Category: Gov Press Releases

Commenting on today’s labour market statistics for Scotland, Scottish Secretary David Mundell said:

It is encouraging that Scotland’s unemployment rate has fallen over the year. However, the most recent quarterly snapshot shows an increase of people in Scotland out of work and I urge the Scottish Government to use its considerable powers to strengthen the economy and help create the right conditions for sustained long term employment.

Further information:

• Employment in Scotland decreased by 8,000 over the previous quarter (August-October 2017) and increased by 35,000 over the year to stand at 2,644,000.

• The Scottish employment rate decreased by 0.2 percentage points over the quarter to stand at 74.8%. The rate is below the UK average of 75.3%.

• Unemployment in Scotland increased by 5,000 over the quarter and is down 9,000 over the year. The level now stands at 118,000.

• At 4.3%, the Scots unemployment rate is now in line with that for the UK as a whole (also at 4.3%).

• Economic Activity levels marginally decreased by 4,000 over the quarter and now stands at 2,763,000. The Economic Activity rate is stable over the quarter (0.0 p.p. change) to stand at 78.1%.

The Minister for the Constitution, Chloe Smith, announced the awards in Parliament today, which will recognise national leaders in the area of democratic engagement.

National nominations will be divided into four categories:

• Young Advocate of the Year Award
• Diversity Champion of the Year Award
• Changemaker of the Year Award
• Collaboration of the Year Award

The Awards, held in the 100th year of the first women getting the right to vote, will highlight the work of national leaders in democratic engagement. Anyone may nominate any individual, organisation or group and nominations close on 27 May 2018.

Activities will be held over National Democracy Week and from today, organisations and members of the public will be able to upload their events to the website.

Minister for the Constitution, Chloe Smith MP, said:

The Democracy Awards will recognise outstanding achievements in democratic engagement and the Suffrage Centenary is a great opportunity to highlight the work so many people are doing in this area, often without reward.

I encourage you all to nominate someone who you believe deserves to be recognised for their work in championing or improving society’s relationship with democracy. I am looking forward to celebrating all of the people who are going above and beyond to promote one of our most cherished assets.

Chief Executive of YMCA England & Wales, Denise Hatton said:

Young people have a huge role to play in democracy and it is important that we get them involved as early as possible.

By being involved in events taking place across National Democracy Week, young people can get a taste of the democratic process which will give them the understanding they need to actively participate in society and engage in their local communities.

There are many young people across the country already in leadership roles, engaging and changing the world around them. National Democracy Week will bring together organisations who work all year round to support young people with civic engagement and will act as a focal point for other young people to get involved.

YMCA are proud to be supporting this week and will be running activities across the country, enabling young people to shape their communities and partake in society.

Almost £300 million government investment in Greater Manchester, the West of England and Oxfordshire is set to help deliver thousands of much-needed new homes for local communities, Housing Secretary Sajid Javid announced today (21 March 2018).

Greater Manchester is set to receive £68 million funding to support the Mayor’s ambitious target of delivering 227,200 homes by 2035 and boost economic growth across the Northern Powerhouse.

Government support for the West of England will help to nearly double the number of new homes being delivered historically, increasing from around 4,000 homes to 7,500 homes a year. This will deliver much-needed homes and support the local economy.

Ministers have also approved a housing deal with Oxfordshire worth £215 million that will help deliver a further 100,000 new homes for local people. This follows a similar deal agreed with the West Midlands last week to support the Mayor’s ambitious plan to deliver 215,000 homes across the region.

This latest announcement comes as the government has also announced that Housing Infrastructure Fund bids, from a further 44 areas for projects to help unlock more homes across country, have been shortlisted to the next stage of the competitive process.

A potential £4.1 billion funding will be available for vital infrastructure like roads, bridges, new schools and medical centres, which are needed for new communities.

Housing Secretary Sajid Javid said:

This government is determined to build the homes this country needs. That’s why we’re working with ambitious areas across England and backing them with investment and support.

This new housing investment in Greater Manchester, the West of England and Oxfordshire will help build much-needed homes, giving more people the opportunity to get on the property ladder.

We’re also investing in local infrastructure like schools, roads and hospitals, so that we can help unlock even more new homes in the areas where they’re needed most and build a Britain fit for the future.

Greater Manchester housing package

This funding will support a focus on developing brownfield land for housing and getting more homes built on small sites.

The government package includes:

• £50 million for a Land Fund to help councils in the region to prepare brownfield land for housing development
• taking 4 Housing Infrastructure Fund projects through to the next stage of assessment for funding
• up to £8 million for capacity funding to boost support for housing delivery across the region
• £10.25 million funding to help regenerate the Collyhurst Estate in north Manchester
• new flexibilities on the existing £300 million Housing Investment Fund to allow more homes to be delivered through loans to developers

Mayor of Greater Manchester Combined Authority Andy Burnham said:

I welcome this Housing Deal from government and the £50 million Greater Manchester’s Leaders have secured that will allow us to build on more of Greater Manchester’s brownfield sites.

It brings us closer to our ambitions and is a clear statement of intent as we move towards publishing the rewritten Greater Manchester Spatial Framework.

As we look to build the homes Greater Manchester needs, we must do everything we can to make sure as much brownfield land as possible is made available for development. This is the best way to ensure we minimise the impact on our green spaces.

But this isn’t just about numbers of homes and land for development. I’ve been clear that I want to see more truly affordable homes built and more homes available for social rent across Greater Manchester.

I also want the rewritten Greater Manchester Spatial Framework to specify a date by which all new homes built across Greater Manchester should be net zero carbon. This is all part of my ambition.

West of England housing package

The West of England – covering Bristol, Bath and North East Somerset, South Gloucestershire and North Somerset – is a high housing demand area. Across the region, the average house prices are more than 8 times average incomes, with Bath more than 10 times the average income.

The government’s interim package supports the Mayor’s with ambitious plans to deliver more homes and tackle affordability challenges. It includes:

• £3 million of funding for specialist support to help the region deliver large housing development
• taking 2 Housing Infrastructure Fund projects through to the next stage of assessment for funding
• exploring the potential for a deal with housing associations in the region to deliver more affordable homes

West of England Mayor, Tim Bowles said:

We have worked closely with government to secure this announcement, which will see millions of pounds invested in delivering new homes in the West of England. We know that we need more homes, to buy and rent – homes where they are needed at prices people can afford.

This deal will support us to work with our constituent councils, and North Somerset council, to build homes and communities that are well-connected.

Oxfordshire housing deal

The first completed government housing deal has been confirmed with Oxfordshire’s 6 local authorities – Cherwell, Oxford City, South Oxfordshire, Vale of White Horse, West Oxfordshire, Oxfordshire County Council – and the Local Enterprise Partnership, OxLEP.

The deal, which is worth £215 million, will:

• deliver 100,000 homes by 2031 – which is significantly above the Local Housing Need figure in the draft National Planning Policy Framework – playing a key role in the emerging Cambridge-Milton Keynes-Oxford corridor where the government recognises the need to build up to 1 million new homes in the area by 2050 to maximise its economic potential
• provide £150 million of the funding to build much needed bridges, roundabouts and roads
• deliver more than 1300 affordable homes by dedicating over a quarter of the new funding, £60 million, to support these new homes

Oxfordshire is also home to 3 garden towns and villages – at Bicester, Didcot and Oxfordshire Cotswold – where government has invested almost £4 million to deliver an additional 30,000 homes.

Cllr Bob Price, Chair of the Oxfordshire Growth Board said:

I’m pleased that so many councillors of all parties and from all parts of the county have backed the deal. It represents a comprehensive and integrated approach to addressing Oxfordshire’s severe housing shortage and infrastructure challenges.

It demonstrates the government’s commitment to working with Oxfordshire and recognises the critical role the county will play in driving forward the UK economy post-Brexit, attracting global investment.

The government has said the deal represents a ‘downpayment’ on a pipeline of infrastructure investment for Oxfordshire – and we in the county will work with them to ensure that happens.

Housing Infrastructure Fund

With the government committed to building 300,000 homes a year by the mid-2020s, the £5 billion Housing Infrastructure Fund is part of a comprehensive programme to fix the broken housing market.

Last month, ministers confirmed 133 council-led infrastructure projects that received a total of £866 million funding to support local work that will make housing developments viable and get much-needed homes built quicker.

The latest bids from 44 areas across England are for high-impact infrastructure like key roads, rail links and schools with the potential to deliver over 400,000 homes.

They will now move to the co-development stage, where government officials will work with these areas to further develop their bid and assess the projects. However, not all projects will receive funding after this stage or funding amounts could change to the amount originally bid for.

Without this financial support these projects would struggle to go ahead or take years for work to begin, delaying the homes these communities need.

Together with the government’s Industrial Strategy, this funding will provide high-quality infrastructure to support economic growth.

Successful bids will be announced from autumn 2018 onwards and local authorities would then begin building the necessary infrastructure to help speed up new homes being built.

Further details

See further details on the housing packages.

The Housing Infrastructure Fund is a government capital grant programme to help unlock new homes in areas with the greatest housing demand. Funding is awarded to local authorities on a highly competitive basis.

The £5 billion fund is divided into 2 streams:

• a Marginal Viability Fund – available to all single and lower tier local authorities in England – to provide a piece of infrastructure funding to get additional sites allocated or existing sites unblocked quickly. Bids have a soft cap of £10 million
• a Forward Fund – available to the uppermost tier of local authorities in England – for a small number of strategic and high-impact infrastructure projects. Bids have a soft cap of £250 million

The government will be progressing Forward Funding projects to go through to co-development in the coming weeks, with final funding announced from autumn 2018 onwards. Find more information on the areas being taken forward to co-development.

Highways England has rearranged two consultation events for the A303 Stonehenge scheme, which were hit by severe weather which swept across the South West at the start of the month.

A scheme to upgrade the A303 between Amesbury and Berwick Down includes plans for a 1.9-mile long tunnel past Stonehenge, a free-flowing dual carriageway and a much-needed bypass north of Winterbourne Stoke.

Consultation on the detailed plans launched on 8 February, but the two public information events, at Mere and Salisbury, were impacted by the snow in early March.

The Mere public information event was curtailed early on Thursday, 1 March, due to the weather conditions, and the Salisbury Guildhall event on Saturday, 3 March, was cancelled, also for safety reasons.

Highways England, in consultation with Wiltshire Council, has rescheduled the Mere event, at the Lecture Hall, Salisbury Street, for Friday, 13 April (11am-5pm), and the Salisbury event at The St Paul’s Church Centre, Fisherton Street (SP2 7QW) for Saturday, 14 April (11am-5pm).

As a result, the consultation period has now been extended until Monday, 23 April.

The scheduled public information event at Antrobus House, Amesbury will take place on Friday, 23 March (2pm-8pm), and all feedback received during the consultation period will be considered and help to inform further refinements to the scheme.

For those people unable to make the remaining public information events or for those wanting further information, visit the consultation website.

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.

Close to 1,000 people attended seven public information events throughout February, with a similar number submitting written feedback on the more detailed plans exhibited during consultation.

Consultation on proposals to upgrade and dual the 8-mile section of the A30 closed on 12 March.

The £290 million improvement scheme, part of the Government’s £15 billion Road Investment Strategy, will help to promote economic growth, improve journey times and increase safety by unlocking one of the last major bottlenecks in Cornwall.

During consultation, the public were able to see and submit feedback on the detailed proposals, which include:

• a 70mph high-quality dual carriageway
• a two-level junction at Chiverton Cross and a new roundabout to ensure the free flow of traffic on the A30
• a new partial junction at Chybucca built on two levels with west-facing slip roads to provide access onto the dual carriageway from local routes
• new bridges at Tolgroggan Farm, Pennycomequick Lane and over the Allet to Tresawsen road to provide local access
• a two-level junction at Carland Cross with a new roundabout north of the dual carriageway and re-using the existing roundabout to the south
• keeping the existing A30 as a local route with new sections where necessary to provide continuity and connectivity for local communities
• undertaking construction away from the existing A30 route to ensure continuity during this period

Project manager Josh Hodder said:

The project team are delighted with the response to consultation and the variety of constructive feedback we’ve received – local communities, businesses and organisations have really engaged well with us.

We recognise the strategic importance of improving this section of the A30, we’ve enjoyed sharing our proposals with local stakeholders, businesses and the community.

We were really pleased to meet and engage with the 882 people who attended our seven public events, it really helps inform our decision making on the finer details of the scheme.

Over the next few months, we will be keeping people up to date via our web page and regular newsletters as we continue to work and move forward towards submitting our planning application.

Anyone wishing to receive newsletters can sign up by emailing the project team at A30ChivertonCrosstoCarlandCross@highwaysengland.co.uk or by logging on to the web page.

Following consultation, the scheme will now progress through the formal Planning Act 2008 process later this year.

A planning application will be submitted in late summer/early autumn and on acceptance of this, people will have the opportunity to register with the Planning Inspectorate to have their say.

The cost of developing the scheme is being partly funded by an £8 million contribution from the European Regional Development Fund, with an additional £12 million for the construction phase. The remainder of the cost of developing and delivering the scheme will be funded by central Government.

Subject to statutory approval, construction is planned to start in spring 2020.

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.

The UK-Hong Kong trade and investment relationship can only go from strength to strength Welsh Secretary Alun Cairns will say as he attends a showcase of the best of British innovation in Asia at the GREAT Festival of Innovation in Hong Kong this week (21-24 March).

Organised by the UK Government as part of its GREAT campaign, the festival will show how new technology could change the way we work, learn and play in the future.

It will also provide a fantastic opportunity for the very best British and Asian innovators to create new trade links and strengthen existing relationships with hundreds of international business leaders and investors.

During his visit, Alun Cairns will deliver a keynote speech to an audience of 300 businesses on the important role innovation will have to play in Britain’s future global trading success.

He will also have bilateral meetings with representatives from businesses including BT, Detroit Electrical and Sanpower before hosting a gathering of business representatives from Hong Kong’s St David’s Society.

Alun Cairns, who will join the Secretary of State for International Trade Liam Fox at the Festival, said:

There is no mistaking the importance of Hong Kong to Britain. This remarkable corner of the world is the UK’s second largest trading partner in Asia. And as one of our most important foreign direct investors, it is a partnership that creates thousands of jobs and supports families across the UK.

And it is part of an Asian market that presents so many opportunities for Welsh businesses to grow and to find new customers outside of the EU. I’m looking forward to exploring those opportunities out there, to build on this important relationship and help to create more investment and exporting opportunities for companies from both territories.

Several hundred of the UK’s most creative businesses and institutions will attend, including businesses from Wales – each experiencing a packed programme examining how innovation and technology can be a key influencer in our future trade and investment relationships with Asia.

One of the companies heading to Hong Kong with be Cardiff based IQE – the leading global supplier of advanced semiconductor wafer products and services, and a leading partner in the compound semiconductor cluster backed by the £1.2billion City Deal for the Cardiff Capital Region.

During the Festival, they will have a unique opportunity to meet potential new business partners whilst also further raising its profile across a wider network including government agencies and the investment community.
Joining IQE as part of the travelling Welsh contingent will be Hydro Industries, Snowdonia Cheese company and CS Catapult – each making a significant contribution to the value of Welsh exports which totalled £16.4 billion last year – an increase of 12.3% on the previous year.

Yet Alun Cairns will say that there is huge scope for more Welsh businesses to reach new customers in the wake of EU exit by meeting the huge demand for UK goods and services overseas.

He added:

The GREAT Festival of Innovation will show that the connections that we have around the world can become more varied, become stronger and become more enticing as we leave the EU.

I have no doubt that the next four days will help to open the doors for Welsh businesses looking to seek out opportunities to expand and thrive in international markets.

Wales has some fantastic businesses who have experienced significant success when taking their products around the world. I hope they can be a source of inspiration to others and that this trade mission helps foster new relationships that Welsh businesses can capitalise upon in the future.

ENDS

NOTES TO EDITORS

The GREAT Festival of Innovation

The Great Festival of Innovation Hong Kong will be the third of its kind, following successful events in Istanbul (2014) and Shanghai (2015). Its vision is to create long-term partnerships that drive the future of free trade and prosperity between the UK and Asia.
Several hundred invited delegates will attend the Hong Kong event, which takes place at the Asia Society Hong Kong Centre and will feature more than 60 panels and events over its 4 days. For more information, please visit great.gov.uk/innovation or follow the hashtag #GREATinnovation.

The E-Exporting Programme

DIT’s E-Exporting Programme helps UK companies to accelerate their global growth through e-commerce. The programme provides access to the Selling Online Overseas tool on great.gov.uk. It’s a free-to-use, online service that allows businesses to click, connect, prepare and sell on global marketplaces such as MyMM, Goxip and ttHigo. The tool provides access to discounts and benefits, including reduced commissions and special marketing packages.

The Department for International Trade

The UK’s Department for International Trade (DIT) has overall responsibility for promoting UK trade across the world and attracting foreign investment to our economy. We are a specialised government body with responsibility for negotiating international trade policy, supporting business, as well as delivering an outward-looking trade diplomacy strategy.

The GREAT Campaign

The GREAT Britain campaign is the government’s most ambitious international marketing campaign ever, and showcases the very best of what Britain has to offer. It aims to encourage audiences to visit, study, invest in and do business with the UK, generating jobs and growth at home. The campaign has delivered £2.7 billion of benefit to the UK economy to date, with a further £2.6 billion in the pipeline and has been commended by the National Audit Office.

The Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said:

Nowruz Mubarak to all those celebrating Nowruz in the UK and around the world.

Nowruz marks the start of Spring, and a time when we look forward to the year ahead, coming together with family to celebrate new beginnings, peace and friendship

So, however and wherever you are celebrating, I extend my warmest greetings to you and your loved ones and wish you a very happy New Year!

Nowruz pirouz!

Further information

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