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  • PRESS RELEASE : Scottish apprentices celebrated for support to UK armed forces

    PRESS RELEASE : Scottish apprentices celebrated for support to UK armed forces

    The press release issued by the Ministry of Defence on 11 August 2022.

    The important role apprentices play in driving innovation and keeping the UK safe was recognised during a Ministerial visit to key defence sites in Scotland this week.

    Visiting Defence Munitions (DM) in Beith – a Defence Equipment & Support facility which employs around 250 people and can produce, test and store weapons for the UK’s Armed Forces – Minister for Defence Procurement, Jeremy Quin saw the contribution the site is making to current and ongoing operations in Europe and further afield.

    DM Beith boasts a sought-after apprenticeship programme, with the latest intake of six apprentices officially starting later this month. The outgoing apprentices had their contributions to UK Defence recognised through an end of apprenticeship ceremony.

    During Minister Quin’s visit, he handed over the Deeds for the dozen apprentices who have completed training over the previous two years and who have all been offered permanent roles at the facility.

    The Minister also awarded the company’s Apprentice of the Year award to Calvin, who will now be taking up a technical role within the DM Beith Operations Team.

    Defence Procurement Minister Jeremy Quin said:

    “It is always a pleasure to meet apprentices across the country to discuss their exciting and educational journey in Defence and this week to congratulate those who have finished their formal apprenticeships.

    We’re pleased to provide these opportunities for technical training and to offer challenging and varied ongoing career opportunities in Ayrshire, whilst investing in the prosperity of the area.”

    Head of Weapons Support at Defence Equipment & Support, Neil Rixon said:

    “I was delighted to congratulate our apprentices who have completed their placements and to welcome the next tranche. I’m very proud that our Weapons apprenticeship programme enables us to invest in developing crucial mechanical and electrical engineering skills. The work undertaken at Beith is absolutely critical to our armed forces, and the skills our apprentices are learning are invaluable to Defence Equipment & Support.”

    During the tour of DM Beith, Minister Quin was shown the in-house complex weapons processing, engineering, storage and deployment capabilities.

    As part of his two-day visit to Scotland, the Minister also visited the British Underwater Test and Evaluation Centre (BUTEC) at Applecross, on the north-west coast which tests underwater weapons. He then travelled to the MOD Hebrides range, run by Qinetiq for the MOD, where ground-based air defence weapons are tested and complex weapons trials are run.

  • PRESS RELEASE : New maritime security strategy to target latest physical and cyber threats

    PRESS RELEASE : New maritime security strategy to target latest physical and cyber threats

    The press release issued by the Department for Transport on 15 August 2022.

    The UK’s position as a world-leading maritime nation is secured by a new strategy that will enhance capabilities in technology, innovation and cyber security.

    Unveiling the 5-year strategy, the Secretary of State for Transport has today (Monday 15 August 2022) set out the guiding principles for the UK government’s approach to managing threats and risks at home and around the world, including leveraging the UK’s world-leading seabed mapping community and tackling illegal fishing and polluting activities at sea.

    The new strategy redefines maritime security as upholding laws, regulations and norms to deliver a free, fair and open maritime domain. With this new approach, the government rightly recognises any illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing and environmental damage to our seas as a maritime security concern.

    In addition, to enhance the UK’s maritime security knowledge, the government has established the UK Centre for Seabed Mapping (UK CSM), which seeks to enable the UK’s world-leading seabed mapping sector to collaborate to collect more and better data.

    Seabed mapping provides the foundation dataset that underpins almost every sector in the maritime domain, including maritime trade, environmental and resource management, shipping operations and national security and infrastructure within the industry.

    The UK CSM has also been registered as a UK government voluntary commitment to the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development.

    By working with the newly established UK CSM, administered by the UK Hydrographic Office, government will have better quantity, quality and availability of seabed mapping data, which as a key component of our infrastructure, underpins the UK’s maritime security, prosperity and environment objectives.

    Secretary of State for Transport Grant Shapps said:

    “Mankind has better maps of the surface of the moon and Mars than of our own ocean. To ensure the UK’s maritime security is based on informed and evidence-based decisions, we must build our knowledge of this dynamic ocean frontier.

    Our new maritime security strategy paves the way for both government and industry to provide the support needed to tackle new and emerging threats and further cement the UK’s position as a world leader in maritime security.”

    Working with industry and academia, Secretaries of State from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), the Department for Transport (DfT), the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), the Home Office and the Ministry of Defence (MOD) will focus on 5 strategic objectives:

    Protecting our homeland: delivering the world’s most effective maritime security framework for our borders, ports and infrastructure.

    Responding to threats: taking a whole system approach to bring world-leading capabilities and expertise to bear to respond to new, emerging threats.

    Ensuring prosperity: ensuring the security of international shipping, the unimpeded transmission of goods, information and energy to support continued global development and our economic prosperity.

    Championing values: championing global maritime security underpinned by freedom of navigation and the international order.

    Supporting a secure, resilient ocean: tackling security threats and breaches of regulations that impact on a clean, healthy, safe, productive and biologically-diverse maritime environment.

    UK Chamber of Shipping CEO, Sarah Treseder said:

    “A proactive maritime security strategy is essential to keeping trade routes and energy supplies secure, especially for an island nation. Today’s welcome commitments to improve collaboration, both with industry and governments across the world, will help deliver a more secure maritime environment and help provide confidence to the shipping community.”

    Tim Edmunds, co-Director of the SafeSeas Network and Professor of International Security at the University of Bristol said:

    “The new national strategy for maritime security (NSMS) comes at a critical time for the UK maritime sector. Maritime security is key to delivering the UK’s ambitions in foreign, security and defence policy, as well as for blue economic growth and environmental sustainability.

    SafeSeas and the University of Bristol were privileged to be part of this effort. We are delighted that our research was able to inform the strategy process. We look forward to engaging with UK maritime security actors and assisting with the strategy implementation process in future.”

    Mark Simmonds, Director of Policy and External Affairs, British Ports Association said:

    “UK ports work closely with government and law enforcement to facilitate nearly half a billion tonnes of trade and tens of millions of passengers every year, whilst at the same time bearing down on threats to our collective safety and security. We look forward to strengthening that relationship as we help to deliver on these strategic objectives.

    The new Centre for Seabed Mapping is a huge step forward for the maritime sector. It will help everyone better understand the UK seabed and be the foundation for numerous benefits, including more informed management of the marine environment.”

    The UK will continue to engage heavily with industry, academia, international partners and allies in the delivery of this outward-focussed strategy through increased information sharing partnerships, to increase visibility of threats to the global maritime domain.

  • PRESS RELEASE : PM call with His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al Nahyan, President of the UAE and Ruler of Abu Dhabi: 11 August 2022

    PRESS RELEASE : PM call with His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al Nahyan, President of the UAE and Ruler of Abu Dhabi: 11 August 2022

    The press release issued by Downing Street on 11 August 2022.

    The Prime Minister spoke to His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al Nahyan, President of the UAE and Ruler of Abu Dhabi, today.

    The leaders thanked one another for their support and friendship. They agreed that great strides have been made in the UK-UAE relationship in recent years.

    The Prime Minister praised the President of UAE success in bringing prosperity to both the UAE and the Gulf more generally. The President paid tribute to the role the Prime Minister has played in driving trade and investment between our countries.

    The Prime Minister said UK-UAE cooperation on global priorities including Ukraine, regional stability and climate change is hugely important for the world. He expressed his confidence that this cooperation will continue in the years ahead.

  • PRESS RELEASE : Views being sought to tackle inequality in medical devices

    PRESS RELEASE : Views being sought to tackle inequality in medical devices

    The press release issued by the Department of Health and Social Care on 11 August 2022.

    The government has launched a call for evidence to gather insights from experts and organisations on the potential racial and gender bias of medical devices.

    As part of an Independent Review on Equity in Medical Devices led by Professor Dame Margaret Whitehead, the government is seeking to tackle disparities in healthcare by gathering new evidence on how medical devices and technologies may be biased against patients of different ethnicities, genders and other socio-demographic groups.

    Through the call for evidence, which will be open for 8 weeks, it hopes to hear from those who work most closely with medical devices such as oxygen measuring devices and infrared scanners and related software and hardware, including databases and instructions. This applies across a device’s entire life cycle – from evaluation to marketing and implementation – to identify potential biases at each and every stage.

    For example, some devices employing infrared light or imaging may not perform as well with patients with darker skin pigmentation, which has not been accounted for in the development and testing of the devices, and has led to patients being recruited with only a limited range of lighter skin tones.

    The independent review, which the call for evidence will feed into, aims to reduce the potential for medical devices to worsen existing healthcare disparities, ensuring people can receive the best-possible care throughout their patient experience regardless of their ethnicity or gender.

    Health Minister Gillian Keegan said:

    “I am committed to ensuring all patients receive high-quality, innovative healthcare without discrimination.

    The independent review is part of our vital work to tackle healthcare inequalities, and I invite the industry to share their expertise in the call for evidence so we can ensure medical devices are free of any form of bias.”

    Members of expert and professional groups and organisations, including academics, researchers, engineers, healthcare professionals and industry representatives, are invited to submit evidence and insights regarding potential disparities and proposed solutions, with this evidence informing the independent review.

    Members of the public, patients and carers can also contribute their views and insights on these topics.

    Research suggests the way some medical devices are designed and used may be failing to account for differences related to ethnic background, gender or other characteristics such as disabilities – potentially exacerbating existing inequalities in healthcare.

    While current UK regulations set out clear expectations on medical devices and technologies, they do not currently include provisions to ensure that medical devices are working equally well for different groups in the population based on their social or demographic characteristics.

    The independent review will cover different types of medical devices, including devices enabled by artificial intelligence (AI) used in diagnosing illness and determining therapy pathways, as well as risk-scoring systems using genomics to make decisions about personalised medicine.

    It will consider in what ways existing or future regulations could successfully address any biases in medical devices that arise at any stage of their design, development, evaluation, implementation and use.

    Patients can be reassured that the NHS is expert in providing the best possible care, and the review is intended to accelerate the process of improving the quality and availability of medical devices to diverse communities.

    Professor Dame Margaret Whitehead, chair of the independent review, said:

    “We aim to establish where and how potential ethnic and other unfair biases may arise in the design and use of medical devices, and what can be done to make improvements.

    We especially encourage health, technology and industry experts and researchers to share their views and any evidence concerning medical devices in order to help us tackle inequalities in healthcare.”

    The review chair will issue the panel’s report to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care setting out clear options for consideration by spring 2023 with interim findings expected in winter 2022.

  • Boris Johnson – 2022 Letter to Nicola Sturgeon

    Boris Johnson – 2022 Letter to Nicola Sturgeon

    The letter from Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, to Nicola Sturgeon, the Scottish First Minister, on 12 August 2022.

    Boris Johnson’s Letter (in .pdf format)

  • PRESS RELEASE : Highlands and Islands play ‘key role’ in UK defence

    PRESS RELEASE : Highlands and Islands play ‘key role’ in UK defence

    The press release issued by the Minister of Defence on 12 August 2022.

    The Minister visited the British Underwater Test and Evaluation Centre (BUTEC) based in Applecross on the north-west coast. The facility is used for noise ranging of surface ships and submarines and for testing underwater weapons, such as torpedoes. Run by QinetiQ, Minister Quin met the personnel who operate it on behalf of the MOD and the Royal Navy.

    He then travelled to the MOD Hebrides range, also run by QinetiQ, where NATO exercises are conducted, ground-based air defence weapons are tested and complex weapons trials are run.

    The Minister received a thorough overview of both facilities, including their use in major joint exercises, and gained a better understanding of their contribution to the local economy, with more than 250 people employed in engineering, logistics and other technical and administrative roles.

    Defence Procurement Minister, Jeremy Quin said:

    “It has been excellent to see first-hand the operational importance of these facilities in the north-west Highlands and the Western Isles, and to engage with those playing a key role in UK defence.

    I have also seen the impact the sites have on the local economy in the areas they are based, not only providing high quality that will drive innovation in Defence, but also the positive impact of a Defence presence supporting small businesses in rural communities.”

    QinetiQ Chief Executive Officer, Steve Wadey said:

    “It was a pleasure to host the Minister at the sites and give him the chance to meet some of our brilliant employees. As a major local employer in the area, we take our responsibilities seriously to ensure that we support the community and have a positive impact. In recent years, we have already committed £120m into both sites to modernise them and help sustain and attract work from our UK and international customers.”

    We remain committed to these sites, which are key to helping secure the vital interests of the UK, whether that be helping to host major NATO live-fire exercises or providing high value technical services to the Royal Navy on how to avoid detection by reducing noise on their platforms.

    Earlier this week, Minister Quin also visited Defence Munitions Beith, in Ayrshire, a facility which produces, tests and stores weapons for the UK’s Armed Forces. He was able to meet staff and see some of the complex weapons which are tested at BUTEC and MOD Hebrides.

  • PRESS RELEASE : Environment Agency taking action in dry weather  

    PRESS RELEASE : Environment Agency taking action in dry weather  

    The press release issued by the Environment Agency on 12 August 2022.

    After the fifth consecutive month of below average rainfall and the driest spring and early summer since 1996, river flows and reservoir levels are below normal in most parts of the region.

    The dry weather has been most prevalent in the Tees catchment, which recorded its driest 12 months ending July since 1976.

    In the North East, the Environment Agency is working with Northumbrian Water to maintain the health of the region’s rivers, with the company’s Kielder Transfer Scheme moving around 30 megalitres of water per day from Kielder reservoir into the River Wear through its Frosterley outfall for 12 days at the end of July, the first time a Tyne-Wear transfer has been made in 16 years. The transfer started again on Thursday afternoon (11 August) due to low river levels at Chester-le-Street.

    The Agency also requested Northumbrian Water make additional releases from Kielder reservoir into the River Tyne to maintain oxygen levels in the estuary to support salmon migration in the country’s top salmon river. Almost 12,000 fish were counted moving upstream during July, the highest July total on record.

    They’ve worked with holders of 35 abstraction licences to issue ‘hands off flow’ conditions, which means licences holders have been told that river levels are low and as a result abstraction must stop to protect the environment.

    Rachael Caldwell, Environment Agency Area Environment Manager in the North East, said:

    “River flows across most of the North East are low after a prolonged period of dry weather, and with the warm weather set to continue we expect levels will continue to drop.

    We’re looking at the impacts of dry weather across the region to make sure we can act to preserve water for wildlife and people as we experience extreme weather conditions.

    We are taking action alongside Government, water companies, environmental and angling groups and farmers to manage these impacts, such as operating water transfer schemes and managing abstraction licences.”

    On 9 August the Environment Agency declared prolonged dry weather in the North East.

    Prolonged dry weather is a natural event which has become more likely with climate change. It occurs as a result of low rainfall for an extended period of time. Once prolonged dry weather is declared, actions are taken to minimise impacts on the environment.

  • Boris Johnson – 2022 Comments on the Barbara Windsor Dementia Fund

    Boris Johnson – 2022 Comments on the Barbara Windsor Dementia Fund

    The comments made by Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, on 14 August 2022.

    Dame Barbara Windsor was a British hero. I had the pleasure of meeting her both on the set of Eastenders as Peggy Mitchell, and at Downing Street as we discussed the injustices faced by dementia sufferers.

    I am delighted that we can now honour Dame Barbara in such a fitting way, launching a new national dementia mission in her name.

    Working with her husband Scott, and on behalf of everyone who is living with dementia or has a loved one affected by this devastating condition, I am doubling research funding and calling for volunteers to join ‘Babs’ Army.’ We can work together to beat this disease, and honour an exceptional woman who campaigned tirelessly for change.

  • Boris Johnson – 2022 Comments on the Cost of Living

    Boris Johnson – 2022 Comments on the Cost of Living

    The comments made by Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, on 12 August 2022.

    Countries around the world are feeling the impact of Putin’s damaging war in Ukraine. We know that this will be a difficult winter for people across the UK, which is why we are doing everything we can to support them and must continue to do so.

    Following our meeting today, we will keep urging the electricity sector to continue working on ways we can ease the cost of living pressures and to invest further and faster in British energy security.

    We are continuing to roll out government support over the coming months, including the second £324 instalment of the cost of living payment for vulnerable households, extra help for pensioners and those with disabilities, and the £400 energy bills discount for all households.

  • PRESS RELEASE : UK and allies agree expanded International Fund for Ukraine support

    PRESS RELEASE : UK and allies agree expanded International Fund for Ukraine support

    The press release issued by the Ministry of Defence on 11 August 2022.

    At the Copenhagen Conference today, the UK and a coalition of key allies and partners have agreed to expand the International Fund for Ukraine (IFU) to finance military training and equipment for Ukraine to help the country free itself from Russia’s invasion.

    Britain will put £250 million of the recently announced £1 billion into the IFU, a flexible low-bureaucracy fund, which will used to provide military equipment and other support to the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU). The fund will ensure a steady flow of money not just for the provision of vital new weapons, but the essential maintenance and repair of existing kit, and training to maximise the Armed Forces of Ukraine’s effectiveness on the battlefield.

    Defence Secretary Ben Wallace met counterparts from fellow co-hosts Denmark and Ukraine in Copenhagen, along with representatives from other partner nations, to put together a plan for long-term military support for Ukraine.

    Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said:

    “This conference sends a clear message to Russia. We will not tire and we will stand by Ukraine today, tomorrow and in the months to come. The UK and partner nations have agreed to provide long-term military funding, ensuring a steady flow of finance to provide vital military equipment, essential maintenance of existing kit and maximising our UK-led international training programme for Ukraine’s Armed Forces.”

    The allies also discussed how to evolve their support for the training of Ukrainian military personnel, including offers for expanding and coordinating the international training scheme begun by the UK.

    Britain has so far trained more than 2,300 Ukrainian personnel in the UK under a training programme announced in June. Canada, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Germany and Latvia have announced they will be joining the initiative, after the Netherlands previously announced its intention to support the scheme.

    It comes after the UK announced it would send additional multiple launch rocket system (MLRS) launchers, along with a significant number of precision guided rockets to help Ukraine defend itself against Russia’s indiscriminate use of artillery.