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The government’s integrated communities English language programme, set to begin next April, aims to tackle one of the key causes of poor integration, a lack of English language skills.

Councils, charities and other providers will have the opportunity to bid for funding to run new programmes which offer creative ways of teaching English to local residents.

Communities Secretary, the Rt Hon James Brokenshire MP said:

Being able to speak English can transform lives and help people play a full, active role in British life.

No one deserves to miss out on the opportunity to build self-confidence, interact with their neighbours, make friends and gain employment. This fund of up to £6 million will help us build even stronger communities.

Individuals with low levels of English will be able to reach their full potential through a wide range of local services including those provided by charities and other organisations.

The new programme follows on from the government funded community-based English language programme, which has already supported over 73,000 adults over 5 years, specifically focusing on women who are economically inactive.

Case studies of learners who have benefited from the community-based English language programme

Faith Action ‘Creative English’, London

Shagufta has adult children who interpret for her, yet she struggled to bond with her grandchildren. She enrolled for mainstream English for Speakers of Other Languages classes, but found it difficult so stopped attending after 2 or 3 sessions. Since signing up to community-based tuition, she has not missed a single class as she finds the learning activities useful for everyday life. She is now able to teach her 4-year-old granddaughter nursery songs.

Time Bank: Ashiana Project – Talking Together, Birmingham

Razna has been living in Birmingham for 17 years with her husband and 2 children. She avoided travelling more than 300 metres away from her home or visiting the city centre as she feared getting the bus or train. Community-based training provided by local volunteers helped build her confidence to purchase a ticket and travel to the centre. She now uses the train to visit the doctor and take her children to museums.

Talk English Course – Pukar Community Centre, Preston

Fatema couldn’t speak English when she arrived in the UK 3 years ago, and mainly stayed at home as she had not been to school in Afghanistan. The informal Talk English course helped her to settle into a learning environment and develop basic study skills. After building her confidence, Fatema has now moved on to a more advance ESOL course with Lancashire Adult Learning and took her first exam in June.

Further information

With almost 3,500 responses, the government’s Integrated Communities Strategy green paper set out proposals to support people to speak English, including a new community-based English language programme from April 2019. The government will issue its response to the consultation later this year.

At the last Census, around 770,000 people living in England said they spoke little or no English.

Higher proportions of women than men reported they cannot speak English well or at all across most ethnic groups, and overall Bangladeshi and Pakistani ethnic groups have the highest proportions of people aged 16+ who said they cannot speak English well or at all, compared to other ethnic groups.

With just 35% in employment and 59% economically inactive, Pakistani and Bangladeshi women of working age were the least likely to be employed and the most likely to be economically inactive.

International Trade Minister George Hollingbery will today (Wednesday 5 September) urge people across Scotland to take part in four consultations on the UK’s future trading relationships during a meeting with businesses in Edinburgh.

Exports of goods to the US, Australia, New Zealand and the Trans Pacific Partnership countries were worth £6 billion for Scotland last year and accounted for £1 in every £5 of Scottish goods exports.

It is crucial that the Scottish people have their say about how the UK should capitalise on new opportunities to forge trading relationships with the rest of the world as we leave the European Union.

As part of this process, the Minister will today open a roundtable event in Edinburgh in partnership with the Scottish Council for Development and Industry (SCDI) to seek the views of Scottish businesses, business groups and NGOs.

Trade Policy Minister George Hollingbery said:

“For the first time in over 40 years we will be able to determine the terms of our trade. That means new trade agreements with our key partners, as well as putting the UK at the heart of the world’s fastest growing regions such as Asia.

“We are committed to forging new trading relationships that create jobs, boost our vital industries and benefit consumers across the whole of the UK. I am delighted to visit Edinburgh today, urging people across Scotland to seize the opportunities in front of them and make their voices heard. So please visit consultations.trade.gov.uk to take part.

“Now is the time for everyone to get around the table to have a constructive debate that put the needs of the Scottish people first.”

Matt Lancashire, Director of Policy and Public Affairs at SCDI, said:

“SCDI welcomes the opportunity to facilitate this important consultation between the Minister for Trade Policy and our members on Future Trade Agreements.

“It is important that Scottish businesses and civic organisations have the opportunity to input into UK trade priorities for key markets, to support inclusive economic growth across Scotland.

“We will be encouraging our wider membership and key stakeholders to respond to the online consultations to ensure their views are heard.”

Martin Bell, Deputy Director for Trade at the Scotch Whisky Association said:

“Accounting for a fifth of all UK food and drink exports, the Scotch Whisky industry welcomes the opportunity to share our priorities for future UK trade negotiations with these key trading partners.

“We also believe that the UK potentially joining CPTPP would give Scottish exporters access to the benefits of a high quality, ‘state of the art’ trade agreement covering 11 growing economies.

“Commitment to open markets is particularly important at a time when the trade liberalisation that has enabled Scotch to deliver jobs and growth over many years is coming under threat.”

The consultations

Today’s roundtable is the first of 12 consultation roundtables held throughout the UK to seeks views from interested parties as we deliver an approach that works for the whole of the UK.

Members of the public can submit their views as part of the online consultations which are open until 26 October and last for a total of 14 weeks, which is two weeks longer than the European Union’s consultations on new free trade agreements.

Scottish exports

Exports of Scottish goods last year were worth £28.7 billion and grew faster than the rest of the UK, up by 19% on 2016. The export of Scottish services was worth an additional £15.7 billion in 2015, the latest year in which data is available.

More than one fifth of Scottish goods exports – £6 billion worth – are covered by the consultations, with the USA being Scotland’s second biggest market accounting for 12% (£3.4 billion) of goods by value and the CPTPP countries accounting for a further 9% (£2.6 billion) of goods by value.

Notes to editors

• The consultations on the UK’s future trading relationships with the USA, Australia, New Zealand and the CPTPP can be completed online until 26 October: Visit the consultation website
• The Scottish Council for Development and Industry (SCDI) is Scotland’s Economic and Social Forum. They are an independent membership network representing a cross-section of the private, public and social economy sectors with an aim of influencing the agenda to ensure long-term sustainable economic growth and flourishing communities, everywhere in Scotland. Visit the SCDI website @SCDInews

Further information

• Contact the DIT Media Team on 020 7215 2000
• Follow us: @tradegovuk

The independent report produced by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) has today confirmed the assessment of the United Kingdom in identifying the chemical agent responsible for the death of Dawn Sturgess in Amesbury on 8 July. This was a Novichok nerve agent, of the same kind used in the attempted assassinations of Sergei and Yulia Skripal earlier this year.

Analysis carried out by the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL) at Porton Down had previously identified the nerve agent as Novichok.

Chemical weapons experts from the OPCW have twice visited the UK to collect samples for testing after this latest detection of chemical weapons use on the streets of the UK. All the samples returned equally conclusive results.

The Foreign Secretary said:

We are grateful to the OPCW for the independent, expert work in confirming the type of nerve agent used in Amesbury, and once again pay tribute to the high standards set by our world-leading scientists.

The recklessness of the Russian state in bringing a nerve agent in to the UK, and total disregard for the safety of the public, is appalling and irresponsible. Our thoughts are with the family of Dawn Sturgess, and with Charlie Rowley.

This is another reminder of the importance of the international community standing together to uphold the global ban on all use of chemical weapons, and ensure that the rules based international order is respected so we can all keep our citizens safe.

In the interests of transparency, the UK has requested that the OPCW publish the executive summary and share the full report with all state parties of the Chemical Weapons Convention.

The police continue their investigation into the poisonings in Amesbury and Salisbury and we await their further conclusions.

The OPCW Executive Summary can be found here

Further information

• Follow the Foreign Secretary on Twitter @Jeremy_Hunt and Facebook
• Follow the Foreign Office on Twitter @foreignoffice and Facebook
• Follow the Foreign Office on Instagram, YouTube and LinkedIn