Month: September 2018

New regulations have come into force today (Monday 1 October) to strengthen animal welfare, particularly around puppy sales, in England.

These will:

• Ensure that breeders must show puppies alongside their mother before a sale is made.
• Tighten regulations so that puppy sales are completed in the presence of the new owner – preventing online sales where prospective buyers have not seen the animal first.
• Ban licensed sellers from dealing in puppies and kittens under the age of eight weeks.
• Regulate adverts, including on the internet, by ensuring licensed sellers of all pets include the seller’s licence number, country of origin and country of residence of the pet in any advert for sale.
• Introduce a new “star rating” for dog breeders, pet shops and others to help people rate them on their animal welfare standards.

These regulations, which are strongly supported by animal welfare organisations such as the RSPCA who’ve campaigned for a number of years, complement the government’s commitment to introduce a ban on third party sales of puppy and kitten sales which has recently been consulted on.

Animal Welfare Minister, David Rutley, said:

These regulations will end mistreatment and malpractice of puppies and crack down on unscrupulous breeders so pet owners will have no doubt their new dogs have had the right start in life.

The licensing systems for businesses that work with animals have not been reformed for almost fifty years. The changes in place from today simplify these into one system for local authorities, help consumers to make better informed decisions and will further improve animal welfare.

These changes form part of our efforts to ensure we have the highest animal welfare standards in the world. This includes making CCTV cameras mandatory in all slaughterhouses as well as our plans to increase prison sentences from six months to five years for animal abusers.

The myriad of licensing systems that local authorities use to regulate businesses which deal with animals, or animal activities, have been in place for over 50 years. This has led to outdated regulations meaning some businesses require several licences and others, such as home boarding and dog day care businesses, were not always covered.

These regulations introduce a new system for local authorities to use for the different areas of activity (detailed below), simplifying the licences needed by businesses, ensuring all businesses working with animals are covered and driving up animal welfare standards.

A key part of these new licences will be a new “star rating” (out of five) for dog breeders, pet shops and other licensed activities involving animals. This rates these businesses, on welfare and other grounds, and helps buyers use the best breeders as well as local authorities to more heavily regulate the poorer rated (such as through more welfare inspections, increased costs and shorter licences).

This announcement follows a public consultation which ran from 20 December 2015 to 12 March 2016.

The five areas of licensed activities with animals by businesses are:

• Selling animals as pets
• Providing or arranging for the provision of boarding for cats of dogs
• Hiring out horses
• Breeding dogs and
• Keeping or training animals for exhibition

• Winners announced to receive funding that could revolutionise healthcare
• The projects include developing artificial intelligence for bed availability in hospitals, 3D printing to create tablets and smart phone applications to improve the treatment of complex wounds
• Technology can transform health and social care, improving treatment and deliver better care for patients

Breakthrough technologies to revolutionise UK healthcare get a step closer to becoming reality following a government competition. A GPS app to track where porters and available beds are in hospitals, 3D printing technology for tablets and smartphone apps to monitor and improve treatment of long-term complex wounds are just some of the things being developed by the businesses and academics.

The projects that are collectively to receive over £17 million funding to develop their innovations are based throughout the UK, including Devon, Cumbria, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Cardiff, Manchester, Oxford, Cambridge and London highlighting the breadth of strengths in addressing new and emerging issues in our world-leading healthcare industry.

Business Secretary Greg Clark said:

Technology is revolutionising industries across our economy, and new innovations play a key role in advancing our healthcare sector to make sure people are living longer, healthier and happier lives.

By pooling the expertise of the public and private sectors, as highlighted through the Life Sciences Sector Deal and the modern Industrial Strategy, we are making every opportunity to reach our full potential in finding new discoveries and technologies to diagnose illnesses earlier that could lead to more lives being saved.

The funding, through the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund managed by UK Research and Innovation, will also support efforts to enable antibodies to be taken orally rather than through invasive injections and increasing the range of medicines that can be delivered through skin patches.

Ian Campbell, Executive Chair of Innovate UK, for UK Research and Innovation said:

The projects we have funded today aim to make a real difference for patients and clinicians. They represent the very best of British innovation, focussing on improved patient outcomes and driving efficiency. The UK health sector is thriving, with SMEs playing a crucial role. By supporting this sector, as part of the government’s modern industrial strategy, we can ensure we remain global leaders in health innovation and create the jobs of tomorrow.

The development of new and innovative technologies is changing the economy. Through the modern Industrial Strategy the government is committed to embracing emerging technology to transform industries and increase productivity, create new highly skilled jobs and improve living standards.

Matt Hancock, the Secretary of State of Health and Social Care, said:

Innovative technology has the potential to truly transform healthcare for patients and staff. From artificial intelligence to VR to live tracking of hospital beds and equipment, there are so many ways in which the NHS is embracing tech. We are determined to make the NHS the most technologically advanced healthcare system in the world and today’s prizes will help progress towards that goal.

Notes to editors

Winners of the Digital Health Catalyst competition include:

• Satalia, working with Great Ormond Street Hospital, London, will use AI to schedule operating theatre use linked to downstream bed availability on ICU and wards
• Medical Data Solutions and Services, working with Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, will deliver a programme using smartphones apps to support healthcare professionals and patients to monitor and improve treatment of long-term complex wounds
• Kinosis, working with UCL Hospitals NHS Trust, London, will use AI and digital visualisation technologies to improve surgical support and performance while assisting the standardisation of surgical procedures through better management of real-time information – the ‘Intelligent Operating Room’
• Navenio Ltd, working with the University of Oxford, will accelerate and enhance systems to track location of porters and equipment in a hospital, for maximum efficiency – ‘an Uber for porters’
• Cadscan, working with Chester Hospitals Trust, will deliver a virtual reality platform using VR headsets to help people recover after a stroke

Winners of the Medicine Manufacturing round 2 challenge fund competition include:

• FABRX Ltd, in Ashford Kent, who are developing a 3D printing process to manufacture tablets, allowing the desk-top production of medicines with their doses tailored to individual patients and potentially combining several medicines into a single pill
• Intract Pharma, in Cambridge, who are testing a new technology that will allow antibodies to be taken orally, rather than through invasive injections
• Medherant, in Coventry, who are applying a new technology that should greatly increase the range of medicines that can be delivered by skin patches. This may be particularly suitable for patients where traditional tablets are difficult to administer – such as for very small children or the frail elderly

Round 3 of the Digital Health Technology Catalyst competition is now open. Businesses can apply for:

• a share of £1 million for feasibility studies allowing SMEs to develop new digital technology solutions to healthcare challenges. Find out more about the feasibility studies project.
• a share of £8 million in collaborative industrial research and experimental development projects that develop new digital technology solutions to healthcare challenges. Find out more about the collaborative R&D project.

• Tourists flock to Northern counties to take in the sights and enjoy local attractions
• Overnight stays across the Northern Powerhouse rise by around 5%, while spending increases too
• North East region sees the highest increase in visitors with a 17% increase in the number of trips and a 14% increase in the number of overnight stays

All Northern Powerhouse regions have seen a jump in overnight stays according to new figures out today (28 September 2018).

Overall visitor numbers across the whole region have increased by around 5% in a year. The highest gains in number of trips however, has been witnessed by the North East with over 200,000 more visitors to the area than the year before – a remarkable 17% increase.

According to Visit England, in the 6 months to June 2018 the number of overnight stays in the Northern Powerhouse increased by 4.3% to 33.6 million compared to the same period last year.

People have spent more too – a total of £2.3 billion in fact, an increase on last year’s figures.

The UK has enjoyed one of the hottest summers on record, while data recently published by Visit England shows that 8 out of the 10 most visited cities and towns in England were in the Northern Powerhouse.

Northern Powerhouse Minister, Jake Berry MP, said:

As a proud Northerner, I’m delighted to see that thousands more people are flocking to the North to share in the culture, natural beauty and entertainment attractions.

And it’s quite easy to see why. There’s lots going on for families thanks to investment in landmark seaside attractions like the Spanish City in Whitley Bay and the Blackpool Illuminations in Lancashire, supported by our Coastal Communities Fund.

As people visit the Northern Powerhouse they’re spending billions of pounds too, which means more money for smaller businesses and this protects jobs. I’d encourage more people to visit the North and see for themselves why it’s such a great place to enjoy and do business.

Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon gave the following statement at the 39th session of the UN Human Rights Council on 28 September 2018:

The UN Human Rights Council concluded its 39th session today with important resolutions on Syria, Yemen, Sudan, Burma and a number of other pressing issues.

As I said during my speech at the Council on 17 September, human rights remain under threat around the world. The United Kingdom remains committed to the promotion and protection of human rights and the rules based international system, of which the Human Rights Council is such an important part. It is essential that we work together with other UN member states to ensure accountability for those who violate the rights of their citizens.

While visiting the Council I was delighted to meet High Commissioner Bachelet during her inaugural session. Her extraordinary wealth of knowledge as well as her professional and personal experience will be invaluable in her role – I wish her well.

Burma

I welcome the Council’s establishment of a mechanism to collect and preserve evidence of the human rights atrocities carried out, primarily by the military, in Burma. This resolution, tabled jointly by the OIC and the EU, shows that the international community as a whole is united in its focus on Burma. The mechanism is an important stepping stone on the road to accountability and justice; Burma now needs to show it will cooperate with this mechanism. Burma’s government and military must also show that its Commission of Inquiry will be an impartial, independent and credible process that leads to perpetrators of human rights violations being held to account.

Syria

Turning to Syria, the Council must continue to shine a light on the dire situation there and I welcome the resolution adopted by the Council. The Commission of Inquiry has exposed the ongoing violations of international law, including the regime’s persistent use of chemical weapons, torture and forced displacement. Further steps to protect civilians are urgently needed, and so the agreement between Russia and Turkey to avoid a military offensive in Idlib is encouraging.

Yemen

I am pleased that the mandate of the Yemen Group of Eminent Experts has been renewed, though disappointed that a single consensus resolution was not possible. Given the gravity of the situation in Yemen it is important to give the Group of Eminent Experts more time to fully examine the conflict and to ensure that their conclusions accurately reflect the conduct of all parties in future reporting. It is clear that many incidents and alleged violations, committed by all parties, have not yet been fully documented, particularly those by Houthis in Hodeidah and the rest of Northern Yemen.

Venezuela

Elsewhere, I welcome the Lima Group’s resolution on Venezuela which reflects the deep international concern at the sharply deteriorating social and economic conditions affecting the Venezuelan people.

Sudan, Burundi, Central Africa Republic, Somalia and DRC

I am pleased that the Council renewed the Mandate of the Independent Expert on Sudan and note the Government of Sudan’s commitment to open a fully mandated OHCHR office. I also welcome the renewal of mandates of the Commission of Inquiry on Burundi and the Independent Expert for Central Africa Republic, as well as the Council’s continued focus on the human rights situations in Somalia and Democratic Republic of Congo.

I welcome the work of the Office of the High Commissioner to bring attention to the issue of the safety of journalists, and the strong message sent by the resolution adopted by the Council. States which stifle free speech and prevent or restrict media freedom do not thrive; politically, socially or economically. I condemn the increasing pattern of threats and intimidation of journalists, media workers and all those who want to freely express their views.

The work of the Human Rights Council is vital in bringing states together to protect and promote universal human rights around the world.

The UK Government plays, and will continue to play, an active role at the Council and will continue to support its efforts to hold to account those who perpetrate violations and abuses of human rights.

Further information

• Follow Foreign Office Minister Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on Twitter @tariqahmadbt
• Follow the Foreign Office on Twitter @foreignoffice and Facebook
• Follow the Foreign Office on Instagram, YouTube and LinkedIn

The Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA) is launching a new competition aimed at the private sector and academia, to seek innovative solutions and approaches to accessing, disabling and/or irreversibly destroying chemical and biological weapons munitions, improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and bulk agents on the battlefield.

The competition is aimed an non-traditional defence and security innovators. DASA will be particularly interested to hear from those in allied technology areas such as the oil and gas, mining sectors as well as those which have experience in handling hazardous materials.

With an initial £500,000 to fund multiple proof-of-concept proposals at low Technology Readiness Levels (TRL), it is anticipated that an additional funding of £1.5 million may be available depending on the outcome of the initial funding phase.

It is joint funded by the UK Ministry of Defence and the US Department of Defense, and will operate under an existing memorandum of understanding between both nations.

The competition was formally launched at an event in London on 26 September 2018.

Registration for this event has now closed, however, if you wish to attend please email accelerator@dstl.gov.uk and we will endeavor to add you to the delegates list for the day. Places are limited and we reserve the right to limit attendance if needed. If you are accepted to attend the event, you will be sent full details and an agenda.

Competition Summary Document

Details about the competition can be found here

Any queries regarding this competition, should be sent to accelerator@dstl.gov.uk.