NewzIntel.com

Category: housing

  • MIL-OSI Europe: Answer to a written question – Abusive practices of funds, the housing crisis, protection of primary residence and repeal of funds’ ability to take action against the primary residence – E-000023/2025(ASW)

    Source: European Parliament

    The Commission is closely monitoring Greece’s compliance with the relevant Directives[1]. Should the Commission identify any shortcomings in the transposition or implementation thereof, will initiate further action to address them.

    In particular, Directive (EU) 2021/2167 on credit servicers and credit purchasers aims to support the development of secondary markets for non-performing loans in the EU, by providing a harmonised framework for their sale from banks to credit purchaser and servicers. At the same time, the directive ensures that the sale of such loans does not undermine borrowers’ rights.

    Furthermore, to protect consumers and prevent them from losing their homes, the Mortgage Credit Directive 2014/17/EU[2] provides safeguards[3].

    The same Directive enables Member States to introduce, in line with EU law, more stringent provisions in order to protect consumers[4].

    Regarding individual disputes, national authorities and courts ensure the rights of consumers granted under EU law.

    Regarding the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, everyone has the right to respect for his/her private and family life, home and communications. Within its scope of competence, the Commission remains committed to ensuring this right.

    In addition, to help tackle the housing crisis, the Commission has appointed the first-ever Commissioner responsible for housing and established a Task Force for Housing.

    The Commission will put forward a European Affordable Housing Plan and conduct an analysis of the impact of housing speculations and its economic consequences. During these activities, the Commission will give due consideration to the matters described by the Honourable Member.

    • [1] Directive 2009/65/EC concerning undertakings for collective investment in transferable securities (UCITS) OJ L 302, 17.11.2009, p. 32-96.
      Directive 2011/61/EU on Alternative Investment Fund Managers, OJ L 174, 1.7.2011, p. 1-73
      Council Directive 93/13/EEC of 5 April 1993 on unfair terms in consumer contracts, OJ L 95, 21.4.1993, p. 29-34.
      Directive (EU) 2021/2167 on credit servicers and credit purchasers, OJ L 438, 8.12.2021, p. 1-37.
    • [2]  OJ L 60, 28.2.2014, p. 34.
    • [3]  Such as ensuring that the creditworthiness of a borrower is assessed before a mortgage can be granted as well as obliging creditors to have adequate policies and procedures so that they make efforts to exercise, where appropriate, reasonable forbearance before foreclosure proceedings are initiated. Such measures may consist of a total or partial refinancing of a credit agreement, or of a modification of the existing terms and conditions of a credit agreement.
    • [4]  For example, the Greek insolvency code already establishes a safety net for vulnerable debtors, with a temporary subsidy of their loan instalment in out-of-court restructuring and a sale-and-leaseback regime in case of insolvency or if their primary residence is about to be auctioned: Law 4738/2020 transposing Directive (EU) 2019/1023, as amended by law 4818/2021 and law 5024/2023. The new sale-and-leaseback regime aims to avoid past moral hazard behaviour and the adverse impact it has had in the cost of credit in Greece. Until said mechanism becomes operational, Law 4916/2022 provides for the protection of the primary residence of eligible vulnerable debtors by means of a state subsidy and the suspension of liquidation measures.

    MIL OSI Europe News –

  • MIL-OSI Europe: Answer to a written question – Census in Albania Aromanian minority organisations report misrepresentations and lack of transparency – E-000281/2025(ASW)

    Source: European Parliament

    In its 2023 Report on Albania[1], the Commission called on Albania to conduct the 2023 national population and housing census in line with the relevant international standards and recommendations, including those issued by the Council of Europe and the Organisation for Security Cooperation in Europe .

    In the 2024 Report on Albania[2], the Commission noted that the legal framework for the protection of minorities is generally aligned with European standards and that the said census was completed in October 2023, and the preliminary results were published in June 2024.

    In addition, in the statistics chapter of the 2024 Report (Chapter 18), the Commission called on Albania to publish detailed data and a thematic analysis of the population and housing census following the initial data release of June 2024.

    The Commission is not directly involved in assessing the census procedure or in validating the census data. Furthermore, ethnic minorities are not part of the EU acquis on population censuses.

    The conduct of the census will be reviewed by the competent international organisations, including as part of regular monitoring of rights of people belonging to minorities.

    The Commission acknowledged[3] that in December 2024 Albania adopted the remaining implementing legislation on the rights of persons belonging to minorities, on the crucial issues of free self-identification of national minorities and the use of minority languages, welcoming this as a progress.

    • [1] SWD(2023) 690 final, https://neighbourhood-enlargement.ec.europa.eu/document/download/ea0a4b05-683f-4b9c-b7ff-4615a5fffd0b_en?filename=SWD_2023_690%20Albania%20report.pdf
    • [2] SWD(2024) 690 final, https://neighbourhood-enlargement.ec.europa.eu/document/download/a8eec3f9-b2ec-4cb1-8748-9058854dbc68_en?filename=Albania%20Report%202024.pdf
    • [3] https://www.eeas.europa.eu/delegations/albania/european-union-%E2%80%93-albania-16th-sa-sub-committee-meeting-justice-freedom-and-security_en?s=214
    Last updated: 4 April 2025

    MIL OSI Europe News –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Crackdown on nuisance bikes revving up again

    Source: City of Stoke-on-Trent

    A joint Stoke-on-Trent City Council and Staffordshire Police crackdown on nuisance bikes will hit the streets again in the coming weeks.

    Operation Transom targets riders who damage green spaces and put the public at risk through the use of off-road motorbikes.

    The operation is a partnership between Stoke-on-Trent City Council’s Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) Team and Staffordshire Police. It will see increased patrols in hotspot areas, with officers seizing bikes that are used to commit anti-social behaviour.

    The increased council and police presence will also serve as a visible deterrent to those causing a nuisance in the community.

    This crackdown is strategically timed with the start of the warmer months, as reports of nuisance bikes often increase as the weather improves.

    Signage is displayed in hot spot areas, warning offenders of the laws that give Staffordshire Police the power to seize vehicles that are being driven in a way that causes – or is likely to cause – nuisance, alarm or distress.

    The ASB Team will take enforcement action against anyone who is found to be a Stoke-on Trent City Council tenant or in any way linked to a tenancy.

    Councillor Majid Khan, cabinet member for community resilience for Stoke-on-Trent City Council, said: “We are continuing to work closely with colleagues at Staffordshire Police to tackle, deter and educate those who continue to blight our communities with anti-social behaviour.

    “I want to reassure residents that we hear you, and action is being taken.

    “We are so fortunate to have so many green spaces in the city. We will not let people ruin them with mindless, arrogant behaviour.

    “Every one of us has the right to live in a cleaner, greener and safer city.”

    In 2024, over 350 reports were received concerning nuisance bikes.

    The local policing and ASB teams jointly investigated and took enforcement action including home visits, issuing Community Protection Warnings, and taking action against city council tenants.

    Since October 2024, the Roads Policing Team has conducted 12 proactive operations across the city, leading to three arrests, the seizure of two stolen quad bikes, and the recovery of six off-road pit bikes.

    Chief Inspector Dave Barrow, from the Stoke South local policing team, said: “Tackling reports of anti-social behaviour remains a neighbourhood priority for the team, and nuisance bikers are no different.

    “They can be a constant source of concern within our communities and can put both the public and themselves in danger. We simply will not tolerate that.”

    Alongside enforcement activity, a new programme of education will ensure potential riders – and their parents – know it is illegal to ride off-road bikes in any public space in Stoke-on-Trent. This includes parks, pavements, waste grounds and parkways.

    It was announced in February 2025 that, under the Crime and Policing Bill, new powers will mean police officers no longer need to issue a warning before seizing off-road bikes.

    Home Secretary Yvette Cooper recently met with Assistant Chief Constable Stuart Ellison, Staffordshire Police and Fire Commissioner Ben Adams, and officers from the ASB Team and Road Crime Team at Staffordshire Police Headquarters.

    The Home Secretary heard how Operation Transom had been jointly launched by Staffordshire Police and Stoke-on-Trent City Council’s ASB Team in 2021 – and that the work had seen increased patrols, along with regular operations in hotspot areas of the city.

    To report nuisance bikes in your area to Operation Transom, please email operationtransom@stoke.gov.uk. You can also ring 01782 233400. Please provide as much detail as possible.

    Incidents that are happening live should be reported directly to Staffordshire Police through the live chat on the website www.staffordshire.police.uk or by calling 101.

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Repairing Roker Pier

    Source: City of Sunderland

    A 12 week programme of repairs for Sunderland’s storm damaged Roker Pier is due to begin at the end of this month.

    The grade II listed pier has been closed to the public for safety reasons since it was damaged by Storm Babet in October 2023.

    Planning approval for repair works was granted in January this year. The £236,000 repair programme is timetabled to start on Thursday 24 April and scheduled to be complete by Thursday 31 July.

    The City Council’s Cabinet Member for Business, Regeneration and Housing, Councillor Kevin Johnston said: “We all know and recognise that Roker Pier is a key part of our seafront, our heritage and our sea defences for the city and the Port of Sunderland.

    “The very heavy seas of Storm Babet washed away several sections of the deck near the lighthouse, railings were washed away, along with other sections of decking and coping stones.

    “Most of this damage was to the northern and eastern facing sections of the pier and, of course, we have a duty to keep the public safe so we’ve kept the pier closed.

    “Roker Pier and coastal structures all along the east coast suffered damage in Storm Babet. I’m pleased to confirm we are getting on with the repairs programme. This programme is a complex marine engineering job and, weather permitting, we look forward to seeing Roker Pier open again to the public by August.”

    Approximately 100 metres (more than 300ft) of railings were washed away in Storm Babet and as a Grade II listed structure the council has worked closely with heritage organisations on the repairs programme. The council has also had to be mindful of roosting and nesting seabirds.

    The contractor for the repairs is North East-based Southbay Civil Engineering Limited, who are currently working on repairs to the River Tyne piers following damaged caused by Storm Babet. They previously worked on Roker Pier slab repairs in 2014.

    Antony Ballantyne, Operations Director for Southbay Civil Engineering Limited, said: “As a local contractor, we are delighted to be involved in the delivery of a project that will retain one of the North East region’s most iconic coastal structures.

    “As a specialist marine contractor we are aware of the constant pressures such marine structures are under through events such as Storm Babet. Using our specialist experience together with that of our supply chain, we will ensure the aesthetic appearance of this grade II listed structure is maintained.”

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI Europe: Households and non-financial corporations in the euro area: fourth quarter of 2024

    Source: European Central Bank

    4 April 2025

    • Households’ financial investment increased at broadly unchanged annual rate of 2.4% in fourth quarter of 2024
    • Non-financial corporations’ financing increased at annual rate of 0.9%, compared with 1.1% in previous quarter
    • Non-financial corporations’ gross operating surplus decreased at unchanged annual rate of ‑1.4%

    Chart 1

    Household financing and financial and non-financial investment

    (annual growth rates)

    Sources: ECB and Eurostat.

    Data for household financing and financial and non-financial investment

    Chart 2

    NFC gross-operating surplus, non-financial investment and financing

    (annual growth rates)

    Source: ECB and Eurostat.

    Data for NFC gross-operating surplus, non-financial investment and financing

    Households

    Household gross disposable income increased in the fourth quarter of 2024 at a broadly unchanged rate of 4.4%. The compensation of employees grew at a lower rate of 4.9% (after 5.5% in the previous quarter), and gross operating surplus and mixed income of the self-employed increased at a lower rate of 2.9% (after 3.6%). Household consumption expenditure increased at a higher rate of 3.6% (after 3.2%).

    The household gross saving rate increased to 15.4% in the fourth quarter of 2024, compared with 15.2% in the previous quarter.

    Household gross non-financial investment (which refers mainly to housing) decreased at a more negative annual rate (-1.5%) in the fourth quarter of 2024 (after -0.9%). Loans to households, the main component of household financing, grew at a higher rate of 1.2% (after 0.9%).

    Household financial investment increased at a broadly unchanged annual rate of 2.4% in the fourth quarter of 2024. Currency and deposits grew at a higher rate of 2.8% (after 2.5%), while investment in debt securities increased at a lower rate of 9.0% (after 15.9%). Investment in shares and other equity grew at a higher rate of 2.0% (after 1.1%) due to accelerating investments in investment fund shares (7.7% after 5.4%). Investment in life insurance grew at a higher rate of 1.1% (after 0.8%) and in pension schemes at a lower rate of 2.1% (after 2.3%).

    Household net worth increased at an annual rate of 4.4% in the fourth quarter of 2024, after 5.7% in the previous quarter. Net financial and non-financial assets grew due to valuation gains in addition to investments. Housing wealth, the main component of non-financial assets grew at a higher rate of 3.4% (after 2.8%). The household debt-to-income ratio decreased, to 81.9% in the fourth quarter of 2024 from 85.0% in the fourth quarter of 2023.

    Non-financial corporations

    Net value added by NFCs increased at a broadly unchanged annual rate of 2.5% in the fourth quarter of 2024. Gross operating surplus decreased at an unchanged rate of -1.4%, while net property income – defined in this context as property income receivable minus interest and rent payable – increased. As a result gross entrepreneurial income (broadly equivalent to cash flow) increased at a rate of 0.8% (after -1.4%).[1]

    NFCs’ gross non-financial investment increased at lower annual rate of 1.0% in the fourth quarter of 2024 (after 2.8%)[2]. Financial investment grew at lower annual rate of 1.8% (after 2.2%). Among its components, loans granted increased at a lower rate of 2.5% (after 3.3%), and investment in shares and other equity grew at a lower rate of 1.0% (after 1.3%).

    Financing of NFCs increased at a lower rate of 0.9% in the fourth quarter of 2024 (after 1.1%). Loan financing (1.2% after 1.4%)[3] and financing via shares and other equity (0.4% after 0.6%) grew at lower rates. Financing via debt securities increased at a broadly unchanged rate of 2.4%, while financing via trade credits accelerated (3.5% after 3.1%).

    The NFC debt-to-GDP ratio (consolidated measure) decreased to 67.3% in the fourth quarter of 2024, from 68.8% in the same quarter of the previous year; the non-consolidated, wider debt measure decreased to 138.7% from 140.7%.

    For queries, please use the Statistical Information Request form.

    Notes

    • This statistical release incorporates revisions to the data since the first quarter of 2021.
    • The annual growth rate of non-financial transactions and of outstanding assets and liabilities (stocks) is calculated as the percentage change between the value for a given quarter and that value recorded four quarters earlier. The annual growth rates used for financial transactions refer to the total value of transactions during the year in relation to the outstanding stock a year before.
    • The euro area and national financial accounts data of non-financial corporations and households are available in an interactive dashboard.
    • Hyperlinks in the main body of the statistical release are dynamic. The data they lead to may therefore change with subsequent data releases as a result of revisions. Figures shown in annex tables are a snapshot of the data as at the time of the current release.
    • The ECB publishes experimental Distributional Wealth Accounts (DWA), which provide additional breakdowns for the household sector. The release of results for 2024 Q4 is planned for 30 May 2025 (tentative date).

    MIL OSI Europe News –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: More money and more land needed for London community land trusts and housing co-operatives

    Source: Mayor of London

    London’s community land trusts and housing cooperatives need more financial support and help accessing land, a London Assembly Housing Committee report has found.

    The report – Building Community Power: Expanding Cooperative Housing & Community Land Trusts in London – sets out how community land trusts1 and housing cooperatives2 offer real opportunities to help address London’s housing crisis in ways that can complement more mainstream forms of housing, delivering homes that are affordable and tailored for the needs of local communities.

    But the Committee’s investigation also uncovered challenges including uncertainty over the renewal of the Mayor of London’s Community Housing Fund, the high cost of land in London, and evidence that the barriers to building homes for Black and Global Majority Londoners, and working-class Londoners, can be even harder to overcome in the CLT and co-operative housing sector.

    Key recommendations include:

    • In the Government’s upcoming spending review, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) should engage with the GLA to identify new funds for housing cooperatives and community land trusts to deliver housing schemes in London.
    • The Mayor should identify and provide additional revenue funding to the London Community Led-Housing Hub to enable the Hub to continue to provide support to housing cooperatives and community land trusts.
    • The Mayor should direct the further release of Greater London Authority (GLA) Group land for community land trusts and housing cooperatives through the Mayor’s Small Sites Small Builders programme.
    • Through the London Community-Led Housing Hub, the GLA’s Housing and Land directorate should work with partners to develop a strategy by the end of 2025-26 to increase the number of community land trusts and housing cooperatives run by and for groups underrepresented in the sector, such as Black and Global Majority Londoners.

    Chair of the London Assembly Housing Committee, Sem Moema AM, said:

    “London has a housing crisis, and this Committee has consistently pushed for increased investment to deliver the affordable homes that Londoners deserve.

    “While there is no one answer to fixing this crisis, it is important that communities who want to provide their own solutions through community-led housing projects are supported to do so.

    “With additional funding, increased support and advice through the London Community-Led Housing Hub, and the release of more GLA land, many more Londoners could benefit from these projects.

    “In particular, community land trusts and housing co-operatives can put real power into the hands of Londoners to deliver the type of homes and spaces they need – while playing their part in reducing London’s housing shortfall.”

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Sustainable flood memories

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    Case study

    Sustainable flood memories

    Sustainable flood memory emphasises the importance of remembering and learning from past flood events to enhance community resilience and adaptive strategies.

    Reviewing flood memory documents. Image credit: Sustainable Flood Memory project.

    Sustainable flood memories and the development of community resilience to future flood risk

    Lindsey McEwen 1, Joanne Garde-Hansen2, Owain Jones3, Andrew Holmes1 and Franz Krause4

    1 Centre for Water, Communities and Resilience, College of Arts, Technology and Environment, University of West England Bristol, United Kingdom

    2 School of Media and Communication, University of Warwick, United Kingdom

    3 School of Humanities, Bath Spa University, United Kingdom

    4 Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology, University of Cologne, Germany

    Funded by the UK Economic and Social Research Council from 2011 to 2015, the Sustainable Flood Memories (SFM) project created a conceptual framework to enhance community resilience against flooding. SFM empowers communities to navigate flood risk management through local knowledge and collective memory. The lessons learned from the SFM project provided insights for building a more resilient future by engaging communities, preserving local knowledge, and fostering adaptive learning.

    SFM acknowledges the importance of individual and community experiences with flooding.

    Lindsey McEwen and others (2016) described how sustainable flood memories can come from many sources including (page 17):

    narratives, oral and archived histories, physical marks, artefacts and material practices in the landscape, and media representing floods, comprising folk memories, autobiographical accounts, personal stories and anecdotes of previous floods (routine–severe) and their impacts.

    The project had 2 components. The first was a comparative study of 3 communities that experienced flooding involving local council members, flood action group representatives, and emergency services. The project culminated in a conceptual framework for SFM emphasising the role of local knowledge and experiences in decision-making processes.

    The second component used digital storytelling as a tool for adaptive learning. In partnership with the Environment Agency and local government, 21 digital stories were co-created with community members to address various aspects of community flood preparedness. These narratives preserved individual and collective memories and served as educational resources for at-risk communities.

    Digital flood story: A community

    Impact

    The project helped to improve community resilience, archive local flood knowledge, engage various sectors and support training.

    The project increased community awareness and engagement by fostering a collective memory of past floods and as a result, communities became more aware of their vulnerabilities. This increased community awareness helped to encourage local participation in flood management discussions, promoting ownership and responsibility for flood preparedness. It enhanced resilience given that communities learned from past flood events and could develop better preparedness strategies. This was particularly crucial for regions where extreme weather events may not be within living memory, necessitating a balance between remembering and forgetting.

    Former CEO National Flood Forum (2025) said:

    Detailed knowledge about very local flood risk and flooding incidents is incredibly important, both when combining it with the skills needed to better manage flood risk and in supporting communities to build their resilience. But all too often it gets lost from one generation to another and as people move away.

    Communities were also able to protect their local flood knowledge by archiving community-generated flood knowledge. This was important to ensure that informal histories were preserved alongside formal documentation.

    Property Flood Resilience Champion, Flood Mary (2025) said:

    Local flood memory is an essential part of the journey to flood resilience. Having local knowledge of flood risk is so important. I remember someone knocking [at] my door to find out if I knew about the local flood history, as they were about to buy a house in my street. Having somewhere to point people to, which has both new and historical flood risk information keeps flood risk real. Pulling all partners together to share their knowledge and expertise is an excellent way to make this happen.

    In addition, policymakers could leverage historical flood data and community narratives to create tailored flood risk management policies. The data could also improve infrastructure planning, ensuring that new developments are resilient to potential future flooding scenarios. They can also support training. The digital stories co-created during the project have been used in training for Environment Agency community officers and shared amongst at-risk community groups, demonstrating their practical application.

    The SFM project sparked discussions across various sectors, bringing in new voices and perspectives, particularly from the GLAM (Galleries, Libraries, Archives, and Museums) sector. Projects like Gloucestershire Archives’ Green Pledge Project have adopted SFM methodologies to enhance community engagement.

    Learning & Outreach Officer, Green Pledge Project, Gloucestershire Heritage Hub (2025) said:

    The Green Pledge Project at Gloucestershire Archives is about connecting people with archival material relating to our environmental history. We are using the records to inform and inspire people to live more sustainably. The creation of material, such as those made for the SFM project, which are stored at Gloucestershire Archives, enable us to do that in a very direct way. They have been shared in project presentations and event, sparking discussions around past floods and community resilience for future ones.

    Resources

    Centre for Floods, Communities and Resilience (CFCR). Sustainable Flood Memories and Community Resilience. Available at: https://esrcfloodmemories.wordpress.com/ (Accessed: 25 March 2025).

    Garde-Hansen, J., McEwen, L. J., Holmes, A. and Jones, O. (2017).  Sustainable Flood Memory: Remembering as Resilience. Memory Studies 10(4), 384–405. Available at: doi.org/10.1177/1750698016667453 (Accessed: 25 March 2025).

    Garde-Hansen J., McEwen L. J. and Jones O. (2016). Towards a memo-techno-ecology: mediating memories of extreme flooding in resilient communities. In Hajek, A. Lohmeier, L. and Pentzold, C. (eds.) Social Memory in a Mediated World: Remembering in troubled times, Palgrave Macmillan. Pp 55-73.

    Holmes, A. and McEwen L. J. (2020). How to exchange stories of local flood resilience from flood rich areas to the flooded areas of the future.  Environmental Communication 14(5), 597-613. Available at: doi.org/10.1080/17524032.2019.1697325 (Accessed: 25 March 2025).

    McEwen, L. J., Garde-Hansen, J., Holmes, A., Jones, O. and Krause, F. (2016). Sustainable Flood Memories, Lay knowledges and the Development of Community Resilience to Future Flood Risk. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers 42 (1), 14-28. Available at: doi.org/10.1111/tran.12149 (Accessed: 25 March 2025).

    McEwen, L. J. and Holmes, A. (2017). Sustainable Flood Memories: Developing the concept, process and practice in flood risk. In Vinet, F (ed.) Floods Vol 2: Risk Management. Editions ISTE (published in English and French) Chapter 10, 141-153. 

    McEwen L. J., Garde-Hansen, J, Robertson, I and Holmes, A. (2018). Exploring the changing nature of flood archives: community capital for flood resilience. In Metzger, A and Linton, J (eds.) La Crue, l’inondation: un patrimoine. L’Harmattan Publishing House, France. 

    United Nations Office for Disaster and Risk Reduction (UNDRR). PreventionWeb: Floods, Memories, and Resilience. Available at: https://www.preventionweb.net/news/floods-memories-and-resilience (Accessed: 25 March 2025).

    Funder 

    • UK Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)

    Collaborators

    • Environment Agency
    • Local government
    • UWE Bristol
    • Civil society organisations

    Research period  

    • 2011 to 2015

    Impact period  

    • Ongoing

    Impact country  

    • UK
    • France

    Contributing to the areas of research interest

    • 2 – Resilience and adaptation to flooding and coastal change

    Updates to this page

    Published 4 April 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Thames Barrier future closure numbers tool

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    Case study

    Thames Barrier future closure numbers tool

    How adaptive planning approaches are being used to prepare the Thames Estuary for rising sea levels and changing river flows.

    Thames barrier close up. Image credit: Environment Agency.

    Thames Estuary 2100 – Projections of future Thames Barrier average annual closure numbers

    James Brand 1 and Ivan Haigh 2

    1 Environment Agency, United Kingdom

    2 Ocean and Earth Science, University of Southampton

    The Environment Agency collaborated with Professor Ivan Haigh from the University of Southampton in 2021 to 2022 to create a tool to model projected future annual closure numbers of the Thames Barrier. The Thames Estuary flood defences, including the Thames Barrier, protect over 1.4 million people and £321 billion worth of residential property in London and the wider estuary (Environment Agency, 2021). To make sure that the Thames Barrier continues to operate reliably, the number of closures needs to be kept at or below an average of 50 per year to allow sufficient time for maintenance.

    The projection tool that the team developed uses a Monte-Carlo modelling approach. It simulates a range of possible outcomes to predict minimum, maximum, and average projections for numbers of future barrier closures. As a result, the tool provides a more comprehensive understanding of future closure numbers which allows planners to consider not just sea level rise but also the effects of tidal cycles and storm surges, forecasting improvements, and even potential shifts in fluvial flow.

    Impact

    The level of detail provided by the projection tool enabled the Thames Estuary 2100 Plan (TE2100) to make more informed decisions about critical deadlines. For example, the tool’s insights led to an adjustment of the first defence-raising deadline for London from 2065 to 2050—15 years earlier than initially planned. This major shift reflected not only updated climate data, but also the anticipated impact of inter-annual tidal cycle peaks on closure frequency.

    Beyond simply updating timelines, the tool’s projections enable the Environment Agency to plan strategically. It allows the Environment Agency to test future scenarios where forecasting accuracy does not achieve expected improvements, preparing for possible adjustments in barrier operations and maintenance or further changes to defence raising deadlines.  

    The tool also helps planners evaluate how future maintenance schedules could be optimised to reduce disruptions during periods with a higher likelihood of closures. This insight is particularly valuable for long-term contingency planning, as it offers flexibility for adapting both routine and large-scale maintenance projects.

    Professor Ivan Haigh spoke about the importance of the tool (2024):

    Around the world there are more than 50 storm surge barriers in operation protecting tens of millions of people and trillions of pounds of property and infrastructure. However, with climate change, surge barriers are closing increasingly often, and closures are now occurring in months when they typically have not occurred in the past. Increased use of surge barriers in the future has critical implications for barrier management, maintenance and operation.

    Working closely with staff in the Environment Agency, we have produced a flexible tool that can estimate how much more often and which times of the year operators are likely to have to use their barriers. Working with the Environment Agency, and other barrier operators in the Netherlands and USA, we have considered the implications of this on future barrier management and maintenance, and identified when in the future barriers might have to be upgraded and replaced.

    The tool supported a path forward in climate-resilient infrastructure. The adaptability and foresight embedded in this approach make it a model for global flood risk management. Tools like the barrier closure projection tool have proven indispensable for maintaining the balance between protection, maintenance, and operational efficacy. The use of the tool has demonstrated that proactive steps are being taken to safeguard London’s future and that the insights gained can benefit cities and flood defences across the globe.

    Dr James Brand added (2025):

    This tool has provided us with vital new evidence to inform our strategic planning for managing London’s tidal flood risk. It helps us to test different scenarios for managing the flood defence system and allows us to make better informed decisions when setting deadlines for implementing improvements to the tidal flood defence system.

    Resources

    Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and Environment Agency. (2023). Thames Estuary 2100 Plan. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/thames-estuary-2100-te2100 (Accessed: 24 March 2025).

    Environment Agency. (2021). Thames Estuary 2100: 10-year monitoring review (2021). Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/thames-estuary-2100 (Accessed: 24 March 2025).

    Haigh, I., D’Arcy, E., Brand, J., Inavatillah, A., Trace-Kleeberg, S., Walraven, M., Saman, K., Batchelor, A., Lewis, C., Barlow, N.L.M., Thompson, P., O’Brien, P. and Marzion, R. (pre-print). Rapid Acceleration in the Number of Closures of Storm Surge Barriers in the Future: A New Tool for Estimating Barrier Closures. Available at: https://www.preprints.org/manuscript/202410.2298/v1 (Accessed: 24 March 2025).

    Funder

    • Environment Agency

    Research period 

    • 2021 to 2022

    Impact period 

    • 2023 and out to 2100

    Impact country 

    • England
    • Variants are also being used in the Netherlands and the USA

    Contributing to the areas of research interest

    • 6 – Digital technology

    Updates to this page

    Published 4 April 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Changes to social care inspections aimed at improving stability for vulnerable children

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    News story

    Changes to social care inspections aimed at improving stability for vulnerable children

    From today (Friday 4 April), Ofsted is making some important changes to the way children’s social care providers are inspected, aimed at improving support for children with complex needs.

    The changes to the social care common inspection framework (SCCIF) are mainly for the benefit of children’s homes and fostering agencies. They are intended to encourage more homes and agencies to look after children with high or multiple needs, with added reassurance that this will not negatively affect their Ofsted rating.

    Ofsted research published last year found that 91% of local authorities struggle to find suitable homes for children with complex needs. Some children wait months, or even years, for a stable placement. The research also found that concerns about Ofsted ratings were cited by local authorities as a frequent reason for homes rejecting referrals of children with complex needs. Local authorities felt that good and outstanding-rated homes in particular were hesitant to look after these children, due to fears of being downgraded at their next inspection.

    As a result, children with complex needs are too often living far from family or friends, experiencing multiple moves, or are accommodated in unsuitable and unregistered homes.

    The small number of changes to the SCCIF guidance, including the criteria which inspectors use to evaluate practice, will put a sharper focus on:

    • how providers promote and sustain stability for children, including those with high needs
    • a provider’s placement decisions, including how they balance the needs of a child requiring a placement with those of children already living in the home
    • the timeliness of a provider’s work to prepare children for their next move
    • how accurately placement decisions reflect a provider’s statement of purpose

    The effectiveness of providers’ work with partners to achieve greater stability for children, especially for those at most risk of instability and uncertainty in their lives, will be central to inspections.

    Yvette Stanley, Ofsted’s National Director of Social Care, said:

    Every child deserves a stable, supportive home environment where they can thrive. We know that finding the right placement for a child can be challenging, but homes and fostering agencies should feel confident in their ability to provide long-term, sustainable care for vulnerable children who need it most. We want providers to be risk-aware, not risk-averse.

    I hope these changes send a clear message that we will recognise providers who step up to support our children with complex needs, and who stick with them though the most difficult times.

    The updated framework reflects Ofsted’s commitment to putting children’s needs at the heart of the inspection process. The changes have been made following continued engagement with social care stakeholders, including people with lived experience of the care system.

    Inspectors will be trained on the changes to inspection guidance, as part of the added reassurance that providers will not be unfairly penalised for taking in children with complex needs.

    We previously published a blog about these changes.

    Updates to this page

    Published 4 April 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Tenant evicted following drug investigation with neighbours’ support

    Source: City of York

    A police officer supports the eviction

    Published Thursday, 3 April 2025

    Following a ruling by a district judge, a council tenant has been evicted this morning, Thursday 3 April, after drug-related activities and anti-social behaviour caused misery for her neighbours.

    The council was granted a possession order by York County Court to end the tenancy of Mandy Livesey, of 20 St Stephen’s Square, Acomb, York. This follows reports from neighbours to the council and police about drug-taking and dealing, loud noise and arguments at the apartment, and an endless succession of visitors. The anti-social behaviour in the home and area was a continual source of disruption and concern for local people who were worried about its impact on their families.

    City of York Council officers served a legal warning of eviction (a Notice of Intention to Seek Possession) on Ms Livesey, which she breached.  

    Following complaints from neighbours and evidence of loud noise, drink and drug-taking and numerous anti-social visitors, the council returned the case to York County Court. After considering evidence, the judge granted the council permission to apply for a warrant of eviction.

    Council officers then evicted Ms Livesey today, advising her where she could get information on her housing options, should she need it.

    Cllr Michael Pavlovic, Executive Member for Housing at City of York Council, said:

    Thank you to all the neighbours and officers involved in ending this anti-social behaviour. This much-needed home will be re-let as quickly as possible.

    “This case proves that together, we can tackle this kind of disruption and so improve the quality of life of those affected. Please report your concerns and work with us so we can take appropriate and effective action.”

    Ben Ambler, Acting Sergeant of North Yorkshire Police, added:

    Drug use and anti-social behaviour has a detrimental impact on the quality of life for local people. It’s unacceptable and we’ll use all the powers and resources available to us to take action against those who make other people’s lives a misery.

    “This result is evidence of our joint working with City of York Council and my thanks go to them for their work that has culminated in this eviction. I hope local residents are reassured that we will take action to tackle issues relating to drugs and anti-social behaviour and the impact these have on our communities.”

    Find information on how to report anti-social behaviour, or report it to the police on 101 if a non-emergency.

    Find information on how to report anti-social noise levels, or telephone 01904 551525 Monday to Friday, 8.30am to 5.00pm. From 9.00pm on Friday to 3.00am on Saturday and between 9.00pm on Saturday to 3.00am on Sunday, please call the Noise Patrol on telephone 01904 551555.

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Cycling Conference to Wheel into Dundee

    Source: Scotland – City of Dundee

    Scotland’s national cycling charity is bringing its conference to Dundee later this year. 

    A senior councillor is welcoming the news, stressing Dundee is delivering improvements for more people to travel by bike across the city. 

    Cycling Scotland will be hosting its annual conference in the city on September 10, which will be attended by organisations which are supporting more people to cycle for everyday journeys. 

    Speakers include transport secretary Fiona Hyslop, Dundee City Council leader Mark Flynn and Fair Work, Economic Growth and Infrastructure convener Cllr Steven Rome. 

    Cllr Rome said: “The latest Walking and Cycling Index for Dundee from Sustrans shows us that the majority of people in the city support more segregated cycle paths, more 20-minute and low-traffic neighbourhoods, increasing space for socialising on the streets, and shifting investment away from roadbuilding and towards more sustainable transport. 

    “I realise that there is much to do. However, we have delivered major projects across the city including the provision of secure cycle storage and infrastructure like the Broughty ferry to Monifieth Active Travel corridor and the Bell Street Green Transport Hub to encourage more cycling. 

    “I am looking forward to showcasing Dundee’s cycling strength to an influential audience at the conference.”  

    Denise Hamilton, Head of Communications at Cycling Scotland said: “We’re looking forward to being in Dundee this September for the Cycling Scotland Conference. Each year, we bring experts and decision-makers from across Scotland together, to share learning and acknowledge the progress being made to enable more people to cycle for everyday journeys.  

    “With Dundee hosting this national conference for the first time since 2018, it’s an opportunity to highlight the city’s support for active travel, including the roll-out of on-street cycle storage in residential neighbourhoods and how more young people are being given the chance to gain essential life skills with on-road Bikeability cycle training being delivered at every primary school in Dundee.  

    “Attendees will also look forward to learning more about Dundee’s ambitious plans to develop a network of dedicated cycle routes to connect communities across the city and support more journeys by bike.” 

    Catherine Wykes, Chair of Dundee Cycling Forum, said: “This is a real vote of confidence from Scotland’s national cycling charity and recognizes the progress Dundee City Council are making towards transforming our city into a place where people can choose to cycle for everyday journeys. Cycling is a cheap, healthy way to get about, and giving people that option will contribute towards making Dundee a great place to live, work and visit. 

    “We may still have some way to go, but with the conference bringing experts from across the country to Dundee for the day, this will be an ideal opportunity to showcase what’s been achieved so far and inspire Dundee City Council to keep going until we can claim to be a genuinely cycle friendly city.” 

    You can find out more about the conference on the Cycling Scotland website here  

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Mental health costs of flooding

    Source: United Kingdom – Government Statements

    Case study

    Mental health costs of flooding

    Including the impact of floods on people’s mental health for the first time.

    Family moving items after a flood. Image credit: Environment Agency.

    A method for monetising the mental health costs of flooding 

    Christophe Viavattene 1, Sally Priest 1, Jacqui Cotton 2 and Carolann Simmonds 2

    1 Faculty of Science and Technology, Middlesex University, United Kingdom

    2 Environment Agency, United Kingdom

    The Environment Agency and risk management authorities routinely include the mental health impacts of flooding in investment decisions following research published in 2021 A method for monetising the mental health costs of flooding.

    Prior to this research, investment decisions focussed on the economic damages to homes, businesses and infrastructure. Although authorities knew that those affected by floods suffered with mental health conditions, there was insufficient robust data available to develop a new method. However, in 2017, Public Health England published the results of a national study on the impacts of flooding on mental health and well-being.

    This study showed that people whose homes had been flooded suffered high levels of probable depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder. The study provided the figures needed to look at the economic damages for the first time. Subsequent studies showed these impacts could last for at least 2 years after the flood.

    Impact

    The Environment Agency project took this new data and used it to calculate the costs of the mental health impacts. These costs include treatment and medication, and loss of employment or earnings due to time off work. The project worked out the value to be £1,878 per adult per flood for shallow floods (less than 30cm of water in a home) to up to £4,136 per adult per flood for deeper, more severe floods (when water is over 1 metre deep). Deeper floods result in more possessions being lost and people being away from their homes for longer during repairs. This increases the impact on those affected, and thus increases the cost.

    Alongside the research project, Environment Agency economists created clear guidance on how to use the economic cost information for those developing business cases for flood risk projects. The guidance was published in Mental health costs of flooding and erosion.

    Resources 

    Environment Agency. (2020). A method for monetising the mental health costs of flooding. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/flood-and-coastal-erosion-risk-management-research-reports/a-method-for-monetising-the-mental-health-costs-of-flooding (Accessed: 24 March 2025).

    Environment Agency. (2021). Guidance: Mental health costs of flooding and erosion. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/mental-health-costs-of-flooding-and-erosion/mental-health-costs-of-flooding-and-erosion (Accessed: 24 March 2025).

    UK Health Security Agency. (2023). Guidance: How to recover from flooding. Available from: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/flooding-and-health-advice-for-frontline-responders/how-to-recover-from-flooding – assessment-and-management-of-mental-health (Accessed: 24 March 2025).

    UK Health Security Agency. (2023). Health effects of climate change in the UK 2023 report. Chapter 3 Climate change, flooding, coastal change and public health. Available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/657086ad746930000d488919/HECC-report-2023-chapter-3-flooding.pdf (Accessed: 24 March 2025).

    Funder 

    The research project was funded by the Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management (FCERM) research and development programme.  

    Collaborators  

    • Flood Hazard Research Centre, Middlesex University
    • Environment Agency 
    • Natural Resources Wales  
    • Public Health England

    Research period  

    • 2017 to 2020

    Impact period  

    • 2020 onward

    Impact country  

    • England

    Contributing to the areas of research interest

    • 3 – Funding and investment

    Updates to this page

    Published 4 April 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Working with nature to reduce flood and erosion risks

    Source: United Kingdom – Government Statements

    Case study

    Working with nature to reduce flood and erosion risks

    Evidence base on natural flood management is supporting investment decisions and informing which measures to use.

    Saltmarsh creation at Lower Otter. Image credit: Environment Agency.

    Working with natural processes evidence directory

    Lydia Burgess-Gamble1 and Daniel Hine 1

    1 Environment Agency, United Kingdom

    A key resource for natural flood management (NFM) stakeholders in the UK is the Working with natural processes evidence directory (WWNP). NFM seeks to protect, restore, and mimic the natural functions of catchments, floodplains, rivers, and coasts to reduce flooding and coastal erosion. The internationally recognised evidence directory captures what the research says about the benefits of NFM as well as providing case studies and opportunity maps. The Environment Agency first published it in 2017 with an update in 2024.

    The 2024 edition, informed by more than 700 research papers, summarises the latest evidence for 17 measures relating to river and floodplain, woodland, run-off, and coast and estuary management. Evidence of NFM has grown in recent years, building confidence in the flood risk reduction and wider benefits these approaches can bring. The updated evidence base shows that flood risk reduction and wider benefits vary across measures. It helps us to understand what works best where. It also tells us there is still more to learn about NFM, but the research gaps are closing and are more detail-orientated.

    Impact

    Growing evidence on the effectiveness of NFM has had a transformative impact on flood risk management across the UK, helping to support investment in natural solutions to increase society’s resilience to flooding, coastal erosion and climate change. 

    The evidence base underpinned the design of the Environment Agency’s £25 million fund for Natural Flood Management. The fund was announced in 2023 and runs until March 2027. It aims to reduce local flood risk while providing wider benefits to the environment, nature and society. It will accelerate new and existing opportunities to implement and fund NFM and fill knowledge gaps in the evidence base. It is benefitting 38 projects, overseen by a range of organisations.

    Following the 2017 publication, the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) invested £4 million from 2017 to 2022 through the NERC natural flood management programme. Projects funded by the programme helped to address some of the research gaps identified in the 2017 evidence directory and informed the updated version.

    The research findings from the 2017 evidence directory were also used by project teams to support NFM design within the Natural Flood Management Pilot Programme that ran from 2017 to 2021 and funded 60 projects. Learning from the pilots helped to inform the 2024 evidence base by demonstrating that NFM measures used in combination across a large area could provide flood risk reduction benefits through reduced runoff and increased water storage, in addition to other learning. It was estimated that the NFM Pilot Programme created 1.6 million cubic metres of water storage which is about the equivalent of around 670 Olympic size swimming pools (Environment Agency, 2022).  

    The WWNP evidence directory has supported local NFM projects in their design and selection of measures.

    It was referenced as a key resource to the Slow the Flow project in Calderdale. At Hardcastle Crags (Hebden Bridge) the charity group installed over 800 leaky barriers. Their research has shown that natural flood management measures can slow high water levels in a flood by between 30 and 105 minutes downstream. 

    The research also helped Stroud District Council to choose the most effective locations for floodplain reconnection as part of the Stroud Natural Flood Management Project. This project is thought to reduce flood risk to about 12 properties and has inspired discussion about further works. 

    The evidence directory enabled the Shipston Area Flood Action Group to have meaningful community and landowner discussions as part of their Natural Flood Management Project in Shipston-on-Stour. These successful discussions led to agreements and the installation of more than 850 natural flood management features including leaky wooden barriers, ponds, bunds, river restoration and tree planting. The project is thought to have reduced flood risk to more than 80 homes.  

    Beyond the UK, the findings from the evidence directory are widely referenced in the International Guidelines on Natural and Nature-Based Features for Flood Risk Management, an international guide produced by the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE).

    Resources 

    Environment Agency. (2017). Working with natural processes to reduce flood risk. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/flood-and-coastal-erosion-risk-management-research-reports/working-with-natural-processes-to-reduce-flood-risk (Accessed: 25 March 2025).

    Environment Agency. (2021). Natural Flood Management Programme: initial findings. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/natural-flood-management-programme-initial-findings (Accessed: 25 March 2025).

    Environment Agency. (2022). Natural Flood Management Programme: evaluation report. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/natural-flood-management-programme-evaluation-report (Accessed: 25 March 2025).

    Environment Agency. (2025). Working with natural processes to reduce flood risk 2024, Available at: https://www.gov.uk/flood-and-coastal-erosion-risk-management-research-reports/working-with-natural-processes-to-reduce-flood-risk-2024 (Accessed: 25 March 2025).

    UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). (2024). Driving policy innovation over decades: natural flood management. Available at: https://www.ukri.org/ (Accessed: 25 March 2025).

    Funder 

    The research project was funded by the Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management (FCERM) research and development programme.  

    Collaborators  

    • Environment Agency (EA)
    • Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra)
    • Natural Resources Wales (NRW)
    • Welsh Government
    • Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA)
    • JBA Consulting
    • English Severn and Wye RFCC
    • Forest Research
    • HR Wallingford
    • Natural England
    • River Restoration Centre
    • Woodland Trust
    • CH2M Hill
    • James Hutton Institute
    • Lancaster University
    • Newcastle University

    Research period  

    • 2017 to 2024

    Impact period  

    • 2017 – ongoing  

    Impact country  

    • England
    • Wales
    • Scotland

    Contributing to areas of research interest

    • 8 – Integrated outcomes

    Updates to this page

    Published 4 April 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: The interconnected risks of flooding

    Source: United Kingdom – Government Statements

    Case study

    The interconnected risks of flooding

    This research was applied to give the government, flood risk management authorities and the insurance industry a better understanding of risk.

    Image credit: Environment Agency

    Transforming flood assessment at multiple scales through better statistical understanding of risk

    Rob Lamb 1, Jonathan Tawn 2, Caroline Keef 3, Ross Towe 2, Sarah Warren 3

    1 JBA Trust and Lancaster Environment Centre, Lancaster University, United Kingdom

    2 Lancaster University, United Kingdom

    3 JBA Consulting, United Kingdom

    Research led by Lancaster University, JBA and the JBA Trust – conducted over a decade – has supported the government, flood management authorities and the insurance industry to have a better understanding of flood risk from local to national scales.

    Historically, flood risk was often assessed in isolated terms. This meant the focus was on single locations or individual flood events, rather than accounting for how extreme weather patterns can co-occur across large areas. As a result, assessments could underestimate the broader, interconnected risks of flooding.

    The research team addressed this gap by developing methods that model flood events as multivariate extremes. This allowed for a more realistic estimation of the likelihood of concurrent flooding across multiple locations. The approach enabled flood risk to be assessed at a national scale, informing decisions in the UK’s National Security Risk Assessment (NSRA) and aiding global reinsurance companies in risk evaluations.

    Multivariate Extreme Value theory

    The research breakthroughs were founded on multivariate extreme value theory. The theory addressed the probability of multiple extreme events occurring simultaneously. Prior to this research, methods were limited in scope, handling only a few variables or locations. While they were mathematically convenient, they didn’t align with real-world flood data, often leading to inaccurate risk estimates.

    To overcome this, Lancaster University researchers developed a conditional probability model that could handle a large number of variables with varied dependencies. This model demonstrated that, contrary to traditional beliefs, the probability of seeing a 1 in 100-year flood somewhere in England and Wales annually is as high as 88%.This finding underscored the need to shift from isolated risk descriptions to a more holistic framework, and recognised that a seemingly rare event locally could be much more probable when considered across a broader scale.

    Impact

    The new approach proved influential during the UK’s 2016 National Flood Resilience Review (NFRR), which was prompted by severe flooding in 2013 to 2014 and 2015 to 2016.

    UK Chief Scientific Adviser (2016) said:

    There was pressure on Government to better understand the risks involved. … Your contribution to the review was very important. Ministers were determined to base the review’s conclusions and recommendations on sound evidence and analysis… Our advice had significant influence on both the evidence and the way in which it was communicated.

    The government’s conclusions were heavily based on the research insights, which reshaped the understanding of flood risk. It also highlighted the urgency of comprehensive preparedness.

    A direct outcome of the NFRR was the government’s £12.5 million investment in new mobile flood defences, quadrupling the number of units from 2015 levels. Furthermore, a commitment to an ongoing £2.3 billion capital investment plan was secured, aiming to protect 300,000 homes. This strategic shift—grounded in more realistic risk assessments—increased the resilience of both urban and rural communities against future floods.

    Beyond the UK, these advancements have been influential globally, especially for the insurance and reinsurance sectors.

    Working with Lancaster University and the Environment Agency, JBA further refined the methods to improve their scalability and efficiency, leading to the development of the Multivariate Event Modeller tool. This open-source tool allows for joint probability analysis, making it accessible for environmental scientists and risk managers who need to analyse complex, interconnected flood events.

    The research has extended into ocean wave analysis, contributing to a better understanding of coastal extremes that compound flood risks, especially in coastal regions.

    These tools and insights have led to more accurate, data-driven assessments that can guide infrastructure planning, inform policy, and support sustainable urban development.

    Resources

    BBC News Article. (2016). Hundreds of key sites in England at Risk of Floods, dated 8th September 2016 corroborating £12.5 million investment means four times as many temporary flood barriers than in 2015. Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-37306094 (Accessed: 24 March 2025).

    Environment Agency. (2017). Planning for the risk of widespread flooding: Project Summary SC140002/S. Available at https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk (Accessed: 24 March 2025).

    Grainger, J., Sykulski, A., Jonathan, P., & Ewans, K. (2021). Estimating the parameters of ocean wave spectra. Ocean Engineering, 229, Article 108934. Available at: doi.org/10.1016/j.oceaneng.2021.108934 (Accessed: 24 March 2025).

    Grainger, J., Sykulski, A., Ewans, K., Hansen, H. F., Jonathan, P. (2023). A multivariate pseudo-likelihood approach to estimating directional ocean wave models, Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series C: Applied Statistics, Volume 72, Issue 3. Available at: doi.org/10.1093/jrsssc/qlad006 (Accessed: 24 March 2025).

    Heffernan, J. E. and Tawn, J. A. (2004). A conditional approach to modelling multivariate extreme values (with discussion), J. Roy. Statist. Soc., B, 66, 497-547. Available at: doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9868.2004.02050.x (Accessed: 24 March 2025).

    HM Government. (2016). National Flood Resilience Review (NFRR). Available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/ (Accessed: 24 March 2025).

    JBA Trust. (2022). Improving statistical models of large scale flood events. Available at: https://www.jbatrust.org/ (Accessed: 24 March 2025).

    Keef, C., Tawn, J. A. and Lamb, R. (2013). Estimating the probability of widespread flood events. Environmetrics, 24, 13-21. Available at: doi.org/10.1002/env.2190 (Accessed: 24 March 2025).

    Lamb, R., Keef, C., Tawn, J. A., Laeger, S., Meadowcroft, I., Surendran, S., Dunning, P. and Batstone, C. (2010). A new method to assess the risk of local and widespread flooding on rivers and coasts. Journal of Flood Risk Management, 3, 323-336. Available at: doi.org/10.1111/j.1753-318X.2010.01081.x (Accessed: 24 March 2025).

    Multivariate Event Modeller – Github. Available at: https://github.com/jbaconsulting/Multivariate-Event-Modeller (Accessed: 24 March 2025).

    REF 2021 Impact Case Study: A step-change in the understanding and quantification of risk to improve resilience to flooding, Lancaster University, Unit of Assessment: 10, Mathematical Sciences. Available at: https://results2021.ref.ac.uk/impact/ (Accessed: 24 March 2025).

    REF 2021 Impact Case Study: Transforming Government assessments of flood risk and resilience through improved understanding of uncertainties in flood risk modelling Lancaster University, Unit of Assessment: 7, Earth Systems and Environmental Sciences. Available at: https://results2021.ref.ac.uk/impact/ (Accessed: 24 March 2025).

    Tawn, J. A., Shooter, R., Towe, R. and Lamb, R. (2018). Modelling spatial extreme events with environmental applications. Spatial Statistics, 28, 39-58. Available at: doi.org/10.1016/j.spasta.2018.04.007 (Accessed: 24 March 2025).

    Towe, R., Tawn, J. A. and Lamb, R. (2018). Why extreme floods are more common than you might think? Royal Statistical Society Journal, Significance, Vol. 15, No. 6, 16-21. Available at: doi.org/10.1111/j.1740-9713.2018.01209.x (Accessed: 24 March 2025).

    UK Parliament Statement. Written Statement UIN HLWS139 on the National Flood Resilience Review made by Lord Gardiner, 8th September 2016. Corroborates £12.5 million of spending on new temporary flood defences and a £2.3 billion investment to better protect 300,000 homes.

    Funder 

    • JBA Trust
    • Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)
    • Environment Agency

    Collaborators  

    • Lancaster University
    • JBA Trust
    • JBA Consulting
    • Environment Agency
    • Shell Research

    Research period  

    • 2004 to 2023

    Impact period  

    • 2008 to 2017

    Impact country  

    • UK

    • Globally

    Contributing towards the areas of research interest

    • 1 – Understanding future flood and coastal erosion risk

    Updates to this page

    Published 4 April 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Climate change and peak river flows

    Source: United Kingdom – Government Statements

    Case study

    Climate change and peak river flows

    Research provided vital information for planners, developers, and flood risk management authorities to prepare for future flooding scenarios. 

    Close up of a depth gauge. Credit: Environment Agency.

    Climate change impacts on peak river flows

    Alison L Kay 1, Ali Rudd 1, Matthew Fry 1, Gemma Nash 2 and Stuart Allen 3

    1 UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Wallingford, United Kingdom

    2 UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Edinburgh, United Kingdom

    3 Environment Agency, United Kingdom

    The Climate change and fluvial flood peaks research investigated how climate change affects fluvial flood peaks. The evidence is used to support sustainable development and investment in flood and coastal risk mitigation actions. The research spanned from 2018 to 2021 and was published in 2023.

    The research builds on past projects. In 2010, the early uplifts were assessed in the Regionalised impacts of climate change on flood flows, which used selected local hydrological models within a sensitivity framework. The hazard was regionalised using UK climate projections (UKCP09) in Practicalities for implementing regionalised allowances for climate change on flood flows. However, in this earlier research, the information on the impact of flooding relied on old climate projections and was based on modelling a limited number of locations.

    The release of updated UK climate projections (UKCP18) paired with new, national scale modelling methods, offered an opportunity to improve the information available for decision-making. The team combined the sensitivity framework with a national-scale hydrological model (Grid-to-Grid) and the UKCP18 probabilistic projections in the 2023 publication. This enabled a better understanding of potential changes to flood peaks across every 1km square of the river network in England, Wales and Scotland. In doing so, it helped to address the limitation that previous uplifts were derived from a limited number of specific catchment models. By using a consistent approach, the research team discovered varying sensitivities among catchments. This discovery helped predict how different regions would respond to climate-induced rainfall changes.

    Impact

    The research results had significant implications for flood risk management. The data produced provided more nuanced understanding of how flood peaks may change. This enabled the Environment Agency to update guidance for estimating future flood risks aimed at building developers and flood risk management authorities.

    The Environment Agency’s Director of Strategy and Adaptation (2021) said: “[w]e now have much more detail than ever before on how river flows will change at a catchment level, allowing us to address future flood and coastal risks more confidently.”

    The findings were integrated into national guidance for flood risk assessments. This ensured that developers accounted for climate change in their planning processes. Between April 2023 and March 2024, over 96% of planning decisions adhered to flood risk advice based on these updated guidelines, which demonstrated effective uptake of the research outputs.

    The Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management report: 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024 illustrated how the guidance helped avoid potentially unsafe developments. In particular, 60,000 homes were protected through adherence to the updated flood risk advice.

    The Environment Agency’s Chief Scientist Group’s Annual Report 2022 highlighted the successful integration of research findings into operational practices.

    The insights gained from this research provided a crucial foundation for future planning and flood risk management. For those involved in planning and flood risk management, it is vital to consult the updated guidance for conducting flood risk assessments.

    Resources

    Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). (2025). Climate change allowances for peak river flow. Available at: https://environment.data.gov.uk/hydrology/climate-change-allowances/river-flow. (Accessed: 24 March 2025).

    Environment Agency. (2016). Flood risk assessments: climate change allowances. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/flood-risk-assessments-climate-change-allowances (Accessed: 24 March 2025).

    Environment Agency. (2020). Flood and coastal risk projects, schemes and strategies: climate change allowances. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/flood-and-coastal-risk-projects-schemes-and-strategies-climate-change-allowances (Accessed: 24 March 2025).

    Environment Agency. (2021). Practicalities for implementing regionalised allowances for climate change on flood flows. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/flood-and-coastal-erosion-risk-management-research-reports/practicalities-for-implementing-regionalised-allowances-for-climate-change-on-flood-flows (Accessed: 24 March 2025).

    Environment Agency. (2021). Regionalised impacts of climate change on flood flows. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/flood-and-coastal-erosion-risk-management-research-reports/regionalised-impacts-of-climate-change-on-flood-flows (Accessed: 24 March 2025).

    Environment Agency. (2021). Managing flood risk in the face of a changing climate – Creating a better place blog. Available at: https://environmentagency.blog.gov.uk/2021/07/20/managing-flood-risk-in-the-face-of-a-changing-climate/ (Accessed: 24 March 2024).

    Environment Agency. (2023). Climate change and fluvial flood peaks. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/flood-and-coastal-erosion-risk-management-research-reports/climate-change-and-fluvial-flood-peaks (Accessed 24 March 2025).

    Environment Agency. (2023). Chief Scientist’s annual review 2022. Available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/63ff3f57d3bf7f25f76ffc9d/Environment_Agency_Chief_Scientist_s_annual_review_2022.pdf (Accessed: 24 March 2025).

    Environment Agency. (2024). Flood and coastal erosion risk management report: 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/flood-and-coastal-risk-management-national-report/flood-and-coastal-erosion-risk-management-report-1-april-2023-to-31-march-2024 (Accessed: 24 March 2025).

    Kay, A.L., Rudd, A.C., Fry, M., Nash, G. and Allen, S. (2021). Climate change impacts on peak river flows: Combining national-scale hydrological modelling and probabilistic projections. Climate Risk Management. Vol 31. Available at: doi.org/10.1016/j.crm.2020.100263 (Accessed: 24 March 2025).

    Met Office. (2021). Met Office UKCP18 case study. Available at: https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/binaries/content/assets/metofficegovuk/pdf/research/ukcp/ceh_ukcp_case_study.pdf (Accessed: 24 March 2025).

    Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. (2014). Guidance: Flood risk and coastal change. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/flood-risk-and-coastal-change (Accessed: 24 March 2025).

    Reynard, N. S., Kay, A. L., Anderson, M., Donovan, B., & Duckworth, C. (2017). The evolution of climate change guidance for fluvial flood risk management in England. Progress in Physical Geography, 41(2), 222-237. Available at: doi.org/10.1177/0309133317702566 (Accessed: 24 March 2025).

    UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH). (2025). Climate change impacts on river flood peaks. Available at: https://cc-flood-impacts.ceh.ac.uk/ (Accessed: 24 March 2025).

    Wasko, C., Westra, S., Nathan, R., Orr, H.G., Villarini, G., Villalobos Herrera, R. and Fowler, H.J. (2021). Incorporating climate change in flood estimation guidance – Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A. 379: 20190548. Available at: doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2019.0548 (Accessed: 24 March 2025).

    Funder

    The research project was funded by the Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management (FCERM) research and development programme.

    Collaborators

    • Environment Agency
    • UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology
    • Natural Resources Wales
    • Scottish Environmental Protection Agency

    Research period

    • 2018 to 2021

    Impact period

    • 2021 to present

    Impact country

    • England
    • Scotland
    • Wales

    Contributing to the areas of research interest

    • 1 – Understanding future flood and coastal erosion risk

    Updates to this page

    Published 4 April 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Social inequality and flood risk

    Source: United Kingdom – Government Statements

    Case study

    Social inequality and flood risk

    Flooding is a growing environmental threat across the UK, but not all communities experience its impacts equally.

    View of damage following a flood. Image credit: Environment Agency.

    Flood risk, inequalities and justice

    Gordon Walker 1 and Peter Bailey 2

    1 Lancaster Environment Centre, Lancaster University, United Kingdom

    2 Environment Agency, United Kingdom

    The Environment Agency commissioned research between 2006 and 2022 that explored the social distribution of environmental risks across England. The research found a link between social deprivation and flood vulnerability. The Environment Agency has used these findings to update its evidence base on the social distribution of flood risk and decision-making rules for investment.

    Impact

    Taken together, the research on social inequality and flood risk has influenced academic and policy understandings of not only inequalities in the distribution of flood risk, but also clear differentials in the vulnerabilities of households when flooding is experienced.

    The first report Addressing environmental inequalities: flood risk led by Gordon Walker was published in 2006. This analysis demonstrated a clear inequality in that people living in deprived communities – as measured by the Index of Multiple Deprivation – were more likely to be at risk of flooding. The pattern of risk from coastal flooding was particularly skewed towards deprived communities, with river flooding more evenly distributed (Figure 1).

    Figure 1: Total households at different levels of risk from river and sea flooding by deprivation decile within coastal areas. Credit: Environment Agency.

    These findings shaped flood policies. In 2010 the Environment Agency’s corporate indicators for flooding included an outcome measure for flood schemes of homes better protected in deprived areas (Environment Agency, 2015). Then in 2011, the Government introduced a partnership funding policy for flooding. This policy included an incentive that gave a higher rate of funding for schemes protecting homes in deprived areas from flooding (Defra, 2011).

    Published in 2011, the article Flood risk, vulnerability and environmental justice: evidence and evaluation of inequality in a UK context built upon the 2006 research. It explored the related issues of flood vulnerability and flood justice. The article has been widely cited, providing a foundation for similar analyses that have since been undertaken in the US and various European countries. It was also one of the first articles in the UK and internationally to bring flooding within an environmental justice framing.

    In 2020, the Environment Agency updated the original 2006 analysis. It used the updated Index of Multiple Deprivation as well as the latest version of the National Flood Risk Assessment (NaFRA). This version of NaFRA addressed some of the shortcomings of the 2006 analysis such as including the benefit of flood defence schemes in the flood risk exposure data. The report was published in 2022 in Social deprivation and the likelihood of flooding. The updated analysis still found evidence of flood inequalities in England.

    The findings included:

    • the size of the inequality was smaller than the 2006 study, because national flood data included flood defences and many schemes were built since 2006
    • deprived coastal communities still experienced significant flood inequalities
    • flood inequalities found within rural areas were greater than those in urban areas
    • the analysis suggested that recent investment has been relatively successful in reducing flood risk exposure inequality for the 20% most deprived areas in England

    The updated analysis and the 2022 report have been used by the National Audit Office in Managing flood risk: Report by the Comptroller and Auditor General.

    Resources 

    Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). (2011). Flood and Coastal Resilience Partnership Funding. London: Defra. Available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a7c89f1ed915d48c2410708/pb13896-flood-coastal-resilience-policy.pdf (Accessed: 24 March 2025).

    Environment Agency. (2006). Addressing Environmental Inequalities: Flood Risk. Science Report: SC020061/SR1. Available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a7c365ced915d76e2ebbd58/scho0905bjok-e-e.pdf (Accessed: 24 March 2025).

    Environment Agency. (2015). Flood and coastal erosion risk management Outcome Measures. Progress made towards achieving the Flood And Coastal Erosion Risk Management Outcome Measures target: July 2014 to September 2014. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/flood-and-coastal-erosion-risk-management-outcome-measures (Accessed: 24 March 2025).

    Environment Agency. (2022). Social deprivation and the likelihood of flooding. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/social-deprivation-and-the-likelihood-of-flooding (Accessed: 24 March 2025).

    Environment Agency. (2024). National assessment of flood and coastal erosion risk in England 2024. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-assessment-of-flood-and-coastal-erosion-risk-in-england-2024/national-assessment-of-flood-and-coastal-erosion-risk-in-england-2024 (Accessed: 24 March 2025).

    Ministry of Housing and Local Government. (2020). English indices of deprivation. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/english-indices-of-deprivation (Accessed: 24 March 2025).

    National Audit Office (NAO). (2020). Managing flood risk – NAO report. Available at: https://www.nao.org.uk/reports/managing-flood-risk/?nab=2 – downloads (Accessed: 24 March 2025).

    Walker, G. and Burningham, K. (2011). Flood risk, vulnerability and environmental justice: Evidence and evaluation of inequality in a UK context. Critical Social Policy Volume 31, Issue 2, pp. 216–240. Available at: doi.org/10.1177/0261018310396149 (Accessed: 24 March 2025).

    Funder 

    • Environment Agency

    Research period  

    • 2006 to 2022

    Impact period  

    • 2006 to present

    Impact country  

    • UK

    Contributing to the areas of research interest

    • 8 – Integrated outcomes

    Updates to this page

    Published 4 April 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI China: S. Korean President Yoon ousted as court upholds impeachment

    Source: China State Council Information Office

    This photo shows a scene during a session for the ruling on the impeachment against President Yoon Suk-yeol at South Korea’s constitutional court in Seoul, South Korea, April 4, 2025. (James Lee/Pool via Xinhua)

    South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol was ousted from office Friday as the constitutional court upheld a motion by the parliament to impeach Yoon over his short-lived martial law imposition last December.

    Moon Hyung-bae, acting chief of the court, read a ruling on Yoon’s impeachment, which was broadcast live nationwide, saying it was a unanimous decision of eight justices.

    Moon said Yoon broke his duty of protecting the constitution as he damaged the constitutional institutions, such as the National Assembly, and violated the basic rights of people by mobilizing the military and the police.

    Moon stressed that the benefit of protecting the constitution through Yoon’s dismissal will overwhelmingly exceed the national loss from his dismissal.

    Yoon declared an emergency martial law on the night of Dec. 3 last year, but it was revoked by the opposition-led National Assembly hours later.

    Throughout the midnight hours of the botched martial law attempt, military helicopters landed at the National Assembly and hundreds of armed special forces troops broke into the parliamentary building.

    By law, the ruling comes into force immediately after the reading, and a snap presidential election is required to be held within 60 days. The election is expected to fall in late May or early June.

    The conservative leader officially lost all presidential power, becoming the country’s second sitting president to be forcibly removed from power following former conservative President Park Geun-hye’s ouster through impeachment in 2017.

    Yoon also became the third leader to be impeached by the National Assembly in the country’s constitutional history. Late liberal President Roh Moo-hyun was reinstated in the presidency after impeachment in 2004.

    Since the passage of Yoon’s impeachment motion on Dec. 14 last year, a total of 11 hearings have been held in the constitutional court until Feb. 25.

    It took 111 days before the court’s final verdict, compared to 92 days for Park’s impeachment and 64 days for Roh’s impeachment.

    Yoon was apprehended in the presidential office on Jan. 15 and was indicted under detention on Jan. 26 as a suspected ringleader of insurrection, becoming the country’s first sitting president to be arrested and prosecuted.

    If convicted of the insurrection ringleader, Yoon could face the death penalty or life imprisonment.

    He was released on March 8 as the prosecution decided not to appeal against a court’s release approval.

    Yoon will be stripped of most privileges granted to a former president, including a monthly pension, one chauffeur and three secretaries. Free medicine and the cost of a personal office will not be given to him.

    For the forcibly ousted president, the period during which the presidential security service provides guards will be reduced from 10 years to five years. After the five-year period, police officers will guard Yoon and his wife.

    Kwon young-se, interim chief of the ruling People Power Party, apologized to people over the constitutional court’s decision, saying his party will take it seriously and humbly accept it.

    He emphasized that there should never be violence or extreme action in any case, calling on supporters to overcome the current crisis in peace and order.

    Lee Jae-myung, chief of the main liberal opposition Democratic Party, expressed his sincere respect for and gratitude to ordinary people who stood against soldiers and armored vehicles at the time of martial law imposition.

    The most-favored presidential hopeful added that the unarmed people dramatically revived democracy by peacefully confronting the armed forces, vowing to do his best to prevent the repeated tragedy of the constitution’s destruction.

    Following the impeachment verdict, anti-Yoon demonstrators were seen crying tears of joy, hugging each other and cheering in celebration near the constitutional court, with some holding signs that read “Immediately dismiss Yoon, the ringleader of insurrection.”

    Yoon’s supporters, who rallied just hundreds of meters away on the street, reacted furiously. A man wearing a helmet and a gas mask was caught red-handed after breaking the window of a police bus, parked for a police line along the court, with a club.

    Hemmed in by police officers, other supporters burst into tears, rocked barricades and even swore at riot policemen.

    A recent Gallup Korea survey showed that almost six out of 10 South Koreans consented to Yoon’s ouster while 37 percent objected to his impeachment.

    It was based on a poll of 1,001 voters conducted from Tuesday to Thursday. It had a plus and minus 3.1 percentage points in margin of error with a 95 percent confidence level.

    Security was ramped up nationwide. The police issued the highest level of emergency order to deploy about 20,000 riot policemen across the country for expected protests and crowd control.

    Of the total, some 14,000 riot policemen were deployed in Seoul to prevent possible conflicts near the constitutional court, the presidential residence and the parliament.

    Police commandos, as well as paramedics and ambulances, were on standby around the court to respond to possible emergencies. 

    MIL OSI China News –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: New Chair appointed for Creative Scotland review

    Source: Scottish Government

    Evidence-led review to report by November.

    A new Chair has been appointed to lead the independent review of Creative Scotland, Culture Secretary Angus Robertson has announced.

    Angela Leitch CBE will replace Dame Sue Bruce, who withdrew from the role on health grounds in March.

    In a letter to the Constitution, Europe, External Affairs & Culture Committee, Mr Robertson said Ms Leitch would be supported in the role by Stuart Currie as Vice Chair.

    The Culture Secretary also confirmed that the timeframe to publish recommendations would be extended until November, to allow the new Review team sufficient time to gather and consider evidence from the sector.

    Mr Robertson said:

    “I am delighted to report that Angela Leitch CBE has agreed to lead the independent review, supported by Stuart Currie as Vice Chair. Both Angela and Stuart bring a wealth of local government and public sector experience.

    “With the 2025-26 Scottish Budget including a record £34 million uplift for culture, including an additional £20 million for Creative Scotland’s multi-year funding programme, the review will consider Creative Scotland’s functions and remit to maximise the impact of this increase and ensure it can meet the culture sector’s needs.

    “In the meantime, I welcome the fact that our survey seeking the culture sector’s views on how culture and the arts are currently supported and areas for change, received more than 750 responses from individuals and organisations across Scotland. This feedback, which will be published later this Spring, will no doubt inform the independent Creative Scotland review.”

    Ms Leitch said:

    “Culture and the arts provide us with a sense of belonging, preserving our history and traditions, and promoting an understanding of different perspectives. It’s well recognised that the sector and the people who work within it contribute significantly to Scotland’s society, our communities, and the economy.

    “It’s also recognised that the context cultural organisations and artists are now operating in has changed considerably since Creative Scotland was established in 2010. I welcome the opportunity to work with colleagues in Creative Scotland and across the sector to review its remit and functions with a view to ensuring it continues to be relevant today.”

    Background:

    Angela Leitch has more than thirty years’ experience in local government, having worked in West Lothian and the City of Edinburgh councils before becoming Chief Executive firstly in Clackmannanshire Council and then East Lothian Council. In 2019 Angela was appointed as the Chief Executive of the newly formed Public Health Scotland, which amongst other responsibilities, played a crucial role in producing data, evidence and advice throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. She stepped down from this role in April 2023.

    Angela was Convenor of the Board of the Scottish Local Authority Remuneration Committee which presented its report on changes to the payments to elected members, in December 2023, to the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) and Scottish Government Ministers.

    She is a member of the Accounts Committee and the Scottish Police Authority. She is also Chair of YouthLink Scotland and is a Trustee of the homelessness prevention charity Cyrenians.

    The independent review into Creative Scotland was first announced in the 2024-25 Programme for Government, as the first review of Creative Scotland since its establishment in 2010. The Scottish Budget 2025-26 provides an increase of £34 million to culture in Scotland, including £20 million for Creative Scotland’s multi-year funding programme.

    Following Dame Sue Bruce’s withdrawal on health grounds, and the appointment of Angela Leitch CBE as the new Chair, the independent review is now expected to publish recommendations in November 2025. Further details on the review process, including the terms of reference, will be set out to Parliament in due course.

    Chair of Creative Scotland review confirmed – gov.scot, 13 January 2025

    Letter from the Cabinet Secretary, Constitution, External Affairs and Culture in relation to the Culture Sector Review, 4 March 2025

    The full text of the Culture Secretary’s letter to update the CEEAC Committee on the appointment of Angela Leitch CBE as Chair of the independent review of Creative Scotland is as follows:

    2 April, 2025

    Dear Clare,

    INDEPENDENT REVIEW OF CREATIVE SCOTLAND

    As I shared in my previous letter of 4 March 2025, unfortunately Dame Sue Bruce has had to withdraw from leading the Review of Creative Scotland on health grounds.

    The process for appointing a successor to chair the Review of Creative Scotland has now concluded and I am delighted to report that Angela Leitch CBE has agreed to lead the Review. Angela brings a wealth of public sector experience having worked at senior level in local authorities for over two decades and served as Chief Executive for Public Health Scotland for four years. I am also pleased to confirm that the Chair will be supported by Stuart Currie who has agreed to act as Vice Chair. Stuart brings a wide range of skills and knowledge in both local government and the public sector. 

    I know the Committee shares my view that the Review will be immensely valuable work and should be completed without undue delay. Unfortunately Dame Sue’s withdrawal means that the timescale for completion will be longer than originally anticipated. I am sure you will agree that whilst the delay is unfortunate it is important that the Chair has time to undertake an evidence led Review of Creative Scotland. I have therefore asked the Chair to provide the Scottish Ministers with recommendations and a written report in November. I can also confirm that good progress is being made with consideration of the responses to the sector wide survey which took place earlier this year and the analysis of the consultation responses will be published later this Spring.

    The key objectives of the Review will be to:

    1. consider Creative Scotland’s functions and remit, as set out in the Public Services Reform (Scotland) Act 2010, to ensure they continue to be relevant for the culture sector and meet Ministers’ aspirations;
    2. evaluate how Creative Scotland delivers its functions including appropriateness of existing governance arrangements; and
    3. maximise the impact of the funding Creative Scotland provide to the culture sector by ensuring Creative Scotland use and distribute funding appropriately and effectively.

    I appreciate the Committee’s continued interest and involvement in the work to date and I would like to thank you for your patience whilst the appointment process has been underway. I know that the Chair will be keen to meet with you to discuss the final remit of the Review. The Secretariat of the Creative Scotland Review would be happy to help in arranging a meeting and can be contacted at creativescotlandreview@gov.scot

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI: Caro Holdings Secures Strategic Partnership to Launch Marketplace Focused on Black-Owned Businesses

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    SHEFFIELD, United Kingdom, April 04, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Caro Holdings Inc. (OTC: CAHO), a growth enablement company leveraging operational expertise, funding, and AI-driven tools to scale emerging brands, announces a strategic partnership with Kisqueya to expand its existing digital platform to become a fully-fledged global marketplace. The initiative will support Black-owned businesses and independent brands, with a focus on global visibility and scalable ecommerce growth.

    Designed as both a two-sided marketplace – similar to Etsy, Temu or Alibaba – and a listing directory – like yelp.com – it will connect sellers with international buyers while boosting discoverability for service-based businesses. Caro Holdings will host the core digital infrastructure, ecommerce framework, and AI-powered tools that support personalised discovery, predictive analytics, and automated vendor onboarding.

    The platform will launch nationally before scaling into a global hub. Kisqueya will lead vendor outreach and market development, led by founder Marie-Michelle Legrand, a Haitian entrepreneur with a background in social law. Through Kisqueya, she combines ethical commerce with community impact, supporting young women through charitable initiatives.

    “This partnership supports our goal to build inclusive, AI-driven platforms for underserved markets,” said Meriesha Rennalls, Director at Caro Holdings. “With Kisqueya, we’re creating a space where Black-owned businesses can grow with the tools and visibility they need.”

    The platform will offer:

    • AI Analytics – Real-time insights on customer behaviour and performance
    • Personalisation Tools – Tailored shopping experiences
    • Automated Communication – using AI voice for streamlined engagement

    In 2023, global e-commerce sales hit $5.8 trillion and are projected to exceed $8 trillion by 2027. Marketplaces drive over 60% of those sales, yet many small and minority-owned businesses still face barriers to entry.

    “This platform is about access and opportunity,” said Marie-Michelle Legrand, Founder of Kisqueya. “We’re opening pathways for Black-owned businesses to grow and scale.”

    The company anticipates continued expansion through regional partnerships and additional sector-specific deployments.

    About Caro Holdings Inc.
    Caro Holdings is dedicated to accelerating the growth of brands through digital innovation and AI-powered solutions. Its comprehensive suite of services includes e-commerce strategy, digital marketing, AI voice technology, and growth capital. Discover more at www.caroholdings.com.

    About Kisqueya
    ​Kisqueya is a French boutique inspired by Haiti, offering handcrafted jewellery, accessories, and home décor. The brand blends cultural craftsmanship with social purpose, supporting young women through community-led programs. Discover more at www.kisqueya.fr.

    Caro Holdings Inc.
    +1 786-755-3210
    ir@caroholdings.com

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: US consumers face higher prices, inconsistent dining out experiences amid blanket tariffs, says GlobalData

    Source: GlobalData

    US consumers face higher prices, inconsistent dining out experiences amid blanket tariffs, says GlobalData

    Posted in Consumer

    Following the news that the US National Restaurant Association has joined a host of industry bodies calling for tariff exemptions as costs will doubtlessly be passed on to consumers in the wake of possible Trump administration’s blanket tariffs on all countries;

    Hannah Cleland, Senior Consumer Analyst at GlobalData, offers her view:

    “Foodservice operators are facing pressure both from tariffs and rising labor costs to a point where costs can no longer be absorbed, and cutbacks will have to be made. The knock-on effects of diminished staffing levels and erratic ingredient pricing and availability will result in a less consistent experience and standard of dining out for consumers. Customer footfall out-of-home is in a precarious position as these developments come against the backdrop of already weakened sales and fierce price wars in 2024 and 2025.

    “Operators in the US are likely to feel a pronounced effect as state level wage increases for foodservice workers have rippled through the country, while many specialist format outlets are reliant on importing food and beverages of specific origins. By the end of 2024, the number of US consumers reporting to have cut back on eating and drinking out on social occasions was two percentage points below the global average at 27%*.  Operators will be focused on preventing that figure from growing further due to rising costs and potentially falling service and quality standards.

    “These new challenges point to a wider need for operational overhauls in foodservice to improve overall efficiency and minimize cost-pressures long-term. Blanket tariffs will affect prices of all goods and potentially create shortages as rising prices create delays at ports and weaken demand and supply of goods. However, a more diversified supply chain both in terms of suppliers and ingredients can cushion the impact. Additionally, there has been a marked increase in automation technology investment in the US to cope with increased labor costs.

    “That said, these changes while necessary are not short-term fixes for foodservice. Rising prices for less value will be a hard pill for consumers to swallow when dining out. Operators will have to be transparent about the reasons behind price increases and changes to service to soften the blow to customer wallets.”

    *GlobalData 2024 Q4 global consumer survey, 22,000 respondents across 42 countries.

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Congressman Harris Announces Third Telephone Town Hall

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Andy Harris (MD-01)

    Washington, D.C. – Congressman Andy Harris, M.D. (MD-01), will hold a third telephone town hall on Monday, April 7, 2025. Please see below for key details.  

    Important Details: 

    Date: Monday, April 7, 2025

    Time: 5:30 – 6:30pm 

    Listen In: 833-380-0671

    Stream Live: Live | Congressman Andy Harris

    Questions about the event can be directed to Congressman Harris’ DC office at (202) 225-5311. Constituents who wish to be removed from the call list should contact Congressman Harris’s DC office.

    For media inquiries, please contact Anna Adamian at Anna.A@mail.house.gov

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Video: Commision President Ursula von der Leyen at the EU-Central Asia summit in Uzbekistan

    Source: European Commission (video statements)

    Follow Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Council President António Costa during their visit to the EU-Central Asia summit in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. The video will contain a joint press statement.
    More information can be found on EBS: https://europa.eu/!RD38x3
    and on the EC Press Corner: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/home/en

    Follow us on:
    -X: https://twitter.com/EU_Commission
    -Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/europeancommission/
    -Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EuropeanCommission
    -LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/european-commission/
    -Medium: https://medium.com/@EuropeanCommission

    Visit our website: http://ec.europa.eu

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VfNFi_rstNQ

    MIL OSI Video –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Rep. Adams’s Office Now Accepting Applications for 2025 Congressional Art Competition

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Alma Adams (12th District of North Carolina)

    CHARLOTTE, NC— The Office of Congresswoman Alma S. Adams, Ph.D. is now accepting submissions for the 2025 Congressional Art Competition from high school students who live or attend school in North Carolina’s 12th Congressional District. 

    Each spring, the Congressional Institute sponsors a nationwide high school visual art competition to recognize and encourage artistic talent in the nation and in each congressional district. Since the Artistic Discovery competition began in 1982, more than 650,000 high school students have participated. 

    Students submit entries to their representative’s office and panels of district artists select winning entries. Winners are recognized both in their district and at an annual awards ceremony in Washington, D.C. The winning works are displayed for one year at the U.S. Capitol. 

     How to Participate: 

    1. Check to see if you live or attend school in North Carolina’s 12th Congressional District.
    2.  Make sure that your artwork complies with the 2025 Rules for Students and Teachers.
    3. Complete the 2025 Student Release Form.
    4. Participants must submit both physical and digital copies of their artwork and the student release form to Yara Al Bayyari and Alijah Jamison by email at Yara.AlBayyari@mail.house.gov / Alijah.Jamison@mail.house.gov by Tuesday, April 1st, 2025 at 5:00 PM. Once a digital copy of the artwork and the student release form is received, we will schedule the drop-off of physical art pieces. Students are encouraged to submit digital copies as soon as possible to ensure they can complete the drop-off of physical art pieces by the deadline.

    Artwork must be two-dimensional. Each framed artwork entered in the contest may be up to 26 inches by 26 inches (including the frame) and may be up to 4 inches in depth. All artwork should be matted or framed. The artwork may be: 

    • Paintings: oil, acrylics, watercolor, etc. 
    • Drawings: colored pencil, pencil, ink, marker, pastels, charcoal (it is recommended that charcoal and pastel drawings be fixed.)
    • Collages: must be two dimensional.
    • Prints: lithographs, silkscreen, block prints.
    • Mixed Media: use of more than two mediums such as pencil, ink, watercolor, etc. 
    • Computer-generated art.
    • Photographs.

    All entries must be original in concept, design and execution. 

    The winner will be eligible to receive: 

    • Year-long exhibition of their artwork in the U.S. Capitol.
    • Complimentary airline tickets to Washington, D.C. to attend the reception and installation of the winning entries from congressional districts throughout the country.
    • A chance to win a scholarship.

    The first and second runners-up will have their artwork displayed in Rep. Adams’s Washington, D.C. office and the two Honorable Mentions will be displayed in the district office.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: 80 years since the capture of Bratislava

    Translartion. Region: Russians Fedetion –

    Source: State University of Management – Official website of the State –

    On April 4, 1945, during the Bratislava-Brno operation, Soviet troops liberated Bratislava from the German invaders.

    The offensive operation was carried out by the forces of the 2nd Ukrainian Front under the command of Marshal Rodion Malinovsky. They were confronted by the 200,000-strong Army Group “South” in convenient natural and well-fortified defensive positions.

    The 1st Guards Cavalry-Mechanized Group under the command of Lieutenant General Issa Pliev especially distinguished itself in the battles on the approaches to the city. Its sudden and stunning raids on the enemy’s rear terrified the Germans and did not allow them to organize a defense on the borders of the Nitra, Vah, and Morava rivers.

    By April 1, the Red Army had reached the city limits. The enemy had carefully prepared for defense, creating numerous reinforced concrete firing points, anti-tank ditches, and minefields. Barricades, anti-personnel and anti-tank obstacles were erected on the streets of Bratislava. The eastern outskirts were especially strongly fortified, since the northern part of the city was protected by the Little Carpathians, and the southern part by the Little Danube and the Danube. In order to avoid protracted battles and the destruction of the city, the command decided to attack with simultaneous strikes from the northeast and southeast. The Danube Flotilla was involved in the assault, its ships made a 75-kilometer dash from Komárno to Bratislava along a mined fairway, and the sailors took direct part in the city battles.

    On April 2, Soviet troops broke through the enemy’s outer fortifications and stormed into the city. Fierce fighting for every house lasted for two days, assault groups systematically moved from street to street and by midday on April 4 they reached the center of Bratislava. The remnants of the German garrison fled toward Vienna.

    During the Bratislava-Brno operation, the troops of the 2nd Ukrainian Front advanced 200 kilometers, occupied the Bratislava and Brno industrial districts, completed the liberation of Slovakia, and created conditions for a rapid advance on Prague. In honor of the capture of Bratislava, a ceremonial salute was given in Moscow – 24 volleys from 324 guns. For the heroism and military valor displayed during the liberation of Brno and Bratislava, 99 formations and units were awarded orders, and 15 received the honorary title of “Bratislava”.

    On the territory of modern Slovakia there are about 160 graves of Soviet soldiers who died during the liberation of this country from fascism. More than 60 thousand Soviet soldiers are buried in military cemeteries. In memory of them, about 100 different monuments and memorial signs have been erected. Eternal memory to the heroic liberators!

    The State University of Management congratulates on this memorable date and recalls our scientific regiment-employees who fought as part of the 2nd Ukrainian Front on the territory of Czechoslovakia:
    -Hero of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gureev, artillery colonel, vice-rector and deputy director of the MIE-Miu-Gau-Guu for administrative work (1972-2008);
    -Anatoly Petrov, head of the radio station of the 1st Guards Airborne Brigade, foreman, doctor of economic sciences, head of the planning department of the national economy of the MIEI MIU;
    -Boris Rodionov, Major Engineer, graduate of MIE, Doctor of Economics, Head of the Department of Organization and Planning of Mechanical Engineering MIE-Miu.

    #Scientific regiment

    Subscribe to the TG channel “Our GUU” Date of publication: 04.04.2025

    Please note: This information is raw content directly from the source of the information. It is exactly what the source states and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI: Groupama Group 2024 annual results

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    Premium income (insurance premiums and other income) of €18.5 billion, up +8.9%

    • Growth in activity in all business lines: property and casualty insurance (+5.2%), health & protection (+15.2%) and savings & pensions (+8.1%)
    • Sustained growth in France (+8.9%) and in international subsidiaries (+8.3%)
    • Insurance revenue (IFRS 17) of €16.3 billion

    Net income of €961 million

    • Economic operating income of €954 million, up €52 million
    • Moderate weather loss experience
    • Combined ratio of 95.1%

    Solvency ratio of 185% without transitional measure

    • Solvency ratio of 241% without transitional measure on underwriting reserves
    • Group’s IFRS equity of €10.5 billion, up +€0.6 billion
    • Contractual service margin of €3.8 billion

    “Groupama is showing very satisfactory results, both in terms of revenue growth and profitability. Despite a turbulent economic and geopolitical environment, the group demonstrates the solidity and strength of its mutual model, which forms the foundation of an ambitious development strategy as well as investments for the future. I would like to thank our elected representatives and our employees for their commitment.”, stated Laurent Poupart, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Groupama Assurances Mutuelles.

    “The group’s results are very positive, with net income supported by a robust operating income from our insurance activities. These results stem from all our operations, including property and casualty as well as life and health insurance, both in France and internationally. They enable us to navigate the complex and uncertain economic environment on solid foundations and to generate investment capacity for our development.”, added Thierry Martel, CEO of Groupama Assurances Mutuelles.

    The Board of Directors of Groupama Assurances Mutuelles met on 3 April 2025, under the chairmanship of Laurent Poupart, and approved the Group’s combined financial statements for fiscal year 2024.

    Activity (insurance premiums and other income)

    At 31 December 2024, Groupama’s combined premium income stood at €18.5 billion, +8.9% increase from 31 December 2023. The increase stemmed from the development of property and casualty insurance (+5.2%), sustained growth in health & protection insurance (+15.2%) and the return to growth in the savings & pensions business (+8.1%).

    Groupama premium income at 31 December 2024

    in millions of euros 31/12/2024 Like-for-like change
    Property and casualty insurance 9,241 +5.2%
    Health & Protection 5,900 +15.2%
    Savings & Pensions 3,115 +8.1%
    Financial businesses 246 +15.6%
    GROUP TOTAL 18,503 +8.9%

      

    In France

    Insurance premium income in France at 31 December 2024 amounted to €15.2 billion, up +8.9% compared with 31 December 2023.

    In property and casualty insurance, premium income amounted to €7.0 billion at 31 December 2024, up +4.3%, driven by strong growth in business and local authority insurance (+8.1%), home insurance (+5.1%) and, to a lesser extent, by the increase in motor insurance (+2.8%) and agricultural insurance (+2.9%).

    The health & protection business saw strong growth (+14.8%) to €5.5 billion as at 31 December 2024, underpinned by increases in both group health (+23.5%) and individual health (+7.2%).

    In savings & pensions, premium income rebounded with a growth of 9.7%, reaching €2.7 billion as of December 31, 2024. This growth was driven by an increase in individual savings & pensions (+12.6%), particularly in unit-linked savings & pensions (+22.5%), which benefited from the success of Telluma.

    International

    At the end of 2024, business reached €3.1 billion, up +8.3% at constant scope and exchange rates compared with 31 December 2023, benefiting from strong business growth in Hungary (+19.1%) and sustained growth in Romania (+7.4%) and Italy (+5.9%).

    Property and casualty insurance premium income totalled €2.3 billion as at 31 December 2024, up +8.2% from the previous period. This growth was driven by property and casualty insurance for businesses and local authorities (+15.6%), mainly in Romania, by motor insurance (+6.7%), which grew significantly in Hungary, Bulgaria and Italy, as well as by strong performances in home insurance (+11.7%), particularly in Greece and Bulgaria.

    Premium income in savings & pensions was virtually stable (-0.6%) at €0.5 billion, with growth in individual savings & pensions in unit-linked products (+25.5%) being offset by the decline in the group savings& pensions business (-41.8%).

    In health and protection, business grew significantly (+21.8%) to €0.4 billion, benefiting from growth in group insurance (+40.0%), mainly in Romania and Bulgaria, and from the increase in individual protection (+14.1%).

    Financial businesses

    The Group’s premium income was €246 million, including €238 million from Groupama Asset Management and €8 million from Groupama Epargne Salariale.

    Results

    Economic operating income increased to €954 million at 31 December 2024, up 52% compared with 31 December 2023.

    It came from property and casualty insurance for €429 million (€316 million as at 31 December 2023) and health and protection insurance for €299 million (€233 million as at 31 December 2023). The Group’s non-life combined ratio was 95.1% at 31 December 2024, an improvement of -1.7 points compared with 31 December 2023. This change is linked to the decrease in claims related to natural disasters, for which the cost net of reinsurance amounted to €637 million in 2024 compared with €968 million in 2023, as well as the improvement in the attritional loss experience and the increase in prior year reserve bonuses. Conversely, the discount effect is less than in 2023. The operating costs ratio was virtually stable at 28.1% as at 31 December 2024.

    Economic operating income from savings & pensions was €327 million at 31 December 2024 (€156 million at 31 December 2023). It benefited in particular from the result of the switch of the share reinsured by Groupama Gan Vie to CNP Retraite in the PREFON Retraite reinsurance treaty, effective 1 January 2024.

    Economic operating income from financial activities amounted to +€44 million and that of the Group’s holding company activity was -€146 million at 31 December 2024.

    The transition from economic operating income to net income includes non-recurring items, in particular the realisation of capital gains or losses, the change in the fair value of financial assets, and financing expenses. The Group’s overall net income totalled €961 million at 31 December 2024, compared with €510 million at 31 December 2023.

    Balance sheet

    Group’s IFRS equity totalled €10.5 billion at 31 December 2024 compared with €9.9 billion as at 31 December 2023. This change is mainly due to the positive contribution of income for the financial year and the perpetual subordinated debt issue in early July 2024 for €600 million, mitigated by the redemption in May 2024 of the perpetual subordinated notes issued in 2014 for €871 million.

    The Group’s contractual service margin, which represents the deferred future profits of outstanding contracts in savings and pensions and long-term protection, amounted to €3.8 billion at 31 December 2024, up +€162 million compared with 31 December 2023.

    Insurance investments totalled €67.2 billion, down -€3.2 billion, mainly due to the disposal of assets from the Prefon portfolio and changes in the financial markets (rise in government bond yields).

    At 31 December 2024, the Solvency 2 ratio, without transitional measure on underwriting reserves, was 185%. The 12-point decrease in the rate compared with end-2023 was mainly due to unfavourable market effects reflecting the widening of government bond spreads as well as the redemption in May 2024 of perpetual subordinated bonds issued in 2014 for €871 million, partially offset by the net income for the fiscal year and by the issue of perpetual subordinated debt in July 2024 for €600 million. The ratio with transitional measure on underwriting reserves, authorised by the ACPR, was 241%.

    The Group’s financial strength was highlighted by Fitch Ratings, which affirmed Groupama’s rating at ‘A+’ with a ‘Stable’ outlook on 9 December 2024.

    Group Communications Department

    For the financial statements as at 31/12/2024, the Group’s financial information consists of:

    • this press release, which is available on the website groupama.com,
    • the universal registration document of Groupama, which will be filed with the AMF on 28 April 2025 and posted on the www.groupama.com website on the same day.

    Appendix: Groupama key figures

    Premium income (insurance premiums and other income)

    € million 31/12/2023
    pro forma*    		 31/12/2024 Change **
    as %
    > France 13,919 15,154 +8.9%
    Property and Casualty 6,686 6,974 +4.3%
    Health & Protection 4,804 5,515 +14.8%
    Savings & Pensions 2,429 2,665 +9.7%
    > International & Overseas territories 2,866 3,103 +8.3%
    Property and Casualty 2,096 2,268 +8.2%
    Health & Protection 316 385 +21.8%
    Savings & Pensions 453 450 -0.6%
    TOTAL INSURANCE 16,785 18,257 +8.8%
    Financial businesses 213 246 +15.6%
    Groupama premium income 16,997 18,503 +8.9%

    * Based on comparable data
    ** Change on a like-for-like exchange rate and consolidation basis

    Economic operating income

    € million 31/12/2023 31/12/2024
    Insurance – France 544 856
    Insurance – International 161 200
    Financial businesses 35 44
    Holding companies -113 -146
    Economic operating income* 627 954

    * Economic operating income: net income restated for realised capital gains and losses, allocations to and reversals of provisions for long-term impairment and unrealised gains and losses on financial assets recognised at fair value from property and casualty, health/personal protection, financial and holding company activities (these items being net of corporate income tax). Non-recurring transactions net of tax, impairment of goodwill (net of tax) and external financing expenses are also restated.

    Net income

    € million 31/12/2023 31/12/2024
    Insurance – France
    Insurance – International    		 572
    141    		 906
    161
    Financial businesses 35 44
    Holding companies -128 -151
    Disposal of activities in Turkey -110 –
    Net income 510 961

    Balance sheet

    € million 31/12/2023 31/12/2024
    Group’s IFRS equity 9,862 10,487
    Subordinated debts 3,009 2,741
    – classified as Group’s IFRS equity  871 600
    – classified as “Financing debt” 2,138 2,141
    Contractual service margin 3,649 3,810
    Total balance sheet 91,949 89,396

    Main ratios

      31/12/2023 31/12/2024
    Combined non-life ratio 96.8% 95.1%
    Debt ratio 21.8% 18.7%
    Solvency 2 ratio (with transitional measure*) 267% 241%
    Solvency 2 ratio (without transitional measure*) 197% 185%

    * transitional measure on underwriting reserves

    Financial strength rating – Fitch Ratings

      Rating * Outlook
    Groupama Assurances Mutuelles and its subsidiaries A+ Stable

    * Insurer Financial Strength (IFS)

    About Groupama Group

    For more than 100 years, Groupama Group has based its actions on timeless, humanist values to enable as many people as possible to build their lives in confidence. It relies on humane, caring, optimistic and responsible communities. The Groupama Group, one of the leading mutual insurers in France, carries out its insurance and service business activities in ten countries. The Group has 12 million members and customers and 32,000 employees throughout the world, with premium income of €18.5 billion.

    Attachment

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI China: Schools in Chinese city of Urumqi to trial 3-day spring break, 5-day snow break

    Source: China State Council Information Office 2

    Urumqi, the capital of northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, will pilot a three-day spring break and a five-day snow break in schools starting this year, according to the local education authorities.
    The spring break will run from April 28 to 30, while the snow break is scheduled for Dec. 1 to 5.
    The initiative aims to diversify educational practices, reduce academic pressure under the national “double reduction” policy targeting excessive homework and off-campus tutoring, and promote hands-on learning beyond classrooms, according to the municipal education bureau.
    Students are encouraged to join school-organized cultural, sports and research programs, or engage in family trips and social practice activities during the breaks.
    The introduction of the spring break in China started in 2004, pioneered by Hangzhou in east China’s Zhejiang Province.
    China unveiled a plan on special initiatives to increase consumption last month, encouraging regions with adequate resources to pilot seasonal school breaks tailored to local needs. The plan also mandates strict enforcement of paid annual leave, fueling parents’ expectations for the breaks.
    Many schools across China, from primary schools to universities, have announced their spring or autumn break policies, including those in Beijing, Hubei and Fujian. 

    MIL OSI China News –

  • MIL-OSI China: Eco-friendly burials in China honoring life beyond death

    Source: China State Council Information Office 2

    Amid the crisp spring air in Anji County in east China’s Zhejiang Province, with emerald bamboos swaying gently in the breeze, Xia Yuanfeng, a village official, stood holding a bouquet of white chrysanthemums.
    Traditional Chinese funerals usually follow well-established customs, featuring elaborate caskets, lavish floral arrangements, the billowing smoke of burning incense and offerings, and an array of other rituals.
    However, Xia was not visiting a towering gravestone; her father’s peaceful rest lay beneath the gentle embrace of the whispering bamboo grove.
    Just days earlier, after a year in the funeral home, her father’s ashes, along with those of eight others, were laid to rest in a collective green burial, returning to the earth beneath the swaying bamboo stalks.
    “One should embrace life and death as a return to nature,” Xia recalled her father’s words as dewdrops slid off the bamboo leaves. “You have always been good to me, and that’s what matters. What happens after I’m gone isn’t important.”
    Since 2015, Anji County has championed green burials, offering alternatives like bamboo, tree, lawn and flower burials — methods that forgo traditional gravesites in favor of returning ashes to nature. Over the past 11 years, 130 individuals have chosen to rest beneath the bamboo.
    “We promote green burials through policy support and incentives, creating a diverse ecological burial system,” said an official from Anji’s civil affairs bureau. “Public acceptance of these space-saving, eco-friendly options is growing each year.”
    Across the country, families like Xia’s are embracing greener farewells, choosing harmony with nature over elaborate tombs.
    For some, tree burials allow loved ones to take root in the soil, blooming with the seasons. For others, sea burials set them free upon the tides.
    Yu Xiaohua, director of the Longshan Cemetery in Jinhua City, noted that there’s a surprising popularity of sea burials inland. “To date, nearly 900 people have opted for it, many taking a five-hour round trip to Mount Putuo’s shores. Elderly family members still insist on witnessing the farewell.”
    He Cuifang, a 60-year-old retired high school teacher from Wuyi County in Jinhua, chose a sea burial for her brother He Guorong after his passing. Wuyi now offers a 20,000-yuan (about 2,782 U.S. dollars) subsidy for each sea burial, a generous amount compared to many other regions.
    “My philosophy is simple — cherish loved ones while they’re alive, so there are no regrets when they’re gone,” she said. “The body is just a vessel. It comes from nature, and the best farewell is to let it return where it belongs.”
    An avid hiker, she winced at mountainsides crowded with tombstones. “Some of them are made of granite, which won’t decompose for millennia. It disrupts nature,” she said. “With 1.4 billion people, imagine the land consumed if everyone had a traditional grave.”
    For centuries, lavish burials were considered the only true demonstration of filial piety, a cultural belief now being reconsidered.
    “When my time comes, I’ll tell my son to lay me to rest at sea,” He Cuifang said. “It’s enough to be remembered in his heart.”

    MIL OSI China News –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: Panasonic decides to invest in UUUO, an enterprise that developed the “UUUO” fishery market connected by technology, through the Panasonic Kurashi Visionary Fund

    Source: Panasonic

    Headline: Panasonic decides to invest in UUUO, an enterprise that developed the “UUUO” fishery market connected by technology, through the Panasonic Kurashi Visionary Fund

    Tokyo, Japan, April 4, 2025 – Panasonic Corporation (Head Office: Minato-ku, Tokyo; President & CEO: Masahiro Shinada; hereinafter referred to as Panasonic) today announced that it has invested in UUUO, inc. (Head Office: Hiroshima-shi, Hiroshima; CEO: Kazutomo Itakura; hereinafter referred to as UUUO), an enterprise that developed the UUUO fishery market connected by technology, through a corporate venture capital fund, commonly known as the Panasonic Kurashi Visionary Fund, jointly managed by Panasonic and SBI Investment Co., Ltd. (Head Office: Minato-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director, Chairman and President: Yoshitaka Kitao).
    In response to the diversification in food distribution (e-commerce, direct sales by producers, etc.), in order to increase producers’ income and effectively meet consumer needs, the Wholesale Market Act and the Act on Promoting the Improvement of Food Distribution Structure have been recently revised. This enabled intermediate wholesalers, who serve as intermediaries between wholesalers and retailers, to purchase food items directly from production areas and allowed markets to mutually fulfill each other’s needs according to supply and demand conditions, accelerating the digital transformation (DX) of the food distribution market through improved operational efficiency and the emergence of new businesses.
    Under the vision “Bringing the riches of the ocean to your hometown,” UUUO has developed and provides the UUUO smartphone application, which allows shippers in production areas to trade fishery products directly with wholesalers, intermediate wholesalers, and retailers in the market anytime, anywhere, and with ease. UUUO users can specify their preferred fishery products from fishing harbors and markets throughout Japan. With over 100 wholesalers, intermediate wholesalers, and retailers registered, the application ensures a stable supply of fishery products that users wish to purchase without changing their business partners. The easy order system facilitates DX in purchasing operations, ensuring efficiency as well as the variety, quantity, and freshness of fishery products handled. UUUO continues to expand its services as a new fishery market connecting individual harbors and markets throughout Japan.
    In the area of food infrastructure, Panasonic provides cooking appliances, along with a wide range of B2B cold chain products, mostly in Japan and the US, including commercial freezers and refrigerated showcases. With the aim of contributing to the cold chain industry by providing value to both producers and end consumers, the company will work to verify synergy effects in fresh fish distribution through this collaboration.Panasonic aims to establish food infrastructure, where necessary food items are provided in the required quantities while maintaining freshness and palatability. It also strives to ensure the safety of people’s daily diet, and create a sustainable society.
    With a mission to contribute to the wellbeing of people, society, and the planet, Panasonic aims to be the best partner in supporting people’s lives with human-centric technology and innovation. The company will continue to strengthen its open innovation initiatives through strong partnerships by investing in promising startups both in Japan and abroad that excel in areas closely related to people’s lives, such as energy, food infrastructure, spatial infrastructure, and lifestyle.

    ■Comments from Kunio Gohara, General Manager of the Corporate Venture Capital Office, Panasonic Corporation

    With lifestyle changes and diversified diets, we are witnessing the evolving needs of consumers. In order to address the universal need to deliver good food, we aim to make contributions beyond the scope of the industry. Particularly in the environment surrounding fishery products, challenges have emerged, including a decline in fish catches, imbalanced market conditions, and unsold products due to suddenly worsened weather conditions. It is more crucial than ever, from both an environmental and economic perspective, to address these social issues and provide fresh, savory fishery products without waste. Through our investment in UUUO, we look forward to providing new value to producers and consumers, and developing a sustainable food value chain together.

    ■Comments from Kazutomo Itakura, Chief Executive Officer of UUUO, inc.

    By combining Panasonic Corporation’s cold chain technology and solutions with our platform, we will achieve sustainable distribution in the fishing industry and accelerate business growth, further promoting our vision of “Bringing the riches of the ocean to your hometown.” Taking this opportunity, we will strive to deliver value to more individuals involved in fishery product distribution and contribute to the fishing industry.

    ■Overview of UUUO, inc.

    Company name

    UUUO, inc.

    Representative

    Kazutomo Itakura

    Address

    5th Floor, Otemachi Takahashi Building,2-1-6 Otemachi, Naka-ku, Hiroshima-shi, Hiroshima

    Establishment

    July 2016

    Business

    Planning, development, and operation of the “UUUO” fishery market connected by technology

    URL

    https://uuuo.co.jp/en

    About Panasonic Corporation
    Panasonic Corporation offers products and services for a variety of living environments, ranging from homes to stores to offices and cities. There are five businesses at the core of Panasonic Corporation: Living Appliances and Solutions Company, Heating & Ventilation A/C Company, Cold Chain Solutions Company, Electric Works Company and China and Northeast Asia Company. The operating company reported consolidated net sales of 3,494.4 billion yen for the year ended March 31, 2024. Panasonic Corporation is committed to fulfilling the mission of Life Tech & Ideas: For the wellbeing of people, society and the planet, and embraces the vision of becoming the best partner of your life with human-centric technology and innovation. Learn more about Panasonic: https://www.panasonic.com/global/about.html

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: Samsung Launches Galaxy Tab S10FE Series in India, Starting at INR 42999

    Source: Samsung

     
    Samsung, India’s largest consumer electronics brand, today announced the launch of Galaxy Tab S10 FE and Galaxy Tab S10 FE+, offering new entry points to the Galaxy ecosystem on a premium tablet design. Equipped with the largest screen yet on the Galaxy Tab S10 FE series and slimmer bezels that expand its display, the Galaxy Tab S10 FE+ provides a fun, immersive viewing experience for everything from entertainment to studying and day-to-day tasks. Samsung’s intelligent features empower users to get more done with ease, while a slimmer design helps users to achieve their creativity and productivity on the go.
     
    “At Samsung, we are committed to bringing world-class innovation to everyone, and the launch of the new Galaxy Tab S10FE series is a testament to that vision. With Galaxy AI capabilities making their debut on our FE tablets, we are making cutting-edge technology more accessible than ever. The Galaxy S10 FE series will empower Galaxy users to maximize their creativity and productivity, and help us consolidate our market leadership in India’s tablet segment,” said Aditya Babbar, Vice President, MX Business, Samsung India.
     
    Stunning Display
    Combining the Galaxy Tab S series’ heritage design with slim bezels, the Galaxy Tab S10 FE+’s 13.1-inch display offers immersive entertainment on a screen that’s almost 12% larger than its predecessor. Smooth visuals enabled by a 90Hz refresh rate and new levels of visibility that goes up to 800 nits in High Brightness Mode (HBM) ensure an optimal viewing experience when watching videos and gaming on the Galaxy Tab S10 FE series. The Vision Booster’s automatic adjustments enhance brightness and visibility even in ever-changing outdoor environments while blue-light emissions are safely reduced to minimize eye strain, meeting every unique viewing need.
     
    Robust Performance and Versatile Design
    The Galaxy Tab S10 FE series boosts productivity when working or studying, and delivers fast, smooth gameplay without interruption. The performance upgrades enable the Galaxy Tab S10 FE series users to switch effortlessly between multiple apps, allowing for improved multitasking. And when capturing everyday moments in the classroom or in workspaces, a newly upgraded 13MP rear camera produces clear and vivid photos.
     
    These versatile experiences, from powerful work to seamless play, accompany users everywhere they go. Now more than 4% lighter than its predecessor, Galaxy Tab S10 FE is even easier to carry around. The Galaxy S10 Tab FE series offers hassle-free storage and mobility at home, on campus, in the workplace and elsewhere with its slim design. Engineered for resilience and durability to withstand the elements, the FE series comes with IP68 rating.
     
    Advances Features
    Building on Samsung’s legacy of delivering premium experiences across the Galaxy ecosystem, the Galaxy Tab S10 FE+ and Galaxy Tab S10 FE are the first models in the FE series to come equipped with cutting-edge AI capabilities right out of the box, fueling user productivity.
     
    Fan-favourite Circle to Search with Google allows you to search what you see on your tablet without switching apps. Quickly get the info you need, translate text on screen or get homework help with step-by-step explanations – all on one large screen.
    Samsung Notes features like Solve Math for quick calculations of handwriting and text, and Handwriting Help to tidy up notes easily, make notetaking easier than ever so users can stay focused in the moment.
    AI assistants are instantly launched with a single tap of the Galaxy AI Key on the Book Cover Keyboard. Plus, AI assistants can be customized based on users’ preferences for a more personalized experience.
    An upgraded Object Eraser lets users effortlessly remove unwanted objects from photos, with automatic suggestions for quick and easy edits.
    Newly introduced Best Face ensures perfect group photos by selecting and combining the best expressions and features.
    Auto Trim brings cherished moments to life by sifting through multiple videos to seamlessly compile highlight reels.
    The Galaxy Tab S10 FE series also serves as the perfect canvas for creativity with pre-loaded apps and tools including LumaFusion, Goodnotes, Clip Studio Paint and more, alongside other spotlight apps like Noteshelf 3, Sketchbook and Picsart.
     
    For an even more intuitive AI experience, the FE series seamlessly integrates with other Samsung Galaxy devices. Similar to the Galaxy Tab S10 series, users can access a comprehensive overview of their home status with the Home Insight widget dashboard and 3D Map View feature. Summarized status updates of SmartThings-enabled devices give users peace of mind when out and about.
     
    Knox Security
    As with any Galaxy device, the Galaxy Tab S10 FE series is fortified by Samsung Knox, Samsung’s defense-grade, multi-layer security platform built to safeguard critical information and protect against vulnerabilities with end-to-end hardware, real-time threat detection and collaborative protection.
     
    Price and Offers
    Product
    Variant
    Price
    Bundle Offers
    Other Offers
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Galaxy Tab S10FE
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    WiFi (8GB+128GB)
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    INR 42999
     
     
     
     
    ·         Galaxy Tab S10 FE: Keyboard Cover worth INR 15999 at just INR 7999
     
    OR
     
    ·         Galaxy Buds3 worth INR 14999 at Just INR 6999
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    ·         Galaxy Tab S10FE +: Keyboard Cover worth INR 18999 at just INR 10999
    OR
     
    ·         Galaxy Buds3 worth INR 14999 at Just INR 6999
     
     
     
     
     
     
    ·         Bank cashback of INR 4000 on the purchase of Galaxy Tab S10FE
     
     
     
     
    WiFi (12GB+256GB)
    INR 53999
     
    LTE (8GB+128GB)
    INR 50999
     
    LTE (12GB+256GB)
    INR 70999
     
     
     
     
    Galaxy Tab S10 FE +
    WiFi (8GB+128GB)
    INR 64999
     
    WiFi (12GB+256GB)
    INR 75999
    ·         Bank cashback of INR 3000 on the purchase of Galaxy Tab S10 FE+
     
    ·         Upto INR 3000 upgrade bonus on the purchase of Galaxy Tab S10FE or Galaxy Tab S10FE +
     
    ·              Up to 12 months No Cost EMI
     
    LTE (8GB+128GB)
    INR 75999
     
    LTE (12GB+256GB)
    INR 86999
     
     

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Congressman Hank Johnson Condemns Republican Attacks on the Judiciary

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Hank Johnson (GA-04)

    WASHINGTON, D.C. – During a House Judiciary Subcommittee hearing this week, Congressman Hank Johnson (GA-04), Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet, pushed back against Republican efforts to undermine judicial independence by threatening to impeach judges who rule against Donald Trump.  

    “When you attack the judges and claim that they need to be impeached, not for high crimes and misdemeanors, but for simply ruling in a way that is against [Donald Trump], what impact does that have on our justice system and our democracy?” asked Congressman Johnson.  

    Professor Kate Shaw, a witness at the hearing, responded: “I worry that the intent there is the same, to basically have a chilling effect on the willingness of judges to rule against the Administration.”

    An independent judiciary is a cornerstone of American democracy, ensuring the rule of law prevails over partisan interests. Congressman Johnson remains steadfast in protecting judicial integrity and upholding the Constitution against partisan attacks.  

    [WATCH: Congressman Hank Johnson’s Opening Remarks]

    About Congressman Hank Johnson: 
    Hank Johnson represents Georgia’s 4th Congressional District, where he is a staunch advocate for civil rights, public safety, and economic justice. Learn more at https://hankjohnson.house.gov/ 

    MIL OSI USA News –