Category: Gov Press Releases

The FCO was one of 74 organisations to take part in Mind’s second annual Workplace Wellbeing Index, receiving a Silver accreditation at the awards ceremony last night.

The FCO was recognised for its continuing work and development of wellbeing practices, both in the UK and overseas.

Highlights over the past year include developing a Wellbeing Strategy, first-hand articles from senior leaders, and expanding the network of mental health first aiders.

Mind’s Workplace Wellbeing Index is a benchmark of best policy and practice, celebrating the good work employers are doing to promote and support positive mental health, and providing key recommendations on the specific areas where there is room to improve.

Sir Simon McDonald, FCO Permanent Under-Secretary, said:

FCO staff do phenomenal work around the world, often in difficult circumstances: looking after their health and wellbeing is a priority. I am proud that our commitment to wellbeing has been recognised. I hope the work we are doing will mean that in the future we can aspire to a Gold award.

Emma Mamo, Head of Workplace Wellbeing at Mind, said:

Employers are increasingly acknowledging the importance of tackling stress and supporting the mental wellbeing of the entire workforce, including employees that might be struggling with their mental health. We’re delighted to recognise and celebrate employers making mental health a priority for their organisation through our Workplace Wellbeing Index.

This year, we’ve been overwhelmed to see so much good practice right across the board, from each and every one of the 74 diverse employers to take part. The Awards event provided an opportunity to recognise those forward-thinking employers who are at the cutting edge when it comes to investing in their staff wellbeing, and in turn getting the best outcomes for their business.

Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, will visit the UK today (Wednesday 18 April) as an official guest of government at the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting (CHOGM).

The Indian Prime Minister’s visit comes with a huge boost for the UK economy as a range of new Indian investments worth more than £1 billion will create or safeguard 5,750 British jobs for the economy.

Alongside the investment, the Department for International Trade (DIT) has agreed to forge a new India-UK Trade Partnership which builds on the recommendations that followed the Joint Trade Review (JTR) between the 2 countries earlier this year.

The new partnership will seek to improve the accessibility of trade for businesses in both countries as the UK assumes responsibility for its independent trade policy for the first time in 40 years. Focusing on the 3 key sectors of life sciences, IT and food and drink, the partnership will seek to reduce barriers to trade, making it easier for trade in these sectors to continue to flourish as well as developing an even stronger trading ties.

The UK also intends to recruit a UK cyber security industry expert to be based at the High Commission in New Delhi. Their role would involve sharing British expertise and connecting Indian private and public sector organisations with cutting-edge UK companies who can supply their specific requirements.

Total trade in goods and services between the UK and India was £18 billion in 2017, a 15% increase from 2016. UK exports to India, led by innovative machinery and mechanical appliances, form a large part of this and also increased significantly by 14.9%.

International Trade Secretary, Dr Liam Fox, said:

Removing barriers to trade is a key way in which the UK can capitalise on the predicted growth in world markets and so I’m delighted we have come to this new trade partnership with India.

It is clear that that the opportunities for growth in trade with India are plenty, and as an international economic department we will continue to use tools such as trade missions not only to boost UK exports, but also to help businesses of all sizes forge ties and build cultivate relationships with potential buyers and investors.

The visit of Prime Minister Modi will see the launch of a package of technical assistance to help India climb further up the rankings for ease of doing business, benefitting UK companies and the Indian economy alike. Additionally, the 2 countries have also agreed to strengthen ties between their respective agriculture industries.

Trading relations between the UK and India have received a boost recently after a series of visits and trade missions between the 2 countries. Earlier this year Baroness Fairhead visited Mumbai and Bangalore with a large group of technology businesses to strengthen ties between the industries in the 2 countries. This follows more than 100 UK businesses from different sectors visiting in January and February this year alone.

Further information

Contact the DIT Media and Digital Team on 020 7008 3333.

Follow us: @tradegovuk and gov.uk/dit.

A new UK aid package of support will help eradicate human trafficking and child exploitation in the Commonwealth, as more countries commit to take action to help victims and bring perpetrators to justice.

A new UK aid package of support will help eradicate human trafficking and child exploitation in the Commonwealth, as more countries commit to take action to help victims and bring perpetrators to justice.

This support, from the Department for International Development and the Home Office, will identify vulnerable people most at risk of child labour and strengthen law enforcement responses in a number of Commonwealth countries to crack down on this horrific crime.

UN experts will determine where child labour is taking place, in what form, and map out where the greatest number of victims are. This work will show where we can help the most children and develop targeted plans to prevent and stop child labour, including in businesses and supply chains. They will also focus on communities affected by conflict where there could be a higher risk of exploitation, such as Rohingya families in Bangladesh who have already fled brutal violence and persecution.

The UK will also work in Commonwealth countries such as Sri Lanka and Malawi to build the capacity of police forces and prosecutors to root out human trafficking and rapidly increase the number of convictions to punish the perpetrators. We will boost regional cooperation, train prosecutors, strengthen the protection of victims to encourage them to speak out and help to develop national policing strategies to break the business model of the traffickers.

International Development Secretary, Penny Mordaunt, said:

The UK and the Commonwealth are stepping up to fight one of the greatest injustices of our time – the trafficking and exploitation of vulnerable people by predators.

UK aid is helping to stamp out these evil practices, by smashing the traffickers’ exploitative business model, helping to punish the perpetrators and supporting vulnerable people and victims – who are all too often women and children – to rebuild their lives so they do not fall back into a cycle of abuse.

The Commonwealth is uniting to take on this challenge and our renewed commitment to end exploitation of anyone, anywhere, is vital in a world where over 40 million people are still being forced to live in these barbaric conditions.

Home Secretary, Amber Rudd, said:

Human trafficking, forced labour and child exploitation are cruel and horrendous crimes that no one should suffer.

The UK is leading the world in tackling this form of abuse through the ground-breaking Modern Slavery Act 2015, which ensures victims are identified and supported and provides law enforcement agencies with the tools they need to bring perpetrators to justice.

But this is a global problem which requires a global response, which is why all countries must unite to end this to make these brutal crimes a thing of the past. The UK continues to work with our Commonwealth neighbours to strengthen their response to human trafficking and child exploitation. The funding announced today will play a vital role in helping these countries identify and support the most vulnerable people in their communities, while supporting law enforcement to bring offenders to justice.

The Commonwealth has committed to taking a leading role in the international fight against human trafficking and the UK’s support will have a life-changing impact. At the Commonwealth Heads of Government meetings being held in London, a further eight countries have already joined the global Call to Action to end Forced Labour, Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking, launched by the Prime Minister at the United Nations last year. Over 50 countries around the world have now endorsed the call to action, including more than a third of the Commonwealth, and more are expected to join during the Summit.

The UK is already working closely with Commonwealth countries to end the exploitation of men, women and children. For example in South Asia we are preventing trafficking and forced labour among women migrant workers; in Nigeria we are supporting victims and raising public awareness of the risks of trafficking, whilst improving law enforcement and justice systems to crack down on this crime and root out the perpetrators.

Forced labour and trafficking affects an estimated 40 million people and thrives on desperation, discrimination and inequality in every country of the globe. Women and girls are particularly vulnerable and constitute 71% of all victims – such as in forced labour in the garment sector, sexual exploitation and domestic servitude. The UK’s work is enabling girls and women to make informed choices about their lives, including through access to skills and education.

Today’s package of support totals £5.5 million, delivered by the Home Office and DFID, which includes:

• £3 million to support Commonwealth governments to better identify, analyse and subsequently act upon instances of child labour through gathering information and building capacity to end the practice in Bangladesh, Pakistan and India. Our support will focus on areas affected by conflict where there could be a higher risk of modern slavery in global supply chains and communities like the Rohingya population in Bangladesh. Child labour is prevalent in areas like agriculture, the garment sector, fisheries and construction – raising the risk of products of child labour reaching the UK market.
• £2 million to strengthen law enforcement and justice systems in fighting human trafficking in India, Sri Lanka, Malawi and Zambia. This will develop and implement national policing strategies; raise criminal justice standards on trafficking, and boost the protection of victims.
• £500,000 to support tough new legislation to prevent and tackle human trafficking and forced labour in nine Commonwealth countries including Ghana, Nigeria, Pakistan, Uganda, Bangladesh, Kenya, Malawi, Namibia, and Sri Lanka – and supporting the scrutiny and oversight of the response to human trafficking.

Notes to Editors:

At the United Nations General Assembly in September 2017, the Prime Minister announced that the UK will double its development spending on modern slavery to £150million, enabling more work in collaboration with source and transit countries. The Prime Minister also made a global Call to Action to end Forced Labour, Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking.

The £5.5 million of support announced today is from the Conflict, Security and Stabilisation Fund (CSSF), with DFID and Home Office Official Development Assistance. The CSSF is a Cross Government fund with through which the UK and our international partners are more secure from threats such as terrorism, corruption and illegal migration or trafficking.

The UK’s ongoing work in South Asia includes the Work in Freedom programme to help women at risk of trafficking and forced labour.

The £10.5 million first phase of the programme helped 380,000 women at risk, and an independent evaluation found the project was innovative, highly relevant and delivering results.

A £13 million investment in the second phase of the programme was announced in December 2017, and will help over 350,000 women, including victims of forced domestic work and garment manufacturing and supporting women at their destination to access help if they are exploited.

In Nigeria, both DFID and the Home Office are working to improve the support offered to victims of trafficking, promote alternative, aspirational livelihoods to potential victims of trafficking, and building the capacity of law enforcement to crack down on the crime.

£7 million of DFID support in Nigeria was announced in December 2017 to create job opportunities in sectors including hospitality and technology which could help up to 30,000 women at risk of modern slavery; and strengthen systems that support victims of trafficking, including through improving safe house support and training for counsellors in at least six safe houses.

The Home Office has provided £5 million of support – announced in September 2016 – which will build the capacity of Nigerian law enforcement to crack down on the crime, help investigate prolific traffickers, and provide protection and rehabilitation for victims.

An ambitious new UK-India Tech Partnership is expected to generate significant investment and support the creation of thousands of new jobs across the UK.

Under the Partnership agreed today by Prime Minister Theresa May and Prime Minister Modi, the UK will establish a new UK-India Tech Partnership to identify and pair businesses, venture capital, universities and others to provide access routes to markets for British and Indian entrepreneurs and small and medium enterprises.

It follows on from the success of the UK-Israel Tech Hub which has generated £62 million worth of deals over the past five years, with a potential impact of £600 million for the UK economy.

The most up-to-date figures show the UK exported £358 million of digital services to India in 2015.

Based on these figures, the success of the UK-Israel Tech Hub and the size of the Indian economy, the Government believes this initiative could give the UK economy a significant boost. It is estimated the UK-India Tech Partnership could contribute to an increase of thousands of tech jobs in the UK in the coming years.

Digital Secretary Matt Hancock said:

Our world-leading digital economy is booming, worth more than £116 billion a year and employing more than two million people.

We’re determined to see this incredible success continue, and this ambitious UK-India Tech Partnership will bring together some of the best minds working in tech to unlock its future potential and deliver high-skilled jobs and economic growth in both countries.

The UK will initially invest £1m to pilot the approach and potentially up to a further £13m by 2022.

To build the network the Government will engage in-country experts to work with the British High Commission in New Delhi, the Indian Government and the private sector in order to increase tech investment, exports and research and development.

Smaller regional teams will link specific cities and regions in India and the UK.

The Partnership will encourage innovation and productivity by helping businesses in the UK and India collaborate on emerging technologies, develop mentoring relationships and exchange staff. The regional teams will also ensure the impact is felt across the breadth of both nations’ expansive tech sectors, and that successful approaches adopted in one region can be shared and adopted in others.

Initially the pilot will connect the UK with Pune in Maharashtra, focussing on the Future of Mobility, including low emission and autonomous vehicles, battery storage and vehicle light-weighting. Additional connections will be linked to Bangalore with a focus on augmented and virtual reality, advanced materials and AI.

If it is as successful as expected, the Partnership can be scaled up to bring in more regions of the UK and India which share expertise in the relevant fields.

In parallel, the UK and India’s tech trade associations TechUK and NASSCOM will work together through a new UK-India Tech Alliance, bringing senior tech leaders together to collaborate, help develop policy and encourage innovation.

The UK and India have also committed to holding a second UK-India Tech Summit to build on the 2016 Summit the Prime Minister attended in India. This will bring together leading tech innovators and scientists from both the UK and India to look at pressing issues such as tech governance, including data privacy issues.

The Department for International Trade also intends to recruit a UK cyber security industry expert to be based in New Delhi, to share British expertise and connect Indian private and public sector organisations with cutting-edge UK companies who can supply their specific requirements.

Julian David, CEO of techUK, said:

This is an incredibly important partnership and something tech businesses from both countries have been driving for. The UK and India are leaders in the development and use of digital tech, and there is a huge amount we can learn from each other and big opportunities to join forces in innovation.

India is also a key strategic partner for the UK with world-class digital skills. Deepening our engagement will open up opportunities for business in both countries and help ensure we maximise the benefits of technology for our societies and citizens.

The Partnership will support the Government in tackling the Grand Challenges set out in the UK’s Industrial Strategy, placing the UK at the forefront of the Artificial Intelligence and Data Economy, Clean Growth, and the Future of Mobility in particular.

It will also directly support the delivery of the UK Digital Strategy by giving businesses a direct link to India’s digital sector, positioning the UK as India’s global partner and destination of choice in tech. India already invests significantly in UK tech with close to 30 per cent of Indian companies’ 110,000 employees in the UK working in tech and telecoms.

The UK and India will also commission a joint study as the first step towards establishing a new UK-India Advanced Manufacturing Centre, which would benefit both the UK and India through our extensive supply-chain networks.

The UK has also announced the extension of the Super Priority Visa (SPV) in two further cities in India – Pune and Bangalore. The SPV is a paid-for service which means eligible customers can receive a visa decision within 24 hours. This brings the total number of locations Indian nationals can use the SPV service to five.

In addition to the UK-India Tech Partnership, Prime Minister Theresa May and Prime Minister Modi also confirmed new commercial deals worth £1 billion.

ENDS

Please contact the DCMS press office on 020 7211 2210.

A Downing Street spokesperson said:

This morning the Prime Minister welcomed Prime Minister Modi of India to Downing Street for bilateral talks. The Prime Minister and Prime Minister Modi discussed the chemical weapons attacks in Salisbury and Syria, expressing concern and making clear their opposition to the use of chemical weapons by any party in any circumstances.

The Prime Minister reiterated the UK’s position on Russia’s recent destabilising behaviour, underlined by the attack in Salisbury and the protection provided for the Syrian regime’s repeated use of chemical weapons against its people.

The leaders discussed their shared priorities in the Indo-Pacific and committed to working more closely together to ensure it remained free and open.

They reflected on the progress made on bilateral defence and security cooperation since the Prime Minister’s visit to India in 2016 and the agreement to a number of Defence Capability Partnerships in key strategic areas, with closer military-to-military ties underpinned by a succession of high level visits and exchanges. They agreed to continue working together closely to combat terrorism, radicalisation and online extremism.

They also discussed co-operation between the two countries on legal matters. Mrs May welcomed the return to the UK of the Chennai Six.

The Prime Minister updated Prime Minister Modi on the progress of the UK’s withdrawal from the EU, saying the implementation period agreed in March gives Indian companies and investors the confidence that market access will continue on current terms until the end of 2020.

She reiterated that the UK will remain committed to global free trade and investment and that the UK will remain a leading hub for global finance. Prime Minister Modi said there would be no dilution in the importance of the UK to India post-Brexit. He said the City of London was of great importance to India for accessing the global markets and would remain so.

The two leaders said trade between the UK and India had grown strongly over the last year and Prime Minister Modi said that Brexit offers opportunities to further increase trade ties.

The Prime Ministers welcomed the £1 billion of commercial deals which has been agreed today. They agreed to build on the recommendations of the UK-India Joint Trade Review to reduce barriers to trade, to make it easier to do business in both countries and enable a stronger bilateral trade relationship for the future.

Looking to the future the Prime Minister and Prime Minister Modi discussed the new UK-India Tech Partnership agreed today which will create thousands of jobs and generate significant investment in both our economies. The Prime Minister said the Partnership will be at the core of much that we’ll do together over the next decade.

Finally they looked forward to the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting tomorrow and agreed on the importance of working together to build a more sustainable, prosperous, secure and fairer future for all Commonwealth citizens.

Dr. Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury MP, Honourable Speaker of the Bangladesh Parliament attended as Chief Guest and the event brought together 150 people including the High Commissioners of Malaysia, Brunei, Canada and Sri Lanka, and Acting High Commissioners of Australia and Pakistan, representatives from the university and education sector, NGOs and civil society, medicine, businesses, Bangladeshi Queen’s Young Leaders and Points of Light award winner and the British Council’s Active Citizens.

The lunch celebrated the diversity and achievement of the Commonwealth and this year’s theme of ‘towards a common future’, with themed discussion of education, business and trade, women empowerment and girl’s education, climate change, health and working children.

This lunch was one of a series held across the Commonwealth – launched by the Eden Project in partnership with the UK Government – between 12 March, Commonwealth Day, and 22 April to mark the 2018 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting when Government leaders and representatives and civil society representatives from 53 countries will gather in the UK to work together to address shared global challenges.

British High Commissioner Alison Blake CMG said:

“The idea behind the Big Lunch is a simple one: to bring together friends and partners to celebrate being part of the Commonwealth, to draw on our diversity, our strengths and our shared values and to enjoy a meal in each others’ company. I was delighted that so many of our colleagues and friends and partners joined us. Bring together a group of talented high achievers, committed to working every day to build a safer, more prosperous and fairer world, and you start a series of the discussions and new connections that fire the imagination and turn a simple meal together into something very special.”

The previous day, 17 April, the British High Commissioner hosted an evening reception to celebrate the Birthday of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, at which Khandker Mosharaf Hossain, MP, Hon’ble Minister for Local Government, Rural Development and Co-operatives, was the Chief Guest.

Further Information

About the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting

This week the UK is hosting the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, where leaders from across the Commonwealth are gathering in London and Windsor. With the theme of ‘Towards a Common Future’ they are working to create a more prosperous, secure, sustainable and fair future for the Commonwealth’s 2.4 billion citizens, particularly its young people.

For more information please visit Commonwealth Head of Government Meeting or follow on Twitter @commonwealth18 #OurCommonwealth.

The Eden Project

The Eden Project is an educational charity and social enterprise based in Cornwall, UK, that aims to connect people with one another and the natural world to explore a better future.

The Eden Project Big Lunch takes place this year on Sunday, 3 June.

For updates on the British High Commission and for more information on the Chevening Programme, please follow our social media channels.

The UK’s Counter Proliferation and Arms Control Centre and the Commonwealth Secretariat have agreed a new partnership to strengthen cooperation, coordination and information-sharing on conventional arms control among Commonwealth countries. The Conventional Arms Control in the Commonwealth Initiative will provide unique tools to Commonwealth countries to support national and regional implementation of measures to tackle the illicit arms trade, in line with international obligations and standards.

The Secretary-General of the Commonwealth, Patricia Scotland, commented on the timeliness of the initiative:

Our member countries have expressed the need for assistance to help implement international obligations in relation to arms control, and the Conventional Arms Control in the Commonwealth Initiative will certainly be welcome. Member countries have stressed the devastating consequences of illegal arms trade on development, by prolonging violence and undermining human rights. Cooperation between Commonwealth countries can make an important difference in tackling illicit arms trade.

The Rt Hon Sir Alan Duncan, the Foreign Office Minister with responsibility for defence and international security said:

The effective control of arms is a goal that unites us all because the potential consequences of their misuse are so grave. The UK is committed to playing a leading role in global efforts to regulate the arms trade in order to stop these weapons from falling into the hands of terrorists and criminals, who use them to undermine international peace and security and drive the illegal wildlife trade.

We are delighted to provide nearly half a million pounds to fund this initiative and to join together with other Commonwealth countries in the fight against illicit arms trafficking.

This is in line with one of the four main goals for the Commonwealth Heads of Government summit taking place in the UK this week, to build a more secure future through increased multilateral action and cooperation.

The Conventional Arms Control in the Commonwealth Initiative will be delivered by the Commonwealth Secretariat, in conjunction with the Small Arms Survey, a Geneva based global centre of excellence on small arms and armed violence. It will facilitate the exchange of knowledge and expertise on measures to address the illicit arms trade, take stock of progress achieved in implementing international and regional arms control instruments and provide assistance on legal reform and legislative drafting.

Further information

• Follow the Foreign Office Minister Sir Alan Duncan on Twitter @AlanDuncanMP
• Follow the Foreign Office on Twitter @foreignoffice and Facebook
• Follow the Foreign Office on Instagram, YouTube and LinkedIn

England

In England, the February data shows on average, house prices have risen by 0.2% since January 2018.

The annual price rise of 4.1% takes the average property value to £242,176.

The regional data for England indicates that:

• the North East experienced the greatest monthly price rise, up by 3.1%
• London saw the most significant monthly price fall, down by 2.1%

Price change by region for England

Region	Average price February 2018	Monthly change % since January 2018
East Midlands	£186,071	0.5
East of England	£288,468	-0.4
London	£471,986	-2.1
North East	£128,218	3.1
North West	£158,152	1.6
South East	£322,489	-0.1
South West	£250,816	-1.1
West Midlands	£192,648	2.2
Yorkshire and the Humber	£155,385	-0.1

Repossession sales by volume for England

The lowest number of repossession sales in December 2017 was in the East of England.

The highest number of repossession sales in December 2017 was in the North West.

Repossession sales	December 2017
East Midlands	57
East of England	14
London	27
North East	90
North West	127
South East	48
South West	37
West Midlands	53
Yorkshire and the Humber	78
England	531

Average price by property type for England

Property type	February 2018	February 2017	Difference %
Detached	£368,478	£349,569	5.4
Semi-detached	£224,171	£213,593	5.0
Terraced	£195,406	£186,974	4.5
Flat/maisonette	£225,498	£223,873	0.7
All	£242,176	£232,696	4.1

Funding and buyer status for England

Transaction type	Average price February 2018	Annual price change % since February 2017	Monthly price change % since December 2017
Cash	£228,036	3.9	0.3
Mortgage	£249,299	4.2	0.2
First-time buyer	£203,417	3.7	0.3
Former owner occupier	£274,567	4.4	0.1

Building status for England

Building status*	Average price December 2017	Annual price change % since December 2016	Monthly price change % since November 2017
New build	£307,378	8.5	3.3
Existing resold property	£239,015	4.6	0.5

*Figures for the 2 most recent months are not being published because there are not enough new build transactions to give a meaningful result.

Sales volumes for England

The most up-to-date HM Land Registry sales figures available for England show the number of completed house sales in December 2017 fell by 21.2% to 62,697 compared with 79,605 in December 2016.

Month	Sales 2017	Sales 2016	Difference %
November	69,963	74,097	-5.6
December	62,697	79,605	-21.2

London

London shows, on average, house prices have fallen by 2.1% since January 2018. An annual price fall of 1% takes the average property value to £471,986.

Average price by property type for London

Property type	February 2018	February 2017	Difference %
Detached	£915,162	£887,959	3.1
Semi-detached	£578,708	£563,242	2.7
Terraced	£489,639	£482,631	1.5
Flat/maisonette	£412,902	£427,256	-3.4
All	£471,986	£476,717	-1.0

Funding and buyer status for London

Transaction type	Average price February 2018	Annual price change % since February 2017	Monthly price change % since January 2018
Cash	£494,312	-2.2	-3.2
Mortgage	£465,147	-0.6	-1.7
First-time buyer	£412,482	-1.5	-2.2
Former owner occupier	£533,159	-0.4	-2.0

Building status for London

Building status*	Average price December 2017	Annual price change % since December 2016	Monthly price change % since November 2017
New build	£505,112	5.2	3.1
Existing resold property	£479,296	1.6	0.5

*Figures for the 2 most recent months are not being published because there are not enough new build transactions to give a meaningful result.

Sales volumes for London

The most up-to-date HM Land Registry sales figures available for London show the number of completed house sales in December 2017 fell by 25% to 6,344 compared with 8,460 in December 2016.

Month	Sales 2017	Sales 2016	Difference %
November	6,834	8,178	-16.4
December	6,344	8,460	-25.0

Wales

Wales shows, on average, house prices have fallen by 0.4% since January 2018. An annual price rise of 4.8% takes the average property value to £152,891.

Average price by property type for Wales

Property type	February 2018	February 2017	Difference %
Detached	£232,078	£220,848	5.1
Semi-detached	£146,772	£139,526	5.2
Terraced	£117,459	£112,204	4.7
Flat/maisonette	£111,880	£108,273	3.3
All	£152,891	£145,837	4.8

Funding and buyer status for Wales

Transaction type	Average price February 2018	Annual price change % since February 2017	Monthly price change % since January 2018
Cash	£149,073	4.6	-0.1
Mortgage	£155,154	5.0	-0.5
First-time buyer	£131,805	4.7	-0.3
Former owner occupier	£177,546	5.0	-0.5

Building status for Wales

Building status*	Average price December 2017	Annual price change % since December 2016	Monthly price change % since November 2017
New build	£207,355	8.7	3.0
Existing resold property	£150,326	4.5	0.2

*Figures for the 2 most recent months are not being published because there are not enough new build transactions to give a meaningful result.

Sales volumes for Wales

The most up-to-date HM Land Registry sales figures available for Wales show:

• the number of completed house sales in December 2017 fell by 14.3% to 3,927 compared with 4,581 in December 2016
• there were 50 repossession sales in December 2017

Month	Sales 2017	Sales 2016	Difference %
November	4,112	4,084	0.7
December	3,927	4,581	-14.3

UK house prices grew by 4.4% in the year to February 2018, down from 4.7% in the year to January 2018.

The UK Property Transaction Statistics for February 2018 showed that on a seasonally adjusted basis, the number of transactions on residential properties with a value of £40,000 or greater is 0.7% lower compared to a year ago. Between January 2018 and February 2018, transactions decreased by 0.3%.

Looking at the regional level, the West Midlands showed the highest annual growth, with prices increasing by 7.3% in the year to February 2018. The lowest annual growth was in London, where prices decreased by 1.0% over the year. This is the lowest annual growth in London since September 2009 when it was negative 3.2%. London has shown a general slowdown in its annual growth rate since mid-2016.

See the economic statement.

Notes to editors

1. The UK House Price Index (HPI) is published on the second or third Wednesday of each month with Northern Ireland figures updated quarterly. The March 2018 UK HPI will be published at 9.30am on 23 May 2018. See calendar of release dates.
2. As from April 2018, this release will be published on Wednesdays.
3. We have made some changes to improve the accuracy of the UK HPI. We are not publishing average price and percentage change for new builds and existing resold property as done previously because there are not currently enough new build transactions to provide a reliable result. This means that in this month’s UK HPI reports, new builds and existing resold property are reported in line with the sales volumes currently available.
4. The UK HPI revision period has been extended to 13 months, following a review of the revision policy (see calculating the UK HPI section 4.4). This ensures the data used is more comprehensive.
5. Sales volume data is also available by property status (new build and existing property) and funding status (cash and mortgage) in our downloadable data tables. Transactions involving the creation of a new register, such as new builds, are more complex and require more time to process. Read revisions to the UK HPI data.
6. Revision tables have been introduced for England and Wales within the downloadable data. Tables will be available in csv format. See about the UK HPI for more information.
7. Data for the UK HPI is provided by HM Land Registry, Registers of Scotland, Land & Property Services/Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency and the Valuation Office Agency.
8. The UK HPI is calculated by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and Land & Property Services/Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency. It applies a hedonic regression model that uses the various sources of data on property price, in particular HM Land Registry’s Price Paid Dataset, and attributes to produce estimates of the change in house prices each month. Find out more about the methodology used from the ONS and Northern Ireland Statistics & Research Agency.
9. The UK Property Transaction statistics are taken from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) monthly estimates of the number of residential and non-residential property transactions in the UK and its constituent countries. The number of property transactions in the UK is highly seasonal, with more activity in the summer months and less in the winter. This regular annual pattern can sometimes mask the underlying movements and trends in the data series so HMRC also presents the UK aggregate transaction figures on a seasonally adjusted basis. Adjustments are made for both the time of year and the construction of the calendar, including corrections for the position of Easter and the number of trading days in a particular month.
10. UK HPI seasonally adjusted series are calculated at regional and national levels only. See our data tables.
11. The first estimate for new build average price (April 2016 report) was based on a small sample which can cause volatility. A three-month moving average has been applied to the latest estimate to remove some of this volatility.
12. Work has been taking place since 2014 to develop a single, official HPI that reflects the final transaction price for sales of residential property in the UK. Using the geometric mean, it covers purchases at market value for owner-occupation and buy-to-let, excluding those purchases not at market value (such as re-mortgages), where the ‘price’ represents a valuation.
13. Information on residential property transactions for England and Wales, collected as part of the official registration process, is provided by HM Land Registry for properties that are sold for full market value.
14. The HM Land Registry dataset contains the sale price of the property, the date when the sale was completed, full address details, the type of property (detached, semi-detached, terraced or flat), if it is a newly built property or an established residential building and a variable to indicate if the property has been purchased as a financed transaction (using a mortgage) or as a non-financed transaction (cash purchase).
15. Repossession sales data is based on the number of transactions lodged with HM Land Registry by lenders exercising their power of sale.
16. For England, this is shown as volumes of repossession sales recorded by Government Office Region. For Wales, there is a headline figure for the number of repossession sales recorded in Wales.
17. The data can be downloaded as a .csv file. Repossession sales data prior to April 2016 is not available. Find out more information about repossession sales.
18. Background tables of the raw and cleansed aggregated data, in Excel and CSV formats, are also published monthly although Northern Ireland is on a quarterly basis. They are available for free use and re-use under the Open Government Licence.
19. HM Land Registry’s mission is to guarantee and protect property rights in England and Wales.
20. HM Land Registry is a government department created in 1862. It operates as an executive agency and a trading fund and its running costs are covered by the fees paid by the users of its services. Its ambition is to become the world’s leading land registry for speed, simplicity and an open approach to data.
21. HM Land Registry safeguards land and property ownership worth in excess of £4 trillion, including around £1 trillion of mortgages. The Land Register contains more than 25 million titles showing evidence of ownership for some 85% of the land mass of England and Wales.
22. For further information about HM Land Registry visit www.gov.uk/land-registry.
23. Follow us on Twitter @HMLandRegistry, our blog, LinkedIn and Facebook.

Contact

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.

Media enquiries

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