Month: June 2018

A Downing Street spokesperson said:

This afternoon the Prime Minister chaired the latest meeting of her Business Advisory Council at Downing Street.

The Prime Minister, the Chancellor and the Business Secretary opened the roundtable by updating on the Modern Industrial Strategy following strong support at the last meeting in March.

The business leaders gave their support for recent announcements, including the PM’s speech on science at Jodrell Bank Observatory last month. This speech set out four ‘missions’ associated with each of the Industrial Strategy’s four Grand Challenges – future of mobility, healthy ageing, AI, and clean growth. These missions will galvanise public and private sector investment in the development and dissemination of new solutions to global problems, positioning the UK at the forefront of the industries of the future.

The Prime Minister then provided an update on the negotiations with the EU alongside the Secretary of State for Exiting the EU, setting out plans to provide greater detail of the Future Relationship in a White Paper due to be published shortly. The business representatives expressed their support for this approach, which will build on information provided through the Prime Minister’s various speeches.

Finally, the Prime Minister invited the International Trade Secretary to discuss foreign investment into the UK and the opportunities and actions that Government and business should take to grow this in the coming years.

The meeting was also attended by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Philip Hammond, Business Secretary, Greg Clark, the Brexit Secretary, David Davis and the Trade Secretary, Liam Fox.

Attendees

• Emma Walmsley, CEO, GlaxoSmithKline
• Jacqueline de Rojas CBE, techUK President
• Dave Lewis, Group Chief Executive, Tesco PLC
• Sacha Romanovitch, CEO, Grant Thornton UK LLP
• Robert Noel, Chief Executive, Landsec
  * Gavin Patterson, Chief Executive, BT Group PLC
  * Leo Quinn, Group Chief Executive, Balfour Beatty
  * Sir Roger Carr, Chairman, BAE Systems PLC
  * Dr Andy Palmer CMG, President & CEO, Aston Martin Lagonda Ltd
  * Dame Helena Morrissey CBE, Head of Personal Investing, Legal & General Investment Management
  * Paul Drechsler, President, CBI
  * Stephen Martin, Director General, Institute of Directors
  * Sir Gerry Grimstone, Chair, Standard Life Aberdeen PLC

A Downing Street spokesperson said:

The Prime Minister spoke to the new Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, earlier today.

The Prime Minister congratulated Prime Minister Sánchez on his new role, noting that Spain was a close ally and that we shared a long history of friendship and co-operation. She said we look forward to continuing our work together across the full range of our common interests and objectives, including our close security cooperation and commercial ties.

The Prime Minister paid tribute to the Spanish victim of last year’s London Bridge attack, Ignacio Echeverría. They agreed that his efforts to save others during the attack were truly heroic.

The Prime Minister said the UK was leaving the EU but not Europe, and our relationships with the EU and member states would always be extremely important to us. They agreed on the importance of protecting the rights of Spanish people in the UK as well as the many UK citizens in Spain.

On Gibraltar, the Prime Minister said the UK would continue to engage constructively with the Government of Gibraltar and the Spanish to address issues arising from the UK’s withdrawal from the EU.

They looked forward to meeting at the June European Council.

People living and working in Sparkhill and Selly Park are invited to meet the Environment Agency, Birmingham City Council and National Flood Forum teams working to support flooded communities in the West Midlands.

Following extreme rainfall across the region, communities in Sparkhill and Selly Park were badly affected by flooding.

The Environment Agency is working alongside Birmingham City Council and the National Flood Forum to support these communities, investigate the causes of flooding and identify what could be done to reduce flood risk in the area in the future.

A series of drop-in events are being hosted over the coming fortnight (6 to 12 June 2018) to give local people the opportunity to speak to the teams involved.

Emma Smailes, from the Environment Agency said:

Our thoughts are with those who have been affected by recent flooding. We’re continuing to work in the communities affected and our teams are working round the clock to monitor flood risk, issue flood alerts and warnings and keep waterways clear of debris.

We want to meet local people so they can share their experiences with us, ask us questions and so that we can work together to investigate what happened and identify ways of reducing flood risk in the future.

The drop-in events are planned for the following times and locations:

For people affected in Selly Park the National Flood Forum and Environment Agency will be around to talk to members of the public on the following dates:

• Wednesday 6 June 2018, 2pm to 8pm
• Thursday 7 June 2018, 2pm to 8pm

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For people affected in Sparkhill the National Flood Forum, Birmingham City Council and Environment Agency will be available to talk to members of the public on the following dates:

• Monday 11 June 2018, 2pm to 8pm
• Tuesday 12 June 2018, 2pm to 8pm

A Downing Street spokesperson said:

The Prime Minister spoke to President Trump on the phone earlier today.

The Prime Minister raised the US decision to apply tariffs to EU steel and aluminium imports, which she said was unjustified and deeply disappointing. The Prime Minister said the US, UK and EU are close national security allies and we recognise the importance of the values of open and fair trade across the world. The Prime Minister also underlined the need to safeguard jobs that would potentially be affected by the decision. They agreed to discuss this and wider issues of free and fair global trade further at the G7 summit later in the week.

They discussed North Korea, and the Prime Minister said the US had our full support ahead of the President’s planned summit with Kim Jong Un. They agreed we needed to see an agreement that brings about the complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearisation and the removal of the North Korean ballistic missile capability. They agreed to discuss further at the G7 summit later this week.

They discussed the importance of stability in oil markets and the Prime Minister updated President Trump on her conversation with the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman over the weekend, where they had discussed the same issue, agreeing that stability was in the interests of both consumers and producers. On Yemen, the Prime Minister and the President agreed the enduring requirement for a political resolution to the conflict and cautioned against any action that might increase the severe humanitarian suffering there. They also agreed on the importance of continuing to work together to counter Iran’s destabilising regional activity, including its support for the Houthis in Yemen.

They agreed that taking a strong and unified stance against hostile state activity more broadly would be an important topic for discussion at the G7 summit.

They ended the call by saying they looked forward to seeing each other in the UK next month.

Baroness Fairhead, Minister of State for Trade and Export Promotion at the Department for International Trade, is today leading a strong delegation of UK life sciences businesses at the world-renowned Bio Conference.

The UK pavilion at the conference will play host to 21 British organisations and will celebrate the 70th anniversary of the NHS.

16,000 people are expected to attend the event over the course of the 3 days, presenting huge opportunities for the innovative UK life sciences firms and thought leaders who are attending.

The US is the world’s largest market for life sciences. Abingdon based PsiOxus is a great example of a UK company who are benefiting from the opportunities across the Atlantic. They have recently secured a deal with US counterpart Bristol Myers-Squibb that could be worth nearly $1 billion over the lifetime of the partnership.

The likes of Alderley Park from Manchester, the Northern Health Science Alliance and Ulster University will join PsiOxus and Baroness Fairhead at the conference. Delegates will have the chance to attend networking forums, panel sessions and the UK Innovation Reception which will focus on showcasing the UK as ‘the home of health innovation’.

Baroness Fairhead, Minister of State for the Department for International Trade, said:

As a global leader in scientific innovation, with more than 5,500 life sciences companies, the UK’s offer to the world in this sector is clear. I am delighted to be joined on this trade mission by terrific businesses from all across the UK.

The Department for International Trade will continue to use trade missions such as this to promote healthcare and life sciences innovators across the world, driving investment and forging trade ties that have the potential to further scientific boundaries and improve the lives of millions.

British pharma exports to the US totaled more than £6 billion last year, 8% of all American pharma imports, whilst US medical exports to the UK totaled £1.6 billion – demonstrating the demand for UK life sciences expertise.

Latest statistics from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy show that health and life sciences are worth over £70 billion to the economy and provide jobs for almost 241,000 people across the country. The recent launch of the government’s Industrial Strategy Life Sciences Sector Deal, demonstrates how the government will support the sector to develop and launch the next generation of medicines, technologies and diagnostics and provide better care and treatments for millions of patients.

The trade mission has a particular Northern Powerhouse angle as Virgin Atlantic have announced the reinstatement of the seasonal flight from Manchester Airport to Boston. The flight is a further boost for businesses across the Northern Powerhouse, increasing connectivity and ensuring Boston’s thriving financial and life sciences markets are made more accessible to UK companies.

Andrew Cowan, CEO of Manchester Airport, said:

Having strong connectivity to the world’s most important markets is key to creating a balanced and outward facing UK economy.

That is particularly the case when it comes to accessing global centres of excellence for high-growth sectors like life sciences.

It is clear the North has a number of strengths in the area, including world leading universities and a proven track record for innovation and commercialisation.

The availability of direct services to Boston from Manchester Airport only serves to enhance the international competitiveness of the sector, and North as a whole.

DIT provides a wide range of export support for UK businesses, including the opportunity to join trade missions via our Exporting is GREAT website.

Background

All the UK regions are well represented on the visit:

• The Northern Powerhouse presence on the trade missions is particularly strong, with the Northern Health Science Alliance leading a 14-strong delegation involving 3 widely respected academics from the Universities of Manchester and York and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence.
• This delegation will be highlighting the North of England’s strengths in the life sciences sector, where the region is leading the way. The North boasts a health services sector worth £30 billion, employing 500,000, and is home to more than a fifth of life science companies located in the UK.
• Northern Ireland also has clinical specialisms within the areas of oncology, cardiology, opthamology, respiratory and diabetes. Its new Centre of Excellence in Precision Medicine, in association with Queen’s University Belfast, joins a suite of research centres and centres of excellence which are attracting investment to the region.
• The Midlands offers a world-class research and innovation infrastructure including science and technology parks and business incubation facilities, and is home to the largest number of medical technology and device companies in the country. It is bringing a delegation of 10 outstanding companies to the UK Pavilion at Bio.
• In addition, Scottish Development International (SDI), is hosting a Scotland pavilion for Scottish life sciences companies. Over 600 life sciences organisations make Scotland one of the largest life sciences clusters in Europe, with innovation centres including stratified medicine, sensors and digital health.
• Wales, too, will be showcasing its strengths in medical technology, regenerative medicine, diagnostics, eHealth, pharmaceutical services and neuroscience.

Further information

Contact the DIT Media and Digital Team on 020 7008 3333 or follow us: @tradegovuk and gov.uk/dit

Councils will receive new powers to help them deliver the homes their communities need under proposed regulations published today (4 June 2018) by Housing Minister Dominic Raab MP.

Under new rules, councils will be able to seek government’s approval to launch a New Town Development Corporation, which will be responsible for delivering new towns and garden communities in their area.

The new bodies themselves will be responsible for master planning and project development, bringing on board private investment, partnering with developers and overseeing the completion of a new town or garden village with each expected to deliver tens of thousands of new homes.

Held accountable by councils, the development corporations will be expected to involve communities in their projects, which includes allowing residents to have their say on how high-quality homes are delivered.

Subject to the normal planning requirements, including safeguards that protect the Green Belt, the corporations will be led by teams made up of council representatives, community stakeholders, experts in delivering major projects and other partner organisations involved in the delivery of sites.

This measure is part of the government’s wide-ranging programme of planning reform and targeted funding to deliver 300,000 homes a year by the mid-2020s.

Housing Minister Dominic Raab MP said:

We need to build the homes our communities need and I’m committed to giving councils the tools they need to deliver.

That’s why we’re giving councils the option of applying to establish development corporations. These will be locally accountable and must listen to the views of the community to ensure that the right homes are built in the right places.

Previously, all New Town Development Corporations created by the Secretary of State remained accountable to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.

Housing Minister Dominic Raab MP will today introduce the regulations to Parliament, which are subject to further debate by MPs and will come into force later this year once approved by Parliament.

Further information

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has also released a summary document to its recent consultation on the new town regulations.

A limited number of functions will remain with the Secretary of State. For example, it will remain the Secretary of State who confirms compulsory purchase orders.

The new development corporations set up after the regulations come into force will operate in a similar way to the new town development corporations that delivered the post-war new towns such as Milton Keynes. As with traditional new town development corporations, these locally-led bodies will be able to draft “proposals” for the new town which the oversight authority can approve.

The government is preparing to launch its new National Planning Policy Framework later this summer, which will streamline the system and allow the delivery of the homes this country needs.

The powers to create New Town Development Corporations accountable to the Secretary of State remain on the statute book.