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Glasgow Times
38 minutes ago
- Glasgow Times
Glasgow volunteers in children's hearings honoured by King
Mary Gordon, Neil Macleod, and Linda Davis were invited to the Royal Garden Party at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh on July 1 as guests of the King and Queen. Ms Gordon said: "I was extremely gratified when I learned of my nomination to the King's Garden Party. "As a volunteer, I do not expect any recognition or thanks, so it came as a huge surprise. Read more: Update after 999 crews including Coastguard helicopter spotted at incident "I am a part of the community because I want to be, and if the little I do helps just one child, I'm happy." Mr Macleod and Ms Davis serve as panel members in the Children's Hearings System, while Ms Gordon volunteers as a panel practice advisor, providing support to panel members. Thirty-eight current and former volunteers from the Children's Hearings System in Scotland were invited to the garden party. Children's hearings are legal meetings held when there are concerns about a child or young person's wellbeing or care. Each hearing involves three volunteer panel members who make decisions in the best interests of the child. More than 2,000 panel members volunteer across Scotland, taking part in over 20,000 hearings each year. Children's Hearings Scotland (CHS) is the public body responsible for recruiting, training and supporting these volunteers. Lynne Harrison, director of tribunal delivery at CHS, said: "I'm so pleased to see our volunteers celebrated and recognised today. "Children's hearings take place every day across Scotland, and our panel members make difficult and important decisions in the best interests of infants, children and young people. "In every part of Scotland we have strong communities of volunteers supporting each other to bring about positive outcomes for children and families, and it's been joyful for us to come together today and see that dedication honoured."
Daily Mail
39 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Neighbours' fury as penny-pinching council rules homeowner's illegally built 'monstrosity' dormer is allowed to stay
A woman has been allowed to keep a 'monstrosity' box dormer extension that was built without planning permission after the council removed the enforcement notice because it was 'too costly' to appeal. Furious locals have complained the large development on the property's roof is out of keeping with the rest of the area and overlooks their homes, invading their privacy. They also believe the decision will spark a 'planning free-for-all' with homeowners able to build what they want now and ask for permission later. The row centres on a box dormer - a type of roof extension - at the back of the family home on Upham Road in Swindon, Wiltshire, that was built without permission. In August 2019, homeowner Harjinder Saran was given the go-ahead for the construction of front, side and rear extensions and an outbuilding in the garden. Those buildings went up in 2020 but so did the large box dormer extension, sparking immediate concern from neighbours. One local, who can see the development from her garden and kitchen window, told MailOnline: 'I never expected it to go up so high. 'I thought it was enough when they built the shed in the garden. I don't understand why people think they can just do what they want.' Another resident in a nearby property said he alerted Swindon Borough Council to the 'unauthorised development' while it was still being built five years ago. He said, however, it took the local authority at least two years to issue an enforcement notice and problems then arose surrounding the 'legality' of it. The enforcement notice told the homeowner Mrs Saran that the box dormer extension had not been built in accordance with the 2019 planning application. It read: 'Remove the box dormer from the rear elevation of the dwelling. 'Remove all resultant material from the land following compliance and ensure the development is built in accordance with the approved plans.' The homeowner, however, subsequently appealed the enforcement notice - with the council saying it had been withdrawn earlier this month. A spokesperson for Swindon Borough Council told MailOnline that despite them being 'confident' there had been a 'breach of planning control', it was 'not in the council's best interests to continue with a lengthy and costly appeals process'. Local Iain Melrose, 77, told MailOnline: 'Over four years ago Swindon Borough Council were made aware that this huge box dormer was being built without planning permission. Furious locals have complained the large development on the property's roof is out of keeping with the rest of the area and overlooks their homes, invading their privacy 'Due to severe staff shortages and frankly total incompetence, it took two years to issue a breach of condition enforcement notice. 'Due to more incompetence between enforcement and legal there was an issue with the legality of the enforcement notice. 'My concern is that this monstrosity sets a precedent. I want to ensure that this doesn't happen to other people in future.' Mr Melrose added that he thought the decision to remove the enforcement notice was less about money and more about the 'incompetence of the council'. He claimed that the council knew they would lose the planning appeal as more than four years had passed since the box dormer extension went up. Other residents in the area said they had concerns that the rear roof extension was 'invading their privacy'. One neighbour, who did not want to be named, said: 'Our main concern is privacy. It is really high. It is too much. 'They can see right into our property' Others, however, said they were not concerned by the development. One who wished to remain anonymous said: 'It has never bothered us. It has not been a problem. 'We never objected in the first place. We got a letter saying it was being removed in April then we got another one saying it was now fine. 'I can understand why people might be angry. It does stand out quite a lot.' Mrs Saran previously defended the decision to build the box dormer. She told the Swindon Advertiser last year: 'We're not planning to take the box dormer down. We've written to the council but we haven't heard anything back.' Mrs Saran added: 'If you look around Swindon there are box dormers all over the place, because it's too expensive to move. 'This meets all the building regulations and is safe.'
Telegraph
an hour ago
- Telegraph
National Grid skips crucial upgrades as mystery blazes sweep network
National Grid has skipped crucial maintenance on dozens of electrical substations across the UK, posing the risk of more disasters like the catastrophic fire that shut down Heathrow. More than 100 high-voltage substations, which help move electricity around the country, are behind schedule for work, an official report has found. 108 of the Grid's 805 substations are 'outside' of their maintenance schedule, the National Energy System Operator (Neso) found. The revelation comes from an official investigation into the fire in March at North Hyde substation, west London, which brought Heathrow to a stand-still and caused disruption for thousands of people. Neso's report said National Grid ignored dangerous faults at North Hyde, repeatedly deferred crucial maintenance and even left a broken fire suppression system in place for years. The issue that cause the fire was first identified in 2018. News of maintenance delays elsewhere will raise concerns that similar disasters could occur in future. Recent months have seen an epidemic of puzzling fires and failures across Britain's electricity network, as unexplained outbreaks have erupted from Exeter to Glasgow. There have been five more blazes since the Heathrow fire, making a total of eight in about 10 weeks between the beginning of March and mid-May. National Grid runs the high-voltage transmission system for England and Wales, with 5,500 miles of cables and 22,000 pylons giving it a monopoly that generated £5.4bn in operating profit last year. John Pettigrew, its chief executive, was paid more than £6m. Substations are an essential part of the electricity system, containing transformers that step up voltages for efficient long-distance transmission and then step them down again for delivery to consumers and businesses. Many of the UK's substations are decades old, dating back to the 1960s or even the 1950s, meaning they need regular checks and maintenance. Regulator steps in Ofgem, which has opened an enforcement investigation, said: 'We expect energy companies to properly maintain their equipment and networks to prevent events like this happening. 'Where there is evidence that they have not, we will take action and hold companies fully to account.' A spokesman for National Grid said that following the Heathrow substation fire it had launched a programme to check maintenance records in case other substations were at risk of similar errors, carried out risk assessments for all operational sites and tested the resilience of substations serving critical infrastructure. The spokesman said: 'National Grid has a comprehensive asset inspection and maintenance programme in place. As described in the Neso report, our maintenance policy identifies intervals for asset maintenance and inspection. 'Our policy recognises that for a number of reasons, including the need to secure planned system outages with Neso to safely deliver work, not all of our work may be carried out to exactly those intervals. 'Where that is the case, we will carry out a deferred maintenance risk assessment that defines the criteria to meet to allow the maintenance to be deferred, and what mitigations should be in place during the deferred period.'
