Flood barrier installation work set to begin this summer

Press release

A Norfolk village road will be closed for a number of weeks this summer as the base for a new temporary flood barrier is installed.

Drone shot over Ouse Washes rivers at Welney

Drone footage over the Ouse Washes rivers at Welney. The footage was taken by Jackson’s Civil Engineering

The barrier will be used to prevent water spilling from the Ouse Washes flood storage reservoir into Welney village. It will replace the use of large sandbags to create a temporary barrier across Welney Wash Road, the A1101. The barrier will be installed when the water level in the reservoir is extremely high and the road has been closed by Norfolk County Council.

A concrete slab will need to be built across the road for the barriers to slide into, requiring its closure for a few weeks. A consultation was carried out in 2020 to find out when the local community would prefer the work to be carried out. They voted to have it take place between June and September.

Between 13 June and 19 July 2-way traffic lights will be in place but only as work require them. The full road closure will take place from 20 July to 25 August. The road will then revert to 2-way traffic lights as the footpath is re-installed from 26 August to 16 September.

Nicola Oldfield, Ouse Washes project lead, said:

We know the impact that flooding can have, which is why protecting people and communities is our priority.

This is one of the final parts of a vital long-term investment and refurbishment programme to maintain the dam of the Ouse Washes flood storage reservoir.

We appreciate the length of this closure will have an impact on residents and businesses. However, we are grateful for their input during the consultation to ensure that this is minimised as much as possible.

Clearly signposted diversion routes will be in place for the duration of the work.

Everyone should know their flood risk and sign up for free flood warnings by going to https://www.gov.uk/check-flood-risk or calling Floodline on 0345 988 1188. You can also follow @EnvAgency on Twitter for the latest flood updates.

The Environment Agency has launched an online virtual exhibition room to provide the local community with information about the work. The room includes links about the construction of the Welney barrier, footpath closure maps and more. It will be open until September 2022. More information can be found at: Environment Agency (eaousewashesbanks.co.uk).

A video showing how the work will be carried out can be found at:How the construction work along the Welney Wash Road will work. – YouTube

  • Further information about the diversions can be found at: https://one.network/?tmi=GB22416603

  • Between 2015 and 2020, we have invested more than £1 billion on maintaining flood and coastal defences nationally. This includes investing in developing technology and direct maintenance work such as dredging, inspecting assets, and carrying out repairs.

  • Ouse Washes flood storage reservoir is approximately 30 kilometres long, varies in width between 200 metres and 800 metres and covers an area of approximately 1,900 hectares. When full it stores approximately 90,000,000 cubic metres of water above the surrounding land. This is enough water to fill Wembley Stadium 22 times. The reservoir protects 2,000 properties, roads, railways and more than 67,000 hectares of farmland from winter flooding.

  • The construction work is being carried out by contractors Jackson’s Civil Engineering.

Published 24 May 2022



CMA action frees hundreds of homes from unlawful gas contracts

Press release

Hundreds of customers that buy domestic gas from BDS Fuels will be freed from unlawful exclusivity contracts.

Pan on a lit gas stove
  • Over 700 households in the North West of England will now be freed from unlawful terms that locked them into repeat exclusivity contracts and restricted their ability to switch to a new gas provider.

The move by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) comes after concerns were raised about customers being automatically locked into new ‘exclusivity contracts’ for liquified petroleum gas (LPG) – an expensive domestic fuel used for heating and cooking by people who cannot access the UK mains gas grid. Customers were required to pay a £350 fee if they wished to break the contract and change providers. It is unlawful to automatically roll over these exclusivity contracts without customers’ explicit agreement.

Having scrutinised BDS Fuels’ contracts, the CMA found the firm had unlawfully used a clause that automatically renewed over 700 households’ exclusivity contracts without their explicit consent. This meant hundreds of customers in Cumbria, North Lancashire, and North Yorkshire were unable to switch to a new provider – who may have been able to offer them a cheaper or better deal – without paying BDS a fee.

Following the CMA’s intervention, BDS has now agreed to:

  • Remove unlawful automatic renewal clauses from its LPG contracts
  • Inform all existing customers who were automatically signed up to a new exclusivity contract that they can switch supplier with immediate effect and without paying a fee if they choose to
  • Refund those customers who paid a fee to be released from their LPG contract early
  • Provide information to customers annually that clearly details how they can cancel their contract and switch providers

Adam Land, Senior Director for Remedies, Business, and Financial Analysis at the CMA, said:

We are facing a cost-of-living crisis meaning it’s more important than ever that people can shop around and choose the best possible deal for them. If we find evidence of businesses preventing this, we won’t hesitate to step in – as we have with BDS Fuels.

The CMA will monitor BDS to make sure it is behaving in accordance with the Order and taking the action promised. Should it fail to do either of these, the CMA could step in and launch enforcement action.

For more information, please see the CMA’s Letter to BDS Fuels.

Notes to editors

  1. According to BDS Fuels’ website, the firm distributes to: Cumbria, North Lancashire, North Yorkshire, and South West Scottish Borders.
  2. Liquified Petroleum Gas is a domestic fuel used for cooking and heating. It is used in homes that are not on the mains gas grid and is stored in tanks on-site.
  3. BDS Fuels breached the Domestic Bulk Liquefied Petroleum Gas Market Investigation Order (put in place by the CMA’s predecessor The Competition Commission) in 2 ways, first, by failing to limit the exclusivity period in contracts to 24 months, and second, by failing to provide important information to 757 customers when providing them with contracts.
  4. The CMA cannot currently impose financial penalties on businesses for breaches of this kind, but the UK Government has consulted on providing this power in the future. This power would allow the CMA to increase the deterrent effect of its enforcement and make sure businesses take the obligations which the CMA imposes on them seriously for the benefit of UK consumers.
  5. All enquiries from journalists should be directed to the CMA press office by email on press@cma.gov.uk or by phone on 020 3738 6460.
  6. All enquiries from the general public should be directed to the CMA’s General Enquiries team on general.enquiries@cma.gov.uk or 020 3738 6000.

Published 24 May 2022



Minister for Armed Forces in Pakistan for two-day visit

Press release

The UK Minister for Armed Forces James Heappey MP is visiting Pakistan on a two-day visit to highlight the importance of Pakistan as a strategic partner to the UK and reiterate the long-standing deep people-to-people ties between the two countries. This year Pakistan and UK will be celebrating 75 years of partnership and bilateral ties.

Minister for Armed Forces in Pakistan for two-day visit

Minister James Heappey will be meeting senior government and military leaders, discussing the impact of the war in Ukraine across the world and UK’s humanitarian response in Afghanistan. He also laid a wreath at the War Cemetery in Rawalpindi where hundreds of Commonwealth soldiers who lost their lives in the two World Wars are laid to rest.

The last ministerial visit to Pakistan was in September when the then Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab held high-level meetings and discussed how the two countries can work closely together on the situation in Afghanistan.

James Heappey MP said:

The UK and Pakistan are close friends and partners. As we celebrate 75 years of our bilateral relationship, it is more important than ever that we continue to work together in an increasingly unstable world to tackle challenges and those who threaten global peace and security.

Notes to editors:

  1. James Heappey was elected as the Member of Parliament for the Wells Constituency in May 2015. Before entering politics, James served in the Army reaching the rank of Major. In a 10 year career in the Rifles, James served on operations in Kabul in 2005, Northern Ireland in 2006, Basra in 2007 and Sangin in Helmand Province in 2009. He also served in Kenya and across the United Kingdom. James was appointed Minister for Defence Procurement on 16 December 2019, having previously served as Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Prime Minister.

  2. The UK has now disbursed the full £286 million of UK aid for the financial year 2021-22 to Afghanistan and for Afghan refugees in the region to address the most urgent humanitarian needs.

  3. On 31 March 2022, the UK co-hosted a high-level UN humanitarian pledging summit, alongside Germany and Qatar, that helped raised $2.4 billion for the UN’s Afghanistan appeal. This will reach millions of people with emergency support for health, protection, shelter, food, livelihood, and education. Some donors also announced funding for essential basic services, which will support the delivery of education, sustain health care systems, and support community resilience.

  4. Ahead of the summit (on 30 March 2022), the Foreign Secretary announced the UK’s pledge of £286 million of aid to Afghanistan for the financial year 2022-23.

  5. UK aid allocated since October will support over 60 hospitals, provide health services for over 300,000 people; ensure 4.47 million people get emergency food assistance through the World Food Programme; and provide 6.1 million people with emergency health, water, protection, shelter, food, and education support through the UN Afghanistan Humanitarian Fund.

For further information:

please follow our social media channels:

Contact:
British High Commission
Islamabad
Tel: 0300 500 5306

Published 24 May 2022



UK Shipbuilding Skills Taskforce membership confirmed

Members of the UK’s first Shipbuilding Skills Taskforce (UKSST) have been announced today (24 May).

The Taskforce will be Chaired by Captain Dr Paul Little, Principal & Chief Executive of City of Glasgow College. An academic leader with a successful part-time Maritime career that included deployment with the US Coastguard, Paul successfully transformed five UK tertiary institutions, and has a strong international reputation. Paul brings dynamic leadership to the Taskforce and over 40 years naval insight as a veteran Coastguard Officer, Younger Brother of Trinity House, Fellow of the Nautical Institute, Member of the UK’s Merchant Navy Board and Member of both the Merchant Navy and the Royal Navy Associations. He is also a proud Honorary Royal Navy Captain.

He will be joined by 20 members from across the UK, providing coverage from industry including SMEs and larger organisations, training providers and trade representative bodies.

The Taskforce was announced in March 2022, as part of the cross-government National Shipbuilding Strategy (NSbS), to develop a world-leading skills strategy that will boosts training and job opportunities in the shipbuilding industry particularly those related to new and emerging technologies and zero-emissions shipping.

Minister for Skills Alex Burghart said:

Making sure we can deliver more opportunities for people to train or upskill will be essential to providing the UK shipbuilding industry with the talent pipeline it needs to thrive and get more people into jobs.

I’m delighted announce the appointment of Captain Dr Paul Little as the Chair of the UK Shipbuilding Skills Taskforce. I know he and all the other members will bring the experience, passion and understanding needed to make this Taskforce a success. I look forward to hearing about their work as the strategy develops.

Captain Dr Paul Little said:

I am honoured and delighted to be appointed as Chair of the UK Shipbuilding Skills Taskforce, as it will allow me to combine my lifelong passions for Skills and Maritime. Some of the very best and most famous ships throughout history were built in yards across the UK, by a talented workforce of naval architects, master technicians and skilled apprentices. I am therefore keen to get started with the first meeting of our highly experienced Taskforce to examine the existing and future shipbuilding skills supply chain and to identify any additional upskilling and reskilling requirements. I look forward to working very closely with the National Shipbuilding Office, Civil & Military stakeholders, Colleges and Schools to deliver a renaissance in UK Shipbuilding.

The 20 members of the Taskforce are:

  • Linton Roberts, Chief Technology Officer, Cammell Laird Ship repairers and Shipbuilders Ltd and A&P Group Ltd.
  • Adrian Bevin, Head of Curriculum, Technology, South Devon College
  • Commodore Andrew Martin Cree, Deputy Director Future Training, Royal Navy
  • Edward James Corbett, Project Engineer, representing Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU)
  • Elizabeth O’Connor, Human Resources and Legal Director, MJM Marine Ltd
  • Hannah Prowse, CEO, Portsmouth Naval Base Property Trust
  • Keith Longman, Yard Manager, Berthon Boat Company Ltd.
  • Kerrie Forster, CEO, Workboat Association
  • Mark Whitehead, Snr Client and Commercial Manager, Bibby Marine
  • Matt Bolton, Executive Officer, UKNEST
  • Matthew Guy, Human Resources Director, Thales UK
  • Nick Mansell, Chief Executive Officer, Intermarine UK
  • Patrick Carnie, Strategy Director, Marine and Engineering Systems, Babcock International Group
  • Paul Feely, Academy and Engineering Director, BAE Systems Naval
  • Paul Turner, HR Director, Princess Yachts Ltd
  • Rachel Kitley, Principal, Cowes Enterprise College, Ormiston Academies Trust (OAT)
  • Richard Westgarth, Industry Engagement, BMT MarRI-UK, as well as Adjunct Professor at the Southampton Marine    and Maritime Institute.
  • Sarah Dhanda, Head of Policy and Partnerships, Enginuity
  • Tahsin Tezdogan, University Reader in Naval Architecture, University of Strathclyde

The first meeting of the Taskforce is expected to take place in June, and members will soon begin working with the wider industry to explore skills needs and shortages.

Rear Admiral, Rex Cox, Chief Executive of the National Shipbuilding Office, said:

I am delighted that Paul Little has been appointed as Chair of the new UK Shipbuilding Skills Taskforce. As Principal and Chief Executive of the City of Glasgow College and with a rich maritime background, Paul is the ideal fit for the role. I am confident that Paul’s appointment together with Taskforce membership drawn from right across the UK, and reflecting the true breadth of our Shipbuilding Enterprise, will bring real focus to skills and training.

The Taskforce will be critical in over-seeing our efforts to ensure that our industry is able to access workers with the right training and skills which is fundamental to our ambition to drive growth and transformation to achieve a globally successful, innovative and sustainable Shipbuilding Enterprise for the UK.

The mailing list remains open for anybody who would like to receive email updates or be part of our consultation group to help to shape the work of the Taskforce.

  • The National Shipbuilding Strategy (NSbS) refresh builds on the commitments of the previous strategy and reaffirms the need for the shipbuilding industry to work together to understand and articulate their future skills needs.
  • UK Shipbuilding Skills Taskforce (UKSST) will form a partnership between government, industry, training providers and trade representative bodies.

  • The Taskforce will support the development and implementation of a future-focused skills strategy for shipbuilding. Working closely with the Ministry of Defence (MoD), the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and the Department for Transport (DfT), it will build a picture of the industry’s skills needs and provide solutions to skills shortages, particularly those related to new and emerging technologies.  By catalysing and leveraging the skills system, the Taskforce will:

    • ensure providers are empowered to meet the industry’s requirements
    • work with industry colleagues to promote varied and exciting career opportunities in the shipbuilding sector
    • draw on the best practice internationally and from other sectors
    • optimise the available skills funding and opportunities for shipbuilding


Change of British High Commissioner to Belize: Ms Nicole Davison

Press release

Ms Nicole Davison has been appointed British High Commissioner to Belize in succession to Ms Claire Evans OBE.

Ms Nicole Davison has been appointed British High Commissioner to Belize in succession to Ms Claire Evans OBE who will be retiring from the Diplomatic Service. Ms Davison will take up her appointment during September 2022.

Full name: Nicole Davison

Partner: Karen Ferguson

Dates Role
2016 to 2022 Vancouver, Consul General
2012 to 2016 Zagreb, Deputy Head of Mission
2009 to 2012 FCO, Team Leader, Global Response Centre
2007 to 2009 FCO, Deputy Head, Parliamentary Relations Department
2004 to 2007 Beijing, Her Majesty’s Consul and Deputy Director Visa Services
2004 FCO, Full Time Language Training (Mandarin)
2001 to 2004 Kyiv, Second Secretary Political
2000 to 2001 FCO, Full Time Language Training (Ukrainian)
1999 to 2000 FCO, Desk Officer, Latin America & Caribbean Department
1996 to 1998 FCO, Desk Officer, Western European Department
1992 to 1995 Dhaka, Entry Clearance Officer
1990 to 1992 Cape Town/Pretoria, Registry Officer
1988 to 1990 FCO, Personnel Operations Department
1988 Joined FCO

Published 24 May 2022