Forestry Commissioner Julia Grant has been reappointed as a board member for a second three-year term from 1 November 2019 following the completion of her initial term in office.

Julia has held leadership roles in global consulting firms, insurance and the social sector in a career spanning 30 years and has deep experience of the link between the business and non-business worlds, including investing for impact. She is currently chief executive of Pro Bono Economics, a charity helping other charities and social enterprises to understand and improve their impact.

Prior to this she held leadership positions at Impetus the Private Equity Foundation, the National Gardens Scheme and Surrey Community Action (the rural community council for Surrey), where she built on her longstanding interest in landscape, heritage and the environment.

She has extensive non-executive and board experience including ministerial appointments at the Arts and Humanities Research Council and the Learning and Skills Council Surrey, where she served on the Audit and Diversity Committees.

She is currently a trustee of the Education Development Trust, a global education charity, and sits on the Advisory Board of Helpforce, working to promote volunteering across the NHS. Other trustee roles have included have included Shelter and the Community Foundation for Surrey. She read Politics, Philosophy and Economics at Oxford University and holds an MBA from London Business School.

Julia will continue to receive remuneration at the rate of £409 per day with a time commitment of up to 30 days per annum. All reappointments are made on merit and political activity plays no part in the process.

This reappointment complies with the Ministerial Code of Governance on Public Appointments. There is a requirement for appointees’ political activity (if significant) to be declared. Julia has declared that she has not taken part in any political activity in the past five years.

Details about the Forestry Commission management structure can be seen here.

The Housing Minister the Rt Hon Esther McVey MP has written to Broxtowe Borough Council to remind them of the importance the government attaches to maximising use of previously developed land for new development.

The letter has been published as it raises matters that are likely to be applicable to other local authorities.

Read the Planning Inspectorate report on the Examination of Broxtowe council’s Part Two Local Plan.

The UK and Australia continue to seek further innovation in joining technologies with a new funding opportunity to enable the integration of advanced materials onto military platforms. Such materials can offer significant benefits to military capability, including increased functionality and improved survivability. To enjoy these benefits, advanced materials often need to be used within existing designs or retro-fitted onto current platforms.

Phase 1 of the DASA “Joint Effort” themed competition was launched in November 2018 in support of the Dstl Materials for Strategic Advantage Programme. It was run in parallel with the Australian Defence Science and Technology Group (DST Group) Next Generation Technologies Fund (NGTF) and Small Business Innovation Research for Defence (SBIRD). Proposals were received from industry and academia and 14 projects were funded, split evenly between the Australian and British competitions.

In Phase 2, the campaign is seeking to increase collaboration between the two nations, building both on innovations from Phase 1 and exploring entirely new concepts.

The technical challenges remain unchanged from Phase 1. Many different materials are within scope, including joining combinations of composites, metals, ceramics and polymers. Potential joining solutions should provide enhanced capability through one of the following:

• improved performance through use of new material combinations or structural designs
• improved durability of structures through better joints
• improved ability to maintain joints through the life of the military platform

Phase 2 has £500k available through DASA to fund multiple proposals. In parallel, there is a separate competition for Australian bidders with funding of an additional A$1m. It is not compulsory to have been involved in the previous phase to apply.

The full competition document can be found here.

Phase 2 will close for submission of proposals at midday (GMT) on Friday 31 January 2020.

Do you have the skills and ability to compose accurate reports based on your own investigative observations? Are you fair, level headed and possess a level of curiosity and inclination to ask “why” and dig deeper to gain essential information?

The UK is supporting gender mainstreaming in Turkmenistan. New British Ambassador, HE Hugh Philpott, was pleased to sign the MOU with OSCE Centre in Ashgabat to conduct a three-day joint Turkmen-Afghan gender mainstreaming workshop for security officials from the both countries.

Promoting women employment in non-traditional areas such as the military and law enforcement and retaining them in the workplace requires due consideration to be given to the specific needs of women. The aim of the workshop is to promote gender mainstreaming in mostly male-dominated security sectors of Turkmenistan and Afghanistan and to equip the security officials with the knowledge and skills to maintain gender sensitivity in their work.

Through partnering with OSCE and UN, the British Embassy in Turkmenistan will continue its ongoing support to the government of Turkmenistan in its efforts to implement the National Action Plan of Turkmenistan on Gender Equality for the period 2015-2020.