Latest news with #LDRS
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Planned data centre could create up to 1,000 jobs
Up to 1,000 jobs could be created by a new artificial intelligence data centre in North Lincolnshire. A planning application has been submitted for the "AI data centre campus" by the A15 next to Elsham Wolds Industrial Estate. It would cover up to 435 acres (176 hectares) of agricultural fields. According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS), construction costs are estimated as between £5.5bn and £9bn, excluding the cost of the computing equipment. The outline application suggests it could comprise up to 15 individual data centre buildings as well as a greenhouse complex and energy centre, the LDRS said. An estimated 2,600 to 3,600 jobs a year on and off site would be supported during the ten-year construction of the facility, according to the LDRS. A proposed energy centre on site would produce up to 49.9MW of electricity a year. Next to it would be a greenhouse complex, using waste heat from the cooling of the data centre buildings to grow agricultural produce. An economic report for the greenhouse predicts it could grow 4,728 tonnes of tomatoes a year supporting an estimated 64 jobs on and off site. There would also be a creche, café, gym and small shop which would be available to workers at the existing industrial estate. Last year, North Lincolnshire Council approved plans for a £2.2bn data centre by the A180 near South Killingholme, which it said would create almost 400 jobs. The application for the Elsham Wolds development is open for residents' comments until 26 June. Listen to highlights from Lincolnshire on BBC Sounds, watch the latest episode of Look North or tell us about a story you think we should be covering here. Second data centre could bring jobs, council told Data centre approval could create almost 400 jobs Local Democracy Reporting Service
BBC News
4 days ago
- Business
- BBC News
Planned Elsham Wolds data centre could create up to 1,000 jobs
Up to 1,000 jobs could be created by a new artificial intelligence data centre in North Lincolnshire.A planning application has been submitted for the "AI data centre campus" by the A15 next to Elsham Wolds Industrial would cover up to 435 acres (176 hectares) of agricultural to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS), construction costs are estimated as between £5.5bn and £9bn, excluding the cost of the computing equipment. The outline application suggests it could comprise up to 15 individual data centre buildings as well as a greenhouse complex and energy centre, the LDRS estimated 2,600 to 3,600 jobs a year on and off site would be supported during the ten-year construction of the facility, according to the LDRS.A proposed energy centre on site would produce up to 49.9MW of electricity a year. Next to it would be a greenhouse complex, using waste heat from the cooling of the data centre buildings to grow agricultural economic report for the greenhouse predicts it could grow 4,728 tonnes of tomatoes a year supporting an estimated 64 jobs on and off would also be a creche, café, gym and small shop which would be available to workers at the existing industrial year, North Lincolnshire Council approved plans for a £2.2bn data centre by the A180 near South Killingholme, which it said would create almost 400 application for the Elsham Wolds development is open for residents' comments until 26 to highlights from Lincolnshire on BBC Sounds, watch the latest episode of Look North or tell us about a story you think we should be covering here.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Parents fined nearly £1m over school absences
Derbyshire County Council has generated nearly £1m from fines issued for unauthorised school absences, a Freedom of Information Act request has revealed. The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) obtained figures which show the authority issued 20,487 penalties since 2021, totalling £961,320, over the three academic years since 2021-22. The county council said the fines had been issued at the request of head teachers and according to the law. However, mother-of-two Natalie, from Marehay near Ripley, has started a national campaign, called Fight School Fines, to get the law changed. She has started a petition, so far signed by 161,000 people, calling for parents to be entitled to 10 days of term-time leave without a fine. "A lot of these fines that are being issued and prosecutions for unauthorised absences aren't due to just going on holiday because they want to get it cheaper, which is the media narrative," Natalie said. "They are marking things down that should fall under exceptional circumstances. "For example, we are seeing loads of stories from parents where they have asked for authorised leave to visit family members who are poorly, or they have gone to a funeral overseas and they are not marking it as authorised, they are refusing it." The number of fines issued in Derbyshire in 2021 was 3,175 and that rose to 10,505 in 2023-24. Fine amounts stand at £160 per parent, per child, with this fee reducing to £80 if paid within 21 days. The council said 16,064 fines were for first-time offenders and 1,567 for second offences, with parents only able to accrue two penalties in a three-year rolling period before being prosecuted in court. Council figures show 1,016 Derbyshire parents have been prosecuted in the past three complete academic years , with six cases being withdrawn. Court fines do qualify as a criminal conviction and are attached to a criminal record, which would need to be added to a DBS check, the LDRS said. "I am not surprised to see it going up," Natalie said. "They say it will act as a deterrent, but clearly it is not doing because people still need to take leave during term-time. "Even if it is a cost thing, they are doing it to save money, we don't know the reason why they can't afford to go in the holidays. "It is not so black and white as people make out. Some people work seasonal jobs or run their own businesses, they can't just shut up shop. "It doesn't act as a deterrent. "It is criminalising parents. "Many parents don't know that what comes with that court fine is a criminal record. "Most of the time, parents are doing it because it is the best decision for them and their children. They are our children, they are not the state's. "Having a criminal record for this is one step too far. "I know families need to access term-time absence and that will never stop. "This isn't just about being on holiday and getting a cheaper holiday." The LDRS said it asked the county council if it felt the penalties were serving as a deterrent, if they could respond to the perception that the penalties were criminalising parents, and if parents were saying they were willing to accept the fines to gain term-time holiday savings. A council spokesperson said: "Headteachers ask us to issue the fines, so this is one for schools and not the council. "We respond to headteacher requests, we do not make the policies that schools make that lead to fines being issued. "The government sets the penalty fines amounts. "This is the law and not the council's decision," the spokesperson added. The Department for Education, responding to Natalie's petition in December, said: "We sympathise with parents who, for a variety of reasons, face barriers to securing their children's school attendance. "This government is taking a new approach to tackling absence based on responsibility, partnership and belonging." It said that involved working with schools and councils to remove barriers to attendance. The spokesperson said: "The government takes seriously its responsibility to ensure that schools are equipped to meet children's needs and help them succeed, but that is matched by parents' legal responsibility to send their children to school every day that they can. The department said it acknowledged some children had long-term physical or mental health conditions or special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) which affected attendance. The spokesperson added: "However, all of these children have the same need and right to a full-time education as any other pupil." Follow BBC Derby on Facebook, on X, or on Instagram. Send your story ideas to eastmidsnews@ or via WhatsApp on 0808 100 2210. 'Paying £240 holiday school fine was a no-brainer' School holiday fines at a record high Derbyshire County Council Department for Education Local Democracy Reporting Service
Yahoo
26-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Hackney shifts fire door replacement target
A London borough has shifted its target to replace thousands of front doors with fire-resistant models after changes to building safety regulations. In 2018, Hackney Council said it would install 17,000 new doors across its housing portfolio that could withstand fire for 30 minutes. But after new laws introduced in 2022 said only high-rise blocks standing at seven storeys or higher needed to have their doors replaced, the council changed its target. The programme to replace fire doors for thousands of Hackney households came in the wake of the Grenfell Tower fire in 2017. The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) asked the council for an update on the project's progress after the local authority awarded a £1.2m contract for a similar programme to replace fire doors in 10 Hackney schools. A council spokesperson said that, so far, 3,398 new doors had been installed across the borough, at a cost of £15.5m. They said the new regulations only covered 5,973 doors in the 137 council blocks which had been registered with the Building Safety Regulator and were affected by updated fire safety rules. The regulatory changes had "caused supply challenges across the whole sector", the spokesperson added. Hackney Council had originally estimated it would cost roughly £1,500 to replace a single fire door, but added that had risen to £4,000 due to "changes in the construction industry and material price inflation". "The cost of the scheme has also increased due to the fee charged by the regulator for each block," the spokesperson said. The council now anticipates it will take "around three years" to change the remaining doors. Hackney temporary housing deaths cause concern Grenfell memorial construction could start in 2026 Hundreds suffer heating issues in east London In 2023, the LDRS reported that the council expected the installation of roughly 6,000 doors in its "highest-risk" blocks would take a year. At that time, the council told residents that fire safety tests put the doors through extreme temperatures "unlikely to unfold in real life". In March 2023, the Metropolitan Police revealed that the fire doors installed as front doors of the flats inside Grenfell Tower, manufactured by Manse Masterdor, had failed under test conditions in 15 minutes, when they were supposed to act as a barrier for 30 minutes. Seventy-two people died in the fire in Grenfell Tower in west London in June 2017. Listen to the best of BBC Radio London on Sounds and follow BBC London on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to Hackney Council
Belfast Telegraph
23-05-2025
- Belfast Telegraph
DUP councillor calls for flute band to be ‘banned' from Kilkeel after assault incident
The Kilkeel incident is reported to have happened in the wake of an annual march (May 17) organised by local outfit the Rising Sons of the Valley with 30 bands in attendance. The PSNI is investigating the circumstances when a 50-year-old man was attacked in a public house toilets with a further reported affray involving 20 males in the early hours of Sunday May 18. The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) contacted Mournes DUP cllr, Henry Reilly, who has called for a flute band from outside the district to be banned from future Kilkeel parades. He said: 'I am absolutely appalled by this sort of behaviour taking place in the village of Kilkeel. 'I know one of the men who was beaten up, who is the biggest soft and inoffensive of people, and apparently there is an online video of him getting his head kicked in when he is on the ground. He has been really badly shaken up by this with bruises all over his body. 'I would sincerely hope that the band involved will never be invited back to Mourne again. 'If the allegations are accurate and true, the PSNI should investigate it and the band should not be allowed back into the area if they are going to behave in that atrocious fashion.' News Catch Up - Friday 23 May The LDRS contacted the flute band alleged to have been involved in the incident and the parade organisers for comment. The PSNI has confirmed the details of the recent Kilkeel incident to the LDRS. A spokesperson said: 'Police received a report of an assault in licensed premises in The Square area of Kilkeel in the early hours of Sunday, 18th May. 'It was reported that a member of staff aged in his 50s had warned a number of men regarding unruly behaviour during the course of the night. He stated that he was later followed to the toilet area and assaulted by three of them, sustaining serious facial injuries. 'The men were removed from the premises by staff, however a short time later it was reported that an upstairs window at the premises had been smashed. 'It was further reported that around 20 men had gathered outside the premises at around 1.15am and an altercation ensued, although they were not present on police arrival. 'Enquiries are ongoing, and police would appeal to anyone who witnessed any of the events or the circumstances leading up to them, to contact them on 101, quoting reference number 118 of 18/05825. 'We would be particularly keen to hear from anyone who has dashcam, CCTV or mobile phone footage.'
