AT Contracting and Plant Hire Limited allowed water contaminated with sediment to enter a tributary of Padbury Brook near Barton Hartshorn in May 2018.

As a result, the company has paid £15,000 to the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust.

The sanction is known as an Enforcement Undertaking. It can be used as an alternative to a prosecution where the offending was unintentional and where the harm to the environment is limited. In this case the Environment Agency accepted the company’s negligence wasn’t down to dangerous or foolhardy behaviour.

The Environment Agency was satisfied that AT Contracting had worked quickly to solve the issue and taken full responsibility for the incident.

Enforcement undertakings allow companies and individuals to make good some of the environmental damage they cause, including through a financial contribution to an environmental project. In addition to the £15,000 payment, the company completed a number of other actions. This included stopping the discharge, removing the pollutant from the watercourse and improving water management.

While agreeing to enforcement undertakings, the Environment Agency continues to prosecute organisations and individuals where evidence shows high levels of culpability and serious environment harm.

Andrew Raine, Environment Manager at the Environment Agency, said:

The Environment Agency is an outcome-focussed regulator, seeking to make sure all businesses work within environmental laws.

Human error on the part of AT Contracting led to the sediment being allowed to enter the river.

Following the Environment Agency’s intervention, AT Contracting worked quickly to contain the incident. It has since worked to improve its water management systems to prevent this from happening again in the future.

The British Office Hargeisa (BOH) welcomes project proposals for its International Programme Fund (IPF) for the Financial Year 2022/23. The IPF supports programme activity under the framework of the UK government’s foreign policy objectives in Somaliland.

Scope for Proposals

Applications for funding should be linked to the following themes:

• Women and girls – Partnerships to support women and girls, unlocking their potential, agency and freedoms through education, and particularly targeting those affected by the ongoing drought.

• Media Freedom – Partnerships to support the foundations of media freedom such as by building the capacity of journalists, building understanding between journalists and security institutions, support for the safety and security of journalists.

Requirements for Proposals and Applicants

• The proposals requested under this call must be for a maximum of £95,000 in value, and must be able to be completed in this financial year (before the 31 March 2023).
• Project proposals must outline how budgets will be spent, with a clear consideration of providing value for money. Proposals must also include a communications strategy on how the project will be visible in Somaliland.
• Project activities should be completed February 2023 in order to allow time for evaluation. All project expenses for 2022-23 must be incurred by 31 March 2023.
• Applications must be submitted in English.

Proposal Evaluation Process:

Project proposals will be shortlisted and approved by the BOH. Successful organisations will need to sign a legally binding contract with the BOH. They will also need to prepare quarterly monitoring reports as well as a completion report at the end of the project.

Proposals will be assessed against the following criteria

• Alignment with the above-mentioned UK themes
• Project design includes a realistic timeline, clear monitoring and evaluation procedures
• Project outcomes have a concrete deliverable with clear links to the project’s objectives
• Sustainability, demonstrating that project benefits continue after the funding ends.
• Risk and financial accountability procedures
• The organisation’s safeguarding policies and the protection of those involved in the project against abuse and harassment
• Overall value for money

Submitting a Proposal

To submit your proposal, see the attachments below;

All proposals to be sent to the BOH by email to BritishOffice.HargeisaCS@fcdo.gov.uk.

Who may bid

The BOH will consider funding applications from civil society organizations, academic institutions, non-profit organisations and multilateral organisations. In order to be eligible, you:

• must be a legal entity, commercial company, a registered non-governmental (NGO) or governmental organisation, and provide proof of legal registration in Somaliland
• demonstrate previous experience in delivering and managing projects and the ability to manage the project sum, and preferably have experience working with an international agency/organisation
• demonstrate the capacity to deliver at least 75% of the proposed project activity by mid-December 2022

The BOH may request reports by auditors during its review of proposals.

If you have any questions or if you would like to discuss your proposal, please email BritishOffice.HargeisaCS@fcdo.gov.uk.

The £1bn North Wales Growth Deal has reached a milestone with the launch of new cutting-edge equipment at Bangor University’s Digital Signal Processing (DSP) Centre.

Technology at the DSP Centre manages the way digital signals are transmitted, providing a solution for the signals to be better processed and received and to be both more secure and more cost effective.

The £3million Growth Deal funding has enabled the DSP Centre to acquire new equipment to undertake cutting-edge research for digital communications. The funding will develop solutions to support the future’s digital requirements, benefitting businesses and residents with better communication capabilities such as 5G and 6G.

The state-of-the art equipment can also be used to advance the development of new prototypes; examples include applications such as enhanced security (an encryption/de-encryption connection to improve digital safety) and environmental sensing (identifying a change in external environment through video transmission).  This will provide businesses and communities who use the DSP technology with a more cost effective, more secure and more efficient use of their applications.

The launch event was attended by First Minister, Mark Drakeford MS and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Wales, David TC Davies MP.

Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Wales, David TC Davies MP, said:

I’m delighted to see the North Wales Growth Deal making fantastic progress. It will bring significant investment and jobs and will help transform the economy of North Wales. Alongside the £120m committed to the North Wales Growth Deal, the UK Government has backed growth deals covering every part of Wales with hundreds of millions more in funding. Working hand in hand with our partners, the deals will unleash the full potential of our communities.

As the North Wales Growth Deal reaches this landmark, I look forward to seeing many more projects reach fruition across the region and throughout Wales in the coming months and years.

Councillor Dyfrig Siencyn, Chair of North Wales Economic Ambition Board said:

We are delighted to have reached a point where we are seeing our first project become reality. It’s fitting that it is in one of the fastest growing sectors, as we look to promote research and innovation in this field as well as improve digital connectivity across the region.

With the development of globally important technologies here, the DSP Centre is putting North Wales on the map and at the forefront of this exciting sector. The team already works with large international businesses and big names in the industry, including Ciena and Vodafone. They also work with business partners from local SMEs, providing access to state-of-the-art equipment to develop local skills and accelerate their product development.

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