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A Downing Street spokesperson said:

The Prime Minister held a bilateral meeting with President Nicos Anastasiades of Cyprus earlier today.

The President updated the Prime Minister on recent discussions on achieving a settlement in Cyprus. The Prime Minister emphasised our strong support for a comprehensive settlement and said the UK stood ready to play its part.

The Prime Minister thanked President Anastasiades for their backing in the European Council for the strong statement on the recent Salisbury attacks and for their ongoing support as the UK works with its allies to reinforce our collective security.

They agreed on the need to maintain the close relationship on defence and security and the Prime Minister said she looked forward to strengthening this through greater co-operation across a range of activities, including military training and search and rescue.

The Prime Minister thanked President Anastasiades for Cyprus’ engagement in the Brexit talks so far and said she was keen to maintain and enhance the strong relationship between the two countries as we leave the European Union.

They agreed on the importance of reaching an agreement on the legal framework for our Sovereign Base Areas following our exit from the European Union to avoid any negative impact on Cypriots living and working on the bases.

Highways England is responsible for operating, maintaining and improving more than 4,300 miles of motorways and main trunk roads throughout England and is delivering the government’s £15billion Road Investment Strategy.

A chartered accountant, Kathryn will join the Board from today (Tuesday 17 April) for three years.

Highways England chairman Colin Matthews said:

I warmly welcome Kathryn to the Board of Highways England. Her strong financial skills and experience will be extremely valuable as we work to achieve the best possible value for taxpayers’ money from the government’s £15bn investment in England’s strategic road network.

Kathryn has extensive senior level experience in both the public and private sectors. Her career has included roles as independent chairman of the Financial Reporting Advisory Board to HM Treasury and as a project director at the UK Accounting Standards Board (now the Financial Reporting Council), as well as working for many years for an international law firm providing finance, audit and corporate governance advice and expertise to leading FTSE companies.

Kathryn holds other non-executive, trustee and advisory appointments, most notably as a member of the External Audit Committee for the International Monetary Fund, a non-executive director for the UK Supreme Court, a non-executive board member and member of the Audit Committee for Companies House and as a trustee for Royal British Legion Industries.

Kathryn will be paid £25,000 for a minimum of 27 days’ work per annum, with an additional £3,000 for chairing a board committee. The remuneration for non-executive and senior executive posts is published in Highways England’s annual report each year.

General enquiries

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

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

Tim Parker will take up his new position as Chairman of the Board of HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) on 27th April.

The Board is responsible for overseeing the leadership and direction of HMCTS and ensuring that it effectively delivers the aims and objectives set by the Lord Chancellor, the Lord Chief Justice and the Senior President of Tribunals. The Chair provides leadership, vision and direction – ensuring HMCTS is driving forward the Government’s £1 billion reform of courts and tribunals.

Tim will bring a wealth of knowledge and experience in business transformation and is currently chairman of the Post Office, Samsonite and the National Trust. He previously spent time as an economist in the Treasury and was chief executive of Clarks, Kwik-Fit and the AA.

His appointment has been made by the Lord Chancellor, Lord Chief Justice and Senior President of Tribunals.

He will formally take up the post at the end of April, following the retirement of Robert Ayling, who has served as Board Chairman since HMCTS was established in 2011. Robert has overseen the design and implementation of the transformation programme for the courts and tribunals service, which will streamline working practices, update and replace currently outdated technology and provide much improved services for users.

Tim Parker, incoming chairman of the Board of HMCTS, said:

I am delighted to be joining HMCTS and look forward to spearheading its programme of reform – bringing courts and tribunals into the digital age and ensuring they are providing the best service possible for the public.

Lord Chancellor David Gauke said:

Tim’s expertise will be vital as we deliver our reform and modernisation of the courts and tribunals system – making it more convenient, easier to use, and providing better value for the taxpayer. I would like to place on record my sincere thanks to Robert for his outstanding service to HMCTS and the wider justice system through his chairmanship over the past seven years.

The Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales, Lord Burnett of Maldon, and the Senior President of Tribunals, Sir Ernest Ryder, said:

We congratulate Tim Parker on his appointment, and pay tribute to his predecessor, Robert Ayling who chaired the Board and led the organisation with dedication, integrity and skill for the last seven years. Tim takes up the reins at a critical time and we look forward to working closely with him.

As the second largest international donor, the UK has been at the forefront of efforts to reduce the number of cases for many years by investing in treatment, prevention and research, including the fight against the threat of drug resistance.

Today the International Development Secretary Penny Mordaunt announced a £100 million fund to be matched pound for pound by the private sector, which will be used to support priority countries with mosquito nets, indoor sprays and the strengthening of health systems.

International Development Secretary Penny Mordaunt said:

We know malaria still causes one out of ten child deaths in Africa and costs economies billions every year. We also know progress on reducing malaria cases has stalled, which is why it is so important it is one of the focuses of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.

The UK government is a leader in the fight against malaria and has been for many years. We are the second largest international funder in the world and invest in treatment, prevention and research, including fighting against the threat of drug resistance.

Our new commitment will save countless more lives and build a safer, healthier and more prosperous world for us all which is firmly in the UK’s national interest.

Malaria is a major health issue for the Commonwealth, with 90% of Commonwealth citizens living in affected countries.

The UK’s new commitment will distribute 26 million nets and ensure more than five million households in target areas are reached with indoor spraying. This money will save more lives and help build a safer, healthier and more prosperous world for us all, which is firmly in the UK’s national interest.

Heads of government will be urged to make a commitment to halve malaria across the Commonwealth by 2023 at a Malaria Summit tomorrow in London co-hosted by the governments of Rwanda, Swaziland and the UK.

Today the Prime Minister supported the pledge to halve malaria in the next five years and re-affirmed the government’s commitment in 2016 to spend £500 million a year on malaria for five years.
UK aid has helped Nigeria cut the estimated number of people who die from malaria in Nigeria every year by more than half – from 210,000 to 100,000 between 2000 and 2016. This year the Department for International Development will launch a new £50 million programme to push for further malaria control in the country.

The UK is also committing £9.2 million of research funding to develop two new safe and effective malaria treatments. The programme will be led by the Mahidol-Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit (MORU) which is a collaboration of the University of Oxford, Wellcome Trust and Mahidol University, Thailand.

This comes on top of the UK’s leading work in the fight against malaria:

• Since 2011, DFID has distributed 49.7 million long-lasting, insecticide-treated bed nets – saving up to 808,000 lives.
• In September 2016 DFID announced the UK pledge of £1.1 billion to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria over the next three years. In 2016 UK support helped the Global Fund to save 2.2 million lives and avert 50 million new infections from malaria, TB and HIV.
• UK funded research that supported the development of child-friendly malaria drugs has now been used for more than 350 million treatments in malaria-endemic countries.
• The UK also remains committed to its five-year pledge, made in 2016, to spend £500m a year tackling malaria until March 2021.

Notes to editors:

As part of our £500m a year commitment on malaria, today we are announcing a £100 million investment in malaria. This is a match fund which leverages support from the private sector, giving an additional boost to the fight against the disease.

This money will support the Global Fund’s work in priority countries. The Global Fund works in 38 of the 53 Commonwealth countries including Nigeria, Kenya, Malawi and Tanzania.

Tackling malaria not only has a positive impact on improving health services, it also increases economic growth and productivity of affected countries.

Malaria affects economic growth, with the growth rate of the gross domestic product per capita in malaria-endemic countries as much as 1.3 percentage points lower than in countries without malaria.

It can cost as little as £3.25 to avert a case of malaria – with an astonishing return on investment as malaria control brings £36 in social and economic benefits for every pound spent.

DFID supports research on infectious diseases, such as malaria, through the Ross Fund Portfolio. This follows a pledge in 2016 for the department to invest 3% of its budget in high quality, high impact research across all of its policy areas.