Category: Press Releases

PRESS RELEASE : Farm payment reforms “represent a handful of lifeboats launched in the face of an oncoming tsunami” [January 2023]

The press release issued by the Green Party on 26 January 2023.

Green Party co-leader Adrian Ramsay responds to the government’s farming payment reform announcement [1].

Adrian Ramsay says:

“The government’s long-delayed replacement for EU farm payments represents an admission of failure.

“Government has failed to grasp the scale of the nature emergency, the climate emergency and the food poverty emergency. These seismic crises threaten the very existence of our farmers and the security of our food supply.

“Never has farming been more important and yet the government has yet again failed to grasp the opportunity to make the radical yet pragmatic reforms that would help the agricultural sector meet its environmental obligations.

“Farming and food produce nearly one-third of greenhouse gases and are the biggest driver of wildlife loss. Rising food prices worsen the cost-of-living catastrophe.

“The Green Party’s joined-up vision would use the billions of pounds we already spend in subsidies to tackle these related crises, and ensure farmers are valued and supported.

“For instance, we would refocus farm subsidies to help farmers transition to more sustainable, diverse and environmentally friendly forms of land use, including organic farming, agroforestry and mixed farming, and away from intensive livestock farming.

“We would provide farmers with grants to allow replacement of old high-emitting carbon farming machinery with low carbon machinery, and we would legislate to give farmers greater security of tenure, so that they can invest in sustainable improvements.

“The government’s national food strategy ignored the recommendations of its own advisers [2] and we ended up with a fragmented and diluted response to the needs of farmers and consumers. Now, after months of unforgivable delay, we have a repeat performance on payments.

“Farmers want to do the right thing for climate and nature – but they need a vision, and they need sensible, targeted support – and that is what is missing. Too many of the small, innovative farmers are already on the brink of bankruptcy.

“Of the 280 measures announced today, there are a few welcome individual steps, but they do not lead to a sustainable future. They represent a handful of lifeboats launched in the face of an oncoming tsunami.”

NOTES:

[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/news/therese-coffey-farmers-central-to-food-production-and-environmental-action

[2] https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/jun/13/food-plan-for-england-condemned-by-its-own-lead-adviser

February 9, 2023
PRESS RELEASE : Green peer seeks to delay new genetic engineering legislation [January 2023]

The press release issued by the Green Party on 25 January 2023.

A Green Party peer has accused the government of using a ‘marketing slogan’ to push genetically modified foods on the public ‘by the back door’.

Natalie Bennett, former Green Party leader and now Green peer, says that the Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Bill [1], which passed through the Commons and is in its final substantive stage in the Lords today, would allow genetically engineered foods to be marketed without labelling. A government consultation showed that 88% of the public and 65% of businesses were against the proposals.

Natalie is offering a last chance for the House to exclude animals from the Bill, or to exclude non-food plants and animals (like dogs and cats) from the Bill.

Natalie Bennett said:

“‘Precision Breeding’ is a marketing slogan, not a technical or legal term and has no place in the title of the Bill or future Act. It may sound clean and targeted, but look deeper and the dangers and potential unforeseen consequences of genetic modification are there. This is genetically engineered food by the back door, and with none of the labelling that allows consumers to make a choice.

“The science of gene editing is still far too uncertain and has been insufficiently considered or understood by the government, or adequately scrutinised by parliament. The public and businesses understand the risks better than the government – a majority showed overwhelming opposition to this dangerous legislation when the government consulted on the Bill.

“After detailed, substantive and critical debate earlier in the House of Lords, we’ve seen only extremely weak amendments put forward by Labour. My final attempt to offer the government a constructive way forward is to propose a process of deliberative democracy, to allow careful considerations of the issues that the parliamentary process has failed to address, including the labelling the public so clearly wants to see.”

[1] https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/3167

February 9, 2023
PRESS RELEASE : Caroline Lucas responds to Chris Skidmore’s Net Zero Review [January 2023]

The press release issued by the Green Party on 12 January 2023.

“This review has to spell an end to ducking, dodging and delaying action”

Caroline Lucas, Green Party MP for Brighton Pavilion, has the following response to Chris Skidmore’s Net Zero Review:

“If this review is to be met with any level of seriousness within Whitehall, then it has to spell an end to the Government’s current approach of ducking, dodging and delaying action.

“The overriding message from this review is one of urgency. We don’t have a moment to lose in our race to tackle the climate emergency – yet this Tory Government is content to flip-flop on fracking, greenlight new oil & gas and approve a climate-busting coal mine.

“If we are to move ‘further and faster’, as this review demands, we need every house to become its own power station. That means a turbo-charging of onshore wind and full-scale deployment of solar, with solar panels on every new roof in the country, in the transition towards clean, green, affordable renewables.

“But it also means we need to lock out climate-wrecking fossil fuels for good. This review might shy away from the truly transformative measures to end our dependence on dirty, dangerous fossil fuels. But the writing is on the wall for the fossil fuel industry – our Government needs to see it.”

February 9, 2023
PRESS RELEASE : Pandemic triggers dramatic rise in people leaving the jobs market in rural county areas [February 2023]
The press release issued by the County Councils Network on 4 February 2023.

Over 100,000 people have taken the ‘lifestyle choice’ of early retirement in England’s county areas during the pandemic, contributing to hundreds of thousands of people leaving the jobs market over the last three years.

Council leaders are calling for extra powers over employment and skills to be devolved to their areas to help encourage these ‘missing’ workers back into employment as new analysis from the County Councils Network (CCN) reveals that over 320,000 more people have become economically inactive in England’s 36 county areas compared to the outbreak of Coronavirus in March 2020.

The findings come in a new CCN Analysis report, which analyses Office of National Statistics’ Annual Population Survey dataset for March 2020 and September 2022 to ascertain where, and for what reason, people have left the employment market pre and post pandemic. The analysis includes local authority type, regional and CCN member council level data.

Download the report here.

The report shows that just over 100,00 of these people are early retirees, particularly those aged between 50 and 64, which is over two-thirds of England’s entire increase in those retiring early. There has also been a sharp rise in long-term sickness in counties where 70,000 more people are now economically inactive for this reason, which is over half of the country’s increase.

The data suggests that people have made different lifestyle choices since the start of the pandemic, such as choosing to retire early during the three national lockdowns.

With over 3m people now economically inactive in county areas – one in five workers – county leaders warn that this issue is contributing to the labour crisis where there are not enough workers for the number of jobs available, hampering local growth and productivity at a time when they ‘desperately need local economies to be dynamic and thriving’.

For the first time, the CCN has analysed where in England people have left the employment market between March 2020 and September 2022:
- The number of economically inactive people in England has grown from 7m to 7.243m, largely as a result of a 12% (320,300) increase in the number of economically inactive people in England’s 36 county and rural areas – squeezing local labour supply.
- In contrast, major cities and towns across the country saw a decrease in economically inactive people, with London seeing a drop of 20,100 people and the eight largest ‘core cities’ in England which collectively saw a drop of 26,500 people. Metropolitan boroughs, which cover areas in the North and West Midlands, 17,000 fewer people becoming economically inactive.
- In total, 100,300 extra people took the lifestyle choice of early retirement in county areas compared to pre-pandemic levels, a 21% increase over the 36 months. This trend is up in all areas of England but has risen the steepest in counties – over four times the total amount of councils in London and metropolitan borough areas which are located in cities and towns in the North and West Midlands.
- Some 56% of all those who have retired early are now in county areas, up from 54% from March 2020. Approximately 1 in 25 working age adults in counties are now retired early. This compares to 1 in 35 in metropolitan boroughs and 1 in 63 in London now retired early.
- The number of people on long-term sick in county and rural areas has increased 10% – 70,000 people – significantly more than the total for the council areas covering rest of England. The bulk of the remainder of the rise in economically inactive people in counties is attributable to an increase in students (+181,800).
- The East Midlands has seen the largest increase of people become economically inactive since the start of the pandemic (+10.4% and 60,400 people), including the highest increase of early retirees (+31.3%) and the highest rise in long-term sick (+16.6). The South East had the second largest increase (+9.7% and 93,500 people) and the North West the third highest (+6.7% and 70,700 people).
The CCN says that devolved powers in skills and employment, as well as a greater influence over economic growth, is vital to addressing these issues and incentivising or enabling individuals back to work.

So far the government has agreed devolution deals with seven county areas, which have included devolved adult education budgets and powers. But with 29 county areas in England still without access to these powers, CCN is urging the government to agree build on this head of steam and agree deals with as many county areas as possible in 2023.

Cllr Tim Oliver, Chairman of the County Councils Network, said:

“The number of working age people not seeking employment has been an issue for a number of years, with this trend accelerated by the pandemic. But today’s data shows that county and rural areas have seen a dramatic rise and account for the vast majority of new ‘missing’ workers since March 2020.

“A significant proportion of this rise is attributable to an increase in students who are the workers and innovators of tomorrow. But there has also been sharp rise in the lifestyle choice of early retirement, as well as an increase in long-term sickness, taking 170,000 people out of the employment market in county areas. At a time when we desperately need our local economies to be dynamic and thriving, having a labour shortage impacts on growth and prolongs recession.

“Therefore, we need more ways to encourage early retirees back into the labour market and to support people who are on long-term sick to come back into employment. But this should be locally led; what could work in Durham could be different in Devon. The deals negotiated with seven county areas in 2022 could be transformative – and we urge the government to build on this momentum and agree further deals with as many local leaders as possible in 2023.”
February 9, 2023
PRESS RELEASE : New report suggests greater use of digital technology is a crucial step in reforming adult social care [February 2023]
The press release issued by the County Councils Network on 2 February 2023.

Tunstall Healthcare and the County Councils Network (CCN) have today launched a brand-new report which argues that the potential of technology to support those with social care needs is growing ‘exponentially’ each year.

This new report follows the 2021 report ‘Employing Assistive Technology in Adult Social Care’, also delivered by the CCN and Tunstall and looks into the impact of digital technology on adult social care, and the importance of implementing digital change across the care landscape.

Download the report here.

As well as transforming services, the report finds that digital transformation can hugely benefit care users, from allowing more independence to widening understanding around condition management and reducing anxiety.

Tunstall’s work with the CCN has detailed a strategic pathway to adopting digital technologies effectively into the care sector, from enabling local authorities, through to ensuring smooth delivery of care and finally, embedding the change for good.

Practical steps recommended in the report include:
- Not underestimating the time it takes to embed change.
- Thinking about what good procurement processes look like from a market perspective.
- Working in partnership with providers to deliver effective TEC and data led practice.
‘Adopting the right technology to transform social care’, written by experts from both organisations, will be unveiled to stakeholders and decision makers digital webinar today (2nd February). The event was hosted by Tunstall and the CCN, alongside Cllr Martin Tett, leader of Buckinghamshire Council who chaired the panel and James Bullion, Executive Director of Adult Social Care Services, Norfolk, who provided a local authority perspective.

Cllr Martin Tett, Social Care Spokesperson for the County Councils Network, said:

“The adult social care sector faces many challenges, but there are effective solutions that can help to bring efficiency, ease the burden on staff and ensure targeted care for those who need it. This new report sets a precedent for implementing technological advancements within social care services and provides an informative guide for how to create lasting, positive change at a community level.”

Simon Edwards, Director of the County Councils Network, added:

“This report is the natural sibling of our previous work with Tunstall in 2021. Perhaps most importantly, this piece discusses how we get the right care to the right people, the right devices and technology into people’s homes, and how we can support an ageing population with a stretched workforce.”

Gavin Bashar, Managing Director of Tunstall UK&I said:

“The adoption of digital technology has great potential to contribute to the smooth running of adult social care services as we look to the new government reforms for the care sector. This new report provides a summary of some of the benefits offered by care technology as well as practical suggestions for the implementation of these changes.”
February 9, 2023
PRESS RELEASE : Government reforms for children’s social care put forward – CCN response [February 2023]

The press release issued by the County Council Network on 2 February 2023.

Today the government has unveiled its new strategy for children’s social care – the long-awaited Children’s Social Care Implementation Strategy.

The plan responds to recommendations made by the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care, which was led by Josh MacAlister.

The plan is backed by £200m over the next two years, and has a particular focus on early help and prevention, and keeping families together wherever possible. The County Councils Network had led calls for this culture shift in children’s care.

The government also announced that 12 local authorities would pilot this ‘new model’, as well as funding for a fresh foster carer recruitment drive. The plans for reform also include a new national framework for children’s social care and dashboard, which the government is now consulting on.

Last year, CCN research with Newton found that if the system was left unchecked there could be close to 100,000 children in care by the end of 2025, with local authorities spending £2.1bn more that year compared to the start of the decade.

Below CCN responds to today’s announcement.

Cllr Keith Glazier, Children’s Social Care Spokesperson for the County Councils Network, said:

“The County Councils Network has long warned that the current children’s social care system is no longer working for children, families, and local authorities. Our research last year showed that, left unchecked, the number of children in care could rise to almost 100,000 young people by the end of 2025 while councils continue to overspend their budgets. Action is desperately needed.

“Key to any reform to children’s social care is a greater focus on preventative services and more emphasis on keeping families together, where it is safe to do so. We are pleased that the government has acted on our calls and will look to pilot this new approach, alongside a renewed recruitment drive for desperately needed foster carers.

“However, the funding made available to delivers these changes falls short of what both councils and Josh MacAlister argue is required, while the pilots are only taking place in a select few areas at a time when young people across the country cannot afford to wait. We understand that the public finances are tight, but we urge government to increase the funding allocated for these reforms in line with the recommended £2.6bn by the end of 2026/27 – investing in children and young people has a significant societal benefit, and will deliver long-term savings.”

February 9, 2023
PRESS RELEASE : Appointments to the Churches Conservation Trust [February 2023]

The press release issued by 10 Downing Street on 9 February 2023.

The King has approved the appointments of Ms Tanvir Hasan; Ms Erin Walsh; and Dr Emma Wells as Members of the Churches Conservation Trust.

Tanvir Hasan is a practising conservation architect, a field in which she has worked for over 25 years. She is Deputy Chairman and lead Director of Donald Insall London. She is an accredited conservation architect with extensive experience of conservation and regeneration. She undertakes both conservation architecture, and the design of new buildings in historic environments. Tanvir has delivered several complex heritage projects and implemented work in difficult historic settings. She has worked on many restoration and regeneration projects of Grade I listed churches such as Wren’s St. Edmund King and Martyr, recently for St. Mark’s North Audley Street, and St. John’s Smith Square. Her projects focus on managing change and unlocking the potential of historic fabric and sensitive heritage sites, and this work has been the subject of award-winning schemes along Regent Street, and North Audley Street. Tanvir has been a trustee of the Museum of the Home, is a trustee of the Society of Architectural Historians of Great Britain and sits on the Fabric Committee of the Royal Albert Hall.

Erin Walsh has over 18 years’ experience leading major programmes in the Built Environment across the not for profit, private, public and academic sectors. As a senior urban designer for Liverpool City Council, Erin developed design and place strategies for the city and neighbourhoods in collaboration with communities, including work with the conservation team on historic buildings. She negotiated with stakeholders to retain and preserve Aigburth Methodist Church, former St. Peter’s Wesleyan Methodist Church in Toxteth, and St. Oswald’s Community Hall, an E. W. Pugin complex. As the Director of Built Environment at Connected Places Catapult, Erin develops and leads programmes that innovate traditional markets and sectors such as housing, planning, net zero place making, and infrastructure; working in partnership with central and local government, industry, academia and communities to provide more innovative and sustainable approaches to the built environment.

Emma Wells brings significant expertise and a broad range of knowledge in the area of ecclesiastical history. She is an author, broadcaster, currently a Principal Historic Buildings Consultant, and was a former Lecturer in Ecclesiastical and Architectural History at the University of York. Emma’s connection to CCT extends back to 2015, as programme leader of the first postgraduate degree in the UK devoted to parish churches (and the MA in English Building History), and run in partnership with the Trust.

February 9, 2023
PRESS RELEASE : Presentations by OSCE Committee chairs – UK response [February 2023]

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 9 February 2023.

Deputy Ambassador Deirdre Brown thanks the three OSCE Committee chairs for their proposals to focus on Russia’s unprovoked and illegal invasion of Ukraine in 2023.

Thank you, Chair, and thank you to the Chairs of the three Committees for presenting to the Permanent Council today. Ambassadors, we support the approaches you have proposed. Russia’s unprovoked and illegal invasion of Ukraine strikes at the very core of the obligations we have all freely signed up to as members of this organisation. It has created a humanitarian and human rights catastrophe, traumatised a generation of children and created a global food and energy crisis. Russia’s war must continue to command our full attention.

Ambassador Stoian, we welcome your appointment and proposed work-plan, particularly your focus on the protection of critical infrastructure, the impact of cyber-attacks, organised crime, border security and management, and the role of and impact on women and children in the conflict cycle. We fully support your approach to assess the current security environment and maintain a flexible agenda to take into account the evolutions of Russia’s premeditated and barbaric actions against Ukraine.

Ambassador Raunig, we welcome your proposed work-plan and in particular the inclusion of sessions on environmental degradation, biodiversity, water management, connectivity, food security, corruption, and energy security. All these issues have been affected by Russia’s on-going aggression – and must be addressed in that context.

We recognise the importance of the adoption of the Permanent Council decision necessary to begin the Economic and Environmental Forum cycle and we urge all delegations to agree to the draft circulated by the Chairpersonship.

Ambassador Callan, we welcome your appointment and proposed work-plan, in particular your focus on civil society, which can serve to reinforce the strong relationship the Human Dimension Committee has built with human rights defenders across the OSCE region. The topics freedom of the media, democratic institutions and freedom of assembly are also welcome, and provide ample opportunities to explore the link between internal repression of citizens’ rights and external aggression. We look forward to the Chair-in-Office’s Supplementary Meetings this year complementing and reinforcing the work of the Human Dimension Committee. We note the importance of having a space to discuss violations and abuses of International Humanitarian Law and International Human Rights Law, including those documented in the Moscow Mechanism reports in 2022, which show no signs of abating this year.

Across the board, we welcome all attempts to ensure the full, equal, and meaningful participation of women. A more diverse range of opinion will improve the content of any discussions.

Mr Chair, Russia chooses to continue its path of aggression and destruction. The response from the international community has been consistent: a call for an end to the aggression; and for peace. We will continue to work in the three Committees, with our Chair-in-Office, and with the OSCE Secretariat, institutions, and field missions – to uphold our fundamental principles and values. For Ukraine, and for all of us in this room.

Thank you.

February 9, 2023
PRESS RELEASE : UK statement on World Trade Organization’s review of Malaysia’s Trade Policy [February 2023]

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 9 February 2023.

The UK’s Permanent Representative to the WTO in Geneva, Ambassador Simon Manley, gave a statement on 8 February 2023 during Malaysia’s 8th WTO Trade Policy Review.

Chair, let me warmly welcome the delegation of Malaysia to Geneva here today, led by our friend, Datuk ISHAM ISHAK, Secretary General of the Ministry of International Trade and Industry. It’s great to have you all with us today!

Let me also thank the government of Malaysia and indeed the WTO Secretariat for their Reports. And the Secretary General for his very thorough presentation of Malaysia’s macro-economic policy this morning.

Chair, may I echo your comments to our distinguished Discussant, and very good friend, Ambassador Acarsoy, and offer our condolences to him, and indeed to all our friends at the Turkish Mission, for this appalling humanitarian tragedy which is unrolling before our eyes in both Turkiye and Syria.

As he knows, British search and rescue experts arrived last night in southeast Turkiye and indeed the Union flag flew at half-mast at our Embassy and Consulates across Turkiye yesterday. As a multilateral community, of which we are a part, these tragedies do remind us of the need for us to come together. As the Malaysian national motto says, ‘unity is strength’.

So returning to the business of this review let me start by commending Malaysia’s strong and resilient economic growth, which the Secretary General set out this morning. And of course that growth has been enabled by its openness. I was glad to read in that the World Bank report rates Malaysia as one of the most open economies in the world – a secret of its success in many ways. Malaysia’s aspiration to become a high-income country, by the time of their next TPR in 2028, is already producing positive results under that ambitious Twelfth Malaysia Plan, based on those themes of resetting the economy, strengthening security, wellbeing and advancing sustainability.

As the Secretary General knows, Malaysia is the UK’s second largest trading partner in Southeast Asia – with total trade reaching almost £6bn in the first four quarters to Q3 of 2022 and British exports increasing by just under 18% in the last year. We are also really pleased to have established a UK-Malaysia Joint Committee on Bilateral Trade and Investment Cooperation back in 2020, to promote trade and investment between our two great nations, and to demonstrate our ongoing commitment to the Indo-Pacific region.

That initiative was upgraded to a Ministerial-led Joint Economic Trade Committee just last November. We look forward to continuing to build economic cooperation between our countries under this Committee, as well as more broadly through our new dialogue partner status in ASEAN.

We are also pleased to stand as Malaysia’s ninth largest foreign investor, with a strong corporate footprint in Malaysia with over 200 British companies investing in a wide variety of sectors across the economy. Education is at the heart of our relationship. There are five UK university branch campuses in Malaysia, as well as tens of thousands of young Malaysians attending schools and university in the UK, and we stand ready to support Malaysia’s ambition to become a regional education hub. And let me just mention in that respect, the now very famous Syabira Yusoff, a young Malaysian who came to study in the UK for a PhD and who las year achieved great fame in our country for winning the ‘Great British Bake-Off’.

We are also delighted that Malaysia has invested so significantly into the UK, with inward investments in 2020 valued at £780 million, representing an increase of almost 230% from the year before.

And, of course, our flourishing bilateral ties also extend here to Geneva. We are grateful for Malaysia’s active participation and engagement in the Investment Facilitation for Development, MSME and E-commerce Joint Initiatives. Through these initiatives, we share a common commitment to delivering for global businesses and global consumers. In this context, let me join others in encouraging Malaysia to consider joining the initiative on Services Domestic Regulation, where businesses, particularly in the developing world, are set to benefit by up to $150bn globally per year.

More broadly, our governments are working together on critical modern issues such as climate and forced labour. Indeed, my UN Deputy Permanent Representative is in Kuala Lumpur this week discussing human rights issues, among others, with our Malaysian partners.

Net-zero planning and green energy are shared priority issues for the UK and Malaysia on green trade, as highlighted by the Secretary General’s comments this morning. Indeed we in the UK established our own net-zero and energy department just yesterday. We signed the UK-Malaysia Climate Partnership MoU in July 2022, supporting greater technical assistance and knowledge sharing, and we will continue to work with government departments and agencies at all levels in support of those shared climate goals.

On forced labour, we really welcome Malaysia’s ratification of the ILO’s Forced Labour Convention last year and remain committed to working together to deliver our shared goal of ending modern slavery and coercive labour practices. We continue to support Malaysia’s work to deliver its National Action Plan through exchange of expertise and engagement across government, civil society and business.

Also commendable is Malaysia’s engagement in Trade & Gender, an issue very dear to the heart of my Minister, as Minister for both Business and Trade and Equalities, with clear efforts being made in Malaysia’s 2022 budget for women-led MSMEs and a specific commitment in the Twelfth Malaysia Plan to ensure further opportunities for female entrepreneurs and access to decision-making roles.

But, of course, there is always more we can do to strengthen our bilateral relationship.

In our Advance Written Questions, the UK sought to understand more about Malaysia’s trade policies and practices regarding government procurement, government-linked companies and tendering provisions, sustainable manufacturing practices, and excise duties.

We particularly encourage Malaysia to continue opening its legal services sector, including business services, to competition and to investment and to view this, as we do, as a realisable economic benefit. The opening of legal services will, in our view, support Malaysian corporations that are seeking to globalise and require specialist legal advice in Malaysia, and should promote the development of Malaysia into a legal hub within ASEAN.

Chair, we are grateful to Malaysia for their written responses and look forward to continuing to work together to address these important issues. And we are grateful to the whole team from Kuala Lumpur for being here with us today, and we wish Malaysia a successful Trade Policy Review and continuing success in progressing their Twelfth Malaysia Plan, with the UK, I hope, as a close partner too.

February 9, 2023
PRESS RELEASE : World’s first hydrogen-powered digger set to drive on UK roads [February 2023]
The press release issued by the Department for Transport on 9 February 2023.

The first digger powered by a hydrogen combustion engine will soon be on UK roads and building sites.
- government approves the use of the world’s first digger powered by a hydrogen combustion engine on UK roads
- JCB’s hydrogen-powered backhoe loaders will soon be working on UK construction sites
- hydrogen-powered technology could help decarbonise the UK construction industry, creating hundreds of jobs
The world’s first digger, powered by a hydrogen combustion engine, will soon be on UK roads and building sites following recent government approval, helping to decarbonise the UK’s construction industry.

The UK government has given special dispensation, under a vehicle special order, that allows JCB, the British construction equipment manufacturer, to test and use its world-first hydrogen-powered backhoe loader on UK roads.

The vehicle special order given by the Transport Secretary allows JCB to test its new hydrogen-powered machine on the public highway. This backhoe loader is the first of its kind and offers a pioneering solution to help reduce emissions on construction sites.

With 25% of the UK’s total greenhouse gas emissions coming from the built environment, it’s vital the entire construction industry looks to decarbonise at every stage.

Today (9 February 2023) not only marks a new direction for reducing emissions but will help grow the economy, with JCB having already created 150 new jobs in the Midlands with the promise of hundreds more as the company’s hydrogen project advances. These developments also help to equip the country with the skills and expertise to not only reduce emissions but provide learning to would-be apprentices, future-proofing the nation’s skillset.

Technology and Decarbonisation Minister Jesse Norman said:

From cars to construction sites, industry has a vital role in decarbonising our economy and creating green jobs and prosperity.

JCB’s investment in greener equipment is a great example of how industry can make this happen, using alternative fuels to generate sustainable economic growth.

JCB’s prototype hydrogen-powered backhoe loader is an important first step in the construction industry’s efforts to decarbonise in what is a ‘hard to decarbonise’ sector. Hydrogen combustion machines can play a vital role in reducing carbon emissions in settings where other types of clean power may not be the most practical or efficient.

JCB Chairman Lord Bamford said:

Securing this vehicle special order from the Department for Transport is an important first step in getting JCB machines that are powered by hydrogen combustion engines to and from British building sites using the public highway. It’s an endorsement that JCB is on the right path in pursuit of its net zero ambitions.

JCB’s hydrogen-powered backhoe loader is a world first in our industry, a digger with a purpose-engineered internal combustion engine that uses hydrogen gas as the energy source. It’s a real breakthrough – a zero CO2 fuel providing the power to drive the pistons in an internal combustion engine, a technology that’s been around for over 100 years, a technology that we are all familiar with.

I am delighted that the Decarbonisation Minister will witness for himself the first drive of a hydrogen-powered digger on the open road. It’s clear to me that, following this visit, he’ll appreciate the potential for hydrogen internal combustion engines to help deliver net zero targets more quickly, while adding jobs and contributing wider economic benefits to the construction sector.

Today Minister Norman will visit JCB’s headquarters in Rocester, Staffordshire, where he’ll see the digger take to the road near the factory where it was manufactured. He’ll also inspect one of JCB’s hydrogen combustion engines, which are the product of a £100 million investment project by JCB to build on their innovative British engineering and develop new lower emission powertrains.

The pace of JCB’s hydrogen developments showcase a level of commitment to decarbonisation that is needed across all sectors of the UK economy.

Hydrogen is just one of the many ways that the UK government is looking to accelerate decarbonisation. The recent announcement of second phase of the Tees Valley Hydrogen Hub builds on previous commitments to best explore how hydrogen can be utilised as an alternative fuel, whether that be through the use of hydrogen fuel cells on road or hydrogen internal combustion engines for off-road construction machinery.

The work seen as part of the hub in Tees Valley will work to address challenges such as providing refuelling infrastructure at scale and integrating that within a wider decarbonised energy network.

As hydrogen technologies develop here in the UK, it’s vital this knowledge helps shape the next generation of apprentices. During this year’s National Apprenticeship Week (6 to 12 February 2023), hydrogen continues to be a source of opportunity for new skills and jobs to be developed.

JCB’s expanding apprenticeship programme shows how apprentices can play a part in shaping a net zero future, building on the recent government commitment to deliver £300,000 towards the teaching of hydrogen skills as part of the Tees Valley Hydrogen Transport hub.
February 9, 2023