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WBA and IBF world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua will take on WBO title-holder Joseph Parker in front of an 80,000-strong crowd at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium on Saturday evening (31 March).

Fans have been warned to plan their travel in advance, and the Secretary of State for Wales Alun Cairns has been in discussion with the major transport operators to ensure a smooth operation on the night.

Secretary of State for Wales Alun Cairns said:

This is a fantastic event coming to Cardiff, and the city is quickly underlining its credentials as a first-class host for several major sporting events.

However it’s important that fans plan in advance and consider all the travel options before travelling in order to make the most of the experience, and enjoy what our capital city has to offer.

I’d like to thank all those people who put in the extra hours to make sure the extensive travel planning processes that these major events require are in place.

Network Rail is organising full crowd management operations, and travel information has been sent out to all ticket holders. More taxis and night buses have also been arranged to ensure queues are minimised after leaving the event.

GWR and Arriva Trains Wales have been working together to plan services and more services will be provided between Cardiff and Swansea. But fans are warned that the last train to London leaves at 21:25, meaning alternative arrangements should be made by those wishing to return on the night.

A large section of the Bristol rail network will be closed due to planned engineering work to reduce congestion and cut journey times from January 2019. For more information, visit GWR’s website.

A full city centre road closure around the stadium will start at 4pm and the roads are expected to open at 1am the following morning.

For more information on accessing the stadium, road closures and park and ride facilities, visit Cardiff Council’s travel advice page.

ENDS

Innovate UK has announced the opening of a new collaborative competition between the UK and China to develop solutions that address the threat of antimicrobial resistance (AMR).

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) will invest up to £10 million in UK businesses and academia. This will be delivered through Innovate UK. The Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology will invest up to 60 million Renminbi to fund the Chinese partners.

Health Minister Steve Brine said:

This investment cements the UK government’s commitment to combating drug-resistant infections through innovative research and development projects. By operating together, the UK and China will represent a formidable force against one of the most dangerous global crises facing the modern world.

Professor Dame Sally Davies, Chief Medical Officer said:

Drug-resistant infections are already killing hundreds of thousands of people around the world. If we act in isolation against this threat, we will fail.

The opening of this research funding competition is a vital step forward. It builds on critical activities that have and will continue to take place to build UK and Chinese academia and industry partnerships to combat antimicrobial resistance. This competition aims to deliver cutting-edge research and have global benefits, particularly for the world’s most vulnerable.

We must continue to do more, in every sector, and in every country, to stay ahead of this intensifying threat.

Dr Ruth McKernan, Chief Executive of Innovate UK said:

The threat posed by AMR could cause 10 million extra deaths a year and cost the global economy up to £75 trillion by 2050. This is a challenge for the whole world and the partnership with China is an important opportunity to face that threat together.

The aim is to support novel projects that neither country would be able to conduct within the same timeframe without the other’s expertise. These should develop new products or services against AMR where there is a significant threat to human health. Where appropriate, they should include clinical evaluation.

Addressing the threat of drug resistance

It has been estimated that failure to tackle AMR will lead to at least 10 million extra deaths a year by 2050. This would cost the global economy up to $100 trillion US Dollars. A substantial research and innovation effort is needed to address the emergence and spread of antimicrobial resistance, and to speed up the development of new and alternative antimicrobials and supporting technologies.

What is in scope

In this call we will be looking for projects that:

• explore opportunities from traditional Chinese medicine for the treatment or prevention of infectious bacterial diseases in humans or animals
• advance the discovery of new agents to prevent or treat drug-resistant bacterial infection in humans or livestock. New agents could include small molecule drugs, vaccines, antibodies or other biological products
• identify new agents that will increase the feed energy conversion in livestock. This should be done without use of antibiotics or hormones
• use modelling and prospective and retrospective clinical studies to maximise the clinical utility of current antibiotics. Focus especially on those against drug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria. Projects must aim to improve the prognosis of patients with extensively drug-resistant infections
• improve capabilities for the diagnosis, treatment selection and surveillance of bacterial infections and antibacterial resistance

All projects must comply with Official Development Assistance criteria.

Competition information

• this competition will be open 3 April 2018 to 6 June 2018
• to lead a project you need to be a UK-based business of any size. Additionally, there must be at least one academic partner from the UK, one Chinese business and one academic from China in a project team
• projects should last no more than 3 years
• up to £750,000 is on offer per project on the UK side. On the Chinese side, funding of up to 5 million Renminbi will be made available
• you could get up to 70% of your project costs
• there will be a webinar for UK and Chinese bidders to find out more and to meet potential partners

Notes to Editors

• This competition was announced in Summer 2017, following a Memorandum of Understanding between the UK and China signed by the Secretary of State during the high-level people to people dialogue in December 2016. Since then, partnership building activities have been taking place to strengthen connections between UK and Chinese industry and academia
• The UK-China partnership is aimed at scientific innovation which benefits people in low and middle-income countries. It is a project of the UK’s Global AMR Innovation Fund (GAMRIF) and the DHSC Global Health Security Programme
• DHSC in the UK and the Ministry of Science and Technology in China are funding joint projects. The UK will fund UK researchers and China will fund the Chinese researchers. This approach is based upon the Newton Fund model, managed by the UK’s Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, but is a separate project established and funded wholly by DHSC
• The Newton Fund has already demonstrated success that shows the impact these partnerships can have. For example, in November 2015, Professor Tim Walsh (Cardiff University) and his collaborators in China jointly discovered the MCR-1 gene which confers resistance, in humans and animals, to the last-resort antibiotic colistin. The researchers were able to show the transmission pathway (horizontal gene transfer) of this particular resistance gene from pigs to humans. This ultimately led to the Chinese Government banning the use of colistin as a growth promoter in animals in China (effective from April 2017)

Thousands of long-term empty properties across England could be brought back into use as the government introduces new legislation to allow councils across England to charge double the rate of Council Tax on homes left empty for years.

Whilst the number of homes empty for 6 months or longer remains substantially lower than when records began in 2004, councils will be handed powers to levy additional charges on homes standing empty for 2 years or more.

The move is one of a range of measures introduced by the government to fix the country’s broken housing market, and councils will be able to use funds from the premium to keep Council Tax levels down for working families.

Through an ambitious package of long-term reform and targeted investment, the government is ensuring communities have the homes they need.

Local Government Minister, Rishi Sunak, said:

It is simply wrong that, while there are 200,000 long-term empty properties across the country, thousands of families are desperate for a secure place to call home.

This new power will equip councils with the tools they need to encourage owners of long-term empty properties to bring them back into use – and at the same time tackle the harmful effect they have on communities through squatting, vandalism and anti-social behaviour.

There are currently just over 200,000 long-term empty dwellings in England, compared to 300,000 in 2010.

The number has reduced dramatically since 2013, when councils were given powers to charge a 50% premium on Council Tax bills. The vast majority of councils currently apply a 50% premium on long-term empty homes.

Further information

The Rating (Property in Common Occupation) and Council Tax (Empty Dwellings) Bill will be introduced on 28 March 2018.

The number of homes empty for 6 months or longer remains substantially lower than when records began in 2004, when the figure was 318,642. As of October 2017, the number had fallen to 205,293. The lowest number recorded was in October 2016, when there were 200,145.

Councils already have powers and incentives to tackle empty homes. Through the New Homes Bonus scheme introduced in 2011, councils earn the same financial reward for bringing an empty home back into use as for building a new one. And since 2013, councils have been able to charge a 50% premium on the Council Tax bills of owners of homes empty for 2 years or more. 291 out of 326 councils applied an empty homes premium in 2017 to 2018.

The government has published guidance that makes clear that the premium should not be used to penalise owners of homes that are genuinely on the market for rent or sale.

There are exemptions in place for homes that are empty due to the occupant living in armed forces accommodation for job-related purposes, or to annexes being used as part of a main property. Also, the Council Tax system provides statutory exemptions for properties left empty for a specific purpose – for example, when a person goes into care. Councils also have powers to apply discounts in cases where homes are empty due to special circumstances – for example, hardship, fire or flooding.

There is a Council Tax exemption for homes which are empty due to probate.

The Charity Commission has agreed the terms of an independent review of safeguarding at Oxfam GB. The independent review will work closely with and be subject to the supervision of the Commission’s statutory inquiry into the charity.

The external review of Oxfam GB’s governance, management and its policies and practices with regard to safeguarding will be chaired by Kate Gallafent QC. Jim Gamble QPM, CEO of Ineqe Group Limited, an independent company with considerable expertise in safeguarding matters, has been commissioned to conduct the independent review.

The statutory inquiry was opened on 12 February 2018 after the Commission examined documents regarding allegations of misconduct by staff involved in Oxfam GB’s humanitarian response in 2011.

The independent review’s work will include examination of:

• Oxfam GB’s current safeguarding arrangements
• Oxfam GB’s management of safeguarding allegations since 2011
• Oxfam GB’s reporting of all relevant and applicable matters, accurately and to the levels required:
  • as serious incidents to the Commission
  • to law enforcement or other respective agencies in the UK and in other countries where appropriate
  • to statutory funders in the UK and other principal donors

It will also examine the charity’s progress in implementing the requirements of the safeguarding action plan agreed with the Commission in November 2017.

The review will make recommendations to the trustees and the Commission on relevant matters including future safeguarding arrangements for the charity and support Oxfam GB in the delivery of any changes considered necessary.

Harvey Grenville, Head of Investigations and Enforcement at the Charity Commission said:

The public rightly expects charities to operate to high safeguarding standards. The Commission has therefore ensured that the terms of reference of this review have been drafted to guarantee independent scrutiny and rigour. We expect the review to support Oxfam GB in developing its existing action plan to deliver an improved safeguarding framework for the future which meets these standards.

Anyone with information that could be relevant to the inquiry is advised to contact OxfamInquiry@charitycommission.gsi.gov.uk.

The charity’s details can be viewed on the Commission’s online charity search tool.

Notes to Editors:

1. Charity Commission is the independent regulator of charities in England and Wales. To find out more about our work, see our annual report.
2. Search for charities on our online register.
3. Section 46 of the Charities Act 2011 gives the Commission the power to institute inquiries. The opening of an inquiry gives the Commission access to a range of investigative, protective and remedial legal powers.
4. It is the Commission’s policy, after it has concluded an inquiry, to publish a report detailing what issues the inquiry looked at, what actions were undertaken as part of the inquiry and what the outcomes were. In this case, the Commission also plans to issue an interim report in May. Reports of previous inquiries by the Commission are available on GOV.UK.
5. The Commission recently announced a new suite of measures on safeguarding including the establishment of a dedicated safeguarding task force.
6. Jim Gamble QPM is a former Chief Police Officer and was the founding Chief Executive of the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP). Mr Gamble is currently the CEO of specialist safeguarding consultancy INEQE Group and the Independent Chair of the City and Hackney Safeguarding Children Board and Bromley Safeguarding Children Board.

The Queen has approved that Ms Carol Pyrah, may be appointed a Member of the Churches Conservation Trust for a period of three years from 1 April 2018.

Carol Pyrah is currently Assistant Director of Planning at Historic England, formerly English Heritage, where she has spent over two decades in various senior roles. An archaeologist by training, she has had a longstanding interest and involvement in churches and their conservation, ranging from her previous role as founding editor of Church Archaeology (the journal of the Society for Church Archaeology) to being a current member of the Cathedrals Fabric Commission for England.

The Queen has approved the nomination of the Reverend Canon Nicholas Charles Papadopulos, MA, Canon Treasurer of Canterbury Cathedral and Director of Initial Ministerial Education 2 in the Diocese of Canterbury, to be appointed to the Deanery of Salisbury, following the resignation of the Very Reverend June Osborne, BA, on 14 July 2017.

The Reverend Canon Nicholas Papadopulos is aged 51. He studied History at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, and Law at City University, London. He was called to the Bar by the Middle Temple in 1990 and practised at the criminal Bar for seven years. He trained for ministry at Ripon College Cuddesdon, and subsequently studied for his MA at King’s College, London. He served his title as Assistant Curate at St Mark Portsea in the Diocese of Portsmouth from 1999 to 2002. From 2002 to 2007 he was Senior Chaplain and Press Officer to the Bishop of Salisbury, and from 2007 to 2013 Vicar of Pimlico St Peter with Westminster Christ Church (St Peter’s Eaton Square) in the Diocese of London. Since 2013 he has been Canon Treasurer at Canterbury Cathedral and Director of Initial Ministerial Education 2 in the Diocese of Canterbury.