Confusion remains over refuse centres opening

1 May 2020
Confusion remains over refuse centres opening
Despite a recent government plea, some councils have said further measures are needed before their refuse sites can reopen.
Local Government Secretary Robert Jenrick told the Commons that he expected local tips to reopen within weeks, but an increasing number of councils have said that this can only happen if their guaranteed sufficient staffing, proper protective equipment for workers and assistance from police forces - something that, at present, is lacking.

Child abuse calls to NSPCC up by a fifth

30 April 2020
Child abuse calls to NSPCC up by a fifth
Since the start of the coronavirus lockdown there has been an almost 20 per cent increase in calls to the NSPCC about child abuse.

Longest coal-free period since pre-industrial times

30 April 2020
Longest coal-free period since pre-industrial times
It has been revealed that record solar outputs have helped the UK to reach longest coal-free period since pre-industrial times.
Coal power plants have been offline since 10 April 2020, and since then the UK has seen more than one terawatt hour of solar power put on the grid in that period. That is enough to boil water for over 25 billion cups of tea or drive 6.7 billion kilometres in a Nissan Leaf.
Bumper generation levels last week delivered more than 11 per cent of UK electricity demand and set both a new daily peak generation record of 9.68GW on 20 April.

Central London emissions down dramatically since lockdown

30 April 2020
Central London emissions down dramatically since lockdown
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has unveiled a report showing the improvements to the capital's air quality following the lockdown.
In 2020, before measures to address the coronavirus outbreak were introduced, hourly average levels of harmful gas nitrogen dioxide NO2 at all monitoring sites in central London had already reduced by more than a third (35 per cent) compared to the same period in 2017. Since 16 March 2020 there has been an additional reduction of 27 per cent.

New fund to support London’s at risk culture

30 April 2020
New fund to support London’s at risk culture
Sadiq Khan has launched a new emergency £2.3m fund to support culture and creative industries at risk due to the impact of the coronavirus.

£700 catch-up premium for poorer pupils

29 April 2020
£700 catch-up premium for poorer pupils
A catch-up premium of £700 for every pupil on free school meals should be given to secondary schools when they reopen.