Tag: Press Release

PRESS RELEASE : Shocking extent of Class Pay Gap revealed [November 2022]

The press release issued by the Social Mobility Foundation on 13 November 2022.

The Department for Opportunities (DO), our campaigns and advocacy arm, has today released research that reveals the shocking extend of the UK’s Class Pay Gap.

Professionals from working-class backgrounds are being paid an average of £6,718 less than peers from middle-class backgrounds.

Read the full research on the Department for Opportunities website.

The research was exclusively covered by The Observer here, accompanied with an opinion piece by our Chair, the Rt Hon. Alan Milburn, here.

To bring to life the horror of classism in the workplace, DO has created its first piece of short-form entertainment STAY DOWN featuring Michael Socha and Jo Hartley with Jonathan Hyde.

It follows DO’s first campaign on the Class Pay Gap last year which created the Class Pay Gap Day. The 2022 Class Pay Gap day is 14 November 2022.

November 14, 2022
PRESS RELEASE : Universities call on government to back world-leading UK research and innovation ahead of autumn statement [November 2022]
The press release issued by Universities UK on 13 November 2022.

Ahead of the autumn statement on 17 November, we are urging the Chancellor to recommit to uplifting investment on research and development (R&D). This long-term investment will ensure that universities can continue to support growth and prosperity across the whole of the UK.
We have joined with more than 100 business organisations, education leaders and individual researchers in writing to the Chancellor urging the government not to cut R&D funding. This funding is the engine of growth, enabling universities to attract investment and talent, make world-leading discoveries, generate knowledge, and create and nurture new, innovative businesses and jobs across the UK.

Research and innovation creates growth and opportunity

This call follows our recently published report ‘Our Universities: Generating Growth and Opportunity’ highlighting the ways in which universities can play a bigger role in generating economic growth by supporting jobs and prosperity, boosting skills and opportunities, and building pride in place and local communities.

University research excellence is also well-distributed geographically across the whole of the UK, with recent assessments showing over 80% of submitted research activity to be world-leading or internationally excellent.

University-led research and infrastructure lays the foundation for new innovations, and universities are directly involved in the creation of new businesses as well as future-facing jobs:

Despite the pandemic, in 2020/21 alone, 4,936 new businesses emerged from universities.

Businesses that emerged from universities in 2020/21 employed 95,503 people and attracted over £7 billion of external investment.

In the same period, these firms had an estimated turnover of nearly £13 billion.

It is also estimated that university research and innovation will lead to an additional 20,000 new businesses in the next 5 years.

In 2020-21 alone, universities had 75,500 contracts providing businesses with consultancy, and 17,000 to provide facilities and equipment, to develop innovative products and services.

Investment in R&D supports universities to work with local and national businesses through consultancy or contract research, providing specialist advice and access to the latest facilities and equipment to develop innovative products.

Losing EU funding

This fiscal event also comes at a time of continued uncertainty over the UK’s association to Horizon Europe, and EU structural funds coming to an end this year. We are urging government to secure association to Horizon Europe and protect the budget set aside to fund alternatives and for urgent action to avoid the loss of hundreds of vital growth-boosting research and innovation projects at risk, which will see their EU funding end this year.

Not losing momentum

Following the last austerity era, there were suggestions that the UK’s research output may have lost momentum in terms of international competitiveness. We do not want to lose our momentum again at a time when growth is a key strategic priority.

Public funding for university research and innovation is key to driving long-term economic growth and prosperity across the UK. Certainty around public funding will also help leverage the private investment needed to achieve the government’s ambition. Ensuring this funding is stable and long-term creates the conditions for effective collaboration and high-risk innovation activities leading to transformational breakthroughs – such as the Covid-19 vaccine.
November 14, 2022
PRESS RELEASE : COP27 – Global Shield branded a ‘cynical distraction’ – Friends of the Earth [November 2022]

The press release issued by the Friends of the Earth on 14 November 2022.

Responding to the launch of Germany and the G7’s Global Shield against climate risks, Rachel Kennerley, international climate campaigner at Friends of the Earth, said:

“New funding is urgently needed to support the communities facing devastating loss and damage due to the impacts of the climate crisis.

“But wealthy governments funnelling money from existing finance pledges to subsidise insurance companies is not the solution that climate vulnerable countries have been calling for.

“At COP27, we need to see the world’s worst historic emitters, like the G7, stop sidestepping their responsibility and commit to provide support directly to those on the frontlines of a crisis they did the least to cause.”

Bareesh Chowdhury, Asia Pacific regional facilitator at Friends of the Earth International, said:

“Here at the climate talks, countries facing devastating storms and deadly floods are demanding a funding facility to help them deal with these worsening disasters.

“But instead of meeting their call, Germany and other rich governments are distracting from this vital need for finance by proposing their own cynical scheme that focuses on insurance instead of badly needed funds.”

November 14, 2022
PRESS RELEASE : Final consultation on revised proposals open now – Last chance to help reshape constituencies [November 2022]

The press release issued by the Boundary Commission for England on 8 November 2022.

The Boundary Commission for England today publishes new revised proposals for constituencies across the country and opens a final month-long consultation, giving the public a last opportunity to send in their views.

The Commission has taken into consideration over 45,000 comments sent in by the public during the previous two stages of public consultation, and has changed nearly half of its initial proposals based on this feedback. A third and final consultation on the new map of revised constituency proposals is open now until 5 December. The public are invited to view and comment on the new map at bcereviews.org.uk.

The Commission is undertaking an independent review of all constituencies in England as requested by Parliament. The number of electors within each constituency currently varies widely due to population changes since the last boundary review. The 2023 Boundary Review will rebalance the number of electors each MP represents, resulting in significant change to the existing constituency map. As part of the review, the number of constituencies in England will increase from 533 to 543.

After this final consultation has closed on 5 December, the Commission will analyse the responses and form its final recommendations. These will be submitted to Parliament by 1 July 2023.

Tim Bowden, Secretary to the Boundary Commission for England, said:

“Today we are announcing the publication of our revised proposals. Last year we published our initial proposals for new constituency boundaries – our first go at what the map should look like. We are delighted with the huge number of comments from members of the public on our initial proposals, many which included valuable evidence about local communities.

Today’s publication is the culmination of months of analysis and we have revised nearly half of our initial proposals based on what people have told us. We now believe we are close to the best map of constituencies that can be achieved under the rules we are working to.

However, we still want people to tell us what they think of this latest map before we submit our final recommendations to Parliament next year. This is our final consultation and I encourage you to participate in the 2023 Boundary Review.”

November 14, 2022
PRESS RELEASE : NALC calls on local councils to respond to final consultation on new parliamentary constituencies [November 2022]

The press release issued by the National Association of Local Councils on 11 November 2022.

The National Association of Local Councils (NALC) calls on local (parish and town) councils to respond to the final consultation on new parliamentary constituencies.

The Boundary Commission for England (BCE) has opened a final consultation on its proposals for new parliamentary constituencies as part of the 2023 Boundary Review. The commission is required by Parliament to undertake an independent and impartial review of all constituencies in England, to rebalance the number of electors in each constituency. The 2023 Boundary Review also requires that the number of constituencies in England increase from 533 to 543.

The commission has listened to the feedback sent in from the public so far and has changed nearly half of the initial proposals published last year. The new revised proposals are now available to view via an interactive map on the consultation website.

Residents and communities can respond by visiting bcereviews.org.uk and commenting on the proposals via the website, email or letter. Hard copies of the proposals are also available to view at public places of deposit listed on the Boundary Commission for England website. Feedback can be given on anything from where the proposed electoral boundaries are to the suggestions for new constituency names.

Once the consultation has closed, the commission will look at all the feedback sent in and consider whether any changes should be made to the revised proposals for constituency boundaries. Final recommendations will then be submitted to Parliament by 1 July 2023, and the new constituencies will take effect at the next General Election.

The consultation is open until 5 December 2022.

Respond to the consultation

Read the guide to the 2023 review

November 14, 2022
PRESS RELEASE : Richard Graham reappointed Trade Envoy to boost trade and investment with Indo-Pacific [November 2022]
The press release issued by the Department for International Trade on 14 November 2022.
- Prime Minister reappoints Richard Graham MP as Trade Envoy to Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines and ASEAN
- Graham to continue promoting UK trade in the region and encourage inward investment across the UK
- News comes as the Prime Minister travels to Indonesia today for the G20 Leaders’ Summit
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has today (Monday 14 November) re-appointed Richard Graham MP as Trade Envoy to Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to boost British business in the region.

The Indo-Pacific region is a key trading area for the UK as we pivot towards dynamic economies right across the world. The region is expected to account for the majority of global economic growth between 2019 and 2050, with demand for the types of key industries the UK specialises in – from life sciences to media to technology.

UK-ASEAN trade was worth £39.3 billion in the four quarters to the end of Q1 2022 – an increase of 12% from the same period last year.

In 2020 we became ASEAN’s first new Dialogue Partner in 25 years as part of plans to boost trade ties with this dynamic trading bloc in Southeast Asia. We have developed a new joint Plan of Action to strengthen security ties, deepen our economic partnership and strengthen resilience to shared challenges, such as global health security and climate change.

Richard Graham will use his skills, experience, and market knowledge to help UK businesses find new export and investment opportunities and promote UK trade in the region.

Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch said:

Now is the time to future-proof our economy and seizing the post-Brexit opportunities in the Indo-Pacific will help us do it.

These are some of the largest, fastest growing and most innovative markets on the planet and they are eager to trade with us.

I’m delighted to see Richard re-appointed to this role to help foster closer ties with the region, encourage British businesses to grow and expand deliver jobs across the UK.

The news comes as the Prime Minister travels to Indonesia today to take part in the G20 Leaders’ Summit.

The UK and Indonesia have a history of science and innovation partnerships with more than 1,200 joint publications since the start of the millennium. Indonesia is currently the world’s 10th biggest economy in terms of purchasing power parity and is projected to be the fourth biggest by 2050.

Last month the UK signed an Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Indonesia to boost investment in sectors the UK excels in including life sciences, renewable energy, and access to critical minerals.

The deal will help UK businesses support clean infrastructure projects across Indonesia – such as tidal energy – and make it easier for UK firms to access Indonesia’s vast resources of vital minerals such as nickel, crucial for building our growing fleet of electric vehicles.

The UK also has a new Joint Economic Trade Committee (JETCO) with Indonesia, with the first Ministerial level talks taking place in February 2022, seeking to improve trade ties in key sectors.

The UK and Malaysia have also recently agreed to upgrade its trading relationship to a JETCO, with Ministerial level talks expected to begin in 2023.
November 14, 2022
PRESS RELEASE : Businesses to be given UK product marking flexibility as CE marking extended [November 2022]
The press release issued by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy on 14 November 2022.
- Government to continue to recognise the CE product marking in Great Britain for a further 2 years, allowing business to use either UKCA or CE markings
- move will cut costs for businesses and remove potential disruption
- future product marking plans to be reviewed to minimise costs and burdens for business in the longer term
Businesses will be given an additional 2 years to apply new product safety marking, giving thousands of businesses the freedom to focus on growth, Business Secretary Grant Shapps has announced today (Monday 14 November).

The UK Conformity Assessed (UKCA) marking has been introduced as part of the UK’s own robust regulatory framework. It shows that products comply with our product safety regulations which are designed to protect consumers.

However, given the difficult economic conditions created by post-pandemic shifts in demand and supply, alongside Putin’s war in Ukraine and the associated high energy prices, the government does not want to burden business with the requirement to meet the original (31 December 2022) deadline.

The government will continue to recognise the CE marking for 2 years, therefore allowing businesses until 31 December 2024 to prepare for the UKCA marking. Businesses can also use the UKCA marking, giving them flexibility to choose which marking to apply.

Business Secretary Grant Shapps said:

The government is determined to remove barriers to businesses so they can get on with their top priorities, like providing quality customer service, enabling growth and supporting their staff.

This move will give businesses the breathing space and flexibility they need at this crucial time and ensure that our future system for product safety marking is fit for purpose, providing the highest standard for consumers without harming businesses.

To support manufacturers, the government is also reviewing the wider product safety framework, ensuring we minimise the burdens on business while keeping our system up to date with new innovative methods such as e-labelling.

As part of this, the government will make it easier than ever for businesses to apply product markings.

This package will give thousands of businesses, including electronics and lift manufacturers, additional time to focus on delivering growth and creating jobs, while giving them flexibility in how they meet their legal obligations.

There will be different rules for medical devices, construction products, cableways, transportable pressure equipment, unmanned aircraft systems, rail products, and marine equipment. Government departments responsible for these sectors are making sector specific arrangements.
November 14, 2022
PRESS RELEASE : Nurses should only expect minor improvements in the government’s pay offer [November 2022]

The press release issued by the IEA on 11 November 2022.

Commenting on the ongoing NHS nurses’ pay dispute, Professor Len Shackleton, labour market expert at free market think tank the Institute of Economic Affairs, said:

“Excessive union pay demands backed with strike threats are a staple of collective bargaining. So is initial employer intransigence. Disputes are, however, usually settled somewhere between the extremes as both sides learn more about their counterparts’ real position.

“This is an elaborate game, played out for more than a century in countless disputes. The RCN, however, is new to the game, and seems to be relying on public gratitude for the care which nurses provide to shift the final settlement closer to its own position than that of a government which has plumbed new depths of unpopularity.

“They may have got this wrong, however. If a strike actually occurs, and hundreds of thousands of patients find their treatment postponed and waiting lists expand beyond the seven million or so we already have, that gratitude could disappear pretty quickly.

“On the other side, the government knows that offering even half of what the nurses are asking for would be difficult at a time when belts are being tightened right across the public sector.

“As nurses constitute only about a third of the workers covered by the recent NHS Pay Review, there would be pressure from everybody from doctors, to radiographers, to porters for an equivalent pay hike. There are also many in the wider public sector doing vitally important jobs – the police, the fire service and so on – who would feel aggrieved. These were people who suffered from the public sector pay freeze last year and didn’t get the special uplift which NHS workers received. At the same time, there are very many private sector workers who may have lost jobs and pay during lockdown and furlough, while NHS workers did not.

“There is room for some minor improvements in the government’s offer, perhaps around the detail of pension contributions, but nurses expecting their new-found militancy to lead to anything like a 17 per cent pay increase are surely going to be disappointed.”

November 14, 2022
PRESS RELEASE : Economic downturn should keep the Chancellor cautious [November 2022]

The press release issued by the IEA on 11 November 2022.

Commenting on the latest UK GDP figures published today, Julian Jessop, Economics Fellow at free market think tank the Institute of Economic Affairs, said:

“The latest UK GDP figures were not as bad as many had expected, but the downward trajectory is clear. The Chancellor needs to tread very carefully in his Budget next week.

“The 0.2 per cent fall in GDP in the three months to September was smaller than the 0.5 per cent pencilled in by the Bank of England, partly due to upward revisions to monthly GDP in both July and August. The economy might not have shrunk at all without the extra Bank Holiday for the Queen’s funeral.

“Nonetheless, the data for the third quarter were also flattered by large positive contributions from government spending and from net exports. Household spending and business investment were both much weaker, and the more timely consumer and business surveys point to further declines in the fourth quarter.

“Whatever the official numbers say, this will feel like a recession to those struggling to pay their bills over the winter. There are early signs too that the labour market is softening.

“The Chancellor should therefore take a more flexible approach to the Budget. The pendulum appears to be swinging too far from the botched ‘pro-growth’ strategy of Truss and Kwarteng back to the old ‘doom loop’ of tighter fiscal policy and a deeper recession. The Chancellor is also in danger of fetishising estimates for the size of the fiscal ‘black hole’, which is highly uncertain.

“If the Chancellor is determined to press ahead with austerity, whether through tax increases or spending cuts, he should at least time the measures carefully. It would make no sense to slam the brakes on straightaway when the economy is so fragile.

“Instead, he should delay the bulk of the hit until the back end of the five-year horizon. This should still allow him to present a credible medium-term plan to keep the financial markets on board, and therefore reduce the upward pressure on interest rates, without tipping the economy over now.”

November 14, 2022
PRESS RELEASE : PM sets out five-point economic action plan for the G20 [November 2022]
The press release issued by 10 Downing Street on 14 November 2022.
- The Prime Minister arrives at the G20 Summit in Indonesia today (Monday) for talks with the leaders of the world’s biggest economies
- He will stress the need for coordinated global action to bring down the cost of living and end the war in Ukraine, which is devastating the global economy
- Summit will be the first encounter between a British PM and a Russian representative since the brutal invasion in February
The Prime Minister will call for coordinated global action to address international economic instability and the rising cost of living when he attends the G20 Summit this week. The meeting in Indonesia comes as countries around the world face huge economic difficulties, caused or exacerbated by the illegal invasion of Ukraine.

Every household on the planet is feeling the impact of Putin’s war. Global food prices have been driven up by his attempts to choke off the Ukrainian grain supply, energy bills have skyrocketed thanks to Russia turning off their gas taps and the World Bank predicts the economic aftershocks will ripple around the world for years to come.

This week’s meeting will be the first time a UK Prime Minister has met a representative of the Russian regime since Putin’s full-scale invasion in February. Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov is expected to attend the talks instead of Putin.

The Prime Minister will use the G20 as an opportunity to call out Putin’s barbarism and force Russia to confront the global suffering caused by this senseless campaign of violence.

The best and quickest way to alleviate these problems is for Putin to withdraw from Ukraine. But while this war continues, the world’s most powerful economies have a crucial role to play in addressing the desperate global economic situation.

G20 leaders first met during the global financial crisis in 2008, in recognition of the fact that our complex and international economic system cannot function without coordinated action from the most powerful economies. This year, the world is looking to the G20 again to ensure the stability of international markets and alleviate the burden on the world’s poorest people.

Ahead of this week’s summit the Prime Minister has set out a five-point economic action plan for leaders to address the current global instability, covering changes to the global energy market, international food supply and the world financial system.

This action will ensure a firm platform for the domestic measures the Chancellor will set out in this week’s Autumn Statement.

The Prime Minister said:

Later this week the Autumn Statement will set out how we will get this country on the right path, put public finances on a stable footing and get debt falling.

Creating a stable international system that protects the most vulnerable will be a core part of that work.

But addressing the biggest economic crisis in a decade will require a concerted effort by the world’s largest economies – these are not problems we can solve alone. At the G20, leaders need to step up to fix the weaknesses in the international economic system which Putin has exploited for years.

Under the five-point economic action plan, the Prime Minister will call on fellow leaders to:

Direct government support to where it’s most needed. Using government support effectively to prioritise the most vulnerable, both in our own countries and internationally.

End the weaponisation of food production and distribution. Taking immediate action to support the global food trade to reduce the cost of living for all and save the lives of those at risk of starvation. This includes calling for the Black Sea Grain Initiative to be renewed on 19th November and a G20-wide commitment never to weaponise food production and distribution.

Strengthen our energy security and reduce energy dependence on Russia. We must bring an end Russia’s stranglehold over international energy prices. As part of these efforts we will work with partners to unlock the investment needed to accelerate the green transition – the best way of protecting ourselves from those who have perpetually used hydrocarbons to bully and coerce.

Open up global trade. This includes by advancing bilateral free trade agreements and through reform of the World Trade Organization. We need a WTO fit to release the opportunities of the 21st century while tackling the manipulation of global markets by malign actors.

Providing honest, reliable finance to help developing countries grow sustainably. Ensuring that the international financial system has the firepower needed to help developing countries grow without becoming dependent on their lenders. This includes rapid action to help poor countries better manage their debt burdens and providing an alternative to developing countries borrowing from exploitative sources.

These efforts form part of the Prime Minister’s drive to place economic stability and confidence at the heart of this government’s agenda. That means being a constructive and reliable member to the global economy, and using our influence to create a stronger international economic system.
November 14, 2022