage sector on the environment comes as the UK prepares to host COP26 this November (2021)- the 26th UN Climate Change Conference.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said:

This government is committed to fighting climate change and decarbonising our transport network, and we are working at pace to achieve net zero by 2050.

Today’s announcement is a vital step forwards as we work to introduce more environmentally friendly freight to our roads and build back greener.

Some 57% of those surveyed in the government consultation felt LSTs should be in general circulation and could see the positive effects the move would have on both the road haulage industry and Britain’s efforts to lead the fight against climate change.

The nine-year trial saw a reduction in the number of lorries making journeys across the country, with an average 8% reduction in miles covered by freight, as well as a 6.2% reduction in pollutants expelled. It also found the use of LSTs reduced the number of road traffic collisions, resulting from fewer journeys being made.

Road safety continues to be of paramount concern, and while the trial showed the use of LSTs caused fewer collisions, additional mitigations are under review to ensure hauliers and road users are kept even safer still.

The government will also soon launch a separate trial using heavier-than-normal, 48-tonne lorries, following a positive response from the consultation on their introduction. These lorries will be able to transport heavier containers directly to and from rail depots so that goods can be transported across the country by train.

Currently, the maximum weight of a lorry (44 tonnes) makes it difficult to carry heavier goods to rail depots, meaning goods are dispersed between more lorries to be taken to their end destination by road. Taking more goods in heavier trucks to rail depots to be transported by train will help reduce congestion across the country and also slash emissions.

The trial would ensure these heavier lorries are only used on specific routes and would limit their use to a maximum journey length.

HMP Garth prisoners have become the first to build eco-friendly lights in-house, cutting prisons’ energy use and saving taxpayers’ money.

Offenders are assembling LED lights which use 62% less electricity and are expected to save around £2.5m a year once rolled-out across the prison estate.

The project to construct lights which meet vital Prison Service security standards was developed by Garth staff and led to a product that is 36% cheaper than the original design.

The prison has bought components to retrofit 6,700 lights so far and prisoners are producing around 100 a week to install in the prison and elsewhere in the estate.

Around 50,000 old fluorescent lights in prisoners’ cells are to be replaced, with 13,000 changed to the energy efficient alternative and already saving £645,000 per year.

LED lights are also sent to Garth from other establishments for prisoners to repair and refurbish – further reducing waste and saving money.

Prisons and Probation Minister, Alex Chalk, said:

This is the latest example of prisons doing their bit to build back greener as we move towards a net-zero future.

We know teaching prisoners new skills reduces reoffending, and this is an opportunity to combine learning with tackling climate change

Work to roll out production lines at further prisons is ongoing, with other sites to be announced in due course. The Prison Service is also aiming to replace tens of thousands of corridor lights as well as those in cells.

The new energy efficient lighting follows the announcement that 16,000 solar panels will be installed at 19 prisons across England in the coming months, cutting more than 1,300 tonnes of carbon and providing 20% of each prison’s electricity.

In May it was announced that the Government’s four new prisons will operate as zero-carbon in the future, with an all-electric design, solar panels, heat pumps and more efficient lighting systems to reduce energy demand significantly.

The environmentally friendly drive accompanies wider government action to build back greener with more than £12 billion in green investment to help achieve its net zero commitment.

This will create up to 250,000 highly-skilled green jobs and spur over £40 billion in investment from the private sector into the UK.

Notes to editors

• HMP Garth is a Category B prison holding 768 prisoners, as of 30 June.
• The process works by manufacturing and then retrofitting LED gear-trays – metal plates which hold the light’s internal components – into prison cell light fittings, replacing the old fluorescent tubes.
• The replacement of 13,000 lights so far will save 1,180 tonnes of carbon per year, and 4,900 once all have been replaced.
• Evidence shows educational opportunities for prisoners can reduce reoffending by 7.5%, with enhanced prospects helping to turn their lives around on release and ultimately keeping the public safe.
• The government’s four new prisons are a vital building block in the drive to create 10,000 new modern prisons places that cut crime and will operate as zero-carbon in the future.
• An all-electric design eliminates the need for gas boilers and will in time produce net-zero emissions. Solar panels, heat pumps and more efficient lighting systems will reduce energy demand by half and cut carbon emissions by at least 85% compared to prisons already under construction.

Lee Thomas Hobson (34), from Sunderland, was a scaffolder and traded as LTH Scaffolding.

In December 2019, however, he stopped trading as LTH Scaffolding and began employment with a separate company.

But this did not stop him from applying for a government-backed Bounce Back Loan of £50,000 in the name of LTH Scaffolding which he received on 12 May 2020.

The money was then used to repay third parties rather than to meet ongoing business costs.

Lee Hobson was declared bankrupt on 26 October 2020. But due to his improper application for the Bounce Back Loan and the risk Lee Hobson posed to other creditors, the Official Receiver sought to extend his bankruptcy restrictions further.

Lee Hobson’s bankruptcy undertaking extends his restrictions for 10 years, which means he is limited to what credit he can access, as well as not being able to act as a company director without the permission of the court.

Richard Gill, the Official Receiver, said:

Mr Hobson was not entitled to the loan as he had already stopped trading having taken up employment. This money was not used for the purpose it was intended.

Bounce Back loans are intended to enable businesses to survive the COVID-19 lockdowns and to be used to provide economic benefit for a business.

It is hoped that this Bankruptcy Restrictions Undertaking will act as a deterrent to others who may wish to abuse the government’s COVID-19 relief schemes.

Lee Thomas Hobson is from Sunderland and his date of birth is August 1987.

Details of Lee Thomas Hobson’s undertaking is available on the Individual Insolvency Register

Bankruptcy restrictions are wide ranging. The effects are the same whether you are subject to a bankruptcy restrictions order or to an undertaking. Guidance on the main statutory consequences flowing from a bankruptcy restrictions order or undertaking.

Information about the work of the Insolvency Service, and how to complain about financial misconduct

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Published 6 January 2015
Last updated 3 September 2021 + show all updates

The beginning – 1971

For many of us old enough to recall it,1971 is a distant memory, but I recognise it is a year for which many of our younger colleagues and audience have no recollection whatsoever. So, let me either refresh (or illuminate) those reading this blog, with some key events from the year of our origin.

Whilst it was considered the height of fashion to be wearing miniskirts and platform heels in the early 70s, Ministry of Defence Police (MDP) attire consisted of white shirts and woollen trousers (with a specially designed, sewn in, truncheon holder in the right-hand pocket). The early 70s saw a rise in the ratio of women going to work but, despite that, female representation in the workspace was still low and non-existent in the MDP; our first female recruits joined us in 1974.

Computing was a new concept, with Intel launching its first processor in November 1971. Paper and pen, and the occasional typewriter (for those with such skills), were the main forms of written communication, within policing and in wider circles too. Police officers relied upon evidence recorded in their pocket notebooks, which led to the obvious scrutiny in court to justify that notes were recorded ‘as soon as practicable after the event’.

The Force did little more (according to Wikipedia) than ‘man gates, check passes and occasionally patrol fences, armed with nothing more than a pistol’, and the civilian support to the Force came mainly in the form of administrative roles. MDP officers were located in many stations across the Defence infrastructure – from north to south, east to west.

The modern MDP

Now, whilst many of us view aspects of policing (and MDP) history as important – for example the principles of policing, as endorsed by Sir Robert Peel, are as valid today as they have ever been – we are all acutely aware that the world constantly moves on.

Today, the MDP provides ‘Unique Policing Services’, far less associated with the simple guarding function most colleagues performed at our inception. Whilst there is still some work to do to better define what a police service can (and should not) perform in Defence, we are armed and capable of responding to a multitude of incidents both inside and outside the wire.

It is our capability to operate in the public space, delivering policing tactics such as Project Servator, that makes us a distinct asset to move threat reduction further from the sites and communities we protect. It is also our ability to use our policing powers, outside Defence, within the civilian population, that enable niche investigations to be conducted for the benefit of the MOD. Whilst most of our uniformed colleagues are armed (or provide support – or command – to those who are) our civilian capability has changed significantly too. Where policing skills are not required, roles are now performed by professional civilians and the MDP is the sum of that police-civilian mix.

Equipment has moved on considerably. An operational cop now wears equipment which is more suited to the role we perform (and reduces the ironing demand!). Although I acknowledge the common observation that ‘cops will always moan about equipment regardless of the quality’, our equipment is now far better suited to protecting the public, colleagues, and the officer. Our capability to use lethal force where necessary, justified, and proportionate is supported with less lethal options and an increased capacity to record interactions ‘live time’, which enables future scrutiny to be exercised.

We have seen many developments in technology and IT over the half a century of our existence. It is now possible to identify who we are dealing with as we interact with them, rather than relying on prolonged back office enquiries; it is also far easier to communicate in the operational environment and across police forces.

Our representation has certainly changed (albeit slower than perhaps many of us would wish). We are a Force which develops and changes constantly, as we deliver the professional policing service that Defence deserves, and which benchmarks us against the standards in wider policing.

Whilst some of the places we serve may have changed since the 1970s, MDP colleagues are still dispersed across the United Kingdom: almost 2,900 cops and 300 civilians, delivering from the far north of Scotland to the southern ports of England; from the east coast of Norfolk in to the borders of Wales; and across the Irish Sea in Northern Ireland. We are not just a Defence asset though, serving, with the agreement of the Secretary of State, United States Visiting Forces, critical national infrastructure sites and other service providers – as well as providing a scalable armed capability to wider policing at times of national emergency.

Our people are our future

Our service is delivered through great people, whose commitment to our role was most recently demonstrated during the COVID-19 pandemic – one episode in our history and an example of the benefit Defence derives from MDP colleagues. I have no doubt we will need some of that commitment in large chunks as we move in to the next few years, with some significant changes for the MDP, including: the move of our Headquarters to RAF Wyton; new ways of delivering training; full fitness harmonisation with national policing standards; and post COVID-19 working arrangements, to name a few.

As I sign off, I wonder what any successor of mine might be writing about the MDP at our centenary… Short of any major medical advances, I can predict I won’t be about to read it, but some of you will. So, without trying to predict the detail of any future centenary blog, I am sure they’ll be saying, as I am, how proud they are to lead the very many committed colleagues who work in the MDP.

Andy Adams, Chief Constable – Ministry of Defence Police

Interested in a career with the Ministry of Defence Police?

Visit mod.police.uk for more information.

Read more:

50 years delivering unique specialist policing

A brief history of the Ministry of Defence Police July 2021 Medium

Contact MDP

New! MDP Recruitment Website

Ministry of Defence Police on GOV.UK

MDP Annual Business Plan 2020 and Corporate Plan 2020-25

Talk Through: the magazine of the Ministry of Defence Police