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• The money will go towards tackling social issues and help people reach their full potential
• Funding is provided through Social Impact Bonds

People and communities across the country are set to benefit from up to £48 million from the Life Chances Fund, the Minister for Sport and Civil Society announced today.

The money will be distributed to 22 projects including those that boost young people’s employability through work experience, help older people live enriched lives through tailored health plans, and support former drug and alcohol dependent people as they reintegrate into their communities.

Each project will be funded through a Social Impact Bond, meaning external investors will provide up-front funding for projects and get reimbursed by government when projects meet previously agreed targets.

The £48 million is in addition to money from local authorities and other funders who are planning to provide a combined £148.9 million to the successful projects.

Minister for Sport and Civil Society, Tracey Crouch, said:

We are committed to building a fairer society that works for everyone and social impact bonds are already having a transformational impact on people’s lives.

This next round of funding will help make a difference to many more lives and I am looking forward to working alongside local councils to deliver projects and new services that help people reach their full potential.

Examples of the projects that will receive funding are:

Age Concern South Gloucestershire will receive £1,181,570 for its Personalised Integrated Care programme which brings together voluntary, health and social care services to provide personalised support to older people with multiple long term conditions.

Kirklees Council will receive £6,600,000 to support people with vulnerabilities into independent living by addressing and combating issues that affect their health and wellbeing, such as domestic violence or substance misuse.

Staffordshire County Council will receive £3,497,520 for its children’s services, providing therapeutic services and support to looked after children across the West Midlands

The money is the third and final round of funding from the £80 million Life Chances Fund, which opened in July 2016, with the aim of tackling entrenched social issues to help people lead happy and productive lives.

The Big Lottery Fund, the largest funder of community activity in the UK, is delivering the Life Chances fund on behalf of the DCMS.

ENDS

NOTES TO EDITORS

• A Social Impact Bond is an innovative funding model, where a socially-minded investor provides up-front funding to an organisation such as a charity or social enterprise to deliver a service. Once this service achieves results, government will make payments and the social investor will be reimbursed.
• The Life Chances Fund supports local councils and other commissioners to develop social impact bonds and is structured around six key themes: drug and alcohol dependency, children’s services, early years, young people, older people’s services, and healthy lives.
• Full
  list
  (PDF, 87.3KB, 3 pages)
  
  of successful applicants

We, the leaders of France, Germany, the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, reiterate our outrage at the use of a chemical nerve agent, known as Novichok, in Salisbury on 4 March. We welcome the progress made in the investigation into the poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal, and take note of the attempted murder charges brought yesterday against two suspects. We commend the work of the UK Police and all those involved in this investigation.

We also note the UK’s analysis, independently verified by the OPCW, that the exact same chemical nerve agent was used in the poisoning of Dawn Sturgess and Charles Rowley as was used in the poisoning of the Skripals. We urge Russia to provide full disclosure of its Novichok programme to the OPCW. And we encourage those with information about the attack in Salisbury on 4 March, as well as the further poisoning in Amesbury, to come forward to the UK authorities.

We have full confidence in the British assessment that the two suspects were officers from the Russian military intelligence service, also known as the GRU, and that this operation was almost certainly approved at a senior government level. We have already taken action together to disrupt the activities of the GRU through the largest ever collective expulsion of undeclared intelligence officers. Yesterday’s announcement further strengthens our intent to continue to disrupt together the hostile activities of foreign intelligence networks on our territories, uphold the prohibition of chemical weapons, protect our citizens and defend ourselves from all forms of malign state activity directed against us and our societies.

Public Health England (PHE) say the NHS can ensure we all enjoy old age in good health by prioritising the prevention of smoking, cardiovascular disease (CVD) and obesity in the new long-term plan.

Smoking

The NHS long-term plan should commit to achieving a smokefree society by 2030 and a population prevalence of less than 5%.

Smoking should no longer be seen as a lifestyle choice, it is an addiction that warrants medical treatment. Everyone who smokes must be offered the support they need to quit and NHS trusts should be instructed to step up their efforts in establishing a smokefree NHS by 2020.

Reducing smoking rates is the single biggest thing we can do to improve the nation’s health. It will reduce CVD, respiratory conditions and cancer, meaning people can live longer in better health. And it will save the NHS up to £890 million a year.

Since the launch of the tobacco control plan and awareness campaigns like Stoptober smoking rates in England have dropped. We are currently on track to have as few as 8.5% of smokers in England by 2030, but we cannot become complacent. To stagnate or risk even a slight increase will have a profound effect on health.

CVD

CVD is the leading cause of disability and death in the UK. Yet an estimated 50 to 80% of CVD cases are preventable.

PHE says the long-term plan could save 250 to 500 lives each year across England by prioritising the identification of people who are at risk of developing CVD. Better detection and management of high blood pressure, high cholesterol and atrial fibrillation could prevent more than 9,000 heart attacks and at least 14,000 strokes from happening in the next 3 years.

High blood pressure continues to be the biggest single known risk factor for CVD and the third for premature death. It also reinforces health inequalities, with people from the most deprived areas in England 30% more likely to have high blood pressure.

Almost 7 million people have benefitted from the NHS Health Check since 2013. It is one of the biggest prevention programmes in the world and the long-term plan must continue to encourage its uptake and follow-up if we are to reap the benefits. The NHS should also work to normalise the conversations we have about blood pressure, striving for a nation where everyone can recall their blood pressure numbers as easily as their pin number.

’##Obesity

We are facing an obesity crisis. One in 3 children leave primary school overweight or obese and new figures show the levels of severe obesity in children aged 10 to 11 are higher than ever before. The childhood obesity plan has a commitment to halve the rate of childhood obesity by 2030.

The NHS long-term plan should build upon this to target adult obesity. One way to achieve this is by increasing weight management support provided.

Making it routine for people to have their body mass index (BMI) measured and recorded in primary care and pharmacy settings will provide an opportunity for healthcare professionals to give advice, promoting national guidance on diet and physical activity.

The NHS long-term plan should also renew our commitment to the NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme (NDDP). Type 2 diabetes, for which obesity is a key driver, is a major contributor to kidney failure, heart attack, and stroke. It costs the NHS around £8.8 billion every year.

The NDDP currently covers around 100,000 people. PHE wants the long-term plan to build on this success.

Duncan Selbie, chief executive of PHE said:

With the right long-term plan in place we can remove smoking from England, halve childhood obesity and the number of avoidable deaths from cardiovascular disease.

These 3 priorities are where the NHS and PHE should focus efforts. It is not that other priorities won’t matter, but these will need to matter most.

Successful delivery will require action from every part of civil society. We must pull together to use our resources and we must engage the public directly in the choices they are making about their own health and wellbeing.

Our population is aging, living longer in ill health and stubborn inequalities persist. For patients and the sustainability of the NHS we must increase our efforts to prevent illness instead of waiting to treat it.

Speaking at NHS Expo today, Thursday 6 September 2018, Duncan Selbie will say previous plans (such as the Five Year Forward View) have made good progress, but they have not delivered the promised radical upgrade in prevention.

He will call for more decisive action in the new long-term plan, saying there is an urgent need to prevent – not just treat – ill health, and the time has come to be ruthless in our prioritisation and investment in preventative strategies.

Background

Read Duncan Selbie’s blog ‘Prevention and the NHS long-term plan: 3 ways we can save more lives.’

New data published today by UK Government shows that goods exports have risen in Wales and across the UK. The figures show an increase in exports from Wales by 4.2% to £16.6bn, compared to the previous quarter.

Welcoming the positive figures, Secretary of State for Wales Alun Cairns said:

Yet again, Wales is punching above its weight in the global export market, proving that opportunities can also lie in markets outside of the European Union, due to the demand that exists for our products and services.

But there are still many opportunities not being realised, and the UK Government’s new Export Strategy aims to address this. It sets out a UK-wide ambition to raise our exports as a proportion of GDP from 30% to 35%, putting us towards the top of the G7. To achieve this, it proposes a new range of measures to help support Welsh companies on the world stage, giving them the practical, promotional and financial support they need to export.

The positive figures come following Alun Cairns’ recent visit to South Africa where he joined the Prime Minister and a delegation of UK businesses for a key trade and investment mission.

Today, he joins International Trade Secretary Dr Liam Fox MP at the Board of Trade meeting in Coventry where his focus will be on promoting cross border links between Wales and the Midlands Engine.

Today’s meeting follows the announcement that the Board of Trade baton will be passed to Wales later this year where prominent figures from business and politics from all over the UK will convene in Swansea in November to recognise local companies with Board of Trade Awards (BOFTAs). The National Trade Academy Programme will also run a Welsh business showcase.

In Coventry, Dr Fox is set to announce that three new High Potential Opportunities areas – in Leicestershire, Warwickshire and Worcestershire – will be promoted to investors around the world, in an estimated multi-billion pound boost to the UK economy.

The scheme, coordinated by the Department for International Trade, identifies opportunities to attract foreign direct investment into emerging sectors, regions and clusters – creating new jobs and growth in every corner of the UK.

Alun Cairns added:

Through the Board of Trade, the UK Government celebrates exceptional businesses who are making great strides in innovation, creating jobs and strengthening their local economies, whilst championing free trade.

Welsh exports continue to grow year on year, and the Board of Trade will replicate the UK Government support and recognition demonstrated in the Midlands when the meeting arrives in Swansea later this year.

Whilst in Coventry, Dr Fox will also announce a second international trade summer school, to run in summer 2019. This follows the success of this year’s National Trade Academy Programme summer school. Applications will open in February.

Finally, Dr Fox will award nine BOFTAs, or Board of Trade Awards, to Midlands companies for their excellence in international trade, demonstrating innovation, creativity and entrepreneurialism.

Further information:

Export figures

The figures show an increase in exports from all nations of the UK:

• Exports of goods from England increased by 4.3% to £244.8bn;
• In Scotland, goods exports increased by 7% to £28.8bn;
• In Wales, goods exports increased by 4.2% to £16.6bn;
• In Northern Ireland, goods exports increased by 0.8% to £8.5bn;
• Read the HMRC figures in full
• The Export Strategy sets out how the government will support businesses of all sizes to make the most of the opportunities presented by markets around the world.
• It presents a streamlined and targeted offer for businesses of all sizes, set to raise productivity, boost wages and protect employment across the UK.

Board of Trade

The Department for International Trade (DIT) works directly with companies in 60 countries around the world. Last year, DIT supported 1,682 investment projects which created or safeguarded 81,206 jobs in the UK.

The UK Government’s Board of Trade brings together prominent figures from business and politics from each part of the UK, including representatives from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

You can read more about the Board of Trade meeting in Coventry on DIT’s website.

As the Board of Trade meets in Coventry today (Thursday 6 September), International Trade Secretary Dr Liam Fox MP will announce 3 new High Potential Opportunities (HPO) areas.

The Department for International Trade’s (DIT) global network – based in 177 cities around the world – will now contact investors to promote the opportunities and attract top global investment into the Midlands.

The scheme, coordinated by DIT, identifies opportunities to attract foreign direct investment into emerging sectors, regions and clusters – creating new jobs and growth in every corner of the UK.

The recent round of successful HPO bids will see:

• Leamington Spa’s gaming industry in Warwickshire bolstered
• Leicestershire’s leading space sector strengthened through satellite production and earth observation technologies
• greater opportunities for Worcestershire technology companies to increase and innovate their data security capabilities

The High Potential Opportunities Scheme is part of the International Trade Secretary’s drive to secure new investment into the Midlands. Earlier this year, Dr Fox announced more than £30 billion worth of investment-ready projects, of which nearly £11 billion are in the Midlands.

International Trade Secretary and President of the Board of Trade Dr Liam Fox MP said:

The High Potential Opportunities scheme will deliver growth where it is most needed, ensuring that the benefits of global investment are felt in every part of the UK. I am delighted to be able to announce that Warwickshire, Leicestershire and Worcestershire have all been successful in their bids.

My international economic department is very much looking forward to working with local partners, including the Local Enterprise Partnerships, on securing the right investment for these exciting opportunities.

DIT works directly with companies in 60 countries around the world. Last year, DIT supported 1,682 investment projects which created or safeguarded 81,206 jobs in the UK. Of this, 196 investment projects were supported across the Midlands, safeguarding 298 local jobs.

Whilst in Coventry, Dr Fox will also announce a second international trade summer school, to run in summer 2019. This follows the success of this year’s National Trade Academy Programme summer school. Applications will open in February 2019.

Finally, Dr Fox will award 9 Board of Trade Awards (BOFTAs), to Midlands companies for their excellence in international trade, demonstrating innovation, creativity and entrepreneurialism.

The BOFTA winners are:

• innovative clothing company worn by NASA astronauts – Armadillo Merino
• specialist international SEO knowledge provider – Hallam Internet
• medical firm Morningside Pharmaceuticals
• manufacturer of gripping aids the Active Hands Group
• health and beauty business Body Care Brand Development
• crime response service provider Arquebus Solutions
• incinerator manufacturer Addfield Environmental Systems
• forensic, cyber and criminal intelligence company Forensic Pathways
• additive technology firm Addmaster