Tag: 2022

PRESS RELEASE : Courts and tribunals arrangements for The Queen’s State Funeral [September 2022]

The press release issued by the Ministry of Justice on 12 September 2022.

Most hearings will not take place on Monday 19 September 2022, following the announcement that Her Majesty The Queen’s State Funeral will be on this day, which will be a national bank holiday.

As previously agreed, however, urgent hearings, including overnight custody cases will continue in consultation with the judiciary. Where possible, and in consultation with the relevant judiciary, we’ll seek to list these types of hearings either side of the funeral.

We’ll adjourn cases where defendants have been remanded in custody to appear in court on the day of the funeral to the next available date. We’ll contact all parties and inform them of their new hearing date and venue. All our venues including the Royal Courts of Justice, Crown Courts, County Courts, Civil and Family Courts, magistrates’ courts, tribunals, business centres and Service Centres will close to the public as a mark of respect.

All court and tribunal users can use the Royal Family’s online provision for books of condolence.

September 12, 2022
PRESS RELEASE : National curriculum review launched [January 2011]
The press release issued by the Department for Education on 20 January 2011.

The Secretary of State for Education today announced a major review of the national curriculum in England.

The review will be led by the Department for Education, supported by an advisory committee and expert panel made up of top teachers, academics and business representatives.

The review will:
- replace the current substandard curriculum with one based on the best school systems in the world, providing a world-class resource for teachers and children
- consider what subjects should be compulsory at what age
- consider what children should be taught in the main subjects at what age
Education Secretary Michael Gove said:

We have sunk in international league tables and the national curriculum is substandard. Meanwhile the pace of economic and technological change is accelerating and our children are being left behind. The previous curriculum failed to prepare us for the future. We must change course. Our review will examine the best school systems in the world and give us a world-class curriculum that will help teachers, parents and children know what children should learn at what age.

Chair of the expert panel, Tim Oates, said:

The national curriculum that we have at the moment has led teachers to move with undue pace through material and encouraged a ‘tick list’ approach to teaching. We will work with the advisory committee, as well as appraising carefully both international and national research, as part of this review. We will make changes only where justified, in order to avoid unnecessary disruption to the education system.

Members of the advisory committee and expert group welcomed today’s review.

Shahed Ahmed, Head of Elmhurst Primary School, Forest Gate, and advisory committee member, said:

I believe this review will be very helpful to re-establish that the best way to teach the primary national curriculum is through a rigorous subject-based approach. It would also be very helpful if the national curriculum is slimmed down so that schools have more time and flexibility to fit in what else they think it important to have in their own school curriculum. I also think it important to emphasise that a good grounding in the basics is the foundation to being creative.

Dame Yasmin Bevan, Executive Principal and Head of Denbigh High School and Challney High School for Boys, and advisory committee member, said:

We need a national curriculum review to establish clarity about what teachers must teach, what children must learn and what parents can expect of their children’s learning. We want to avoid overload, allowing time to ensure concepts, knowledge skills and understanding are fully developed. We also want to establish clarity about the standards we expect our young people to achieve so that they can compete confidently with the best of their peers globally.

Mike Harris, education skills lead at the Institute of Directors, and advisory committee member, said:

Education is on the frontline of the battle for the UK’s future competitiveness. We need to be confident that what we teach, the way in which we teach it, and how we assess and examine the knowledge we impart, matches the best in the world. The national curriculum review will play an important part in that effort.

Professor Nigel Thrift, Vice Chancellor, Warwick University, and advisory committee member, said:

The national curriculum review is important for universities. We need a national curriculum that delivers the knowledge children need to attend university and we need it now. Too often we find that, despite teachers’ hard work and dedication, children do not have what we would consider as the basics in the disciplines that they wish to study at university, and the hope is that – in conjunction with other changes in the educational landscape – this state of affairs can be changed for the better.

Professor Dylan Wiliam, former Deputy Director at the Institute of Education, Professor of Educational Assessment, and expert panel member, said:

There is growing acceptance all over the world that the quality of the teacher is the most important determinant of how much students learn. In this context, it makes sense to check that the national curriculum provides the right balance between providing a firm structure for shared national expectations for what students should learn and allowing enough scope for teachers to have the freedom to use their creativity to maximise student learning.
September 12, 2022
PRESS RELEASE : John Hayes delivers new quality guarantee for Apprenticeships [January 2011]
The press release issued by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills on 20 January 2011.

The Specification of Apprenticeship Standards for England, published today, will ensure:
- All apprenticeships deliver high quality, nationally-recognised qualifications relevant to the skill, trade or occupation of the learner and employer;
- All apprenticeships offer individuals appropriate training to achieve a good standard of literacy and numeracy (and ICT where relevant to the skill, trade or occupation);
- Every apprentice will receive at least 280 hours of guided learning per year.
John Hayes said:

“Apprenticeships are at the heart of our skills strategy because they are valued by employers and sought after by learners. By enshrining these characteristics in statute we send a clear message to employers and learners that every Apprenticeship is a high quality investment in the skills they need for the future.”

The Government will increase annual funding for adult Apprenticeships by up to £250m above the £398m a year funding inherited from the last Government, by 2014-15 and is reforming the programme to deliver 75,000 more apprenticeship places at advanced level and above. **

Over 85,000 employers offer Apprenticeships. There are almost 200 job roles in which someone may be an apprentice; from digital media to electrical engineering; horticulture to accountancy. Those with a Level 2 (GCSE level) apprenticeship earn on average around £73,000 more over their lifetime than those with an equivalent level qualification or below; and people with an advanced apprenticeship around £105,000 more.
September 12, 2022
PRESS RELEASE : New capital funding for sixth-form colleges [January 2011]
The press release issued by the Department for Education on 19 January 2011.

Sixth-form colleges in England will receive much needed investment as Schools Minister Lord Hill today announces a £90 million package of funding. The money will enable sixth-form colleges to make essential improvements to buildings and will help those schools and academies with sixth forms to meet the demand for additional 16-19 student places.

The funding package for 2011-12 includes:
- £57.4 million to address priority building condition needs of the sixth-form college estate
- £30 million for basic need funding for 16-19 student places to help sixth-form colleges, schools and academies meet the demands of demographic changes
- making all sixth-form colleges eligible for Devolved Formula Capital for the first time – funding for maintenance will be given directly to the institution. This means the average sixth-form college will receive an additional £40,000.
Announcing the funding package, Schools Minister Lord Hill said:

I know that there are sixth-form colleges with building needs which have missed out on previous capital programmes. I have therefore allocated more than £57 million to address priority building condition needs within the sixth-form college sector.

Even where funding is tight, it is essential that buildings and equipment are properly maintained to ensure that health and safety standards are met, and to prevent a backlog of decay building up which is very expensive to address. I am therefore also pleased to announce that in 2011-12 all sixth-form colleges will become eligible for Devolved Formula Capital. The average allocation to a sixth-form college will be in the region of £40,000. This funding is primarily for planned maintenance and is in addition to the £57 million for building condition needs.

This Government is committed to ensuring that all young people have the opportunity to continue in education and training after the age of 16. I therefore want to ensure that funding is available to meet the need for additional places where there are demographic pressures in schools, academies and sixth-form colleges. £30 million will be made available in the coming financial year for basic need funding for 16-19 student places in these institutions.

David Igoe, Chief Executive of the Sixth-form Colleges Forum, said:

Sixth-form colleges will warmly welcome this announcement of capital allocations for 2011-12. These allocations will enable them to undertake essential maintenance and refurbishment with some new building also possible. This will greatly enhance sixth-form colleges’ ability to sustain high-quality education in these challenging times. Sixth-form colleges have missed out on capital over the last two years and it is very encouraging to see the Government redressing this unfairness.

The Government has been clear about the central role that sixth-form colleges play in the education system. That is why we are reducing red tape and giving them more freedom. As previously announced, the Department is ending the routine Ofsted inspections of sixth-form colleges rated outstanding and is simplifying the 16-19 funding allocations process to schools and colleges.
September 12, 2022
John McFall (Baron McFall) – 2022 Address to HM King Charles III

The address made by John McFall, Baron McFall of Alcluith, the Lord Speaker, in Westminster Hall on 12 September 2022.

Your Majesty, I welcome you and Her Majesty the Queen Consort to Parliament today, on this solemn occasion.

Her late Majesty, our treasured Queen, and your beloved and deeply missed Mother, came here to Westminster Hall many times to receive the congratulations of her loyal subjects in the two Houses of Parliament and to celebrate with them historic landmarks and her long life of dedicated public service. She was both a Leader to, and a servant of, Her people. Her humility and integrity commanded the respect and captured the imagination of peoples and nations across the globe. Her late Majesty’s joyous, unstinting and reassuring presence across the years made it difficult to contemplate that her long and inspiring reign of deep and unparalleled devotion would ever end. We, and the nation, closed our eyes to this inevitability.

But it has ended, only a few months after we celebrated Her late Majesty’s historic platinum jubilee. And as You said so movingly, Your Majesty, in Your address to the nation, we all now feel a “sense of loss, beyond measure”.

Nevertheless, the qualities that Her late Majesty embodied with such constancy remain, to inspire You, Your Majesty, your family, and all your subjects. We remember Her commitment. Her kindness. Her humour. Her courage and Her fortitude. And the deep faith which was the anchor in her life.

Your Majesty, this is a historic space, its walls built more than 900 years ago by William Rufus, the magnificent hammerbeam roof commissioned 300 years later by Richard II.

Since medieval times much of our national story has taken place within these very walls, from civic gatherings, to Coronation Banquets, to the centuries during which this Hall was the heart of our legal system.

But this ancient Hall is a living space, and like our great nation it continues to evolve. In 2012 Her late Majesty came to Westminster Hall to mark her Diamond Jubilee, and we saw the unveiling of the splendid memorial window, commissioned by Members of both Houses of Parliament, which now graces the north wall of this historic space.

And now, for ten years, the light from that window has added beauty to the grey stones of this place, bathing them in colour and reminding hundreds of thousands of visitors to the Palace of Westminster of Her late Majesty’s dedicated life of service.

Like the light that shines through this memorial window, Her late Majesty’s magnificent achievements will live on by permanently illuminating and enriching our lives and our national discourse. Your Majesty, even as we mourn the loss of our dear Queen, we, and future generations, will draw strength from Her shining example.

Your Majesty, on behalf of all the members of the House of Lords I pledge my loyalty to You, and wish You, and Her Majesty the Queen Consort, well in the life of service to which You have dedicated yourself. We are proud and humbled to welcome you as our King, and we look forward to welcoming You on many more occasions to Parliament, and to this Hall, in the years ahead.

Finally, Your Majesty, the House has commissioned me to deliver the following Humble Address, which their Lordships agreed on the tenth of September. I shall now read the Address:

Most Gracious Sovereign,

We, Your Majesty’s most dutiful and loyal subjects, the Lords Spiritual and Temporal in Parliament assembled, beg leave to convey to Your Majesty the deep sympathy felt by this House in the grief Your Majesty has sustained by the death of our late beloved Queen, Your Majesty’s Mother, of blessed and glorious memory;

To extend to all the Royal Family the deep sympathy of this House in their grief, which is shared by all its Members;

To assure Your Majesty that the example of selfless public service which our late Sovereign displayed over Her reign of 70 years, Her untiring endeavours for the welfare of Her peoples and Her fortitude in adversity will ever be held in reverent, affectionate, and grateful remembrance;

And to express to Your Majesty our loyalty to Your Majesty’s Royal Person, and our firm conviction that, under the blessing of Divine Providence, Your Majesty will, throughout Your Reign, further the happiness and protect the liberties of all Your peoples in all Your Realms.

September 12, 2022
Lindsay Hoyle – 2022 Address to HM King Charles III

The address made by Lindsay Hoyle, the Speaker of the House of Commons, to King Charles III at Westminster Hall on 12 September 2022.

Your Majesty,

Let me repeat our welcome to You, and to Her Majesty, the Queen Consort, on this solemn occasion.

Members of both Houses of Parliament gather here to express our deep sympathy for the loss we have all sustained in the death of our Sovereign Lady, Queen Elizabeth.

We have seen that this is a loss felt around the world. It is a loss to the United Kingdom, the overseas territories, the crown dependencies and the many countries over which she reigned. It is a loss to the entire Commonwealth, which she did so much to nurture. It is a loss to all of us.

But we know most of all it is a loss to You, Your Majesty, and to the Royal Family.

Newspapers have been filled with photographs of Her late Majesty since the news broke. The most touching have been those glimpses into the family life which were most usually kept sheltered from public view.

Deep as our grief is, we know Yours is deeper, and we offer our heartfelt sympathy to You and all the Royal Family.

We know that there is nothing we can say in praise of our late Queen – Your mother – that You will not already know. Over the past days Members of the House have spoken of their encounters with Queen Elizabeth. They have spoken of her sense of duty, her wisdom, her kindness and her humour. How she touched the lives of hundreds of thousands of their constituents in her visits to every part of the country Their words have been heartfelt.

She sat in this historic Hall, as You sit now, on many occasions. Some of those occasions were to celebrate milestones in her own reign. The addresses to celebrate her Silver, Golden and Diamond Jubilees shared a common thread: that our constitutional monarchy is a symbol of stability in an ever-changing world.

As Speaker Boothroyd said, Queen Elizabeth’s “wisdom and grace, […] demonstrated for all to see the value of a constitutional monarchy in securing the liberties of our citizens and the fundamental unity of this Kingdom and the Commonwealth.”

On other occasions our late Queen was here to mark historic moments such as the fiftieth anniversary of the second world war, a war in which she herself served in the armed forces. And in 1988 we celebrated the three hundredth anniversary of the Revolutions of 1688 to 1689.

It is perhaps very British to celebrate revolutions by presenting an Address to her Majesty. But those Revolutions led to our constitutional freedoms and set the foundation for a stable monarchy which protects liberty. In Your first address to the nation, You recognised Your life would change as a result of your new responsibilities. You pledged Yourself to uphold the constitutional principles at the heart of our nation.

These are weighty responsibilities. As the late Queen’s namesake, the earlier Queen Elizabeth, said in her final speech to parliamentarians:
“To be a king and wear a crown, is a thing more glorious to them that see it, than it is pleasant to them that bear it”

We know you hold in the greatest respect the precious traditions, freedoms and responsibilities of our unique history and our system of parliamentary government.

We know that You will bear those responsibilities which fall to You with the fortitude and dignity demonstrated by Her late Majesty. When the House met after the Accession Council yesterday my first, symbolic, Act was to make the oath to be faithful and bear true allegiance to Your Majesty, King Charles.

And so it is my duty to present our Humble Address to You, our new King, to express both our sorrow at the loss of our Sovereign Lady, and our confidence in the future, in Your Reign:

Most Gracious Sovereign,

We, Your Majesty’s most dutiful and loyal subjects, the Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in Parliament assembled, express the deep sympathy felt by this House for the great sorrow which Your Majesty has sustained by the death of the late Queen, Your Majesty’s mother; extend to all the Royal Family the deep sympathy of this House in their grief, which is shared by all its Members; assure Your Majesty that Her late Majesty’s unstinting dedication over a reign of over seventy years to the service of our great country and its people, and to the service of the countries and peoples of the rest of the wider Commonwealth, will always be held in affectionate and grateful remembrance; and express to Your Majesty our loyalty to You and our conviction that You will strive to uphold the liberties and to promote the happiness of the people in all Your realms now and in the years to come.

September 12, 2022
PRESS RELEASE : National Moment of Reflection [September 2022]

The press release issued by the Cabinet Office on 12 September 2022.

Today the public have been invited to take part in a National Moment of Reflection to mourn the passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and reflect on her life and legacy.

The National Moment of Reflection will take place at 8pm on Sunday 18 September, the night before the State Funeral, and be marked by a one-minute silence.

The silence can be marked privately at home, with friends and family, out on doorsteps or the street with neighbours, or at locally arranged community events and vigils.

Community groups, clubs and other organisations across the country are encouraged to take part and people overseas are also encouraged to observe the one-minute silence at 8pm local time.

Details of larger-scale public events to be held across the country will be published at: https://www.gov.uk/government/topical-events/her-majesty-queen-elizabeth-ii.

September 12, 2022
PRESS RELEASE : President of Ukraine honored the memory of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II [September 2022]

The press release issued by the President of Ukraine on 12 September 2022.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited the residence of the Ambassador of Great Britain to Ukraine and honored the memory of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

The Head of State left a note in the book of mourning and laid flowers in the territory of the residence. Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed his sincere condolences on behalf of the Ukrainian people to the United Kingdom and the countries of the Commonwealth.

“On behalf of the people of Ukraine and myself, I express sincere condolences over the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. Ukrainian women and men share this great loss. We mourn with the United Kingdom, the Commonwealth of Nations and all subjects of the British Crown. The memory of Her Majesty and her selfless service to her people will forever remain in the history of mankind,” the Head of State wrote in the book of mourning.

Head of the Office of the President Andriy Yermak also took part in the ceremony honoring the memory of Queen Elizabeth II.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy also talked with representatives of the Embassy of Great Britain in Ukraine.

September 12, 2022
PRESS RELEASE : Today, Ukraine has changed the formats of international communication and has become a much more powerful state than before the war – Mykhailo Podolyak [September 2022]

The press release issued by the President of Ukraine on 11 September 2022.

Since the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion, Ukraine has been urging the world community to abandon abstract formulations and move to clear statements and concrete actions in order to achieve results and defeat the aggressor. This opinion was expressed by Advisor to the Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Mykhailo Podolyak on “VIP with Natalia Moseichuk” program on 1+1 TV channel.

“Today, Ukraine sits at the negotiating table not somewhere on the periphery, as we were used to, but in the center. And it says: no, these rules don’t work. Please stop talking about it abstractly, let’s talk clearly – that’s how it works. This is very important,” he said.

Mykhailo Podolyak recalled that for many years Ukraine has been considered a peripheral state in the world. But thanks to the resilience of the Ukrainian people and the state in the war with Russia, we began to be perceived as equal partners.

“The President has changed this paradigm. We should talk as equals. We suffer losses, we bear a certain responsibility, so why should we come and only ask for something? No, we are partners,” said the Advisor to the Head of the Office of the President.

According to him, today Ukraine has changed the formats of interstate communication and as a subject is much more powerful than before the war.

At the same time, Mykhailo Podolyak noted that from the first hours of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, there was no feeling that we were in this fight alone – there was a large number of calls from foreign leaders with words of support, in particular from Great Britain and the US. He noted that the interlocutors assured that they would be there and help Ukraine.

“At first, in the first three or four days, our partners did not really believe that Ukraine would withstand the first hit. Then the support increased, the number of calls increased… But from the first day, I emphasize once again, we felt that Europe acutely perceives everything that is happening,” said the Advisor to the Head of the President’s Office.

Mykhailo Podolyak expressed the opinion that Europe and the world did not provide such powerful support before the full-scale war, in particular, because they could not fully assess the situation.

“The problems of this war are that the European analytical opinion absolutely did not understand its motives, did not predict Russia’s behavior and did not realize the strength of Ukraine. That’s why they made the wrong decisions before the war,” he is convinced.

The Advisor to the Head of the President’s Office noted that up to a certain point, civilized countries were afraid of the Russian Federation and did not want to abandon the conservative view of the bipolar world, where Russia is an element that must be taken into account.

“It had to be broken. And for a certain time the world was breaking down and did not want to admit it. And today they provide almost all types of weapons. Simply given the intensity of the war, that amount of weapons is no longer enough,” said Mykhailo Podolyak.

According to the Advisor to the Head of the President’s Office, significant changes are also taking place in Ukrainian society and the country’s political life.

“Everything will change significantly. There will be new leaders, there will be new political parties. There will be much less pro-Russian mood, no one will speculate, as OPZZh or the Party of the Regions did before, on some specifically pro-Russian slogans. There will be new forces,” Mykhailo Podolyak is convinced.

September 12, 2022
PRESS RELEASE : Andriy Yermak met with the American businessman in the field of IT, former CEO of Google Eric Schmidt [September 2022]

The press release issued by the President of Ukraine on 11 September 2022.

Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andriy Yermak held a meeting with former executive chairman and CEO of Google, former executive chairman and technology advisor of Alphabet Eric Schmidt.

Minister of Defense of Ukraine Oleksiy Reznikov also took part in the meeting.

Eric Schmidt has previously worked with the US Department of Defense on innovation issues, and his family has established philanthropic foundations in the areas of sustainable development and responsible use of natural resources.

Andriy Yermak thanked the businessman for the support and assistance he provided to Ukraine since the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion.

“We greatly appreciate everything you have done for our country,” he emphasized.

For his part, Eric Schmidt noted that he is happy to help Ukraine.

“What is happening in your country because of this war is terrible,” said the former CEO of Google.

The interlocutors paid special attention to opportunities for deepening cooperation.

Andriy Yermak and Eric Schmidt discussed technological solutions that could help Ukraine accelerate the de-occupation of territories, restore its territorial integrity and return to a safe and peaceful life.

The businessman also noted the importance of supporting talented youth capable of quickly changing the future.

September 12, 2022