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UK to split leadership at statistics office to address data issues

UK to split leadership at statistics office to address data issues

Reuters2 days ago

LONDON, June 26 (Reuters) - Britain said it would separate the leadership roles at the Office for National Statistics (ONS), which has been criticised for economic data failures, following a review into its performance and culture.
The UK Statistics Authority and Cabinet Office said in response to the review that they "strongly agree" with its recommendation to temporarily separate the role of national statistician from that of ONS permanent secretary, the leader of the office.

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Ineos hits out at government ‘madness' after green subsidy is pulled
Ineos hits out at government ‘madness' after green subsidy is pulled

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  • Times

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Sir Jim Ratcliffe's chemicals giant Ineos has accused the government of 'madness' over plans to effectively punish it for making one of its major plants more environmentally friendly. Ineos Acetyls, which makes the acetic acid used in food production, medicines and synthetic fibres, spent more than £30 million switching the fuel source at its factory in Hull from natural gas to low-carbon hydrogen. The move has cut its carbon emissions by 75 per cent. However, the Environment Agency has said that, rather than support the move, it would cut Ineos's carbon subsidies, costing it £23 million over the next three years. Ineos Acetyls chief executive David Brooks said: 'We are being punished for doing the right thing. We've delivered on decarbonisation, exceeding our expectations, and this is the response we get.' He added that he was fighting competition from imports from China, which use cheap, coal-fired energy to produce acetic acid with a carbon footprint eight times greater than his Hull plant. 'It feels like, instead of fighting our competitors, we're fighting our government,' he said. The factory is already lossmaking, he said, and the Environment Agency's decision meant he was having to pause all further investment decisions. The site employs more than 300 workers. The facility was opened by Queen Elizabeth in 1981, but the agency had decided to reclassify it as a 'new-build' factory as a result of the improved process. This means it will not receive its allowances from the UK Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) until 2028. Under the ETS, industrial plants are gifted allowances by the Environment Agency to emit a certain amount of greenhouse gases, beyond which they have to buy credits. The idea is to incentivise polluters to emit less. However, the agency's stance on Ineos Acetyls means that, for the next three years, it will have to buy all of its allowances on the market, which at present prices will be approximately £23 million. Ineos has been appealing to the Environment Agency, which operates the ETS system and is run under the umbrella of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). Officials from the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero, the Department for Business & Trade and the Treasury, as well as the devolved governments, are also involved, Brooks said. 'It's a civil service soup of decision-making and it's very difficult to see who is actually making the decisions around this. 'So we're frustrated to get to the right people to talk to, we're frustrated it's taking so long to get what we believe is a slam dunk, and we're frustrated it's such a battle to get people to see common sense.' He described the Environment Agency's reaction as 'computer says no' because the Ineos technology is new. Ineos shut its refinery in Grangemouth after spending three years trying to obtain government subsidies to keep it open. Its decision to halt further investment in the Hull plant comes as Britain's biggest bioethanol plant nearby, owned by Associated British Foods, is threatened with closure after the US-UK trade deal allowed tariff-free US ethanol to enter the UK. The MP in Ineos Acetyls' neighbouring constituency, Kingston upon Hull West & Haltemprice, where many of the plant's workers live, is Emma Hardy, parliamentary under-secretary at Defra. Brooks said he had written to her and been told the decision is 'in the system'. Brooks has a meeting with officials from the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero and the Department for Business & Trade this week, but Defra and the Environment Agency are not due to attend. The Environment Agency said it was the regulator for the UK ETS Scheme and was supporting the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero in its discussions with company representatives about activities at the site. On Saturday afternoon the Environment Agency contacted The Sunday Times again and said Ineos would continue to receive free allowances. It said that Ineos needed to provide 12 months of activity data under the new, cleaner technology for its allowances to reflect the switch.

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He didn't quite say he'd found a Reason To Believe in Nigel Farage. But when Sir Rod Stewart steps on to Glastonbury 's Pyramid Stage tomorrow afternoon, fans may ponder his plea to 'give Farage a chance'. The 80-year-old singer's teatime set comes the day after he claimed the country was 'fed up' with the Tories and that Labour was trying to ditch Brexit. He accused Prime Minister Keir Starmer of giving Scottish fishing rights 'back to the EU', although the Government insists it has simply renewed an existing deal for European boats. His views represent a second volte-face given that he appeared to support Labour at last year's election – despite previously backing the Conservatives. Asked where Britain's political future now lay, he told The Times: 'It's hard for me because I'm extremely wealthy, and I deserve to be, so a lot of it doesn't really touch me. 'But that doesn't mean I'm out of touch. For instance, I've read about Starmer cutting off the fishing in Scotland and giving it back to the EU. That hasn't made him popular. 'We're fed up with the Tories. We've got to give Farage a chance. He's coming across well. What options have we got? I know some of his family, I know his brother, and I quite like him.' Asked what Mr Farage stands for aside from Brexit, tighter immigration and controversial economic promises he replied: 'Yeah, yeah. But Starmer's all about getting us out of Brexit and I don't know how he's going to do that. 'Still, the country will survive. It could be worse. We could be in the Gaza Strip.' Sir Rod also seemed unconvinced that Sir Keir was going to fully address one of his personal pet hates. Three years ago, the singer donned a hi-vis jacket and rang around friends asking for help filling in potholes outside his Essex house. 'I took me Ferrari out. Nearly lost the f***ing wheel,' he said. 'And before I did in the Ferrari, I saw an ambulance that couldn't move, the wheel stuck right in there. 'So I took me mates out, and we knew what to do because I had builders in the house. 'We filled in a considerable length of the road, actually.' He added that potholes were still present 'all over Britain' in contrast to Europe.

EXCLUSIVE Two profoundly deaf children refused access to vital help by Labour-run local authority because they are privately educated... their outraged mother calls the move 'divisive' and 'discriminatory'
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