North West Students Head to National Championship After Winning Regional Tournament

THE competition run by FIRST® Tech Challenge UK is geared to connect young people with STEM in thriving science and innovation hotspot struggling with shortage in high skilled workers. Robots built by students in the North West of England competed during the weekend at FIRST® Tech Challenge UK's Regional Tournament at the De La Salle Academy in Liverpool. The winning teams will now progress to London's Copper Box Arena, in March 2020, where they will compete to represent the UK in the world championships in May, held in the USA, alongside 40,000 young people from 100 countries.

Award winners include:-

► Judges Award Winner:- UK-165, The Observatory School.

► Motivate Award Winner:- UK-040, Team The High Ground, Priestley College.

► Design Award Winner:- UK-068, Team Calderdrones, Calderstones School.

► Collins Aerospace Innovate Award Winner: UK-089, Team The Rolling Drones, Queens Park High School.

► Connect Award Winner: UK-016, Team The Cranks, Cheadle Hulme High School.

► Finalist Alliance:- UK-089, Team The Rolling Drones, Queens Park High School, Team UK-098, The Headless Addicts, Sandbach Squadron and UK-067, Team The Lost Boys, 2493 (Alsager) Squadron RAF Cadets.

► Winning Alliance:- UK-070, Team Prometheus, Wade Deacon High School, UK-064, Team Red, Cheadle Hulme High School and UK-165, The Observatory School.

► Inspire Award Winner:- UK-111, Team Event Horizon, Lord Derby Academy.

Teams advancing to the championships include:-

► UK-111, Event Horizon, Lord Derby.

► UK-070, Prometheus, Wade Deacon High School.

► UK-068, Calderdrones, Calderstones School.

► UK-064, Red, Cheadle Hulme High School.

► UK-165, The Observatory School.

► UK-089, The Rolling Drones, Queens Park High School.

► UK-016, The Cranks, Cheadle Hulme High School.

► UK-098, The Headless Addicts, 1873 Sandbach Squadron ATC.

► UK-067 The Lost Boys, 2493 (Alsager) Squadron Royal Air Force Air Cadets.

► UK-040, The High Ground, Priestley College.

Ed Cervantes Watson, CEO at 1st UK, said:- "We're immensely proud of all teams who competed at our North West Regional and Lord Derby Academy's Inspire Award triumph was well deserved. The quality of robotics, creativity and collaboration is what we'd expect to see at industry level; these teams have demonstrated what it takes to excel in technology and engineering and we can't wait to see how they develop further at the national championship in March. We need to provide more opportunities for young people to build confidence and skills to take the jobs that don't exist yet and we're thankful for the industry partners and volunteers who've invested their time to inspire young people."

FIRST UK is more than a tech education charity. While the programme aims to make STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) less intimidating and more inclusive, it is also connecting young people with industry, providing new role models and teaching vital skills. Through the programme young people work on their soft skills, such as problem solving, working and collaborating with others, and building confidence and resilience.

Meeting weekly from September until March 2020, teams of up to 15 young people aged 12 to 18 design, build and programme a robot to take on a global challenge with support from an industry mentor. 1st UK has worked alongside industry to co-create content linked to the curriculum that gets young people thinking and operating like a business team, adopting roles found in the workplace.

FIRST UK is backed by businesses keen to bridge the gap between education and industry, building an inclusive talent pipeline equipped with the skills needed for tomorrow's jobs. It is estimated that the shortage of STEM skills in the UK is costing businesses ₤1.5 billion a year as they struggle to hire, train and retain talent. Research from 2018 shows that there's a shortfall of over 173,000 workers in STEM in the UK.

For more information, visit:- MoreThanRobots.uk.

Council's private sector housing enforcement team continues despite renewal application rejection

LIVERPOOL City Council's robust enforcement of housing standards has continued despite the Government's rejection of an application to renew the City wide Selective Licensing Scheme. Lee Cook, of 83 Reva Road, Broadgreen, today pleaded guilty to 5 offences under Section 95 of the Housing Act 2004 for failing to license 5 flats at 29 Balmoral Road in Fairfield. Mr Cook was fined ₤1,500 plus the Council's costs of ₤917 and a victim surcharge of ₤130. The Selective Licensing Scheme was praised by District Judge Wendy Lloyd during the hearing of 6 February 2020. Judge Lloyd expressed her surprise at the Government's decision not to renew the scheme for a further 5 years and commented that the Selective Licensing Scheme:- "has done a great deal of good" in driving up housing standards and protecting tenants since its inception in 2015. Mayor of Liverpool Joe Anderson has committed to ensuring that Landlord licensing continues, in Liverpool, and plans are under way to meet Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government Officials and resubmit another scheme for approval as soon as possible. Mayor Anderson commented:- "This is an outrageous situation and Officers will use full powers to bring the responsible people to task and our Housing Options team is currently helping the family.' Safe and well managed housing for all residents is a priority and the importance of living in a safe house is vital for increasing health, well being and life chances for everyone. My teams are finding abhorrent living conditions every day. It's not acceptable and it can't continue."

This hearing comes a day after the Private Sector Housing Team responded to an unrelated complaint regarding overcrowding at a property in Southgate Road, L13. Housing Enforcement Officers found a family with 8 children living in a 2 bedroom house. The property was in a significant state of disrepair which clearly evidenced poor management. The Landlord of the property sent workmen to undertake emergency gas repairs the next day however, as the work started, part of the ceiling is reported to have collapsed on to the tenant's 1 year old son who has had to attend Hospital. Deputy Mayor Cllr Lynnie Hinnigan, Cabinet Member for Housing, said:- "Despite the disappointment of the Government's decision on the Council's application for a renewed scheme, today's prosecution is an indication that Liverpool City Council intends to continue to ensure that housing is suitable and safe for tenants and will robustly enforce and use all available powers in all instances."