Gender pay gap increased at Sellafield nuclear site, report finds
The report was released last week as part of legal obligations for organisations with 250 or more employees.Both the mean and median pay gaps at Sellafield Ltd increased in 2024.A median gender pay gap illustrates the difference between how much the middle-ranking man and middle-ranking woman earn.In 2021 the medium gap was 11.22%, and 2022 it was 11.32%.The company said it had recruited women into key executive roles to address the gap. It also said it had "introduced greater pay alignment" between employees who had previously been engaged on different terms and conditions of employment in October 2024.The pay gap is different to unequal pay - paying women less for the same work - which is illegal.
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Daily Mail
4 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
How to spot a fake parking ticket and avoid a costly scam
By It's a sinking feeling - returning to your car after a day out or nipping to the shops to find a yellow parking ticket slapped on your windscreen. Did you use the car park without paying? Or perhaps spend a few extra hours in the shops, overstaying the time limit? For a growing number of drivers it's neither as these parking charge notices (PCNs) are actually fake tickets placed there by scammers in a bid to drain the victim's bank account, This is Money can reveal. Motorists have long been plagued with scam parking fine texts and dodgy QR codes stuck to parking payment meters. But just as motorists are cottoning on to these vile tricks, scammers have turned to old school methods of ripping off innocent motorists. How does it work? Increasing numbers of drivers are being sucked into the convincing scam, experts reveal. Paul Hampson, fraud specialist at Liverpool-based CEL Solicitors, has noticed a growing number of cases pass by his desk. He says: 'We originally thought these cases were isolated but the number of clients coming to us has significantly increased. We're now seeing a clear pattern – same scam, different postcodes, often with the same cloned branding.' The scam tickets will look remarkably similar to the real yellow tickets. And the notice is just as convincing when opened. 'These scams are worryingly sophisticated. Everything about these fake tickets looks authentic - the branding, the language, even the payment site. We've seen tickets that use real registration plates, correct car park names and even cloned council logos. Victims often don't realise until their card has been drained.' When unsuspecting drivers open the fake ticket, they'll be greeted with a logo from a legitimate parking company or the local council and often their own registration number. The crooks will include real information about the car they have gathered through publicly available data or by looking at car number plates in a car park. Plus, there will either be a website link or a QR code to a payment portal to strip you of your cash. Only £60 or £70 will be asked for – but once you enter your card details into the fake portal, fraudsters can run wild with the information and make larger purchases. Where are the scam hotspots? If you live in or visit a busy area, it's vital to keep a keen eye out for the bogus tickets, Mr Hampson warns. 'We've found it's often places with heavy footfall – retail parks, commuter hubs, or busy seafronts – where these scammers thrive. They rely on people being in a rush and not questioning the fine.' Reports of the cruel trick have emerged in London as swathes of these bogus PCNs have been found in Peckham, Islington and Stratford. Plus, Southampton City Council was even forced to issue a warning after empty PCNs were found on vehicles. The British Parking Association has also acknowledged rising reports of these fraudulent tickets mimicking real notices – on private land, and in pay and display areas. But it also reveals the fake tickets can be used by drivers to park anywhere they like without paying for parking, as one user has gloated on social media, or to deter others from parking on their road. A Welsh town was last year plagued with phoney yellow parking tickets as residents tried to stop others parking in their neighbourhoods. But the scammers have more dangerous motives. And what's worse is the fake PCNs are easily available online for those with malicious intent. What to do if you spot a bogus yellow ticket If you find a yellow PCN on your car with a QR code to pay the fine, do not scan it. Legitimate tickets will rarely, if ever, use a QR to accept payments. If you are directed to a web address to make a payment, verify it first. Another trick you can use to check the validity of a ticket is to look for urgent statements, for example, if the PCN warns you must make immediate payment to escape legal action. Mr Hampson says: 'Legitimate parking fines usually allow an appeal process – scammers want you to act fast and skip that step.' If in doubt, you can always contact the council or parking company independently to verify the fine. You should take a photograph of the fine to show the parking company. Report the scam to Action Fraud. If you have already used the fake PCN to pay the fine, you should contact your bank and freeze your card. Mr Hampson says: 'These criminals are clever, but the same rules apply - slow down, don't pay under pressure, and verify before clicking or scanning anything. A fake PCN might cost you £70 on the surface - but thousands in stolen data.' Watch out for card skimmers It comes as another callous new scam targeting motorists has popped up in Oxford. Scammers had attached skimming devices – which are devices used to capture card details without knowledge of the holder, typically at an ATM – on some of the payment machines. Three drivers said money had been taken – or were attempted to be withdrawn – from their account after using the payment machines at a city centre car park. One telltale sign is a 'card declined' message on the machine, officials say. While only the Oxford case is currently known, the British Parking Association warns this cruel trick could be attempted elsewhere in future. It is asking motorists to be aware of this scam when paying for parking – and to report anything unusual to authorities and Action Fraud. Have you been hit with a fake parking ticket? Email:
Times
15 minutes ago
- Times
Lisa Nandy in new cronyism row after charity choice for project
A charity with close links to the Labour Party received taxpayers' money to carry out a culture department research project, only a few months after a former trustee became the culture secretary's special adviser, The Times can reveal. Lisa Nandy, the culture secretary, announced a 'listening exercise' to form a new national youth strategy shortly after scrapping the National Citizen Service, a coalition-era project for 16 to 17-year-olds. A £282,395 contract was awarded to the market research company Savanta in February to conduct further research into what young people wanted from the strategy. Savanta in turn sub-contracted the small London-based charity My Life My Say to run a series of workshops asking young people what they wanted from the new strategy. Nandy's special adviser, Harjeet Sahota, served as a trustee at the My Life My Say for three years, until she resigned on August 28 after joining Nandy as a political adviser in the culture department under the new Labour government. My Life My Say was founded in 2013 by Mete Coban, the deputy mayor of London for the environment and energy. Sahota served as a trustee at the same time that she was head of external relations for Sir Keir Starmer, then leader of the opposition. Before that she worked for Sir Sadiq Khan's re-election campaign in 2020. Sources said information about the appointment of My Life My Say — which would usually be shared within the department — was not disclosed in the case of the 'listening exercise'. They also flagged concerns about the involvement of the charity UK Youth in the delivery of the new strategy. In January 2025 a director of the charity was seconded into Nandy's department to lead development of the new youth strategy. In March, UK Youth was announced as a partner alongside My Life My Say in the consultation exercise. It is not known how much was received by either My Life My Say or UK Youth through Savanta for the delivery of the contract. UK Youth is a much larger charity and received about £16 million in income during the last financial year, compared with less than £400,000 for My Life My Say. A government official said Sahota logged her past involvement with My Life My Say and recused herself from the procurement process. New procurement legislation, which came into effect in February, forces ministers and their advisers to declare potential conflicts of interest when their department awards contracts. Procurement experts have also called for more transparency so that the government publishes the details of companies and organisations that have been subcontracted to work on government projects. Ben Paxton, a senior researcher at the Institute for Government think tank, said: 'The lack of visibility of the supply chain can limit accountability, particularly where conflicts of interest may be a concern. 'It's crucial for all public procurement that the proper process is followed, to ensure government is meeting the ultimate aim of delivering the best services for the best price possible.' A DCMS spokesman said: 'In order to undertake one of the largest government listening exercises with young people in a generation, DCMS appointed Savanta as the project's lead delivery partner through an open, fair and competitive tender process in line with government procurement guidance. The details of this procurement are publicly available on Contracts Finder. 'My Life My Say is a sub-contractor to Savanta, with all payments managed through Savanta rather than directly by DCMS. Robust conflict of interest procedures were followed throughout. No individuals with declared conflicts of interest were involved in the procurement process, which was delivered through the department's commercial team following standard procedures.' A spokesman for the charity said: 'My Life My Say is an award-winning youth-led charity, recognised by successive governments for our work championing young people's voices. As a leading youth engagement charity in the UK, we are proud to have partnered with Savanta on one of the largest national listening exercises with young people ever conducted in the UK to help shape the national youth strategy. 'While we are aware of our former trustee Harjeet Sahota's role at DCMS, we can confirm that Harjeet voluntarily stepped down as a trustee in August 2024 and has had no discussions in regards to this contract with staff at My Life My Say.' • Labour vowed to end cronyism. Unless they're Labour cronies Labour has faced allegations of 'cronyism' in recent weeks, after one of the party's pre-election donors won contracts worth millions of pounds. Tech consultancy Public Digital seconded one of its partners to work for Peter Kyle, the technology secretary, in the months leading up the election to help write Labour's tech policies. The donation was registered as being worth £100,000 and the partner, Emily Middleton, was given a senior civil service role in Kyle's department just weeks after the election. The company has gone on to win £10.2 million of contracts since Labour entered office to transform a series of different IT systems, which the government says followed all procurement rules.
Reuters
34 minutes ago
- Reuters
Firefly Aerospace eyes Japan rocket launches for Asia market
TOKYO, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Firefly Aerospace (FLY.O), opens new tab is exploring an option to launch its Alpha rocket from Japan as the U.S. rocket maker expands its satellite launch services globally, a Japanese company operating a spaceport in the country's northern Hokkaido said on Monday. The plan could make Japan the second offshore launch site - and first in Asia - for Firefly, the Texas-based rival to Elon Musk's market leader SpaceX, which had its Nasdaq debut earlier this month and is preparing for an Alpha launch in Sweden. Space Cotan, operator of the Hokkaido Spaceport located about 820 km (510 mi) northeast of Tokyo, said it and Firefly signed a preliminary agreement to study the feasibility of launching the small-lift rocket Alpha from there. Launching Alpha from Japan "would allow us to serve the larger satellite industry in Asia and add resiliency for U.S. allies with a proven orbital launch vehicle," Adam Oakes, Firefly's vice president of launch, said in a statement published on Space Cotan's website. A feasibility study would be conducted to assess the regulatory hurdles, timeframe and investments for a launch pad for Alpha in Hokkaido, said Space Cotan spokesperson Ryota Ito. The plan would require a space technology safeguards agreement (TSA) between Washington and Tokyo that would allow American rocket launches in Japan, Ito added. The governments last year kicked off the negotiations but have not reached an agreement. A U.S.-Sweden TSA signed in June cleared the path for Firefly's launches from the Arctic. Four of Firefly's six Alpha flights since 2021 have ended in failure, most recently in April. While Japan's national space agency has launched rockets for decades, private rockets are nascent and most Japanese satellite operators rely on foreign options such as SpaceX's Falcon 9 or Rocket Lab's (RKLB.O), opens new tab Electron. Previously, U.S. company Virgin Orbit aimed to use Japan's southwest Oita Airport for launches but the plan was scrapped after the firm went bankrupt in 2023. Colorado-based Sierra Space has an ongoing plan to land its spaceplane on Oita beyond 2027. Taiwanese firm TiSpace last month conducted what could be the first foreign launch in Hokkaido, but the suborbital flight failed within a minute. Japan's government is targeting 30 launches of Japanese rockets a year by the early 2030s and subsidises domestic enterprises such as Space One and Toyota-backed Interstellar Technologies.
