Day: July 10, 2018

As fans’ cheer on Harry Kane and co in their bid for World Cup semi-final glory, the country’s busiest roads are set to fall somewhat more silent than they normally would be midweek at 7pm.

A brief analysis of traffic on each of the England match days to date, comparing an hour before kick-off to two hours after, showed that during the games demand reduced by up to 33%.

And the roads were not busier than normal immediately before, or after the games, suggesting people are often choosing not to travel or to travel at completely different times, rather than to change their journeys to earlier or later times in the same day.

Highway England, the government company responsible for motorways and major A roads, is urging anyone travelling home to watch the match, and anyone travelling while it is on, to stay safe.

Frank Bird, one of Highways England’s emergency planning officers, said:

Along with the rest of the country, we’ll be cheering on England! We want them to bring it home – and we want everyone on our roads to get home safely.

When England played Columbia we noticed traffic levels drop by about a third so we’re anticipating similar on Wednesday.

If you’re on the road – please drive safely and keep your focus on the journey. And then we look forward to doing it all again on Sunday!

England motorways and major A roads normally carry 4 million journeys a day.

And two of them could have a strange connection to the World Cup!

The M66 and M18 are exactly 52 miles apart – the same as the number of years since England last won the World Cup.

The M18 also opened the year after England’s 1966 win and has seven junctions, which happens to be the number of matches England will have played if we reach the World Cup Final.

Meanwhile, make sure you don’t miss tomorrow’s kick-off by carrying out some simple vehicle checks to ensure your vehicle is fit for your journey and you get to your destination safely.

During the warm weather, make sure you have plenty of water on board, and while driving, look out for signs and signals, like Red Xs. These are shown above closed lanes – and may be protecting people who have stopped in a live lane, or keeping access open for emergency services going to their aid.

Highways England traffic officers will be working around the clock to help people who get into difficulty, but are urging motorists to:

• Check fuel: Make sure you have enough to get to your destination and don’t have to go off-side for more unexpectedly.
• Check tyres: check your tyre pressure and the condition of your tyres, including the spare. Look out for cuts or wear and make sure the tyres have a minimum tread depth of 1.6mm, which is the legal limit.
• Check engine oil: Use your dipstick to check oil before any long journey, and top up if needed. Take your car back to the garage if you’re topping up more than usual.
• Check water: To ensure you have good visibility, always keep your screen wash topped up so you can clear debris or dirt off your windscreen.
• Don’t speed – there’s no need to be a-Russian to your destination, so take it easy and don’t Kane it.

For advice on how to drive on a smart motorway, please visit our web page.

General enquiries

Members of the public should contact the Highways England customer contact centre on 0300 123 5000.

Media enquiries

Journalists should contact the Highways England press office on 0844 693 1448 and use the menu to speak to the most appropriate press officer.

The Prime Minister Theresa May said:

The death of Peter Carrington at the age of 99 marks the end of an era and the loss of a statesman who was respected globally for his remarkable lifetime of public service.

There can be few people who have served our country for as long, and with such dedication, as Lord Carrington did – from his gallantry as a tank commander in the Second World War, for which he was awarded the Military Cross, to his service in Government under two Monarchs and six Prime Ministers, dating back to Winston Churchill.

He was a much loved and widely respected member of the House of Lords for nearly eight decades, and served with great honour and integrity in Government as Foreign Secretary, Defence Secretary, Leader of the House of Lords, Chairman of the Conservative Party and much more besides. These were qualities that he also brought to bear as a highly esteemed Secretary General of NATO – and, in the week of the NATO Summit, I know that my fellow leaders will join me in offering our gratitude for his lifetime of service and our deepest condolences to his family.

More children across the country met the expected standard at the end of primary school this summer in English and mathematics, amid rising education standards in England, Minister for School Standards Nick Gibb announced today (Tuesday 10 July).

Figures published today show:

• 64 per cent of pupils met the expected standard in all of reading, writing and mathematics at Key Stage 2 nationally. This figure was 61 per cent in 2017;
• 75 per cent met the expected standard in reading, up 4 percentage points on last year;
• 78 per cent met the expected standard in writing. This figure was 76 per cent in 2017;
• 76 per cent met the expected standard in mathematics, up on 1 percentage point on last year; and
• 78 per cent met the expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling, up 1 percentage point on last year.

The new national curriculum and assessments have set a higher standard in schools and today’s rising results show more pupils are meeting that standard, thanks to the hard work of teachers and pupils, and government reforms.

This year’s results are the third to be released following the introduction of a more rigorous national curriculum assessments in Summer 2016, bringing primary education in line with the best in the world.

Standards are rising in primary schools. There are now 154,000 more six-year-olds on track to become fluent readers today than in 2012, in 2017 the attainment gap between disadvantaged primary pupils and their more affluent peers had narrowed by 10.5 per cent since 2011, and England’s rise up the international PIRLS rankings for literacy put the success of the government’s reforms on a global scale.

School Standards Minister Nick Gibb said:

A good primary education lays the foundations for success at secondary school and beyond. That’s why we introduced a more rigorous, knowledge-rich primary school curriculum – with an emphasis on reading and fluency in arithmetic – to ensure every child is helped to reach their potential from the moment they start school.

Today’s results and the rising standards we are seeing in our primary schools are the fruit of our reforms and a tribute to the hard work and dedication of teachers across the country. These reforms promise even more success in the years to come and will help to improve education for every child, no matter their background.

The government has invested in programmes to help raise standards in our primary schools, including a £26 million network of specialist English Hubs around the country to improve pupils’ literacy and £41 million to follow the same approach to teaching maths as world leading countries through the Shanghai Mastery for Maths programme. ‎This is on top of wider changes to the primary assessment system which will reduce unnecessary workload for teachers so they can focus on what really matters in the classroom.

Today’s figures build on the record 1.9 million more children now in good or outstanding schools than in 2010. The government is continuing to ensure all parents have a good school place on their doorstep, with the recent announcement of £680million to create 40,000 more good school places in primary and secondary schools. Since 2010, 825,000 new school places have been created, with recent analysis showing 91 per cent of those in 2016-17 were in good or outstanding schools.