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MINUTES OF THE SOUTHERN ENGLAND RADIATION MONITORING GROUP MEETING HELD ON THE 6 JULY 2006 at READING TOWN HALL |
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Present
Kevin Holyer, Reading Borough Council KH Paul Hunt, Portsmouth City Council PH Paul Anstey, West Berkshire Council PA John Leach, Exeter City Council JL Nananka Randle, Bournemouth NR Simon Hill, Reading Borough Council SH Paul Williams, North Cornwall District Council PW
Monica Wilsch, Slough Borough Council IWC introduced new members Kevin Holyer, Paul Anstey and Simon Hill. Kevin Holyer was proposed as the new Chair. Agreed by all present. KH agreed to take on role for a period of at least one year while the future of SERMG is decided. KH outlined reasons for his interest; longstanding concerns over AWE, community and political concerns over radiation, public confusion, independence of SERMG. John Parfitt (West Berkshire Council) was due to take over from Alan Higgins as Chair but has now retired. The former very positive and supportive role of John Parfitt was noted. Wink Janes (IWCs assistant) has now retired after nearly 20 years with SERMG and her positive role was also noted. Ann Jurd has now replaced WJ as the SERMG technical/administrative support person. Minutes agreed. Matters arising to be picked up in this meeting's agenda. There was a discussion about making the sampling programme more suited to the current times. SERMG should be viewed as a members Centre for Radiological Capability. The original purpose of SERMG had evolved and it was important that a capability existed rather than maintaining a monthly sampling programme(which might be onerous). A suggestion was that each authority could send in their allocated number of samples in every 6 months rather than the currently used monthly submission. The Southampton laboratory will submit a sampling plan to each member of SERMG in the near future. It is anticipated that most members will find this change attractive but it should be remembered that in-house training was important. The SERMG laboratory might organise one or two regional 1-day Seminars. Recommended, a different format for the annual report. A 2 page summary, with reference to the full report on the website was considered acceptable. Is it possible for local authorities to extract specific information for their areas? IWC will look at re-organising the data into named LA order. Rimnet are keen to take data from groups such as SERMG but the old software they provided was not capable of easy transfer of data. RIMNET III is likely to be more useful and is being evaluated by IWC (See letter from Mark Grant RIMNET(DEFRA). Web site www.environment.org.uk. Only 2 SERMG local authorities had working ARGUS systems at the time of the SG Meeting. This has recently improved slightly. There is a new Broadband version of the ARGUS system available which is likely to be user-friendly and the ARGUS Trust will provide SERMG members with a system at a cost-effective price. Please contact IWC if interested. (Refer to the Annual Report on the SERMG web site). Membership has reduced to 25 to 26 authorities. Reduction due to cost savings and lack of LA champions. Some authorities still members but not submitting samples. Purbeck and West Berks had staffing difficulties which seem to have been resolved. Oxford City Council left 2 years ago but may rejoin on annual contracts. Annual contracts available for any authority. Basingstoke and Deane and Havant may be pressured into leaving but discussions are underway to persuade them to remain members. Talk was well received and could promote more interest in SERMG. Discussion around table about how members see the future. PA emphasised the importance of Emergency Planning and the need to liaise with Emergency planners to raise the profile of SERMG. PH te??or?st concerns are high on the agenda and agreed with need to extol the worth of SERMG. Wondered about the value of the amount of background monitoring. Seminar/conference for members. Danger of loss of expertise. KH Unfortunately easy area of funding to cut. A conference may not attract the right people. The slow reduction in numbers in scheme means the business case for Southampton may disappear. Important role for an independent voice but need to communicate in straightforward terms. IWC reducing sampling will not necessarily reduce fees. LARNET is winding up. Several schemes in the rest of the country have also stopped. PW North Cornwall will be staying in scheme for at least medium term and consider it a good insurance policy. JL Should DEFRA be providing money given the level of te??or?st threat? IWC No discussions with DEFRA for last 3 years. Possible approach through Alan Higgins and KH. KH What action will government take beyond initial incident. Important that expertise at Southampton is not lost. Importance of emergency planning, Civil Contingencies Act, Local Resilience Forums and Recovery Working Groups SERMG would have an important role and should be named in Recovery Programmes following radiation events. Also important to contact Chief Officers Groups. The July issue of the CIEH Journal Environmental Health Practitioner contains an article by Dr Ian Croudace and Alan Higgins (CIEH President) on the importance of LA supported radiation monitoring capability. No other business. Actions decided. PA West Berkshire to check where SERMG would fit into Civil Contingencies KH to liaise with PA about key contacts. KH and IWC to send letter to Emergency Planners based on IWC talk. May need a political signature. PA suggested Cllr at West Berks. KH and IWC Discuss with Alan Higgins about contacts with DEFRA. ALL Speak to emergency planners and/or business continuity officers about follow up in the event of a radioactive event. Contact with Local Resilience Forums. 28th Sept 2006. Start at 11.00am Reading (KH to confirm location) |
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