FORMER Dudley Council leader Pete Lowe says he and fellow Labour councillors are committed to listening to residents and trying to rebuild trust after the party s slaughtering at the local election last Thursday (May 6). Cllr Lowe, who represents Lye and Wollescote and has stood for Parliament in Stourbridge as well as throwing his hat in the ring in the early stages of the West Midlands mayoral race, said the pary would work hard to move forwards after the disastrous results which saw a number of long-serving, high-profile and hard-working councillors turfed off the council. He said: “Labour has heard loud and clear what the results in Dudley and the Black Country have told us. That it’s time for Labour to clean up and reconnect with working families.
LABOUR S Keiran Casey says he ll continue to do all he can to help the community of Upper Gornal and Woodsetton despite losing his council seat in last Thursday s local election. Cllr Casey, who had represented the ward since 2012, was among the Labour Party casualties ousted by the Conservatives who turned the borough blue overnight on May 6. The party s slaughtering at the polls has seen a number of long-serving, high-profile and hard-working councillors turfed off the council. But community-spirited Mr Casey, who polled 1,313 votes versus Conservative Mark Westwood s 1,397, has pledged to carry on doing his bit to help out colleagues and the community.
Cllr Patrick Harley, leader of Dudley Council. DUDLEY S Conservative Group has turned the borough overwhelmingly blue this morning after giving Labour a beating at the polls. The Tories now hold 46 seats on Dudley Council and have finally gained the majority that has eluded them in recent election battles. Councillor Patrick Harley, leader of Dudley s Conservative Group and Dudley Council, described the results as unbelievable and he added: It s been a long-time coming. Just three Labour councillors managed to hang onto their seats after voters went to the polls for the 2021 local election yesterday (Thursday May 6), while the Tories won a whopping 23.
1 March 2021
D-TRIG will award grants of £30k to enable up to six SMEs to undertake early-stage research and development studies to explore how to integrate drones into UK airspace.
The D-TRIG programme will build upon the strong foundation of the DfT’s existing Drone Pathfinder Catalyst Programme, delivered by Connected Places Catapult. Achieved through ambitious plans to give UK plc a competitive advantage, achieved through the adoption of drones, promoting new markets and technology to accelerate the delivery of near-to-market drone flight and air traffic management capabilities.
The programme will have an impact by positioning the UK as a country open to technological innovation including as a source of expertise on the use of drones in industry and the public sector. It will help boost the development and use of drones across the UK.
A group of organisations has launched a project to strengthen security in the use of drones.
Connected Places Catapult (CPC) has joined with Cranfield University and Belfast based cyber security start-up Angoka in the Unmanned Aircraft Systems Authentication System (UASAS) project.
It has been backed by funding from UK Research and Innovation’s Future Flight Challenge, which is part of the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund.
The project will contribute to the use of drones in public services and the private sector, inlcuding in areas such as search and rescue, protecting national infrastructure and environmental monitoring.
CPC said it will focus on protecting the communications in controlling and flying drones, which could be at risk of being hacked and hijacked, through the creation of an authentication system as a trusted identification service. This would support organisations in ensuring that drones fly into the right zones and without adverse effects on other parties.