Category: Gov Press Releases

The government’s national housing agency today publishes its latest Land Development and Disposal Plan, which details the nationwide portfolio of sites it plans to market for residential development.

For the first time an interactive map is available alongside the Development and Disposal plan allowing users to identify sites geographically and to view site-level details, including red-line plans, online.

To support its ambitious disposal plans, Homes England will provide improved technical packs and site information as well as a standard Building Lease to ensure a consistent approach across the country. These will incorporate clear approaches to the pace of build-out, Modern Methods of Construction, design and quality of place and tenure mix.

Stephen Kinsella, Executive Director for Land at Homes England, said:

“As part of Homes England’s expanded remit, we will be much more active in the land market, using our increased resources to ramp up the acquisition of land opportunities and developing new ways to partner other government departments to bring forward more sites more quickly. We are ambitious about our disposals for the year ahead so we’re really keen to talk to developers about the opportunities in our latest plan.”

The publication of the Land Development and Disposal Plan follows the news that Homes England is launching a new framework that will help speed up the delivery of new homes, which will be in place in the autumn. The procurement of a new Multidisciplinary and Technical Services Frameworks will broaden the technical and design services available to support Homes England and other public bodies to accelerate the supply of new homes, with the frameworks providing direct access to the professional, technical and design services needed to prepare land for housing development.

Sites listed in the Land Development and Disposal Plan will be disposed of on a competitive basis through Homes England’s Delivery Partner Panel (DPP3), through a private treaty sale, bespoke OJEU process or auction.

Ends

For further media information, contact Patsy Cusworth – patsy.cusworth@homesengland.gov.uk Tel: 079677 2328

Notes to Editors

Homes England is the new housing delivery organisation that has been created to adopt a more commercial approach to respond to the long term housing challenges facing this country. The new, expanded agency will play a far bigger role in investing in supply and intervening in the market to help deliver 300,000 homes a year by the middle of the next decade.

Homes England will act differently from its predecessor, bringing together money, land, expertise and planning and compulsory purchase powers to accelerate the supply of new homes and address affordability issues in areas of highest demand.

For more information visit: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/homes-england.

The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) has identified a new bed bug aggregation pheromone, which acts as a powerful lure. A spin-out company from the LSHTM, Vecotech Ltd, has received a grant of £220,034 to help the commercialisation of a product to detect infestations at an early stage, which would lead to more effective control.

Professor James Logan, of Vecotech and Head of Department of Disease Control at LSHTM, said:

Bed bug control remains one of the most lucrative and growing markets in the pest management industry globally and insect numbers are also reported to be increasing rapidly.

The common bed bug bite can cause reactions ranging from minor irritation to severe allergic hypersensitivity. They are a pest of significant public health importance and a major global economic problem, widely infesting homes, hospitals and dormitories and damaging the hospitality industry through infestation of hotels, cinemas and transport.

There are a few bed bug detection methods and monitoring devices available, but there are no established products with proven reliability and efficacy for detecting low level infestations quickly.

The objective of this project is to develop an effective test prototype of this powerful lure, to be used in a bed bug-specific trap, capable of detecting early stage infestations, that is effective, sensitive, long lasting, safe, affordable and discrete.

Other projects to receive grant funding include West Midlands’ Key Forensic Services Ltd (£599,260), who are developing a desktop DNA sampling system to dramatically speed up crime scene investigation.

Also, Northern Ireland-based Almac Diagnostics Ltd (£500,001) are working on a lab and software solution to improve the success of clinical cancer trials for a range of patients, while Cambridge business Entomics Biosystems Ltd (£571,166) is leading a partnership developing an innovative system to enable insects to become a nutritious and sustainable feed ingredient for the UK poultry market.

In this round, a total of £17.44 million has been allocated by Innovate UK for projects which cover new products, processes or services that have the potential to generate significant positive impact and growth for the UK economy.

Fionnuala Costello, Head of Open Programmes at Innovate UK, said:

All of these projects are tackling issues that affect many people and cover key sectors linked to government’s Industrial Strategy. They have the potential to have a lasting impact.

The overall quality of applications from across the country was of exceptionally high standard and covers a wide range of industries, from digital and creative to biosciences and medicine development, which shows the appetite of UK businesses to innovate and grow.

Through our ongoing funding programme we are supporting hundreds of high-growth businesses, collaborations and industries to innovate and compete in future global markets.

Competition background

Innovate UK’s open competition programme is available to any technology, science, engineering or industrial area and offers individual funding ranging from £25,000 to £2 million for up to 36 months to support innovation at various stages. It is designed to help develop cutting-edge projects at any stage from conceptualisation, through to prototype development and demonstration, with a view to eventual commercialisation.

• infringement levels down 7% points from 2015 for 16 to 24 year olds
• decrease of 5% points in the use of illegal services since 2013

While overall levels of piracy remain the same compared to 2017, there has been a drop in illegal activity by some groups. This is especially true amongst young consumers, with over half of 16 to 24 year olds now paying to access at least one subscription service.

The latest figures, from the Online Copyright Infringement (OCI) tracker, are published on British IP Day. The annual tracker measures the level of online copyright infringement in the UK. The UK has led the way in measuring online copyright infringement in this way with Australia, and more recently Canada, using the same method.

Sam Gyimah, Minister for IP, launched the report at the Alliance for IP British IP Day event. He said:

The variety of legitimate services now available to consumers is extraordinary and our world-leading creative industries have made great strides in meeting the demands of viewers and fans, so there really is no excuse for the ongoing use of illegal services.

Today’s findings are a positive step forward in stamping out online copyright infringement, but we cannot afford to be complacent. We are committed to tackling piracy and helping this vibrant sector go from strength to strength through our Creative Industries Sector Deal, a major part of our modern Industrial Strategy.

Key findings from the OCI tracker include:

• the UK has a lower overall infringement rate (25% of online content consumers) than both Canada (26%) and Australia (38%)
• levels of infringement varied by content type. TV programmes recorded the highest levels of infringement (23% amongst consumers of TV), with music (18%) and films (19%). Whereas infringement of software has decreased from 26% in 2017 to 20% this year. Infringement of sports content was 21%
• an increase in the share of consumers citing convenience, quality and fears of viruses/malware/spyware as reasons for choosing paid for services over free services
• 65% of those who consumed any of the six key content types during the past three months paid for at least some of it (an increase from 60% in 2017), this is partly due to increased spend on subscription services
• amongst infringers there was a decline in the use of BitTorrent software (from 11% of infringers in 2017 to 7% this year), while the use of Kodi remained relatively unchanged (used by 12% of infringers)

Eddy Leviten, Director General of the Alliance for Intellectual Property, added:

British IP Day is a celebration of the creativity that brings great products, brands, design and content to consumers worldwide. Today we are taking that message to Parliament and ensuring that MPs across the political spectrum understand the need to protect IP and support creators of all kinds.

The OCI Tracker is a valuable measure of progress in the UK in the use of legitimate content services but piracy levels remain at one quarter of the population, which is still far too high.

The Alliance and its members are active participants in the Sector Deal roundtables which can help to drive down piracy and counterfeiting and allow genuine content and goods to flourish. We look forward to working collaboratively to achieve concrete results.”

Temporary Detective Chief Inspector Nick Court of the City of London Police’s Intellectual Property Crime Department (PIPCU) said:

It is encouraging to hear that consumers are favouring subscription streaming services and that illegal streaming is becoming less attractive, especially to the young.

Digital piracy is a problem that has a number of risks associated with it, including enabling children to watch inappropriate content, and we continue to encourage people to use legitimate services in order to avoid falling victim to such risks.

We are hopeful that the younger consumers who are using these legitimate services will lead the way in encouraging all users to do the same.

The government is taking action to tackle online copyright infringement through a range of activities:

• joint funding with DCMS for the Creative Content UK campaign, Get it Right from a Genuine Site
• IPO funding of over £7.5 million for the Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit
• continuing to work with search engines and copyright owners to ensure that copyright infringing websites are removed from the front page of search results.
• worked with Industry to fund a campaign fronted by Crime Stoppers to raise awareness of the risks involved in using illicit streaming devices
• made commitments through the Industrial Strategy Creative Industry Sector Deal
• launched a new series of Nancy & the Meerkats to encourage children to think about ownership of IP, whether music, video or information on the web
• in a unique partnership with UK Music, launched Music Inc in 2013, an app to give gamers an insight into the modern music industry as well as education them on aspects of copyright
• in 2015 launched crackingideas.com a portal for free IP and copyright education resources from the IPO and industry including the Industry Trust, UK Music and ALCS

Note to editors

1. The UK survey was funded by the UK Intellectual Property Office (IPO) and was undertaken by Kantar Media.
   The survey was conducted between March and May 2018.
2. It’s the eighth wave of a large-scale consumer tracking study into the extent of online copyright infringement, as well as wide digital behaviours and attitudes, among people ages 12+ in the UK.

A blueprint for a sustainable and profitable fishing industry that will regenerate coastal communities and support future generations of fishermen will be set out today.

Outside the EU, the UK will be an independent coastal state and will regain control of our waters and natural resources, as well as the flexibility to negotiate with other countries and ensure stocks are fished sustainably.

The Fisheries White Paper – ‘Sustainable Fisheries for Future Generations’ – will chart our course for managing fisheries after Brexit. It will outline how powers to be proposed in the Fisheries Bill, which will be introduced in this session of Parliament, will give the UK full control of its waters and the ability to set fishing opportunities such as quota.

In particular the paper will set out how, as an independent coastal state, the UK will have the opportunity to move towards a fairer share of fishing opportunities – overhauling the current system where UK fishermen have received a poor deal that is based on fishing patterns from the 1970s. EU Member States currently land around eight times as much fish in UK waters than the UK does in EU Member States’ waters.

It will also propose a suite of measures to improve the sustainability of the fishing industry, supporting the next generation of fishermen while protecting our precious marine environment.

Prime Minister Theresa May said:

As an island nation our fishing industry is the lifeblood of coastal communities around the UK.

I have been clear that when we leave the EU we will take back control of our waters, while ensuring we don’t see our fishermen unfairly denied access to other waters.

The plans set out today demonstrate the bright future in store as we build UK fishing industry for future generations by putting the importance of a healthy marine environment at its heart.

Environment Secretary Michael Gove said:

Leaving the EU creates a sea of opportunity for our fishing industry. Outside the Common Fisheries Policy we can take back control of our waters and revitalise our coastal communities.

We will be able to put in place our own systems, becoming a world leader in managing our resources while protecting the marine environment.

We will work closely with everyone who has an interest in this important industry to make the most of this historic opportunity.

While the UK will continue to abide by Common Fisheries Policy rules during the implementation period, from 2020 we will be negotiating access to waters and fishing opportunities as an independent coastal state.

The white paper will set out a number of methods to explore fairer allocation of fishing opportunities, such as zonal attachment – which is based on distribution of fish stocks, rather than historical data.

Sitting at the heart of the white paper will be the UK government’s commitment to sustainable fisheries, including ending the wasteful discarding of fish and making clear vessels will only be allowed to fish in our waters if they adhere to our high sustainability standards.

The paper will also commit to publishing an annual statement setting out the health of fish stocks and based on the latest scientific evidence. If stocks are struggling, the four UK fisheries Administrations will work together to put in place a comprehensive recovery plan to restore them to healthy levels.

Likewise, the paper will outline a new approach to tackling ‘choke species’– one of the biggest challenges facing the fishing sector and which occurs when fishermen have used up their quota for a specific stock. As fishermen cannot target a certain area for risk of accidentally catching the exhausted stock, they either have to stop fishing or risk breaking the law if they land the extra stock.

The white paper will propose two new approaches in England: a reserve of quota that could be used to offset choke species, coupled with a new scheme to help fishermen unable to find quota to set against their catch.

And, as set out in its 25 Year Environment Plan, the government will pursue an ecosystem approach to fisheries management that will minimise impacts on non-commercial species and the marine environment.

Barrie Deas, CEO of the National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisation, said:

Today the Government has presented a broad vision for post-Brexit fisheries that is clear and cogent – and importantly, is aligned with international law. I am sure that it will attract wide support across the industry and Parliament.

Outside the EU, the UK will be an independent coastal state and this will provide the basis to rebalance quota shares and implement effective and adaptive management measures for our fisheries.

We are pleased a partnership with the fishing industry is at the heart of the Government’s approach. There is much to do and we look forward to working within this framework of cooperation.

Scottish Fishermen’s Federation Chief Executive Bertie Armstrong said:

The white paper enshrines the important elements that we have been arguing for to forge a sustainable future for our industry: allowing the UK to become an independent coastal state, to take charge of who catches what where and to resist any and all attempts to link access to our waters to access to EU markets.

Of course, there is a long way to go, and we now need our governments to show real backbone in the Brexit negotiations to ensure that these aspirations become reality.

Our approach will benefit the whole of the UK. The UK government will continue to work with the Devolved Administrations to develop a new UK framework for fisheries management, which will maximise their power to manage their fisheries while maintaining the overall coherence of the UK’s approach. It will also ensure compliance with international obligations to manage our shared resources sustainably.

We do not yet know the outcome of the UK’s negotiations to withdraw from the EU or on a future economic partnership, and the white paper will be clear that market access for fisheries products is separate to the question of fishing opportunities and access to waters.
Access to waters and fishing opportunities will be negotiated on an annual basis. This is consistent with the approach to fisheries taken by other coastal states including Norway.

Interested parties will now be invited to share their views on proposals outlined in the white paper during a 10 week consultation.

The UK is backing the World Health Organisation’s (WHO’s) Regional Preparedness Plan to support nine countries at high risk of receiving cases of Ebola from their neighbour, the Democratic Republic Congo (DRC).

UK aid’s £1.5m of support will enable WHO to support countries with prevention, detection and containment of Ebola and other deadly diseases. It will also help important work being done at the community level, such as working with traditional healers, health workers and religious leaders around issues including safe and dignified burials. This will lead to an increased number of referrals of those with symptoms in harder to reach areas.

This new funding will help stop the immediate spread of the current DRC outbreak as well as build longer term resilience and follows significant support already committed by the International Development Secretary Penny Mordaunt in May. To date, the UK response has helped to stabilise the outbreak, but the threat of it spreading to other countries remains.

Minister for Africa, Harriett Baldwin said:

The UK continues to act decisively to stop this outbreak of Ebola, an horrific contagious disease which has the potential to cause devastating loss of life.

By supporting the WHO’s Regional Preparedness Plan, UK aid will help to scale up preparedness to ensure sustainability. We are not just waiting for the next outbreak to come along, but are actively working in partnership around the world to strengthen health systems. This is keeping us all safe from current and future global health emergencies.

The UK has the resources and know-how to help contain the spread of epidemics, but there is still work to do. Outbreaks are inevitable but epidemics are preventable.

Dr Ibrahima-Soce Fall, WHO Regional Emergencies Director, said:

Investing in preparedness is crucial to keep the world safe from Ebola. WHO is grateful for this additional funding from UK aid, which will support nine countries to better prevent, detect and respond to this deadly virus.

The UK continues to be a global leader in the fight against deadly diseases like Ebola and support to WHO reform in Africa has helped bring about a swifter and better-coordinated response to the outbreak in the DRC, a sharp contrast to the 2014 Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone.

Notes to Editors

• WHO’s Regional Preparedness and Readiness Plan aims to fill gaps identified by recent assessments. The estimated budget for the plan (June 2018 – February 2019) is US$15.5m over nine months. The plan is divided into two phases of priority actions. Phase I will be implemented in the next three months and will bolster operational readiness should there be any importation of Ebola cases. Phase II will look at the scale up of preparedness actions to ensure sustainability over the longer term.
• This £1.5 million of new funding support is taken from DFID’s Crisis Reserve, and is being provided immediately to the World Health Organisation’s response plan for at least the next three months.
• It comes after a previous £5 million support was provided to the World Health Organisation’s response plan in May 2018.
• The Crisis Reserve funding is in addition to £1 million which DFID made available from its joint research initiative on epidemic preparedness with Wellcome. Wellcome has also made a further £2 million available to deal with the Ebola outbreak, which is being used to help roll out the vaccine campaign.
• The UK’s response to Ebola in 2014 represented a great success in preventing the spread of a killer disease that threatened to reach 1.4 million cases. However, it came at significant cost to the UK taxpayer and African economies which lost at least $1.6 billion. Following previous DFID programmes (Regional Preparedness Programme and the Regional Malaria Programme, notably) the new Tackling Deadly Diseases in Africa Programme (TDDAP) aims to save lives and reduce the impact of disease outbreaks on African populations. This includes support to the reform of WHO in the Africa region, where it is already showing progress through swifter, better-coordinated outbreak responses in the DRC and Madagascar.
• Investing in health systems early is important and good value for money, because it enhances the world’s ability to prevent epidemics, rather than reacting to the next crisis. Evidence suggests that for every £1 invested in preparation a £2 return can be achieved in terms of savings on future spending and investments.
• Public Health England has assessed the risk of this outbreak to the UK as negligible to very low.

On Tuesday 3 July, the Government announced that Zac Goldsmith MP will play a key role in the preparations for an international conference about the illegal wildlife trade.

As Champion for the Illegal Wildlife Trade Conference being hosted in London in October, Mr Goldsmith will help bring together global leaders, the private sector and wildlife experts in the fight against the illegal wildlife trade, building support and partnerships among external stakeholders before the conference.

Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said:

The London conference is a once in a generation opportunity to produce a seismic shift in global attitudes to better protect the world’s most iconic species from the threat of extinction.

Zac has the extensive knowledge of, and passion for, environmental issues to make the London Illegal Wildlife Conference 2018 in October as ambitious and successful as possible.

Environment Secretary Michael Gove said:

We are introducing one of the world’s toughest bans on ivory sales and showing global leadership through international funding for enforcement projects.

But wildlife crime does not respect borders. We must share skills and expertise worldwide. That’s why the London conference will be crucial in tackling international issues that allow the vile and illegal trade in wildlife to continue.

Zac will bring tremendous energy and drive to this new role. Through his extensive knowledge and experience of working with international environmental groups I am sure he will help to make the conference a huge success.

International Development Secretary Penny Mordaunt said:

Protecting endangered species and tackling the criminal activity that threatens them also delivers opportunities for people to be lifted out of poverty.

The British public care deeply about this issue, and UK aid is working to eradicate the trade in illegal wildlife which fuels corruption and insecurity. This is a win for developing countries, a win for the UK and a win for our planet.

Zac Goldsmith MP said:

The illegal wildlife trade is not only taking countless species to the brink of extinction, it is a serious organised crime and fuels some of the world’s worst organisations. The UK has led global efforts to tackle it, but the problem continues to grow and now is the time for us to significantly step up our efforts. I am thrilled to have been asked to play a part in making that happen.

The Illegal Wildlife Trade is a serious criminal industry, estimated to be worth between £7bn and £17bn a year.

The UK government has committed £26 million to tackle the Illegal Wildlife Trade. This includes around £14 million through the joint DFID/Defra Illegal Wildlife Trade Challenge Fund. The fund has been allocated to 47 projects since 2015 and demonstrates the UK Government’s commitment to tackling the wider illegal trade in wildlife. Projects that have received support encourage the development of sustainable livelihoods, strengthening law enforcement, ensuring effective legal frameworks and reducing demand for products made from illegal flora and fauna.

Mr Goldsmith has campaigned for many years on issues related to animal welfare through the Ecologist Magazine, which he edited for a decade, and as an MP since 2010. He is a member of the Environment Audit Committee and during his political career animal welfare has been a strong focus for him.

The Illegal Wildlife Trade Conference will be co-hosted by the FCO, Defra and DFID between 11-12 October.

Further information

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

The Secretary of State for Communities the Rt Hon James Brokenshire MP today (3 July 2018) confirmed he is picking up the baton as new Ministerial Champion to drive forward the government’s ambitious plans to fire up the Midlands as an engine for growth in the UK.

A thriving Midlands region is essential to building an economy which works for everyone and the government is playing its part in supporting the Midlands Engine Partnership achieve their ambition of growing the Midlands economy by £54 billion by 2030 to make the Midlands an even better place to live, work, study and do business.

With Coventry named UK City of Culture for 2021 and Birmingham announced as the hosts of the 2022 Commonwealth Games, the Midlands is playing it’s role on the national and international stage.

The Secretary of State for Communities the Rt Hon James Brokenshire MP said:

The economic success of every region of the UK is vital to the success of our country as a whole and this is going to be more important than ever once we leave the European Union.

I am delighted to be the new Ministerial Champion for the Midlands Engine and to act as its advocate across government.

I look forward to working in partnership with Sir John Peace, Chair of the Midlands Engine, to drive forward the government’s plans to fire up the Midlands Engine to improve opportunities and quality of life across the region and to build an economy which works for everyone.

The announcement came as the Secretary of State spoke at the annual Local Government Association conference held in Birmingham.

Following this he also visited important Midlands Engine projects including unveiling plans with Birmingham City University for the site of the second phase of a new innovation centre – the STEAMHouse building – which has received £15 million of government funding.

The Secretary of State also visited the proposed site of the new HS2 station at Curzon Street. This follows the Secretary of State’s visit to Ibstock in Leicestershire last week to see first-hand how Ibstock Brick Ltd are supporting government’s housing programme.

Sir John Peace, Midlands Engine Chairman, said:

I am delighted that the Secretary of State for Communities has been appointed Ministerial Champion for the Midlands Engine. He is already an enthusiastic supporter of our region and I look forward to working with him in the coming months to continue making our region a great place to live, learn and to run a business.

There is no doubt that the Midlands is at the heart of the UK’s growth. The region is benefitting from the biggest increases in exports of any UK region and record levels of foreign direct investment – with 243 projects delivering over 13,000 new jobs in the last year alone.

The Midlands Engine Investment Fund together with the Barclays Midlands Growth Fund are making over £600 million available to the SME sector, creating jobs and helping realise our region’s potential through enterprise.

We are in the vanguard of innovation across many forward-thinking sectors from digital connectivity, advanced manufacturing and engineering to the life sciences, clean energy and battery technologies. And, we are poised to cement our position as the UK’s transport hub with the arrival of HS2.

Further information

The Midlands has a £227 billion economy, generating over 13% of the UK’s Gross Value Added (GVA).

The Midlands is home to over 820,600 businesses.

In 2017, the Midlands accounted for a 22.2% share of all of England’s total exports.

On 9 March 2017 the government published the Midlands Engine Strategy including:

• Midlands LEPs awarded £392 million for local growth projects, bringing the total Growth Deal Funding for the Midlands to nearly £1.9 billion.
• A flagship £20 million Midlands Skills Challenge to improve skills across the Midlands.
• £4 million to support the Midlands Engine Partnership.

On 22 September 2017, the Midlands Engine Partnership published their Vision for Growth, in response to the government’s strategy. It sets out their vision and priorities for growth to create a Midlands Engine which powers the UK economy and competes on a world stage. We continue to work with the Partnership to turn this vision into action.

• consultation will look to make process of obtaining new birth certificate less intrusive and bureaucratic for transgender people
• government aims to gather evidence to further advance equality for non-binary and intersex people
• plans will not water down Equality Act protections for single-sex services or for trans people

The government has launched a public consultation on the Gender Recognition Act 2004, on how to make it easier for transgender people to change their legal gender on their birth certificate.

The Prime Minister announced the government’s plan to consult on changes to the Gender Recognition Act in 2017.

The government’s LGBT survey – the largest national survey of its kind, with over 108,000 participants – showed there is considerable misunderstanding about the requirements of applying for a Gender Recognition Certificate, and many trans people find it overly bureaucratic and expensive.

The 16-week consultation, which affects England and Wales, will review the process of acquiring a Gender Recognition Certificate – which is given to people who are legally recognised as being of their new gender – and aim to reduce the time and cost for people applying.

The consultation will look at many aspects of the process of obtaining legal recognition, including the requirements for the transgender person to:

• provide two medical reports, one showing a diagnosis of ‘gender dysphoria’ and the other outlining details of treatment received
• obtain the consent of their spouse if they are married
• demonstrate that they have lived in their acquired gender for at least 2 years
• pay £140

Prime Minister Theresa May said:

Last year I committed to carrying out a consultation on the Gender Recognition Act and I’m pleased to be able to launch that today.

What was very clear from our survey is that transgender people across the UK find the process of legally changing their gender overly bureaucratic and invasive.

I want to see a process that is more streamlined and de-medicalised – because being trans should never be treated as an illness.

Minister for Women and Equalities Penny Mordaunt said:

The discrimination and bigotry that the trans community currently faces is unacceptable in today’s society – we need a culture change.

In response to our national LGBT survey trans people have told us that the current system to legally change their gender isn’t working and they find the process bureaucratic, costly and intrusive.

We want to help people to thrive and to go about their daily life, living in the gender they choose without intrusion or fear of humiliation.

This consultation is a chance for us to change the current system for the better and I look forward to hearing everyone’s views.

The government has been clear that this consultation will not be making any changes to the Equality Act 2010 and the protections within it. The Act states that individuals must not be discriminated against because they are trans, but that single-sex services such as domestic abuse refuges can provide services in a different way, or exclude a transgender person from the service, if this is proportionate and justified.

The government has not yet taken any decisions and responses to the consultation will be considered very carefully before making any.

Government figures show the number of people who have successfully obtained a Gender Recognition Certificate (4,910) since the legislation came into effect is far fewer than the estimated size of the trans population in the UK.

In recent years, we have made progress in tackling the barriers that transgender people face within the UK. We have:

• introduced a £3m project to help tackle transphobic bullying in schools
• put more money into NHS Gender Identity Services
• conducted one of the largest national surveys of LGBT people in the world, receiving over 14,000 responses from trans and non-binary people

Cara English, Policy Engagement Officer at trans charity Gendered Intelligence, said:

Gendered Intelligence welcomes the government’s plans to make it less difficult to change legal gender. Meaningful reforms to the Gender Recognition Act are desperately needed if we’re going to make the process easier, less bureaucratic and exclusionary for trans and non-binary people.

It’s encouraging to see the government take the needs of LGBTQI people seriously, recognising that the GRA needs to be reformed to make it more transparent for those who need to access it. This consultation is all about highlighting the lived experiences and needs of people disenfranchised from the current GRA and giving value to their voices.

Notes to editors

• the Equality Act allows providers to offer single-sex services that exclude trans people so long as it is proportionate to do so and it achieves a legitimate aim. An example of a single-sex service might be a domestic violence refuge for women. The government is aware of many refuge services that are fully trans inclusive, and allow trans women entry, but is also equally aware of services that may, in some circumstances, choose to exclude trans women and instead refer them on to a different service – this is lawful provided it is adequately justified
• the legal recognition process is separate from the pathway that trans people follow to obtain medical treatment that they may wish to have, such as hormones or surgery
• the government will consider the results of the consultation carefully before making any decision on how to reform the GRA. We are not necessarily proposing self-declaration of gender
• we are examining what safeguards could be needed as part of any new legal gender recognition system, and will work closely with the Ministry of Justice to understand the issues specific to prisoners
• we are not proposing to lower the minimum age limit for legal gender recognition below the current age of 18

The International Trade Secretary, Dr Liam Fox MP, met US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross in London on Monday (2 July). They had a constructive conversation ahead of the next meeting of the UK-US trade and investment working group later this summer.

They discussed the importance of long-term, stable, reciprocal economic investment and how this underpins broader stability.

They also discussed areas where trade between the 2 countries could be strengthened ahead of the UK’s exit from the EU. The International Trade Secretary reiterated the need for a global response to issues like production and demand, and highlighted the importance of UK exports to US businesses and security.

The International Trade Secretary and US Commerce Secretary discussed the recent US decision to impose tariffs and Dr Fox expressed a need for a swift resolution to securing product exemptions for UK businesses affected by the recent US tariffs.

Media enquiries

• Contact the DIT Media Team on 020 7215 2000 or email newsdesk@trade.gov.uk
• Follow us on Twitter

Homes England has today announced strategic partnerships with eight ambitious housing associations to deliver more affordable homes across the country.

The first wave of this new partnership approach will deliver 14,280 additional affordable homes by March 2022. The deals include homes for social rent in areas of high affordability pressure, with the funding available boosted by the Government’s announcement of an additional £1.67bn for the £9bn affordable homes programme. This new approach will also boost the wider supply contribution from the sector, with the eight partners signing up to deliver more than 23,500 additional homes across all tenures, including for market sale.

In total, Homes England will provide a funding package of just under £590m through to March 2022 to support the first wave of strategic partnerships with: emh group; Great Places; Home Group; Hyde; L&Q; Matrix Partnership; Places for People; and Sovereign / Liverty.

Secretary of State for Communities the Rt Hon James Brokenshire MP said:

“There is no mission more urgent than making our housing market work, and we are investing £9bn in building affordable homes.

“This £590m fund we are giving Homes England will help housing associations accelerate the delivery of affordable properties communities need.”

Today’s announcement marks the first step towards a new way of working between Homes England and its partners, adopting a programme approach to delivery, with plans to explore how adopting this approach across Homes England’s land, funding and powers can further generate additional supply. Homes England will also re-open discussions with the sector this summer on a second tranche of strategic partnerships. The national housing agency will also be looking at the lessons learned from the first wave of deals to see what flexibilities can be offered to site-by-site based bids.

The deals come only six months after Homes England CEO Nick Walkley challenged the sector to form a new type of partnership with Government to increase the supply of affordable homes.

Nick Walkley said:

“When we launched Homes England, I called on housing associations to work with us to develop ambitious strategic partnerships that would help them to get on and build significantly more affordable homes than they were previously planning. After a huge amount of hard work, these new deals show our real determination to combine ambition, flexibilities and the full range of our resources to change the way we deliver affordable homes.

“This is a very important day for us but we have no intention to stop here. Over the summer, we will work to expand the eight deals to become even more ambitious while agreeing a second wave of strategic partnerships with other ambitious housing associations. This is a fantastic opportunity for the sector to up its game and get more affordable homes built more quickly.”

A project group comprising the National Housing Federation and the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government was established to understand the barriers to delivery, form a new relationship with Homes England, and design a revised investment framework to increase delivery of new housing supply through new ways of working.

David Orr, Chief Executive of the National Housing Federation, said:

“We are delighted to have worked in close partnership with Homes England on this new approach to investing in affordable housing, which will support housing associations’ vital work to help solve the housing crisis.

“These strategic partnerships give ambitious housing associations the investment and flexibility they need to help increase the supply of new homes. We have been clear for many years that this will be a huge help in increasing delivery, and these partnerships are a testament to housing associations’ determination to build many more new homes.

“We now look forward to working with the Government to make these new flexibilities over grant and tenure more widely available.”

The eight housing associations have all committed to significant increases in their development programmes, in exchange for an additional year’s funding beyond the current spending review settlement and the ability to use their funding flexibly across their development programme in response to the ebb and flow of progress on individual sites. They will also be able to respond to local markets by determining the tenure of affordable homes as they near completion on individual sites, by managing the overall tenure balance through the oversight of a Strategic Partnership Board with Homes England.

Ends

For further media information please contact: Shaun Harley in the Homes England press office on 07989 203272 or shaun.harley@homesengland.gov.uk.

Partnership	Grant	No. of additional affordable starts to March 2022
emh group	£30.5m	748
Great Places	£29.2m	750
Home Group	£85m	2,300
Hyde	£95.4m	1,623
L&Q	£85m	1,724
Matrix Partnership	£77m	2,257
Places for People	£74m	2,603
Sovereign/Liverty	£111.5m	2,275

What the partners are saying

On behalf of the Matrix Partnership, Chris Handy, Chief Executive, Accord Housing Group, said:

“We welcome the new partnership approach which brings significant growth opportunities in affordable housing and wider supply for more than a generation.

“Matrix and its housing association and local authority partners look forward to the opportunity to work with Homes England delivering a high percentage of our ambitious programme through the new Local Homes Offsite manufacturing hub.”

Mark Washer, Chief Executive of Sovereign and Paul Crawford, Chief Executive of Liverty, said:

“This deal, a new way of working of together, has the potential to be a real game changer for many of our communities across the south west, where people can really struggle to afford to rent or to buy a home.

“We have an excellent track record of delivery, and by bringing together the skills and investment of Sovereign, Liverty and Homes England, and working alongside our local authority partners, we’ll be able to build even more homes, more quickly than we could apart.

“Importantly, building the homes ourselves through land-led opportunities, rather than relying on Section 106 agreements, significantly increases the volume of new homes being delivered. We’ll also be supporting other regional associations to access capital grant, again accelerating additional growth and delivery even further.”

David Montague, Chief Executive of L&Q, said:

“We are delighted to have agreed this landmark strategic partnership with Homes England. L&Q is already committed to building 100,000 quality new homes over the next decade, but we are always seeking new ways of working and new partnerships that will enable us to do more.

“Housing associations like L&Q are innovative, ambitious and uniquely positioned to respond to the housing crisis. Homes England has shown that it is ready to support us with investment and partnership working.

“Today is the beginning of a cornerstone relationship that will enable us to deliver more genuinely affordable homes where they are needed, and explore Modern Methods of Construction that will allow us to achieve a step-change in production without compromising on quality.”